Getting out of my own way
When I started my Etsy shop 7 years ago, I made only bracelets. So the name Linked by Sue made perfect sense. I chose some of my favorite colors for the shop, strong dark colors like burnt orange, copper and chocolate brown. My daughter designed my business cards and I assumed I was set forever. Not so. Times change, tastes change, and what delighted me at the start now looks a little fussy, a little heavy, a little dated. I started looking more closely at other artisan jewelry sites and realized the ones I was drawn to were much lighter, much fresher and a whole lot more streamlined. Even the name no longer fit. I no longer focus solely on bracelets, having realized how much I love creating earrings, and the voice of reason in my head, which sounds a lot like my daughter, was telling me it was time to change the name to something more reflective of the work I am currently doing and to pretty much rethink the whole thing. It was hard to give up that name. I loved that name. But my daughter was right, I needed a complete re-branding.
First up, changing the blog format. I admit I was nervous about this. My then son-in-law set it up for me 6 years ago and I had not touched it since. I knew that there were other layouts, other available options, but I was deathly worried that I would somehow muck it up by deleting something necessary that I would never get back. But, what the heck, I dove in and to my surprise changed the blog settings in less than an hour...and that includes the 15 minutes I spent googling free images of wine. So...on to the web site.
I was really dreading this part. I am not a web designer nor do I have any desire to be one. I don't have the knowledge, the talent or the patience to create something stunning from the blank canvas of my screen. But what I can do is follow directions. Enter Wix. I love Wix. I love it for its simplicity. I love it for its ease of use. I especially love it for the fact that in less time than I took waffling over the whole need-a-new-name issue, I actually created something pretty. Something easy to navigate. Something I am proud of. Here's the funny part about all of this. I have used Wix for years, but only maintaining and updating various real estate sites I use at work. They were created by other people and I was just sure I would not be able to create something by myself. I was pretty sure whatever I created would be the equivalent of a kid's Crayon drawing. Turns out I was worried for nothing. Once I blocked out a couple of hours to do the basic work, it pretty much created itself.
So the take away from this? Trust in yourself. Believe in yourself. Take a chance on yourself. Whatever you are wishing you could do, why not do it? Unless it involves jumping off something high wearing only a smile and a bungee cord. Don't do that. But for heaven's sake, stop thinking so hard about something that should be fun. I make jewelry. I write a blog. I drink wine. I sometimes drink wine then write a blog. It's not rocket science. It's not even kitchen science. It's me getting out of my own way.
First up, changing the blog format. I admit I was nervous about this. My then son-in-law set it up for me 6 years ago and I had not touched it since. I knew that there were other layouts, other available options, but I was deathly worried that I would somehow muck it up by deleting something necessary that I would never get back. But, what the heck, I dove in and to my surprise changed the blog settings in less than an hour...and that includes the 15 minutes I spent googling free images of wine. So...on to the web site.
I was really dreading this part. I am not a web designer nor do I have any desire to be one. I don't have the knowledge, the talent or the patience to create something stunning from the blank canvas of my screen. But what I can do is follow directions. Enter Wix. I love Wix. I love it for its simplicity. I love it for its ease of use. I especially love it for the fact that in less time than I took waffling over the whole need-a-new-name issue, I actually created something pretty. Something easy to navigate. Something I am proud of. Here's the funny part about all of this. I have used Wix for years, but only maintaining and updating various real estate sites I use at work. They were created by other people and I was just sure I would not be able to create something by myself. I was pretty sure whatever I created would be the equivalent of a kid's Crayon drawing. Turns out I was worried for nothing. Once I blocked out a couple of hours to do the basic work, it pretty much created itself.
So the take away from this? Trust in yourself. Believe in yourself. Take a chance on yourself. Whatever you are wishing you could do, why not do it? Unless it involves jumping off something high wearing only a smile and a bungee cord. Don't do that. But for heaven's sake, stop thinking so hard about something that should be fun. I make jewelry. I write a blog. I drink wine. I sometimes drink wine then write a blog. It's not rocket science. It's not even kitchen science. It's me getting out of my own way.
