1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,900 This is a note to feature me. 2 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:03,940 Hi, this is Brett Johnson, your host and 3 00:00:03,970 --> 00:00:07,300 the owner of Circle 270 Media podcast Consultants. 4 00:00:07,330 --> 00:00:11,060 If you survived Facebook and Instagram 5 00:00:11,090 --> 00:00:17,440 and what's that being down in October, this is going to be the episode for you. 6 00:00:17,470 --> 00:00:19,880 I talk with Laura Oldham. 7 00:00:19,900 --> 00:00:22,260 She is the owner of Starburst Media. 8 00:00:22,290 --> 00:00:24,640 She uses array of her skills gained 9 00:00:24,670 --> 00:00:29,380 through various web and design firms in Chicago, lives in Columbus, and over the 10 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:33,540 past, Deck has own Starburst Media and helping hundreds of clients 11 00:00:33,570 --> 00:00:40,100 take advantage of WordPress Squarespace Shopify website building. 12 00:00:40,130 --> 00:00:43,180 And if Facebook and Instagram and what's 13 00:00:43,210 --> 00:00:47,360 that being down is not enough for you to realize that you need a 14 00:00:47,390 --> 00:00:53,020 website, I hope this episode will help you figure that out. 15 00:00:53,050 --> 00:00:56,140 She goes over some really good 16 00:00:56,170 --> 00:01:02,560 meet on the bone advice about what to look for when building a website, why you 17 00:01:02,590 --> 00:01:06,040 should be building a website or revising the website that you have. 18 00:01:06,070 --> 00:01:08,700 If that is the hurdle that stops you 19 00:01:08,730 --> 00:01:12,920 from really focusing and promoting your website just because you don't like it, 20 00:01:12,950 --> 00:01:16,360 now is the time to be taking a look at that and revising it. 21 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:18,340 If you haven't built a website, I mean a 22 00:01:18,370 --> 00:01:24,320 standalone website not based on a website that you have on your hosting platform. 23 00:01:24,350 --> 00:01:28,620 I'm talking a dot com with your podcast name in front of that. 24 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:29,660 Com. 25 00:01:29,690 --> 00:01:33,900 Now is the time to really be thinking about doing that and moving forward 26 00:01:33,930 --> 00:01:37,850 because this won't be the last time social media will go down. 27 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:42,640 And if you rely on social media totally on 28 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:47,100 promoting your podcast, promoting your business, you're building your Castle on 29 00:01:47,130 --> 00:01:50,800 sand, as they say, this is a fantastic interview with Laura. 30 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:53,960 I hope you enjoyed. I hope you get a couple of tidbits from it 31 00:01:53,990 --> 00:01:58,210 and it energizes you to build a website for your podcast. 32 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:04,720 Well, Laura, timing can be better to talk about websites with Facebook with the 33 00:02:04,750 --> 00:02:07,680 Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp instant that happened now? 34 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:08,760 Just a couple of days ago. 35 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:10,080 By the time we published this. 36 00:02:10,110 --> 00:02:15,120 But back in October, if you're listening yes, months from now, I think it was more 37 00:02:15,150 --> 00:02:18,940 than a mild inconvenience or what they called it internally a snow day. 38 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:20,360 Glad they can make light of it. 39 00:02:20,370 --> 00:02:22,320 I think a lot more people were freaking 40 00:02:22,350 --> 00:02:27,680 out than they were podcasters and business owners as well may now see the urgency and 41 00:02:27,710 --> 00:02:32,480 creating a standalone website entirely separate from social media. 42 00:02:32,510 --> 00:02:34,400 If this were to happen to Spotify or 43 00:02:34,430 --> 00:02:38,880 Apple, far too many would have ended up losing listeners and revenue. 44 00:02:38,910 --> 00:02:40,920 You lived through yesterday too. 45 00:02:40,950 --> 00:02:44,680 What are your thoughts about looking back at it going, yeah. 46 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:47,840 Did you have those? I told you so moments. 