DIY Digital

For creatives, solopreneurs, and small business

Assisted Self-Service and Digital Life Coaching

Sliding Scale - First Hour Consult Free

What does it mean to be a digital creative?

"I want to be a musician, not a tech guru, but I want to be independent for basic website changes and own my own digital identity, content, and presence on the web. I want to get my music out there to sell, and take payments online, so I can monetize my legacy recordings. I want people to be able to find me and my work on the internet, and I want it to reflect both what I have done and what I do now. I want to leave a legacy for my kids and my community. I've invested a lot in my music over the years, and COVID-19 has given me time to stop and reflect. Now is a great time to invest in myself and take the next steps toward managing my own musical career online." --DIY Digital coaching client

Free, direct-to-consumer, no-code digital business tools are everywhere. They're simple, easy to use, and incredibly powerful. You might be using a slew of them, or you might still be in Excel and email. But what will make your life easier? And how do you get into this new world of video and livestreaming?

It's never been easier for individuals and business users to manage data: and data is your personal and business value. Your digital data and tools will grow organically as your business grows. Starting small, managing your own content, and learning new processes hands-on is the key to making digital business work in your real-world life.

Are you a creative, solopreneur, or small business?
Are you new to do-it-yourself computing, but tired of being dependent on others?
Are you outgrowing your gear, but don't know what to choose next?
Have you started using cool new tools and now want to connect them?
Wish you could do it yourself but don't know where to start?
Do you need help NOW, so you have time to think about the right thing later?

DIY Digital can help. Lynn Noel does all her own tech and knows when free is good enough: and when it's not. Lynn can be your mentor, coach, and personal trainer to get your data in shape and get you and your tools fit for purpose: to showcase your work on the web, make your life more efficient, grow your business at digital speed and scale, and help you leave a digital legacy that shares your creative work online.

Get curious, get things done, and get out there living your best online life as a digital creative with DIY Digital coaching.

GET CURIOUS

Learn and practice creative research and problem-solving approaches for self-learning

Q: How long will it* take? I need ALL of this NOW!

A: An hour. Two if you watch, four if you help, eight if you do it yourself (DIY). You will be happiest with your results if you DIY!

* It usually takes 1-2 hours to agree on any given definition of "it." That definition will expand before the first "it" is Declared Done.

Free Assessment & DIY Strategy Consult

Ancient website? No online sales or payments? Drowning in data? Lost in your inbox? Can't find anything? Googled "how to do X" already, realized you'll never learn it all?

Reach out for a free consult on what you need right now to organize your digital life, where you can delegate for speed, and what's practical to learn as DIY to transform and innovate.

Personal Training Roadmap

Based on what we determine you need first, we might talk about one or more of the following DIY Digital projects.

Like a personal trainer, DIY Digital does not do the exercise for you. DIY Digital is designed for clients ready to put in some sweat equity and learn new skills to become more digitally independent. For clients needing hands-on implementation and technical support, Lynn can refer you to a network of freelance designers and developers.

GET THINGS DONE

FREE with every DIY Digital Coaching Engagement

DIY Digital Task Management for Mobile

Scrambling through lists and spreadsheets?
Dashing around with slips of paper and scribbles and notes on your phone?
Wish you could just tell Alexa or Siri to organize your life?
Love your paper planner and want to keep it as a part of your digital workflow?

Let’s talk about free mobile and cloud apps and practices like bullet journaling to get you organized on the go and keep you focused on Getting Things Done. Each DIY Digital coaching Jumpstart comes with a task list you can follow and edit at your own pace.

OUTCOME: You will have a digital task management system and process that fits your lifestyle and grows with you into project and portfolio management of multiple projects.

DIY Project Management

Shaving a yak by starting one thing just to find out you have to do six other things in the right order first?
Overwhelmed with all those to-do lists you created and don't know what to do first?

Let’s talk about how to structure and organize tasks in sequence to plan your work and then work your plan. Each DIY Digital coaching engagement is organized as a portfolio of projects with collaborative task tracking.

