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Music. Welcome to design for the creative mind, a podcast for interior designers and creative entrepreneurs to run their business with purpose, efficiency and passion, because while every design is different, the process should remain the same.
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Prepare yourself for some good conversations with amazing guests, a dash of Jesus and a touch of the Woo, woo, and probably a swear word or two.
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If you're ready to stop trading your time for money and enjoy your interior design business, you are in the right place.
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I'm your host. Michelle Lynn, you
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Michelle, Well, hey there, and welcome back to the podcast designed for the creative mind. I'm Michelle Lin, and today we're diving into how to use your website to increase community connections and conversions. So whether you're turning tuning in from your car or with a glass of wine in hand, or maybe at the studio with a glass of wine in hand, I'm glad you're here, because building a business by design does not happen by accident. So let me get let me introduce you to Rachel side. She is a Squarespace web designer who is obsessed with creating beautiful, functional websites that are easy for business owners and small teams to manage themselves. Her web design process establishes genuine personal connections with her clients that enable her to build personality packed websites that feel as authentic as they do professional
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today, she helps solopreneurs, small businesses and nonprofits, build simple, easy to use websites that become powerful marketing tools to attract and convert dream clients. Welcome Rachel, glad you're here. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here. Oh my gosh, I so. Speaking of personality packed websites, y'all I was
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checking out Rachel's before we visited, and, holy, holy crap. That is personality filled. And now that I meet her on screen, you guys can't see her, but here we are. It's true. It represents, it represents, well.
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Thank you. Thank you so much.
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So you guys can check her out at it's Mrs. Brightside.com right? Yeah, also Brightside design.com and hold both domains, because like many other business owners here, I've gone through many iterations of this business that
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I can appreciate. Inside is spelled s, e, i, d, y'all so check that out when we're done here. But in the meantime, tune in, because this is going to be fun. All right, so girl, let's introduce you to the audience just real briefly. How did you get into this industry?
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Well loaded questions. I I was working for a nonprofit when I left college, and I was in charge of hosting events because I interviewed for a different job, and they met me, and they were like, You, bubbly, fun girl, belong at our events. And I was like, okay, cool. Turns out I am a terrible event planner. Managing details and logistics is very challenging for me, but I'm a really strong community builder, and so I found a whole bunch of people. I brought them see events, I expanded the network, which was the goal of the work and the events. The events were not very complicated, so I was able to pull it off.
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But through that experience, I learned that, like there was a disconnect between the target audience I was trying to reach and the actual audience in the room. And that is what
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taught me about digital marketing, branding, web design. And I sort of just like stumbled into that whole world and found my way in into web design. It's a whole much longer story that I don't think we need to get into, but
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the short version is that it's a perfect balance for my brain between like strategy and creativity, which is just like I like to do both of those things. And so it was perfect match. That sounds like and I think that that's probably how a lot of us have found ourselves. Where we are today, is just kind of, this is what I love to do. This works. Well, let's see if I can make money off of it.
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So and then all of a sudden, you're in business,
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which, which brings me, how did you start finding clients when you first started out, especially if that wasn't like you, your general population surrounding you? Yeah, totally. So it was actually like all interrelated. So throughout the time that I was working at that nonprofit, I worked on the team that did their like man.
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Into their strategic plan, their rebrand, their new website, and a brand new marketing plan that I like designed and then executed. So basically, I worked there. I stayed for we did all that work in like a two year span, and I stayed for an additional year after that to sort of run the marketing plan that I designed.
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Yeah, and so through, throughout that year, I was networking a ton in and around town. I was also just still building community for the nonprofit. And I have, like, a huge network. I'm, I live, I live in the same city where I grew up. So I just have, I've just been here a long time. And, yeah, it's a Philadelphia is a very small world.
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It's so fun. And I kind of just over the years, I
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networked a ton and just met a whole bunch of people. And so when I decided to build the business, I sent an email to like 500 people, and I got 25 leads, and I just have been snowballing that. Oh, that's amazing. Yeah. So yeah, start with who you know. Oh, that's fun. So do you specialize in interior design
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websites, or do you carry over into all industries. I can do all industries. I like to say I'm industry agnostic.
