A Little Background: Me and Websites
I am notorious for switching up my website design … all the time. I am the type of person who does it, has it for three months and then am ready for a change. Just because I can or want to. It’s my nature. My brain is constantly going and wanting to experiment and try new things. One of my besties Jess, who I talk about often, can’t stand that I do this. And she’s right, I need to settle down and commit to a brand and a layout until January 2021 minimum.
Current Website Situation
It’s currently the end of March 2020 and I was supposed to be done with the new site already, but I allowed my day job to get in the way and no joke was working 80 hour weeks. Every. Week. This. Month. So I’m tired, to say the least. I’ve been falling asleep in random places. I might have woken up on the floor in my home office at 8:30 in the morning once this month.
This is not a behavior I encourage. I am exhausted, I am not eating how I should be eating, and it’s just not really a pretty sight. But, until I can start bringing in supportable revenue with my gold leaf pieces, I have to have a job and I have to keep that job.
The Website I’ve Started But Not Yet Finished
One benefit of my day job and career over the last 21 years is that it was in creative advertising, I know how to build websites and make all the graphics. The flip side is I’m super analytical of myself and I constantly am having to remind myself done is better than perfect. Also, since it’s digital you can tinker with the little things after it’s live. Fucking. Go. Already.
The one place I do struggle with when I’m getting my new website up is photography. I hate photography but love a good photo. In my day job, I’m the one behind the conception of the theme, directing the shoot as it happens and finessing the fine details in post-pro, but I’m not actually the one taking the photos or editing them in post. My hat is off to those who can do that and do it well. I get super antsy if I try to do it and I just need to leave this part to the people who the universe has called to do photography.
Okay, then hire a photographer you say. Yes! That is what I plan to do, but before I do that I need to plan all the photos I will need to plug the holes in my website layout. I’m needing and wanting to show a lot of pieces that I just don’t have at the moment. So I have gone into ideation creation mode. How do I show people what I do in the best light, but also get them done in time to whip up my site and start moving forward the way I need to.
Solution: Think Small
Small pieces are always easier to get done, because, well, they are small. It makes sense right. So I’ve dreamed up a collection of small pieces I can make still at the high-quality luxury that represents my business but also pieces I can complete on a faster timeline, use fewer resources, and potentially sell to the public as a promo piece once the site launches.
Over the next two months, I will be building these pieces that I have sketched up. I will share them with everyone on social media as the process is completed. Then hopefully getting one of my favorite product photographers, Elizabeth Marie, to take some glorious photos of all the work so I can use them to launch this site!
