This is still a relatively new story…so there is a chance that you might not have heard about the wild cardboard and packing-tape imaginings of a certain nine-year-old boy from East Los Angeles.

It has been said that children teach us more than we teach them. The amazing, beautiful, perfectly wonderful thing about children is that they teach us without ever intending to. Their unwavering commitment to their own imagination and curiosity takes front seat, never mind any passengers that might hop on for the ride while they’re skillfully navigating the course. The main takeaway? Children give themselves permission to have fun first. They set goals later.

The Importance of Fun

Fun, as I see it, is another word for passion. You know that moment when you have a truly spectacular idea? How you begin working toward it as soon as possible? How you stay up late, wake up early, and hardly eat until you’re done? That is FUN. That is PASSION. Kids allow themselves the freedom to explore that passion without ever feeling guilty or neglectful. They trust that their books, puzzles, and games will be right where they left them. There is no reason for them to fear, or think ‘If I spend too much time building my tent, will my cardboard box get mad and leave?’ Not even close. They go for it. Full speed ahead.

Give It All You’ve Got

That fearlessness is inside all of us. It might be covered up by years of ‘experience,’ and ‘know-how,’ and ‘maturity,’ but it’s in there. Dig out that old cape, or magic wand, or baseball cap, or spy-glass and get to it! Build that tree house and camp out under the stars. I’ll bet you never regret it. As cliché as it may sound, there is no time like the present. We cannot wait to take hold of our dreams. So what if you’ve been ignoring them for years? They’re still on the back burner – right where you left them.

Then Give It Some More

Fearlessness and forward motion are quite admirable in and of themselves. But kids have one more secret ingredient in their mix: love. You’ve got it. LOVE. Their dreams and ambitions are wrapped up in an impenetrable force field of love; their devotion complete, their heart true.

If we look at this idea closer and really consider its place in our businesses and lives, we’ll see the things that truly matter (the things that make a difference) are those that are filled with love. If we put love into something we will get love back. Sometimes that exchange isn’t measurable, or visible for that matter…but it’s there, I assure you.

…and sometimes, the love that you give comes back at you like an avalanche of happy. That’s what happened for Caine. That’s what can happen for all of us if we dare to love. If we follow our hearts with childlike, reckless abandon.

Stay Open (Even If There Are No Customers In Sight)

One aspect of love that businesses (especially new businesses) really have to strive for is commitment. We can’t fall head over heals for an idea/project/product and then give up on it when it doesn’t garner the fanfare we expected. We must be patient and diligent. We must work to make it better. We must love it unconditionally…no matter what the bullies say. All of the love we put in will eventually come full circle.

Buy a Fun Pass

Caine sells chances at his arcade: $1 for four chances, or $2 for 500 chances (a Fun Pass). Buy the Fun Pass. Allow yourself to get completely absorbed in fun. There is no need to count your chances and dole them out carefully after scientifically deciding on the proper plan of attack. Just toss those rings, flick those soccer balls, and swing that hook! You will only regret NOT doing it.

Meet Caine

So I’ve been rambling on about my lessons learned, and I’m sure there are many more just waiting to unfold. Below, you can watch the story of a very special boy who built his dream out of old cardboard and tape. Watch it and tell me you’re not inspired to follow your heart! Go ahead, I dare ya!

9 year old Caine Monroy, who built an elaborate cardboard arcade inside his dad’s used auto parts store, is about to have the best day of his life.

Short Film: Nirvan | Production: Interconnected

I’ve contributed to Caine’s Scholarship Fund (link in the sidebar of his website) in lieu of visiting the arcade – I so wish I could teleport! When I gave, the goal was $25,000 and the current monies raised equaled about $16,000. Those numbers have both increased significantly in the last couple of hours. All thanks to love.

Thanks for the photo, Lindsay Hickman!

I’m guessing that my lack of blogging hasn’t kept anyone awake at night. I mean, I’m not exactly a prolific writer/blogger/commentator. That said, I want to get better at it. I thought I’d start down that path (or at least in the general direction of the path) with an update post. Write what you know, right?

