Sabrina Dent: Freelance web designer, developer and internet marketer living in Cork, Ireland with one dog and a husband in no particular order.
In Which I Sell Out and Become a Brand
Yesterday, while up to my eyeballs in CSS and transparent images, a surprising thought occurred to me for the first time:
Despite the fact that I’ve been pushing pixels out the door for paying customers for almost fifteen years, I have never had a website.
I have always been a blogger, and I have always used a blog to represent myself online, even when there were no blogs and I was writing in a hacked guestbook script. I’ve never had a website that, well, does what this one now does.
Some web designer.
Anyway, it was an interesting process, one which I have attempted and abandoned on two previous occasions. I think that what made the difference this time was the IWA Best Business Blog award at the end of March; blogging has been light not just because of the train thing, but because winning that award really stunned me.
I barely think of myself as a business; certainly not as a company or a service or – God forbid – a brand. And I certainly don’t think of myself as a business blogger, either; I mean, I blog about getting accidentally drunk and my dog, for pity’s sake.
But probably it was time to get a little more grown-up about this whole work thing, and that award was just the uncomfortable kick up the arse I needed. I’m grateful now in a way I wasn’t three months ago, and I feel a little better dressed for the occasion with the new design.
This redesign was a good exercise, though weeding out my portfolio was a bit of a shock – there were something like 35 sites in there, now trimmed down to a much more manageable 20. The hardest part was writing the About page, which was called “Services” for exactly ten seconds, all of which I spent wanting to kill myself. Now I just sound like the Internet’s Troy McClure instead.
No site is without its issues, so I would just like to go on record as telling any future clients, “Do as I say, not as I do.” No, you cannot have a 220k background image, for a start.
Some nice things:
- All old links still work, although you may want to re-point any links to SabrinaDent.com specifically to the blog.
- There is a colophon if you’re interested in the pieces that went into this.
- I now, apparently, have a newsletter. Trust me when I say: very infrequent.
- Social icons now behave like normal people’s social icons behave.
- And lo, there is a search box, like normal people have.
The search box makes me ridiculously happy.
PS: We lost some comments on the last entry when moving – so sorry.
PPS: My husband is a saint; I’ve put him through three days of hell.
15 Jul 2010
| In: Design + Domesticities | Tags:redesign, yay
Hi Sabrina – love the new site … and also love the fact that you’ve based it on a premium theme. I recently got caught up in a debate about whether or not this was ‘acceptable’ – my point being ‘Of Course!’ … your portfolio speaks for your work, and it is so often easier to stand on the shoulders of someone else to give your own site a refresh. Good for you – I think it rocks.
15.07.2010, 1:02 pmHi David, thanks I’m glad you like it. I got caught up in that debate too, but if I hadn’t had a starting point to begin from, I would never have done this. I have no regrets and I am indeed a self-proclaimed template whore.
I absolutely get the “every pixel hand crafted” pride but realistically, I did this site in three days. That’s already more budget than some clients I work with. At the end of the day, the market (broke start ups) is more important to me than the tools (templates vs hand coding.)
Hi Sabrina, just spent some time reading your blogs – and really enjoying them! Now want to visit the G (or is it g) Hotel and squeal at the interior!! I hope to keep reading you! Am now going to see if I can find you on Twitter…(where I get happily distracted when I should be doing vat returns)
15.07.2010, 2:39 pmLooking fierce snazzy altogether – I like it a lot. Well done. x
19.07.2010, 9:27 am (subscribed to comments)Thanks guys! It took some getting used to and I still click “Home” instead of “Blog” when I want to go to my blog home page, but I’m overall glad I made the leap and delighted with the site like a mum with a new baby!
Sabrina: Love the new site, hours of reading enjoyment and practical business advice said as only Sabrina Dent (the brand) can do…
26.07.2010, 5:22 pm