In April 2024 I unpublished my entire blog, redirecting all the links here to this post.

I’m starting over – creating space by pruning my website.

This post is about how websites can clarify values, define a purpose, explore lineage of ideas, and create big opportunities. I’ve seen how this is true for our coaching clients, and through this process I’m experiencing it myself.

Quitters win, and winners quit.

This is one of the opening lines in Seth Godin’s book, The Dip, which I’m forever grateful for. This book explains how the process of achievement goes through a dip – a moment of realizing just how steep the path ahead is going to be. There’s a moment of choice. Am I willing to make the sacrifice required to achieve mastery? Or, am I happy to be an amateur?

Read more: How I redesigned the Maple Creative website

An amateur, Seth remind us, is someone who does something because they love doing it, and for no other reason really.

As someone with so many interests, this is deeply affirming.

I’ve been a musician, a librarian, a cook, a graphic artist, a radio host, an educator, a designer, a filmmaker, a sound engineer, a DJ, an event planner…

I’ve gotten quite good at all these things, even gained recognition at times. I’ve gone right into the dip, but often “quit” before reaching “true potential”.

Is that okay?

This past winter I read the book What Works by Tara McMullin, which offers a radical new approach to goal setting and achievement. Part of this process was exploring my values and what kinds of activities uphold these values. I realized that my strongest values are adventure, curiosity, service, and learning.

Seeing this helped me see what’s been consistent all along – and helped me quit holding myself to standards that aren’t aligned with my values.

Caption: This practice helped me understand why I love websites so much. I get to explore so many different topics and learn from clients with every project.

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Pruning (a website) invigorates growth

I often describe websites as a canvas for self-discovery – a place where we get to be ourselves and answer our calling. I also find fruit trees as a helpful metaphor to understand the creative dynamics that emerge within a website.

From my desk I look out over a small orchard. We care for about 100 trees here, and caring for them involves pruning. It’s always a challenge to prune trees because it creates a tension around thinking ahead and making incredibly final decisions in the moment.

Pruning is about prioritizing, creating space, letting in the light. Without pruning, trees will tangle, become tangential, and fall over.

Projects work the same way don’t they?

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We needed to re-arrange our website around our refined purpose

A website says a lot about an organization, project, or business – and our website was starting to reveal the tangled and confused sense of purpose as I wrestled my way through the messy middle.

Step 1.

Create a focusing sentence.

Clients in our coaching & group program are given a challenge to create a decisive marketing framework within a single website focusing sentence. Here’s our current version.

Maple Creative helps leaders overcome the technical and creative barriers and finally have a website that:

1. Truly represents their vision
2. Attracts readers by providing tangible value
3. Builds trust and connection, turning readers into subscribers and customers.

Maple does this with by offering recommendations, coaching, care plan services, and custom website design. We are thoughtful about the projects we accept into our limited production queue, so we also provide free education and recommendations to guide people to the best possible solutions.

We get most our customers and grow our audience through referrals and recommendations. This works because we prioritize relationships, good will, and service.

Maple Creative 7.5 – April 2024

Step 2.

Design the Framework, or rubric

Redesigning a website provides such a rich opportunity, because we get to look at all the previous content and see what frameworks and patterns emerge, and what is aligning.

In our group program Build Your Website Essentials, we have a rubric for understanding the essential components of an effective website. It’s organized around 4 key areas;

These are the four essential areas that make a website most effective at turning readers into subscribers and customers; Strategy, design, content, and platform.

These four areas represent the way we group services, deepen our expertise as a team, and also map out the opportunities for our client projects.

4 Areas	Services	How
Strategy	Website action planning consultation, coaching, and Build Your Website Essentials online course.	Visual tools with Miro, Online course via Circle, 1:1 sessions via booking calendar
Design	Custom Website & Marketing Design projects.	Planning via Notion, Design via Figma, Miro, and WordPress
Content	Creative coaching, on call thought partner and accountability for communicating your vision.	Coaching calls, Content workbook, Booking calendar, available when you need me.
Platform	Website Care Plans with managed WordPress hosting and licensed professional block themes.	Rockbase WordPress Theme, ConvertKit for email list, Circle for online courses, and ThriveCart for course sales.

Step 3.

Navigation & Content

The new page structure and taxonomies (how we categorize everything) is also taking on these categories, based on our seasonal framework; platform, design, content, and marketing.

