We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Caitlin Christensen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Caitlin below.

Caitlin , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, let’s imagine that you were advising someone who wanted to start something similar to you and they asked you what you would do differently in the startup-process knowing what you know now. How would you respond?

Starting a business is both exciting and challenging. As someone who has launched an established business and recently started a new one, I’ve learned a lot along the way. In this article, I’ll share what I did differently the second time around. Learn from my mistakes and follow these tips to get your business live and earning money faster than ever.

Branding: Keep It Simple and Move On
It’s easy to get caught up in the details when starting a new business, especially when it comes to branding. You might be tempted to spend endless hours perfecting your colors, fonts, and logos. However, this can be a trap that delays your progress. Take it from me—when launching my first business, I fell into this exact trap. But when I started the Creative Designer Directory, I took a different approach.

Instead of spending months on branding, I kept it simple. Companies like Olipop might invest $70,000 in their branding, but as a small business, you don’t need to spend a dime upfront. I designed a basic logo myself using Canva and moved on quickly, focusing on getting the business off the ground. The truth is, branding can be refined later as your business grows. The key is to get started, build momentum, and worry about perfecting the details once your business is viable.

Naming Your Business: Prioritize Availability
Choosing a name for your business is crucial, but it’s important not to let this decision consume too much of your time. It’s easy to get attached to the perfect name, only to find out that the domain is already taken—or worse, it’s available, but at a price far beyond what you expected.

When naming your business, the first thing you should do is check domain availability. There are people who buy up domains just to sell them at a premium, so a name that could cost you $30 a year might end up costing $15,000 if someone else already owns it. To avoid this, use tools like Squarespace Domains to quickly check if your desired name is available and secure it right away. This ensures you won’t hit any roadblocks down the line and allows you to move forward confidently with a name that’s truly yours. Remember, a great name is important, but it’s only one piece of the puzzle—don’t let it slow you down.

Planning Your Strategy: Avoid Indecision Paralysis
When you’re starting a new business, the sheer number of decisions that need to be made can feel overwhelming. It’s easy to fall into a cycle of overthinking, where every choice seems critical, and you end up stuck in indecision. This is a common trap, but it’s one you can avoid with a bit of structure.

Instead of trying to figure out everything on your own, leverage tools like ChatGPT to help outline your initial tasks and strategy. Once you have a general plan, you can even ask ChatGPT to export the data into a CSV file. This allows you to upload the tasks directly into a project management tool like Asana, streamlining the process.

Create a free Asana account and import the CSV file with all your tasks organized. From there, you can break down your tasks into phases, set deadlines, and assign responsibilities, ensuring every aspect of your project is accounted for. Asana also becomes a great place to capture any ideas that come up along the way—keeping them all in one spot so they don’t get forgotten or lost.

Having a structured plan in place not only keeps you focused but also helps you avoid the mental exhaustion that comes with constant decision-making. By breaking down your tasks into manageable steps, assigning them appropriately, and capturing ideas as they come, you can tackle everything one phase at a time, making steady progress toward your goals without getting lost in the details.

Get People Involved Early: Build Genuine Relationships
One of the most important lessons I’ve learned in business is the value of building relationships from the very beginning. It’s easy to focus solely on perfecting your product or service, but the truth is, no matter how great your offering is, it’s the relationships you build that will truly drive your success.

When launching a new business, start engaging with potential clients, collaborators, and even peers in your industry as soon as possible. Don’t wait until everything is perfect—get people involved early. Reach out, introduce yourself, and make a genuine effort to connect. Spend the time to personally thank those who trust you with their business, showing that you appreciate their support from the start.

These early interactions help to build trust and loyalty, which are crucial for long-term success. Plus, they provide valuable feedback that can help shape your offerings to better meet the needs of your audience. The connections you build now can lead to opportunities, referrals, and partnerships down the line, making it easier to grow your business organically.

In short, relationships are the lifeblood of any business. By focusing on genuine connections and getting people involved from the start, you lay a solid foundation for your business to thrive.

