Listen Now:
There’s a growing trend of online business owners who are putting off building a website. And to some, this is a good idea. To others, not so much.
Jennie and Alyson will break down the different sides of whether you NEED a website to run a business – and whether it’s really the cornerstone of your online presence like so many think it is.
Alyson Lex 0:03
I don't know about you. But a lot of my clients when they begin marketing their business, or they want to level up their business, the first thing they want to talk to me about is their website, the copy on their website, the look and feel of their website, the branding of their website, what should go on the website, what shouldn't go on the website. There's a lot of effort and energy and resources and time put into your website. And on today's episode, Jenny and I are going to have a really Frank, off-the-cuff conversation about whether a website is really the number one resource. Is it the place that you really need to be found online? I don't know. We're going to start with whether you need to have a website to be successful online. Fast answer yes or no? And then we'll dive in. So Jenny, yes, yes, yes. I say no. Ooh, dun, dun, dun. Yeah.
Jennie Wright 1:07
But it's Yes. And it's Yes. Yes. And, okay.
Alyson Lex 1:13
I can be on board with that.
Jennie Wright 1:14
It's a yes. And it's a there's a whole bunch of reasons why it's a yes. And then having had the experience I did. There's an and
Alyson Lex 1:24
we're but what are your, what are your reasons for yes,
Jennie Wright 1:29
it makes it gives you credibility on line number one, it establishes credibility, who you are and what you do, it's kind of like your stake in the sand. This is what I do. This is how I am, this is what I represent. This is who I help, this is who I serve that a little bit about me. Things that I will do. And it sort of sets the stage, right helps people find you online, it's the first thing that people look for. And when they search your name online, under Google or whatnot, they're going to look for that website, because it's going to give them the most amount and amount of information, then they're going to go and creep you out on Facebook and Instagram, let's be honest. But they're also going to go and look at that website. And I I know for a fact that people have tried to find me and couldn't find me. And I lost business because of it. So there's that. The other thing with the yes is having a website is really making sure that you're actually in this, it's not a side hustle, it's a real thing, you're doing it, you're building up the business is standing up and saying this is my thing. And I'm hearing it and I'm for it. And this is how I'm going to do it. And it's also the only content platform that you want. 100% control is the only one that you can really make the colors the way you want the look and feel the way you want all the content to be how you want. It is the repository for all the information that you want. It's a blog that you want, it's everything that you want, and you control it 100% other things like LinkedIn, or Facebook, or Instagram, we don't have 100% control over that. And those you know, they come up with updates on how they want to change the profile and etc. And it changes it. This is the one place that you have control.
Alyson Lex 3:10
I like all of your reasons for Yes. But that last one I want to just kind of talk about for a second because you mentioned the big thing. This, you get to control it, you get to choose the colors, and to choose the kind of content that you put on there and all of the stuff. But what I have found is that that keeps you from moving forward, you get so obsessed. And I say you as in the Royal you people get so obsessed with what am I colors? What's my brand? What's my logo? Oh my gosh, if I never see one more post in a Facebook group. These are my logo choices. What do you think? Do you know what I think? I'm gonna just take off the nice hat. I think that you are playing around on nonrevenue generating activities. You're wasting time and you are keeping yourself from moving forward. Because you're obsessed with your website. There's a lot of that. There is so much of that and it drives me bananas Jenny, it drives me bananas.
Jennie Wright 4:30
It I know drives you bananas. There's a lot of that there's a lot of people who fall into that trap. Some people don't. Some people get it done in three days and they slap it up on Wix or Squarespace or whatever and they call it a day they're done. And their websites up. There are some of us and I will put myself in that bucket who toil over this thing for a long time, who changed themes. I think I'm on my third or fourth theme at this point, that change the look and feel, and then as soon as I see something new and awesome that I really, really like Somebody else has done I'm like, socks. Okay. And then I try it, you know. But I will say that part of this part of the issue with the know also is what people don't know, right? Working with a website designer and having built websites in the past and my partner having built websites for my clients in the past and having worked together as a team on it. People don't know how to work with a designer, people have no idea how to work with somebody who's going to build the website, they think, here, I just want you to build my website, you know, go to the thing. And they don't know what they don't know. And I completely understand that there's an absolute learning curve for this. But they leave a lot of it without the understanding, and they expect the $5,000 website, on the $500 budget. There's a huge misnomer, there, there's a huge disconnect between what you get and what you can pay for and what you can afford. And that's a big thing. And that can cause a lot of problems, too. I know. All right, I'm taking off my nice hat. Oh, this is gonna be good. There are people out there right now who are doing websites, and they're charging a very low price. And the result is terrible. We've seen it happen. It's been pretty recent. Some people that we know have been doing this, we've seen it. And my partner and I have looked at it and gone. What the actual is happened here? And how can this person even think that this is except? Wow. But you know, what, if you don't know what you don't know, then you think this is great. You're like, wow, I'm on the web. Yay. We're gonna outgrow something like that. So there's, there's a lot to contend with your Allison and you're 100%. Right, saying that you can be successful without a website. I will put my hand up saying I was able to, you know, we're going to talk about this a little bit later. But I was able to build a six-figure business with no website. Would I do it again? Heck, no, would I tell somebody else to do it? Because I left a ton of money on the table, a ton of opportunities on the table. But I was able to do it. I just don't recommend it.
