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Primility Emailed Me and I replied

July 27, 2014 By Jason Hobbs Leave a Comment

primility-logo-white-bgSo Jerod Morris, the guy behind Primility, who happens to moonlight as the Director of Content for Copyblogger Media, emailed the latest Primility Blog Post to my email.

This, too, shall pass

Jason,

“This, too, shall pass” is a quote imbued with primility.

That it is associated with Abraham Lincoln, one of the greatest single examples of primility I’ve yet to find in my research, is all too appropriate.

The saying reminds us to keep our pride in check, because even the best of times — no matter how much our efforts may have contributed to them — shall at some point pass.

But it also reminds us to not be overwhelmed with humility, to the point of meekness, because even the worst of times — no matter how much our failures may have contributed to them — shall also at some point pass.

Saturday morning, thanks to a link contained in Austin Kleon’s weekly newsletter, I learned the history of Lincoln’s association with this short, stout phrase.

It’s far more compelling than I had anticipated …

Why Lincoln’s Milwaukee speech lives on

We often attribute the phrase “This, too, shall pass” to Lincoln as if it started with him. It turns out he simply popularized the phrase and brought it into a modern context.

Lincoln’s association with the phrase makes sense, given what we know of his constant bouts with depression and self-doubt, as well as the many political failures he endured before the monumental achievements of his presidency that catapulted him to the esteem he’s held in today.

But where did said association begin? In September of 1859, roughly 17 months before he took office as the 16th president of the United States.

Lincoln addressed the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society of Milwaukee, kicking off its agricultural fair. In an insightful address, which you can read in full here, Lincoln addresses issues of improving crop production per acre, as well as the tenuous intersection of capital, labor, and education.

He comes to the conclusion that farming holds the greatest potential for capital, labor, and education to work in harmony, the fruits of which would be seen in enduring liberty for all … for “No community whose every member possesses this art, can ever be the victim of oppression of any of its forms.”

But Lincoln is ever the realist. He realizes that in farming, as in so many endeavors, there are winners and losers, successes and failures, with individuals potentially swapping groups from year to year.

Which sets the stage for his concluding comments, and advice:

“And by the successful, and unsuccessful, let it be remembered, that while occasions like the present, bring their sober and durable benefits, the exultations and mortifications of them are but temporary; that the victor shall soon be the vanquished, if he relax in his exertion; and that the vanquished this year, may be victor the next, in spite of all competition.

“It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence, to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: “And this, too, shall pass away.” How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction! “And this, too, shall pass away.” And yet, let us hope, it is not quite true. Let us hope, rather, that by the best cultivation of the physical world, beneath and around us, and the intellectual and moral world within us, we shall secure an individual, social, and political prosperity and happiness, whose course shall be onward and upward, and which, while the earth endures, shall not pass away.”

Lincoln is explaining a tenet of primility in the first paragraph: that too much pride in one’s immediate success can quickly lead to future failure; but, on the flip side, that failure need not lead to meekness, for success may be right around the corner if enough pride to keep moving forward is maintained.

The second paragraph, of course, is where Lincoln delivers the famous words: “And this, too, shall pass away” … an approximation of the famous axiom.

What I find interesting is that immediately after sharing the story, and the quote, Lincoln seeks to discredit it, saying “And yet, let us hope, it is not quite true.” He is referring to prosperity — because why should we want that to pass? This is Lincoln saying, essentially, “Let the good times roll.” Indeed. Who wouldn’t want that?

But we know that even the best of the times are just temporary … followed by a balancing of the ledger, even if only based on perception because we get used to prosperity and take it for granted.

 Thus, the enduring, universal brilliance and applicability of “This, too, shall pass.”

We are here, in this moment, whatever it is. And we should experience it fully. But it shall pass … and then we are on to the next moment, which we will make of what we will — a function of how balanced our pride and our humility prove to be.

Thank you

To conclude this week’s newsletter, I just want to say thank you to everyone who provided their kind words and warm wishes this week after I posted about my current bout with a herniated disc in my back.