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In general, I find I find myself really attracted to people who are doing work that is like good in the world, and that they bring like it with integrity into the world. And so I find that in all different industries, and have worked with interior designers are lovely. I love working with other designers too, because the process is so, so fun when other people understand how to do it, right? Yeah, the creativity flows, yeah. But in general, no, I will work with anyone all over the board. I specifically only work in Squarespace because I have, like, a web design background, and so I, like, have messed with all these other builders, and I just think Squarespace is the easiest for other people to use. Do you know what I mean? Like, it's good for them to hand it over to them? Yes, that makes sense. I've had different over the iteration of my interior design business, ml interiors group. I have had a handful of websites, and I love it when whomever designs it for me allows me to be able to get in there and make the changes that I need to make, and I don't feel held hostage to have to call them to Hey, you forgot to put the period on the sentence on a little bit about page. Yes,
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yes, I completely agree. That's actually like where, you know, years ago when I decided that my niche would be Squarespace and that that was why, like I had, I had managed WordPress websites. I had worked in all these other builders that were just not as good, but the WordPress ones were, like, the biggest pain in the butt, because, like, people needed just small changes. Like, exactly what you're saying is you need to edit a sentence or swap a photo, add a team member, and that just it was. So I was like, this takes me five seconds. Like, of course I can do it, but like, you should just be able to do it. Like, there's no reason for you to be paying me on a retainer to like it was just like, it didn't work for my didn't work for me. No, I completely understand that. I think that a lot of us, especially as small business owners, we want to provide a service that we would like to to receive. Yeah, and so like, for me, when it comes to interior design, like, I don't like to build my clients on an hourly basis, because I don't want to nickel and dime them, because I don't like to feel nickel and dimed. So it's like, here's your rate. This is what you want to pay. Take it or leave it
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easier. It's easier. So how can a designer get the best website for their needs? So I feel like there's a couple of, like couple
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things to think about when you're trying to get a website right. Yeah, they write DIY or template or, like,
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totally thanks. Rachel, yeah,
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totally. So there's a ton of different, like options that are out there, and you pointed to some of them, obviously building yourself, buying a template and then customizing it. Maybe you want to work on, like a semi custom project with a once, like a small shop designer. Or you could even do like the whole enchilada with, like, a big agency that really does the whole thing top to bottom. So so many things to consider. What I like to what I would recommend people think about is like, how tech savvy Are you? That's like number one, really, how involved do you want to be in this process? And I think that, like interior designers would understand this, because it's replicable, right? Like when you approach your clients, you, I mean, I'm assuming that, like me, they would know nothing about how to design a room or.
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House holistically and strategically and functionally, right? So the same goes for my work. Like if, if you have no budget, but you have plenty of time, then building your own website might be the right move for you. And a tool like Squarespace is really easy to figure out for some people and other people, it is not very easy to figure out, and they're banging their head against the keyboard, and that's not a good use of your time. So that's something I would consider. Another thing that I would consider is maybe, like, what is your main goal for the website, right? And what kind of audience are you trying to use, like, attract with this website? What does your audience expect to see on the website. If you're selling a luxury service and your website looks rinky dink, then that's probably an indicator that it's not going to work out. Yeah, it's not congruent. It sends the wrong message. And you can't put your finger on it, but the end user there's something there. Yes, totally. And they would. They the your website can act almost like the what's it called at a shop, the like front window of a shop, right? So like, if it doesn't, it should represent, like what you're gonna see and feel and experience once you go into the store and a website is like the same thing. So if you're trying to provide a like, a high end, high touch luxury service, you want that to be seen without having to be explained. That's a great way to put it true. It is like the storefront windows. And there is a term for that. It's escaping my mind as well. I can picture him at the holidays like New York City. You're walking by like, Oh, there's the windows.
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Come on in. It's very inviting.
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Oh, that's fun. So how do you so one of the things that I know that you promote, especially like on your own website, like I mentioned when we first started recording, is like, Why does your website need to have personality? How can you infuse personality into it? Because you have your personality. I have my personality. Our listeners have their own unique personality. Like, what does that mean to put personality on a website? I love it. I mean, yeah, this is my favorite thing ever. So, like, I actually kind of want to run with this store, the store window analogy. James, I think it is helpful.
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Boy, what I was looking for. But we're getting there. It's close.
