Webflow

I grew up on Sqaurespace.

This was back in 2012, and I was using it to build prototypes for ideas I had in school. I was doing part-time work at a product and brand launch pad, and I was loving it.

I was part owner of a skincare brand, if you can believe it. They were so early to the CBD and Hemp market it amazes me today. It was Hemp and Manuka Honey based balm, creams, and chapstick.

They were truly seeing things before everyone else did. They're about to launch across the U.S. in Ulta.

My role was minor, so when things took off with DTS I parted ways amicably and gave them back my equity.

The other brand I was developing was a bike lock that could fit in your pocket, called Armadillo. I hate U-locks, chain locks, wire locks.... aesthetically they disgust me.

The bicycle is one of the best inventions of mankind ever, it is so efficient, so elegant... and then you need to have this lock sliding around your handlebars?

Terrible.

But, after pitching for investment and not receiving funding and not really knowing what I was doing I quit. Through these projects I built Brand reps, but I also built prototyping reps with Squarespace.

And now I feel a similar feeling with Webflow.

Webflow is a website builder platform that makes you feel like a developer.

I've taken HTML classes twice and it's never stuck, so these "no-code" platforms have been massive for prototyping ideas and getting work out there.

And Webflow gives you control.

Yes, there is a learning curve, but from a design perspective, you can build almost anything you want.

It's drag and drop, but you can copy styles across multiple pages, meaning you can make one change to a footer, or a blog post style and it automatically updates all of your old pages, too.

And the secret sauce of Webflow is the CMS.

It's form-based, so as a blogger you have to think more "Excel" or "Typeform." That takes some getting used to.

And to tell you the truth, the reason I made the switch was twofold:

1. To have more control of the design. (This is worked very well)
2. To build systems and hacks that allow me to scale my time. (This, not so much).

The opportunity that the internet brings individual creators is leverage. You can make one video, and share it with millions of people thanks to Youtube. You can create and distribute to infinite.

The simple idea I have is to increase the time I spend creating (the value) and spend less time in the details (the process of uploading, editing, cutting for social, adding to the blog, scheduling email...)

It's all a lot.

And I believe technology will help us spend more time on the art and less on the organization of the art.

So I saw Webflow as the opportunity to realize that.

Using a central sheet with Airtable, I'd host all of my content in a clear calendar, which using Zapier and some other tools would publish across my networks flawlessly and on schedule.

But it turns out I'm too early.

So stand by until I figure that out. I've hacked about 5 ways of doing it and none are perfect.

So for now, it will still be me doing the organization, which I'm not happy about.

But the design aspect I am.

You can check out my site, here. I've rebuilt it twice, and am making a few others, so I'm really getting the chops.

David


P.S. Shout out to Ben Tossel who has been helping me get acquainted, in his group Makerpad.

P.P.S. Webflow's instructional videos are about the best I've seen, they are very well done.