OUTCOME: You will have a digital project and portfolio management system and process that fits your lifestyle and grows with you to handle complex projects and to set and meet long-term goals.

GOVERN YOUR DIGITAL IDENTITY

Own and Manage Your Online IDs, Passwords, and Web Presence

DIY Digital Identity Management Jumpstart

You've embarked on one or more of these other DIY projects, but logins and passwords are slowing you down.

Juggling multiple email addresses?
Using the same password for everything?
Keep losing your passwords and can't write them down fast enough?
Wish you could do it yourself but don't know where to start?

OUTCOME: You will own a domain and email address branded with your personal or business domain to use with an automated password manager* to secure and track your online identity, that syncs to your phone and all your computers while keeping your personal and household IDs and passwords distinct and up to date. A must-have for family caregivers and potential estate executors.

*Dashlane.com or the platform of your choice

DIY Digital Web Hosting Jumpstart

You've embarked on one or more of these other DIY projects, but web hosting and domain management are slowing you down.

Wish you had a branded address like name@yourname.com?
Wonder what a web domain is and why you might need one?
Know your website points to www.yourname.com but don't know or remember how to change it to point to a new site?

OUTCOME: You will own and know how to manage a domain and email address with a web hosting service*, branded with your personal or business domain, to use with your identity management and other DIY Digital projects.

*Namecheap or the platform of your choice

GET OUT THERE LIVE

Join the Livestreaming Movement and Do Your Thing Live Online

Livestreaming Jumpstart for Musicians and Storytellers

Everyone's going live on Facebook and the web during quarantine.

Believe there MUST be a way to make music together online?
Wonder how to do your first livestream?
Don't know what a webcam is?
Not sure if you need an external microphone?
Have a good smartphone but an old laptop?
Wish you could look and sound better on camera?
Want to sound like music and not like a phone call?
Wish you could do it yourself but don't know where to start?

Let’s talk about how to select the right free/low-cost home A/V gear for your needs and set up a simple home studio rig for basic livestreaming.

OUTCOME: You will play a feature set* Live From the Mermaid's Tavern OR from your own Facebook Live page that you can share, download, and reuse as a livestreaming demo.

*May require a DIY Digital Audio/Video Jumpstart

Online Payment Jumpstart for Self-Employed and Side Hustlers

You're Zooming away with your USB mic and webcam, and people are offering you money!

Need a virtual tip jar that's the right choice for you and your business? Maybe an online store?
Are your CDBaby links dead since they closed the online store last March?
Wondering about how crowdfunding might work for you?
Debating whether to move to Bandcamp, Patreon, or both?
Don't know what to do for audience members that don't do PayPal?
Not sure about Apple Pay, Venmo, Square, Stripe, or mobile payments in general?
Wish you could do it yourself but don't know where to start?

Let’s talk about how to help you advertise and accept online payment for goods, services, and donations.

OUTCOME: You will have a speakable one-click link that will take visitors to a page where they can give you one-time payments by PayPal and credit card and sign up for monthly patron memberships at multiple levels.

*Bandcamp, Patreon, PayPal, Apple Pay, Venmo, Square, Stripe, platforms of your choice as selected

GET CREATIVE

Set Up Your Digital Workplace for Audio/Video and Content Management

DIY Digital Musician Jumpstart

Tired of asking for gear recommendations on social media and getting a million different responses?
Need a live YouTube video for your website?
Curious how to livestream from Zoom to Facebook?
Want to try your hand at video editing?
Want to up your game and build a home studio?
Lack self-confidence about handling IT tech?
Wish you could do it yourself but don't know where to start?

Let’s talk about how to level up your home studio for production editing and recording and combine your livestreams with prerecorded clips, jamming apps, and multicamera rigs.

OUTCOME: You will have a home studio space, gear, and apps for livestreaming and A/V production, and the skills to produce your own audio tracks and video clips for your online fans.

