#115 - Stop Treating Your Website Like Your Magnum Opus

We talk about how high standards and perfectionism can freeze momentum, especially when you are building something big like a new website. We share a practical way to choose a deadline, define a baseline, and ship a first version that helps people find you and pay you. 
• why big ideas turn into start stop progress 
• how Parkinson’s law makes long deadlines drag 
• choosing a baseline so version one can go live 
• simple website essentials for artists, makers and shop owners 
• taking tiny daily steps to build momentum 
• when paying for better tools or help saves time 
Let me know if you need some help around this. You find all the information on paternshift.fm. Share this podcast with someone you know that you think could benefit from some insights.

Transcript

Copy of #115 - Momentum Over Perfection: Small Steps Forward

0:00

Hey and welcome to Patent Shift. I'm Saskia, creative life and business coach for fiber-loving makers, teachers, designers, shop owners, and all-around creatives. I help you wayfind your next step, organize your business to fit your life, and launch ideas with joyful action. Together we'll untangle the tricky bits like branding, marketing and sales, and build something sustainable, soulful, and truly you.

Introduction

0:30

Hi and welcome to the Pattern Shift Podcast, or welcome back, even better. My name is Saskia and I'm coming from Rotterdam in the Netherlands talking to you today about momentum, basically, and how your standards are keeping you from moving forward. So uh let's start with what brought up this idea. I was just talking to a client, someone I coach, and she wants to put herself out there more. And so we're working on building a website for her. And I'm not necessarily building it for her, I'm helping her to go through the process of building a website. And what comes up a lot is that the deadline, how much time you have to do this and how big this project could become potentially, and how utterly sometimes debilitating it is to even get started, because you can see all the possibilities and all the things you could make or do, and then that becomes a huge struggle. So I'm not saying that this particular client was talking about all these difficulties, but these are things that I talk to people about, things that happen and that slow us down. So I thought it was a good time to really hone in on this topic of the time you have available to do these things. As small creative businesses, we want to do all the things ourselves. And sometimes we need to do all the things ourselves because we don't have the budget. And then it's about making a decision of where do you want to put your energy towards? The budget of time, not only the budget of money, both of that. So this particular client I worked with before, and at the end of our last sessions, she was thinking to set the deadline for a new website in the next year. And then today, when we had our first session, particularly focused on doing some more practical work rather than just coaching around some struggles and feelings. We were focusing on the practical more. In this first session, she realized that wait, that sounds way too far away next year. I want and need this website sooner, and I actually think I can do it. And that has to do with a lot of work around what is good enough, and not even what is good enough. That sounds like it's a version that is suboptable. It's not that, it's not about good enough, it's about understanding that a certain version of a website is great, and it doesn't need to be more. It actually could be better when it's more simple and when it's done faster. Let's talk about it.

The Perfectionism Trap

3:46

So sometimes we're stuck. We want to start this big project, and I'm using the example of a website, but it could be anything. We feel like we have ideas and they're in our heads, and we see other people's websites, and this is what we strive to be or to become or to come across as or look like, and it's this huge big idea or ideal. That's interesting that the word idea and ideal are so close together, but that's maybe for another time, and that keeps us stuck although we think we're moving. So every time we think that we're ready to get started, the ready gets bigger and it gets like it's not good enough. It needs to be more perfect than this. And of course, perfectionism steps in here, it's something that is just not getting us anywhere. But we're not being lazy for not getting started. We are having the possibility, the possibilities of all that it could be in our heads, and we just see all the ways that it can get better, and so it never feels like it's done enough. The idea is never done enough to actually start building. And when we do start building, separate parts of the bigger project get that same treatment where you think, okay, this is the homepage, but wait, now I see this other home page or this other imagery that really speaks to me, and now I want this, and then we get stuck again, and so nothing really launches, nothing really grows, nothing really gets momentum and keeps going and keeps moving. It's a start and stop situation, and the preparation and overthinking becomes the same thing, and that's blocking us. We're overthinking what we could potentially build instead of actually building something. So

