The Island Creative

14/05/2026

I was really excited to not only hear the lovely Rosie speak at the yesterday BUT to finally have the chance to meet her in real life!!

Rosie and her Business Partner and Husband, Matt, who own (which is OF COURSE based here in Tassie, as all the coolest business are 😉) have been my coaches in the world of web accessibility and I just cannot sing their praises more highly. Their knowledge, honestly, is mind blowing but they have such a wonderful knack for delivering what can be really complex information in such a great way.

I used to get off Zoom calls with Matt, horrified at how inaccessible the internet can be, and feeling guilty for my lack of knowledge, but during that call he would have given me so much encouragement and real world tools that I could dive straight back into work and start making changes right away.

Whether we realise it or not, online accessibility benefits EVERYONE… ever scrolled a video that didn’t have captions? Captions are there to ensure that video is accessible!! So regardless of the type of content you are creating, making the BEST effort possible to ensure what you are producing is accessible, benefits a much broader audience than just the “one” you might think you are doing it for.

I’m really proud of how far I have come in ensuring that accessibility is an integral part of my work, not just an add on or afterthought, and while I am still constantly learning, making mistakes, going back and fixing, I’m a true advocate for a world (all of it, but particularly online) that allows everyone of all abilities to enjoy and really LIVE in it.

I highly recommend following Rosie on socials, or if you’re in the online space and need coaching, guidance or a consultant to help ensure what your business publishes online is accessible, reach out to Modality Co 💛

30/04/2026

🪣📋✅

25/03/2026

This weekend marked the 20th, and final, Devonport Motor Show for the Rotary Club of Devonport North, and the fourteenth show I have been a part of. I've been sitting with that for a few days, not quite sure how to put it into words.

When I was just starting out, the committee took a chance on me. They asked me to build their website, and from there, for better or worse 😅, I never really left. For fourteen years, a lot of those as a sponsor, I handled their online marketing, not because it made good business sense, but because I believed in what they were building and the people behind it.

The Motor Show is almost 12 months of planning, and what those volunteers pour into it every year is something most people never see. I got a front row seat, and it left a mark on me.

What I didn't expect was that a working relationship would become something I value far more. Real, genuine friendship.

Many of the committee members, most of them hugely successful in their chosen fields, mentored me without making me feel mentored, encouraged me without it feeling like charity, and made me feel like I genuinely belonged. I cannot overstate the impact of that.

A mention too for my past and present staff over the years, who learned far more about cars and motorbikes than they ever signed up for. Sorry, not sorry.

The full-circle part? Those years of connection eventually led me to become a member of the Rotary Club of Devonport North myself. I'm not sure I'd have found my way there without the Motor Show and the people in it.

I love this photo that took last weekend of Rod and I, my friend and the Chairman of this year's show. Rod and I spent so much time heads bent together working out the systems and ways to make our entry system more efficient, to think we almost nailed it this year and it's the last one 🤣

Fourteen years of coffee meetings, last-minute updates, pretending to laugh at all of your terrible car jokes that I did not understand 🤣 and friendship I genuinely treasure.

Thank you.

You made room for me in something really special and it's been the greatest privilege.

04/03/2026

SEO has a technical side, and yes, that matters. Things like site structure, page speed, mobile friendliness, and metadata all play a role. That is why I build websites with those foundations already in place.

But SEO is not just a checklist. It is not something you “do once” or “crack.” At its core, SEO is about making it easy for the right people to find you and understand you.

Every time you write a caption, publish a blog, update a service page, or talk clearly about what you do online, you are supporting your SEO. Google is essentially trying to match real people with relevant, useful information. Clarity helps everyone involved.

The goal is not to talk to everyone. It is to clearly communicate with your specific audience, using language they recognise. When you can do that consistently, you are already ahead of the game.

If you only do one thing, focus on being understandable before being optimised. The rest builds from there.

𝗚𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻?
Ask Erica. Our DMs are always open!

26/02/2026

I care deeply about design, but I’ve learned not to put it first.

I’ve watched too many businesses end up with websites they hesitate to touch (or even worse, that they are told they are not "allowed" to touch!) Not because they aren’t capable, but because the site was built around an idea of how things should look, rather than how they need to work.

When strategy comes second, the business has to contort itself to fit the website. Content feels hard to update. Decisions feel loaded. Small changes turn into big tasks.

That’s not a design problem. It’s a structure problem.

So I start with function. How people move through the site. What they need to understand. How the business owner will actually use it once the project is over.

