When it comes to designing (or re-designing) a website, a personal brand, many people have asked me: where do I start?

Here’s how I approach the thing.

I like to think of my life as a work of art. Like the definition says, art is “an application of our creative skill and imagination.” We’re consciously (or unconsciously) creating our lives, right? And our businesses are an expression of us.

So if we think of our business as a work of art, what would it look like, feel like, sound like? What emotions would it evoke in the viewer?

I went to see a Cezanne exhibit recently. Paul said:

“A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art”.

Good business, like great art, both speaks about the person who created it, and touches its audience. Your business and the way you express it must tell the world about who you are, and evoke an emotional response in people.

 If you’re struggling to create a new online presence, redesign your website, share your work on social media or separate yourself from the crowd, here are some prompts to help you think differently, and hopefully get you unstuck:

What are the emotions you want people to feel when they come across you for the very first time?

And what have they been feeling up until that point?

What got YOU so emotional / passionate about helping people solve their problem?

What brought you to do the work you’re doing?

What’s a new approach to expressing and defining yourself online?

What colors, styles of composition, photography, design elements, copy would express this?

Is there a congruency between what you’re saying is important to you and the way your website, your online presence, looks and feels?

As always, the key to moving forward in alignment is to quit looking around, and look within.

No one else has your story, and no one else can tell it (or show it) like you can.

Art is about personal expression, and you can’t do it wrong. If it’s coming from an authentic place, it’s right. What’s more, it’s coming from a place bigger than you. You are the conduit for a truth that needs to be heard. This is your art.

This reminds me of one of my all time favourite quotes from Andy Warhol:

“Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art.”

Yes!

The best art changes the world. It affects people in a positive way. It breaks convention.

Think of your work as a work of art and don’t be afraid to express it in a way that only you can.

Live as art.

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