Did you know that blogging is one of the best ways to improve your search engine rankings so you’ll appear higher on Google? Everyone poo poos on blogging, but it could be the one thing that truly helps you get in front of more people. I get it, I get it…you don’t think you have anything good to say that anyone would be interested in. Or you feel stupid talking on the internet when it feels like you’re just shouting into the void. But if even one person makes it to your blog, then it’s worth it if you ask me. So whenever you’re ready to pull up your big girl pants and share your expertise, here are 10 fresh ideas to help get you started on your new blog.

Obviously in my opinion, your visual brand is what makes the very first impression on your website and hooks your audience. But once they’ve decided to stay and look a little closer, your content is what’s going to keep them there. First off — what is website content? Your content is the meat of your site. It’s all the writing that tells people about you + your business. It’s the literal voice of your company, and it can be one of the hardest parts to nail down during the web design process. To help you get started on what can be a super daunting task, I’ve put together my top tips to help you write your website content and hopefully make the process a little less overwhelming. 

Every once in awhile an email floats into my inbox asking me about how to get started freelancing. “Where do you get your clients from? How do you price your services? What’s the most important skill you’ve learned?” All great questions and I love to answer them when I have the time. So, I thought I’d put together some of my thoughts and give you my (possibly unsolicited) advice on getting started as a freelancer.

Let's get excited about file types! No really. It probably sounds pretty darn lame, but knowing which file type to use for your new logo + when can be super helpful if you want it to always looks its best. I like to make sure my clients have a variety of file types for their new logos so they can get the best use out of it. And in my experience, I've found these 3 types of files are an absolute must-have to get the best bang for your buck.

Okay, maybe they're not exactly deadly. But these 7 common website mistakes can potentially make the difference between a visitor checking you out + taking action or peace-ing out because they don't connect with you. Keep reading below to find out what they are and correct them before you lose more customers.

Just when I thought we were getting out of the hellacious year that 2021 was, my family was hit with Covid and over three weeks of isolation without childcare. Funny how when you run your own business and you’re the one doing nearly everything, it’s really hard to recover from that. Extending deadlines can feel like knocking down dominoes, and it took months to finally feeling like I was able to poke my head out again. But it made me think about how grateful I am to my past self for setting up templates + processes for almost everything in my business so I can partially go on auto pilot.

Last month I wrote a post about the 3 Tools I Use Every Day To Run My Business and I got so many responses letting me know how you were able to start streamlining your processes with these online services. I loved hearing your great feedback so much that today I'm sharing 3 more online tools that I use on a regular basis to help run my business smoothly. And you're in for a treat because these ones are all FREE! Let's dive in.

Believe it or not, colors are tied with a psychological and emotional response for us humans. When you put on a bold red lip for the day, you’re telling the world to watch out for your confidence. When you choose the bank with the blue logo, it makes you feel like your money will be well taken care of. When you look at the bright yellow flowers sprouting in your neighbors yard, you feel a sense of warmth and happiness because spring has arrived. Those are all examples of how color can say something without actually saying anything. So you can see how important it is to know exactly what the colors your choose for your business are saying about your brand.

Running an online business is real hard, you guys. And when you're trying to go it alone and there are one billion + one tasks on your to-do list, it makes running your business even more of a challenge. Luckily there are tons of tools you can use to help you be more efficient, stay organized and hopefully keep a single shred of your sanity. This week I'm sharing 3 online tools that I love and use everyday to help run my business smoothly.

You don’t have to tell me twice, writing the content for your website is freaking hard. Where do you even start? What the heck do you put on the homepage? What even is a homepage? Helping clients with their website content and how they present it is something that I do every day, and when I see people struggling with their homepage all I want to do is pat them on the head and make it easier for them. So I’m sharing my basic method for crafting an intentional homepage. This is what I start with this as a template for each client that I work with and you can do the same.

A logo design is the single most important design element that you can have because you will use it the most and it's the first thing people see of your business. Which is why it is SO IMPORTANT that you have a designer create your logo to make sure you’re giving the right first impression to anyone who sees it. But once you have your professionally designed logo and have all the files you need to start using it, what the heck do you do with it?

Well, you’re in luck! Here are 35 ideas for what you can do with your newly designed logo:

“Marian told me that she thought you were a robot.”

These are the words that my business buddy confessed to me after her friend hired me to design a landing page for her copywriting business. After emailing back and forth a few times with Marian, we hopped on the phone to dig into the details of her project. She said that I seemed like a completed different person when she heard my actual voice than I did over email. That’s when she told my friend that she had thought that I might be a robot. And not the cool kind. The kind that might be an automated bot and you don’t want to give your credit card number or any personal info to. It wasn’t until we got on the phone that I became a real person to her with a funny and quirky personality -- which is why we ended up getting along so well and her project was a huge success!

This is how I came to the realization that I’ve been stuck in a professional rut...I’m literally being TOO professional. I’ve somehow trained myself to come off as so professional that I have all the personality of a block of cheese. And for someone who preaches about letting your personality shine through in your business -- I’m not practicing it myself.

Blogging is a great way to engage with your target audience, position yourself as an expert in your field and (bonus!) improve your SEO which stands for Search Engine Optimization. One of the best ways to improve your SEO is to continue to add new and relevant information to your site, and the easiest way to do that is by blogging. But once you’ve written your blog post, there are a few simple things you can to do within Squarespace to improve your SEO even more.

