After the seeming lack-of-progress of last week, I re-assessed my approach: was I trying to do too much by redesigning the entire website? Perhaps I could just make some updates to the current website. With that, I managed to finally get the front page to a place where it’s actually quite close to the original design concept, but first I had to deal with the presentation and design of the page’s inner content blocks one-by-one.
This whole week has felt like a struggle that I’ve lost. I say that not from a place of depression, but a place of clear-eyed assessment. I’m writing this entry to try to identify what contributes to the feeling; perhaps a solution will present itself.
It’s been two weeks (not including weekends) since I started this push to “fix the marketing” on my website on March 4. By that, I mean making the purpose and use of the website clearer to visitors who happen upon it, so they can find what they’re interested in as quickly as possible. Also, I want to make it clear what it is that people can BUY or DOWNLOAD from the website, while making a particular statement about myself and creativity.
This post is a review of the past 10 days as a sanity check. >>> Continue reading
For the past three days I’ve been slugging-it-out with the tag cloud and the first pass layout, trying to bring them out of the abstract and into something tangible. This is the part I always find really difficult. I’ve been spending a couple hours a day on this, pushing past all my negative reactions to the design as it evolves to find the next visual idea.
The above graphic shows the progression from the first ugly step (A) just getting some image and text down. Compared to the original thumbnail sketch (which itself is a bit vague), there are some differences, but the general idea is the same:
- There’s a BIG IMAGE at the top, which will be “responsive” in that it always fills the space from edge-to-edge in a browser. The image is a placeholder; ideally it will be an image that visually supports what I’m about.
- There’s a DAVE IDENTITY somewhere within that image, or next to it. Since it’s near this big image, I don’t have to lead with my face/name alone. Maybe this is a cop-out, but it is personal preference.
Also within the header are opportunities for additional supporting links. Right now I have a “what’s new” and “what is creative independence”. The image area might become a slider that cycles through several backgrounds, or there might be a small menu on the right.
Below the header are the content areas, which I will be constraining to 960 pixels wide centered in the frame. As this is the front page, the content areas will be stacked on top of each other and then divided horizontally according to whatever grid system makes sense.
I’m trying to get away from my current blog design, which is constrained in a white rectangle. I’ve admired some other website designs that have a more open feel by eliminating the edges, instead implying them through alignment. The result is a layout that feels more open, which is how I want to feel.
I’m thinking that the stacked content areas will give me some flexibility in design. As the content area is 960 pixels wide, this divides cleanly into halves, thirds, or quarters. It also isn’t a bad basis, from what I can tell, for a responsive design that crunches down to fit any screen. I’m not planning on making the design responsive, however. Perhaps in the future, but not right now.
Anyway, I’m thinking there will be at most two stacked content areas. The top one will be a slider that covers the three or four main features on the website using mostly graphics and large type, serving as a lead-in to inner pages. The bottom one will be more text-y, showing recent stories and whatever. This is what I have to design next.
Also in the queue, after the content areas are done to a rough pass, will be to design the inner pages: the blog templates, page templates, and shopping templates. Next week I’ll have to think about the minimum I need to launch with new content areas + shopping areas. I’m thinking I’ll be VERY lucky if I can get this all done by April 4.
For the rest of this week I’ll be quite busy so I don’t know if I’ll make much progress, but I can at least do the daily 15M on this to keep it fresh in my mind.
This is part of a series about improving my website, thinking about it for 15 minutes a day first-thing in the morning. You can see the raw 15-minute text here. These posts are collected on The March 2013 Challenge Page.
After taking a break this weekend from all things website (well, I did tweak my image post format to do some cool custom stuff 
I’m hitting this marketing challenge with fresh eyes. Today’s morning 15 minutes was spent as follows:
- 30 seconds – rereading Day 5′s raw notes (see bottom of page for the raw text)
- 2 minutes of sketching
- 1 minute of being aghast at how difficult this was
Doing a second sketch until the timer alarm went off
This morning’s 15-minute writing about my website examines my personal tag cloud more closely.
There are three main elements that together describe who I am. In detail:
DAVE SEAH – Eccentric Creative – Emphasis on Values and Joy
“Eccentric Creative” is expressed by the jumble of candy-like interests that will be organized across the website. I would like to use my headshot here somehow to drive home the personal nature of my site. Rather than list joys and values, I want to use short phrases and words that have an association with that; joyful-sounding text and imagery, not saying “I am joy. Rah.” An example of SHOW NOT TELL. Tell is weak, and smacks of insincerity. The same applies to “values”; they will be implicit in how I talk/write on the website. My personal voice and values come through everywhere, which is already the de-facto style I have.
CREATIVE SELF-IMPROVER and CREATIVE INDEPENDENCE – My Passion – My Personal and Professional Focus
“My Passion”, again, will be shown. Creativity, as broken into three parts (process, productivity, independence) in themselves form a new and significant subsection on the home page. The content here expresses itself as a structured subarea with its own sub-identity under the Dave Seah Value and Joy umbrella. Each of the three aspects could be a mini-site with its own leading essay and reading list.