Accessibility is part of this too. Not as an add-on, but as a baseline. A website should work for real people, in real situations, without asking them to work harder than necessary.

In my opinion, if it looks good but creates friction, it’s not finished!

24/02/2026

🩵

Today we introduce you to our amazing Vice President, Erica Jeffrey. Erica shares her insight into Give to Gain, the theme for International Women's Day 2026.

"To me, Give to Gain is the ripple effect created when women support each other.

I see it every day in the way women share knowledge, make introductions, offer encouragement, and celebrate one another’s wins. I’ve spent years supporting women in business, and what I’ve gained in return has been incredible. Genuine friendships, meaningful connections, and a network of women I now get to grow alongside.

I feel incredibly fortunate to be surrounded by women who uplift, encourage, and stand beside each other.

When we support one woman, the impact reaches far beyond her. Confidence grows. Opportunities expand. Connection deepens. Progress moves forward for women as a whole.

When women support each other, we strengthen not only individuals, but the collective."

23/02/2026

This project with Lea was a very fun one.

Lea came to me with beautiful, considered branding already in place and a clear sense of how she wanted to show up online. The goal of this VIP Day project was not to reinvent anything, but to translate that brand into a website that felt cohesive, confident, and easy to use.

The work was about ex*****on.

We took her existing structure and refined it, layering in the new branding, tightening the content, and making sure everything worked together. The result is a website that feels aligned with the way Lea connects and communicates elsewhere, without adding unnecessary complexity.

Sometimes the most satisfying projects are not about fixing problems. They are about bringing all the pieces together and letting them shine.

If you already have strong foundations but your website does not quite reflect them yet, this kind of project can make a big difference.

When was the last time your site had a bit of a refresh? Sometimes even just changing a colour can make it feel super fresh!

20/02/2026

I don’t just build websites.

I look at how a small business shows up online and figure out what’s actually getting in the way.

Sometimes that’s the site, sometimes it’s the messaging, and sometimes it’s marketing that’s been layered on without a clear plan. Not because the business is broken, but because things grow faster than the structure supporting them.

I work this way because I’ve seen what happens when people are sold surface fixes. A new website, a new brand, a new platform, with no change to how the business actually functions behind the scenes. It looks better for a while, then quietly becomes another thing that’s hard to use, update, or trust.

That’s not useful, and it’s not respectful of the business or the people running it.

So I focus on restructuring what matters and helping implement it properly. Not handing over a strategy and wishing you luck, but working alongside you so it actually becomes part of how you operate.

The clients I work best with are open, engaged, and ready to make changes. They trust me to tell them what needs attention, even when it’s not the most obvious or glamorous answer.

That’s the work I care about, and after 15 years in biz, it's still the part of my job that I really love.

17/02/2026

If you are primarily serving an Australian audience, the rules around cookie polices are more relaxed than in places like the UK or EU. There is no blanket requirement to have a separate cookie policy, but you do need to be transparent about what data your website collects and how it is used.

If your website uses analytics, tracking pixels, booking tools, or email marketing software, that information should be clearly explained in your privacy policy. A cookie banner is often a good idea, not because you have to, but because clarity builds trust.

If you serve or market to people in the UK or EU, that is where things change. Stricter consent rules apply, and cookie notices become much more important.

This is why I include a really solid tool for privacy policies, terms of service, and cookie notices in all of my website plans. It takes the guesswork out and makes sure the foundations are covered.

That said, if you have specific legal questions or a complex setup, always check with a lawyer. I help with the web & marketing side. They help with the law side. It is a good partnership.

Have a question you want answered next? Send it through. If you are thinking it, someone else probably is too.

13/02/2026

A lot of business owners are doing things online because they feel like they have to.

Posting. Updating. Tweaking. Keeping the website live. Keeping marketing moving. None of it is wrong, but it’s often disconnected from how the business actually runs.

This is where my work starts.

Whether we’re working on Foundations or Growth, we step back and look at the business as a whole. Not just marketing, not just the website, but how everything fits together. What’s already working well. What’s carrying its weight. What’s creating unnecessary effort.

From there, we adjust the structure so the online side of the business becomes an active participant, not just a set of tasks to maintain.

That might mean rebuilding the foundation so the website supports decision-making, enquiries, and growth properly. It might mean ongoing strategic support, where we refine systems, messaging, and direction over time so the business can keep evolving without everything falling back on you.

The goal is simple.

To give you the confidence to work in your business, knowing the systems and strategies you’ve put in place are working hard on the parts they’re designed to handle.

That’s the difference between showing up online because you have to, and building an online presence that actually supports the way you want to work.