Parkinson's Law

6:12

now let me talk about Parkinson's law. Work expands to fill the time available, and this was coined by C. Northcote Parkinson in 1955, if you want to know. So work expands to fill the time available. That means that the amount of time that you allow yourself to do something is the amount of time it will take to do something. So if you say, I have a full year of building a website, it'll probably take you that full year. And you won't be working at it the full year. You probably start working at the last minute or just dragging those thoughts along with you through the year. And if you have the deadline at the end of the year, you work towards that deadline. But if you give yourself, I need to have a website done in two weeks, you're able to do it in two weeks. Heck, I even build a website in eight hours one day. So I know what I'm talking about. This is actually a really interesting story. We should I should add a little tune here. Probably not. I don't have time for a tune. Anyway, side story. So I was looking for what was it? A pedicure, I think, years ago. And I was looking for someone who could provide me with a service that was not too far away from where I live. And also I used animal-friendly products, environmentally friendly products, people-friendly products, that kind of thing. And it was really hard to find that person. And when I did, I landed on a website that particularly stated that she used those kinds of products. And I was really happy about that because I found the person I was looking for, but her website was what should I say? Not up to date. And I felt like I could help her. And without asking, I basically took all the information from her website, I copy-pasted the text, and I build her a new website. And it was just not really meant for her. It was just uh a joyful thing for me to do, believe it or not. I really enjoyed doing that, and I gave myself a day to do it because I understood I have other things to do, but it this was also gonna be something that I could learn from. And within the eight hours, uh I built her a new website. And when I set a date, I showed her, but she was like freaked out or something. She was like, What? I she didn't really say anything. I tried to explain her that this is something I like to do. It's like making a sketch or something, it's drawing someone in public who didn't give their permission. I know how that sounds, but so she never did anything with it. I offered her the design for nothing for free. The only thing she had to do was like switch platforms because she was using another platform. And that she gave me, she did give me some feedback and saying that she didn't want to pay more than she was paying now, and that was definitely the reason why the website looked as it looked, because you do have to spend something, like some type of budget, whether that be money or loads of time, to get something that you can stand behind. Is that literally Dutch? Something that you can that's good enough for you. I don't want to use the word good enough. That's the thing. Anyway, let's move on. The point is that if you want to, you can make a website that is good in eight hours. Because the question is, what do you want to communicate? Who do you want to communicate it to? And if you're not a fully starting a new business, then you already know who you are and what you do, who you want to speak to, and that is part of the work, of course. So I would have to say this is doable if you already have a business. If you are starting a business, then there's work to do around who is your what's your product or your service and who you are talking to and all the things with branding and stuff. I do have to give you that information as well. Still, if you give yourself six months to build a website, it takes six months and it would be as much done as you would give yourself a weekend or similar. I hope you get my point. So she basically chose my client is not getting a deadline from anyone, she's giving herself a deadline. She gave herself a deadline for a year at first, and while we were talking, she realized that she didn't need a year, and so she chose a new deadline, and that's what you can do. You can choose the deadline and work towards that. So to take action, you need clarity. You cannot think your way to be ready to start. The first version is a foundation, is your baseline. Your first vet version of your website or your big project is just the first version. And perhaps here we do get to talk about good enough. Just clarifying that good enough is not bad, it is literally good enough. And then you can hang the decorations later. So you have you have this space that has everything you need in it. There's heating, there's a place to sleep, there's a fridge, but there isn't any wallpaper yet. Fine, the wallpaper can come later, the basics are there, and perhaps wallpaper is not the greatest example because I feel you thinking, but I need I need wallpaper, I need pictures, I need a vibe. So maybe there's some wallpaper. So if you have a website that exists and that can lead people towards you, show them who you are, what you do, and give them information to get connected to you, that is already literally worth money. Because if people can find you and you can get their business, that's more than if you don't have the website. So that is as simple as it gets. If it's not live, it's not helping you. The first version is not a compromise, it's the only way that the next version ever will happen. And if you leave the first version and not share it with the world until you get to the second version, that could take ages, and that's so much lost opportunity there. So the real work is in deciding what are the basics, what is the baseline for the things that are needed, and write down what that is. What do people need to know about you to be able to work with you? That's it. That's it. Let's say you're an uh an artist and you have work you want to sell. The basic version of that is showing who you are. Never forget that I think that's probably one of the most important things. Showing who you are, what you have to offer, and how they can contact you. And the simplest way to do that is a picture of yourself, a picture of your work, and your email. That's the simplest way. And that is already almost like a done website in a way. Remember that a picture towels a thousand words. So if you struggle finding the words to explain the things that you do, which is I I understand it's not easy to do. Sometimes it's just showing the work. And then you can expand on that. That can become a portfolio. You can even work backwards, show the last thing you did, and then every day add something to the portfolio. If you feel like that is such an overwhelming thing, and the same goes for a web shop. If you have uh a brick and mortar shop and you want to start a web shop, why not start brand by brand or subject by subject? So if you sell yarns and tools, start with the yarns, do the tool next tools next. But decide what's the baseline. Perhaps what is your most sold item in your shop? Make sure that the first baseline of your website has that uh has that product on it.