(And I’d be a damn ungrateful fool if I didn’t make special mention of Heather and thank her for all her help over the past week. She’s been wonderful.)

While it hasn’t been the most pleasant of weeks — as those of you who have been similarly afflicted know quite well — the adage at the heart of this newsletter is already proving true: it, too, shall pass.

I’m happy to report that I already feel much, much better today, just a handful of days later. The worst of the pain is gone, and my limp is far less pronounced. Rehab and stretching shall soon commence, followed as soon thereafter as possible by a return to the yoga mat.

No, I don’t plan to fall asleep on this much-appreciated wake-up call. 🙂

What about you?

Have you received any recent wake-up calls? Is there anything — positive or negative — that you are preparing yourself for the passing of?

I’d love to hear from you, on these or any other subjects. Just hit reply and your message will go right to me.

Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

So yes, dude knows what he is doing. So much so, I replied:

Hey Jerod,

The passing I am painfully happy to see end is my 8+ year run of failures chasing my white whale. Your mentioning President Lincoln battling Depression really resonated with me. I may have heard the same at another point but my 8 years of chasing a solution (aka my white whale) included my ongoing battle with Depression and ADHD.

But it was work ethic and attitude that helped me see the passing of 8+ years of my focused frustration and failure.

After 8 years of soaking in everything I could from Copyblogger, Teaching Sells (A TON from here, SUPER-AWESOME), the speakers at Blueglass X, Seth Godin’s books, the IMSP and then the NewRainMaker, Authority forums (some, not a ton from there so far, info overload for me there) and helping market CobaltApps’ products for 18months, working with business owners to get online, hosting and website’s built and managed, researching, from a Strategic Marketing perspective the WordPress and specifically the cottage industry(s) spawned from the Genesis Framework and Copyblogger Media’s assets, I finally harpooned my white whale.

This weekend all the years of literally working 24/7 to solve this problem I was set on through conversations with my Grandfather while serving as primary caregiver over the last 8 months or so of his life, was made worth it.

I know how to dig out of the $100K+ debt my chase has led me to in this moment. In a week or month at most, money will not be important to me. When $3 to go to Burger King is possible but only though planning and scrounging, then money is playing to large a role. At least in my humble view. When I feel bad looking at my pets because I gotta figure out how to pay for the vet visits they are long overdue, that means money is too important to my environment.

This, too, shall pass.

The darkest part of night comes just before the dawn (not verbatim lol, but the sentiment is similar in my view) I think I used that quote in both of my Eulogies for my Gramps and then Grandma.

Finally. Likely TMI but you said to reply. 🙂

Jason Hobbs
Principal | Jason Hobbs, LLC

How Do I Build A Membership Site With Genesis?

April 9, 2014 By Jason Hobbs Leave a Comment

This tutorial uses the following tools:

  • $60.00 | Genesis Framework
  • $40.00 | Your Choice of Genesis Child Theme, in the example I use: eleven40 Theme
  • $49.95 | Genesis Extender Plugin
  • $42.00 | Restrict Content Pro

Total: $191.95

1. Install the Restrict Content Pro plugin

  1. While logged into your WordPress installation, hover over the Plugins menu in the left-hand column and click the Add New link
  2. Click the Upload link
  3. Choose the plugin’s zip file you downloaded to your computer
  4. Click the Install Now button

1.1 Click the Activate Plugin link

2. Create Your Register Page

  1. While logged into your WordPress installation, hover over Pages in the left hand column and click the Add New link
  2. Give your page a name, for example: Register
  3. Be sure you’re on the Text tab (tip of the triangle) as opposed to the Visual Tab, then insert the [register_form] shortcode
  4. Click the Publish button

3. Create Your My Account Page

Step-by-step instructions for creating your My Account Page are located here.

