The GDPR compliance is not only important for businesses but also for customers who trust the businesses with their data. By being GDPR compliant, you can ensure that your customers’ data is secure and their privacy is respected.

Moreover, you can use our integrated tools like our prebuilt Showit page in tandem with The Contract Shop to make sure that all of your legal documents are up-to-date so that you can remain compliant with the GDPR regulations. Being GDPR compliant not only helps protect your business but also builds trust with your customers!

Picture it

When the new General Data Protection Regulation went into effect May 25, 2018 we all heard you need to get your site right or suffer the consequences. When we heard about The Contract Shop from a friend we immediately (not kidding, 2 minutes later) hopped on their site and purchased our copy and got to work implementing it and having it up that same day. As soon as we had it installed on our site we could breathe easy knowing we were covered.

With us designing templates for other online business owners and photographers we knew it was important to impart the knowledge. The first step* necessary in making sure your website is GDPR compliant is to update your website Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy. The team at The Contract Shop has done all the legal legwork for us “not legal jargon folk. They created a simple template that we can customize and copy and paste onto our sites. So easy right?! I wish this was around when I was getting started!

Why The Contract Shop is our #1 choice

Each template is attorney-prepared and peer-reviewed by graduates of top 20 law schools. So you can be sure it is a good investment. And by investment, I don’t mean the thousands of dollars I previously spent on custom files from the lawyer-who-will-not-be-named. We mean only $297! Plus, the best part is that all templates are reviewed and updated twice a year and you will have full access to those updates for free, for life! We’re obviously huge fans.

*Updating your website terms and privacy policy is only one piece of the GDPR puzzle. You also need to make sure your content upgrades and email list opt-ins are following the new regulations. This podcast from Amy Porterfield clearly explains the steps you need to take. Lastly, you’ll need to install a cookie consent bar, or pop-up, on your site that asks users to consent to the cookie policy as stated in your new GDPR compliant Privacy Policy from The Contract Shop. To learn more about your cookie consent choices, click here.

In full disclosure, we want you to know that we are an affiliate for The Contract Shop. Which means that if you make a purchase from one of the links above, we may make a commission. We became an affiliate after being THRILLED with how easy it is to customize to your own business.

Now put on your own CEO hat and go grab the GDPR complaint Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy today. Then set it, forget it, and let The Contract Shop alert you to future legal updates.

The post Make your site legal and save your sanity! appeared first on Northfolk.

So how do you know?

5 signs it’s time to retire your product

1. Nobody is buying it!

Use hard numbers to take emotional decisions out of your business.

I can’t tell you how many times we have hung on to designs because we were emotionally attached. We *thought* the design was great and in our minds it was selling, but when we looked at the hard numbers, it only had a handful of sales and dwindling every month.

If you’ve had the design for over a year with unusually slow sales, it might be time to retire it.

2. It needs updating

If you’ve been around the Showit block, you know that we are always getting spoiled with new features and tools to make designing easier and more efficient.

Sometimes these are easy to implement, and sometimes they just start piling up and before we know it, there is just too much to update.

If your product has been left behind by technology, it might be time to retire it.

3. The market has changed

Once upon a time I was in Fashion Design school and my least favorite class was “Trend Forcasting.” It’s HARD ya’ll. Especially for us creatives that just “march to our own beat.”

We’ve been designing templates for OVER 10 YEARS and I can’t tell you much design trends have changed over that time.

If you’re product is starting to feel like it belongs on a TJ Maxx clearance rack, it might be time to retire it.

4. User needs have changed

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but people expect a whole lot MORE these days.

The features that people needed in a website 5 years ago, have drastically changed with their needs today.

If you have a product that is no longer meeting or exceeding your users expectations, it might be time to retire it.

5. YOUR focus and desires have changed

Maybe this has nothing to do with the product itself, and more to do with the fact that you just “don’t want to” keep the product going.

You could have changed your direction or your strategy, niched down or pivoted another direction.

