Don't give up!

its going to be hard.  Some people will discourage you.  Some days you'll be tired.  Some nights you'll ask if it's worth it.  Is it worth it?  If it's what you're passionate about it...if you love it...it's always worth it.  Even if down the road it doesn't work out, following your passion and doing what you love and loving what you do can only bring you peace.  Yeah, it'll be hell in a handbag sometimes, but overall knowing that you aren't under direction, knowing you're working so hard for you (and partner/s) is huge.  It's liberating.  It's empowering.  It inspires others to dream big like you do.  It forces us all to think about the big questions like what life is all about and what want to do with the one we have.

So think about the big questions after you catch yourself asking "is it worth it?"  And don't give up.

Tell Everyone!

People don't know what they don't know...so TELL THEM!  Let everyone know about your company and your product or service.  If they don't know it exists, they might not know they need it!  You wouldn't believe how many people have been really amped about our project when we told them and have already started to make plans for it! Talk it up!

Take a Break

I know you're all gung-ho but when you catch yourself slowing down or losing energy or arguing about nonsense...take a break, already. No one said you had to build your fortune yesterday. No one said if it's not done by x, you're fired...why? Because you're your own boss now, that's why!  Isn't that part of what drove you to entrepreneur in the first place?  Isn't working on your own schedule and your most productive moments part of the motivation behind being able to make your own hours?  Don't wait for it to be full fledged.  Start now.  Goodness knows there have already been and are yet to come many long nights.  So if you're feeling drained or less than your best, hit the reset button, close the laptop and refresh.  Trust me: your own desire will tell you when you're ready to get back at it...and it'll be glorious.  I'm not saying be lazy...nope.  But do something for yourself and your health and your present happiness and well-being. Go do it!

How do you take a break and reset?

I run.  Or stretch. Or go to the beach and relax or write letters to friends.  I take photos or go exploring.  Anything that isn't business.  There's plenty of time for that :-). There should always be time for taking care of yourself.

WWW. vs Staight Up Website Name

If you've gotten your website up and running, make sure to try to access it both with and without typing "www." before the domain name.  Sometimes your host manager will automatically "forward" traffic but it's unlikely since you are the one deciding which version your website is actually located at.

We located our website at the www.domain.com, for example.  When we typed in domain.com, the same old advertisements for our web host were still coming up instead of our website, even though our site would show up at www.domain.com.  So, what you'll need to do is go to your control/settings on your hosting access page.  Look for something that mentions website forwarding.  Here, you should be able to find an option to forward either your www.domain.com to the domain.com site you have set up, or viceversa.  Additionally, you can redirect any site under your control to another page of your domain (and I'm fairly certain you can re-direct it to another website entirely, in the case that you wanted to buy a new domain name, for example, and forward your traffic from old customers to your new site, though I haven't tried).