Throwback -Welcome to our Artichoke Music archives!
Kate
Portland, Oregon
Forty-seven yeras ago, July 4, 1977, I pulled my red Impala convertible into Portland right across from the Franz Bakery. The air was full of the smell of warm bread fresh out of the oven. Home. My first trip across the river two weeks later was to Artichoke Music. I needed strings for my little Martin 00-21 NY guitar and hammers for my hammered dulcimer had been lost in the move west. I looked in the phone book (!) and called Portland Music to ask if they had hammers to which the voice on the other end replied, “Oh, you’ve got to go to Artichoke Music for that!” and that, as they say, was that. Back to the phone book, I looked up where to find it on NW 21st and Irving, got in the car and drove over the river. Part of me never came back. The tiny shop smacked of greenwich village and Izzy Young’s Folklore Center in a tiny space stuffed with stringed instruments from everywhere. Home run. Everything about Portland was new to me but this had familiar ground and I was glad to have found it. The quiet man behind the counter sold me strings and a pair of hammers from a kit, plain blanks (not the fancy hammers I had lost). I was a little disappointed but that was all he had that day, he was willing to part with them, and I had come all that way, so I bought them anyway, if only as a gesture, a souvenir of my first encounter with a true folk music shop in Portland thousands of miles from MacDougal Street in New York City. Little did I know that day that those hammers would sit ready in a jar on my kitchen counter nearly fifty years later. I never did learn how to play the hammered dulcimer but the sticks have been handy and the rest is history.
Understand your business objectives & goals
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CONSIDER THE PAGES YOU'LL NEED TO HAVE ON YOUR WEBSITE
So, you're thinking about creating a website? Well, there's a lot to consider when it comes to the pages you'll need to include.
You'll need that all-important homepage - the first thing visitors will see when they land on your site.
Let's not forget about the 'about' page, where you can tell your visitors a bit more about who you are and what you're all about.
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And if you're hoping to build some trust with potential customers, a testimonials or reviews page could be just the ticket.
With so many pages to consider, it might seem daunting - but fear not! blog posts you'll get pre-populated pages specifically selected for your needs (just like the ones we have for entrepreneurs in our shop!).
Enjoy this walk down
memory lane
CONSIDER YOUR IDEAL READER WHEN CHOOSING WHAT STORIES TO TELL
When designing a website, it's important to keep your audience in mind. After all, your website should encourage them to want more from you! Think about their preferences, needs and desires when choosing a template.
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Create a list of must-have features for your website
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Tutorials, training and additional support are going to be essential if you are new to websites!
Finally, don't forget about search engine optimization (SEO) to ensure your website ranks high in search results.
All of these are important considerations we applied when creating all the templates within your blog
Blueprint for your Squarespace website blog
You now have the blueprint for finding the perfect Squarespace website template that fits both your business and its audience perfectly.
Begin by understanding exactly what you want to accomplish as well as considering which pages you need to display and your audience's objectives.
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After doing this research and more, the challenge of choosing a fitting template can seem daunting but is ultimately doable with an understanding of the basics and these few tips in mind.
Begin creating your list of features and explore different options – you can even start with a story– so you can build a beautiful website that achieves what your business sets out to do. Good luck!