OR, you could be wanting to create new and better products to replace it….

If you just have a gut feeling, it might be time to retire it.

Retiring old or under-performing products is kind of like purging your email list. Just like making sure you’re serving the RIGHT people, retiring old products helps to ensure that you’re giving those people your absolute BEST.

When you retire old products:

• Your customer is less likely to get analysis paralysis with too many options (some not as great as others)

• You can more easily guide your customer to the better product

• You can focus on making your good products BETTER and marketing those products

• You have room to create NEW products

If  you have decided that it’s time to retire your product, you might be thinking, now what? Well, wonder no longer, let us give you some suggestions

Create your retirement roadmap

Make your retirement just as important as your launch. 

Put in the extra effort to get your community excited and continue giving them that quality experience. 

We want them to feel like they’re snagging up Prada at Target prices.

Price your products so it’s a no-brainer

This is the ONLY time we ever discount our products significantly. As hard as it is to practically “give them away,” keep in mind that this is the LAST CHANCE for this product to make you money. This needs to be a no-brainer for your audience.

We’re talking 50-60% off!! Or more if you feel inclined.

Tell your audience

One of the most important parts of communicating your retirement sale to your audience is that your products aren’t “less,” just because of the sale. We want to continue communicating VALUE.

Where will the traffic for this product go once it’s retired?

If you haven’t had a chance to check out our recent post over on Instagram about URL’s, you should check it out HERE. 

When you’re retiring a product, one of the MOST important things to consider is where you will send that traffic once this product is gone.

Will you be directing them to a replacement? A similar product? 

You’ll want to have this mapped out so that once your product is officially retired, you’re still serving the traffic coming in from your previous product.

How will you use your extra capacity to promote newer, more successful products?

Once your product is retired, how will you re-allocate your time and energy to update, improve and market your existing products?

Chances are you either have less products now or new products that will need to get some initial traction. 

The great part of retiring products that are no longer relevant, is that you can get hyper focused on the products that are.

Fact is, retiring products that you spent your time and energy creating is emotional, and hard. Take your time and don’t jump into anything against your gut, you can always retire them later.

Resources:

• Learn more: northfolk.co
• Instagram: @northfolkco
• Program: Revolving Revenue

Links:

• Join the convo: 5 signs it might be time to retire your product
• Get teary eyed with us while we say goodbye to our babies: watch me

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The post 5 signs it might be time to retire your product appeared first on Northfolk.

You don’t spend all your time creating offers and driving traffic to them, only to lose that lead because you have NO ability to redirect that traffic elsewhere.

We get it – some “7-figure coach” told you that you that you don’t need a website – just get started today and build your form or checkout on a third party app.

We’ve been there! Years ago we even recommended this if you didn’t have a website YET. CRINGE.

“But when you KNOW BETTER, you DO BETTER.” (quoting Maya Angelou in my best Barney Stinson aka Jack Fantastic voice – IYKYK)

As a fellow creative, I bet you love Pinterest as much as we do! It’s our favorite easy way to market our biz!

Did you know it can take on average, 3-6 months for a pin to get traction?

And that’s if you’re following a solid strategy. It can take much longer, or possibly never happen if you’re DIY’ing it.

What happens when that ONE pin finally gains some traction, but the link to that opt-in form or checkout is no longer active?

That lead you worked so hard for ends up at a sad, lonely 404 page… one that is NOT yours, where some other company uses YOUR traffic to reengage YOUR lead.

When you push traffic to a URL that looks like this

https:/throbbing-wood-265.myflodesk.com
(yes this was a generated url, yes we wish it was ours, but alas.)

You do not OWN this domain or the traffic going to it!! Read that again.

Do this instead :

• If your platform has the option to link a custom sub domain – do it.

• If there is no option to link a custom sub domain, then create a page ON your website and EMBED your form, checkout, etc. right onto a page YOU OWN, with a domain that YOU CONTROL.

