Hey ,

Welcome back to our six-week training series on building an intentional business and online presence.

Inside this edition, we'll:

• discuss benefits of project management
• clarify your brand story
• explore the heart of your business
• place your personal values first
• preview outlining the ideal structure of your new website
• allow you to do more of what you love.

Plus, over the next six weeks, I'll be sharing my process and behind the scenes of me making a website, so that you can do the same for yourself (if you wish).

Refer a friend to the Wix Weekly and unlock my latest course for free (details below).

Let's dive in…

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Communicate Asynchronously

For the entire project, we work in a collaborative online hub that holds all the key information and tools to keep your website project on track.

Throughout the entire process, we stay in the loop with regular updates, organize website content, view tasks, and learn with training videos.

Communicating asynchronously allows us to:

• work at times that fit best in our schedule
• keep our thoughts, tasks, and updates organized
• and document the entire process

The tool I prefer to use for this is called Basecamp. I align with the company's values and believe in both reducing the number of meetings and encouraging others to do the same.

No matter the tool you use, it's important to be transparent, write everything down, and make small steps of progress. You can look back on what you've done and repeat it, or at the very least be proud.

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Clarify the Brand in a Discovery Questionnaire

Defining the brand story and outlining the ideal structure of the website is where I begin with every web design project.

This questionnaire I share is comprehensive. It contains seven brand discovery sections that are designed to help you define your business' brand identity and bring focus to design and marketing. This is proven to positively impact the perception and performance of your brand.

The sections I explore are:

1. Brand Story
2. Brand Attributes
3. Market Positioning
4. Ideal User Profile
5. User Journey
6. Business Goals
7. Website Architecture

Actionable Tip(s):

Here are 1-2 questions you could go answer for yourself right now.

Brand Story:

• What does your business do?
• How does your business do this?
• Why does your business do this? Begin with "We believe…"

Brand Attributes:

• Choose keywords or adjectives (attributes) that describe your business.

Market Positioning

• List up to five of your business' main collaborators.
• How do their values compare to your own?

Ideal User Profile:

• What is your ideal user's name?
• What is their age? Pick a specific age, not an age range.

User Journey:

• Write your ideal user's backstory and challenges?
• List up to five of your ideal user's main needs.

Business Goals:

• How would you like things to look for you in your personal life in one year?
• What are some ways you can improve workflows to make the business run smoothly?

Website Architecture:

• How do people find your site currently (or how do you want them to)?
• What are people trying to achieve when visiting your website?

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Explore your Brand Story in a Discovery Session

Our Discovery Session is the only live component (meeting) during the entire process.

During the live session, we get to explore the heart of your business and outline the ideal structure of your new website that allows you to do more of what you love.

Throughout it, we emphasize a focus on an individuals personal goals in addition to their business goals.

I believe it's important to focus on where the individual involved in running the business places their energy. For example: while writing blog content is effective to attract an audience for your online business, it's not the only way to do so. And, if you are a single parent, it might not be reasonable for you to manage every aspect of your business + post 3x weekly.

Instead, we discuss together what will provide the greatest amount of impact for you and your business with the least amount of effort. In fact, we rank this information. An outcome of this exercise is a clear roadmap for how to run your business. It's pretty awesome!

Based on the insights gained, I then develop a website architecture. This is essentially a website strategy roadmap that outlines your website's key pages, navigation, visitor conversion pathways, and more. And, it informs the next week's work.

The Discovery Questionnaire and Discovery Session together form the basis for what we're building over six weeks.

"If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions." — Albert Einstein

Actionable Tip:

Be sure to give yourself a healthy amount of time and intentional thought for this portion of the project.

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What's up for next week?

Next Wednesday (May 10th), we'll be focusing on Strategy: I dive deep into the brand and website strategy to ensure the website is aligned with the business goals and target audience.

Read last week's edition of the Wix Weekly for a preview of all six weeks.

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Need help?

Have questions or want feedback? Email me.

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Refer a friend to join us on this six-week learning journey.

Use your referral link at the bottom of this edition to add a friend to the Wix Weekly, so that both of you can grow your online business with intention.

With each referral, staring at your first, I'm happy to provide you access to my courses, workshops, and even a 1:1 coaching session with me (entirely for free).

Enjoy,

Matt

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