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Category: Inspiration

Your Values Writ Large

Soul Repair

When I was looking for a WordPress developer to partner with, I found several good people but ended up selecting someone who had a statement of values on his website. They happened to jive with mine so I hired him for a small project, and now we’re working together on a much larger one.

Not everyone does business this way. But many do. Many potential customers what to know what you stand for. Don’t be afraid to share your values. If they’re truly important to you, you’ll draw in the kind of people who you really want to work with.

This company delivers coffee, tea and food products for restaurants, cafes and institutions. Their values become their brand. But they go a step further than displaying their guiding principles; they tie each principle to tangible evidence, linking to specific pages on their website.

This kind of concise framework has an added benefit of keeping you on track and simplifying your efforts. The more clear you are on the core things, the less you have to talk about it.

Sticking to Your Guns Makes a Niche

many little niches in a wall

To some, specializing spells fear of too little work or boredom doing the same thing day in and day out. But specializing is more likely to equal success (however you define success). And, far from being bored, you’re able to dig deeper into the vastness of your chosen niche (or the niche that chooses you).

Think about it, when you’re covering so many bases, you only scratch the surface of any one area, whether it’s a medium, an industry, a specific audience or a service you offer. It would probably take a lifetime even to realize all that you wanted within a niche. Your skill level and wisdom would continue to increase, making you even more desirable.

When you leave yourself too open, you drain your energy and you risk having others categorize you. This leads to, among other things, referrals not worthy of the work you really want to do. Read more

Two Thumbs Up for Little Birds

Vaux's swifts: I'm a vauxeur

The hottest show in Portland in September is also free: the nightly roosting of the Vaux’s Swifts that, tornado-like, funnel into the chimney of, among other places, Chapman Elementary School in NW Portland. The night’s silver screen might also feature a protagonist hawk waiting to catch his prey, that is if a swarm of swifts doesn’t circle back en masse to chase the hawk away amid whooping cheers from the audience. Read more about them on the Audubon Society of Portland’s website. Think Audubon should print this as a t-shirt next year? If so, hit the Like button and I’ll donate the art to them.

Taking a Stand: Ikea Hack Desk

Today I join the ranks of those working standing up. Inspired by this Ikea hack standing desk, I fashioned a similar one. (Specifications below.) Here is another standing desk option that isn’t as elegant and takes up more space, but the white pulls it all together. I managed to create the solution you see above for under $200.

A rash of articles like this and this made the rounds about the health hazards of sitting too long. Little by little I’d hear of friends working at standing desks. As a designer who logs long hours at a computer, I needed a more sustainable option to sitting all day. Read more