Taking Small Steps

15:19

The thing is that you need to start taking small steps, the smallest steps that you can think about. If you don't take action, nothing is going to happen. If it all stays in your head, then it all stays in your head. It sounds super simple and it is really simple. So the first thing that you could do is, for example, look at two or three, two or three different web shop platforms or website platforms, and don't automatically go with the cheapest version. The amount of people I talk to that struggle with their website is because it's unworkable, it's not people-friendly, it has a really bad user experience, and it's cheap. So better pay for more so it makes it easier for you to work with. Or perhaps you should invest in someone to help you with it and let someone do the work for you. Sometimes you have to really realize that the hours that you spend on something are also paid hours. You're not paying yourself, but you're pulling yourself away from your core business by doing stuff that someone else could do, and you're not growing your business if you are doing everything yourself. And so sometimes it's really good to think about these things and to while I'm talking, I'm just realizing that this client is probably listening. If you're listening, you know who you are. I'm using your your case as an example, but I'm also adding things to it, of course, because from my experience. And now I lost my train of thought. So yeah, these small steps are important, and I'm talking tiny steps. Momentum literally means once something gets moving, it can accelerate and it can keep moving. It's not a start-stop situation if you do a little small step every day. And I would say do it every day for some period of time and make the action steps really small. And what I mean by really small, tiny tiny is, for example, opening uh a website to research the price of something. Perhaps it's looking up the best picture that you have of yourself. Perhaps it's taking a page in your journal and writing about whether or not you're gonna have your picture taken by a photographer. Depending on what you do, that might be important. Sometimes just a selfie is good enough. Sometimes you want to have a photo shoot with a professional photographer. Thinking about these things, things is important, yes, but it doesn't need to take ages and ages. You can also just start with the selfie and open up the website, get the website out there, and then later on do a photo shoot if you feel like that's important. That's the thing with business. If it doesn't exist, it's not going to help your business. So not existing versus a good enough version versus the perfect version in a business situation, go with good enough. You need to get going. In your journal, you could think of small steps that you need to take to get where you need to be. And then if you have the small steps, try to make them even smaller. Because for me, sometimes I just don't have the energy or I have a certain type of brain space for something. And this was so clever. This client told me that without saying too much, of course, about about them, but you have different states of mind, right? Sometimes you are in your creative state, and sometimes you're in your you kind of want to do something practical. So if you have the option of choosing between doing something creative or practical, and they're both small, then you can just feel into what feels right for you in that day and just to keep that thing going, keep it going, keep it growing. All right.

Getting Started with Your Website

19:47

I want to end with this thing that could be really helpful without selling you something. I'm not gonna earn anything from this. But as an example, I've had a Shopify website for forever. Yeah, for a long time. And I really love working with it. I know that I can do more that I'm doing, but I don't need to be doing more that I'm doing with it. So I don't get overwhelmed by all the options. You simply choose a template, you perhaps change some colors, you add in some photos, and it's a really playful way of designing something. It's easy to do, I think. And if it doesn't feel easy, then at some point after trying, perhaps you can get some help. But the great thing that they offer is they have this three months for three euros. So it's one euro a month or one dollar, like something along those lines. And you have three months to build this website for almost no money, like really almost no money. And this trial period could be your deadline. If you need to have somebody give you a deadline, there it is. Some people work better that way. They can get things done where they have to do it in a certain time, and that's what we're talking about. So if you don't know how much time to give yourself, like eight hours in a day or a year, maybe those three months is perfect. It's something that is really tangible, and it actually something ends after three months. So you build what you can actually finish in that time and you then launch it before that period turns out. Again, it's not sponsored, I just use it myself, and I don't have any affiliate links or anything. I probably should work on that. But yeah, that's how I use this podcast. My podcast is I make advertisements for my coaching. I don't work with other people or other products to earn money. This is what I do. So if you want to work with me around these kinds of things, around setting up your new website or building a brand, I do this. I can do this in different ways. We can do coaching that goes more into what's stuck, we can do the practical steps where I just go with you through the whole process and make sure that it gets done. There's I'm there to hold your hand, I can hold you accountable, I can give you all my insights and my experience and everything in between. Let me know if you need some help around this. You find all the information on patentshift.fm. And I hope you really take too hard what I said. Small steps, small, small steps. Do something every day. Give yourself a deadline that is not too wide so that you cannot start to overthink things. The first version is not the last version. The first version is there for people to find you so that you can start to make uh a living, actually. And that's the point, isn't it? It's not the point. Your website is not your what's the word, magnum opus. It's not your life's work. It's just a way for people to get in touch with you and you can build it as you grow. Yeah, that's it for today. I'm off to the hairdresser because I need some more color on my hair. I guess that's my version 2.0, growing as we go. See you next time on YouTube, and you can hear me on the podcast platforms anywhere. Share this podcast with someone you know that you think could benefit from some insights. And also, if they need a coach, and if you need a coach as well, let me know. Bye.