5 Q&A Friday and how to stop procrasti-building your website
Hello and happy Friday!
WELCOME BACK to Day 5 of the Live Video Training Extravaganza, can you believe that I hosted a free live video training every day this week?
Ahhh it's been so much fun doing these live video trainings on my Youtube channel and sharing them with here on the blog, so I decided to continue these live video trainings into next week too! LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!
So, be sure to tune back in after the weekend to watch even more of these daily lessons!
Not to toot my own horn but Day 5’s live video was a total blast and and I can’t wait for you to watch the replay.
In this video training, I answered 5 questions that came directly from YOU (my audience) - you emailed in these questions and I’m thrilled that I was able to answer them live today.
The fun thing about Q&As is that it’s basically an opportunity for you to pick my brain and get expert advice on something that actually applies to you…. so don’t be shy, please let me know if you have any questions you’d like answered on next week’s Q&A video! You can leave me a comment on this blog post or on the Youtube video, or just do what everyone else did an email me your question. I don’t care how you ask your question, I’m simply happy to answer and clarify!
Alright, that’s enough intro for one video… let’s get to the goods.
Click the live video training replay below to watch now!
5 Q&As and procrasti-building your website
Click play to watch the video above or on my Youtube channel
Here’s what we talked about in this live vide:
Question 1: “Should I DIY my branding or hire a designer to do it for me? I’m just about to start a brand new business and money is tight”
I’m on the fence about how to answer this question so I’m giving you two options and you ultimately the choice is up to you :)
Either way, I totally understand that you might not have a big budget to dedicate to branding quite yet.
On one hand, YES you can definitely DIY your branding. You might find this video training that I did on branding really helpful so be sure to check that out. But if you’re going to DIY your branding, I strongly suggest that you go on Youtube/Pinterest/blogs to get a branding template to use and follow until you can hire out branding to a professional. Consider things like:
color palette
typography
visual identity - what are you reflecting with the images, layout, etc.
favicon
logo (primary & alternate)
Don’t just hack a few things together and hope for the best. Leverage all the free resources on branding to make sure that you do it as well as possible from the start.
On the flip side, I’m a very big believer that YOU MUST INVEST IN YOURSELF AND YOUR BUSINESS - if you don’t, who will? How are you going to convince clients to work with you or buy your products if you’re not willing to spend money on yourself? Sorry if this is tough love but a proper brand identity that you’re including on yor website, social media platforms and marketing materials need to be cohesive and totally on point. Maybe you have to save up and trim back in your personal life in order to work with a professional designer but I truly believe that it will pay off, and has great ROI. Get your branding right the first time!
Question 2: “What pages should I include on my website, beside the obvious"?”
I consider the following pages obvious and mandatory on every website:
Home page
About page
Contact page
Blog
Beyond that, here are some pages that I recommend:
Services
Products
FAQs - refund policy, shipping policy, return policy, etc.
Privacy policy - use a template that you can find online
Tools & Resources
Newsletter sign up
Upcoming events
It kind of depends on the type of website or business you have!
Question 3: “Do you listen to podcasts or music while you work?”
Podcasts, - no, I don’t listen to these while I work
Music - yes. i often listen to video game music while I work and the Tron Legacy movie soundtrack is one of my favourites. Otherwise, I listen to the radio or Spotify playlists.
Question 4: “Favourite and least favourite part about running your own business?”
Favourite: working with ideal clients, building products that are interesting to me, interacting with my audience online. I love working where/when I want (like Bali or back home in Canada!). Connecting and collaborating with other business owners or my peers.
Least favourite: Admin duties (invoices, expenses, taxes, etc.), scheduling, I miss having coworkers to collabroate with and bounce ideas off of.
Question 5: “How to show up in Google search results for both your name and the services you offer?”
I have sooooo much content about Squarespace SEO so go ahead and binge that content!
It also sounds like you should learn about keywords and how to use them on you website but I also recommend that you create quality, SEO-rich content for your blog and focus on link building strategies. Also consider on-page SEO and user experience.