When your offer expires, you’ll be able to redirect people where you want them to go. For an opt-in, you can use a generic “offer expired” 404 page you can direct most expired offers to.

Or with higher ticket offers, that have been replaced with a newer offer:

Much better right? Not only do you get a beautiful offer 404 page, you can direct them to your other high ticket offer. We love a custom “it’s no longer available – you might like this” page because it still acknowledges that they are in the right place, where a more generic 404 might leave them wondering…

*But ONLY use this option if the offer is relevant to the one it’s replacing. Otherwise it will feel SPAMMY.

Resources:

• Learn more: northfolk.co
• Instagram: @northfolkco
• Course: Revolving Revenue

Links:

• Join the convo: Stop building your business on borrowed property

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The post Stop building your business on borrowed property appeared first on Northfolk.

The hard and fast answer? Nope and it probably never will be.

We can’t tell you how many times we have browsed our online designer groups only to see comments like these:

“The market is oversaturated!” 

— Your limiting belief

“How am I supposed to compete with all these other designers out there?” 

— Your limiting belief

“Everyone has jumped on the template bandwagon!”

— Your limiting belief

Market saturation is an excuse designers (and other creatives for that matter) are using to avoid doing the hard work and heaven forbid, failing. Or as we like to say, LEARNING.

Somewhere along the line, this excuse of a crowded marketplace has become widely accepted and the excuse of choice among social media comments within the freelancing design community. 

How did we get here

We started Northfolk 10 years ago. Like any other market, as word got around about the profitability of templates, more people wanted to get in on the action. But in this market, in the words of Moira, you must CHAMPION ONESELF.

So we’re going to cover 6 tips to standing out if you want to build website templates!

Ways to overcome market competition

Do it better. 

“A market is never saturated with a good product, but it is very quickly saturated with a bad one.”

The market might be saturated, but it doesn’t mean it’s saturated with GOOD designs. Look at the best in your industry and ask yourself, “how can I do it BETTER?”

Commit yourself to being the best! Learn new skills, find a mentor, take an online course, practice, practice, practice.

Do it different.

Don’t set out to create what everyone else is doing.

Yes – you might see a designer being successful niched down. One finding success with a broader audience. Someone that swears by posting on social media and another that doesn’t.

Instead of focusing on the competition, find your style and voice. What sets you apart from them and makes you different? Focus on what inspired you instead of what you think you should be doing. Look to other sources for inspiration.

One of the most effective ways to break into a saturated market is by offering a product that is new to the industry or improving upon one that already exists.

Be willing to do what it takes.

Everything worth having takes hard work. When it comes to template sales, it’s not an overnight process. You are constantly working on your pieces, improving as you go.

This is a marathon, not a sprint!

In a time of instant gratifications, you have to be willing to commit to the long term endgame to get results.

Listen to your folks.

Listen to what your audience is asking for. Where they are having troubles and what they NEED.

Watch as shifts happen in your market and be able to identify them.

Be flexible.

Be willing to PIVOT.

Buyer demands are constantly changing, and your willingness to pivot your ideas and being receptive to their demands might be the difference between sinking and swimming.

Build relationships

Word of mouth is one of the most powerful forms of marketing.

92% of consumers believe recommendations from friends and family over all forms of advertising

— Nielsen

We have customers that have been buying our templates for almost a decade. Many following us to Showit from other platforms and most of them repeat clients as well.

And the end of the day, a saturated market is one of opportunity and proven potential. Put your blinders on and ignore what everyone else is doing!!!

Resources:

• Learn more: northfolk.co
• Instagram: @northfolkco
• Course: Revolving Revenue

Links:

• Nielsen, Word Of Mouth Marketing

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The post Is the Website Template Market Oversaturated? appeared first on Northfolk.

So it’s not shocking to believe that our Showit website community exploded. EVERYONE was moving online. And even those already online, were pivoting to find new and easier ways to sell their offers. 

So many designers we know were booked out, overworked and unable to keep up.