SEO: A Non-Negotiable Foundation
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the process of optimizing your website so that it ranks higher in search engine results pages (SERPs), like those on Google. The goal of SEO is to make your website more visible to people who are searching for relevant topics, products, or services online. The higher your site ranks in these search results, the more likely people are to visit it.

SEO can be broken down into three main areas:

Technical SEO: This involves making sure that your website’s infrastructure is set up in a way that search engines can easily crawl and index your site. It includes aspects like site speed (how fast your website loads), mobile-friendliness (how well your site works on smartphones and tablets), and proper use of sitemaps and robots.txt files (which help guide search engines in understanding your site structure). Technical SEO ensures that your site is easy for search engines to navigate and understand.

On-Page SEO: This focuses on optimizing the content on your website. It includes using relevant keywords that your audience might search for, writing compelling meta descriptions (the brief summaries that appear under your site’s title in search results), and creating high-quality, valuable content that answers the questions or needs of your audience. On-page SEO also involves optimizing your headlines, images, and internal linking structure to improve user experience and search engine rankings.

Off-Page SEO: Another crucial component of SEO is building backlinks—links from other reputable websites that point back to your site. Backlinks act like votes of confidence from other sites, signaling to search engines that your content is credible and valuable. The more high-quality backlinks you have, the more authority your site gains in the eyes of search engines, which can help improve your rankings.

One important thing to remember about SEO is that it takes time. Google and other search engines need time to recognize and trust your site, so the results of your SEO efforts won’t be immediate. This is why it’s so important to get it right from the start. The sooner you implement effective SEO strategies, the sooner you’ll start to see results. Over time, consistent SEO work will pay off with increased organic (unpaid) traffic, which can lead to more leads, sales, and overall success for your business.

Test Your Business Idea: Solve Real Problems
Before diving headfirst into building your business, it’s crucial to ensure that your idea truly solves a real problem. It’s tempting to look at what others are doing and simply replicate it, but success often lies in differentiation—doing something better, faster, or cheaper than what’s already out there.

One of the ways to test your business idea is by speaking directly to those who might benefit from it. Before launching the Creative Designer Directory, I reached out to several Showit website designers to discuss the project. Their feedback was invaluable, confirming that there was indeed a need for a specialized directory like this. Being deeply immersed in the industry myself, I had already encountered the problem I aimed to solve. This firsthand experience made it easier to address the pain points that other designers were facing as well.

Once I had the concept in place, I continued to refine it during the beta phase by actively seeking feedback from users. I asked people to complete surveys to gather their thoughts and suggestions. Additionally, I used tools like Hotjar to watch how users interacted with the directory. This allowed me to spot any issues or areas of confusion in real time, which I could then address to improve the user experience.

By testing your business idea early on and continuing to gather feedback during the beta phase, you can validate your concept, identify areas for improvement, and make the necessary adjustments before fully launching. This approach not only gives you confidence that there’s a demand for your offering but also helps you create a product or service that truly meets the needs of your target audience. In a competitive market, solving a real problem with a well-tested solution is key to building a successful business.

Choose a Project That Excites You
One of the most important factors in successfully launching a business is passion. If you’re not genuinely excited about the project you’re working on, it’s going to be hard to muster the energy and motivation needed to push through the inevitable challenges that come with starting something new.

When I started the Creative Designer Directory, I knew it was a project that truly excited me. Every morning, I woke up with a “heck yes, let’s build this!” attitude, which made a huge difference in how I approached my work. This excitement fueled my creativity, kept me motivated, and made even the toughest days feel manageable.

Having a clear, actionable to-do list also played a big role in keeping that momentum going. In the early stages of launching a business, it can often feel like you’re pushing a boulder uphill. Everything is new, time-consuming, and requires your full attention. But when you’re passionate about what you’re doing, it doesn’t feel like a chore—it feels like a mission.

Passion not only drives you but also resonates with others. When people see that you’re genuinely enthusiastic about your project, they’re more likely to get excited about it too. This can help you build a supportive community, attract clients, and inspire collaborators who share your vision.

So, when choosing a business idea, make sure it’s something that truly excites you. If you love the project, you’ll naturally push yourself to work on it, overcome obstacles, and keep going even when things get tough. Remember, the early stages of a business are often the most challenging, but with passion and perseverance, you can turn your vision into reality.

