I get it. A website gives you credibility. And, if you were to ask 100 people what’s the first thing you need if you are going into business, 99 of them would like say “you need a website.”
Well, call me the 1 who might just disagree with them.
I said might.
The truth is having a full-blown website may not be the next move for you to make to build your business. The fact of the matter is that while a website is certainly a credibility statement, it may not be a moneymaker for you. After all, there are really only two reasons why someone should come to your website:
- To buy something from you today.
- To join your marketing list to buy something from you later.
There’s a lot of people might think it’s the “end all be all” of business building but that’s not the truth. In fact, I have two clients that I am working with RIGHT NOW who don’t have a website and each are generating nearly a half a million dollars a year in their business.
Why?
Because depending on what you do, a full-blown website may be the last thing you need. And, let me keep it real with you, despite how attractive having an online business model looks to you, it’s not the fastest path to cash and growing your business. An offline business model (with splashes of online strategies) will prove to be far more palatable, especially when starting your business with limited resources. You see, it takes an advertising budget for online modalities like Facebook and Adwords and other media, and if you’re like most start ups, you likely won’t be there. That’ s exactly why Melinda’s question, which I’m featuring in this week’s episode of Incredible Factor TV was exciting for me:
“Hi Darnyelle. I have been following you for a while and I must admit that you are so amazing at what you do. Over the last few years, I’ve noticed a significant up-leveling in your brand. I am just starting my own business and I just wanted to get your opinion on whether or not I need a full blown website to build my business?”
See my response to Melinda’s question in this week’s episode of Incredible Factor TV.
What I don’t mention in the episode is this: before you can build a website, you need to consider three things:
1. Do you have a clear message and a clear audience? If your message is not clear and profit producing, you may be wasting your precious time to write copy for a website that won’t convert. Take the time to clarify who you are, who you serve, the problem you solve and why that is relevant today. It will be worth delaying shelling out big bucks to get a website that won’t generate prospects or paying clients.
2. Do you have proof of concept? The Universal Law of Business says you need to locate a group of people who have the problem you solve that are ready to pay for a solution to the problem right now. Have you done so? Are people buying from you right now? Are they getting their problem solved? Are they experiencing success with your method of solving that problem? Have they told you about their success? Are they willing to put it in writing? Without proof that your idea is marketable and people are willing to pay for what you offer, having a website will not get you any closer to income. When people are searching for companies like yours online, they are looking for proven results.
3. Do you generate (or plan to generate) business offline or online? If the majority of your business will come from offline strategies like networking or speaking, you don’t need a full-blown website. If you however are planning to leverage SEO and traditional online marketing in order to get clients, you’ll likely need to build a website that will meet your business building needs.
Now, what I will add is that even if having a “full-blown” website is not in the immediate cards for you, you should have a “placeholder” website that shares some basic information and allows the visitor to opt-in to your marketing list so that you can market to them over and over in the business building process.
Now I want to hear from you, what’s your two cents? What did you consider (or not) in building your website? Was the decision to spend a lot of money on a website validated by your ROI?
©2014 by Darnyelle A. Jervey. All Rights Reserved. Darnyelle A. Jervey, MBA, The Incredible Factor Speaker, Business Coach and Marketing Mentor, is the founder of Incredible One Enterprises.com, Incredible Factor University® and the Leverage Your Incredible Factor System®, a proven step-by-step program for more clients, more income and more leverage in your business. For more information and a FREE audio CD “7 Critical Mistakes Entrepreneurs Must Avoid When Unleashing Your Incredible Factor So You Attract More Clients, Make More Money and Gain More Leverage” just fill out the form below.