In late 2020, we had a designer reach out begging us to allow some type of commercial licensing on our templates. She was using them all the time for her clients and wanted to create a smoother experience where they didn’t have to go run around trying to find a template they loved. Everything was done in house. 

This wasn’t the first request we had like this, but it was THE request that developed into The Vault.

The idea manifested for a few months and during summer 2021, while prepping for another launch, we pitched the idea to our coach. Her response…

“HOW are you just sitting on this type of offer!!”

So while in the middle of launching Revolving Revenue, we got to work building The Vault.

WHAT IS IT?

Inside The Vault we give fellow Showit website designers COMMERCIAL access to our entire collection of templates! Yes, we’ve been told how crazy this is!

HOW IT WORKS:

Once admitted to The Vault, you get immediate access to ALL of our Showit share keys. Our best recommendation is to plug them all right into your dashboard so you can easily access them while working on client projects.

Vault templates CAN be used for custom client projects and template customizations.

Vault templates CANNOT be used to create new templates.

WHY ARE WE SHARING OUR BREAD + BUTTER?

Why not?! Our people were asking for it. BEGGING for it. And the work was being done anyways. We saw an opportunity to fill a gap in the market that has NEVER been done before. Which leads us into the next portion of this post.

What we have learned during the past 5 months of sharing our business with other designers.

The Vault is the Showit Designers answer to scaling their services.

We’ve all heard about scaling with digital products, and courses, etc… But how many offers have been about scaling your TIME?! We have watched our designers cut their project time by 50% (or more) and finish more projects in less time, making MORE money. Instead of spending 6 weeks building out a site entirely from scratch, you can have access to an entire library to pull in things like navigations, complicated F&Q layouts, galleries, sales pages and more. No matter how custom your build is, The Vault can still save you time. Some chose to scale their services to only template customizations. Works any way you need it to, so you can get back to living life OFF the laptop.

Sharing our work isn’t as scary as you would think.

With the proper framework, we have built a small network of partners on trust and collaboration. Five months ago we had a moment of doubt before hitting publish on The Vault. “Do we REALLY want to do this? What if…” But in the time since doing so, we have realized that working from a place of abundance vs. scarcity allows room for some pretty major growth.

We’re handing out leads like we’re Oprah!

We are sending out approximately 5-10 HOT leads a week. This doesn’t include people visiting our Partner Directory page on their own, but leads that we have personally primed and nurtured to hire one of our partners over someone else.

*We got an inquiry a few weeks ago from a DREAM client we have followed since our photography days. It was SO hard to tell her no, but we nurtured her towards our partners and guess what?! She hired one! We were equally as happy and excited!!

The relationship between us and our members is truly a partnership.

While The Vault was founded as a huge asset to our fellow designers, it has proven to be an even bigger asset to us.  Fact is, Northfolk caters to a high end market and most of our people want it done for them. Now we have an exclusive network of partners that not only have access to our entire collection, but are able to request designs, collaborate on new features and get early access to every launch. So moving forward, we will be investing in professionals to help advance and position our partner program.

Are you a Showit designer that’s interested in how The Vault could impact your business?

Head over to our website to LEARN MORE, or BOOK A CALL to chat with Sam + Rachel about how The Vault could help scale YOUR Showit services.

The post Full Behind the Scenes of The Vault for Showit Designers appeared first on Northfolk.

A while back, we pulled the trigger and decided to design templates exclusively for Showit, and we haven’t looked back. Powerful to use and super easy to learn, Showit empowers entrepreneurs and small businesses with complete creative control to build and manage your dream website quickly.

Gone are the days when you get a website setup and it sits stagnant for 2 years while your business continues to grow. It’s time you get a website that works as hard as you do, and does what you want it to do!

So why Showit? We’re glad you asked…

Ditch the coding.

Whether you are working with a developer or are managing your themes, CSS, HTML, and PHP on your own, Showit allows you to ditch the code and focus your attention on the things that really matter (like expanding your business). With thousands of templates to choose from, all you need to do is drag and drop to design.