Honestly there’s so much to learn about Squarespace SEO so I suggest you spend some time learning about the topic and start implementing the strategies I teach - so go ahead and work your way through all the free resources, blog posts and live video trainings on my Squarespace SEO page!.
Procrasti-building your website
Definition: when you are procrastinating working on and growing your business by building your website.
Don’t do this!!!
Your website supports your business but it’s not the be-all/end-all. It can make you feel good to work on your website because in the short term, you’re doing something helpful. However, when you spend all your time working on your website without focusing on the business activities that are going to make you money, increase your revenue and attract your ideal clients/customers, you need to reconsider how you’re spending your time. Always focus on activities that are going to grow your business - trust me, your website is probably fine.
FREE RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE VIDEO TRAINING:
DAILY VIDEOS FOR THE LIVE VIDEO TRAINING EXTRAVAGANZA
As I mentioned, this video is Day 5 of my Live Video Training Extravaganza and I’m PUMPED to be sharing so much free content, knowledge, information, strategies and tech tips with you!
I’ll be going live every day over on my Youtube channel again next week, sharing a free video training all about Squarespace, SEO, web design & development, online business, and a whole lot more.
We’re going to be talking about how you can grow your website, connect with your ideal audience online, attract dream clients and customers, and improve the look/feel/functionality of your website. Ready to up-level? PERFECT because my friend, you are in the right place and I’m sharing all my “secrets” to get you there.
I have a few topics in mind but I’d LOVE to hear from you! If there’s anything you want me to talk about, any questions you want answered, any strategies you want me to debunk or explain, please let me know by leaving me a comment below. I’m open to suggestions because I want to make sure that these video trainings are super valuable and exactly what you’re dying to learn from me. So don’t be shy, consider this your invitation to pick my brain! I’ll be doing another Q&A video next week.
See you back here or over on my Youtube channel next week even more of the Live Video Training Extravaganza!
News flash : there’s a global pandemic going on 😷
At this point, we’re several weeks in and the initial shock over COVID-19 has passed… but now we’re faced with this “new normal” situation and everyone’s doing their best to figure out how to make the most of it. We don’t want to just keep our heads above water - nope, we want to THRIVE during the madness!
This pandemic has brought about a total upheaval of day to day life, as well as business. Literally EVERYTHING has changed - we’re all staying at home, many people are working from home for the first time ever, social distancing is mandatory, and we likely haven’t seen our loved ones IRL in a long time.
Politicians are delivering daily updates that often make our heads spin. Breaking news from the WHO is now required reading. Government alerts are popping off. Our phones are blowing up with notifications of Insta Lives. It’s wild.
We’ve also seen a complete disruption of digital behaviour and the craziest thing is that it pretty much happened over night back in mid-March 2020! People are glued to their screens (phones, laptops, TVs, etc.) and we’re spending more time than ever online …. but not always in the ways that you might expect.
This situation means different things for different people, brands and businesses - and yes, that means your website and it’s traffic are going to look different from what you’re used to.
For some industries, this global pandemic has been a blessing and business is better than ever - Amazon, Netflix and Zoom are booming and stacking mad cash right now.
However, many other industries & niches have taken a major hit. A change in consumer habits has a direct impact on website traffic, organic online searches and even businesses’ bottom lines.
This is particularly true for North American or European-based websites, brands & businesses.
You might have unexpectedly found yourself in this unfortunate situation and maybe you’re freaking out that your website traffic has DROPPED and your business is suffering. If you have, that sucks and I’m truly sorry…. but rest assured that it’s not all doom and gloom! I’m here to help you out as best as I can and reassure you that it won’t be this way forever.
In this blog post, we’re going to go over what to do if your website’s traffic has dropped or taken a hit because of COVID-19.
Whether you’re an independent content creator/blogger, a small business or brand, or a bigger company, I want you to take a step back and look at this drop in traffic & business with clear eyes and your head on straight.
After you’ve read this post, I want you to feel like you have a plan and actionable steps that you can follow to improve your situation, and hopefully boost your website traffic and set your business up for future success.