You need a site that performs
as well as you do.
(…and doesn’t look like it fell out of Pukie’s bucket.)

Remember back before you found CrossFit? You went to the gym… you may have even known how to squat, deadlift, and run… but were you able to come up with a workout that even approaches the effectiveness of CrossFit?

It took Coach years to craft what we’ve come to know as the best system out there. He learned it all, tested it, waded through the b.s., and put it all together into a cohesive system that works. So sure, you could try to re-invent the wheel, but why bother?

Ever go into an Indian restaurant, look at menu, and say, “This is just vegetables, meat, and spices! Couldn’t I just make this at home?”

Of course you could… but it would involve learning about Indian cuisine, tracking down a bunch of obscure spices, and experimenting long enough to make something that doesn’t taste like a burger in a blender. That’s why you’re willing to pay for good food, even though you could cook it yourself at home.

So yeah, sure, you could learn how to do all this web stuff on your own… after all, I did. And, it took me years. And, I was willing to learn three programming languages to do it. Not to mention all the little tricks of the trade that you only get by immersing yourself in a field over a long period of time.

The question you need to ask yourself is, “Can I take the time to learn all this stuff on my own… and do I even want to?” Or, would you rather just learn what you need to know to manage and customize your site (and more, if and when you want it), so you can spend your time focusing on being the best trainer you can be, and serving your community?

Because there’s a level of knowledge between novice and expert (it’s called “savvy”), and once you’re pointed in the right direction, it’s not hard to get there pretty quickly. You can learn enough to do what you want, but not spend so much time tracking down all that knowledge that it’s like having a second job.

When you sign up, you’ll have access to the Training Library; video training presentations that will show you:

• How easy it is to add text, images, audio, and video to your site
• What you need to do to add new pages, blog posts, articles, etc. at any time
• The inner workings of your site’s settings, from categories to tags and beyond
• How updating the look of your site is easily done with the click of a button
• Get “behind the curtain” of your site to customize its internal functions, but only if and when you want to
• The simple ways to upgrade the functionality of your site, without knowing a lick of computer programming

Of course, when you receive your site, it will be pre-configured to work just as it is, right out of the box… the only thing you absolutely need to learn is how to add your personalized content. Anything above that is completely optional… but it’s there for you to pick and choose from as you like. And if there isn’t a training video available for what you’re wanting to learn, I’ll create one for you (assuming it’s possible).

But what if I can’t follow the video’s instructions?

Hey, that’s what email is for. Send me a message, and I’ll help you get unstuck.

To be honest, I’ve seen so many people have a website handed to them with no understanding whatsover of how to use it.

It’s like CrossFit newbies; they wander into a gym starstruck, with no idea what they’re getting into. Or, they try doing the mainsite WOD in their basement, and having no idea how to actually squat, flounder around until they fall over of exhaustion.

Eventually, they get the hang of it. They get training, or they watch enough videos to get their questions answered, and they progress along slowly. One way or another, it all works out.

But websites aren’t CrossFitters; as a website owner, you can have the most pathetic, ugly, non-functional site, and probably not even realize it until someone is brave enough to tell you to your face. You can hem and haw, try to ignore it as long as you can, and hope it isn’t impacting your business too bad.

I don’t want to see that happen with you, though… I’d like to see you have a website that you feel comfortable with, that you can make work for you and your business from the get-go. Besides, I believe in the CrossFit vision, that CrossFit will one day take over the Globogyms of the world. But it isn’t being helped when so many people’s first impression of CrossFit is their local affiliate’s butt-ugly site. Harsh? Maybe. True? Unfortunately.

I’m assuming going into this, when it comes to websites, you have zero, zilch, nada, the big donut hole so far (and if you have more, that’s fine, too; this is 100% adaptable). Starting from scratch, here’s what you get:

Set Up:

The foundational pieces, all put in place…

• I’ll fully configure your webhosting account, and handle your domain name (if need be)
• WordPress installed
• Your choice of theme installed
• Email account(s) set up, if you like
• RSS feed configured
  • Feedburner account set up and configured
  • RSS feed fully activated and integrated on your site

Customization:

Based on my experience as a webdesigner and a CrossFitter, there are a number of tweaks that will allow you to make the most of your site. This is all stuff that took me a long time to find, experiment with, and master, and are considered “advanced”, or “insider information” to most…”

• ‘Sandbox’-style body classes (allows you to customize just about anything you want)
• Custom CSS file, to protect your style customizations
• Multiple Plugins pre-installed, to handle everything from contact forms to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to social bookmarking and more

Knowledge:

• Learn how to edit your site’s content
  • create and edit pages, with text, images, and other media
  • understand how all your pages fit together, and how to create a cohesive site
  • understand how to add, edit, and optimize blog sections (categories, tags, archives, etc.)
  • learn what a widget is, and how to use them
• Learn how to fine-tune your site’s style through CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
• Learn how to work “under the hood”, when need be, to edit your site
  • what FTP is, when you need it, and how to best use it
  • learn the basic “languages” your site is built with, such as HTML, PHP, and CSS
  • customize your site’s layout by editing template files, including what to touch and what not to
• Learn how to add plugins to increase your site’s functionality
• Understand how to manage all the various aspects of your site

And don’t sweat it if a bunch of this doesn’t make sense! That’s what I’m here for. Everything will be simplified and explained in the Training Library, so you’ll be on your way to savviness in no time.

Because to tell you the truth, as much as I love being a webdesigner, my forte is really in teaching. Having been a teacher, workshop leader, and speaker for over a decade, I’ve got years of experience in teaching people how to grasp complex subjects easily.

And, in all the discussions I’ve had with other webdesigners, they’ve all agreed that there are precious few resources out there for people who need to learn how to control their websites… which is just about every small business owner I know of.

And as a CrossFitter, I’ve seen first-hand that just because someone knows CrossFit, doesn’t mean their site shows it. I’ve come across some ugly, poorly-organized sites in my days, and I know how it hurts the owner’s business when their message can’t get across to their audience. I love the CrossFit community too much to let that continue. I want to see CrossFit affiliates have beautiful, clear, useful sites that perform as well as they do.