Showit Integrates Blog with WordPress

Say goodbye to overpromising-yet-underperforming WordPress templates without losing their SEO benefits. Even though you’ll design your blog through the visual Showit platform, you’ll still use your WordPress blog. It’s literally the best of both worlds.

Effortless SEO

Even if you’re new to SEO (those fickle things you need to rank in Google and other browsers), Showit makes it easy to add short and relevant URLs, add titles, meta descriptions, alt text, optimize images, and so much more.

Amazing (and Fun) Customer Service

As a drag and drop platform, you won’t need to worry about complex coding, but if you need a little help, Showit’s got you covered. Suppose you can’t find the answer you need in their library of help docs or instructional videos. Showit’s chat support (built into the dashboard of the website builder) is quick to respond with a helpful answer, cheeky anecdote, and usually a fun GIF to keep you motivated.

Super Mobile Friendly

With up to 70% of web traffic coming from mobile devices, it’s super important to have an interactive and beautiful mobile website. Showit makes it easy to create a completely custom dynamic mobile site, and you can save time by designing it side-by-side with your desktop version.

Complete Customization

With thousands of templates to choose from, including Norfolk’s latest beauties, there are plenty of options for you to choose from, but you can still do exactly what you want to bring your vision to life. Unlike other platforms out there, with Showit, you can move things around to add your content, headers, and images exactly where you want them. The customization options are literally limitless!

So what are you waiting for?

Stop wasting your time managing your complex website and give Showit a try. They have a 14 day FREE trial (no credit card required).

Love our style? Shop our template collection HERE.

The post Can’t Manage Your Current Website? Showit’s the Answer. appeared first on Northfolk.

1. We jumped all in with Showit.

2. We earned an all-inclusive trip to Mexico (courtesy of Showit)!

3. We “mostly” took the year off from client work.

4. We were published in the 3rd Edition of Spark

5. We worked more ON our business than IN our business.

So what can you expect from us in 2021?

In 2021, we are launching Revolving Revenue. 

We are going all in on this one and Revolving Revenue is going to be our main focus moving forward. We will still be offering templates of course, but the program will be our way of holding your hand and helping you turn your website into a converting machine that works for you 24/7. 

In Revolving Revenue you will learn the digital tech skills and strategies to build a website and online ecosystem to run, market and sell templates.

More templates!

The post 2020 Recap and What You Can Expect From Northfolk in 2021 appeared first on Northfolk.

Tip #1 : DEFINE your workspace.

No brainer right?! But it’s at the top of about every list for a reason.

The absolute best place would be outside of your house such as a garage or additional building on your property. When I was growing up my parents ran a construction company out of our garage. In Alaska we have heated garages and I can’t tell you how many people utilize this space for either extra bedrooms, home offices or rec rooms. You would be amazed at what a great space you could create with a fresh coat of paint and some commercial grade carpet put down on the floor.

Obviously a separate building isn’t always possible, but get creative and look around your house. A spare bedroom, a closet with doors or even a computer armoire that gives you a designated space.

Make sure that your office space is separate and you can shut the door. It needs to strictly be your office. Not your kitchen table where you have to move everything several times a day. If you utilize a spare bedroom as an office, even home stuff like bills and report cards need to be in a separate box away from your desk so you’re not inclined to work on it. When you go to work, you shut the door to the rest of the house. 

Your bed is where you sleep, and your sofa where you relax. Your brain will be mentally programmed that when you sit down in your workspace, it’s time to work.

BONUS : When you’re working, your work should be the only thing in front of you. I even have a different account on my computer I login to with a different wallpaper, etc. Mentally it tells me I’m at work and this is my work space and I have nothing personal on that account.

Tip #2 : DESIGN your workspace.

Having a separate workspace isn’t always enough, you need to create an environment that boosts productivity and stimulates your creativity.

