My website, it is a-changin'

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

I have been struggling with my website for a while now. Because of the platform we originally chose, we were limited in design choices, and the palette and style definitely do not reflect my design sense. Another issue is that it is very cumbersome to update. Any time I wanted to add or change something, I have to get all the pieces ready, send them to my tech guy (a.k.a. husband), and have him do the updates--he's been wonderfully helpful, but this isn't his first priority, and neither of us has wanted to spend the time that the website needs. Developing the site was a good exercise for both of us, but it's a bit of a dinosaur now.What this means is that my major marketing tool is stale, old-looking, incomplete (so many of my designs aren't on here at all--you must think I've been sitting on my hands for the past two years!), and not very inviting. As for the blog part, Blogger has many quirks that make it frustrating to arrange text and photos. Sometimes it has been easier to say, "Eh, just skip it!" than to spend the time and energy it takes to do a presentable post.

Well, all this is about to change. I have hired a consultant and together we have chosen a beautiful new platform that reflects my design sensibilities--and which I will be able to update on my own! Also in development is a new logo and brand that will visually communicate my style (my "head shot" belongs in the back of my books, not as a substitute for a logo). As part of the redesign, we'll be switching to a different blog host. We will build in the capability for a newsletter mailing list, special offers, links to videos, information for yarn companies, and connections to FB. (It is challenging to decide which social media to use and how much time to spend on that--I don't want to spend so much time networking that I don't have a product to market!)

The redesign is taking place behind the scenes so we can work out all of the details before going public; I expect the launch before spring. Meanwhile, my current website will remain live (well, more like a zombie, but you know what I mean).

With Crochet Scarves coming out in just a few months, it will feel wonderful to have a fabulous new website that I hope you will enjoy visiting regularly for its content and visual appeal! Meanwhile, please accept my apologies for the stale nature of the current site and the way-too-infrequent blog posts.