My stupid web designer asked me a stupid question that ruined everything!

At the end of this post, I'm going to ask you to give your input on the 1 question poll, in the right sidebar. But you don't have to read this post before you take the poll. If you scroll down a bit, you can just click your answer right now. I'll be using your answer to inform my writing for the next year. So your input is valuable. Now, on with the story.

I asked Nate for a picture of himself, and he didn't send me one,
so I used this super nerd pic from David Sittig at flickr.com

When I asked Nate, my web designer, to create a new theme for my blog, I thought I was going to get just that - a new blog theme. He asked me to send him a few examples of other blogs I really like. So I sent him the links to the blogs of Carlos Whittaker, Jarrid Wilson, Michael Hyatt, and a few more guys and gals who have good looking blogs.

A few months later, we got together again to look at some preliminary mockups of the new timhswanson.com. He showed me two designs. One was okay, but the second one I absolutely loved. Then he started with the stupid questions, asking, "What do you want to do with your blog in the next 5 years?" I sort of hemmed and hawed and mumbled about some book ideas, and products that have been on my mind.

Then he mentioned my tagline, 'Discover more potential', and asked me what it meant. As I fumbled over my words, I realized he asked the question more for me than for himself. And that was when he asked the stupid question that ruined everything. He said, "Tim, who is your audience?"

It's the first question everyone is supposed to answer when they begin building a platform. But most don't, because it's such a frustrating question. And I was no exception. I settled on 'Discover more potential' because I really liked the ring of it, and it resonated with me somehow. The only problem is, the message of that tag is deep and wide - a little too deep and wide.

A good tag line is supposed to help people narrow in on what a book, show, podcast, or blog is about. And without a good tag, writers like me are left with dumb looks on our faces every time someone asks that question. So now I have to answer the question about audience, and a few other tough questions about content and purpose, before I can finish designing the new theme with Nate.

And that's where I need your help.

I typically write about worship/church leadership, mentoring, recovery from sex addiction, and family/marriage/parenting. In order to dial in on what you want to read, I crafted a simple, 1 question poll in the right side bar. Now I'm inviting you to give you input by clicking on the topic you'd like to read about the most. Also, thank you for reading.

Question: Which post from this blog has been the most memorable/impactful for you? and why? Please leave your answer in the comment section below. 

By the way, Nate is truly an excellent web designer. Aside from having an incredible knack for building sites that look and feel great, he's in tune with the essential elements that you'll need to make your website standout. When I launch my new theme, you should expect to see an attribution and contact info for him in the footer of the site.