Welcome to the first challenge of the CtrlZ Creative Community. These challenges are intended to connect creators in a way that is noncompetitive and allows us to share ideas and grow our businesses. 

PLEASE READ ME FIRST BEFORE COMMENTING:
Feel free to comment on this current post with the following types of posts.

1. Letting us know you're joining the fun.
2. Resources and suggestions for where someone can create a landing page (especially if it is FREE and EASY). Please refrain from using affiliate links here.
3. Questions about the challenge or landing pages in general.

Works in progress and feedback. If you'd like to share your work in progress and are seeking feedback, you will find a post for that here.

Finished landing pages. Share your landing page with us. Let us swoon! And let us get to know one another. You are welcome to share your landing page here.

CHALLENGE NUMBER ONE DETAILS:

Our current challenge is to create, or to perfect, our overall business landing pages. We all need a "link in bio" or spot where people can go to see an organized list of all the places to keep up with us online.

Even if you are only in a couple of places, it is nice to have a "hub" people can look to if they want to learn more about us or explore more of our work. The online landscape changes quickly, and from time to time, accounts get locked out or market places fold. I won't name names, but you may have heard a story or two about this online. 

Don't let it be you! Take the challenge. :)  

Do your customers have an easy way to find you? 

If you are in more than one place -- and chances are that if you've been doing this for any length of time, you are -- do your potential buyers know where to find you? Think about your shops, your socials, and anywhere else they may like to keep up with your business and your brand. 

There are many places you can create a landing page, but my suggestion is to start simple: do you already have a place you can easily create this resource?

Canva is one easy place where you can create a landing page. If you have an email service provider, they could have some landing page templates you could easily use as well. Linktree has been around for quite some time and is a favorite of many creators as well. 

Do you have another favorite resource? Comment below to help others find a great spot or even a better option than the one they are using currently. 

Already have a landing page with links? 

Complete a checkup. Here are a few things to consider: 

• Is it current? (Does it have all of the places you need? Are there any that need to go away?)
• Do the links actually work? (Actually click on them and make sure. You may have forgotten something. For example, I need to update my YouTube link because I changed the channel title, which impacts the link.)
• Is it easy to navigate? (If you have a ton of places online, is there a way to organize the links into categories like shops, socials, and blogs/vlogs?)
• Are the links in the best order? (Where is the number one place you want to ensure people know how to access?)
• Does it look good? (Is it modern and doesn't look too old or outdated? Could it look better?)
• Does it reflect your brand colors, typefaces, and overall "vibe"?

This post is for sharing your works in progress (only if you'd like to) and requesting feedback, which is also optional. 

You will find the Challenge 1 post here. Please ask general questions in the comments under that post. 

You will find the finished works and sharing post for people's landing pages here.

HOW TO SHARE YOUR LANDING PAGE

Due to the inability to add images to comments, we need to be a little crafty. And we need to keep the links safe. Therefore, for now, please only include VIEW ONLY links to Canva. If you have another well-known, safe place to upload and share your images for critique, please let me know in the comments below. I will add these to an "approved" list as we move forward. Canva is free and many people use it, so I thought I'd start there. 

Copy the url of your design or image in Canva, and then paste it into your comment. It will not hyperlink, but I (and others) can easily copy and paste it into our browser to view. It's a little tedious, but while we have a totally free community and upkeep here, it will have to do! 

Please let me know if you need help on how to create a view only link. 

PLEASE READ THE REST OF THIS POST FULLY BEFORE POSTING OR COMMENTING HERE: 

1. Sometimes it's nice to share things because we're excited at how things are going. Other times it's helpful to "make things public" to hold ourselves accountable for showing a little progress each day. And still other times, we want to share because we need a little postive boost. It is OK to share for these reasons. :)
2. Unless someone DIRECTLY ASKS for constructive criticism, please do not critique their work. Positive feedback is always OK and I'm sure appreciated! 
3. If you would like feedback, specifically request feedback. Make it known that you want constructive criticism. If there is a particular area you would like to target for suggestions, let us know. Likewise, if there is an area you are HAPPY with, maybe mention that too so we don't have you second-guessing yourself. 

Some suggestions for providing good, constructive criticism:
A. Always find at least one or more positive things to say.                       

B. Be gentle. Not everyone is an expert in everything to do with every aspect of design, writing, marketing, etc. In this business, who can be?! Our number one and two purposes for being here are to learn and to grow.

C. Limit feedback to a few suggestions. Identify what area the person is targeting for improvement (if they give one) and start there. Depending on the size or depth of a challenge, usually three  is a pretty good number of things so that the person does not feel overwhelmed.

D. Remember that not everyone is a native English speaker. Along with this, sometimes messages do not always come across as we intend when we share in writing. Be patient and do your best to be respectful and clear.

(Side note: I majored in Communications. While people disagree with an exact percent, the vast majority of a message is nonverbal. I strongly believe this is one large reason why communication online seems to falter and turn negative so much more often than in person. It's also a large part of why I use WAY too many emojis and "lol"s in my own online writing.) 

Finally, if someone is being rude or hateful, they will be removed.