Menu Structure

Our menu structure is standard on purpose. It needs to be clear and familiar because it’s purpose is to help readers navigate and find what they’re looking for. The unique and creative touch is expressed on the page itself in the content.

• Home
• About
  • Our tools
  • Our clients
  • Our reviews
• Services
  • Websites
  • Care Plans
  • Coaching
• Contact
  • Contact
  • Booking

Post Types

Every WordPress website has “posts” as the default used on a blog. This is represented in a table displaying basic fields; title, author, date published, featured images, categories, and tags.

It’s helpful to create a unique post type for different types of posts. In our case we wanted to display case studies and tools in different parts of the website, so I use Advanced Custom Fields (plugin) to create two additional post types.

• Posts (blog posts)
• Tools (tools page)
• Clients (case studies)

Taxonomies

Any type of category or tag you might use to organize your post is called a “taxonomy”. This gives a website structure and even helps frame the topic itself. A powerful brainstorming tool is to draw a matrix with themes and topics.

It helps me to balance the content on the site by considering the different themes in my writing alongside the topics I write about.

• Themes
  • Personal: Sharing behind the scenes, being transparent and approachable.
  • Useful: Providing tangible value, instruction, tips, and answering questions.
  • Promotional: Recommending a resource or specific solution
  • Timely: Responding to world events, trends, or changes in technology.
• Topics
  • Content: Creativity and the process of using media to connect with readers.
  • Marketing: Activities that earn trust and awareness by sharing value generously.
  • Platform: The tools and process in which we build and grow our businesses.
  • Design: The principles that make our website and content clear, approachable, and understood.
• Project Types (applied to case studies)
  • Service: Individuals who use their website to build relationships with potential clients for their 1:1 or group services.
  • Communities: Course creators, organizers, and network builders who use their website to bring people together.
  • Small Business: Websites that attract and nurture a customer base for their product or multiple service offers.
  • Organizations: Nonprofit organizations who engage their community, uplift voices, and involve a team in its management and growth.
• Experience Levels (applies to our services)
  • Starter: New projects where idea still needs to be validated with engagement or sales.
  • Growth: When there are already customers and offers and growing requires more focused direction, pruning, or technical support.
  • Custom: When a complex challenge requires an evaluation and thoughtful solution. Often a fit for larger projects undergoing a transformation.
• Tool Types (categories for the recommended tools)
  • Creative: Software to help expand, focus, and ship ideas.
  • Operations: Software to keep things organized, on track, and simplify.
  • Websites: Software for creating and/or growing websites.
  • Courses: Software for creating, selling courses and providing an experience for students.

Step 4.

Changing to the Rockbase block theme

This is the WordPress theme release that finally pulled me into using WordPress blocks. I had been waiting for the right moment, so when Rafal announced this on his email list I immediately signed up.

Rockbase is a WordPress block theme, which means it’s completely aligned with the future direction of WordPress and it’s elegant and fast to work in.

Having a new tool can be invigorating, and I’ve been very cautious about this over the years but now is the time, and I’m loving it.

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It turns out, my specialty is perspective

It was 1999 when I created my first website, and over two decades that I’ve been designing and publishing websites for community projects and small businesses – long enough to see patterns emerge.

I understand how media has changed and where it’s headed.

I connect the dots. I see the big picture. I can spot obstacles and opportunities. I’m resourceful and a sponge for knowledge. I’m also curious and accepting. I’m good at pointing out what makes someone unique. I know what questions can bring a blurry situation into focus.

Your website is the environment where goals, learning, and practice converges. It’s the original multi-media platform. It’s unrestrained. It’s challenging. It’s ever-changing. It’s an opportunity to learn and express something new.

I’m grateful too. For my clients, my partner Friede, and our team; Lindsay, Kevin, and AC. I’m grateful for the insights and conversations that helped Maple grow through the dip.

I’m grateful for all the educators and mentors who have supported me with their online courses, content, and books. I’m grateful for the students I learned with in cohorts, practice groups, and meet ups.

What are you working on?

Whether you are starting from scratch or pruning an overgrown orchard of ideas, your website is the place you get to dance with self-discovery and creative growth.

Your website is a canvas to create your world and attract opportunity and connection.

Your website is a platform to provide real value to the people you seek to serve.

If you have a creative calling, and what to see how a website project could help bring your creativity into focus, I hope you’ll get in touch.

I’d love to meet you and learn more.