Tiny Talks #1: Awesome Homepages & The First Five Minutes
Welcome to Tiny Talks!
Tiny Talks are like a power snack for your brain—bite-sized brilliance, totally free, and just 45 minutes long. Each month features two micro-talks (less than 15 minutes each) packed with encouragement, practical tools, and zero fluff. It's for small business owners, creatives, and mission-driven non-profit folks who want real talk, not another sales pitch.
This round, I was thrilled to be joined by the amazing Shannyn Schroeder of EF Bomb Coach. Shannyn helps neurodivergent women who feel scattered, stuck, or burned out understand how their executive function actually works—so they can build systems that feel doable, not soul-crushing. Her approach blends practical tools with radical self-acceptance, reminding us: you're not lazy, stupid, or broken. Your brain just works differently (and that’s not a bad thing).
I also shared a short talk on one of my favorite topics:
🔥 Awesome Homepages
If your homepage feels more “meh” than magic, I’ll walk you through the homepage must-haves that get your site working for you. Whether you're DIYing your site or refining with a designer, you’ll walk away with clear, doable tips to help your homepage actually do its job!
🎥 Watch the full Tiny Talks session here:
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📘 In a reading mood? Read on for the full transcript…
Welcome
Awesome. I’m super excited to have everybody here! This is the very first one—the first Tiny Talk! Hopefully, barring any tech complications, it’ll go great. I’m really excited to have Shannyn Schroeder here today.
Here’s how it works: I’ll give a super short Tiny Talk. The idea is that a Tiny Talk is 10 to 15 minutes—a bite-sized piece of information. Because I know for a lot of us small business owners, taking time to learn can take a lot of brain power.
When I was thinking about launching these Tiny Talks, I realized how many things I’ve personally avoided learning more about because I didn’t feel like I had the time or bandwidth to learn everything about a topic. But that comes from perfectionism, right?
It’s okay to just learn a little about something. That’s when you can decide: “Oh, I want to dive deeper into that,” or “You know what? That’s not actually going to help me that much.” That makes things feel more accessible and less overwhelming.
I hope this gives you a little nugget you can use to make those kinds of decisions in your business.
I’m also really excited about how Tiny Talks are structured—every month we pair one technical skill (a hard skill you might need as a small business owner) with one soft skill or life skill.
Today, I’m covering the technical skill, which is all about what makes a homepage great. Because this comes up all the time—what actually needs to be on a homepage? Sometimes people have way too much. Sometimes they don’t have enough. So we’re diving into that.
The life skill portion each month is going to feature someone who has expertise around working with neurodivergent brains—like ADHD, autism, anxiety—or just folks who “think differently”.
Alright, let’s get into it. I’m turning on my visual timer. If anyone else uses visual timers, you know how great they are. I love mine so much!
So, my name is Lark Frazier. My pronouns are she and they. I live in Asheville, North Carolina. I’m a web designer and tech educator who specifically works with tiny businesses and nonprofits who need help figuring out how to be a business online in 2025. There’s a lot to it, and I love sharing what I’ve learned.
Also, fun fact: I love Lord of the Rings. That’s your fun fact for today.
Get Your Guide!
Lark: Awesome Homepages!
My “Ultimate Guide to Homepage Magic” is especially geared toward service providers. It does apply to e-commerce too, but things tend to look a little different in that world, so I tailored this more toward folks like dog groomers (hi Emily!), coaches, therapists, mental health professionals, web designers—anyone whose business is really story-driven.
We’re going to start with the checklist, and then I’ll walk you through it more closely.
Also, I just really love things with googly eyes. I don’t know why—they’ve crept into my branding everywhere, and I’m just going with it. I even found one in my garden the other day. No idea where it came from.
So, here’s the checklist. I’ll be sending out this graphic afterward, by the way, so no need to scramble to write it all down.
This checklist is for you to go through your own homepage—or if you’re looking at someone else’s and want to analyze it with this lens.
🔥 What Makes an Awesome Homepage
☰ Navigation Menu & Header
The first thing: excellent navigation. This includes your menu—Home, Services, About, Contact, that kind of thing. The most important thing here is that it needs to be clear.
Clear is better than clever. Clever can confuse people. If someone doesn’t understand what a link is, they won’t click it—even if it’s meant for them.
Keep it simple. Keep it obvious. And don’t cram 25 things into a dropdown menu. That’s the main thing to remember here.
🦸The Hero Section
This is the top of your homepage—your first impression. You want a solid headline, a strong tagline, and a call to action.
And that call to action is something people often forget. Another thing I see a lot: vague or abstract language in the headline. For example, I’ve seen coaches use something like, “I empower women.” Which, sure, maybe that’s true—but it doesn’t help you on Google, and it doesn’t help strangers immediately understand what you do.
A better headline would be, “I empower women with ADHD to thrive in their businesses.” Way more specific. Way more helpful.
The key is clarity and relatability, followed by a strong call to action—usually to your main offer or service.
🤝 Building a Relationship
Think of your homepage as a relationship-building tool. When someone lands on your website, assume they’re a total stranger—even if they came to you by word of mouth.
So don’t hit them with your whole life story right away. Offer them a handshake.
From there, your site should walk them through these stages:
What you do
What makes you different
Who you are (in a super short intro—not your whole resume!)
How you do it (quick overview of your services or products)
These can be separate sections, or they can flow together in one. Keep it light. Keep it brief.
And consider using visuals here. It doesn’t all have to be paragraphs of text. You can use photos of you, your space, your team, your products—whatever helps paint the picture.
Stock photos are okay too, but use them with intention. The more personal and real, the better.
💥 From Interest to Impact
Now that people know who you are and what you do, they’re starting to get interested.
This is where you tell them why you do it. For most of us in small businesses, nonprofits, or mission-driven work, the “why” is all about impact.
I wouldn’t do what I do if it didn’t help small business owners. A website is just a website—but I love that I get to help people do the work they love, in a way that works for them.
So, showcase your impact. Use testimonials. Past work. Photos. Portfolios. For example, one of my clients has a party bus business—and their past work section is literally just photos of people having a blast on the bus. That shows impact.
📩 The Invitation
Here’s the part most people miss—especially new business owners who aren’t quite confident yet: the invitation.
You need to trust that people want to engage with you. That what you offer is valuable and cool and helpful.
And if you don’t invite them to stay connected? They’ll probably forget. Because we all forget websites. We’ve all looked at amazing things and then never returned.
So catch people while they’re the most interested in you. That’s right when they land on your site, and right when they’re ready to buy.
Offer them something clear and easy to act on:
Join your email list
Grab a freebie
Follow you on Instagram
Download a guide
Whatever your key marketing channel is, that’s what should be highlighted.
And while I’ve listed that lower on the checklist, all of these elements are movable. Rearrange them to tell the story that fits you best!
And a lot of these can double up, too! Something that’s alive can also be something that showcases your work (like a live google reviews widget!).
🤩 From Stranger to Follower
The final step? Move folks from “interested” to “follower”—or even future friend.
This is where your site needs something alive. Something that shows you’re still here, still in business, still active.
Because when your site looks outdated or static, people wonder if you’re still doing your thing.
One example: there’s a dog chiropractor in my town. I genuinely thought they were out of business because their website hadn’t changed in forever.
So add something alive. It could be:
An Instagram feed
A blog
An event calendar
A google reviews widget!
An announcement banner with something timely
A seasonal pop-up
Ideally, it’s something that updates automatically, so it’s not extra work for you. A blog is great—even if not a ton of people read it (though they might!), but because Google loves active, interconnected websites. That’s a big SEO boost.
And then finally, don’t forget your footer. Add your contact info, physical location (if relevant), and links to second-tier services. Things that are still important, but maybe not header-menu-worthy.
🪄 Final Touches
A few final “vibe” checkpoints:
10-second rule: Can someone tell what you do in 10 seconds? Test this by asking someone who doesn’t know you.
Visual narrative: Do the colors, fonts, images, and layout all feel like you?
Clear copy: Could your homepage say the same thing with half the words? Probably.
Respect the relationship: Let visitors warm up. Don’t ask too much, too soon.
More calls to action than you think: Most DIY sites don’t have enough. Add more than feels comfortable—you can always remove them later.
Heart: Make sure your site feels like you. Not generic. Not robotic. Let people feel your vibe through the screen.
That’s it! That’s the tour of homepage magic. I’ll be sending out the graphic. Feel free to take a screenshot if you want. And if you ever want feedback on your homepage or want to talk it through, hop on my calendar. I love talking about this stuff.
Lark’s Audience Q&A
After the talk, folks started chiming in with great feedback and questions. Emily popped up in the chat—clearly catching the earlier dog grooming shoutout. Melquia said, “I love this. My homepage needs a revamp,” which... relatable.
A few people asked how often you should update your homepage. My answer? Quarterly is great. Put it on your calendar. That way you’re checking in regularly to make sure your content still feels seasonally appropriate and aligned with how your business is shifting.
And remember—“something alive” doesn’t have to be big or complicated. Ideally, it can be something that updates automatically and aligns with your other marketing channels (instagram feed, youtube, blogs, etc…)
One example I shared was a nonprofit that posted an annual impact report as a homepage banner. That doubles as a “why” and a visual heartbeat. Even something like a “We’re closed for Memorial Day” banner can show that someone’s home, so to speak.
Switching out your photos, updating an event banner, adding blog posts—these are all simple ways to keep your site looking fresh and alive.
You might want to keep an eye on my newsletter…
Shannyn Schroeder: The First 5 Minutes
Thank you so much for having me!
For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Shannyn Schroeder, and my business is The EF Bomb Coach. That “F” stands for Executive Function—because that’s what I am: an executive function coach.
I help neurodivergent women calm some of the chaos in their lives. And I want to start by backing up for a second, because a lot of folks don’t actually know what executive function is.
So, executive functioning is basically all the life skills we’re expected to have as adults. When we say, “Adulting is hard”? This is what we’re talking about. Organization. Planning. Prioritization. Time management. Starting tasks. All of that.
If you’re neurodivergent—ADHD, autistic, high anxiety, depression, other mental health stuff—your chances of struggling with executive function go way up.
Now, there are a lot of different executive function skills. Depending who you ask, it’s seven, eight, maybe more. But honestly, it doesn’t matter what it’s called—what matters is if you’re struggling with it and how to get support.
Today, I want to talk specifically about one of those skills: task initiation. That’s the skill of getting started. Not doing the thing. Not finishing the thing. Just starting.
And listen—everyone struggles with this sometimes. You look at that pile of laundry and think, “Ugh, I should do that,” but you don’t want to. That’s normal.
But for neurodivergent folks? It’s on another level. It’s not just “Ugh, I don’t feel like it.” It’s: “I’m completely out of underwear. I know I need to do this. I want to do this. And I still can’t make myself start.”
Even for stuff we like. Things we want to do. We still get stuck.
So what do you do?
5️⃣ The First Five Minutes Rule
I teach a strategy called the first five minutes.
It’s exactly what it sounds like. You give yourself a five-minute goal. That’s it.
And yes, it might feel silly. But hear me out.
When you’re dreading a task, or even just overwhelmed by it, you break it down. You find the tiniest step possible. Like, ridiculously small.
Then you set a timer for five minutes.
And you tell yourself: “I’m only doing this for five minutes. That’s all.”
So let’s say you need to write something. You don’t start with “Write a blog post.” You start with:
Turn on the computer
Open Google Docs
Type one sentence
That’s it. And when the timer goes off? You’re allowed to stop. You are done.