Alyson Lex 7:07
Um, you know, it all goes back to is your website, a revenue generator? Because you're you're the copywriter. My website is just hashtag saying, but that's because I've intentionally gone that way. I can see multiple websites that are not revenue generators. They are. Oh, my gosh, the nice hat apparently has not come back on. But the majority of websites that I see are nothing more than a buff to an ego. Oh, yeah. And I know, it's so wrong for me to say that. And if you're listening, and you're like, Alison, you're supposed to be so friendly and bubbly all the time. I'm sorry, but I'm sassy today. website, your website's design. And your website's copy. And your website's purpose is to take the visitor on a journey. And that journey is not into your land. That journey is to the benefit, the outcome, the transformation that they're looking for. And you happen to be the facilitator of said transformation. But it is not all about you. And sometimes we want a really pretty website. That is nothing but look at me. And those websites do not contribute to the revenue-generating conversation. If all you want is a website so that you can have pretty brand photoshoots which by the way, I've never had a pretty brand photoshoot. I want one. But I've been in business for 14 years. So it's probably time for me to have a pretty brand photoshoot. I've been making do with selfies and headshots. And that's okay. Because guess what? I've made a whole lot of money in the last 14 years, without all of the things that you probably think you need.
Jennie Wright 9:13
I agree with that. You don't have to that I agree with. I had my first ever photoshoot a year ago, last February, just before the pandemic went bananas. And I've been using those photos a lot. And I've also upped my own selfie game, although I hate taking selfies, I actually found that I'm not too bad at it. Doing it now and using them for different areas and social and stuff like that. It's totally fine and I don't care. Do I want to brand? Shoot? Yeah. Did we have one plan? Yeah, we had one planned actually for the spring. That kind of didn't work out. But you know, we'll make that happen in the future. But you're 100% right with the look at me and then I don't even remember the words you But I almost died laughing when you said it. But he goes something like I
Alyson Lex 10:05
really good buff to the ego, thank you. And I think you know, those old-time back, you know movies where the movie stars backstage and they get pooped in the face with a big bunch of powder from a buff, that's the buff, and the powder is the ego and your website. I just look at some point, people listening to you and I may get to the point where our name is a household name within our industry. You know, I mean, sure, why not? Already there? It could happen. In that case, then yes, we need a personal brand website. Until that point up to and until that point. I do not feel that the website needs to be the highest priority. I would much rather see people focus on funnels.
Jennie Wright 11:02
Oh, me too, in a heartbeat. I would rather have a high conversion really well-working funnel. In the meantime, and do it that way? Absolutely. And I've launched businesses for clients is like that, because I've launched a client's business with no website on a summit, which is essentially a funnel. And then the summit funds, the building of a nice website, because they couldn't afford both right? So what are you going to sink your money into? If you can't build it yourselves and you like also, you're lucky, I'm lucky, my partner's lucky. We know how to do these things. We have the technical know-how Allison built up the website for System to THRIVE. You know, like my partner built his own website. I've been working on my own website, Alyson, you know, Alyson we worked on Allison's website, etc, etc. But not everybody has that ability. Not everybody can build their own stuff. Not everybody is tech-savvy. So think about where you need to spend your money in the beginning, is it going to be spending X amount of dollars on building out this glossy-looking website? Or can we get a funnel that's gonna build your list and send them to drive a call to drive like drive to a call with you, and then you can close clients, which will then fund that big glossy website later on?
Alyson Lex 12:16
Well, and consider to we actually just did this, we created a funnel for a client, she has a website. But she wanted to run a webinar. We created a funnel for the webinar. From the webinars, she wanted to sell some stuff, we added that some sales pages. She had 350 people register for her webinar and get on her email list. And they never touched her website. Her social media, clubhouse, all of that, that was the traffic and they went to the funnel, it is entirely possible to do things and make money with no website. Yeah, I did don't have a web, you did it. I've done it. You know, I was lucky enough to be able to invest in a website, I was able to actually have someone helped me write it because even though I'm a copywriter, I struggled. I know how hard it is to get a site up. I've watched Jennie just struggle and obsess over it
Jennie Wright 13:21
for years
Alyson Lex 13:22
for years years. And I think the whole time, I'm probably just like to just put it online like it's, I think that's the other thing that it's just if if it's something that you need to do, if it's something that you must do, or you do not feel that you can move forward. Cool, get it up and call it a day. Okay? Like just make it happen. Because even if it's ugly and we'll actually talk about this more in a minute, when it's ugly, at least it's there and it's something you can work on rather than just not doing it and never moving forward as a result
Jennie Wright 14:03
completely cracked I'd rather have even mine at the moment isn't exactly where I want it to be. But it's there. It's it functions is it completely done no and and there's still some pages to be built out and sales pages and this and that but at least it's better than what it was. So I'll keep on making it I'll keep evolving it and that's good. Let's talk about where you actually let's talk about whether or not you can wing it and still be successful because winging it is something that you are good at I am not I hate it. And actually funny enough after Allison I recently did an interview with another guest interview is going to be coming out a little bit later on down the line and this episode is we were talking about intentional strategy and how winging it is not being intentional enough to make sure that you actually succeed in the things that you want to do. So I want your opinion We wing it, can we still be successful? Should we wing it? Should we be more intentional?
Alyson Lex 15:07
So that is a couple of questions. Yes, you can wing it and still be successful. I'm making that stand. Should you wing it? Should you be intentional? Yes. So yes to both sets of questions. Here's why. When you wing it, you will reach a certain amount of success. If you apply some strategies that, you know, stick to it push forward, you can, I'm not gonna say well, you can have a level of success. A lot of that is going to depend on your network. And how how much you know how many people you know, some of that is going to depend on luck. A lot of it's going to depend on skill ability, what you sell all of that. Are you going to be more successful? If you approach things in a more well thought out manner? Yes. If qualifying everything, yes, if you are not so rigid, that you do not allow yourself the freedom of creativity, the freedom to be open the flexibility that is essential in business. Alright, so what? Let's bring this back to website. Okay. I have one more say, I've worn it a little bit with my website, winged it doesn't sound right. So I'm going along it. And I've gone with the good is good enough attitude. And I've improved where I notice, I mean, things to be improved. I do have calls to action on my website, I do get people to because I've improved processes, things like that. So that's kind of like winging it and improving it based on what I want to achieve. I want more sales calls. That's my plan. How do I need to get there? Well, this is one part. So I'm really a big fan of implement now improve later. Because that's the only way to really move forward. Otherwise, you're in limbo for years? Asking people in Facebook groups if your logo is okay.
Jennie Wright 17:28
Yeah. I agree with you there. I think getting it done is good. And yes, you can wing it, you know how I feel about winging it. So let's talk about what you actually need. Let's talk about the bare basics of what you need. And then where can you go from there. The bare basics is you need a lead magnet, something that people will provide their name and email, and in return, you will deliver something you need an email marketing system, like you need it. This is this is bare basics. This is exactly what you need. You need an email marketing system. If you want to know the one that asked and I recommend it's Active Campaign. Okay, if you want to create a lead magnet, we're going to tell you to use a page builder. We're going to recommend Click Funnels. Okay. Build the funnel, Click Funnels, drive the traffic to that. And then you can work on building of that website. I totally think this is doable. It's actually it's actually getting stuff done. Because you're starting to get some recognition. If you if you stick in the quagmire of, I need to have a website, it needs to be perfect, then you're going to be working on that for a very long time. Trust me. I know. So I've told clients to do this. I've launched businesses on this, I've done it myself on this. You still need to keep moving forward, though. So look at what you actually need. Like the bare basics, having that lead magnet, having that email marketing system, locking down your social media handles, just something my partner talks about a lot. Making sure that you have all of your social media handles your LinkedIn, your Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, you know, if you're on Tick Tock use tick, tick. Grab that too. Right. So clubhouse, having all of those handles so that you can build this out in the future. And then something that I something that something that I tried to do and that was taught to me because I've been working on my website forever, is it was recommended to me and I kind of recommended that I just do a one pager. Okay, so what's a one a one pager, a one pager is a website that isn't multiple tabs. It's literally one page that you can just scroll through and it has the basics. Hey, I'm Jenny, this is what I'm about. This is what I do. Click here to grab my checklist a little bit lower. Here's, you know, here's what I talked about. Here's how to connect with me on social. This is the book a call with me, whatever you want a little bit lower. Maybe it's like links to you know, social media or your YouTube channel. I don't care. Basically it's a one pager and it Just leads you through so that people can get a sense. And it puts that shingle up. Okay, you can get a one page drop in a weekend, let's just look and you can build an on Click Funnels, and then just redirect the URL, just getting something there. And then you can build that seven tag website later, if you have to. But having something there i think is incredibly important.
Alyson Lex 20:22
I think too, it's really important to think about the people that do have websites already. Oh, yeah, it's the website already exists. It's already up. You've already got the seven page website. But you find yourself again, drawn to fussing with it. All I want to rewrite my homepage, oh, I want this, oh, I need that, oh, I want to rebrand Oh, I blah, blah, blah. Why? Why? Every time you find yourself wanting to change things up, ask yourself why I will say I currently want a web site redesign. The reason is simple. I want a WordPress theme that I do not find easy to work with. And I want it rebuilt in one that has more functionality, more powerful tools behind it. And that's going to cause a redesign. I'm keeping the same brand. I might tweak a little bit of a copy, but probably not. I just want to move themes and it needs to be redesigned because of that.
Jennie Wright 21:31
So you can also why there is a real why but I want to I want to go back to your why thing. So I know this structure that you talked about. You ask why but you asked why more than once. I want to I want to rebrand my website. Why? Because I wanted to be more functional. Why? So it can be more robust. Why? Like you take it the Why has to be answered several times. Yeah, it can't just be cuz I wanna like it has to be. There has to be more to it.
Alyson Lex 22:00
Yes. So for me, I want more robust features. Why? Because I want to be able to track my stuff better. Why? Because I'm not sure what of my marketing activities are working. Right. Why? Because I can't track stuff. Why? Because my website doesn't have the functionality I need.
Jennie Wright 22:17
Yes. And the if the answer, however, is why because I want to get in there and play with it myself. That's the wrong answer.
Alyson Lex 22:24
Such the wrong answer. That's the wrong answer.
Jennie Wright 22:28
has to be the right answer to the why. Right. It can't just be I'm bored. And I want to redesign or I liked purple. No, I like orange.
Alyson Lex 22:38
This is not your living room furniture. If you want to do that. Go rearrange your living room. Yep. I know people who do that all the time, by the way. Me too. Me too. I'm not that person.
Jennie Wright 22:50
I'm happy with my brand colors. And you know, my we just we just added a new design color into my branding this year. And I love it. I've got three about two one main color and two complementary colors. I'm cool with it. I don't need any more. And they weren't great on pages. They look amazing together. And I'm good. I don't need to change anything. I'm good. Like, leave it. I'm not a huge fan of change anyways. Like I'm either Yeah, I like my things. And I'd like them to you know, and this is coming from the person who's literally moved four times or three times in like four years. Having not like changed that was painful. But when it comes to things like websites, and when it comes to things like the tech stack that I use, and the things like that I like my things. And if if they work, if it ain't broke, don't fix it kind of thing. There are having said that the tweaks are the things that you can look at. Right, so the tweaks can happen.
Alyson Lex 23:53
Yeah, but again, same idea. Why are you tweaking? If the answer is because I saw blah, blah, blah. And I felt like it looked better. Think about that. Does it need to be a priority? No. If it leads to a revenue generating activity, if there's a revenue reason to do what you're doing, whether it's creating a website, editing your website playing with your website, then yes, do it. But if there's not a revenue reason, then don't put it on the priority list.
Jennie Wright 24:36
Agreed. And this is a really great segue into the takeaways that we have for today's episode, making sure that we tell you some of the things that we think are important. Okay, so first off, is an hour. The first thing I want to talk about in the takeaways is stop holding yourself back. But the longer you focus, the worse it's going to be right the longer it's going to take for you To be successful, okay? And that's not going to help you in any way, shape or form. Don't do it. So just stop holding yourself back and get the thing done, the longer you fast, it's just going to be painful for you just get something out there, you can tweak it later. But having that thing finished so that people aren't going, where do I find you? And you're like, Well, you know, under under construction, then that's just again, that's just gonna hold you back. I know for, for certain, they held me back from getting some paid speaking gigs, that where people were looking at me, but they couldn't find me because I found out later about it. And it stopped me from getting some opportunities for things like summits and things like that.
Alyson Lex 25:41
My big takeaway is to focus on those revenue generating activities and strategies. If you don't have a plan for how your site is going to help you make money, discover what will make you money. Do that first and focus on the website later. And have discussion about my nice hat back on now.
Jennie Wright 26:07
Put that back on. Those are the takeaways we actually don't even have more than two, because those are the two most important points that we can we can share with you. So not spending all that time on worrying about whether or not you should have it. Yeah, you should have a website. But where do you need to have in your business? Listen to the rest of this episode, go back and re listen to it if you have to figure that out. Okay, and if you already have an established website, also, and I've already talked about it, where can you make those tweaks? But ask yourself that question why and go deeper with each why until you get to the root of the reason. And making sure that's actually the Pure Reason why. Take a second here and check out the rest of the episodes that Alison and I share for System to THRIVE, you can go to System to thrive.com. And check those out there. You can also share this podcast with your friends, if you find this to be helpful. And there's a certain episode that you really like make sure you share that link. Pop that over to them and they can listen to it too. You can also share a review with us if you'd like also, letting us know what you think we'd love to get your feedback and understand what you want to hear in the future. So leave us a review. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back again soon answering another big question.