For Amie Colosa, what started as a career in traditional graphic & print design, turned into a love for designing for the web. That evolved even further as Amie became just as excited about coding the end result as she was designing it. Amie helps individuals and companies best express themselves through creative design, development, and strategy. In other words, if you need someone to speak the language of the web, she’s your girl. When She’s not in front of a screen, you can find her working on products for her t-shirt and art print shop, sewing, screen printing, and crafting.
Don’t stress if you don’t know the tech lingo:
Working with a website developer or designer can be intimidating. If you already know that your technical skills aren’t stellar, then handing your website design to a professional is a great idea. However, some people might be worried that they don’t understand or know enough about the backend of things to explain what you need. Amie comes across this all the time, and she shared that it’s much easier to communicate when you don’t try to use all the tech jargon that you don’t understand. Just explain in your own words, your vision, and the pros can translate it for you!
Don’t forget to nurture your hobbies as much as your business:
As business owners, we spend a lot of our time nurturing and growing our business. That’s a given. For the first few months or even the first year, you’re going to be so excited and motivated that you won’t mind that most of your time is taken up by your business. However, as the months and years go on, you’ll start to notice that your hobbies fall by the wayside. Those things you loved to do that had nothing to do with your business don’t get your attention as much, and soon you won’t be able to remember the last time you did them!
Moral of the story, make time for your hobbies just as you make time for your business. You need that time for yourself to unwind, look at something other than a screen, and let your brain rest. Amie turns screen printing on “pre-loved” shirts from thrift stores as a way to combine her hobby of graphic design and crafting!
Setting boundaries early on can save you a lot of headaches:
Amie mentioned that she struggled a bit with setting boundaries and standing up for herself when she first started her business. She realized that it wasn’t because she was bad at being a leader, it was because she was being reactive to situations instead of having a clear plan on how she would handle them if they came up. Having that plan in place and having protocols for different conditions, either good or bad, can help you stay in charge and on top of whatever is going on. It will help you control your emotions because you know the best step, instead of floundering and just reacting as you go along.
When you first start working with clients, try to think of all the possible situations that could arise. Think of positive ones and negative ones and then plan out how you will react and move forward. It doesn’t have to be scripted (unless you need it to be) but at least you will have thought about it ahead of time and won’t be blind sighted.
One way I do this is to craft some email templates in response to different things. For example, I have an email template letting clients know my working hours and my non-working hours so that I don’t get bullied into working nights and weekends. I also have an email template thanking customers for a good review or feedback. I also have one for negative feedback. I can, of course, customize them for a particular situation; however, I know I am prepared and have crafted a well thought out and well-written response before my emotions get involved.
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