One of my clients signed up for a Strategy Session. We went through his business in our series of two calls. We came up with a unique selling proposition that became his Fab Factor – the hidden factor that makes his service fabulous. His service is hardly unique, but we were able to establish that he can stand out from the pack by highlighting his background, which is unusual for his industry. He also came up with a new program to deliver the service faster and more smoothly than the competition.
That was three months ago. My client knows his website isn’t working. “But,” he says, “I have to live with it. I invested so much time and money.”
Ouch. We’ve all been there. I’ve been there too. My issue wasn’t so much about money, but about the fact that everyone recognized my sleepy-cat logo. People at networking events said “Oh – that’s so cute! I will remember you.”
It wasn’t till met a stranger at a conference and introduced my company as “Copy-Cat Copywriting.” The stranger looked puzzled for a moment, then asked, “Oh…so you use swipe files?”
Well, of course I use swipe files. So does every copywriter I know. But I’m not about copying. I offer creative, out of the box thinking. Everyone who knows me agrees: “You’re an original.”
Time for a change!
My client decided to live with his current website a little longer. He knows his site isn’t working. Visitors don’t know what he does or what value he can bring to their lives and their businesses. They can’t even figure out what he does and how to reach him if they want to make an appointment!
But he invested a lot of money in his present site. (He won’t tell me how much.) He’s smart: he knows that he’s not being logical. He tried to say, “I don’t have the time,” but we talked about fast, cheap solutions – such as a simple WordPress site. We could get his new site up and working in a few days. Cost? Well, for $500 or less we’ll get customization. You usually need less customization than you expected. As you grow and make money, you can invest in a more sophisticated site…after you understand your own value proposition and know you’ve got customers who will pay for what you offer.
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Fiona! So happy to see you here.
Cathy Goodwin is one of the neatest women on the net. When it comes to online client attraction and website makeovers, she’s got creativity, personality, and talent galore!
Stop by often,
Melanie
Ouch….$12K for a website? That’s not a website. That’s a car!
Yes, I know about business owners who like to hang onto their OLD website because they paid a fortune. Earlier this year I met a lady who had a resource website done for her business, for AUS$12,000. Truly the website looked terrible, and the design was non-existent. But it’s strange when people hold onto things that aren’t good for them.
Great food for thought… Thanks Cathy
I have a feeling your client with cross over a line one day and decide it’s time to forgive himself. Like so many of us, it’s easy to get hooked into making expenditures that don’t serve our needs or the needs of our target market. I’ve heard lots of horror stories about the needless dollars spent on website creation. Some people have spent thousands of dollars and months in waiting and they still don’t have a website that’s up and running. It’s almost criminal.
You gave your client a budget-friendly option and rock solid advice. Now it’s up to him to let go of his pride and take some action! (That is, if he wants his business to flourish)
Melanie
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