Big Announcement – Yes, I did it!

Well I did it.  I buckled down and did the hard work I said I was gonna do.  It was rough. I stopped checking email, my Google reader overflowed, the mail piled up on my desk and I think I skipped a few meals, but I did it.

In case you’re lost, I last posted that I had a fear of success and that I was gonna conquer that once and for all.  I think I have finally achieved that and therefore I have a big announcement to make. :D

In between catching up on the enormous amount of client work I had taken on, I invoked the huge task of totally revising my site and laying the foundation for future growth.  I won’t bore you with the technical aspects, but let’s just say it was a huge undertaking.  There will be a lot more coming in the future, but at the moment I am unveiling the first stage.

Let me introduce you to the all new Girls Can’t WHAT? shop: https://www.girlscantwhat.com/girls-gift/.  Go ahead – take a peek.  I’ll wait.

Pretty slick, isn’t it?  I’ve had that idea in my head for months and I totally procrastinated because it was such a big project.  My conservative side (yes, I have one) said I had no time to manage something that big, but the payoffs were so big that I finally convinced my inner geek to get in gear and do it.  And it’s pretty much done.  I have a few clean up items to tend to but the shop is open.  In the real world, this would be like a grand opening and you’d see me in the corner of the shop shining the windows or sweeping the floors.

So what’s next?

New stuff.  And tons of it.  I still have a long list of requests to draw and I’m gonna get to all of those over the next few months.  I also have a truckload of new inventory on it’s way in.  That should start showing up in each of the shop sections in the next week or so. And then after that, it gets bigger…

For the longest time, I’ve recognized the need for a community of sorts so that people with similar interests can for groups and have discussions, etc.  I’ve had forums and such in the past, but my server at the time always struggled and I my host always threatened to shut me down for using up too much bandwidth so I had to give them up in order to stay afloat.  Well, I solved that little problem, too.  I got my own server.

So now I can do whatever I want, build whatever I want and not have to worry that someone will shut me down.  So phase 2 will be adding the community functions to Girls Can’t WHAT?  It will feature groups, friends lists and forums – much like a social network.  So instead of trying to communicate through post comments, Girls Can’t WHAT? members will be able to create specialized groups and share tips, stories and more with others who share those interests.

What else?

Woah – slow down!  You’re getting ahead of me.  Actually, I do have some future ideas, but I’ve got to get stages one and two completed first.  So hang on, this ride is about to take off. ;)

I value your feedback, so if you have any new design ideas or comments about the new shop, let me know in the comments below.