Bam! What do ya know? a new site. It was the perfect time to come back full circle and revisit the whole personal brand and truly zone in on purpose. Let me explain…
While I received great feedback from my last version of my website, I decided against archiving all the posts and comments and migrating them over. I have saved them in a backup- if I ever want to refelct on those great times- of which, some are listed below:
- Trips to TechCrunch50, LeWeb in Paris, Toronto, meeting Ashton Kutcher and getting to temporarily own a 2010 Ford Fiesta.
- Launching YoungTechStars, reigniting Social Media Club RDU, and countless other Social Media Stuff.
- Local Happenings- meetups, brewery tours, and Seesmic Meetups!
There are many more memories that I am sure I failed to mention but I think this is a good time to dust off the ole boots, and start anew…
The Breakdown and Directon of the New Site
With new digs, comes new style. I am expanding my content pallet, so to speak, to include more areas of interest (design,marketing and technology.) In regards to the anatomy of the site, I have included more sections than just blogging. Here are the specifics:
The Design:
Clean. Crisp. Clutter-free. This is what I was aiming for and I think I came close. If not– please email me. I knew that in my last versioned site their was alot of usability issues, people couldn’t find posts, the pictures representing some posts would be cut off and so on. In the new site I focused on three main concepts:
- Minimalism- of course- Do less with more. I wanted to have less attack of the “word monster” and do more with clean spaces and visuals for each post.
- Searchable and easy to use- A place to find that one cool post I wrote, or easily find out more about me-quickly. I used more defined categories and sub categories, and utilized page, sub page, and more child hierarchical structures.
- Supporting Dynamic content. This isn’t 200o anymore. I needed a mass update of supporting lightboxes, new video flash players, and better ways to display multimedia.
The Tone:
With this new web property, I am finding more of my voice. Basically- less flowerly language and more, “Let’s be real- and talk about the points, sans the corporate jargon.” I am also going to give more attention to my blog (a blogger’s last words) and keep things concise and too the point. Perhaps touch on some topics that people are afraid to touch!
The Message:
Plain and simple: “Create stuff that I like and others wouldn’t mind reading.” The hardest thing of any website is to truly capture return visitors and to build a following. I am completely humbled by all the support from others. I hope that I can continue it and gain some more friends on the way!
Thanks for reading.
Taylor