As a creative myself, I understand that it can be easy to underestimate the value of how you present yourself to the world. Not only in how the world perceives you, but in how you perceive yourself.
I have been writing since I was a pipsqueak kid with a pencil and wide-spaced lined paper, but it was many years later that I was ready to take that next leap toward “author.” I had started the process of sending out queries (cover letters for authors and their books) and looking actively for a publisher or an agent.
But even with my marketing background, one thing I had a tough time with was accepting that I needed an AUTHOR website. Granted, this was way back when before the wheel was invented…Actually, it was early stage internet when websites weren’t yet an automatic part of a marketing plan. (But if you ask my kid, that means “beginning of the world” old.)
For me, however, building that site was a huge milestone in my career. It was a public claim I put out in the world. Having that site made me confident when I said, “I am serious about this.” It made me realize I could be proud of being serious about my dreams and my goals.
Now that websites are must in marketing, you might think that any old website will do. Not really. It would be like wearing sweats to a business meeting. Are you going to walk in wearing sweats and feel confident and at your absolute best? Professional? Is that truly the first impression that will make you feel great about what you’re doing?
You don’t get to do over that first impression later, when you feel you “deserve” a more professional site. It’s already been made. Done. Over with.
That feeling I had years ago by just having a website (a good one) translates today into building a Wow presence for your creative business. And it has to wow YOU. It needs to excite you. A web presence you are wowed by will reinforce the good messages within yourself about what you’re doing, your goals, your dreams.
Now, the minute my author website ceases to wow me (in any way), I change it. (Yes, probably far more often than you do. Marketing professional. Can’t help myself.) I amp it up.
I feel the difference now when I let it go, when I push it aside. It changes how confidently I view my dreams and pursuits in writing. They are often hand-in-hand, but having that measuring stick is a valuable way to stay on track in believing in myself.
So take a look at your web presence. (Not just your website.) Are you wowed? Are you proud of what it says about you? Does it represent who you are, be that funny, witty, detail oriented? Does it represent the factors that make you unique, that pull you out from others in your field (or genre, if you’re a writer)? If not, it might be time for a change.
Because you are worth it.
Edited and re-published; originally posted on The Theater of Marketing | Photo credit by etvformacion at pixabay