I love tinkering with websites and writing creative web copy. It’s something I like so much, I decided to make a living at it.
However, when it comes to my own business site, I’m ashamed to say I haven’t paid it any attention in a while. A long, long while. Years.
Collecting cobwebs
Six years ago, I did a coaching program for professional copywriters, with the aim of helping them tweak their marketing – websites included. I got a lot of great advice for my site, and learned some interesting tips for keeping it informative and professional.
The problem was, I didn’t really like it. It was good, but I didn’t like-like it. That, combined with focusing on my client work, meant that I only looked at my site now and then. It collected cobwebs in a corner.
But a few days ago I decided I might look for a new theme. I enjoy having a look at what’s out there, especially when I find a theme I can tweak and customize to look the way I want. I’m not at all a professional web designer, but I have so much fun poking around in CSS or HTML and figuring out what code affects what element of my website.
And so, in a very enjoyable fog, I spent a couple of days revamping my website. I’d found a fantastic, feature-rich page builder plugin, and I quickly had a site I loved. It went against almost everything I’d been told in that business course – but it actually represented me, my personality, and the kind of clients I want to work with.
Here’s a before and after of the homepage,:
New ideas and new stories to tell
I’m not knocking that business course at all – it was a different time for websites, and for everything. What served me in 2012 doesn’t serve me now. I had only been freelancing for three years in 2012 (something that seems ridiculous to think about now!). I was already working with great clients, but still fairly green. Because I was building up skills and a body of work, I was happy to accept any general marketing copywriting that came along. But recently, I’ve been feeling a pull towards change, something I couldn’t pin down. That is, until last week, when I was working on my site. I had a very obvious thought: “Why don’t you focus on creative entrepreneurs?”
It made so much sense. Even though I’ve always worked in marketing, I always felt lucky that I was just as comfortable in the world of the designers I worked with. And I love how neatly creative entrepreneurship fits in that particular Venn diagram. If I may employ an internet cliché, working with creative entrepreneurs inspires me. I love to see people not only embrace their creative skills, but use them in interesting ways to create a new source of income for themselves. It’s also a lot of fun, and some of my favourite projects have been for creative types. As a lifelong creative myself, it’s not hard to see why.
I’ve also happily returned to Twitter, which is another thing I never thought I’d do! I’m looking forward to this new direction and all of the interesting stories I hope to help people tell soon.