This past weekend was FULL of brainstorming, new ideas, and general awesomepantsauce. (That’s a word I made up. But you can totally use it if you like.)

Website Fairy Godparents!

Along with Catherine Caine, Holly Jackson, and Chris Anthony, who happen to be three of the most awesome people on the planet, I’m proud to say that I can be your Website Fairy Godparent.

This is targeted to new entrepreneurs who have just got their website set up, and now they need … something. They suddenly panic and need to know: What to do next? People are here, what do I do with them? HELP MY WEBSITE SUCKS!!

If you’re worrying those kinds of worries, go to Project Anaheim and see what we can do for you. We’d love to Godparent your lovely website, and you too of course. :)

Rockstar Creative Coaching launched in beta!

I announced the opening of my coaching program to the Rockstar list (if you’re not on the list, go here to sign up), and then to Twitter, and the first five spots are GONE DADDY GONE.

I’m so pleased and excited with the start of the program that I am offering three more spots. You can find out about them on the ZOMG Rockstar Creative Coaching page. Yes, I did write that page around midnight, how could you tell?

No rest for the caffeinated!

And now, on to writing this week’s newsletters, and getting some great design work done.

Have I told you lately that you’re awesome? Well, you are. *mwah*

Finally, the start of my Awesome Interviews series! I’m so excited to introduce you to Bridget, who runs a fantastically awesome blog called Voila! (and really, how can you NOT love a blog called Voila! with an exclamation mark?).

The Interview

Rachael: So, I already know you’re completely awesome. Can you tell me something about what kind of awesome you are?

Bridget: Yes. I am an awesome intuition teacher and guidance counselor. I give people clarity. And I am a really awesome cook, so I share a lot of recipes too!

Rachael: When you dream about how you’re going to change the world one day, what is it you dream of doing?

Bridget: My dream is to bring intuition to the people. Inside each of us is a vast landscape of information and experience. When I’ve tapped into it, I’ve found my life changed for the better, in big ways and in small ways. Once I realized that intuition is a universal gift (meaning, we ALL have it), I wanted to share this cool gift with everybody.

Rachael: What are you doing right now to change the world? (Remember, even tiny butterflies are world-changers.)

Bridget: I talk on my blog a lot. I work with clients in intuitive guidance sessions. I teach intuition to private clients and I have workshops.

Rachael: Is there something about you that is difficult to translate into your Twitter persona or your web persona, but that you really wish people knew?

Bridget: I don’t think people see my dark sense of humor. It doesn’t translate very well. Which is a bummer, because sometimes it’s funny.

Rachael: What makes you laugh?

Bridget: People trying to catch themselves while they fall.
Inappropriate use of quote marks.
Puns.

Rachael: *giggling*

Rachael: Are you ticklish?

Bridget: Indeed!

Rachael: If I saw you in the street and ran up and gave you a huge hug, would you love it or would it weird you out? If you don’t like hugs, what would you wish I did instead?

Bridget: I would love it!

Rachael: Before we’re done, tell me one thing you did recently that you are ridiculously proud of.

Bridget: One of my clients listened to my advice, quit her job and landed a huge contract right out of the gate. It made my day to hear that she could take advice from me and use it to create a new opportunity like that!

The Takeaway

I already knew that I liked Bridget. She’s just so many kinds of awesome. But one of the things I like best about her is that she is so accessible and happy. If you watch any of the videos she has on her website, you will FALL IN LOVE with this woman. There is no better kind of person to lead people into learning about their own intuition than cheerful, loving, open Bridget.

And! I asked her to tell you about the new thing she’s doing, starting next week. (I have a selfish reason – I signed up for it way back when I saw the offer, and I would be stoked if you wanted to be there too.)

Rock Star Intuition

Bridget and her friend, Fabeku Fatunmise, are teaching a new workshop called “Rock Star Intuition”. You can use your intuition to rock your life. This workshop shows you how!

Check it out here: Rock Start Intuition (at Bridget’s website).

And, don’t forget to follow Bridget on Twitter!

I see you there, so far under that you can’t breathe.

I hear your silent screaming and your shame-filled voice as you ask for help, one more time.

I know your pain.

I love you. I will help you if it takes my last breath. I will teach you how to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. I will watch as you realize the overwhelming pride you will experience when you suddenly see that you did it. That you aren’t failing any more. That you have nothing to fear, because you can do whatever you need to do.

I love you. Your pain will become your catalyst. Your sorrow is the cornerstone of the rest of your life. You can do this. I know, because I have done it.

I will not destroy your self respect by only giving you a handout. I will not treat you as if you are less than me, less than someone else. I will never do anything but believe in you. I will give you what I can, and show you what I see in you: the beauty of who you are, and the magnificence of what you are capable of. The world is already a better place because you are in it, and I cannot wait until you know this for yourself.

You are going to be okay, because your choices will make it so.

This is my manifesto. This is the purpose of my wisdom, my knowledge, and my years of pain and struggle. I was meant to be who I am, and you were meant to be who you are.

I’ve been incredibly blessed to have a long list of really awesome design clients, and I wanted to pull out some lessons from those interactions for you. Enjoy!

So you need to hire a designer, right? You’ve done your research, found someone whose attitude or design aesthetic or persona really appeals to you, and you are ready to take the plunge.

You’re laying out a lot of money (yikes!), and trusting someone to be awesome at their job – and, in turn, making YOU look awesome. How do you make sure that you’re equally awesome as a client?