4. Configure the Restrict Content Pro Settings

  1. Enter your license key to receive automatic updates to the plugin and plugin support from Pippin and his team.
  2. Your PayPal address for your membership payments to be deposited
  3. Click the Save Options button

4.1 Messages Tab

  1. Free Content Message: Displays when a visitor attempts to view free, user only content. The example pictured invites the user to register a free account or login
  2. Premium Content Message: The example pictured invites the user to visit the Register page for the premium membership.
  3. Click the Save Options button

4.2 Signup Form Tab

  1. Choose the page containing the shortcode for your membership
  2. Choose the page you want successful registrations redirected to upon completing their registration
  3. jQuery Validation prevents a page reload which, from my experience, is an improved/faster user experience.
  4. Disable all form styling. Only if you plan to provide all CSS styling for your form.
  5. Enable reCaptcha? This is to fight spam in your form. Want to use reCaptcha? Step-by-step instructions here.
  6. If you have setup an SSL certificate for your site and are using it on the form page, then check this box. If not, ignore. FYI: SSL is not required to accept PayPal standard payments.
  7. Check this box if you do not want memberships to automatically renew.
  8. Click the Save Options button

4.3 Emails Tab

  1. Email sent to subscribers when their subscription becomes active
  2. Email sent to subscribers when they cancel their subscription
  3. Email sent to subscribers when their subscription epires
  4. Email sent to subscribers letting them know their subscription will expire soon. Use the dropdown to choose when subscribers will be notified. IE: 1 day or 1 week before expiration, etc
  5. Email sent to subscribers when they signup for a Free Subscription
  6. Email sent to subscribers when they signup for a Free Trial
  7. Check this box if you do NOT want to be emailed as new users signup
  8. Click the Save Options button

4.4 Misc Tab

  1. Hide all premium posts (posts/pages where the Paid Only checkbox is checked) from users
  2. Page you want non-subscribers redirected to when they try to access a premium post or page
  3. When subscribers login, do you want them redirected to a specific page of your choosing?
  4. If yes to #3, choose the page to send users. For example: My Account Page
  5. Check this if you’d like to prevent multiple users from logging into the same account at the same time.
  6. Click the Save Options button

4.5 Logging Tab

If something is not working with the PayPal integration, you will want to come and turn this on and then click the Save Options button.

5. Create Your Subscription Level(s)

Subscription levels allow you to setup different membership packages. For example, you could have one package that grants members access to your premium content for one month, and another that grants users access for an entire year. There is no limit to the number of packages you can create. You can also create “Trial” packages; these grant users premium access for a limited period of time, and can be completely free.

  1. The Name of the Subscription Level
  2. The Description of the membership Level
  3. Access Level, I typically leave this to the default
  4. Duration of the Subscription. In your choice of days, months, or years
  5. Price of the Subscription
  6. Signup Fee for the subscriptions. You can make this a negative number to give a discount on the first payment of a recurring subscription.
  7. Status must be set to Active for members to be able to signup
  8. WordPress User Role given to the subscriber after signup.
  9. Click the Add Membership Level button

6. Payments Menu

While logged into your WordPress installation, in the Left-Hand Column hover over the Restrict Menu and then click the Payments link.

This is where your payments will be logged as they come in. I point it out because its a menu I tend to view often.

7. Add Content

While logged into your WordPress installation, hover over the Posts (or it works the same for Pages) then click the Add New link

  1. Give your Post or Page a title
  2. Enter the content for your post or page
  3. Restrict this to Paid Users only? If yes, toggle the checkbox on
  4. Display the Post Excerpt for non logged in users? If you want to display the message you setup under Settings –> Messages tab, leave this unchecked.
  5. Hide the excerpt of this Post/Page from your RSS feed? To hide it, toggle the checkbox on
  6. Restrict viewing of this content based on Access Level of user, I leave this as default
  7. Restrict viewing of this content based on Restrict Content Pro Subscription levels
  8. Restrict viewing of this content based on WordPress User Level(s)
  9. Click the Update button

Note 1: To hide this content from logged-out users, but allow free and paid, set the User Level to “Subscriber“.

Note 2: Access level (6), subscription level (7), and user level (8) can all be combined to require the user meet all three specifications.

8. Screenshot Examples

Examples of the plugin in action on pippinsplugins.com

8.1 Free Members Content – Not Logged In

8.2 Premium Members Content, Not Logged In

8.3 Register Form

This register form is using the SSL option.

