About

Hi everyone, my name is Lisa Irby and I'm the webmastress of 2 Plan a Website.

If you're familiar with my other site, 2 Create a Website, then you may be wondering why I created a separate site about planning a website instead of just adding this info to the original.

Well, over time I realized most questions I receive at 2 Create a Website are about the preliminary stages (costs involved, experience needed, topic choice, etc.) Not to mention I see countless people fail because of the same reasons.

I'm especially targeting the people interested in building traffic and/or making money from their sites or blogs. Because that's when it's critical that you do your homework first.

So I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to create a site that focuses solely on planning - particularly understanding the different types of websites and finding the right niche.

I wanted this site to be completely separate from 2 Create a Website so you can get your mind right and set realistic expectations before jumping into starting your site or blog.

Sure, I could have easily added this information to 2 Create a Website, but I didn't want the other "getting started info" to distract you.

I've noticed a pattern. People tend to ignore the preliminary information and rush into building their sites without a complete understanding of how the Net works and what kind of sites succeed.

Hopefully by having this info on a separate site, it will force you to do the research before just jumping into this without understanding the fundamentals.

My Lessons

One thing I've learned is that people are incredibly impatient, desperate to succeed and very afraid of failure. The desperate ones rush into the website creation process and the ones afraid of failure get stalled because they don't want to mess up.

I get countless emails from people who are obsessed with choosing the perfect topic because they don't want their sites to fail.

A Note About Messing Up

I wouldn't be where I am today if I hadn't messed up. In fact, this site was partially inspired by my goof-ups along the way. You cannot be afraid of not getting this exactly right the first time. And often times, that's the best way to learn.

My theory is if you learn to make this process fun, it's going to be pretty hard to fail. Sure, it may take a little time but look at what you'll be learning.

It's also important to clarify what you define as failure. Many people build their first website and then decide to change the focus because their concept was too broad.

Some of you may call that failing, but at the same time, you could look at it as a learning lesson. You wouldn't have learned anything if you hadn't tried and failed.

You cannot be afraid to fail. There's nothing wrong with wanting to minimize failure and start off on the right foot (that's why you're here!), but if you're afraid to start because you can't accept the fact you may do something wrong then you may want to evaluate if this is for you.

Some things can't be learned until you try, so don't be afraid to get started.

Don't Be Intimidated

I'm sure you've noticed a lot of the information on this site cautions you not to do certain things. It is not my intention to intimidate you.

Building a website is a lot of fun and you can make a ton of money out here. I just want you to be armed with a wealth of info and avoid making common mistakes.

I didn't have access to a site like this when I got started so I made a lot of the mistakes I talk about on this site.

Planning a website is everything and I hope you get that from reading this website. Be sure you take the time to read the articles here. I believe it will save you a lot of time and help you choose the right kind of website that is best for you.

Notice a Theme?

If you've read through this site you may notice I qualify a lot of my statements by saying "you have to learn to build traffic if you want to succeed."

That is the key to success with any site no matter what direction you take. Building traffic takes time and is often the reason people give up too early. You have to be patient and be prepared to learn.

Join website forums and chat with other webmasters so you can get ideas. Subscribe to other people's blogs and newsletters who are already making a living online and learn from them.

Remember...

This takes work and if you aren't ready to take the time then you might as well find something else to do. Making money online is not a get-rich-quick opportunity.

I know it may be glamorized in the media and even online, but you better believe those of us making good money out here have put in a lot of work.

The difference between us and those that never make anything is that we are dedicated, work hard, love what we do and have always maintained realistic expectations about our success.

If you can develop these mindsets and maintain the right attitude, you are headed in the right direction and it's only a matter of time before you succeed.

Visit 2 Create a Website When You're Ready

When you're ready to begin, my other site 2 Create a Website actually walks you through the specific steps that you should take to purchase and launch your site. I even offer you freebies if you choose to begin and host your site at my partner site, WebsitePalace.com.

I tried to keep my links to other sites at a very minimum here because I want you to read and absorb as much as possible.

So when you're ready to start, go to my site to learn about the actual process of registering a domain name and starting your site or blog.