When building a business online, it can feel tempting to jump straight to posting on social media. You might be thinking that if social media is where all of your potential clients are, you should start posting ASAP. But, we’ve got some groundbreaking, earth-shattering, mind-blowing news for you, sis.
You shouldn’t start with social media. You should start with a website.
Because posting to social media is fruitless unless you have a clear business foundation.
Now, it’s true that these days, no matter what you’re offering/selling, you HAVE to be on social media. Social media is like your resume – it showcases what you can do and it can help you build a community with your ideal clients. But it’s harder for people to purchase from you – to really trust you – if social media is the only information they’re getting from you.
Think about it, you wouldn’t purchase something from someone you don’t trust, right? Just like a potential client won’t buy something from you if there’s no depth. If social media is like your resume, your website is like the interview (i.e. when people get to really know you and why you’re a good fit for them!)
But don’t be so quick to put all of your hard-earned cash into your website. Paying hundreds of thousands of dollars into having your website custom built shouldn’t be the first action you take for your first website.
Our recommendation for you: your first website should be a one-page landing page.
Use us for example, we use our website as a landing page for all the workshops we host and information on our SideBiz SMART Accelerator program. Our website pages give us a chance to give interested clients more info than we could on IG. So, when creating your website, it should have a picture of you and/or your service, a description of who you are and what your business does, and answers to some frequently asked questions about your business.
In other words, your website should be your “centerpiece.”
Your website is basically your final destination for your clients. It should link to all of your social media accounts and it should have a way for people to either contact you or book with you or take the next step with you.
Here are some suggestions when DIYing your first website:
- You can get your domain and get your website from a company that has an all-in-one package. (Don’t know where to start? We’ve got you, sis. Google Domains or GoDaddy are AMAZING resources that will let you purchase the domain and build your website right then and there.
- Instead of buying a custom website or having someone build you one, buy a template! Get a gorgeous template from websites such as Etsy and put it on your website. From there, you can customize your colors or pay a developer who’ll make it personal to you.
- It’s important not to spend a TON of money at the begging of your business because it’s inevitable that your business will change. It doesn’t matter how certain you are, something will change, whether it’s what you’re offering or your packaging for those offerings.
Now, we know we’ve given you a lot of juicy tidbits to think about, but there’s one thing you should know for sure: you should have a website. It doesn’t need to be complex – in fact, it shouldn’t be. Your website can be a one-page (read: simple) website. One that you should invest not-a-lot-of money into. And to do that, there are so many templates and other resources to help you get started faster, quicker, and cheaper.
At the end of the day, your website just needs to give people a place to discover more about you and what you’re offering. It doesn’t have to have all the bells and whistles.
So, does your business really need a website? Yes! Yes! A thousand times, yes!
And we know starting a website can be hard. But it’s so necessary. It’ll help centralize your entire online business.
And if you need some encouragement after you’ve finished building your new website, we’ve got you, sis! Just send your website to @sidebizsmart and we’ll be there, relentlessly cheering you on.
Wanna listen to the full episode? Grab it on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Looking for entrepreneurial tips and biz advice? Follow us on IG or Tik Tok @sidebizsmart.
Want to follow the host? Find Janelle here: @heyjnicole on Tik Tok or Instagram.
Interested in programs and pivot advice, take a look at our website: https://sidebizsmart.com/.
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