At one time or another I’m sure most bloggers have questioned what the right balance is between sharing personal things on their blog and writing about their niche.
If anyone knows the answer- or has found a good formula- I’d love to hear it.
Over the last few months I’ve done some serious reflecting on my business and where I want to take things. I’m still not totally clear on it all- but the one thing that HAS become clear is that I need to make sure my voice, my personality and who I am comes through in whatever I do. For the most part, I don’t filter myself on this blog- but in other projects I’ve done I was hesitant to really put myself out there FULLY… not anymore.
That’s where “Thursday Thanks” comes in.
Anywho…
Gratitude is a HUGE part of my life.
One of the things I’m truly grateful for is my business and the time freedom it affords me to live my life the way I want to.
And without a doubt, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing if it weren’t for StudioPress (well, and WordPress! which is kind of a duh… and I’m eternally grateful to them too!).
For anyone who has watched Jimmy Fallon when he does his segment where he writes his ‘Thank You’ notes… go ahead and que that music in your head as I write my letter :
Dear StudioPress,
A big huge THANK YOU for the amazing and fabulous themes and framework you develop for WordPress! My first ‘premium’ theme purchase was from StudioPress (it was the classic ‘Church’ theme). I thought it was so cutting edge that I could dictate different categories in different positions on the homepage- AND have a gallery of images that linked to my posts! (One of my first pdf tutorials was the Featured Content gallery Plugin).
I was BEYOND thrilled and felt like a superstar when my site was listed in your showcase (which was WAY smaller then… ). Then to have Craig Tuller leave a comment on my site after I interviewed Keller Hawthorne? The icing on the cake.
What you DON’T know is that you’ve made a HUGE difference in my life and the lives of my kids. When I lost my husband almost 8 years ago I was working full time outside of the home. I knew I had to find a way to work from home so I could be around for my kids (who were 6 & 2 at the time). After a couple of attempts at other businesses, I finally found myself at home on the web (never knew I was such a techie!). In early 2008 I started my business- not knowing how it would evolve or what it would look like.
I fell in love with WordPress and found I could help the everyday user understand the in’s and out’s (even if I was just a couple steps ahead of them).
Once I found StudioPress, the rest they say, is history.
The support I received through the forums made me confident that I could work with CSS, adjust the code when needed and TRULY create a business around it.
A business that allows me to see my kids walk through the door EVERYDAY after school. The first thing they do is walk into my office to tell me about their day. I take them to school in the morning, get to go to the gym and have connected with some of the most amazing, kind and wonderful people all over the world (not to mention now that my daughter is 14 I’ve got some part time help once in a while! Hopefully both my kids will pursue whatever makes their hearts sing because they know it’s possible).
I remember the day I checked my analytics and saw I was getting more click throughs on a post and video about the ‘Lifestyle’ theme than ANY other post I had written.
It was totally a cartoon moment… I swear a light bulbappeared above my head!
Then Genesis came out.
OMG!
(Not that I really understood what a theme framework was at the time!)
I’m hardly objective, but I think it’s pretty safe to say that Genesis shifted the WordPress premium theme marketplace.
Oh yeah, and then there was the collaboration with Copyblogger Media. Wow. (And yes, I totally use Scribe and have purchased Premise! ).
I’ve played with a few other premium themes, but my heart will always belong to StudioPress! It’s not just the quality of the framework and themes that make StudioPress so unique.
It’s the people BEHIND the brand who continually inspire me! So, without getting more mushy- I just want to say Thank you to Brian Gardner and all the other amazing people over at StudioPress.
You’ve helped me create a business and quality of life that I couldn’t have imagined.
Here’s to your continued SUCCESS! It’s well deserved!
All the best,
Kim
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