I’m so excited to dive into this today because it’s something I refused and/or felt weird about for nearly 8 years because, um hello, I am a web designer. But after having my kid(s), a pandemic, and turning 37, I realized it was time to swallow my pride and actually look into the benefits.

1. It shaved off about a month of technical work. Sure I still had to do my own branding, write my copy, source, and curate imagery, and implement all of that within the template but all the pages were set up for me – they worked. They functioned. I didn’t have to manually do that myself or figure out what I wanted to do there. Being a one-woman show this was essentially like hiring an extra hand. I used the Showit platform and highly recommend Tonic’s products. If this reason alone resonates with you feel free to use my code katelyngambler15 for 15% off.
   
   
2. I could focus more on what I’m good at. Yes, I’m very good at user experience design and user interface design (if you don’t know the difference between the two, Figma wrote an informative article here explaining both) but I’m much better at branding and business strategy. Because those are both the foundation of a brand, it does make me an expert in assessing how to carry out the rest of your brand identity. These days it’s most certainly a website. But which platform? What are your business goals? Are you tech-savvy? Are you selling a product or course? How do you plan on marketing yourself? These are all important questions that you need to have an understanding of before you build your website and online presence and with my 15 years of experience I’m much better at that than most. I’ve found it’s what sets me apart from my peers and other designers, creatives, and small business owners. If you’d like to learn more if this is something you need, just send me an email and I’ll send you my free packages and pricing guide and hop on a call to discuss.
   
   
3. Not everyone needs a custom website. As I mentioned above, every client has different needs based on their business goals and because I’m well versed in the industry I have a more well-rounded and in-depth understanding of a lot of the platforms out there, what they achieve, and if they are the right fit for you. I have extensive experience designing everything from Squarespace templates to completely custom WordPress websites. I can go on and on but for my business, I felt Showit was a good fit for me and I was thrilled to partner with Tonic to utilize their gorgeous products to make my life easier. I was able to spend the time applying my brand identity and creating unique content (like this blog post) then get back to working on clients ASAP. If you thought I only did custom WordPress websites, consider booking a consultation call to see if you’d benefit from Brand Development first.
   
   
4. Tonic sells more than websites. If you’ve ever been my client, or if you have existing branding (especially if you have brand guidelines to follow) then I would highly recommend checking out their Canva and Email templates. Literally, why didn’t I think of this? Well, I did, but they beat me to it and if I can’t beat them, I’ll join ‘em! They were nice enough to give me a discount code for y’all if you want to check them out for all your social media marketing needs. Bonus offer: If you are a past client of mine (or about to become a new one) I’m more than happy (actually ecstatic) to implement the branding we did for you to these templates. Even if you have a completely custom and complex WordPress website you can still utilize these bad boys for Instagram, and Pinterest and to market your beautiful brand to the world. Just shoot me an email and we will discuss details!

Well cheers, that’s four solid reasons why I found that Tonic Site Shop was a great fit for me and my business. I’m so excited for all the time it will free up for me and for you.