From what I understand, the ‘in’ thing these days is transparency. But there is also a lot of fear surrounding personal privacy. So I’ll aim for a middle-of-the-road update.

Where to start? My last post was written in the summer of 2011 (I hereby nominate myself for ‘Worst Blogger of the Year.’) It isn’t for lack of inspiration. I have a notebook full of ideas for posts and stories that I want to share with you. I just haven’t felt free enough to write them – free in terms of time. Why, you ask? We all wear many hats, and I recently added ‘student’ to my collection. I am back in school for what I think is the eighth time, attempting to finish my degree. Full time. What am I thinking?

A Full Fledged Circus Act

It has been wonderful so far, but extremely frustrating to me in terms of my to-do lists. At lot of the personal projects I have underway were put on the back burner during the first semester as my family and I navigated through the wonders of college. Working, going to school, and participating in your own life is quite a juggling act, and I decided it was in my best interest to let one of the balls drop for my first semester back. It kept me relatively sane, but caused a great deal of frustration, creatively and professionally. It felt like I was neglecting a child.

At any rate, the second semester has now begun and I am ever hopeful that my juggling skills have become a bit more polished. I’m looking forward to working on new projects, growing my business, helping others build theirs, and increasing my skill set. I figure the 4.0 GPA I received is an indication that I am able.

Your Rules Should Not be Broken

My secret weapon? I’m working on time management. I have specific days set aside for school, days to be in the studio, and days/times of day that are for family only. Writing it down and marking up the calendar keep my obligations clear and my time limits apparent. Strict personal deadlines and loud egg-timers are key players in my arsenal. It’s amazing how much more you can accomplish when you give yourself less time to work with.

How do you juggle all of your roles? Share your methods in comments below!

Thanks for the photo, BinnyVA!

First and foremost, I want to be clear: I am not writing this to put down any specific companies or mindsets. I just want to share my thought process and business ideals with you.

This story starts out many years ago when I was just getting started online. I needed a domain name and hosting plan, so I shopped around for the best deal – and I got exactly that.

I ended up with the web host and domain registrar best known for sexy spokeswomen in tight t-shirts. At the time, their advertising gimmicks were the least of my worries. I mean, I wanted to make money online without spending a small fortune to get online; and at the time, they were the best deal going.

There were never any issues with the products or services I purchased from them. In fact, the way things were set up, I hardly had to know anything about domains, hosting, servers, and the like. I was sailing right along and then one day, I crashed right into a wall. (I think I might have cracked my glasses.) A client asked me to do something I didn’t know how to do. Enter: panic.

It was all well and good that my host made my life easy, but I didn’t realize they also made me lazy. I never had to learn ‘how to’ because they did it all for me. All of their back-end automation made it easy for me to grow my business without a thorough understanding of the process or technology involved. I was a web amateur to say the least.

Limping Right Along…

When I realized that my host had been a crutch for my skill set, I felt like a fraud. I had been touting myself as a web designer when in reality I knew just enough to squeak by.

What’s a girl to do when she realizes her ability doesn’t meet her client’s (let alone her own) expectations? Research like crazy, read every web design and development book with a 5-star rating, and experiment until she understands it: that’s what! And I did.

In the process I realized that my host was no longer a good fit for me or my business. Not only were their low prices and fancy control panel keeping me stagnant professionally, they were keeping me quiet ethically – and through no fault of their own! They never claimed to be anything more than cheap and reliable.

Every time I purchased or renewed a service, I felt like I was putting a great big stamp of approval on all of the boorish shenanigans they so proudly displayed. When clients and colleagues would ask who my host was, I felt embarrassed to tell them because their values were so far from my own.

Practice What You Preach…

It was then I decided I had to put my money where my mouth was. I did some digging, got some input from trusted friends and business owners, and made the switch to DreamHost. (At the time, they were running a fantastic deal and I was able to make the switch without emptying my pockets. Bonus!)