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So, so just like, you know, if you walk by Nike, you're experiencing a very specific vibe from just looking at their store. I mean, I'm sure all of us know what's going to be inside the Nike store. But like, let's say you don't right. Just seeing the window will show you, like, a taste of what's in the store, and it is a completely different personality than what you see at, like, old maybe, or Lulu Lemon, maybe would be. Maybe that's not a good comparison to Nike. But like, you know what I'm saying? Like comparing J Crew, and each time you're experiencing one of those storefronts, you want to experience the like, feel of what you're going to get in the store and and almost like a sampling of what it's like to be in that world. And your website, your website is the same. So you want your clients, you mentioned my website, like, I want my clients to see that. Like, yes, working with me is like, bright and bubbly and fun, because that is the personality that I bring to my work. But also the the end product is like, it's classy and not classy, maybe, but it is professional in that it functions the way I want it to it it like connects to all my tech stack the proper way, and it helps convert people the the content is moving users to a specific goal that I've determined. And I actually have like a framework that I use when I think about websites with personality. I call it the four alities framework. So I like to make sure that websites have visuality, functionality, personality and propositionality. Oh, fun, the formalities, the realities, yeah, but, but personality is the one that I think can take you the farthest, because if you if your website looks like a sample template that everyone's using like the same template, right, then you're not going to stand out, and no one's going to necessarily remember you, and when they talk to you, they might get a completely different experience. Yeah, completely different feel. You know what I'm saying, so like you kind of like you need all of the pieces of your marketing funnel, for lack of a better word, to have the same vibe. So I'm so glad you said that, because one of the things that I preach to my to my community, is that just be yourself, and what's going to happen is that your tribe will will connect with you, and they will follow you, and the rest will fall away, because the ones that fall away, they would never buy from you anyway, yes. So, yeah.
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I joke because I'm a little weird, I'm a little quirky, you know, I love Jesus, but I swear a little bit so, you know, finally embracing that in my, you know, older age has just been so freeing. And it's the same thing with your website. And I didn't ever make that connection. I just kind of knew it naturally, because that's part of the brand. But don't be afraid to go bold and claim your personality. Yeah. And actually, you even alluded to something that I feel like every single project I work on has this thing that's like, almost like, seemingly conflicting personality traits that we're showing at the same time, yeah. And it's like, it's, I mean, I find it so fun to sort of like thread the needle between these two things that are both true but also seem like, seem like they don't contradict each other. And, yeah, I mean, there's a lot, and there's a lot of ways to do it, because a website has a lot of different pieces that are going into it that you can combine. You can combine pictures and words and design, like design styles in all different ways to show all the different things that you're trying to show at the same time. Yeah? And that's, it's just like, it's just like decorating a house, a home, a room, yeah? Because, like, if you, I'm recording today in my my home office. But if you look at my home, I have some real edgy pieces, and then I have a wing back chair with birds and flowers. So it's the funniest thing. It's like, okay, but they work together because there's some sort of inner connection somewhere, which is probably what you're talking about, threading that needle. There's something that ties them easily together. Yeah, they don't 100% awkward, hopefully anyway. And like, I mean, I could literally never do it in a room. So, like, I I can, I like, know nothing about how to
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do that, right? So if you look at, if I look at a website, I could pivot all of the ways that it's happening and it's just so, like, how I'm blending an approachable but also an a type A personality. I'm sort of blending both of those things at the same time. No, that makes sense, yeah. So what you it's not just about making it pretty. It has to work. Yes, 100% so like, I coming back to those four alities, right? Visuality is the first one, which is making things look good, making it look pretty modern, making sure it like function or not functions. But, you know, like, looks the way that most websites look these days. But that's just like the tip of the iceberg. A lot of people are like, Oh, that's how you make a website. No, no, that's just the first ality,
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yeah, functionality, which is where we want things to work. And that means I want it to be easy for people to use, but I also want it to be easy for the business owner to use and fit into their like, what their tech stack looks like for their business, and like all integrated stack, you've said that twice. But for anybody listening, what does that mean? Like, what are some examples? Yeah. So, like, if you use a CRM for example, or use a client relationship manager, yep, okay, sorry, I need to be more.
