I'm Ashli, the owner and lead designer/developer at Basis. We design brands and build websites for ecommerce retailers. In this newsletter, I share weekly small biz reflections and helpful tips and tricks to help you grow your brand.
"The Sandlot" Got It Wrong
A small business is complicated. It often involves just one or two people mixing together an alchemy of customers, processes, product, branding, funding, manufacturing and more to create this perfect little potion that resonates. That can be really, really challenging. My client Ashley at Trade Street Jam Co. recently talked on her Instagram and on CBS Mornings about the realities of small business, and reading the comments shows just how much founders struggle with this. Having a well-designed logo and intuitive, delightful website can feel like the Top Priority for a new brand. And, it should be a priority — I've tracked firsthand how good design improves conversion rate time and again — but it won't matter if there aren't enough customers for that impact to be felt. It's not always a "if you build it, they will come" situation (sorry, The Sandlot fans). Can you find enough customers who will pay you for what you made, and also tell their friends? This is where our successful founders spend all of their time — obsessively trying to answer this question for themselves and their brand. Random Roundup
Have a great week! Ashli |
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The Basis Newsletter
I'm Ashli, the owner and lead designer/developer at Basis. We design brands and build websites for ecommerce retailers. In this newsletter, I share weekly small biz reflections and helpful tips and tricks to help you grow your brand.
Ashli from Basis here! It's been nearly 18 months since I last sent an email newsletter. To be honest, I wasn't sure I had anything to say. When I send an email, I don't want to add more noise. And with the onslaught of AI slop and the ability to generate anything at anytime, nothing I wrote felt worthy of sharing. But, I've come out the other side deciding that humans sharing their creativity with each other still feels meaningful. So over the next few months, I want to share some of the...
Ashli here! It's been a while... eight months actually! For a long while, I've felt like I lost something meaningful to say that felt worthy of being in your inbox. Basis got busy, holidays happened, the world got loud, and the internet just has been feeling weird to me. Last night, I watched a video of Dan Levy talk about the process of making creative things and what he said really resonated. You can watch at the link above, but I typed it out below — in its entirety — to share here. (I'm a...
Last week was the summer solstice, and with the lengthening of sunlight with each passing month, I have felt a lengthening in my capacity. I mean that in a very literal work-sense: I have more capacity for projects, more time in my calendar. But also feel myself growing in capacity for those less tangible things, too. I have more capacity creatively. My kids are now ten and six... old enough to sleep in a tiny bit, dress themselves, entertain themselves for longer bits of time... and with...