I believe that every business should be fluid. And if 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that we should be willing to change and adjust based on the circumstances that are given. I’ve always been a big proponent of evaluating the services that are offered and figuring out how to best serve my clients, so in many way, this isn’t all that much different than other years.. but for 2021, I’m definitely thinking a bit outside of the box.

Website Design

Designing websites was my first hobby. I started back in High School, just as the internet and websites were taking over the world (yes, I’m that old). I studied communication design in College, which gave me a solid foundation in traditional graphic design, and expanded into interactive media for my Bachelors Degree. I was fortunate to work for small start ups for the first year or so of my career, before getting a designer job at an advertising agency. This began my long career working in digital advertising on some huge global brands (British Airways, Delta, IBM, Post Cereals, Starburst, The Food Network, Dyson, Cadillac, The Hartford, etc). It also involved a lot of late nights, working through weekends, and being generally available 24/7, which isn’t the best scenario when you’re trying to have/raise a family.

And that’s why I became an entrepreneur - to have more control over my schedule and have some sort of balance in my life (or at least decide for myself). And I still designed websites, but just for myself.

And then Covid happened.

Web design became both a valid venue for working with clients remotely and also a need that everyone all of a sudden had for their business.

Which is also when I realized that all those years of being a self-employed entrepreneur gave me the experience and knowledge needed to effectively create websites for small businesses. The truth is, you can’t 100% apply the experience of designing for a huge brand to designing a website for a photographer or a florist.. they have very different goals and needs. And that’s where the disconnect comes in for most people. It’s almost like there’s this middle area, between web design agencies who employ teams of people and single individuals who do straightforward design but might not have the strategy and breadth in place. And it took me some time to realize how rare it actually is to have proficiency in both of those worlds - and how much that’s needed for small businesses and solopreneurs.

So if you’ve been thinking about starting your own business, or want to take your current business (and DIY website) to the next level, feel free to click below to learn more about how I do web design differently.

Video

Another way of going back to my College roots and early learning is exploring video as an additional service. It’s amazing how all of those basic principles I learned over 15 years ago are still very much applicable when it comes to putting footage together and using the software to do so. A lot of what you learn in photography is actually directly applicable to video, too. Lighting and composition are exactly the same. And most of the equipment can be used for both since all modern digital photography cameras do video as well.

I’ve already had a chance to put some of these skills to the test when working with Haus of Pretty on instructional video tutorials for their custom color kits and creating an emotive video for a website header (see the clip above), and I look forward to exploring this specific genre of work more in the next few months!

Product Photography

Product photography was always something I offered as part of Personal Branding sessions, and will now be extended to website projects as well. I absolutely love the idea of being able to handle everything for my clients, from creating the website to all the images that will be showcased on it. This will make it so much easier to get products and services out there and start displaying them in a way that’s professional and impressive to potential clients, without having to literally put a team together that will do it for you.

Email List Building

One of the big pieces of the puzzle in the strategic trifecta of building an online business (the first two being your website and social media) is your email list. Being able to gather emails is the best way to stay in touch with potential clients and it’s something I’ve done for my own business over the past few years to create a solid foundation. Your email list is something that nobody can take from you. But it also has to be done right.

You can’t just collect emails and never do anything with them. You also can’t expect people to sign up just to “stay in touch” or “get the newsletter”. Taking a look at how you do emails is one of the best strategies when you’re redesigning your website or are looking to level up your business.. and it’s something I’m very excited to be offering as an add-on service to round out the website creation process, too.

I hope you are as excited for 2021 as I am (plus, the potential for travel, finally!). I look forward to working with new and old clients this year and expanding my offerings to better serve all the entrepreneurs out there!