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So I get it. I just don't know who's listening. I love it. Um, no, it's helpful. Thank you. So basically, the way I think about it is that you want your your website is the foundation of your marketing strategy, and so it needs to be able to seamlessly connect to everything else that you're working on and working with, so that everything is like, like, it should be streamlined. So like, for example, if you are using like, where are you capturing information about leads? Like, let's say people want to work with you, and they they currently do. They call you, I'm emailing you. Are they filling out a form on your website? No matter what, we want to make sure that whatever form they're filling out, it goes to like, the right place for your for your systems and process in your business. Yeah, exactly. So
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that's why. Another reason I like Squarespace is because it just works really well with lots of other tools that are available on the internet. So, so are they direct integrations, or do you have to use like Zapier or something to zap them over? It depends. It depends. Sometimes we have to use Zapier, but a lot of the times I'm able to make I'm I'm able to make like inter, like the Yeah, like, without having to use Zapier or having to use complex code. I obviously am using code to like style the website to look a very specific way. But, but like, as far as the functionality work, Squarespace is such a widely like popular tool and also constantly evolving. So they're just they have a lot of native integrations with tools that people are using. Yeah, that makes perfect sense.
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So what tips can you give our listeners so that they can begin using their websites to get more leads? I think that that's what our audience is like. Okay, great. All of this is really interesting. But how can it make me money? Yeah, love it. Okay, so coming back to like, kind of what we already talked about, like, we want to make sure that your website is reflective of the service and the service that you offer and the way that you offer that service, like your working style, basically. So for interior designers, I imagine that, like big, full screen photos of your work is where you should be. And of course, like modern websites, are mostly full width websites, they're also mobile responsive. So you want to make sure it looks good on a phone and a big screen right, and everything in between.
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And we also want to make sure something I see a lot of people, a lot of mistakes I see people make, is that the first section of your website, like top section, it's called the like above the fold section. It's Yes, like the old newspapers, exactly. So the part that like people see before they scroll, that needs to show and tell like, who you are, what you do and what action someone can take, like right at the top. Okay, so for those of y'all listening, because we as designers get so hooked on
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pretty pictures, you need to have some text over your pretty picture that says who you are. Repeat that again, who you are, what you are, what you do, and what action people can take when they get to the website. Okay, there you go, yeah, there you go. Three quick, thanks. And that's,
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you know. I mean, should I keep going? I have a couple other ideas, absolutely, yeah, give us all, give us all the dirt. Okay, so sort of coming back to this, like, where you want, what action you want people to take? Right? Your website, it needs to be like,
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like borderline, like, hitting them in the head, obvious, what we want them to see. Right? Why is that? Because we talk that language. Our clients don't. Yes, mistaken, what else. So like our I mean, just like in general people, the way that we the way that we consume on the internet, is so fast that, like, you are really skimming and not really like digesting fully everything that you see. So I try to like, I basically like, repeat the same thing throughout a website over and over, right? Just saying it differently. Girl, my husband does that to me, and it makes me crazy, like, Honey, you already said that, but on the website, it's effective. Yes, exactly, exactly. It's not it like in in the real world, you would think it's nagging, and you would be like, Okay, that's enough. Like, I don't need to continue repeating this. But people, people on the internet, and I'm sure that, like, all of us, are guilty of it as you consume on the internet, like, you'll notice you're not really consuming everything to its fullest capacity. That's true. There's not a test over it, yeah. So in general, I think it's important to have like, what are called calls to action on the at least the top and definitely on top and definitely on the bottom of every single web page. And you can have them intermittently in between as well, if you'd like, right but the ones at the top and the bottom are the most important. And really, having them on every single page and like just call to action is going to be like, call us, contact us. Let's chat. Now. Download this super duper, amazing guide to everything you ever wanted to know for free. Yes, yes. This is give me your if you're going to do, if you're going to do the lead that like lead magnet, like you're talking about, you want to make sure that those people that you're capture.
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That information and then, like, actually contacting those people. So if you're not doing that, don't put that on your website. It is a waste of great resources. Well, that's a great I'm going to interrupt here real quick because y'all I want to on my last podcast, I had dropped an offer in at the end for an email marketing and social media bundle for interior designers, and that is still available. So for those of you guys who are listening, if you remember, on my last podcast, I had mentioned that I have an email marketing and social media bundle that is available to you. It's just 27 bucks, but it's going to lead you through everything that Rachel just said about how to navigate your email marketing, you can just VM me on any post on Instagram, the word bundle, and I will send you that link. So Rachel, thank you for bringing that up. I almost forgot that I was going to offer that today,
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but I'm so glad I could help. I know so yeah, thank you, sorry for that interruption, that little commercial there. So you're saying you've got the call to action on the top and at the bottom,
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then where do you put? Where you're located, where do you find like that has been a hot button for me recently, because I've been going to interior designers Instagrams and their websites, and I don't know where they work.