I felt so powerful. Not only had I said goodbye to a bad business relationship, I stood up (in a little way) to the demoralizing message of ‘sex for sale’ and gave my money to a company I felt aligned with my own personal and business values.

Regardless of your stance on wet t-shirt contests and fast cars, I urge you to invest your money in companies that represent your core values. The few dollars you might save here or there are worth placing in the hands of a business that you are proud to support.

This little piggy has been making it a point to do just that.

Thanks for the piggy bank, Ryan Hyde!

It can be a bit confusing with all of the choices we’re given, but selecting a domain name doesn’t need to be a stressful event. There are thousands of articles written on this topic, so I’m going keep this post short and sweet.

Thanks to the popularity of the web, it can be rather tricky to find a domain name that is both available, and representative of your brand.

The basic rules I follow when choosing a domain name are:

Keep it Short + Simple

Long domains or those with words that are easily misspelled should be avoided. (A few of my favorite websites break this rule, but let me tell ya, it’s hard to share them with folks when I don’t have my bookmarks in front of me!) For example, I could have used DaricePauselius.com, but it’s a lot easier to spell (and say) DariceJoy.com.

Dot Com is Best

Although there are many other web extensions available these days, .com (short for ‘commercial’) is still the default mindset. There are instances when .net (short for ‘network’) and .org (short for ‘organization’) are appropriate, but in general, you’ll find people automatically add .com to a word or brand in order to find it online. The easier it is for people to find you, the better.

Use Hyphens Sparingly

Hyphens are great when you have words that run together in your URL, but try not to use more than one. For example, the hyphen in Mighty-Flighty.com makes it easier to read.

Use Your Name

This might seem obvious, but your name (or your company’s name) is most likely available. If it isn’t, try adding your credentials (i.e. DrJohnBrown or JohnBrownMD), or your location (LemonadeStandPA or NewEnglandPopcornShop) to help set you apart.

Aside from my own ideas, I also want to share what my friend and colleague, Shannon Steffen of Excira Media, offers as Guidelines for Choosing a Domain Name.

* Now that I’ve given you an ear bug, why not play The Name Game with the person sitting next to you?

Thanks for the banana photograph, Keepon!

Well, we know how to move a blog from WordPress.com to WordPress.org, but it’s kinda hard to do that without a domain and hosting. So…let’s go back in time a bit and figure it out!

I won’t be showing you screenshots of the process, but I will point you in the direction of some pretty nice host specific instructions and tutorials. Each web host is different so it’s best to hear it from the horse’s mouth.

Let’s Start at the Very Beginning…

First things first. In order to have your very own website, you need your very own domain and hosting plan. You purchase domains and hosting through a web host.

Currently, I am a happy DreamHost* customer, but many of my friends and colleagues use Bluehost and are quite happy as well. WordPress recommends both, so choose the host you feel best about – or the host that is most affordable.**

If the Shoe Fits…

Don’t feel obligated to use DreamHost or Bluehost – if you’d rather shop around there are plenty of hosts to choose from. The only thing you have to keep in mind is that WordPress requires a couple of things to run correctly. At the time of this writing, the following is what you’ll need to look for:
    1.) PHP 5.2.4 or greater
    2.) MySQL 5.0 or greater
    3.) The mod_rewrite Apache module.

That said, the beautiful thing about DreamHost and Bluehost is that they both offer painless (read: automatic) installation of the WordPress software. All you have to do is click a button and tell them where you’d like the directory. When I was first starting with WordPress, that little feature made me feel very powerful.

Okay, so step one is complete: we have a web host. On to step two: buying a domain. Wait a minute! Step two is already covered if you choose to go with DreamHost or Bluehost. They include a free domain with their yearly hosting plans! I told you this was easy as pie.

Don’t forget, buying a domain name is only part of the equation…before you can buy, you have to select a domain name.

Here are those links I promised…

I know you can do this!

* Let me tell you why I switched…

** Normally, I don’t encourage folks to ‘go for the cheaper one,’ but in this case it is of little consequence. Both hosts have a good reputation and their product/service offering is very similar. In my mind that’s the perfect time to save some green. :-)