Ladies and Gentlemen, My name is Michael Beckwith, and I am a self-confessed minion. I am at Rachael’s command. When she tells me to go make a site update, I go do it. When she tells me to go convert a newly arrived web design into a theme for your new favorite blog, I go do it. When it comes to her bidding, I’m on it. Such is the life of a caffeinated minion, and you know what? I would not have it any other way.

The Meeting

Perhaps I should tell you how I got to this minion state. Let me take you back to the start of Rachael’s and my acquaintanceship. I was at a point in my life where I was just starting with twitter and microblogging in general, and was following anyone who seemed interesting. Rachael was one of those people. I am also a self-confessed coffee junky so when “caffeinatedelf” showed up on my screen, my ears perked. At some point I read a post on her blog about a financially tight time for her and her awesome husband Troy. My little heart percolated with intrigue and kindness, and I contacted Rachael about donating $5 of my hard earned money to help two people who I didn’t know at all. I reasoned that $5 is not a lot and is equivalent to giving up a large mocha from Starbucks or any higher end coffee location. I could live with parting with one beverage worth. Needless to say, Rachael was extremely touched by the gesture.

The Hiring

During the course of our friendship;, another idea started percolating. I attended college for five years studying graphic design and multimedia/web development, but have yet to really find my footing afterwards. I knew I needed a way to stay in the game while working a general 40hr/wk job. I was not, and still not, completely confident in myself yet to go full time freelance but if I could pick up some work from time to time, that would be wonderful. I knew that Rachael was running Caffeinated Design Studio so I offered my knowledge and skills. I reasoned that if some of the work load was off her chest, together we could get work done faster and have more time for new work. I felt confident in her company and wanted to help make Caffeinated Design grow.

The Work

My first minion assignment didn’t arrive right away, but I got to get my hands dirty soon enough. Rachael proceeded to introduce me to a client named Amy Crook. She runs Antemortem Arts, which she uses to promote her paintings and traditional arts. The website was going to use WordPress as its CMS and Amy had a theme design ready, being a designer herself. This was my first assignment. I had a good fun time making the theme work and provide an awesome website theme.

Minion assignment number two was very much like the first one but with an added layer of work. Once again I was working with Amy but this time she had a separate client who also needed a wordpress theme implemented. This time I was sent the design’s .psd file and I had to export the elements myself. The rest of the theming process was like the first assignment and in the end, another lovely website was given to the world.

The Payoff

Through these two assignments, I have helped provide some wonderful looking websites for people using the ever-awesome blogging/cms platform WordPress. I am confident enough to say that everyone involved is more than happy with the final results and the internet is that much of a better place.

There is no telling what the future holds for me and my minion status with Rachael. I know that I have really enjoyed the work provided to me so far, and hope that Rachael will let me continue along the same vein. I have heard some rumblings that I may be given some practice runs at creating designs myself to see how well I do there. I know that that half has never been my forte because I think I may be better suited on the developer side working with the code and markup. The design experience would be positive and would definitely help refine my rough edges, allowing me to be a bigger asset to both Rachael and anyone I work with in the future. Now if you excuse me, I think I hear an overhyper elfling calling my name.

Michael Beckwith is a budding Graphic and Web Designer residing in Sioux Falls South Dakota. Some of his interests in graphic/web design are WordPress, vector graphics, and available open source tools to make it all work. He dreams of the day when pirates and awesomeness rule the world.

This is a guest post by my Travel Guy, Andy Hayes. Enjoy!

image by tehusagent

I have to admit I’ve always been a huge coffee fan (although more tea nowadays), but after working with Rachael for some time now her caffeinated enthusiasm has worn off and is far more infectious than my morning cuppa. Why? Because her business is fully caffeinated. Full of personality, creativity, and a passion to do what’s best for her customers, online or off. Want some of that special magic for yourself? Here are five ways you can caffeinate your own online (and in some ways, offline) business presence.

Make Mistakes.

That’s right – launch your website with all your products and services, and then listen very closely to your customers feedback. Hopefully you were in tune with their needs and wants before you launched, but they might not have told you everything. Or they might not have known what they really wanted. So listen. Make mistakes. If you’re listening closely, you can make mistakes more quickly, make changes as you go, and caffeinate your way to profits and fun. Doesn’t make mistakes sound so bad after all, does it?

Get a Personality.

Think about yourself as a consumer for a minute – who would you rather do business with: a robot or a human being? So why do so many websites have drone-like sales copy and even more boring products and services. Turn up the heat and get some caffeine into those offerings! There’s a big difference between being different and being unprofessional. People will respect you for putting your personality out there (they tend to call this “brand”), making a statement. Your ideal customers will resonate with that and reward you with their business.

Aim Your Target.

No matter how you pronounce it (neesh, nitch?), having a very targeted niche is very good for business. If you’re new to small business and entrepreneurship, this is very scary as it sounds like you’re just turning down good business. I know. But just trust me. Narrow down your target market and you’ll soon realise it is so much easier to find customers AND for customers to find you (think search engines). I have yet to see an example of anyone who has defined too narrow of a niche.

Find Friends.

A robust portfolio of products and services is good for business. Sometimes, though, you could use some help defining that or actually finding other people to provide it. So, consider joining a mastermind group (either paid) or making your own. The feedback will be invaluable. You should also look out for opportunities where someone else could add the perfect complement to your existing skillset. This is more good business sense than an online strategy, but it’s a good one regardless.

Drop the Competition.

Stop worrying about competition and start worrying about being different and better for your ideal customer. As finding friends was good for business, obsessing over the competition is bad for business. I’m not saying overlook them completely, but the goal isn’t necessarily to be better than them. It’s enough just to be different. Have a clear unique selling proposition (USP), a personable brand, and a website that really speaks to an ideal client, and you’ll find those friendly customers will come running.

Andy is a published author and travel entrepreneur based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Check out the caffeinated offerings at either of his websites:

Travel Online Partners (TOP) – the go to resource for small businesses in travel and tourism for help with online technology. Work with TOP to guarantee yourself a caffeinated online presence.

Sharing Travel Experiences – a popular and caffeine-friendly travel website featuring travel articles, recommendations, and travel concierge services.