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Oh, wow, odd. What a weird thing to hide. Yes, it should probably be in your footer, in the footer of your website. Okay, and that's that is, like, also important data for the like Google to know about the Google
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yeah juice, yeah. So if you're gonna, like, if you're trying to find business locally, then you want to make sure that you're using the keywords for your area, in in your on your website frequently, so that you are attracting the right clicks for local people, which I feel like would be especially important for interior designers, yeah, unless you're just specializing in specializing in E design, then you can serve anybody, but I want the people whose homes are close,
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right? Yeah, right. So put it in your footer and and then I would also put it like throughout the copy on your website. Thank you. Yeah, that's, I think that's so important. Okay, so what else can I have, I mean, dig in, dig in, dig in. Yeah. Okay. So another thing that I see a lot on websites, I think, like we should revisit. I see a lot of, like, long paragraphs of text on websites. This is not how people consume on the internet. Again, coming back to this, like, we are not, we are not really reading. We are skimming. If people are interested in working with you, especially if they're gonna shell out, like, you know, 10s of 1000s of dollars for your luxury service, then they will eventually get to the part where they read the paragraphs of text on your website. But it is up to you to sort of break them out so that they're more digestible for a web user that they're separated with headlines and sub headlines that are both clear, like clearly describing what we're talking about, but also like aspirational, inspirational and sort of like spelling and persuading people to take action. So you're trying to marrying both of those things, and when you have text, it can't be too wide that makes it hard to read. You have to make sure it's narrow so that it's easier to like, read, like, skim through and read, yeah, and there's a, there's a like, fine line between, if it's too narrow, it's a problem, and it's too wide, it's a problem. So there is a a sweet spot.
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Sounds like my genes? Yeah.
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Exactly. So there's that. And then also you want to make sure that, like when you have those bodies of text, that you're using images in a way that helps actually describe what you are talking about. So let's say it's a section where we're talking about your design process, and there's like a paragraph for each different phase of the project, then you maybe want to consider having, like, an icon or an image, a photo that like is actually describing what that process looks like, while it's okay. So you don't necessarily need a picture of a kitchen when you're discussing your process, you might have a picture of fabric swatches, or standing there with the laptop or whatever. So it's, it's related to and congruent to the copy 100% yes. In fact, I think that. I think that if we're going with this example of, I were building a product, a process page, the finished kitchen would be, the bottom would be like the finally reveal, celebrate, it's ready. And like, up at the top, like the top, is a picture of you having your first initial session with the client. The next one is what you're just you know, you're having the swatches that are in in the picture. And then maybe there's a picture that's like.
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Like, whatever other things.
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Yeah, the designer crying, definitely. I have to go through those phases as well.
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But like, having the install day pictures show at the same time, sort of like you want to be, like, walking people through the story, so that should they not read at all, or should they only read the headline they're still getting the gist of what's going on.
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That makes perfect sense, yeah, it seems. But again, like you're talking about how designers design a room, we look in there and we see, well, yeah, duh. That's what we need to do. But what you just said is another yeah, duh,
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from the other perspective, like, yeah, sense, yeah. Like, if you're not a web designer. Why would you know this? You know like I I have been studying this for years, which is how I learned. Just like you guys have studied your work for years, and that's why my house looks like an eclectic mess.
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Eclectic is the word that we use.
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It's home, honey. It's home,
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whatever. Although I got all my stuff embedded and it works, but it's definitely not pretty.