This works because five minutes feels doable. Most of us—regardless of brain wiring—can tolerate almost anything for five minutes. Even if you’re swallowing metaphorical peas whole, you can usually get through five bites.
And yeah, sometimes you’ll find yourself in a groove and you’ll want to keep going. That’s great! Keep going if it feels good.
But if it still sucks when the timer goes off? Stop. Walk away. That is enough. You did it.
Because it’s not about finishing. It’s about starting.
And when you start—when you consistently start, even just for five minutes at a time—that adds up. You’re not spending 25 minutes beating yourself up or staring at a blank page. You’re building trust with your brain.
And here’s the magic: even if you write three sentences in five minutes, next time you come back to it? It’s not a blank page anymore. It’s not as intimidating.
Your brain remembers, “Oh yeah, we’ve already started this. This isn’t so bad.”
Over time, that five-minute habit builds momentum.
🧠 Honor How Your Brain Works
A big part of this is about unlearning the productivity myths we’ve been fed. That you have to push through. That you have to finish what you start. That you should just “try harder.”
But sometimes your brain doesn’t want to. And no amount of forcing is going to change that.
This is especially true for neurodivergent folks. If your brain isn’t on board, it’s not going to happen. Period.
The first five minutes gives you a way to work with your brain instead of against it.
You’re saying: “Look, we don’t have to do it all. We just have to do a little.”
One sock. One spoon. One sentence. That’s it.
And yes, that counts. That’s progress. That’s what gets you unstuck.
Shannyn’s Audience Q&A
After her talk, folks had lots of thoughtful questions and shared their own neurodivergent-friendly strategies. It turned into a really helpful, validating conversation.
One of the first questions was, “What happens if I set the timer for five minutes… and still don’t start?” Shannyn’s answer: meet your brain where it’s at. This is where bribery absolutely works. If you need to promise yourself five minutes of TikTok or a handful of M&Ms after five minutes of work? Go for it. You’re not a failure—you’re a human working with how your brain works.
That resonated big time. Someone chimed in to say they keep a stash of stickers nearby and give themselves one for completing even the tiniest task. (Shannyn: “Yes! A penny’s worth of dopamine goes a long way on the hard days.”)
Another question came up around decision paralysis—what do you do when you don’t even know where to start? Shannyn recommended breaking tasks down into ridiculously small steps. Like:
Turn on the computer
Open Google Docs
Type one sentence
The idea is to gamify progress. Each micro-task you check off helps your brain build confidence—and momentum. Even if your five-minute session only results in one or two steps, that’s still progress.
One person shared that they write down three tasks and roll a die to decide which one to tackle. Others liked the idea of just asking someone to pick a number and letting that be the decider. As Shannyn put it, “If it doesn’t matter what you start with, let chance help you out.”
We also talked about letting go of the pressure to be perfect. Someone shared a quote from KC Davis’s How to Keep House While Drowning that really hit home:
“Anything worth doing is worth doing a little.”
It sparked a big YES from the group. Shannyn added: “You don’t have to do all the dishes. Just wash a spoon. Maybe two. That’s enough to keep moving.”
There were questions about body doubling, too—having someone else present while you work, either in person or virtually. Shannyn is a fan, if it works for you. Some people like the low-key accountability, others just need another person in the room to get started. She mentioned tools like Focusmate or Flown for virtual co-working.
But she also reminded everyone that body doubling isn’t for everyone. If the idea of someone “watching” you stresses you out? That’s valid. Don’t force it. Try something else. The whole point is to find what actually works for you—not what looks good on paper.
We wrapped up by circling back to the biggest takeaway: progress counts—even if it’s just five minutes, one step, or one clean spoon.
Shannyn’s resource, “F This: A Quick Start Guide to Executive Function for Neurodivergent Women,” was also shared. It breaks down what executive function is, how it shows up differently in neurodivergent folks, and includes simple strategies to start experimenting with.
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