Week 1
You just purchased your first URL and signed up for a DIY website creation service. You are so excited to get started on building your new website.
Week 2
You've looked at hundreds of design templates, but can't decide on just one. You fell into a website design inspiration rabbit hole. You started to build the menus, but haven't filled the empty pages.
Week 3
You spent 3 whole days sorting through photos and stock image websites while looking for the right pictures to illustrate your products and services. You fell down rabbit hole #2 while looking for images from an old Instagram post.
Week 4 & 5
You've lost some hair will pulling on it as you try to create copy that includes the right keywords and sums up what you do — and why someone should work with your team.
Week 6
You fall in rabbit hole #3 while looking at YouTube videos, facebook feeds, and entrepreneurial websites — just so you can figure out how to add a video to your home page, and connect it to a call to action button.
Week 7
You still haven't launched the website, and just realized that you forgot to add keywords in your copy. The excitement you had in week 1 is starting to feel like a burden, and you still haven't had the time to jump into bills, accounting, or customer call backs. Your focus is providing excellent service to your current clients and customers, but lack of marketing is causing your lead funnel to dry up.
... Is this story starting to sound familiar?
The DIYer's dilemma:
She enjoys learning new things and having control over every element of her business; however, chronic multi-tasking is causing mistakes, missed opportunities, and burnout.
Would you rather:
A). Waste precious hours (more likely, weeks) trying to set up a new program like Quickbooks? or
B.) Call an accounting pro to set Quickbooks up for you, knowing it will be set up correctly the first time? This option also increases the chances that you'll get some resources and tax tips from an expert in the field.
In Business News Daily's 20 Mistakes to Avoid When Starting a Business, "Don't try to do everything yourself" is in 6th place above, "Don't waste money." Considering that TIME IS MONEY, how much are you wasting trying to figure out website creation software, graphic editing tools, blog writing, email marketing, social media, SEO, branding, establishing affiliate relationships, and measuring or testing data?
Using a website creation tool like Shopify or Wix to promote your brand is exciting and empowering, but small business owners don't realize that they can also suck up precious time and money. Like the Quickbooks example above, hiring a pro allows you to launch your website faster, with better load times, stronger SEO, mobile responsiveness, and a solid foundation for future expansion. A marketing professional sees your website as a dynamic and hardworking TOOL — not just a static brochure or contact form — and takes a strategic approach to creating each new page.
Use your time to get back to your customers. Your website should work seamlessly with your digital ads, social media, and email marketing tools to generate leads, complete sales, and retain customers. When you work with The Wix Doctor, you always get a holistic approach (with useful marketing and website tips thrown into the bargain).
Plan of Attraction
KPI stands for "Key Performance Indicator." KPIs are the road signs on your marketing map. No matter what tools you use to attract or convert customers, it's important that you track trends from the start, so you can budget time for the initiatives that are generating the best results, and decide if you need to tweak or delete anything that's not working.
Use a Marketing Plan to measure your website, social media page, email marketing campaigns or automations, and all other advertising. Include a timeline or gantt chart to easily view initiatives over time, and see where your dollars can be best spent. Don't jump into "Week 1" design your Wix or Shopify website until you have defined your audience, established your mission, and created a draft plan.
The Wix Doctor can help you set up a comprehensive Marketing Plan, or you can use a simple Excel spreadsheet to get started. There are also great online subscription services like Monday and Hubspot for planning, or grab the Smartsheet marketing plan template with a free trial.
I've created a very simple spreadsheet to help you get started:
Make sure the tool you choose is easy to use and share. You should have a "big picture" document that summarizes all your marketing efforts (like a gantt chart or table view), as well as individual lists for each category or initiative. This will be the roadmap to reaching your goals.
Items to include on your spreadsheet:
Time spent + campaign schedule
Active goals + current status
Priority of initiatives
Tasks required to accomplish initiatives + time required
If you take a DIY approach to your website design, plan ahead to avoid pitfalls. Think of your website as an extension of the Marketing Plan, working 24/7. Each time you create a new online offer, landing page, or call-to-action button, or add new products and services to your catalog, make a note in your project tracker and schedule a final analysis to measure performance of the page, button, or product over time. Try A/B testing when possible, and note how colors, copy, photos, or length affects CTRs and conversions.
Every entrepreneur eventually hits a "doing everything yourself" wall. When the day finally comes to delegate, your Marketing plan will be the decoder ring for identifying opportunities, defining the most efficient tools for growth, and budgeting time for maximum results.
Need a Marketing Director, Email Marketing Manager, and Social Media Specialist, but don't have the budget for 3 extra full-time employees?
Hire The Wix Doctor to manage a specific campaign, create a website, build a marketing plan, monitor a Facebook page, or set up an email automation to sell your products and services automatically. I'll work within your marketing budget to help you reach your print, digital or social media goals.