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So let me tell you, I think a lot of us as designers can appreciate that, because we're like the cobblers kids. Sometimes ours is the last to get done. Yeah. I mean, that's all of us. That's everyone I talked to, and, in fact, my own website was that for a long time and and for the pace that I'm learning new stuff. With each new project, I my website becomes more and more obsolete, even though I just redid it last year, like, yeah, it's, I can imagine, yeah, I I'm learning new stuff. Like, every, you know, I do projects in like, tight sprints, so like, every three weeks I'm, like, learning a whole new thing, right? Very fun. But suddenly, like, you know, a couple months later, my website looks stale already, and I'm like, Oh, dang, yeah, I just finished that. I can understand that completely. Yes, I think everybody listening can feel the same way too. Yeah. I think another, some other tips are that there's, generally,
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there's a way that, like users. Web users expect information to be laid out on a website. So for example, they expect your logo to be in like the top left or the top center of the page, and that it's clickable. So on any page, if you click the logo, it takes them back to the home page, right? So in any and that's Same with the footer. So if there's a logo in your footer, you expect it to click From any page and go back to the home page. So that's something you want to make sure that you're doing, just like little a little step, to make it look a little more professional that, and that way it doesn't annoy the user, because that emotion is then assigned to what they're looking at. And that's you yes and you want to and like, in general, your website should be, you know, there's a whole sub field of web design called UX design, which is the user experience designer, and that's the person who is,
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you know, like certain it's like, how we all know that when words are underlined their links, there's things like that all over the Internet that we expect a hamburger menu, those three lines, that it's a menu, right? But all of those things you had to be we had to be taught, and we've had to learn over years. So you just want to make sure that you're sticking to those, like universally accepted rules of design. Makes sense? Yeah, you can be a trend setter in design, just not on your web design, or not in, not in, like in the realm of UX, just, just like if you were designing a room and you were like, here's an a cozy arm chair, and then you put the cozy armchair, like at a dining room table, like that wouldn't make any sense, right? Like, everyone would be like, Why is this? This is a reading chair, like it was, like a relaxing chair. Why is it in this like, slow down, I could, like, my my chin is on the dining table. Okay, exactly like, it's just not like, it's just not how people expect furniture to be used. And so similarly, we want to make sure our websites are creative within the
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limits of, like, what is acceptable user design that makes sense, that makes perfect sense. I love that. All right, we've got time for a couple more.
34:08
Okay, love it. So. So thinking specifically about personality, I feel like the best way to show your personality on a website is with engaging visuals. So we talked about what some of these are, but there's photo elements, of course, design elements, there's font styles, right? And also branding elements. And all of these things can be combined in ways that send lots of different messages to your audience. So for example, I like worked recently with an event planner, and she calls herself a little intense, right? Like when she's talking to me, she's like, I'm a little intense, but I want my website to you know, she's like that my intensity makes me a phenomenal event planner, which is true, she's very on top of her work and on top of the logistics, and she doesn't drop single ball, and all the details are covered, everything is taken care of, but at the same time, like.
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She wants to be more approachable to a new client, because she's not gonna be without checklists when she meets someone for the first time. That would be so weird, like, so there's, like, a there's a balance to be found, right? So for her website, we used like, all circles, like the shapes, all the shapes on her website were soft and, like,
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approachable, right? Because, right. But it combined with this copy, the words that were, like, very intense about the work that she does and how many vendors she works with, and how many hours she can save for your team, and how high quality the events are and how organized she is, so you're sort of able to have both of those pieces at the same time, interesting. Yeah, it's fascinating. So I guess that's like one example another, another. You know, I guess we could talk more again, about my own website, which is, I have, like, a really loud color palette on my website. But, yeah, yes, which is very works. Well, okay, thank you. But one of the reasons it works on my website in particular is because I have really strong guides around when, when I'm allowed to use which colors and on which in like which cases. So for example, I only use one color at a time with black or white, and that is how I keep it like looking, not intentional? Yes, because otherwise, all those colors together, it would be chaotic, and that's not what it feels like to work with me. I am bright and colorful, but I'm also, like, extremely organized. I manage my projects start to finish, just like interior designers do, and there's so many moving pieces that I'm managing. That's what I teach. Because it's not an easy topic. Yeah, it's not easy. It weirdly comes naturally to me. I'm very good at it at work. But it's, it isn't
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it's not chaotic, that's and that I didn't want the website to look that way, so bright and fun and colorful, yes, but also like strict in some ways,
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which effectively, yes, exactly, no. I love that. And it's interesting how it's like when you walk into a room, you can feel the vibe. Yes, everybody's home has a different vibe. Everybody's website, you're helping convey that. Yes, oh, I love it. I absolutely love it. Yeah, and Joey, do you want more? Yeah,
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I know. I'll take a notes,
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good. I love it. So another thing I talk about in my alleys again, is propositionality, which is the only word I made up, but it is about showing your unique value proposition on your website. So like, for example, I had a client recently who was a digital ads agency. So in that realm, she, like, works specifically in Facebook and Google ads, but she works with women who run clothing boutiques, like small boutique clothing stores, right? So she was speaking to a very specific audience, but offering a very like high touch tech service. And so the style, the like design style that we used on her website, was very like digital ads agency style. It had, like, hard gradients, hard lines, a lot of like, whited out images. It was very, like, rigid in that way. But we used, like, a big, bubbly handwriting font, and all of the language was extremely colloquial. So said, Hey babe, all over the website and things like, you'll have the best month ever, like talking in a way that matched the tone that that audience was used to using, but displayed in a way that looked super polished and right, like hyper professional. So there's that tension between the two and that that goes back, that's just opposite of your other example with the bubbles and the
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hard copy versus Interesting, yeah. Oh, I love that. So y'all that are listening, from a creative standpoint, this is really something that you would want to dive in with, and now, Rachel, is this something that you help your clients with?
