This is especially true of small businesses, entrepreneurs, and freelancers, but sometimes it’s imperative for a business to redefine the box instead of moving outside it for creativity. (I didn’t feel the other parts of this series really captured the sheer genius of developing solutions within boundaries.)
So often, we’re confronted with a situation that has to be solved quickly. We feel ill-equipped to handle it with what we have on hand, so we start thinking about the most outlandish way we could approach the situation and go from there. In so many of these cases, though, with a little aluminum foil and some duct tape, we can make like Macgyver and create incredibly simple, elegant, useful solutions that others will look to for inspiration.
One of the biggest challenges when designing even a basic website is structuring the navigation system to be useful, even meaningful. I know I’ve lost a lot of time trying to figure out how best to create a navigation system that allows people to find what they want.
This article on navigation design really does a nice job of putting navigation design in perspective. If the user is going to ignore it for the most part, then perhaps it’s not the focal point we make it. Perhaps we should focus more on page content and allow navigation to develop in a logical manner.
I moved these blogs a few months ago when I decided to break them into three separate blogs. I really didn’t give much thought to the changing URLs because I didn’t really think anyone read them.
I’m not sure that I think anyone reads them now, but I am planning to move these blogs one more time. I don’t know when, but it’s going to happen. This time is a bit more concerning because I know of two blogs that link to CareerNiche, and have seen many fora and seminar sites that link to various posts. When I move these blogs next time, there are going to be a lot of broken links.
This does actually concern me. I’m afraid of losing the tiny readership the stats tell me I have, and of losing these connections.
While I’ve been sitting here pondering on the ramifications of moving the blogs again, I happened across this article on the necessity of being permanent online. To say this article resonated with the thoughts going through my mind as I’m reworking my web sites, trying to include the blogs, would be an understatement.
The best argument I’ve been able to give myself as a comfort is that people found me and followed me to the new URLs. If I make it a habit not to let my web presence resemble my offline presence, then it follows that people should follow me to wherever I move the blogs next. There may be a gap in readership for a bit, but it should shake out.
One of the questions I was asked during my orals in grad school concerned the continued preservation of data. This may be a part of the more in-depth answer to that question.
It never ceases to amaze me how having just a bit of writing experience in one discipline can help you be a successful writer in another.
For example, I am trained to create lesson and unit plans. With a bit of audience-focused storytelling unifying the various components of my lesson plan style, I was able to move on to writing teaching guides and now work on documentation at work.
Similarly, I have been able to convert my training for writing exhibit labels and supplementary materials into the beginnings of copywriting.
When we are preparing people to confront their first attempt at National Novel Writing Month, one of the things we tell people is to write about what they know. Sometimes, this ends up with an autobiography with the names changed to protect the less-than-innocent, but it gives them the confidence to attempt less nonfictional pieces in future years.
This isn’t to say that because you can successfully write in one arena, you will automatically be successful in others. It just means you can expand what you write by looking for similarly structured writing arenas.
I’m currently exploring the rather interesting world of e-portfolios. I remember back in my student teaching days when we had the students develop personal portfolios. We had a crate with hanging folders in it and the students filed their selected pieces in there with a strip of paper typed to the back that asked the student to identify the assignment, and then identify why they chose that piece for their portfolio. The students picked some very good pieces, but their reasons were often related to the grade they got on it rather than any internal motivation. While it showed they did well on the project and mastered the skills being measured, it did nothing to show one student’s triumph over his own apathy or another student’s growth in her sentence construction or a third’s growth in their ability to present.
Jeremy Hiebert has this excellent post on the struggle to make a portfolio a balance between reflecting on one’s mistakes and learning and presenting shining examples of their work.
We seem to have this mindset that every mistake is a failure and we should hide them under a rug or in our closets. When we do this, however, we really sell ourselves short. While someone can see what our end result was, they have no idea what went into it. For example, when I want to present one of my teaching guides, I have two options. I can just show the guide, which shows that I can put one together competently. However, it says nothing about the hours of research and planning that went into it. It says nothing about the fact that I started with one planned layout, and then switched to another as my own knowledge grew during the course of the project.
These e-portfolios are a great idea because I think it is possible to not only show the finished product, but also associated notes and thoughts on the process of producing the product. I think an e-portfolio can be designed to show not only skills and competencies, but also passion.
Happy New Year! I hope everyone who sees this is having a safe holiday filled with laughter and fellowship.
The new year is a busy time of year for any entrepreneur. For those with established businesses, it’s a great time to take stock, decide what things are working, and which processes need to be rethought or dropped. For the entrepreneur still hiding out in the “pre-launch” phase (like me), it’s the time to dedicate himself or herself to moving into that frightening, yet rewarding launch phase. For the person considering becoming an entrepreneur, this is when the resolution to start that business is set.
I remember being at this phase. I was terrified (still am, in fact). I was looking at creating a handcrafts business with someone I had met through a medieval recreation group, and she was far more gung ho about it than I was. It was great having her energy around because it really helped quiet some of my uncertainty.
One of the best conversations we ever had was the one leading up to our proposed business name. While it generated a unique moniker, it was rather challenging to explain in a way that didn’t make people look at us like we had both sprouted another head. We named the business around a misunderstanding that we both had found completely funny. It turned out that the name drew people in just long enough to ask how we came up with it, but the explanation quickly drove them off before they had a chance to see what we had to offer.
When I started out on my own, I originally kept the name in the hopes of keeping some of her energy around when she moved on. It blew up in my face yet again. I thought long and hard about a new business name, first trying out Tapestry Designs based on a long-standing daydream of mine. That similarly ran into problems because people found it a bit misleading.
After much debating and a few other aborted name considerations, I finally settled on stating who I am and what I do- My name is Rebecca Thomas, and I design. Hence, my little fledgling business is now called Rebecca Thomas Designs. The process to come up with the name has actually helped me focus on what I want from this endeavor, and has helped me plan some growth into this place.
Now to motivate myself to move forward with this business!