Everything comes into play here such as color, light and fresh air. Here is a few of our favorite tips:

Make sure that you are comfortable with an ergonomic setup.

Plants are known to clean air and reduce stress.

Create an inspiration board that motivates you.

Tip #3 : Use alarms to set times and reminders

This could be hands down the best tool in our box this year.

Set alarms on your phone. When you start work. When you stop work. And if you’re having problems focusing during work, schedule 10 minute breaks once an hour where you leave the room, shut the door and take 10 minutes to pick up, grab a snack, etc. When your alarm goes off, you go back to work. Its annoying setting all the alarms, but it has been a game changer for us.

This year we even have one of our kids homeschooling, so I set alarms for when I need to take him to a class, or pick him up. Nothing worse than zoning out on your work and realizing you were supposed to pick your kid up from school 5 minutes ago! Oops!

*Bonus tip : If you need extra reminders before your alarm goes off – you can schedule things in your calendar which allows you two notices before the alarm goes off. This is actually what I use for all my kiddos activities. That way I get a notice 1 hour before and 30 minutes before. I remove any chance of forgetting a pickup.

“The number of employers offering a work from home option has grown by 40% in the past 5 years.”

Tip #4: Get dressed.

What we wear impacts how we feel and, in turn, how we behave.

Getting a shower and dressed in work clothes will boost your confidence and your productivity. If lunch time comes around and you find yourself in sweats or even your pajamas (gasp!) you are not being your best productive self. This comes full circle with the psychology of your workspace and mentally programming that it’s time to work.

Prepare for your day the way you would any other job. Wake up, shower, and get dressed.

Tip #5 : Create a schedule to avoid distractions.

Make sure you have a set START and END time. And stick to it.

I make sure I am off at a certain time every day so that I can do a whirlwind clean through the house before my family gets home. Scheduling the time for my chores makes a huge difference in me not touching them during work hours (other than to move the laundry on one of my 10 min breaks).

I also make sure that when I get up in the morning, I make my bed, throw all laundry in the basket, and at a minimum clean up the kitchen so it’s not calling me throughout the day. Even if it means I have to get up a bit earlier. The cleaner my house is, the less chance I have at being distracted throughout the day.

I know that my alarm goes off at 8:00 to start work and that I need to be off by 2:00 to have enough time to get things ready for everyone to get home.

However you slice the pie, we all have 24 hours to work with. Make sure that you delegate time for work, family and chores.

Bonus Tip : We have recently started cutting back on client work so that we can turn our focus back to our own business. In that process we have been surprised at the difficulty of being productive when it’s our own business we have to work on.

We have decided to break down tasks by day and time. Mondays are for Northfolk business and financial work. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday Rachel is typically working on templates while Sam works on course and content creation. On Fridays we do all of our blogging and social media prep (content and images).

Tip #6 : Take breaks.

Get a change of scenery. You need to physically get up and leave your workspace to give your mind and body a break.

This is also a great time to let the dog out, move the laundry over or finish up a quick chore that you missed during the morning chaos. Just make sure you have an alarm set to remind you it’s time to get back to work.

Tip #7 : Plan your meals.

If you are new to working from home, you will quickly realize that having immediate access to your kitchen is not only a huge distraction, but bad on your wallet and your scale. And sometimes it’s the total opposite and you will find yourself not eating at all.

Spend an hour on Sundays getting your meals and snacks planned out for the week. Work your meals into your schedule to keep you focused and productive.

Tip #8 : Create your to-do list the day before.

Most people working from home tend to have a variety of tasks on their plate. Financials, social media, content creation, marketing, and we haven’t even touched on juggling multiple client projects.

Don’t waste time every morning figuring out what needs to be done for the day. You will spend hours hustling without any accomplishment.

Take a few minutes at the end of your work day and map out your to-do list for the following morning. That way you can sit down and get right to work.

Tip #9 : Delegate.