“Your prices gave me a bit of sticker shock, to be honest.“

“I can’t justify spending thousands and not walking away with physical items.“

“Well I can find someone else to do the exact same thing cheaper.“

These are all things I’ve heard from people during consult calls for my branding services. I think tact sometimes goes out the window when it comes to talking about money, but I get it. My services are expensive. Not as expensive as some, but more expense than others. And I’m not planning to lower them anytime soon because I know exactly what goes into those services. Creating a strategic, intentional brand from scratch is one of the hardest parts of building your marketing toolkit. It’s so much harder than throwing together 264 different looking graphics just because the templates are available on Canva. So let me break down some of the maybe unseen value that you’re getting when you book a brand package with an experienced designer (like me!).

When people visit your website there's always an end goal. An action you want them to perform, a product you want them to buy, some sort of next step you want them to take towards hiring you. But how do you get people to do these things? A big part of getting your visitors to do you what you want is by establishing trust with them so that they are willing to invest in you. People want to invest their money in credible products and services, they want to know that they can trust you with their money. Everything that you do on your website contributes to this in some way, but here a few things you can implement right away to start building that trust with your users.

Believe it or not, your past clients are some of the most valuable assets you have to get new business. They know your quality of work, have great things to say about you (hopefully), and have the power to influence your future potential clients who may be on the fence about hiring you.

Everyone needs a website at this point. If you don't have one for your business, chances are that you're missing out on a good number of opportunities. But if you don't have the time or resources to devote to building a big, strategic website with lots of bells and whistles, at the very least you'll want to make sure you have these 3 important pieces of information on your site and they are front and center where people can find them.

I recently had a conversation with a friend about who my favorite people to work with are and I realized that one thing all my favorite clients have in common is that they’re brimming with personality. Not only do they have loads of personality, but they’ve let me inject it into their brand to make a one-of-a-kind identity for them. By doing this with their brand, they are already building a relationship with their target audience.

I’ve been having conversations with clients and doing research into accessibility + ADA compliance for small business websites. Sounds super exciting, right? Well whether it’s exciting or not, it's important. So I wanted to share some of the things I’m learning and 5 easy accessibility upgrades you can make to your web design so that together we can all pitch in to help the online world become a more accessible place.

So, you’ve taken the plunge and invested in a shiny new website for your business to take things to the next level. But what good is even having a website if no one can find it? That’s where SEO comes into play. 

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and it essentially means making your site visible for search engines like Google and Bing so people can find you when they search. The tricky part is that no one knows exactly how the algorithms these search engines use work (because that’s basically their secret sauce). But we do know some things you can do to improve your chances of getting listed and therefore found by potential customers. If you’re not quite ready to invest in hiring an SEO expert, there are a few simple things that you can start doing today to help your website get noticed.

One of the first steps to take when you start the branding process is to begin defining your brand. It’s also probably one of the more difficult tasks and involves a lot of time spent thinking about your business and target audience. What appeals to them? What do they like? What magazines do they read? Where do they shop? You get the picture. As a visual person, obviously the easiest way for me to do this is…you guessed it, VISUALLY.

So over the past few months I’ve started collaborating with clients on a mood board to kick off their branding package and it has blown my mind! It has turned out to be such a valuable part of the branding process and (I think) super fun for both the client and me. So, today I'm sharing why a mood board can be so important and how to go about creating one to start defining your brand.

Your logo is the literal face of your business. It’s the first thing people see and the main visual image that they will remember. That’s why it’s so important to make sure that yours is making the right impression from the very beginning. If your logo looks outdated, boring, or even cheap, you may be losing valuable business when potential customers walk away. While it may be tempting to purchase a premade logo on sites like 99 Designs, Fiverr or Etsy, you may not be getting exactly what you think you are. So if you are on the fence about whether you should invest in a custom logo, then here are a few reasons why you may want to consider hiring a graphic designer for your logo.

Creating a unique and memorable logo may sound easy, but there are so many things to take into consideration when trying to create the most important aspect of your branding and professional image. Your logo is the first thing that people see and could either result in them jumping into your sales funnel or disregarding you as a legitimate business. That’s why it’s SO important to have a professional logo design to represent how amazing you and your business are! Whether you’re doing it yourself or considering hiring a designer, these tips are helpful to create the best logo possible!

If you missed it last month, I started a new series called Graphic Design Dictionary to help explain some of the terms that I use in my daily life that may not be common knowledge to everyone. Last month I defined some basic web terms that you should know if you have or plan on having a website. This month I'm switching to another main form of graphic design and explaining some basic print terminology.

There are about one bazillion things you need to think about when you decide to start a new business, and none of them seem to be any less important than the others. But the one thing can that separate you from your competitors is how you present your brand to the world.

Your business’s image is a vital part of your identity that can set you steps above the others. Creating a cohesive brand for your business can even help build trust with potential clients by projecting a professional image. Tell the world that you have your stuff together and that you demand to be taken seriously!

Here is my list of the 3 branding items you absolutely must have for your new business.

If there's one thing I get super excited about, it's creating brand patterns for clients. It happens to be one of this pattern-obsessed designer’s favorite parts of a branding project. A brand pattern is a distinctive, repeating design that's used as part of a brand's visual identity. It helps to create a cohesive look and feel across different materials and platforms, making a brand more recognizable and memorable. The pattern can be abstract or representational, simple or complex, and I’ll sometimes pull elements from a client’s logo design to make it even more ingrained in the overall brand foundations. It's a versatile tool to inject your business's personality into just about anything and strengthen your brand's appeal and consistency.

So, let’s roll out the patterned carpet! I’m sharing some nifty ways to sprinkle a little more you into your universe with 35 ways to use your brand pattern: