Creativity and Business
Jan
23
Written by:
1/23/2012 9:53 PM
Creative people resist having to do “business” and business people are suspicious of anything that sounds “creative.” But the most successful entrepreneurs are creative people who embrace business and business people who think creatively. Are you using both sides of your brain to give your business the best chance at success? Is your website using both sides?
Most small businesses are started by people who are creative in the most basic sense of the word. They are good at creating something and figure they can support themselves by selling their creation to others. But a successful business requires more than just a good creator.
It doesn’t matter what you create – it could be a product, an experience, an action, a result or something entirely different. Whatever you create costs something in its creation. Most likely there are also costs to deliver it and definitely costs to market it. Almost immediately you have to switch from the “creative hat” to “business hat” and that’s where many entrepreneurs stumble. Not only do they not know business practices, they refuse or are afraid to learn.
On the other hand, some entrepreneurs have no fear of cold calls, spread sheets and production processes, but are thrown in a tizzy when things change and they need to come up with a new plan to face unexpected challenges.
Your website is the perfect balance of creativity and business. It’s a work of art that you can put to work. Designing it is a creative process and includes business goals that need to be met. You have that gut feeling of “I know what I like” as well as web statistics to measure how your site is being used. It’s a medium to satisfy both sides of your brain!
So is your website taking advantage of both sides? Here are some points to consider when evaluating your site:
Creative Aspects:
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Is your branding represented with the right colors and logo?
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Do you have a good mix of text and graphics?
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Is there enough –but not too much—white space?
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Does the eye move appropriately down the page?
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Is this an attractive site that you are proud to show?
Business Aspects:
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Do you make it easy for visitors to contact you?
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Is there an obvious “call to action?”
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Are you simplifying sales and procedures using the Internet?
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Do you measure and analyze your website traffic?
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Is this a hard-working site that helps your business?
Few entrepreneurs can do it all so many great businesses are the result of great partnerships. If you’re a creative person, you might need business organizational support and a business-minded person might benefit from an out-of-the box thinker. And unless you are a website developer yourself, it makes sense to tap into someone else’s expertise to get the most out of your website. Do what it is you do best – and contact us with your website questions. We’re happy to help!