Why Building a Website is Bad for Business

Creating a website is bad for business.

Now we all know that in order to have a business, you have to have a website, right?  Attract clients, sell them stuff from the website. That's how you make money, right?

Not so fast.

Hi, I'm Don Downs from RV Business Coach. Tonight, I'm going to be talking about why building a website—actually, I should say why building a website too quickly—is bad for your business.

Now, I remember when I first started my business... After I got my website, that's when things started to feel real. "It's a real business, now! I've got a website! I've got business cards! What more do I need?" Right?.

How about clients? How about actually making money?

The business actually becomes real when it tarts making money, when it is actually profitable for you.

And getting a website too soon actually gets in the way of that, believe it or not. Why is that?

It Distracts You from the “Real Work”

Well, first of all, building a website too soon distracts you from the real work. The real work as a business owner is getting clients.

Now, I know I talk a lot about your business is all about service and serving people, and that's absolutely true. Don't get me wrong here.

But in order to be able to serve people and solve their problems, the business is going to need funds. And while there's lots of ways you can get funds, the most sustainable way to get funds is through clients: by selling the service. And so you really have to be focused on bringing those clients in so that the business can be profitable.

And creating a website gets you get all tied up in what colors is you're going to use, and what pictures you're going to use, what the format is going to look like, what fonts you're going to use, writing copy…

And none of that is directly related to bringing in clients. So all of that work really just gets in the way of what you really need to be doing.

It Marries You to an Idea Too Quickly

Another problem with creating the website too quickly is that it marries you to the idea too quickly. And by that I mean when you're still formulating the business, you need to be flexible and agile.

Now, when I coach clients on the five step method, I call it the the Lifestyle Blueprint, in phase two we create and validate the business. That validation piece is really crucial because validating is fast and it's cheap and it's fairly easy to do. And it tells you right off the bat, if you're going to be successful.

If you've already built your website, then you're not going to do proper validation. You're going to want to try to skew the results, to force it to look like it validates whether it does or not.

And you'll end up spending a lot of time and money potentially on a dead end idea. So don't build it too quickly because you don't want to get married in there too quickly.

It’s Too Static

And then the third problem with the website is somewhat related to that, is that it's too static. And by that I mean it's typically harder to change a website. If you know how to go in the back end and change it, maybe not too bad. If you have to contact a web developer to change it, then it's really hard to make changes.

And you don't want to get tied up like that because in this validation process, you're going to be getting feedback about what clients see and what they don't see, what they want, what they don't want.

And you're going to be changing your phrasing and changing the way you word it because it's very likely that you're right about what their pain point is, but you're not describing it in a way that resonates with them or you're not describing the solution in a way that resonates with them.

And so you want to be able to be agile and not be too static in that website.

So What Should We Do?

OK, so if we're not going to do a website, what are we going to do?

Use Your LinkedIn Profile

Well, the first thing I recommend is use your LinkedIn profile. Your LinkedIn profile can be kind of like a sandbox. It's a place where you can play and you can go change it frequently, and you can send people to your LinkedIn profile to read it and see what they think about it.

When you do this, don't just put your resume on your LinkedIn profile. Write your profile for the client. Do a problem/solution format:

Something like:

You know how...<describe "Hell Island">.
Imagine instead you <are on "Heaven Island">.
That's what I do…
Here's how I move you from “Hell Island” to “Heaven Island.”

Now, what this does is help you connect with the client and make sure that:

1. You understand what their "Hell Island" is
2. You understand what their "Heaven Island" is, and that
3. Your wording about how you get them there resonates and connects with them.

So updating the LinkedIn profile is one thing you can do.

Connect

And even more important is to connect with potential clients. Connect with them, talk with them, and get feedback on whether or not they agree with your problem statement. Does it resonate? And the solution, does that resonate? Is how you envision their "Heaven Island," is that their "Heaven Island?" And does the solution make sense?

How do you connect?

Good old fashioned ways: Email, phone, video calls, et cetera.

It feels really low tech, not nearly as exciting as a website, but I guarantee you it is a lot more effective and it allows you to go through this validation process much more quickly. You can do it iteratively: keep making changes until you've got something that really, really connects with your clients.