A colleague and I were going over details of a collaborative project when he said IT.

IT was, Ya know Donna, you really need to update your website its its really, well YOU KNOW needs something.

A sudden rush of fear came over my body and for once, I was speechless and sooooooo busted.

Seconds later; when I recovered I said, I know, Im my own worst customer my website always seems to come last after taking care of my clients

Yes, this is true.

BUT! I began in protest, Thats no excuse

And so the truth is out. I confess to the world: The Chief Web Goddess needs to follow her own advice, right here right now!

After we ended our call I grabbed my notebook and began to furiously take notes and realized MY SITE needs an entire overhaul!

Wanna know whats really sad I wrote all these items out on my action list at the beginning of the year, and still havent done it. That's Confession #2.

Print this out and grab a pen & paper. Prepare to take your own notes while you read this article. Ill wait.

1. Remove outdated events or expired offers. Nothing is more unprofessional than outdated info. Ie, Sign up for our February Super Conference. Either revised it, or delete it. As you prepare for the 3rd Quarter, include your still on the burner projects on your site. Give your visitors something to look forward to. (Ie. My progress on WebSiteU, and the expanded QuickStart Web Workbook are still in the works.)

2. Update client testimonials and completed projects. Let the world know how busy youve been and what youve been up to. If youve not been so productive make it look like you are new clients are attracted and want to work with successful happening people.

3. Move a successful product or service to the front page. Make it a feature product and run a special for the month. Then next month, swap it out for another service or product. Take the time now to plan your specials for the next 6 months, or better yet for the whole year! (ie. Teleclasses, website specials)

4. Have your products or services morphed into a life of their own? What I mean is, look at your navigation do these categories still apply? (ie. About us, web development, business solutions, etc.) Break out an item worthy of standing on its own into your navigation menu. Your customers will thank you for bringing your goodies out of hiding.

5. Got an updated photo of yourself? Or is it time to make an appointment with the photographer? Enough said just do it.

6. Check your auto-responders. ALL of them. Test the entire series by sending to yourself and scouring over each with a critical eye. Prepare to update and freshen up your copy. (I changed my free download of QuickStart Web Workbook document to just the MP3 audio, and started charging $20 for the hard copy and DIDNT UPDATE MY AUTORESPONDER, which gives out the download link to the hardcopy workbook, DUH! Big dumb confession #3)

7. Review your Pricing. Do you have unnecessary services listed you can delete? A new service you can add? This is also good time to declare a rate change.

8. Revisit your pre-contact Assessments and Questionnaires. Did you notice questions that went unanswered more often than others? Perhaps re-wording the question or deleting it all together would be wise.

9. Double check your contact info. Include your instant message (IM) ids or modify your business hours. Add your turn around time for answering inquires, etc. (my office number changed)

10. Edit copy on all your web pages but save the homepage for last. Now stand back, see the big picture and incorporate those edits into your homepage. Remember, youre going to take your visitor by the hand and lead them where they are to go.

While you're on a roll - don't forget to take a look at your System's housekeeping. For example, I revisited a production checklist I use for one of my major clients. Adding in little tid-bits of info that I spent way too much useless time searching for each month will save me thousands of moments of frustration. Plus, every production based item I need for this client is right at my fingertips.

WOW, now doesn't that feel better! Coming clean is one thing - now to implement.

While you still have pen in hand, what else can you do to improve and simplify?

What about being creative - do you spend enough time marketing to attract clients? Do you spend quality time reflecting on your business to learn from past mistakes and how to avoid them?

Now that you've created a weekend project, please don't obsess. Start out spending only 15 minutes with each task. You can do ANYTHING in 15 minutes.

Now Im off to follow my own advice!!

Copyright 2006 Donna Payne