When I first launched the artist’s J.D.’s website I did it on a shoestring budget. And like most fledgling creative business owners, I did everything myself.

Fast forward eighteen months and I felt like I had a solid handle on:

• who my business was serving
• what products and services I wanted to offer
• how I wanted to position them
• the story of my brand

And so, I hired a graphic designer and developer to create an online presence for my brand.

This experience was a lot of fun, but also a lot of work.

Whenever I had to make a decision about how to move forward, I used this checklist:

• does it match up with the values of my business: curiosity, listening, and empowerment
• does it match up with my business mission: helping creative business owners build a strong foundation
• does it feel genuine to the goals of my brand: provide practical and intuitive business and legal resources
• does it feel genuine to me
• will it resonate with three specific members of my audience

The first four are self-explanatory. But the last one, might not be.

Real People, not Ideal Personas

Rather than creating ideal reader personas, I create profiles of audience members.

These profiles live in Google Docs and contain information I know about a specific audience member. They include the obvious, a name and photo. But also contain information about their business and life. And over time I add to the profile, using things they share with me.

Of course, building these profiles takes time. But it allows me to create each piece of content, pretending that I’m writing to one person. (In fact, before I write, I pick one audience member. And then I open and read their profile. And refer to it while creating that piece of content.)

So when I was working with my designer/developer to create my branding, I pulled my out my most robust profiles.

And from those, I selected three. These three were individuals I knew well. And people that represented different segments of my audience. And I made sure that they would connect with what I was doing.

And if something didn’t line up with all five items, I would tweak things until they did.

I know that you are making decisions like this too. And I’m sure you are accounting for your ideal customer/client/reader in your decision process.

Overlooking the legal details

You have a story and perception that you are trying to convey to your ideal customer.

But one thing that many creative businesses overlook, is the fact that a set of pesky legal details can support this story. You skip them because you think they have to be stuffed with legalese or are only for big companies.

When in fact, these pesky little details add trust, transparency, and increase sales.

These pesky legal details function as marketing tools. They can carry your brand forward and match your voice and branding. Don’t believe me? Check out this example from the artist’s Courtyard member, Kristen Girard. (Seriously, she rocked them.)

So what are these legal details?

• if you have a shop, can we easily find your shop policies?
• if you earn money from sponsors or affiliates, can we quickly assess which links you are paid for?
• if we can leave a comment or review, can we easily learn what your policy is and what is or isn’t okay?
• if we want to use your photographs, tutorials, blog posts, or other content, can we easily learn what is okay?
• can we learn how you want to be credited? Do we know where to link?
• can we quickly learn what information you know about us?
• can we learn how you use the information you know about us?

Can we easily find your shop policies?

Your shop policies set the ground rules for you and potential purchasers. You should explain to them:

• your payment terms
• your shipping terms
• your return and refund policies
• how credit cards are processed
• what warranties or guarantees come with your products

But putting these up on your website and creating a link to them in your menu bar is only your first step. These should also be included in your broader website terms of service. Because your terms of service outline all the ground rules between you and your website visitors.

Can we quickly assess which links you are paid for?

It’s your job to make it very clear to visitors if you are being compensated for that bonus, link, or post. It’s not our job to guess or assume if the link is an affiliate link.

The FTC created the rules that you need to follow to make this clear. When you stand in the shoes of your reader, these rules are common sense. All you need to do is make it clear that you are getting something in exchange when they buy via your link. (Or that you are writing the post because it’s been sponsored.)

There are four elements to properly disclosing your affiliate/sponsor relationships.

• Placement: You can’t hide the disclosure in the footer. It must be conspicuous and obvious to website visitors.
• Action: You can’t require visitors to take extra steps to read the disclosure (e.g. no click-through links).
• Clear: Visitors must easily know that you are getting paid in exchange for website placement.
• Timing: You can’t just tell visitors once. Disclosures must be in every post, social media interaction, link, or comment.

(I remember this by saying that you’ve made a PACT with your readers to be transparent.)

While you might include this in your website terms of service. The more important thing is to identify every affiliate link or sponsored post using these guidelines.

Can we easily learn what your comment policy is and what is or isn’t okay?

Many websites allow for reviews, comments, or other content created by visitors. So you’ll need to spell out your rules.

Obviously, you’ll want to exclude anything defamatory, offensive, or obscene. And content that violates someone else’s intellectual property rights. But what else?

• do commenters need to add value to the conversation?
• if so, who makes that call?
• what is and isn’t within the bounds of adding value?
• how will they be notified if they violate this policy?
• how many chances do they get?
• what will happen when you decide enough is enough?

Once again this should go in your website terms of service.

Can we easily learn how it’s okay to use your content and credit you?

You, like me, probably pour your heart and soul into each of the pieces of content you create. And once again in your website terms of service you have the opportunity to lay down ground rules.

You can use them to explain:

• what others can do with your content
• what you consider out of bounds
• how you want to be credited

You might want to think about:

• how your tutorials can be used
• how much of your content can be used on another website
• how many of your photos can be used on another website
• how your content can be shared on social media

Can we quickly learn what information you know about us and how you use it?

The final two questions go in your privacy policy rather than your terms of service.

Privacy policies don’t have to be long and complex to be valid. You only need to spell out the answers to the following questions:

• who is collecting this information? (you + what other third-party partners)
• what kind of information are you collecting on them and how? (e.g. credit card numbers, email addresses, names, mailing addresses, IP addresses, demographic data)
• when do you share it?
• where do you use this information?
• how do you protect sensitive identifiable information? (especially credit card numbers!)
• how can I find out what you know about me?
• why do you collect it?

These prompts will help you explain the information your website collects, stores, uses, and discloses. And by using them, you’ll create a valid privacy policy–without a bunch of legal jargon.

Which of these seven details is missing from your website? Let me know below and what step you’ll take this week to add this detail to your site!