Add Email List Signup

August 23, 2013 By Jason Hobbs 19 Comments

Add Mailchimp Email List Signup

  1. Setup a Free MailChimp Account
  2. Install the Free Genesis eNews Extended Plugin
  3. Add the Email List Signup to your website

1. Lets Setup Our MailChimp Account

1.1 MailChimp | Signup

  1. Enter your email address you want associated with this MailChimp Account
  2. Choose your username for this MailChimp account
  3. Create your password
  4. Click the Create My Account button

1.2 Activate Your Account

1.3 Click Activation Link

In the email from MailChimp Client Services

1.4 Are You A Human? | MailChimp

Confirm your humanity for the Chimp. 🙂

1.5 Your Account Information for MailChimp

  1. First Name
  2. Last Name
  3. Email Address you signed up with
  4. How many people in your organization?
  5. How old is your organization?
  6. Have a list of emails to import as the starting  point of your email list?
  7. Is this account for you or your client?
  8. Company Name
  9. Company Website
  10. Company Address Street Address
  11. City
  12. State
  13. Zipcode
  14. Country
  15. Your industry
  16. Your Timezone
  17. Your mugshot (I kid, I kid)
  18. MailChimp Getting Started Emails?  Yes.
  19. Click the Get Started Button

1.6 Dashboard

Clicking the Save and Get Started button above presents you with this screen.

  1. Click the Create A List Button

1.7 Confirm You Want to Create a List

1.8 Complete List Details for Your New List

  1. List Name: Your subscribers will see this, so make it something appropriate. Good example: “Acme Company Newsletter”
  2. Default From Email (It’s also the Email Address people will reply to)
  3. Default from name for emails sent to this list. (Use something that they will instantly recognize, like your company name)
  4. Remind people how they got on your list (Example: “You’re receiving this email because you opted in at genesisgoodies.com. ”)
  5. Verify Your Contact Information is correct (Important with the CAN SPAM Act)
  6. Choose when you want to be notified of new subscribers
  7. Click the Save button

1.9 Setup Signup Form

You have your list people can signup to, now you need to create the form on your website for users to signup with

1.10 Signup forms for Genesis Goodies Emailer| MailChimp

  1. Click the Select button for Embedded Forms

1.11 Embedded Form Code | MailChimp

  1. Choose Naked – Embedded Form Code
  2. Copy the code snippet for your form

1.12 You Need the Form Action URL

I drag a text widget into the inactive widgets area and then paste the code snippet in the empty text widget, since all I need is to copy the form action url, which is highlighted in the image below

2. Search for the Genesis eNews Extended Plugin under the Add New Plugins menu

  1. Hover on the Plugins Menu abd Click Add New
  2. Click the Search Link
  3. Type: Genesis eNews Extended into the search query box
  4. Click the Search Plugins button

2.1 Install Plugin

  1. Click the Install Now link

2.2 Confirm Installation

2.3 Click the Activate Plugin Link

3. Add the eNews Extended Widget to Your Website

3.1 Widgets ‹ southerntraditionsinc.com — WordPress

  1. Fill in the title for your email capture widget
  2. Enter your text to show above the entry field, explaining the benefit to readers in joining your email list.
  3. Paste the Form Action from the snippet you copied in MailChimp
  4. Enter EMAIL into the E-Mail Field If you want users to fill in their first name, enter FNAME in the First Name Field. For users to enter their last name, enter LNAME in the Last name Field.
  5. If you want, change the Button Text
  6. Click the Save Button

3.2 And heres your email list signup

This is the Genesis eNews Extended Widget inside the Primary Sidebar using Parallax Pro, the Genesis Child Theme.

4. Having trouble with the tutorial?

Comments are on, just ask Jason a question about troubleshooting this tutorial, in the comments or use the contact form.

Troubleshooting Tips

Why don’t the error messages show on my site (inline) rather than showing on the MailChimp site?

The inline error messages require your theme use HTML5 to work. If your theme is not built with HTML5, the errors will be displayed on MailChimp.

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