Homemade Websites

Homemade Power System

This one goes out to all the industrious, hard-working entrepreneurs who build their own websites.

1. How do you want the world to view your business?
You went to YouTube and watched a how-to video on building your No. 1 point of contact with the world.

OK if you’re in high school and sharing poetry with family and friends. Not OK if you’re building a revenue-driving business.

You save money but the competition gets your clients with their shiny, new, professionally-built site.

2. Freebies
Everyone loves a good freebie: mouse pads, key chains, soap, visors.

Did you notice that companies give invaluable things away? So why would you rely on a company that offers free websites to run your dream business. Your future?

3. Do you make your own clothes?
Clients look at your website and instantly decide whether to do business with you based on your image. The first look gives them an idea of how you’ll handle their business.

A homemade website speaks volumes. It’s like wearing homemade clothes with sloppy lines and crooked pockets. You walk into your first client meeting to tell clients how you’ll handle their business and a button pops off your shirt and onto the table.

Nice touch.

4. Home repairs
You fix your sink, change your oil, clean your home, mow your lawn. That’s industrious.

But no one checks those for quality of work or capabilities, client lists, work samples, services and team members as they do check your website.

One broken link. One non-functioning tab. One empty page and you’ve lost a client who will never trust you again.

5. Self-maintenance
If your car makes a funny sound, you take it to a mechanic.

When your website breaks down do you fix it? More importantly, do you have the skill and training to know what’s wrong?

Websites need coding, powerful programming so that search engines can find them and produce your business on the first page in a search.

Your marketing elements should be very carefully monitored by professionals, not do-it-yourselfers.

6. Viruses
Coughing, fever, nausea, dizziness are signs you’re sick. Do you know when you have a computer virus?

You will when your system crashes and all your information is lost or personal information shared with the world. Like any illness, prevention is the key to averting disasters.

Is there a backup to your backup to that backup? Who runs your server? Did you pay to have the information and site backed up?

7. Emergency service
If your child falls from a tree and breaks a bone, you can rush to an emergency room doctor about 30 minutes away.

Who do you call when your computer crashes and you’ve outsourced everything to a website company in another country and the 800 number tells you to call back between business hours?

There’s no 24-hour web pharmacy. But there are professionals who build websites that won’t break down and who can answer questions when you need.

8. Discount diners and special seekers
Everybody wants a deal. People love to bargain. Discounts, two-for-ones. But don’t expect the best and expect to pay less.

Where does that happen in business? Do you give your customers discounts and let them low ball you?

Paying a company to put up something quickly, written in a day, posting to a free online service accomplishes the task. It’s done. And all you have to do is pay monthly for it to sit there and do nothing.

There is no programming, no coding, no SEO, no content, no video, no blog, no social media. But it’s paid for.

A good website will bring traffic and will impress your clientele with: