The Aesthetic Advantage

Welcome back to Proof It's Possible! This week, Dayle and Jamie are exploring how pretty things can improve your business and other ways to boost your productivity. From your personal office to your online presence, your aesthetic is impactful. They discuss how aesthetically pleasing spaces, whether it's your website, socials, business office, or branding, bring in clients. Dayle and Jamie also talk about the importance of creating and sticking to a morning routine and dressing to impress. Tune in to discover:

• The impact of decorating and cleaning your personal office space
• The value of adding professional photos to your social media and website 
• Why a user-friendly, aesthetically pleasing website increases your credibility to potential and current clients
• The importance of morning routines and the clothes you wear to your productivity

What pretty things have you added to your workspace to bring you joy? Share your thoughts with us — we’d love to hear! DM us on Instagram @dayle_sheehan_designs & @jamiedfrancis! See you next time!

This episode is sponsored by our Ultimate Girls Trip! Be sure to go to www.proofitspossible.com for more info.

For More Information:
• Proof It's Possible Website
• The Ultimate Girls Trip Instagram

Dayle:
• Instagram
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Website
• Interior Design

Jamie:
• Instagram
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Website 

Transcript

Dayle Sheehan (00:01.582)
Hi guys, welcome back. Thank you so much for joining us again. Today we are talking about how pretty things can increase our income. Jay, what are your thoughts on this?

Jamie (00:14.919)
Well, I think that the way things look form our decision making process, whether we even acknowledge that or not. At the mall, you pick the stores that have a beautiful exterior or they have something in the window that sucks you in. So I think your branding is so much more important than a lot of people realize. And I think it comes down to more than just the way

Dayle Sheehan (00:31.682)
or a display case, yes.

Dayle Sheehan (00:40.526)
I agree.

Jamie (00:44.123)
physical store of brick and mortar looks, it comes down to the way your website looks, it comes down to the way your website functions, it comes down to the way you carry yourself when you enter a room, it comes down to like your social media posts. You know, if you have a personal social media account where you are, you know, quite radical in your decisions and quite outspoken in your decisions, that's going to play a role in who's attracted to you.

Dayle Sheehan (00:50.914)
Yes.

Jamie (01:12.701)
who's not attracted to you, even if it's not your business website. know, like all of this plays a part in how people want to spend their money and how they want to give their money to a certain business.

Dayle Sheehan (01:23.882)
And being like, having a firm opinion, actually don't think means that you will lose customers or anything. It will just attract different people. So you have to know that what you put out into the world is who you get back kind of thing.

Jamie (01:31.154)
No.

Jamie (01:34.813)
Totally. Yeah.

Jamie (01:40.731)
And you also have to be okay knowing that it's going to do the complete opposite for some people. Some people that have a different view are going to be like, I would never spend my money there because of the things that you've said. And you just have to accept that. know, like you have to be okay with that if that's how you're going to post or, you know, vocalize your strong opinions. But today specifically, we're talking about pretty things. So one thing I think is very, very important is,

Dayle Sheehan (01:47.956)
Exactly.

Dayle Sheehan (01:53.066)
Exactly. Yes.

Jamie (02:12.051)
like your office. And I'm not even just saying this because I think it's important to the customer. I actually think it's more important for the business owner. Having like a pretty space that you're proud of, even if no one walks through it. So like my office that you see here is my, in my home. And very rarely would anyone come to my office to do work in my office. But

Dayle Sheehan (02:19.96)
Totally.

Jamie (02:38.853)
I like it to be nice. Like before I did these shelves and everything, it was just a plain room with nothing in it. An office desk and an office chair. And it just felt very not me. Like I like flowers and I like color and I like, you know, all these things that like bring me happiness. I found it very hard to enter my office before, cause I was like, it's the worst. It's just like, you know, these plain walls, this plain desk.

Dayle Sheehan (02:56.174)
Mm-hmm.

Jamie (03:07.827)
and there's nothing like enticing me to come physically sit at my desk. So I think it's really important for a business owner. That said, if you have an office that is public facing and there's people that are gonna enter it, well, you just double down. That office better be nice because I think a lot of people judge you on your office.

Dayle Sheehan (03:25.28)
for sure. And like, also think, let's say you just have a little corner in some spot in your house. All it takes is like a cute little picture above it and a vase or a flower or something that you love on the desk that makes you feel like it's yours. You know, like the other thing that I think about your desk, clean it up, clean it up. Do that. Make sure every day there's just a little or every few days there's a little bit of a like wrap up of like, do I need these receipts still sitting out? Do I need the stack of printed paperwork?

Jamie (03:36.819)
Mm-hmm.

Dayle Sheehan (03:55.374)
here forever or could it go in a file somewhere or don't just let the mess pile up because I don't look forward to going to a ugly, messy space in my house at all. I avoid that room. I feel like my closet's getting out of control. like, oh God, I have to go put clothes away. I don't have any free hangers. It's messy in there. There's stuff folded and just sat on the counter. I don't even wanna be in there.

Jamie (03:58.258)
Mm-hmm.

Jamie (04:10.149)
Ever. Yeah. Yeah.

Jamie (04:19.922)
Yeah.

Jamie (04:24.668)
Yeah.

Dayle Sheehan (04:24.814)
Making sure that that those kinds of things are like just sort of Occasionally done. I think is super important back till you're like brand concept and all of those types of things. I think that there's like a few areas that spending some money on a new photo shoot every now and then for your socials for your website or your Pay the money find something you can afford get

Jamie (04:46.491)
yes my god yes

Dayle Sheehan (04:53.216)
Every few months, just get some updated pictures that you're proud of. Because if you're proud of them, you will make social media posts out of them. You will post them to your website. You will think, I'm going to update my website, which is another area that, you know, don't let the website designer talk you into getting a nicer website. But your website is a huge place where people come to judge if you are legitimate, if you are totally unprofessional. Like, because if you have a website, they

Jamie (04:56.061)
Mm-hmm.

Jamie (05:14.212)
Bye.

Dayle Sheehan (05:22.402)
doesn't actually, it looks terrible. Your branding's all over the place. You don't stick to one color. Every page has different format. It's just craziness or you don't have a website at all. Yeah.

Jamie (05:28.691)
for you? Well, you don't have a website at all. mean, the biggest, the biggest checkpoint for me if whether I'm being scammed or not, like an Instagram ad that say if I can't find a real website with your business on it, I'm like, this is a scammer. So that's the lessons I take out into the world. Like if you're trying to sell me window washing and you don't have a website, guess what? I don't trust that you're not just going to take my deposit and run.

Dayle Sheehan (05:39.598)
absolutely.

Dayle Sheehan (05:44.483)
Yes.

Absolutely.

Dayle Sheehan (05:53.41)
Yeah, exactly.

Dayle Sheehan (05:58.766)
Exactly. And if you get there and it's really, really say they do have one, but it's so bare bones and it's hard to understand what you're going to get and how much it costs and how to get ahold of them. That also feels like the experience you're going to get in real life. You're going to wonder when are they coming? How much do I have to pay? Is this the entire amount? How do I pay you? You know, what do I get an appointment time? Do I have to be home for it? You've got all these questions and nothing's answering. Nowhere is there an answer for it. That

Jamie (05:59.004)
You know? So...

Dayle Sheehan (06:29.386)
stops people from choosing you because there's someone else that's answered all those questions and there's a clicking button that says book now and then you get to pick your time slot that you know that you'll be home and they've already told you that you need to be home for this service and and and so just making sure that you present yourself in a beautiful way in the areas that you are public facing your website your socials your ads whatever you're putting it out putting out there your logo

Jamie (06:31.411)
you

Dayle Sheehan (06:57.454)
Pay the money to make sure that you have a brand that looks good.

Jamie (07:04.563)
Okay, but I'll take it one step further as far as the website because there has been a couple of times where I'm like, that's a pretty enough website. Yeah, I like this. I'm going to buy this. And then I go to checkout and the whole experience is so not, yeah, clunky, not user friendly. Like if it is not seamless and I have to think about how to get you the money and why this isn't working, guess what?

Dayle Sheehan (07:19.79)
Plunky.

Dayle Sheehan (07:32.266)
And there's five more steps off the website just to like make yeah, well and I always say this I always use Amazon as the example and because Amazon is our is our sort of frame of reference for what buying online looks like because it's just the world's platform in a lot of ways for a lot of basic things That becomes our normal and so I don't know about anybody else But have you ever bought something on Amazon? You're like, oh, I just thought I put it in my cart, but I guess I

Jamie (07:34.599)
You've lost me. You've lost me.

Dayle Sheehan (08:01.334)
I bought it. Like it was literally just one extra click after it was in the cart and it was done. My, my like credit card was already filled.

Jamie (08:08.869)
It's available on Amazon. You don't even have to put it in the cart. There's a button under the hood. If you search it like bubble bath and you're on the search page, there's a button that says buy now and it's already charged your credit card.

Dayle Sheehan (08:12.974)
Yes, exactly. The buy now. Exactly. Yes. And so I always say that to my clients. like, if there's five more steps after I put it in my cart, and then I have to say what region I'm in, and then I have to mail in my address to you, and then I have to pay you an e-transfer to your personal email address, I'm probably not buying your eye cream because

Jamie (08:33.779)
prefer my lily.

Yep.

Dayle Sheehan (08:42.688)
I just thought, you know what, this is a hair trigger decision here. You lost me in the steps and

Jamie (08:46.567)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Especially things that are impulse buys. If you give them so too much time to think about it, guess what? You've already lost them.

Dayle Sheehan (08:51.414)
Exactly.

Dayle Sheehan (08:55.116)
Yes, exactly. There's a reason Amazon uses speed because they want you to have that thing purchased before you've had time to think about if you really need it.

Jamie (08:59.783)
Mm-hmm.

Jamie (09:04.947)
Okay, another thing, this isn't necessarily like super pretty, but I think that routine makes you more money. Routine increases your revenue. And as much as I love to be a wild child and be like, no, I don't have a boss and I don't have to do anything I don't want to do. I do like a certain routine. And for me, my mornings are like my sacred time when nobody else is awake.

Dayle Sheehan (09:13.87)
Yeah.

Jamie (09:32.092)
So I like to get a coffee, I like to come to my computer, I like to get my work done. The hardest tasks I always start with first, you know, whether your morning routine is like, well, I jump out of bed and I go straight to my yoga mat or I go straight to my swimming class or I drink lemon water before my feet hit the ground, whatever your routine is.

Dayle Sheehan (09:52.386)
Yeah, all right, get immediately in the shower. Yeah.

Jamie (09:55.592)
Like, or on Fridays are your CEO days and you do all of your expenses, whatever, whatever the routine is. It literally doesn't matter, but human beings crave some sense of like similarity or familiarity in their day or their week or their month. And for me, it's mornings. That's what matters to me. The rest of my day can be really like wishy washy. You do wherever the flow takes you. But in the mornings, I'm like, don't mess with my morning.

And I'm telling you, my productivity is so much better on the days that I follow my routine versus the days where my routine is interrupted. you know, I'm maybe at a hotel on a Friday and I don't actually get my like sitting at my desk, drinking my coffee, doing my thing in the morning. I am like a disaster the rest of the day. So I believe that routine in particular gives you more money.

Dayle Sheehan (10:31.928)
My whole day's a mess. Yep.

Dayle Sheehan (10:41.976)
same.

Dayle Sheehan (10:47.054)
for sure. And I'm not part of the 5 a.m. club or anything like that where I'm like, have to get up in the middle of the night and you have to do this one routine and it's the only way to do it. But something that when I was not feeling great, like a year and a bit ago, I was not able, like every day I was like, I'm so tired. And because it was because I had health problems I didn't really know I was having. So every day I would like push the limit on how late I slept. And it wasn't like,

lately, but it was like, you know, eight, it was 815 and there was 830. And then and like that was probably as late as it got. But like now that I feel amazing, I'm back to getting up at like seven, 630 and that extra morning hours of work and time and quiet before the world starts coming in and emailing and the phone starts ringing.

That is my like productivity time. And you've always said this because you're like a really you are in a 5 a.m. club person. But I. I need that quiet few hours that are not working day hours for most people. They're still getting to work at that point that are my actual working hours where I'm already at my desk. I'm already getting something done. And like I know that in those two hours, whatever I get,

Jamie (11:48.659)
Mm-hmm.

Dayle Sheehan (12:11.682)
before the world starts and the rest of the day actually begins, the real work day begins, that's always my most productive two hours. And like it is, it is my goal, the gold of my day, like, cause the rest of the day can be a ping pong ball of the phone ringing and a request and a thing and a business and a, you know, what's for supper and, and yeah, exactly. And it happens in a flash.

Jamie (12:19.603)
Of course. Of course.

Jamie (12:34.375)
Yeah, it's so easy to get so sidetracked. I mean, it happens in a flash.

Dayle Sheehan (12:40.652)
I actually think like not only just having the same routine, but also getting up at a certain hour that maybe isn't like, I guess what I'm saying, and this is a judgy statement, but if you sleep until 10 a.m., you aren't probably gonna make as much money as if you get up at seven. you've eaten the hours of the day up, so.

Jamie (13:00.915)
For sure. For sure.

