FINDING INSPIRATION
As a blog designer it can be hard at times to get those creative juices flowing. Especially if we have been working hard at meeting deadlines and our design queue is filled to the brim with clients waiting to get their perfect new blog design.
For me personally, my brain gives out when it is under pressure or overwhelmed with clients, which is the worst time for me to lose my creative inspiration.
Over time I have stumbled on a few things that has helped me get those creative juices flowing again:
Model Homes: I know this may seem like a not so typical place to find creative inspiration, but I have personally been inspired by a model home before. I was actually designing several blogs for a client and at the same time we were looking at new homes. In one of the model homes was a child’s bedroom decorated with the colors white, pink, and black. I was inspired the minute I walked into that room, I loved the color combination and I eventually ended up using that color combo on my one of my clients blog design!
Blog Hopping: I have found looking at other blog designs and also reading blogs has helped to get the creative juices flowing. Now I am NOT saying copy someone else’s work. Just read more bloggs HERE.There are techniques that can be used by all people and when you add your own creative flair, it is still uniquely yours!
Giggle Break: Last but certainly not least, taking a good giggle break always does the trick. If I am feeling particularly stressed and overwhelmed there’s nothing like getting off the computer, getting down on the floor and tickling one of my three little ones! There sweet little giggles always helps me to laugh. Giggle breaks certainly help to open the mind and get those creative juices flowing.
So what do you do to get the creative juices flowing when you are having a design mental block?
Learning new things and applying them to your designs can also help to get those creative juices flowing.
POTENTIAL CLIENTS ARE RIGHT UNDER YOUR NOSE!
As blog designers we often gear our marketing toward the Internet world because most people on the Internet *GET* what a blog is, and most people on line already have a blog. But I think it is essential to the success of all blog designers to shift their focus, even if just a little bit, to their local market.
I have to say, I have not seen to many blog designers target the local market where I live, and to me that’s a big sign to start moving in that direction. The fact of the matter is this, people need a website but they don’t really know how to set one up, and when they do they pay astronomical prices to have someone else maintain the website because they have no idea what “html” is!
As blog designers we know the simplicity of a blog, and we know that it is possible to use a blog as a regular website and easy to use content management system.
So where am I going with this - YOU need to start tapping into your local market. There are so many local businesses within your reach that are desperately seeking an easy to maintain, elegant, and professional website. As blog designers we should be taking our expertise to the “streets.” ;)
To get your gears going, here is a list I made of some businesses that could SERIOUSLY benefit from using Wordpress as their CMS solution:
• Vets
• Boutiques
• Opticians
• Dietitians
• Chiropractors
• Day Care Providers
• Massage Therapists
• Local Fire Departments
TASK MANAGER IS YOUR FRIEND!
When I first started out with blog design I would write down my tasks and ideas from my clients on paper, until one day....my emails got away from me and I couldn’t remember who paid and who didn’t, or whose blog was whose! It was a total mess and that was when I realized I needed something a little more useful in order for me to be more productive.
I then did a little a research and came across the Tasks which is developed by “Crowd Favorite” and I was, and still am, super happy with the product.
Some ways Tasks makes my life as a blog designer easier:
• It helps me keep all client information together in one spot on my website.
• I can simply copy and paste the clients email into a task folder instead of handwriting everything down onto a project planning notebook.
• It helps me to easily keep track of things like whether or not the client has paid for their design or if I downloaded their image.
• You can add URLs to the task, set start dates, upload attachments, everything is right there for me to start the design work, no searching through emails or saved files on my computer.
• It helps keep me organized which is sometimes a hard thing to do when you are scheduling design clients on a waiting list.