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Because, of course, of course. Yes, I'm thinking like, I can, I can describe myself, but I couldn't. Couldn't design it to have that tension intentionally. Yeah, so my entire website process is, like, built around the fact that I love talking to people and meeting new people and learning new things. So I have, I call it the 4p process, prep, prep, put it together, Polish and publish. But in order to go through that process, it's super like, it's like very we work very closely, me and.
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Clients. It's a one on one, live calls. I'm getting to know them like while I'm doing the work, and so I am able to pick out the pieces and design them into the site like a detective, like a detective or a psychologist,
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yeah? Let you into my brain,
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yeah. And, I mean, I have, I have a lot of fun with it, and it's, it's just such a fun, I mean, it's such a fun experience to, first of all, I always really enjoy getting to know people, new people, and learning new things. But it's really fun to be able to translate their personality in this way. So that makes sense, something I love doing. Oh, well, okay, so I've got a couple questions for you, but before we dig into a couple questions, how can people work with you? I have a lot of ways to work with people, so obviously, I build brand new websites for anyone who wants one, and I offer a custom and a semi custom package. So depending on your needs and how much you know, specialization you need, I can help, you know, build the whole thing from the ground up right. Then. I also do website maintenance packages. I do website audits that are like, you know, will basically do all of this, yeah, like personality, assess your website for where you can put more personality in. And then also for people who don't have any website and don't really want to, like do the full custom thing, I have a number of smaller packages that help, sort of help with DIY, but I don't they're still doing the whole work, but I sort of done with guide, yeah, done with you. Thank you. That's what I'm looking for. Yeah? Done with your packages. Yeah. That's fun. Yeah, so like you were talking about earlier, if you have a lot of time and not a lot of money, you can assist there. If you have zero time and you've got the money, you can help in that arena as well. Yeah, and that's my that's where I prefer to be, simply because I think, I think the product is better when it's made by a professional, just because I know all the things right, but I also know that that's not reasonable for everyone and so well when you're like so I think that that's important for people to hear, is that coming from a website designer developer, here is that You recognize that at the beginning of business, not everybody can afford to pay somebody to do it and and that's something that I teach a lot in
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regards to when you're a baby designer, you're gonna have a baby website. As you get older and more sophisticated and more mature and more money, then your website is going to become more sophisticated, and you're going to put more money into it. And it's just a natural evolution in business, yes, yes. And so that's really how my packages, like all came to be. I, I have the the like Baby, Baby website package that helps people either do it themselves with with, like, some guidance from me, or, like, audits their website so that they can go edit it themselves with guidance from me. And then I typically help people who've been in business for like, two or three years and they're ready to do like, an update, let's call it, yeah. And then I help people who are at like, the five ish year mark with like, a whole new website. And then there are people who come to me who haven't touched their website in 20 years, and then they need a whole that's also a whole new thing. In general,
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if you haven't touched your website in like, five ish years, it's probably worth, worth, like, an assessment, absolutely, it's time to update that, baby. Yeah, it's kind of like the 10 year redesign of your home? Yes. Okay, so here's my question that I love to ask as many people as I can, because it's a very selfish question. And what book would you recommend reading this year? It could be self help, it can be professional, it can be fiction. It could be whatever, like. What do you recommend? Wow. I mean, I am a big fiction reader. I really, I have, I happen to have just finished Onyx storm, which was a very popular on the internet right now.