Persistence: Don’t Give Up When Things Get Tough
Starting a business is not for the faint of heart. The journey is often filled with challenges, setbacks, and moments of doubt. It’s during these times that persistence becomes your greatest asset.

In the early stages of building the Creative Designer Directory, there were plenty of times when things didn’t go as planned. Whether it was technical glitches, slower-than-expected growth, or unexpected hurdles, it would have been easy to get discouraged. But I learned from my first business that persistence is key. When you hit a roadblock, it’s important to remember that setbacks are a natural part of the process. What matters is how you respond to them.

Instead of giving up, I looked for alternative solutions, adjusted my strategies, and kept pushing forward. I reminded myself that every successful business has faced its share of challenges, and that persistence is what often separates those that succeed from those that don’t.

One of the most important things you can do during tough times is to stay flexible and open to change. If something isn’t working, don’t be afraid to pivot or try a different approach. Use challenges as opportunities to learn and grow, rather than as reasons to quit.

Also, lean on your support system—whether it’s a mentor, a business partner, or a community of peers. Having people to talk to and bounce ideas off can make a huge difference when you’re feeling stuck or overwhelmed.

In the end, persistence is about maintaining your focus on the big picture. Remember why you started your business in the first place, and keep that vision in mind as you navigate the ups and downs. By staying committed, adapting when necessary, and never giving up, you’ll increase your chances of turning your business into a lasting success.

Conclusion
Starting over with a new business gave me the chance to apply everything I learned from my first venture and approach things differently. By keeping branding simple, focusing on what truly matters, testing my ideas, choosing a project that excites me, and staying persistent, I was able to launch the Creative Designer Directory with confidence and clarity.

If you’re starting a new venture, take these lessons to heart. Building a business is challenging, but with the right mindset and strategies, you can overcome obstacles, grow your business, and achieve your goals. Remember, every step forward, no matter how small, brings you closer to success. Keep pushing, stay passionate, and don’t be afraid to learn from your mistakes along the way.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Caitlin Christensen, and I’m an SEO specialist with a focus on Showit websites. My journey into the SEO industry began from a deep passion for helping businesses succeed online, particularly those within creative niches like photographers and designers. Before diving into SEO, I started my career in communication and digital marketing, working with major brands like Women’s Health Magazine and PopSugar. Eventually, I transitioned from the corporate world to creative entrepreneurship, founding my own graphic and website design business, Cultive Creative, which ultimately evolved into Creative SEO Coach. Recently, I launched the Creative Designer Directory to help Showit designers, SEOs, copywriters, and branding experts increase their visibility and connect with potential clients online.

If you’re a Showit designer, SEO, copywriter, or branding designer, we’d love to have you on the directory. And if you need help with SEO, reach out—I’m here to help you find the best path forward.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

When it comes to books that have significantly influenced my business, I always recommend “Marketing Made Simple” by Donald Miller and Dr. JJ Peterson, followed by “Building a StoryBrand” by Donald Miller. These two books are packed with actionable advice that can transform how you approach marketing and communication. Donald and JJ are renowned in the marketing industry for their practical insights, and these books offer real, helpful strategies that you can apply directly to your business. If you’re looking to start a business, these are must-reads.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

The most effective strategy I’ve found for growing my clientele has been email marketing. I’m not a big fan of social media, so I focus on staying in constant contact with my followers through my email list. Every week, I send out a newsletter that follows the same format: a little bit about me or a funny story from my week, and three articles I’ve written on the latest news about Google, SEO, Showit, and AI. I market the newsletter on Meta with just a few dollars a day, which consistently grows my email list. As a side effect, I’ve also gained quite a few Instagram followers through these ads, so it’s been a win-win.

The key takeaway is the importance of nurturing your audience and providing them with value. When you consistently offer value, your audience is much more likely to invest in your services when the time comes.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://creativeseocoach.com/ https://creativedesignerdirectory.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creative_seo_coach/ https://www.instagram.com/creativedesignerdirectory/