47 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:51,960 Maybe to an extent, it's been funny because when I first 48 00:02:51,990 --> 00:02:57,020 started my business about twelve years ago, it was largely social media based, 49 00:02:57,050 --> 00:03:03,260 and my first five years or so was telling clients they needed to be on social media 50 00:03:03,290 --> 00:03:07,740 in addition to their website and the last six or seven years has been not to worry 51 00:03:07,770 --> 00:03:12,260 so much about social media, because truthfully, I mean, any number of things 52 00:03:12,290 --> 00:03:17,580 are going to take Facebook slash Instagram down because anti trust. 53 00:03:17,610 --> 00:03:22,800 If there's ever been a time, what it was made clear why you shouldn't have one 54 00:03:22,830 --> 00:03:27,160 company controlling such a big chunk of communications for the entire world. 55 00:03:27,190 --> 00:03:30,280 It was yesterday where people in countries 56 00:03:30,310 --> 00:03:34,940 were able to communicate with family members and businesses 57 00:03:34,970 --> 00:03:41,040 weren't able to do basic commerce that they rely upon Facebook for. 58 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:45,840 So it just kind of was like, Well, this is why I've been telling people for years 59 00:03:45,870 --> 00:03:51,500 that having even the most simple website is really important because you do not 60 00:03:51,530 --> 00:03:55,940 know what's going to happen to Facebook, Instagram or any number of these over the 61 00:03:55,970 --> 00:03:59,700 next few years as regulators start to break them up, or 62 00:03:59,730 --> 00:04:06,610 if the EU somehow manages to completely destroy Mark Zuckerberg, who knows? 63 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:08,820 But it's always better to have control 64 00:04:08,850 --> 00:04:13,540 over your own assets instead of depending upon Facebook servers being working. 65 00:04:13,570 --> 00:04:16,020 Yeah, well, and the social media, Facebook 66 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:19,180 in particular has made it really enticing to build your business on. 67 00:04:19,210 --> 00:04:23,380 I mean, they give you the tools are pretty simple to tools to use on the back end 68 00:04:23,410 --> 00:04:26,980 that you're living on that social media platform more than you realize. 69 00:04:27,010 --> 00:04:29,720 And they've really slipped themselves into 70 00:04:29,750 --> 00:04:34,540 the business realm to make it look like they're your partner in it. 71 00:04:34,570 --> 00:04:36,860 And I think again, 72 00:04:36,890 --> 00:04:41,260 them being down for most of a day, really open your eyes to it. 73 00:04:41,280 --> 00:04:43,660 And maybe it's now a realization of, okay, 74 00:04:43,690 --> 00:04:46,520 let's look at this platform, Facebook Instagram. 75 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:47,400 What's that? Twitter. 76 00:04:47,420 --> 00:04:49,820 It could be any of them for what it is. 77 00:04:49,840 --> 00:04:51,280 It's a communication tool. 78 00:04:51,300 --> 00:04:52,320 That's it. 79 00:04:52,340 --> 00:04:57,620 You can't build your house on sand, quite frankly. 80 00:04:57,650 --> 00:05:01,120 And I think those have the website, I 81 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:03,940 would think, and you may have gotten calls yesterday, too. 82 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:05,860 Kind of going, thank goodness we got a website. 83 00:05:05,890 --> 00:05:08,720 I think that we're living on what we build. 84 00:05:08,750 --> 00:05:12,440 Yeah, I one of the conversations that I 85 00:05:12,470 --> 00:05:16,360 had yesterday was one of a client or not a client. 86 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:18,820 I'm sorry. A campaign that I'm a part of were like, 87 00:05:18,840 --> 00:05:23,840 thank God we have such a robust playing in place for wit drops and mailers and 88 00:05:23,860 --> 00:05:29,500 everything else, because if a campaign was granted, it was half a day. 89 00:05:29,530 --> 00:05:34,060 But that can be a lot for some of these local campaigns, especially. 90 00:05:34,090 --> 00:05:38,600 Thank goodness we have so many other pieces in place to communicate with people 91 00:05:38,630 --> 00:05:41,680 effectively outside of just depending upon Facebook. 92 00:05:41,710 --> 00:05:44,640 And you know, another thing that yesterday 93 00:05:44,670 --> 00:05:48,260 is sort of underlined to me for years with Facebook, they've been 94 00:05:48,290 --> 00:05:52,880 making all their money by saying, Well, if you don't pay for your post, 10% of your 95 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:56,220 audience will see it or whatever it is right now based upon the algorithm. 96 00:05:56,250 --> 00:05:59,000 So it's always been based upon paying. 