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Yeah, highly recommend. It's a fantasy story. It's really fun. Okay, cool. It's the third in a series. So if you are looking for a project you want to be busy escaping into your imagination for a couple weeks, I would say, check out. Start with the first one. Yeah, start with the first one. Okay, good to know, good, good, good. And then
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what do you want to spend more time doing, like in life, just in general? Yeah, if you could just wave a magic wand and you could just spend more time doing something. What would it be? I think I would be dancing. That does not surprise me after this short time that we've spent together.
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Yeah, a little more dancing. I thought I've been the the winter weather is like really getting me down. So, yeah, today I was listening to.
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Dance music playlist, and it has been, like really fun just to just a little pep of my set. So I think that's where I want to be. It adds a completely different vibe. I love that. I love that. And Rachel, I know that our audience has loved everything you've shared. This has been a lot of fun. How can they connect with you? Or where can they connect with you? We refer to your website earlier, but give them, give them all the dates. Yeah, love it. I'm on my website, obviously Bright Side design.com,
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I'm also on Instagram and LinkedIn, and I like just want to talk to anyone, anywhere, if you have questions about a website, if you just want to talk about entrepreneurship, if you want to tell me how you manage a business and motherhood at the same time, I'm literally always looking for advice on that.
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I've got a hack for that one. I'll come back to it. Okay, great. Um, so, yeah, anyone can? Anyone can contact me through any of those tools, and I would love to set up a coffee date or a website audit call with anyone who is interested. And, yeah, that's it. Yeah, this has been the most difficult podcast conversation I've had to date just because you're so shy and I had to pull all the information out of
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you. No but thank you so much, Rachel. I will make sure that those details are listed in the show notes for our audience to reference. So my quick hack on motherhood is get a separate email for all things that have to do with your child. It doesn't have to be their name. I was talking to one of my one of my friends, she's a former Baker, or she's still a baker, but Baker, if you're not familiar, as the interior design business bakery, which is my signature program. Everybody who goes through it, we call bakers. They're not actually, like, confectioners or like baking cookies or anything, but we were talking, and she's like, Yeah, it's so hard, especially when your kid gets to school age, to keep track of all of the communication. But still, like, if you've got doctor's appointments or whatever, if you just set up a completely separate like, mine is my name. Like, I have a Yahoo account for myself when I go shop, like my shopping account, and then I have my iCloud account for my kid and stuff that's important. Then I just have a general one. So I'm not checking all of them all the time, but I could put all of Genevieve, that's my daughter's step, addressed to that one email, and I know that I'm not going to miss it. That is a great idea. It's just a good start. And I know your kids not in school yet, but it's, it's way, that's a great idea. And also, I like the idea that my husband could also check that email inbox, like we could have two people, two people with eyes on these projects, because I feel like the queen of dropping balls. Oh, family, family department, wait until they start school. It's crazy. You've got all these emails coming on. Holy moly. So anyway, that's a wrap on today's episode. If you loved what you heard, don't keep it to yourself. Share it with the fellow designer. Okay, leave a review. I really appreciate that, and let's keep the conversation going. You can DM me on Instagram, at design for the creative mind, tag me with your biggest takeaway. I love connecting with you guys. Just not me, just talking at you on this podcast. And remember, success doesn't happen by chance. It happens by design. So keep designing your business with intention, and if you ever need a hand, I've got coaching and mentorship programs. Just reach out. I can meet you where you're at, babe, and you've got this and I'm here to support you every step of the way. So thank you. If you need help with your website, call Rachel, and we will catch you guys on the next episode. Thanks for being here. Thanks, Rachel. Hey y'all. If you love the show and find it useful. I would really appreciate it if you would share with your friends and followers, and if you like what you're hearing. Want to put a face with a name and get even more business advice, then join me in my Facebook group, the interior designers business launch pad. Yeah, I know it's Facebook, but just come on in for the training and then leave without scrolling your feet. It's fun. I promise you'll enjoy it. And finally,
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I hear it's good for business to get ratings on your podcast, so please drop yours on whatever platform you use to listen to this. We're all about community over competition, so let's work on elevating our industry one designer at a time. See you next time, bye.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
