You Are the Best at What You Do, so Delegate Your Website Tasks
The spirit of rugged pioneers, proudly doing it all on their own, is integral to American history. But is being your business’s web developer, too, really the smartest use of your time?
We all revel in that independent spirit, closely following DIY home shows and using YouTube videos to pick up new skills. From cooking to crafting to creating our own businesses, we confidently believe that if we just roll up our sleeves, there’s nothing we can’t do.
That’s a great attitude to embrace, but just because we are capable of doing something, is doing it truly worth the effort?
Sprocket Website has been building websites since 2010 and we’ve always raised an eyebrow when small business organizations offer seminars like “Make Your Own Website in an Afternoon!” or when online advertisements say “Create a Free Website Today!” Wouldn’t it make more sense to help entrepreneurs by focusing on their product or service instead of distracting them with tasks totally out of their expertise? Brick-and-mortar shopkeepers could learn how to properly wield a squeegee, but they hire professional window washers. The job gets done more efficiently and the business owners’ efforts are put to better use.
DIY website-building companies strive to convince small biz owners that building an online marketing presence is even easier than washing their own windows. Unfortunately, many people just jump right in and never 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 due diligence in choosing their online marketing 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, but she now has months of poor online reputation to overcome.
Today’s online marketing strategies are far, far from the old “build it and they will come” mentality of the early days. It’s not enough to just have a web presence, you also need to optimize for search engines, control your online footprint, create connections, and a myriad of other supportive tasks beyond just building a good-looking and hard-working website. Of course you could eventually master these skills, but if you are already skilled at what your business offers, that should be your focus for success
This DIY spirit is so prevalent that 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 to be posted by the web developer. Since content management systems are extremely common today, giving every employee access to the company’s website, 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.
Naturally, Sprocket Websites would love to be your chosen web partner. To learn more about how we can work together for the success of your business, give us a call.
Photo by Sora Shimazaki:
This article is an update to “Know Your Strengths – Delegate Your Website” dated 9/28/2015.
Kate Gingold
I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.
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I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.
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