A week ago I got back from nine days in Panama. Between a business retreat with my business coach, Lianne Kim, and a powerful group of women entrepreneurs, and three days solo in Panama City, I had a lot of time to reflect on our business (and to be honest – enjoy some much needed sunshine too!).
I had a conversation with my birding tour guide about websites following the usual “what do you do?” question that got me thinking about the value of hiring the right guide… read on below for some takeaways.
Talking websites with my birding tour guide in Panama
After a great morning of walking Pipeline Road (living the bird nerd dream!) and being immersed in a jungle filled with a variety of birds that my guide was able to find, identify, and zoom in with his scope (in the amount of time it takes most people to focus their binoculars) we were driving back to my accommodations and he asked me what I do for a living.
I love this question, because the conversation that follows is usually as beneficial for me as it is for the person that asked the question (and they typically follow with a series of questions about websites or design – so that they can implement some tips on their own DIY or dated site). I can talk for days (or a drive from the jungle back into Panama City) about how to elevate a website.
The first question he asked was how much a website costs because he knew he needed a new one, and at the end of the day, cost can be a huge barrier. This is typically my least favourite questions since there are so many variables. But the biggest variable that was glaring at me was the difference between what someone makes in rural Panama and their cost of living vs what we need to charge in Canada in order to pay ourselves and our team, our tools and our subscriptions in a part of the world that has a drastically higher cost of living.
Knowing that he was not my target customer based on demographics alone (our cheapest package is a great price for Canadians or Americans… not so much for rural Panamanians) I was reflecting on what value I could give him in his quest for a new website.
How can you justify a $2,000, $5,000, or $10,000 website when you can get one for a few hundred dollars from someone working in a part of the world where the cost of living is so much lower?
I asked my tour guide to consider the same things I would ask someone local to me.
When looking for someone to work on your website consider these questions:
- Does the person understand your business, your customer, and your goals? Someone local may have better insight into your target customer and the expectations around the design and functionality of your website.
- Can they deliver a website based on a clear strategy? Almost anyone can put together a website, but it’s the strategy that sets a great website apart from the rest.
- What do you want to achieve from your website and can the person you are considering be an effective guide? If you are hiring a pro, you need to be sure they can guide you towards the results you are hoping to achieve. They should ask you thoughtful questions. If you don’t feel like they understand your business and your goals, they likely haven’t asked enough questions or communicated effectively.
- How will your website fit into your other marketing efforts? When I was booking my birding tour I got most of the information I needed for him to make the sale through my research on Trip Advisor and his strong presence on that platform. Really all he needs is a simple site to capture leads and start the conversation so that there is less admin effort needed in the early communication. A booking calendar and payment gateway would be great too, and those are features that can easily be added in with a phased approach.
Try this little exercise!
A fun little exercise to get you thinking about what your website should be doing for you is to look at what other businesses are doing. It’s sometimes easier to see gaps in someone else’s marketing flow than it is to analyze our own. The next time you come across a website that isn’t working very well, ask yourself what isn’t working. When you start to become familiar with why websites aren’t providing a good user experience it becomes easier to see what may not be working on yours too.
Are you an effective guide for your dream client?
Our chat also got me thinking of the value of hiring the right guide. Whether you are hiring someone to guide you through a website redesign project, or whether your clients are hiring you as their guide.
I definitely hired the right guide for my birding tour! He knew the area and all the best spots to stop to see some of the most hard-to-spot birds in the jungle. He also had a great personality and made the 5:30am start to the day worth it!
Are you the right guide for your dream client? And, is this made obvious to them through your branding, website, and marketing materials?
If your website, branding, or marketing materials feel muddled and you’re not sure how to fix them, let’s chat! You can book a free, no-obligation discovery call to see if we would be a good guide for you.
And if you are in your DIY era, make sure you check out the rest of the resources on our website.
