Updating My Website

It never ceases to amaze me how much time I can spend doing work on my business that isn’t weaving.  It’s pretty much always work that I think is important or I wouldn’t do it, but geez – I should be producing more finished products!

Since my last post I have updated several pages on my website.  I spent far and away the most time on my home page.  And most of that on the visual – I haven’t really begun to update the content.  I do know that it’s the content that drives search engines, and that it’s critical that I pay serious attention to it.  And I will.  I just had to get the visuals completely re-done first.  My old home page embarrassed me.

Here’s how it used to look.

Actually, the jewelry picture wasn’t all weirdly out of shape like it is here, but you get the idea. The scarf picture was far from flattering of my weaving, and weaving and jewelry had equal weight on the home page.

Here’s the new home page.

It’s now very clear that weaving takes precedence over jewelry. The photos of the scarves are flattering, and show varied styles and fabrics.

I’d really hate to admit how much time I spent on the design of the new page. I had a draft that I actually went live with and sought some feedback. I liked the suggestions I received, and spent way too much time, again, incorporating them into the design. Being mostly self-taught on using Dreamweaver, there’s absolutely no doubt that I do everything the hardest way possible. Plus, my obsessiveness runs full steam when I’m doing design work. I spend ungodly amounts of time on things that no one else will ever even notice.

Anyway, I’m happy with the new home page design, and will get back to updating the content SOON. (If I tell myself enough times, and with enough force, I will make it happen.)

Today the binding came in for all the baby blankets I recently finished weaving. I’d love to tell you I’ll get them done in the next few days, but unfortunately, that won’t be possible. My first show of the season is Friday & Saturday, & I’ll be lucky to get one of each style bound before then. Although I make very little jewelry these days, I know my local customers will want to see new earrings, and I HAVE to get them made. So in reality, I won’t get to the majority of the binding until Sunday. Sigh.

I also spent a bunch of time on the email marketing for this upcoming show. Thanks to the responses to my survey, I had a really good idea about what I needed to do, it was the how that took time.

Your turn: where are your time sinks?