I agree that voice is really powerful. Voice + clarity = ??? It’s a hard thing to nail, but I’m definitely having fun with it.

But the reason I bothered to comment here is that your navigation label dilemma is something that everyone who puts up a site and wants it to be GOOD struggles with. Most people don’t realize until they get into the process just how much subtle, almost-hidden bits of WRITING goes into making a site. The articles, the posts, the “stuff” is really only a part of it. Site titles are vital — every site should have a good descriptive title and a good descriptive subtitle. Navigation labels are second only to the site (and individual page) titles in importance. The Men are right-on that clarity is needed, but you’re right, too, that your own voice is important. You have a distinctive, disarmingly inarticulate style that puts your readers at ease. So while your labels may not be perfectly clear, they do carry your voice. Just my two cents.

I thought of this phrase: Habits Boutique

Although, that sounds like maybe you are selling habits.

I just have always wanted to use the word “boutique” in something to mean “store”.

Hmm.

Emma

Emma McCrearys last blog post..Do You Need to be Aggressive to Get Sales?

Love the “store”. Keep the quotes.

Love “sound like you?”. I am only visual and I am not weirded out by it.

Do not love “might be you?”. You’ve got it as a question but it doesn’t sound like a question. It sounds like something that should’ve been longer but you ran out of space.

I love me some advice giving. I should offer the same service as the Pen Men. Although I think I’d be too abrupt. I’d say things like, “Your website’s cool” or “Your website sucks rocks”. Then people would be all, “um, why?” and I’d be all, “don’t bother me I gave you your answer now fuck off”.

Thinking on it, maybe we’ll leave it to the Pen Men.

Naomi Dunfords last blog post..What Can YOU Do With Whipped Cream?

Emma McCrearys last blog post..Do You Need to be Aggressive to Get Sales?

Hmm, shop. Shop by itself not so much. But “The shop” is kinda cute.

I definitely don’t think of The “Store” as self-deprecating. It hadn’t occurred to me that other people might. If anything I tend to think that my products are so ridiculously better than everyone else’s that I have to tone it down to not sound hype-ey and exaggerated.

Store for me sets off that feeling I get when I look up a meditation teacher I really like to get a bite of something to think about. And then their site is all “Buy now!” and it’s just kind of off-putting.

I want the products to be find-able for the people who really need them and need that help and support, but the store metaphor doesn’t work for me, even though it’s a convention.

Will think on that some more.

You’re all awesome for showing up and tossing your feedback into the mix. Love it.

Issue #3 some more — I like the “The Shop” suggestion, since you’re presenting tools for sale that people use t (I gather) work on their stuff, so it also conveys a bit of a work shop place (as opposed to a workshop product — different animal.) In a “taking the old clunker down to the shop for a tune-up” way.

Issue #4 — disagree that ‘habits’ has a negative connotation or association… I think of them as my automatic habits like brushing my teeth, covering my mouth when I sneeze, facing my dollars the same way, and opening doors for the elderly. They started as choices. So I think of bad habits as choices that I haven’t changed for the better yet, but ‘Habits Blog” was clear — you blog about habits (and patterns) and the rest of your tag, headers and tabs make it clear that you’re not just talking about elbows on the table. But ‘Blog’ is clear, in a transparent way… the rest of your site seems so colorful that it seems a bit strident in contrast. I don’t like to throw the clever baby out with the murky bathwater, but if your spacing is dictating your voice in the tabs, those are the parameters you play inside. If you had time for “Blogification” I’d instantly get your voice and the facts.

Too bad your e-mailers don’t comment so we could all learn from you and them sharing here… and reduce your inbox and increase your comment numbers… If you’ve ever thought that too, maybe a line above the ‘email me’ form that suggests they share in comments instead?

Thanks for letting us peek into your process - very interesting.

1. I’ve never liked “Is This You?”, I don’t know why it’s so popular in the industry. If it were me, I’d name it “Who I work with”. Because that is what the page describes. But perhaps that sounds stand-offish to people. Maybe ask on Biznik and see if anyone has a better version?

2. When I read ‘the “store”‘, the voice in my head saying it sounds snide and self-deprecating. Like it’s not real enough to not be in quotes. Like the products don’t deserve to be called sell-able. Like you don’t believe in them yourself. I know you do, but that’s the connotation I get in my head from reading the phrase with the quotes.

Online, the word store in a link means “area of the site where you can buy things”. It doesn’t mean “I sell enough things to warrant a retail space at the mall”. So I would take off the quotes if it were me.

Emma McCrearys last blog post..Do You Need to be Aggressive to Get Sales?

The Unstuck Duck … that’s hilarious. Actually, that should go on the back of the “What Would Selma Do” t-shirts …

Sorry, “t-shirts”.