Founder's corner

Overview and Background Info

The Profound Pens website was created out of a desire to professionally house my writing business. This is my second site. My first site was eponymously named "Kalin Writes". This site had a more artistic and independent "vibe" to it and featured my personal blog and services which I could independently offer. However, I felt I could attract more business if I distanced my personal brand from my business brand. From this idea, Profound Pens was born. 

After the launch and a few months of promoting, I realized that modern consumers want to know about the people behind the brand they support. And so, I've been seeking a balance between showcasing my personal brand and promoting my business. This website is my attempt to do this. 

Site Description

The Profound Pens site features an about page which discusses my background and goals as the founder, a services page that displays an inexhaustive list of the services we can provide, a link to an external page that houses my portfolio, a booking page connected to a virtual calendar, a contact page with all relevant methods to reach myself and my team, and last but not least, a founders page which has links to external platforms where I have some sort of presence. 

Utilizing this site, I aim to promote and demonstrate the importance of quality writing, writing coaching, and literacy advocacy. I have also pledged myself to assisting others with sharpening their message for their intended audience. Better communication enhances our relationships, and hence, our world.

Design Analysis

I chose to go with one of Go Daddy's simple website design templates. It contains most of the features I need and in the rare cases it doesn't, I'm able to invent a workaround. 

-Overall Design

• The overall design to me adequately satisfies the intent. Searching the site is made accessible as navigation tabs/buttons are visible at both the top and bottom of each page. The color scheme is consistent throughout the site and at any point, if one wishes to book a service, they may easily do so. 

-Audience Awareness

• This site utilizes social media buttons (Instagram and YouTube) at the bottom of each page to provide two more ways for audiences to connect with us. As for outreach, I find that writing simple advertising blurbs on different sites like Facebook, that I'm able to increase my audience's awareness. I'm also able to check states on visitation and interaction through GoDaddy's user dashboard. 
• I have had an issue with SEO as Profound Pens usually brings up actual pens for sale. I've circumvented this by being extra careful about my branding, word usage, and simply sharing the word so that I continue to receive more visitors. 

-Ethos

• My ethos, actually an initiative, is to advance clearer communication objectives for my clients through pristine writing and solution-oriented consultation.
• I could do a better job of displaying my ethos verbally. I will say that the logo adds a 'prestigious' feel to the site, specifically, the black and gold color configuration gives off an air perhaps of wealth, luxury, and dependable quality. Or at least, it would be nice if my audience sensed this upon arrival at my site. 

-Interactivity

• I've designed the site to be simple in that there isn't too much room to interact with widgets. It is designed to be more like a digital law office: clean, quiet, informative, practical. There is a chat box which a visitor can use to get in contact with us. Their messages are all relayed directly to my email.

-Navigation

• Navigation, as I mentioned, has been made simple. The buttons atop the screen all clearly define what is behind the tab. Every page also has at the bottom, links to other potential pages of interest throughout the site. In other words, HOME is always accessible. 

-Color Scheme

• I chose black and gold because together, these colors represent brilliance and power. This is a feeling I'd like my audience to have when they visit this site. The colors are consistent throughout the site on purpose so as not to detract from the world I've created here. 

-Layout

• I may be proudest of my lay out. While I'm pretty limited in what I can accomplish on the stock website builder provided by Godaddy, I've managed to create a more than functional home for my business interests. Each of the page titles are neatly identified and clearly accessible. The site utilizes a scroll feature on most of the pages but the scroll is cut off before too long so as not to alienate visitors. 

-Typography

• There are a few options for typography built into the site builder. I've chosen overtime to play with different sized fonts. Perhaps the one I'm currently using could use an upgrade. So far, it has been effective.