A Michelangelo website
Here I sit again, another late night, reflecting on my day, my chores, my goals and my new site and I wanted to share a thought that seemed very real to me when it comes to these websites.
I have always fancied myself a child of the sixties, bit of a hippy at heart and a very frustrated artist, yes I have had a pony tail and a diamond in my left ear and I love CCR, Fairport Convention and Van Morrison and my dream would be to walk the roads of Europe with a guitar on my back but here's the point.
Michelangelo said 'a man paints with his brain, not with his hands' and I think we all need to remember this when we are creating our websites. Before we have an idea or a thought, there is no website, nothing exists. It is our ideas that are transferred to our hands and what comes out is a mixture of experience, our likes, our culture, our creativity and our loves and passions. This is what this 'passion niche' is all about, What do we love? What excites us? What gets us up in the morning or keeps us up late at night?
When you think of your website, think of it as a piece of art, a painting or a sculpture. It is 'you' that you are putting out there to 2 billion people, it's your name attached in that 'about me' page so make it yours. Think of the colour scheme, think how it will emote your readers? Think of the text and how it looks, this is your piece of art. Sometimes we tinker and fiddle and the arm will fall off but thats ok, we have all had a Venus de Milo.
A piece of art is created with passion and emotion and it often takes many drafts, sketches and an occasional step away before it is ready for commission, so step away and 'close one eye; and look at it closely, does it meet your standards? are you proud of it? are you happy for a customer to read it and pay you money?
So go and create your masterpiece and be proud and put it out there in the world for people to see.
“Art is not about thinking something up. It is the opposite, it's getting something down.”
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Very thoughtful piece of writing, you are right on the mark with this, we do have to express ourselfs with our writing. Another good blog post.
This is what people need to remember and you reminded us. Good job. And each new thing you want to create is better then the last.
I am a terrible artist! I must take everything down immediately. No one actually ever said the words 2 billion people will see this. I need to go live under a rock and stick to gaming! I'm great at thinking something up, not so sure about getting it down!! My poor website deserves a better webmaster- stop, wait, that is why I signed up for this course. It will all be okay after I get all my learning done, right?
Another very thought provoking article, Mike.
It can be scary putting up a website, because as you've said, you are showing the world who you are. It took me about 30 revisions to post what I did - even so, it's not "quite right" yet. My vision of what I want it to be is a reflection of me, of my thoughts and values.
Shouting and showing off and drawing attention to myself are not my style and never have been. Looking at so many other sites out there, with amazing graphics and pictures and videos and buttons to press, some with value - others full of empty promises - I do wonder if I'm in the right place, here on the internet, and if I'll ever succeed.
With my photos, which are an important part of my life, I very rarely - if ever - post one straight out of the camera. There is always a picture to be created from the photograph. This may be splitting hairs, but I keep coming back and seeing if I've missed anything, if it can be cropped or enhanced in some way. Will other people be able to see and appreciate what compelled me to take the original?
This is what I'm trying to do with creating my website. With whatever words and pictures I have at my disposal. In one of my previous lifetimes, I did a lot of walking the streets and doing cold calling. It has been said, and I found it to be true, that customers won't buy what you have to offer if they don't buy you first. You only get one chance to make a first impression. Yes, I had my share of rejections, but I also managed to get some significant sales with major companies.
So, in a way, this is exactly what I'm doing again by creating a website. Scary - but every "No" brings me a step closer to getting a "Yes!"
:) george
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Your website is the window to the soul of your business - Paul Dean, 2008. Lol.
Profound stuff again Mikey. Love it.
lol........I like your comment Paul - Mike Boniface, 2013 lol