Jamie (13:06.195)
Totally. Another thing that I think, and this is totally like vanity, this is pretty, is the way that you dress. And I know we talk about this all the time, like dress so you feel your best, but there are a lot of days. I work from home, so I could, in theory, stay in my pajamas the entire day because Ray picks up the kids.

Dayle Sheehan (13:17.421)
all the time.

Jamie (13:31.291)
and I could make dinner in my pajamas and then I could go to bed that night in my pajamas. But I believe that you, your brain is wired to make more money when you get ready for the day. When you put on makeup, put on an outfit, dress like you have somewhere to be, even if you have nowhere to be like

Dayle Sheehan (13:54.37)
Well, I'll give you my example of this. So on the days that I'm like, okay, today's a hard grinding workday. I'm just getting people's designs done. I'm doing a floor plan. I'm doing websites. I'm doing, doing, The occasional time I'm like, I'm not gonna get all dolled up in the earrings and the whole thing. And then something will come in, like someone will say, hey, I'd love to get my website transferred. so...

I don't transfer somebody's website until they pay me. So once they pay me their final deposit, that's my like favorite moment, right? I get my final payment and I secure the funds, so that's fine. If I'm not ready for the day, exactly, and I get to cross something off my list, and I love that too. So I'm like, they'll be like, can we quickly do the transfer and the Zoom call this afternoon? And I'm like, God, I didn't get ready today. And now I can't take the like 20 minute call.

Jamie (14:31.975)
and you get something off your plate.

Jamie (14:36.711)
Mm-hmm.

Dayle Sheehan (14:50.136)
to walk them through the things that I promised that I walk them through and I have to schedule it for another day because I didn't get up and get ready properly. And I hate that. Like I'm like, now I'm pushing this to tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. Cause like I might want to do it the first thing the next day, but they're not free again until Friday and it's only Monday. So now I've pushed the whole thing five more days, you know, and then Friday might come and they're like, it's Friday on an afternoon.

Jamie (15:11.728)
Exactly.

Dayle Sheehan (15:18.542)
We ended up going to the ski hill or we're doing this or my kids, blah, blah, blah, whatever. And so my kids are off and I didn't realize. So I'm like, okay, well now it's into another week and I'm still not paid. I'm still not transferred. I'm still not giving them their training. You know, I haven't done any of things that I'm like, if I had just got ready that day, I could have accepted the invite, you know?

Jamie (15:40.079)
I also feel like there's like something that shifts in your mind when you're just, there's something that happens that says like, I'm no longer a small business owner. am like, there's a power shift that you all of a sudden need your something. Yeah.

Dayle Sheehan (15:44.419)
for sure.

Dayle Sheehan (15:49.441)
I'm ready.

Mm-hmm.

Dayle Sheehan (15:56.426)
Yeah, yeah, you're like, I'm I'm a stylish queen that is sitting at this beautiful desk doing amazing work that people need and want. That's what yeah.

Jamie (16:05.517)
Absolutely. Even if you have your like sweat suit on, just getting dressed, I believe shifts something in your brain that makes you more attractive for more revenue. Like that's just

Dayle Sheehan (16:09.112)
course.

Dayle Sheehan (16:18.04)
Well that and let's talk sweatsuits. So sweatsuits are totally in. Get a sweatsuit you love. Like you don't have to wear your old sweats from college that have 300 holes, micro holes in them and your dirty t-shirt, cause that's what you always wore together. It's also from college. know, like get the cute sweatsuit that you're like, I look adorable for like a chill day of work, but I'm still pumped about this outfit.

Jamie (16:25.308)
Yeah.

Jamie (16:28.807)
Yeah.

Dayle Sheehan (16:44.386)
You could go pick your kids up. You could go grab groceries in it. You wouldn't feel bad about it because like wearing your shittiest clothes also makes you feel shitty. Even if they're clothes and not pajamas, you know, so.

Jamie (16:47.987)
Absolutely.

Jamie (16:54.419)
Yeah, oh for sure. Yeah, yeah, for sure. For sure. Okay, so that's all I have. Do you agree? That's all I have.

Dayle Sheehan (17:03.224)
That's all I have, honestly, but pretty pretty things matter all around you and they might be taking a toll on you that is decreasing your income. And I highly recommend you just do the thing and you know, whether it's if it's the photo shoot, you know, you need because you haven't had one in two years or to, you know, start making more fresh social media posts and make you excited about that again. Yeah, just do the thing.

Jamie (17:22.397)
Hmm, so true.

Jamie (17:27.547)
true.

Do the thing. Okay, bye guys, until next time.

Dayle Sheehan (17:33.39)
Have a great week.