Ditch Your Website Shame (Once & For All)

Do you feel proud of what you’re doing in online business? How you’re showing up in the world? Feel like you’re showcasing your Badass within? If not, chances are you’re suffering from website shame.

There’s no shame in that–we all want to express ourselves honestly, openly, and truthfully.

So it astounds me how often I talk to current and potential clients…and they mention how embarrassed they are with parts of their website. (*It’s in the multi-weekly-range).

Why are SO many people living with Website Shame? It’s actually not that hard to fix…

You could hire a company like DFYT to get it fixed RIGHT AWAY…they totally rock 🙂

OR you can be patient and put more work into establishing an In-House Creative Language.

Part of the problem when you’re an Entrepreneur (especially a young’un)–is you don’t quite know what to say. And you don’t quite have a high-level branding expert to help you get the idea moving across the team, the factory line, the whateva.

• How do you explain what a Design should express...to a team of Artists & Designers?
• How do you tell a Writer how you want the words…to feel?
• What do you even say to a Coder? Numbers? Binary?

It’s damn near impossible to direct your Creative without a Universal Language.

The modern tech world brings together a BUNCH of different specialists–designers, writers, coders, videographers, photographers, & a million other devotedly, niche artists…

There’s WAY too much terminology from each field to learn (let alone teach to everyone on your team). Creative People & Designers…most are, in fact, seriously talented, but they need a lot of clarity to produce the result that you envision.

If you don’t speak their language…how do you interact? Well, Sometimes we have to accept that THEY know better. And that’s really hard to admit…but it’s true, the 18-year-old living in The Matrix just might know better than you.

OR we can use a Universal Language…

Honest, simple, everyday words.

You know, stuff like Similes. Metaphors. Anti-examples. Super-odd (but visceral) details. Comparing something to old content your OWN TEAM produced….

• I want the site to look old school, but not super cheesy.

• Make this Graphic of a Dog look energizing…like lightning bolt, but without all the gloom and doom. So bring some flash and color to the mix. Sparky’s name should make sense, you know?

• Write this from the same voice as that Patriotic Mailer we sent out last month.

• I want this Design to look like something my mother would appreciate getting in the mail–classy, sophisticated, un-offensive, grammatically correct, and with a sunflower on it somewhere.

I know a lot of Creatives that hate generic, textbook terminology. It is helpful to some, but you can get your point across without being a master of every field. If you use clear, direct, and consistent words–they’ll figure out what you’re trying to say.

If you speak YOUR LANGUAGE enough, it will become universal to your team (especially if it sounds kind of crazy). Moreover, you need to issue productive and encouraging FEEDBACK to Creatives–on everything.

You realize they’re a bunch of romantics, right? Don’t break their heart–give them feedback and they will adapt to please your taste. Establishing a close-knit, intimate creative-relationship is key to getting the kind of designs you really want.

The Danger of NOT Using Your Own Words?

When clients start to look at what other people in their field are doing…this can so easily turn into a game of Copy & Cat. They see a site, an image, a wording that catches their eye…and BOOM.

“Make it look / sound / act / load like this,” The Entrepreneur said, zipping around the office making weird hand-gestures and redirectly like they really-really needed to pee.

“Uhhhhhh-okay…?” The Creatives replied while grumbling back to their rickety office chairs.

I often see clients [inadvertently] CopyCatting sites they enjoy–and, unfortunately, they use these sites as examples to direct their creative…and that kills A LOT of individualism–for The Entrepreneur & The Creatives!

Creatives are so much better at CREATING than CopyCatting.

Our clients aren’t looking to compete, they’re looking to DISRUPT! Copying won’t do that. It can’t!

Remember–there’s a fine line between being strategic and being disruptive. We can’t all be game-changers ALL OF THE TIME. So when someone does change the pace or game or whateva, then yes, you should quicken your step and adapt.

But you shouldn’t do that just because something caught your eye on a day your creatives didn’t have a full workload…

Look, it’s not your fault. You might not be gifted in this area like brand experts are…at least not yet. You may never be–and that’s okay, it’s not in every company’s destiny. But you are still required to produce original, true-to-you content!

If you’re running into serious creative roadblocks that are hurting your team and sales…then yes, it’s time to bring in a heavy-hitter…

I know one that I’ve trusted my entire life. And that went from not knowing how to take orders from creative directors to being the one that leads and entire division of creatives…it’s myself.

If you want 5-minutes of free advice on how to ditch your Website Shame once and for all–I can help you get rid of it TODAY.

Call, email, whateva–I know where you’ve been–and I know how to help.