Evolve

Tell us about yourself!

Someone asked me recently what I call myself professionally, and I realized the only title that has every really fit is CEO. Running Makeness Media has been all about managing a thousand moving parts – which is the only thing I have ever really love doing. We are part publisher. part web design studio, part content producer, and part consulting firm. See, I looooove helping people turn their dreams into a sell-able reality. It’s my super-power. And often, new entrepreneurs need more than just advice or just a website. They need someone who can connect the dots in a cohesive way, so that they can stick to whatever it is that THEY do best. My clients often come to me with lots of great ideas that feel really divergent to them, and they have no idea how to make them into a cohesive business or brand. It’s like the equivalent of bringing a box of receipts from the last ten years to your accountant and watching them turn that box into a refund check. I help them see the connections, finesse the connections, and then turn the connections into a visual brand that draws in their perfect clients and customers. When THAT happens, I buy the good Scotch to celebrate. I really can’t imagine anything better than helping people do exactly what they are most meant to do in the world.

As for fun facts…

1. Before Makeness Media, I was in the coffee business for more than ten years. It left me with an obsessive need to only drink perfect cappuccinos. So I moved to Portland a year ago. Land of the perfect cappuccino. Never felt more at home anywhere.

2. I talk to my cat more than I would like to admit. She moved in with us after she decided she liked us better than our neighbors, and I derive a great amount of my personal self-worth from this fact. I am pretty sure I like being liked by animals more than people.

3. I have a thing for hot air balloons. I really want to go up in one someday. Shit. I need to get on that. Why have I not done that yet?!

What’s the name of your main service & why did you create it?

Hmmm. Well… my only real named thing is Makeness. I moooshed together Make a Business. BAM! Webster’s got nuthin’ on me.

I actually don’t obsess too terribly much about naming pieces of my business, as more esoteric/creative names for the things I do wouldn’t be a good fit for my people and what I do. Because people come to me often feeling confused already, clarity is king. Really, that’s what I tell most of my clients too. Clarity always wins over creativity [and that's coming from a designer]. If your message isn’t clear, no one buys. It’s really just that simple.

What goes on in the background when you do your main service?

Web design is really my biggest “product”, so I’ll talk about that… I am very visual with the work I do, so usually after I connect with a new client I start designing right away – often before we even talk about what they want. It’s how I take notes. It’s how I sort out my ideas on where they’re at and where they want to be. Nine times out of ten, those early designs wind up being a big part of their finished product.

Other stuff happening behind the scenes…

Every client gets their own notebook. I order them by the case. In it are sketches, magazine clippings, call notes, ideas, etc… It’s where I break down all of the facets of their business. From financials to marketing, to content, and happiness goals – it’s where I create the cohesive concepts that will work best for them.

How does it work from the client’s side?

Tough to speak for them, but clients tell me all the time how much they appreciate how much I communicate. Most people come in to the design process with a certain level of anxiety and/or baggage. I try my level-best to put systems in place that consider what they need before they know they need it. They get everything in writing, and they get a solid, but flexible timeline. I believe that clarity and over-explaining every step of the process is the magical secret to keeping both sides happy.

How is it a game-changer for your clients?

A new brand and website is really everything for most of my clients, since 99% of them run their businesses entirely online. It’s the foundation that they build everything from, and I want the process of creating that to be exciting, fun, and delightful – so we do a lot of work on how to call in the right people, how to design for their goals, and not just their taste, and how to create a cohesive vision for the way they operate. That pretty much changes everything for most of my clients.

Why did you become a solo-preneur / small business owner?

Because I was completely unemployable. I have an MBA in Sustainable Enterprise and a naturally rebellious nature. I poked holes in everything. I was always incredibly critical and had zero interest in ladder-climbing. Instead, I found ways to just start at the top. Unfortunately, I found that the top never actually was the top. There was always another asshole above me that wanted to make sure I was wrong. Always wrong. I got fired a couple of times for not coloring inside the corporate lines. I even got fired once for giving a gift to an employee of mine. That was when I started to realize that employment and I were not made for each other. The odd part is, I was tired of making other people’s work-lives miserable. I knew that my nature made their job-life hard. Because most businesses are not set up for constant improvement… and I always saw the things that could be better.

So, I got out of the way. I started my own thing, with the vision of influencing new business-starters to do it better. To incorporate humility and kindness into their value proposition. To treat people like people, not numbers.

What advice would you give those who are just starting out/growing their business online?

Get over the barrier-story you tell yourself as quickly as possible.

Everyone has one. “I don’t ‘get’ social media.” “Blogging never gets me anywhere.” “Who would care what I think?” “I want to serve only X kind of person.” “I tried that and it didn’t work for me.” “I don’t have enough _________.”

Whatever it is… we ALL have one. Mine was, “If it’s not perfect, I’m not doing it. I refuse to put anything out that’s half-baked.”

When the real truth is that even though the story you tell yourself might be true, you can make it not true. You can shift how you think about things. Sometimes it’s as simple as just fucking faking it for a while until you figure it out.

The faster you get over your bullshit, the faster you make room for success.

Don’t you love Illana already? Take it to the next step & read the rest of her stuff – high value & fun!