We like to call this our “not-to-do list.” We highly recommend reflecting on where your time is best spent. What does delegating look like for us? We do this in both our home and our business.

On the home front :

Hiring someone to clean the house once a week (or every other week).

Having a sitter or “mommy’s helper” to watch your kiddo if you’re a Mom working from home.

On the work front :

We are terrible at social media and marketing. This year we hired Cali at The Halcyon Hive to manage our Pinterest marketing. We are just getting started with her (she had a long wait list), but we have already seen such a huge return on investment (ROI) that her monthly service is a no brainer for us.

We also tend to spend the extra money in buying templates and stock photography from other fellow creatives because it saves us TIME. Could we design our own Instagram and blog graphics? Of course! But this is where knowing what to delegate comes in. Is my time best spent designing something that has already been done? Or spend a little extra money on some beautiful templates and move on to my next project.

Only you can decide what to delegate and where your time is best spent. The one thing I can tell you, is that none of us can do it ALL.

“Do what you do best and outsource the rest.”

Tip #10 : Create systems.

The more systems you have in place for your life, work and home, the more productive you will be.

We have laundry baskets in every room and bathroom to help the kiddos clean up after themselves. We have very precise routines when we wake up and what needs to be done before the alarms start going off for the work day. My kiddo that homeschool knows what needs to be accomplished each day to stay on target with his homework.

We have certain days of the week that we strip beds, grocery shop and do routine house maintenance.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s still chaos, but much less than it would be without our systems in place. Having our home life organized is a game changer when it comes to keeping my “work-at-home” life on task.

BONUS : Pets getting in your way???

Would you believe that when I took a poll from my fellow hustlers working from home, managing the dog during work hours is the biggest obstacle?! How you manage your dog will absolutely depend on the dog. There is no one correct answer. The key here will be CONSISTENCY.

Where will your dog be? The first thing to figure out is whether or not your dog needs to be kenneled. Most people will tell you that you need to create a workspace that is dog free, but I believe that depends on the dog. I have a puppy that is kennel trained, but if I am home working, she wants to be with me. It’s much easier for me to have a bed for her next to my desk and let her sleep here at my feet. The main key here though is containment. She needs to be confined to my space so she’s not getting in trouble when she’s awake.

If you have a dog that will keep bugging you, interrupt your phone calls or whine for your attention, then most likely they need to be kenneled during work hours. If you have never kennel trained a dog before, then I will warn you – they WILL cry. And they will get used to it. I highly recommend you kennel train them in another part of the house (unless you put in the work with them to kennel in your office) and research kennel training as that is an entirely different topic.

Having a loose dog in your house could mean scratching at your door, marking or chewing things up.

Keep your dog occupied. When I first started letting my puppy lay on a bed close to my desk, she was great! She slept all day. Now she’s 9 months old and she’s into everything. I highly recommend having a basket of toys and some bones. If you have ever had to work from home with a toddler you will get this. Even if you keep them in a confined space like your office, they will move around and pull things down. But if you give them things to keep them occupied and distracted, you can keep at your work.

Wear them out. A tired pup is a happy and calm pup. Whether you keep your dog by your side or in a kennel, its very important they get enough excercise. Schedule this into your daily routine. An added bonus is that you probably need the exercise and fresh air too!

They biggest takeaway here is consistency and having a schedule. My dog knows that every day at 8:00am she gets her breakfast and immediately goes to her kennel. She knows that as soon as I walk in the door, she gets to go outside. Dogs can be trained to your work schedule if you stay consistent. And the great part about having your dog with you while you work is that you have a consistent accountability partner. Someone to keep you on schedule, remind you to eat and get outside for some fresh air!

The post How To Work From Home: 10 Tips for productivity appeared first on Northfolk.

A few things to look back on from 2019.

1. We were able to spend two weeks together this summer just connecting and spending time together, relaxing on the lake up in Alaska where Sam lives. Our goals for 2020 and beyond – more time together.

