Wait! Are you really telling me I don’t need a website?
Umm, sort of.
But you build websites for a living, are you crazy?
Yes, but that’s beside the point of this post. The reason I’m telling you, you don’t need a website is because what you need is AN EXPERIENCE!
Many entrepreneurs get caught up in “building a website” and forget that this website, aside from being beautiful, needs to convert. It needs to attract your target audience and it needs to help them identify SO MUCH with your message that they can’t help but buy your program or product.
An experience does that, not a website.
The thing is, you do need to build a website to build that experience. But you need to focus on the experience and not get tangled up in the technicalities of building said website. That’s where I can help.
You know your audience better than anyone, or you should. You’re the one that knows exactly what experience your audience wants and you’re the only one that can communicate that and help build it. No one else can do that, you’re the best person for that job, THE ONLY person for that job.
Then there’s someone like me. I’m the one that loves to design experiences. I take all that valuable information only you have about your audience and I pull it out of your mind and put it onto the screen. That’s my job. Granted, I’m not the only one for the job, but I might just be the only one for YOU!
See, there comes a time in our business where we have to graduate in order to grow. I graduated recently and it got me to thinking a lot about it.
What do I mean by graduating?
Well, we all start out the same way. We have an idea that fills our heart and we decide we’re going to turn it into a business. For most of us, it starts out as a side hustle and we have to water this little plant slowly and help it grow as best as we can. In our culture, we do this by DIYing. We have to bloom where we are planted right?
So we nurture and grow this little plant as much as we can with our limited resources. But here’s the deal, there’s only a few things that can happen:
- We don’t help our plant grow like we should and it ends up dying. If we’re afraid to take bigger steps, we can stifle our business and it’ll end up failing, like many do.
- Our little business plant is growing really well with all our DIYing and it’s exciting. But we don’t move it to a bigger pot fast enough and it ends up dying because the pot it was in just couldn’t handle the growth. This is when we’re too afraid to invest in our business and we end up overwhelmed and burnt out.
- We could grow our little business plant with our DIYing. We measure it’s growth and monitor it carefully and we see that it’s growing and we take a leap of faith in anticipation of that future growth and we move it to that bigger pot to give those roots room to spread. Our business isn’t stifled. We’ve invested in it, we’ve given it room to grow and in this bigger pot, our little plant has room to fill the pot until the next time it needs to graduate to a bigger one.
So I graduated recently.
I just booked with a copywriter I’ve been dying to work with for some time now, Misha from Uncommonly Good Biz. To be completely honest, I didn’t just have that money to spend, but I’m ready to get a bigger pot for my plant. I know it’s going to grow and I want to do everything I can to help because I’m ready for bigger + better things.
For me this meant investing in a copywriter that’s going to create the language that I can’t, so that I can connect with my audience the way I want to.
I know I’m not good at copywriting and for a while, I made do. But not anymore. This was important to me as I want to grow my business. I want to create an experience! With the right mixture of design and copy, my ideal audience will have an amazing experience when they land on my site, I’m sure of it and that’s how I plan to get results.
Why you don’t need a website
So when I say, you don’t need a website, I’m talking about the big picture. There are many people who have a website that leaves a lot to be desired.
What happened there? I’ll tell you. They got caught up in the technical aspect of building a website and forgot to build a brand. Anyone can put a website together. There are many services that have templates to put something together in hours.
But this isn’t what you want is it? When you decide you want a website it’s not because you can’t wait to work with templates and figure out how to get your opt-in connected to your ESP. What you REALLY want are RESULTS.
So when you sit to work on your website, here are a few things to keep in mind:
1. An experience will get you results
People buy with their heart.
That’s just the truth. You know it because you do it. Everything we purchase revolves around desire. You WANT that car, you don’t need it. You can settle for a more affordable car, but you want that one. You want that dress, because if you get it you’ll feel sexier or younger. You also want that class, because if you get it, you’ll feel closer to building your business.
All of our purchasing decisions come from our heart. So it follows that building an EXPERIENCE for your audience will get you the results you want.
2. Websites are not a commodity
This is one of those points that is much harder to drive home, so I will reiterate: You actually don’t want a website, you want more customers or more leads. What you want are RESULTS.
That’s precisely why you can’t get caught up in the technicality of building a website. Align yourself with people who know what they’re doing: Web designers, developers, copywriters, seo specialists, photographers, marketers.
You won’t be able to do this right away and certainly not all at the same time! But one day, you will have to make that decision to invest in your business so you can graduate. Are you going to give your plant the bigger pot it needs to grow?
3. Value comes in many forms
I’ve found most people have trouble with cost, myself included. What we need is to learn how to appreciate the value in the areas we need to invest in.
For example, a while back I hired a VA. This is something that I immediately see value in.
My time is precious and I want to spend it either with my family or doing work I love to do.
If there are tasks I can hand off, then I see the value in that right away. Same goes for hiring a housekeeper. I work from home and I’m with my boys all day long. I see lots of value in not having to clean bathrooms or mop floors. There’s enough to do between work and taking care of the kids. To me, this service provides great value and so the money is extremely well spent.
Then there are things that are much more expensive, like the copywriting package I just bought. I saw the value in it immediately though, because… wait for it… I’m NOT a copywriter! And here’s another shocker, I don’t want to be!
When I talked to Misha prior to booking, I asked her about another package she sells where she can look over your copy and tell you how to improve it. It was a lot less than the package I was looking at. Her input on what I write is still incredibly valuable, but when she asked me, “do you want to do the copy yourself or do you want it handed to you, ready to implement?” I knew exactly what I wanted. With everything I have on my plate, implementing Misha’s suggestions and edits is something I just didn’t want to add on.
For me, there’s tremendous value in copy written by someone who’s great at it. All I have to do then is plug it in!
The same goes for the myriad of other services that you can invest in for your business, including branding, web design, marketing, photography, coaching and the list goes on. Personally, I’m going to start looking for someone to handle FB Ads soon and I can’t wait because just thinking about handling that gives me a headache.
Remember what you’re good at. Decide where to spend your time. Appreciate the value in what you want to invest in.
Sometimes, that involves seeing the future value of an investment. For example, many people get caught up in the cost of a website, say $5 – 8K. They’re right, it is a lot of money, but when you frame it differently, you might have a different opinion. If someone told you that investing $5 – 8K on your website today, would mean that you would:
- start attracting more of your ideal customers
- have an organized hub for your business
- have a branded tool that will sell for you
- make it possible for you to earn your first $50K+ with your business
- free up the time you need to focus on your products/programs instead of learning to build + then building a site
If you think of all of that, then you realize, that $5 – $8K is actually a pretty smart investment. All by just reframing the way you think about your investment and appreciating that value comes in different forms.
So I hope that in all your budgeting and your big plans for you business you don’t forget that you don’t really want a website, you want results. You don’t want to have a website for your audience to come visit, you want to give them an experience! When you remember that and teach yourself to reframe your way of thinking, you’ll be ready to graduate. When you do, your business will undoubtedly grow!
Here’s to branding you for success!