…and you’re coming along, every step of the way!

No, *I’m* not moving. The Simply Organized blog / site is finally moving from Blogger to WordPress!

I’m having a mix of emotions about the move, but my excitement trumps everything. Here’s a few feeling bullet-points…

** I’m comfortable with Blogger and it’s easy-to-use format / functionality. I’ve been blogging on this platform for nearly FOUR years (#wow) and it’s second nature to this creature of habit.

** But I don’t like the idea of Google owning my content. If at some point Blogger goes away, so does the Simply Organized blog. I heard a few stories at Haven from bloggers that had an issue with their e-mail account, which was linked to Google (gmail). The issue caused their blogs to disappear. For good. *say what?* And no matter what they did, their content is gone. Scares me as I’ve put my heart and soul into this little place for a long time.

** I’ve heard nightmares about the adjustment to WordPress. Just do a quick pinterest search with keywords “blogger to wordpress” and you’ll see. I’ve also heard from bloggers I know personally about the learning curve to the new format.

** But in all fairness, I’ve heard equal the amount of stories of “blogger to wordpress happily ever after’s” too.

** I’ve heard WordPress offers bloggers a bit more control, and I’d like that – a lot! Right now I have so many things tucked behind the blog that you can’t see. A major clean-up is overdue. While this isn’t something that will affect or touch you guys (with the exception of random ad’s you may not see anymore…which is great!), this bullet-point excites me quite a bit. And there are a lot of fun plug-in’s offered on the WordPress platform I’ll be able to utilize. Can’t wait to learn about them all!

** It’s a process that will take time. I’m talking this entire process (listed below). Would it surprise you to learn I’m not patient when it comes to something I’m excited about? I feel as if my blogging has taken a back seat as my clients have picked up. It’s not sitting well with me because blogging is my happy place. The idea of that suddenly becoming a foreign, unknown, unusual space with a learning curve is upsetting. Going to take time and patience. I remind myself to live in the moment, enjoy every step and take comfort in knowing I’ll make strides with each passing day.

** It’s not just a move to WordPress. It’s a re-branding process and more! (see below)

** I’m looking forward to everything being streamlined. No matter where you see Simply Organized…in person, on the blog, on social media…it will be a unique look that is only me and should conjure up my brand right away. Think Target, for example.

** Most importantly, I hope all of you like the end result!

And that’s exactly why I’m sharing the entire process with you…from start to finish. I’m hoping for feedback and suggestions along the way, so be sure to comment. I’m hoping someone else thinking about going through this process will gain from any failings or successes. I’m hoping some of you are doing this now and we can compare notes. But most importantly, just excited to document the process, share it with you and hear your feedback. This blog is where it all began. And this blog isn’t going anywhere! So don’t worry…Or maybe you should worry? 😉

Now, let’s talk about why I’m doing this. Pretty sure that’s more than obvious, but let’s go there anyway.

First and foremost, I’m so much more than a blog. I run a business. Numero uno, I’m a professional organizer. This site should reflect as such. And hellooooo, I’m a professional organizer. What kind of organizer do I claim to be when my site is a jumbled mess of blog posts, giveaways and sidebar thingys? At this time, when I tell prospective clients / companies I work with my web address, it’s BLOOOOOOOG all up in their face when they log in. I need a professional looking site with a landing page. I need a few main headings like “services”, “about”, “portfolio”, “contact” and “blog”. My business needs a professional site. Period.

Which brings me to a side note: some of what I’ll share during this process may be a bit different than other bloggers you know that have made the transfer. I’m not only a blogger, I’m an LLC, NAPO member and have a lot of business topics on my plate too. I may mix in business related items during this process. My chatter about these things could potentially help others, but some of it may be mentioned at random so I wanted to preface that.

Next, I need a new logo and branding. In the near future, I’ll recap my time at the Haven Conference in July. This was my first blog conference and loved every minute of it. Savored every session. And absolutely loved getting to meet some of my blog friends in person…and make new friends. But it was more than clear from day one that my brand needs developing and fine-tuning. This was already a top priority to me as a small business owner, but between the blog growth and my phone ringing off the hook with new clients, a logo / branding is necessary. And my full schedule has kept me from really tackling this essential business to-do.

I attended a session at the conference specifically about branding and am reading a book they recommended: How To Style Your Brand…

You’ll hear a lot about the branding process I experience, but things I expect to come out of this is a new logo, a secondary logo, my own fonts, my own colors, my own little decorative decal thingys, etc. I’m excited and worried because branding and appearance is everything. It’s the first thing people see. As you well know, I lean into simplicity…so it won’t be anything lacy and frilly, but instead my goal is pretty and classic. Can’t wait!

While working on branding, I’ll be working with the fabulous Lesley Clavijo of Chaotically Creative and member of The Launch Girls team. I met Lesley at Haven when she was presenting on Coding / HTML. She is super knowledgeable and loved every moment of her session. She is seriously a tech genius and can’t wait to start working with her. She will be creating the website. We have our initial phone call planned the 2nd week of August, so I’ll be sure to update. During that call she promised to detail the entire process (to ease my stressed brain) from start to finish so I better understand what the order of business is.

As far as the website framework, she suggested 2 feminine wordpress genesis framework sites that I fell in love with. First is Pretty Darn Cute Design. Here’s a couple of her genesis themes I love!…

Lesley also suggested Restored 316 Designs and I love these as well…

At this point, and since I have a few other business related needs (camera equipment, a new desk / office set, possibly new headshots, etc) I’m talking to my bank about a small business loan. I expect all of the above will cost a bit of money, so my initial plan was to break it down into small pieces. But the more I think about it, ideally I need this all done. Now. Not piece by piece over time. And I don’t want money to be what holds me back. I work hard and can more than afford to make a business loan payment each month. So, I’ve applied for that business loan and am awaiting a response.

I will not only be sharing all of the details with you in real time, I’ll be sharing true and actual costs. I keep it real in here, you guys, and I want to be transparent about what the costs are…I know this will help so many of you! I also know this will help for you to see just how long the entire process takes. I have no idea, so this will be something I learn as well!

Can’t wait to get going on the whole process and keep you in the loop! I’ll be back with an update very soon!