Since building websites is what we do, it always catches our attention when we see small business organizations offering seminars like “Make Your Own Website in One Day!” You would think that any group trying to help entrepreneurs would advise focusing on the product or service being offered instead. For instance, even though shopkeepers might be capable of wielding a squeegee, they’d rather hire window washers. The job is done more efficiently and the business owners’ efforts are put to better use.

But seminars like that give small biz owners the impression that building an online marketing presence is easier than washing their own windows. They just jump right in and may not even realize how much time they are wasting and how many opportunities they are missing.

Not long ago we got a call from a frustrated DIY entrepreneur with a half-finished website. “I started my website on my own with Squarespace but it’s really, really limited in what it can do.” He has an impressive plan for his business and he can envision what he wants his website to do, but now that he’s come this far, he’s stuck because he wasn’t familiar with the tool’s capabilities. And why should he be? His expertise is elsewhere.

Some entrepreneurs do recognize that creating a website is not the best use of their time, but they still fail to invest a little due diligence when choosing their web partner. A client once replaced us with a friend who was “a graphic artist or something.” Months later, she called back because “it just didn’t work out.” Not only did this client waste months of opportunity, she now has months of poor online reputation to overcome.

This DIY spirit is so prevalent, we were rather taken aback during a recent conversation at a networking event. A man we just met mentioned that he wrote web content for Fermi Lab that was posted by the web developer. Since there are so many content management systems in use today, we expressed surprise that he worked with a web professional. His reply was priceless:

“We know particle colliders. Why should we know websites?”

And that is the lesson of the day, folks. Whether it’s accounting or widgets or particle colliders, focus on what you do best. Let a web partner take care of your website.

Of course we’d love to be the web partner you choose! Ready to work together? Give us a call today and we’ll be happy to help!