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Your why is your anchor

When clients first come to me, they often have questions about how to run their businesses. They want more sales and want to optimize their websites and want to know the exact number of blogs to write each week.

I begin many sessions by asking my clients if they know their why. I see this as fundamental — before it is time to stress out about the what and the who. Whether you’re building a website or designing business cards, your why anchors your communications. (Don’t believe me? Watch this.)

If you’re not sure of your why, block off twenty minutes to write. Don’t edit, just write. Some prompts to get you started:

  • What do you want to teach or give? What values are most important to you?
  • If you had to choose three words to describe your work, what would you pick? (Write down the first ones that come to mind.)

Once you have your why, you can start thinking about your who:

  • Who is your ideal client? What are they looking for?
  • How do they speak about themselves when no one is around?
  • What do they believe about their world?

THEN you can figure out your what…

  • Where do they spend time online? Are they listening to podcasts or reading email newsletters? Do they Instagram or Facebook? Which apps are their favorites?

If you need guidance sorting out your why, get in touch. I have limited availability but consider new coaching requests.

Who are you making this for?

It’s fun to think about what you’re creating. Sometimes it can be difficult to pause and consider who you’re really designing for.

Before you get too involved, too excited, too invested in your project, take time to think about your intended audience:

What do they want?

What do they need?

Where do they go?

You’ll save yourself a lot of headache by planning accordingly.

(What’s important to you might not be important to them.)

Design everything you do

“During my first internship out of college, Stella Lai gave me this tip and it has been the best professional advice I ever received. Try to practice this tip as literally as possible. The obvious areas are how you dress and how your house/apartment/room is organized. I would suggest not stopping there. Your emails should be written/composed clearly and beautifully. Your conversations with individuals should be designed through how you listen, how you maintain eye contact, how you respond (both spoken and unspoken). Everything you do should have a reason, no matter how small. Design requires constant practice, this is a great way to keep growing.” -Some Random Dude

Intentional spaces, event planning, and work that matters

Recently I had the pleasure of speaking with Will Bachman on his podcast Umbrex. We talk about my dinners in New York, my work with Seth Godin, and what I’m doing now in Nepal.

Listen here.

Consider this your friendly reminder that it is never too late to start.