by Julia D. Stege, MFA

@MagicalMarketer

On Twitter getting “Retweeted” (having your post re-posted by one of your followers) is the highest form of praise. When you want to uplift someone or support what they’re doing, you Retweet (#RT) them.

Retweeting has become such a central activity on Twitter that it is now a special link available from your Twitter Home Page. When you click on the “Retweets” Link and then on the “Your Tweets, Retweeted” tab, you can see all your Retweeted posts.
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“Beauty represents the supremest living quality of thought. It is the glorious overflowing of fullness of love which indicates the presence of infinite reserves of power behind it… Beauty is the externalization of harmony.” Thomas Troward*

I am a lover of beauty. Perhaps you could tell this by looking at my portfolio of designs . I have always wanted to fill the world with beautiful expressions of unique and uplifting ideas, and my clients appreciate this quality in the logos and websites I create for them.

But recently I have heard several different and unrelated internet marketing advisors declare that you don’t need a beautiful website or brand to market your business. In fact, they recommend following basic template guidelines including garish bold red headlines on white pages with blinking arrows and opt-in boxes. They criticize “pretty websites that don’t sell,” as if it’s the prettiness of the website that causes it to not sell.

I really feel that these Internet marketing advisors are throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

Yes, of course we all know we want to build our lists and communicate clearly with our potential customers. But when we copy these basic site templates and follow standard sales copy scripts, the beauty that lies inside of us remains unexpressed in favor of mere utilitarianism.

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