MAKER – My Projects
This is a section that is a “work in progress” area. Projects that I’m working on, or have recently worked on, would be showcased here. These are the end results of applying my creative powers, which brings me joy. This area has its own identity too, but it is closely tied with the other two main elements. All together, they create the supporting triad of what the David Seah website (and by extension, me) is all about.
Next, there are secondary elements on the website that act in a supporting role. They aren’t main focii, but instead express values or interests that visitors find appealing. The idea is to establish that there is a certain KIND of content and a certain type of CULTURE that is at work here.
STORIES – This is the content from the past 7 years
The articles I’ve written are structured like little stories that end with some kind of takeaway insight, example, or nugget of understanding. Sometimes you get to download something for free.
The stream of stories is an important part of the website, but the current 2005-style blog format I’m using makes it difficult to make room for the three main elements I want to stand out. People should see that there is Commentary on creativity/productivity/independence, news from elsewhere, and practical experiences I’m sharing related to my skills and hobbies as a perpetual stream of content under the context of creating and making.
COMMUNITY – Making connections with people
Rather than creating community support through forums and stuff, I instead am creating a beacon that indicates that I’m part of a certain tribe. That tribe is comprised of people who find what I am doing interesting.
The ABOUT DAVE and CONTACT links are technically part of community in this way, inviting people to connect. Previously, I’d thought that these were about brand identity, but that is now expressed through the three main elements: “Dave is an Eccentric Creative, A Creative Self Improver Seeking Creative Independence, A Maker of Things”. Adding “That shares a LOT of stuff” is the community add-on, which itself is an extension of the associated value statement.
Finally there are the THINGS FOR SALE and THINGS TO DOWNLOAD. This is the transactional part of the website, and the primary vehicle for supporting myself through my work. This is a significant area, and I’ll have to do a lot of thinking about how to design this sub site so it supports ecommerce and casual browsing. Quite a conundrum.
FREEBIES – Create the semblance of value and treasure, a taste, a preview
Productivity forms! Collections of Forms! These are the things that people will link to, come back for, and pique interest. In terms of commerce, they provide the free sample with no obligation. They also serve to spread the creative / productive / independence messaging along with my statement. They are examples of me putting my money where my mouth is.
THINGS TO BUY – Products, eBooks, Etc
Because I need to live, and want to do it through my website-promoted work, I have some things for sale. These will be tasteful, similarly-styled elements that appear at natural endpoints on the website. There may be a free takeaway, a nugget of wisdom, and nearby will be a direct buy link in a STORE area that collects everything in one place. That’s a NEW challenge, I just realized. It’s probably what I really need to work on next.
And one last thought: how would someone summarize the website as I describe it here? Maybe something like:
Dave Seah’s website is for creative people who love learning and like him, are continually pushing themselves to improve. It’s a wonderful place to find ideas and tools that are inspiring.
This is part of a series about improving my website, thinking about it for 15 minutes a day first-thing in the morning. You can see the raw 15-minute text here. These posts are collected on The March 2013 Challenge Page.
Yesterday I had started to define areas of overlapping interest between myself and the interests of the audience I think I have. Today, I try to whittle down those AOIs into something more actionable. >>> Continue reading
I’m actually getting to this really late…11PM! Here’s a writeup of this mornings reflection on marketing:
YESTERDAY, I got more specific about what people might want to see. In other words: what is their frame of mind? What do they desire? Do they want solutions? Patterns? To relate? Something to follow? Then, I started to get more specific about my values. To be clear, my “marketing month” IS NOT about changing my activities to meet other people’s desires, though this is a perfectly fine marketing approach. Instead, I want to create clear AREAS OF OVERLAPPING INTEREST between the audience that’s here and my values/activities. That is a meeting of interests.
Yesterday, I wrote some specs on what I thought existing visitors to the website were getting out of it. Then I wrote what I wanted to get out of life, my mission statement. Reader David commented that my mission statement was weak, and it could apply to anyone. I realized then that I’d written my internal mission statement, my own “am I on the right path” compass. So today, I shifted my thoughts more toward the external. >>> Continue reading
Day 1 of the Marketing Challenge began with 15 minutes of writing; if you’re curious, I’ve put the raw text online. Summary thoughts follow:
First I defined what it was: making my website easier to use for particular audiences, which I described as:
- People who are looking for solutions. They arrive through Google.
- People who are subscribed, because they like to see what new tools I have.
- People who are subscribed, because they like to see HOW I’m building tools.
- People who are subscribed, because they like to READ about what I’m THINKING about.
There are also the following personal requirements that I think should be reflected in the website.
- I am standing for a set of values: the “Dave Seah Way” and “Creative Independence”
- I have a mission statement: I want to succeed by becoming as excellent as I can be, producing original works and seeding the world with them to see what comes back. To create, and connect, at the highest level I can.
- I want to extend optimism and enthusiasm to as many people as I can, because I want to be around people like that. Be a beacon!
- I want to celebrate creative independence as I find examples of it.
Then there’s the sundry necessities:
- I need to sell my digital and physical goods and make some money to sustain what I’m doing.
That’s as far as I got in the writing. More definition will follow tomorrow!
This is part of a series about improving my website, thinking about it for 15 minutes a day first-thing in the morning. You can see the raw 15-minute text here. These posts are collected on The March 2013 Challenge Page.