2. We were published for the second time in Spark by Showit.

3. We landed ourselves among the Top 15 Showit Designers.

4. We poured ourselves into some amazing self-education courses and workshops.

5. We had our first experience with outsourcing (a Pinterest manager worth her weight in gold)

6. We built some crazy beautiful custom sites for some incredible influencers, bloggers and creatives. Work we are beyond proud of, and clients that we now call friends.

7. And the most important thing – clarity. We did a lot of soul searching in 2019. What worked, what didn’t, what we are passionate about, and what we aren’t, what was good for business, without sacrificing our families and WHY we started all this in the first place.

Then we did something crazy…

I don’t remember when it was, it might have been late September, or early October – but we cleared out our entire calendar. No. more. clients. If you didn’t already have a spot that was paid for, you weren’t making the cut. Sorry.

I’ll be 100% honest with you – while we have been WANTING to do this for awhile – but too scared to take action, this wasn’t a business decision, it was emotional and personal. You see…. around this time Rachel’s Dad got sick. It was cancer. Having lost my Dad 13 years ago in a tragic accident, I told Rachel to sign off. Go be with her Dad. Soak in every minute she possibly can. Play cards. Laugh at memories. Hold his hand. Be there. Every. Minute. And she did.

So we closed up our calendar. I operated the business at 50% and Rachel spent nearly every day at the hospital.

A few weeks before Thanksgiving, only a short 6 week since he got sick, he was gone. It was that fast…..

Huge sigh.

So here we are, an empty calendar and a long list of dreams and aspirations that we have never had time for before. It was time to make a decision. Open our calendar back up to the daily inquiries of people wanting to work with us, or buckle down and do the hard work we have never carved out the time to do.

For the first time, it wasn’t even a hard decision. It was go time.

What you can expect from us in 2020

Okay so I know that this is what you are here for. What do they have up their sleeves you ask? Well let me break it down..

1.

We have a brand new collection of Showit templates launching in January.

These templates have been a huge labor of love. Our newest collection will be exclusively Showit and exclusively sold in our shop (for now anyways). The modern website template has changed, grown and developed over the past few years. It’s no longer just about having a pretty website, it’s about having a strategic site with a clear purpose that engages, guides and converts your audience.

There will be three (3) templates: MacKenzie, Poppy Lane and Kodiak.

*All of our existing Showit 5 and Prophoto 7 templates have been moved to a “retiring” section on our site as they take the back seat to our new collection. Eventually we will phase these out of our shop, though you will still be able to purchase them through Showit or Prophoto.

2.

We are breaking into the education field.

We have been working for nearly a year on building a course: Revolving Revenue.

The past eight (8) years we have worked with hundreds of clients on custom projects and templates. We have seen people buy templates and never finish them. Or finish their site to never touch it again.

We believe your website is your businesses most valuable tool.

Our goal with this course is to create a NO-FLUFF program to help you build and most importantly, MANAGE your own shop.

The big picture.

We design and build websites. We are good at it.

But our passion – the thing that fills our cup, lights a fire in us, that we could talk to a cold audience about for 30 minutes with no script….

We LOVE helping others see the opportunities in building their own business.

Self-education and entrepreneurship is the way of the future. You no longer have to choose between a career and staying home with your babies. A job you hate or struggling to pay the bills. There are ways to provide for your family without thousands in loans. We are proof. We have consistently ran a profitably business right out the gate, for over 8 years.

Our job as web designers, has allowed us to connect with clients in ways we have never imagined. We found ourselves coaching and strategizing in all things business. Over the past several years we have watched friends and acquaintances leave jobs they hate to stay home with their kids, pay off their debt and build financial stability for their families. With every person that discovered their own possibilities, we found ourselves called to a bigger purpose.

So while we are breaking into the education field with our website knowledge, our goals and passions are much, much bigger. 2020 is going to be a journey down a new and exciting path. We can’t wait to do the hard work, build a community and grow Northfolk into something we weren’t previously ready for, but we are now.

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