Be enthusiastic!

YAY ENTHUSIASM! In all seriousness (kind of), this is the very first thing that the designer will notice in the first few times you’re in contact with each other. By enthusiasm, I don’t mean that you have to type in all caps or act like an extroverted cheerleader when that’s not your personality. I’m talking about your enthusiasm for the reason you need a designer in the first place: the project itself.

Your excitement and passion for your project is contagious, especially to the designer whose own passion is to make your dreams come to life online. Take the time to communicate to them why your project matters to you, why you’re doing it now instead of later, and what you hope to accomplish by hiring them.

Be specific.

Being specific means that you’ll need to know several things beforehand, which means you need to spend time planning ahead.

The designer needs to know three important things:

1) The purpose of the project. This includes your target market, the content you will offer, and the format of the project (a website, an ebook, an iPhone app?).

2) The look and feel of the project. This includes the color scheme you want to use, graphics you want to include, and your own artistic vision of the end result (no matter how silly it may feel to tell this to a professional artist, they really DO want to know this!).

Don’t know what you want? Then make a list of other designs that you DON’T like.

3) The timeline of the project. This includes deadlines that are flexible, as well as ones that are not. This helps the designer know right away whether your project fits their current schedule.

Be ready to communicate.

Let’s pretend that you found the perfect designer, hired her, and the first design concept is sitting in your inbox. And YOU HATE IT. Not only do you hate it, but you have no idea how on earth this happened – didn’t you have a great connection with this designer? What now?!

You can do one of the following:

1) Lie and say you love it;
2) Tell the truth a little bit, but pretend it’s no big deal and ask for just a few tiny changes;
3) Wait a week to say anything at all because you just don’t know what to say;
4) Get upset with the designer and tell her she’s done a terrible job and you want your money back.

Now, you’re more than welcome to pick one of those responses; and that last one might be warranted in some unique situations. But in my experience, it’s always best to tell the whole truth – and remember you are talking to a fellow human being, so be kind with your criticisms.

Instead of: “This is the ugliest thing I have ever seen!”
Try this: “I really don’t like any of these colors, and this font isn’t what I was envisioning.”

Instead of: “It looks like you’re copying my competitor. Why would you do that?!”
Try this: “This design seems too much like my competitor’s. Can we change (insert specific things here) so that it’s different?”

Instead of: “This is awful. I don’t know what to do because this is not at all what I was hoping to see!”
Try this: “Now that I’ve seen this design, I have a much better idea of what I don’t want. Here’s a list of things I would like you to incorporate into the design instead.”

Yes, communication is difficult sometimes, especially within a relationship that’s relatively new. The give and take in a client-designer relationship can be taxing for both of you, and there will be times that you might want to throw in the towel. But, like any relationship that you care about, it’s worth it to hang in there and keep working at it. If your designer is worth her salt, she’s trying just as hard as you are.

Be understanding.

Remember that all of us are people, which means we all screw up, give out really wrong expectations sometimes, and react emotionally when we think we’ve disappointed someone. This is just as true of your designer as it is of you; so when you open an email expecting to see a new design revision, and find that your designer needs more time because of some life-related thing, be understanding. And thank them for letting you know what’s going on.

There may also be times when your designer really screws something up and has to apologize. In those cases, it would be very easy to respond to them like a boss who wields the power of the performance review – but that would be a big mistake. Treating people badly only makes them less likely to give their best to whatever work they are doing.

Instead of instructing them on the ways they should always be doing things so that no problems ever happen again, tell them how you’d like to be able to communicate with them throughout the rest of your project. Give them the ability to connect with you in ways that make you feel the project is getting the attention it deserves, without trashing their entire day because you made them feel absolutely awful.

Be respectful.

Honor your designer’s workflow and their unique way of being creative. When they tell you that there are two days minimum between design revisions, be ridiculously grateful that your designer knows their workflow well enough to predict this. Don’t push for a deadline that will result in your designer’s creative well being totally depleted.

Honor your designer’s time, and if the scope of your project changes (read: something extra needs to be done that wasn’t originally agreed on), ask right away how much it will cost, and how the timeline will need to change to accomodate everything. Many times, a designer is happy to incorporate new things into a project, but is not necessarily good at telling you that it’s going to cost more money. Being up front about the fact that you already know that more stuff = more time spent = more money owed basically turns you into a Rockstar Awesome Client.

Be on time with your part of the project.

It’s difficult to create something out of nothing.

Often, missing information will cause your project to grind to a halt simply because many design decisions are based on your content, or feedback, or graphics, or opinions. Your part in the project is just as important as the designer’s part.

And of course, pay your invoices on time, and pay them cheerfully! If you can’t pay an invoice on time (and cheerfully), it’s a big probability that this project is not what you should be doing right now.

Be so excited about the end result that you tell everyone you know!

Almost every designer relies on word of mouth advertising to gain more clients, more work, and more recognition. The worst thing to do to a designer is not to give them credit for the work they did for you.

So, at least for the day you launch your new website or product, talk about them. Make sure that they have linked themselves somewhere in your website footer or sidebar, so that people who think your site kicks ass can work with your very awesome designer too. Write them a testimonial that they can use on their website. Be awesome for them just like they’ve been awesome for you.

Your turn!

There are as many ways to be awesome as there are ways to suck, so please chime in!