Small Business
I used to dread maintenance. Whether cleaning the house or updating client sites, it lacked the gratification and excitement of new projects, big purchases, etc. Routine tasks are predictable and lack the promise of an exciting new future that’s better than the present. Newness is alluring. The excitement that drives me into new projects is […]
On a website, content is king. Good content is clear, concise, and conversational, leading the user through a compelling narrative. In web design, typography, colors, and images prime the user’s emotional expectations for the content. You can’t design your way out of mediocre content. Whether you’re building a new website or looking to improve your […]
When planning your website, the best place to start is a bit counter-intuitive: zoomed out. Focusing on the bigger picture first–deciding who the website is for, what it should achieve, and what your competitors are doing–makes it easier to align any changes you might make with the most important big-picture ideas and goals of your […]
Planning your new website project can be intimidating. There are so many different directions you can take it. Do you want to be bold and flashy, or do you want to be refined and minimalist? Do you want something trendy or timeless? Most importantly, how do you plan a website that will define your brand […]
Instead of seeing your business and the marketplace as one of scarcity and competition, bring a mindset of abundance. Focus on maximizing the value you offer to clients and other business owners, rather than focusing on what you can get from them.
Social proof is the “I’ll have what he’s having” of marketing. When people are talking about your organization outside of your marketing, unsolicited–be it with friends, with family, or on social media–these are all forms of social proof. Social proof is also the most important form of marketing while also being the most difficult to […]
Do you want more engagement from your audience? Talk to them! Obviously, you cannot talk with every single person individually. Much like you, we’re busy. But you can effectively communicate with them through your blog. By keeping a regular blog–whether you post once a month or once a week–you can keep in regular contact with […]
Excellent customer service, trustworthiness, and quality products/services are NOT differentiators. They’re expected. They’re the bare minimum. If you’re an architect, your drawings should be detailed. An accountant? Let me guess: you’re good with numbers. If you’re a restaurant, we can assume the food tastes good. A digital marketer? I assume you’ll get me “results,” as […]
You’ll consume hundreds of pieces of micro-content today, and you’ll forget about 98% of it by tomorrow. What’ll stick? The compelling stories, the conversations, interactions, text, photos, and videos that fit into a storyline that resonates with your life in some way. As an organization or business, your marketing is going to waste if you […]
This April marked five years since I left my last “real job” at a nonprofit and dove full-time into starting a business. I had just spent about a year self-learning code and basic design in my free time. I felt far from ready but realized I’d never get things off the ground while working full-time […]
When it comes to communicating with your audience, the first thing that you should worry about is what your customer needs, and how you can help them with it. If your sole message is always “buy from me” without providing any value, it’s going to do more harm than good. The fact that you need […]
One of the most common questions people ask me as a web designer is: “How do I choose the right image type for my website?” This is a great question because the size and file type of images can greatly affect a website’s speed and overall appearance. There are many different options to choose from […]
Just like phones and computers, websites need to be updated every once in a while in order to maintain performance. With every update missed, phones and computers gradually get slower performing basic tasks and running programs. The same goes for websites. When websites are not regularly updated and maintained, performance gradually degrades and it becomes […]
What’s the key to creating worthwhile content as a business owner? Simple, start by answering the questions your clients are already asking you! But how do you know what questions they have? Should you go and post a survey? Not necessary. Here’s a better idea: Keep a Log of Questions Your Clients Are Asking You […]
One morning a few months ago I woke up and took a look outside at my car. Guess what I saw? That’s right. A parking ticket. The automatic reaction when any normal person see’s a parking ticket is anger and confusion. In my case I felt it was justified because I live on a normal […]
We live in an attention economy. The scarcest resource is people’s attention as there is more competing for our finite attention than ever before. So you’re trying to get attention for your business, for your cause, etc. you first need to embrace the fact that nobody inherently gives a shit. Everybody is trying to get […]
Every single time you come across a piece of content on the internet, a subtle voice in your head will be asking, what’s in it for me? We’re always asking that questions because that’s just the way we are. There is more content posted today than you could read in a lifetime. So we need […]
We’ve all been there before, staring at a blank Word doc and not knowing where to start. When it comes to writing blog posts, it doesn’t have to be a chore. A good process makes it much easier. Here’s my approach.
I got a phone call from a plant nursery owner a couple weeks ago. He’s not a client of mine but he wanted some ideas about what to do during this hard time. I mentioned some ideas like curbside pickups, but he’s committed to remaining closed until it’s safe to re-open. The reason? For the […]
How much of a runway do you need to start a business? It would be ideal to do so when: You’re sitting on enough cash to carry you through 6 months You have a long list of customers demanding your services In the middle of a booming economy Well that’s the ideal, but welcome to […]
The most common mistake I see on About pages is believing it’s all about you, the business. It’s not. Even if it’s literally titled “About Us,” it’s really all about your customers—specifically making a genuine connection and making them feel good about being the kind of person who purchases from your business.
Now is a great time to build an audience through creating timely, original content that your audience will find useful and valuable at any time, not just during the lockdown.
It’s a great time to start offering products and services online today, but it could also be a good option to have in the future.
If there’s one thing this virus has shown us, it’s that we need to be able to adapt. So let’s adapt.
The little update banners we put up the first few weeks were a nice first step, but since this new normal is here to stay, we have to go much further than that. We need to turn our websites into vibrant digital storefronts. Here’s how.