In our last ezine, we launched a new infoproduct and a new email newsletter template with a simplified design and layout — I LOVE the new template because it really focuses on getting our loyal subscribers awesome content in a way that is easy to read and digest.

Brian and I are also working on an upgrade to our own website design (we’re so excited), but we won’t be ready to debut that until later. We’re in the design facelift phase right now and, as you can imagine, we’re nitpicking everything from the menu and the flow of content, to the paths our visitors travel, and every pixel of spacing.

The new upgrade is already so good, I’m having some website shame of my own (unheard of, I know) in regards to this one!

Why upgrade the site? Well first we do it every 18 months to 2 years as we continue to learn. Second, we’ve gained immense clarity (I’m talking crystal clear) about our brand and we need refine things a bit.

Now, along with gaining complete clarity about the Bourn Creative brand and where we want to take it, I’ve gained clarity in other areas too!

But My Clarity Lead to Infoproduct Irritation

This all came to a head while Brian and I were strategizing for 2012/2013.

Read my Rant on Infoproducts and How I’m Taking a Stand

Brian and I love riding bikes, Carter loves riding his Lightning McQueen bike … but Natalie … not so much. In 2010 Santa brought Natalie an awesome big-girl bike and she spent (maybe) 20 minutes on it all year.

To put it mildly, riding bikes hasn’t been a fun experience for all. Natalie was so afraid of wobbling and falling that she couldn’t even try to ride her bike. She would sit on it. Then it would wobble. Then she’d burst into tears and run in the house almost hysterical — and she couldn’t seem to control it.

When we rented bikes in Tahoe and did our 16-mile ride, she cried for the first 20 minutes or so begging us to return them.

Read About Making The Decision to Just Do It

We’ve been busy at Bourn Creative – but not too busy to spend the day at the Annual Mountain Mandarin festival! Brian’s parents have an Organic Satsuma Mandarin Orchard (YUM!) and each year we kick off the season at the festival.

Again this year, S&J Mandarin Grove SOLD OUT by the middle of the second day of the festival!

Luckily, they’ll have more of these sweet, seedless, delicious mandarin oranges ripe and ready to ship all over the United States in about a week!

Read More About Why I’m Thankful

As I have shared before we always operate at capacity with our workload, and this year we instituted a waiting list.

On top of that, we’ve been rescuing WordPress sites from major hacker attacks, dealing with private server crashes, computer meltdowns, our own backup system crashing, multiple viruses … Needless to say it’s been abnormally crazy around here!

Then to add to all of that, in one week we fired a client, we got fired by a client, and that client then convinced another he referred to us to fire us too!

Let me explain…

This past week put both Brian and I on overload. We were not only in catch-up mode from my Arizona trip for Ali Brown’s Millionaire Protege Club retreat, but also three of our biggest clients all needed giant projects done all at the same time!

Needless to say we were really looking forward to some detached-downtime over weekend with the kids. On Saturday after soccer, we played boards games, Wii, and Legos all day. Then on Sunday we hit the pumpkin patch and Bishop’s Pumpkin Farm with Brian’s mom, June.

When June arrived at our house on Sunday, we were getting in the car and she asked, “Which pumpkin patch are we going to?”

“What?! There is only one pumpkin patch to go to,” I replied. Then it dawned on me. There are a few really good pumpkin patches around our house, but I only ever think of one. For me the words “Pumpkin Patch” and “Bishop’s Farm” mean the same thing.

Read More About Branding Pumpkins

I recently met up with fellow members of Ali Brown’s Millionaire Protege Club Platinum Group at the gorgeous Montelucia Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona for two full days of inspiration, learning, and focus to move our businesses forward. (RIGHT: Me with Ali Brown and Head Coach James Roche)

The women (and a few men) at the retreat were gracious and brilliant, sharing their expertise and insights in facilitated mastermind groups, over meals, and by the pool. Being a part of such a supportive and smart group has been such a wonderful experience!

And, I won’t lie and tell you we didn’t spend the whole day after enjoying libations by the pool! It was warm, relaxing, and fabulous… and the views were stunning.

Read My 16 Best Take-Aways From Ali Brown’s MPC Platinum Retreat

Fall in the Bourn household not only means back-to-school and a rush of new clients hoping to get new sites up and brands launched by the end of the year, it also means soccer season!

Both of my kids, Natalie and Carter are playing this year!

Brian is head coach of Natalie’s team the Pink Ferraris and Assistant Coach of Carter’s Team the Blasters.

I’m assistant coach for Natalie’s team and help out with both teams wherever I can. We love soccer season and I am happy to report that our teams are doing great, both starting off the season 2-0!

Winning takes teamwork and a lot of practice – success does too! No one can waltz out onto the field with zero practice, score a goal, and win a game.

Read More About How to Accelerate Your Success

I’ve been writing lately about some parallels business has with our everyday experiences – specifically our recent family camping trip to Burney Falls.

As I am writing this post, I am covered (and I am not exaggerating) in mosquito bites and desperately trying not to itch them!

I am currently paying the itchy price of forgetting to use the bug spray we brought with us during our recent hiking adventure in Mt. Lassen Volcanic National Park.

All I can say is, Thank goodness I used it the rest of the days we were camping!

Read More About Bug Spray for Mean People

Guest Post from Sydni Craig-Hart, The Smart Simple Marketing Coach

Building your business and growing it to support the lifestyle you want is the whole point of becoming an entrepreneur.

The first step in doing so is to define what success means for you. Perhaps it means that you work a certain schedule. Have the ability to travel extensively. Or maybe it has to do with the amount of income you generate. Be OK with whatever success means to you and resist the urge the be influenced by what the “gurus” say you should be doing. Instead, focus your efforts on bringing your vision of success to life! This means taking action to works towards your goal.

Remember this quote: “There is something more important than believing; ACTION! The world is full of dreamers. Those who are successful will move ahead and begin to take concrete steps to ACTUALIZE their vision” (- Unknown).

In order to build your business, you will need to do just a few things very well:

Learn the 3 Simple Keys to More Profits, Less Stress and More Visibility

This past week we spent the day in Mount Lassen Volcanic National Park in Northern California. We sweat through a mid-day hike, plugged our noses at the sulfur springs, saw a mama bear and her two cubs play in the meadow, and played in the snow!

Our hike was the Kings Creek hike back to the Kings Creek Falls. It was supposed to be a moderate, two hour hike – Perfect for the kids! But that wasn’t exactly the case.

Read About The Success Escalator