Now that we’re in the New Year, we’re thinking ahead to all the possibilities that are just within our grasp. While we’re not big on resolutions, we do like to set goals for ourselves. A year ago, Fenway Creative was just an idea beginning to form — today, we’ve had the opportunity to create websites for some fantastic small businesses. We’d like to continue doing what we love while improving our skills and reaching out to even more clients that can benefit from our services. 

Part of our expansion will include a number of pre-designed templates for clients on limited budgets. Clients will be able to choose a template and we’ll populate the pages with their specific information. This is an economical approach for those small businesses that are just starting out and don’t have the income to invest in a custom design. 

We’ve also expanded into print media to help our clients achieve a cohesive branding package. From letterhead to car decals and magnets to signs, we’ve had a blast seeing our work pop off the screen and into real life!

While lots of exciting changes are in our future, our original goal remains solid: to help small businesses grow by creating one-of-a-kind websites and branding materials. It’s what we’re passionate about! 

Think about the last time you were out and about and you saw someone wearing their pajamas in public. How would you feel if that person approached you? Would you wonder (even a little) if that person was in their right mind? Would you rather talk to someone wearing, say, jeans and a sweater? A long time ago, someone told me that you don’t just dress to feel good about yourself; you dress to show your respect for other people. I believe that this carries over into the way you “dress” your company, particularly for small businesses. 

The moment a person sees your website, she begins to formulate ideas of what your business is like. It’s human instinct to categorize, sort, and organize people, places, and things so that we can better understand what, exactly, it is that we’re dealing with. We come across a lot of websites that look like Geocities templates from the mid-90s, and already we’re slightly distrustful, and a little hesitant to get in contact or conduct business with the business owners. It’s the same set of feelings that might arise if, say, you walked in to a business meeting and the CEO was wearing an out fit a la Kriss Kross. Ahem. (I know some of you are going, “But I’d LIKE THAT!”)

When you present your business in a professional, clear, and updated fashion through careful design management, you’re sending the right message to your audience. You’re expressing that you respect them enough to put the time and effort into your visual presence. You’re demonstrating that you’re approachable. And, perhaps most importantly, you’re saying, “Hey, we’re sane people you can work with. We’re want you to spend some time here.” That time is what will turn lookers into buyers. 

Stephen and I met while we were both temping for a communications agency just outside of Boston. He was working on developing websites and I was doing…well, whatever they needed me to do on any given day (edit videos, write, copyedit, code). We ended up becoming friends, and when I got hired for a contract at Pearson Education, Stephen came too. Over the years, we began helping each other with various website projects. I moved to Portland and Stephen is still in Boston, but we’ve continued to rely on each other’s strengths for projects. We decided to make our partnership official, and that’s how Fenway Creative came to be. 

I think it’s important to tell the story of how we met so that you can understand why we’re so committed to building websites for small businesses and organizations. We know what it’s like to be the little guy, and to have an idea that you hope to find success with. Like the “eat local” movement, we believe in living locally, and small businesses are the path to that kind of community strength. 

The small businesses we work with understand that having a web presence is vital to survival. A website is online real estate; it needs to convey the look and feel of your business to someone who hasn’t had the opportunity to set foot in your brick-and-mortar office or storefront. For those who run online businesses, web presence is even more valuable. We love working with small businesses and organizations so that we can develop an online atmosphere that’s pitch perfect. 

My mom likes to joke that she taught me everything I know about web design and development. She’s joking, but it’s true: Mom, you did teach me everything I know. I witnessed your interactions with difficult pre-school parents and your patience with school politics. You never lost your cool. That’s how I learned to interact with my clients.

Dad, I learned a lot from you too. As a CPA, your most stressful times were the first four months of the year. You, too, never “lost it” with a client — or anyone, for that matter — even when work was at its craziest. You always worked for your family practice, and from you I learned the benefits of being your own boss. Your clients were the only people you have to answer to, so flipping out on them never even occurred to you. 

Mom and dad, even though we are in totally different fields, I did learn everything from you. The reason I have what others call “the patience of a saint” is because of the both of you. Thank you. 

Web design is all about helping people get the information they need in an intuitive, visually appealing manner. In this way, web design is no different from graphic design, except that it goes deeper, becomes more expansive as the pages link together. That’s why we believe it’s important to identify our clients’ goals at our first meeting. Then we can work toward building a website that speaks to our clients’ clients.

The first lesson we learned when we started building websites for people was that the most important thing we can do is listen. Actually, it turns out that this is the most important skill no matter what you do! This simple act sets us apart immediately, and in return we get to learn so much from our clients.

Through listening, we learn about the aesthetic nature our clients want to achieve, what functions they want, and about any frustrations they may have had with their websites in the past. Sometimes we can even identify solutions that our clients have never heard of.

It’s this collaboration that makes what we do so much fun!