DIY Digital Writer and Storyteller Jumpstart

Gearing up for NaNoWriMo?
Want to organize your research?
Need the digital equivalent of looseleaf binders?
Overwhelmed with web bookmarks and manual bibliographies?
Wish you could present your work with interactive maps, timelines, mindmaps, charts, images, and data graphics?
Wish you could do it yourself but don't know where to start?

Let’s talk about how to make your research and writing visual and interactive online.

OUTCOME: You will have a well-organized digital workplace with searchable spaces for web clippings, notes, drafts, in-progress writing and graphics, and a visual online portfolio of your digital storytelling.

GROW YOUR AUDIENCE

Build a community that cares about you, your live shows, and your merch

DIY Social Media Management

Accounts scattered all over the web?
Does your social media presence represent you well?
Wonder whether you should focus on a website, a Facebook page, a group, a Twitter feed, a YouTube channel, an Instagram account, or all these?
Want to monitor and measure your following on social media, and add analytics to your web presence?
Wish you could do it yourself but don't know where to start?

Let’s talk about how to organize your social media and use it effectively to define your brand and grow your audience.

OUTCOME: You will effectively manage and communicate your current offerings of goods and services with a central social media channel and a content strategy that shows people what you have to offer.

DIY Digital Customer Mgmt (CRM)

Want to get your mailing list out of Excel?
Address books a mess and don't know how to create a master without duplicates?
Used to send a newslettter and want to kickstart a digital one to launch your new website and blog?
Don't know the difference between a lead and a customer, and how your audience can be both?
Need a web marketing and customer relationship management (CRM) system?
Wish you could do it yourself but don't know where to start?

Let’s talk about how to select the right free/low-cost cloud platform for your needs and set up a mailing list, e-newsletter, and/or CRM with your data.

OUTCOME: You will effectively manage and communicate with your audience with a cross-platform mailing list and contact management platform that syncs to your phone and all your computers while keeping your personal and professional contacts distinct and up to date, and showcasing your offerings to the right people at the right time.

GET ORGANIZED

Stop Looking for Needles in Haystacks and Spin Your Straw into Gold

DIY Photo and Video Management

Photos and videos scattered all over the web?
Wonder whether you should use Facebook, iCloud, Google Photos, or something else?
Want to organize, find, and use your photos to make websites, slideshows, and books?

Let’s talk about how to choose and use free tools for digitally cataloguing and digitizing photos and movies, and organizing your stuff so you can find and use it in ways that make sense to you.

OUTCOME: You will have a digital photo management system where all your photos are automatically captured, stored locally and backed up to the cloud, intelligently deduplicated, and easy to find with search and tags.

DIY Music Management

Need to upgrade your music management from iTunes or Windows freeware?
Wish you could play all your music on Alexa?
Wonder how (or if) you're ever going to listen to all those CDs and LPs that got stacked in boxes the last time you moved? Do you even know what's in the boxes?

Let’s talk about how to choose and use free tools for digitally cataloguing and digitizing music, and organizing your stuff so you can find it in ways that make sense to you.

OUTCOME: You will have a digital music management system where all your music is automatically captured, stored locally and backed up to the cloud, intelligently deduplicated, and easy to find with search and tags.

DIY Digital Content Management

Drowning in paper? Buried in email attachments?
Can't find anything on your hard drive?
No idea how to sync (or NOT sync) Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, and OneDrive?
Got duplicates everywhere on all your computers and cloud services?
Want to organize, digitize, and archive your personal and financial records?
Want to do it yourself but don't know where to start?

Let’s talk about how to select the right free/low-cost cloud platform for your needs and set up a digital content management system (CMS) for your documents and records.

DIY Digital Home Inventory

Wish you knew what was in all those boxes in the attic?
Downsizing, moving, or clearing out a family home?
Need to know what's got resale value and which far-flung relative wants which treasures?
Wish you could dig out from under all your paper without going completely paperless?

Let’s talk about how to help you and your family plan, sort, inventory, claim, and organize furniture, housewares, books, media, and family keepsakes.

Are you a digital executor? Should you be one? Who is yours? We can talk about that too!

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse