We’re all living in bubbles.

A lesson I’ve learned over and over again, both in business and in life, is that most people really don’t care about the things that I do.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget this. When you hang out mostly with your peers (‘hang out’, in this case, meaning anything from the media you consume to the people you spend time with to the hobbies you pursue and the causes you get involved with), it’s so easy, not to mention satisfying, to get lost in talking shop.

For example…

• As designers, we take it for granted that bad kerning and Comic Sans are sinful and that colour and type convey meaning.
• As developers, we take it for granted that IE<9 is The Worst, web standards are important, and that code should be semantic and reusable as possible.
• As privileged people, we take it for granted that self-improvement and following our dreams are among the most pressing needs in our lives.

When you’re active in any community, it’s really important to keep in mind that you’re in a bubble and that most of the world doesn’t think like you and doesn’t care about the details that you find really fascinating.

Now, don’t get me wrong; it’s really fun being in a bubble of peers! It’s nice and comfy in that place where most people will agree with your opinions and share your grievances. There’s a lot to be learned from people similar to you, and surrounding yourself with peers can really deepen your knowledge on a given subject.

But for a lot of us, a large part of our audience exists far outside our bubbles. Or maybe they share a bubble or two with us, but certainly not all of them. For business owners especially, people come to us because we have an expertise that they don’t. If people cared about the details that we did, they most likely wouldn’t need our services.

Reminding myself that I’m living inside a few bubbles of my own helps me better communicate the value of what I do to other people. Trust me, I’ve been in conversations where I see people’s eyes glazing over as I talk about my work. Tragic! But, really, if that’s happening, it’s partially my fault. The world belongs to those who know how to frame the importance of their offerings to people both inside and outside of their niche, and not necessarily to those who are the best at their craft. No, the world’s sadly not purely a meritocracy, but when you get communication and skill together… then the magic really happens.

Good morning, friends!

Today is officially ‘new everything day’. New business, new website, new (old) blog, new logo… phew! Let me just repeat that for emphasis: my business is now OPEN! I’m now a tiny business owner (take that in whatever way you want — my business is tiny and I’m pretty small in stature as well), a full-time freelancer, a solo-preneur, and/or whatever the cool kids are calling it these days.

Everyone is pretty excited around here:

Well… almost everyone.

Confession time: I actually started last Monday, not today, but I wanted to take it all in for a bit before going public. And so I did. Now that I’m my own boss, I does what I wants.

Anyway! Let me walk you through all the shiny new things around here:

New (old) blog!

If any of you are here because you’re subscribed to my blog Reverie Time, you might notice that you’re in a different place. As promised, I amalgamated my blog with my portfolio site, and if I did everything right, you should have been seamlessly redirected. If you’re seeing this in an RSS reader, check out the new place!

One of the features of my new blog is that each post has a customizable header, where I can choose to change up the colours or background on a per-post basis. I think it gives my blog a slightly more editorial feel. Fun!

If you’re wondering why I said that this is a new (old) blog and not just a new blog, I actually used to blog in this very spot years before I started Reverie Time, and now I’m back here because having two sites was more of a pain than I thought it would be. The nice thing about the Internet is that these decisions are fairly easily reversible! I left all of my old posts up, so if you’re bored, you can see some gems from 5 years ago like a review of Godard’s Vivre Sa Vie or a very deep post about my very favourite ghost.

New website!

For the past four months (!) or so, I’ve spent most of my spare time working on this website (that is, the time that wasn’t already taken up by working a full-time job and doing client work). The site that was up prior to this one had been around for over two years, and it was both outdated and a little ineffective. It had worked great as a portfolio for traditional job hunting, but it wasn’t very useful for or aimed at new visitors or potential clients. Also, the design aesthetic was a bit outdated and didn’t feel like me anymore.

Here’s the old site, in case you’ve already forgotten. Or never saw it in the first place. Either way.

So, it was definitely time for an upgrade. I’m going to write a couple of follow-up posts about the design and development process that I went through to get to this final(ish) state, because I always like reading about other people’s processes, and by that logic, there are likely some people out there who are curious about mine.

New availability! (Or, a little shameless plug)

The crappy thing about the best freelancers is that they’re always booked up months and months in advance because they’re so awesome — and rightly so. Because I’m just starting out, I’m in the unique position of being pretty great and not being booked ’til the end of time. Huzzah! I’m pretty busy this month and am already starting to put some projects in my calendar for April, but I have availability coming up soon. So, if you wanna work with a web designer and you want to do so sooner than later, now’s the perfect time to grab me! My new services page is a good place to start if you’re wondering what exactly it is that I do.

Thanks for reading, and have a super lovely week!