97 00:05:59,030 --> 00:06:01,020 So even when it's working as well as it 98 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:05,620 should, you're still what you think you're getting for free or not. 99 00:06:05,650 --> 00:06:08,720 It costs money to get in front of even the 100 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:10,780 people that already chose to see your post. 101 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:14,140 So yes, everything does have something 102 00:06:14,170 --> 00:06:19,200 outside of just depending upon Facebook and let's dive into it a little bit to it. 103 00:06:19,230 --> 00:06:22,040 So I know we've been preaching and I've 104 00:06:22,070 --> 00:06:26,900 been talking about it while you have your whole career as well to create a website. 105 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:28,680 And I think some of the hurdle and 106 00:06:28,710 --> 00:06:37,340 creating a website is that where do you start and you read the Google that topic. 107 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:41,220 You'll be reading pages and pages and pages and pages. 108 00:06:41,250 --> 00:06:43,400 And I think it's good to talk to people 109 00:06:43,420 --> 00:06:47,820 that have been in it a while that have gotten the bruises for their clients and 110 00:06:47,850 --> 00:06:53,300 such and learned as they go because that ever changing industry. 111 00:06:53,330 --> 00:06:55,640 So can we go over maybe a few dos and 112 00:06:55,670 --> 00:06:59,960 don'ts when creating a website? I mean, it's one of those where do you start some 113 00:06:59,960 --> 00:07:02,940 do's and don'ts when creating a website? Well, it comes to mind. 114 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:05,600 Sure. So my biggest thing would be to say and 115 00:07:05,630 --> 00:07:09,480 this is a lot easier to say than to do, but just don't overthink it. 116 00:07:09,510 --> 00:07:11,620 I think a lot of times 117 00:07:11,650 --> 00:07:17,620 a lot of the people I talk to have gotten more just in their own heads about it. 118 00:07:17,650 --> 00:07:20,720 Well, how do I want to say who I am? 119 00:07:20,750 --> 00:07:24,360 What my background is if you start simple and go from there. 120 00:07:24,390 --> 00:07:27,440 Even a simple, small, simple something is 121 00:07:27,470 --> 00:07:32,060 better than having the landing page coming soon, 122 00:07:32,090 --> 00:07:37,780 rather than having just even the tiniest bit about yourself, as far as making sure, 123 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:41,180 depending upon the business or the podcast or whatever. 124 00:07:41,210 --> 00:07:46,500 But just enough that someone can find you and get a feel for what it is that you're 125 00:07:46,530 --> 00:07:49,280 trying to share with them, sell them whatever it is. 126 00:07:49,300 --> 00:07:52,640 But even the most basic Wix website or 127 00:07:52,670 --> 00:07:56,940 square space website could be really easy to throw together as long as you just 128 00:07:56,970 --> 00:07:59,460 don't overthink what should go on the website. 129 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:02,400 And I think to me that was assembling 130 00:08:02,420 --> 00:08:06,000 block as well when I put mine together homemade as it were. 131 00:08:06,030 --> 00:08:07,160 But it's one of those. 132 00:08:07,190 --> 00:08:09,660 How do I tell people what I do 133 00:08:09,690 --> 00:08:14,700 and sell and help and such without making it a home? 134 00:08:14,730 --> 00:08:20,120 You work with Squarespace WordPress Shopify's while 2 may be a little bit off 135 00:08:20,150 --> 00:08:24,260 the beaten path for podcast, but it is monetary opportunity. 136 00:08:24,290 --> 00:08:27,460 Is WordPress the best route to go? 137 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:30,000 What are the pros and cons that working with WordPress? 138 00:08:30,030 --> 00:08:32,700 I mean, everybody seems to know about WordPress. 139 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:34,500 They're familiar with it, but they also 140 00:08:34,530 --> 00:08:37,080 see the square spaces and the Wix opportunities too. 141 00:08:37,110 --> 00:08:40,220 And go how this is a lot easier to go into. 142 00:08:40,250 --> 00:08:41,820 What do you think about that? 143 00:08:41,850 --> 00:08:46,520 It depends upon the project and what the person involved once. 144 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:47,660 Right. 145 00:08:47,690 --> 00:08:49,740 How I describe WordPress. 146 00:08:49,770 --> 00:08:51,360 Wordpress is fantastic. 147 00:08:51,390 --> 00:08:54,060 If you want control down to the Pixel 148 00:08:54,080 --> 00:09:00,120 where it is very important to you to have X designed just like how it is in your 149 00:09:00,150 --> 00:09:04,380 head or you have a very specific brand and you need the different elements. 150 00:09:04,410 --> 00:09:07,520 Wordpress gives you in my mind a lot more 151 00:09:07,550 --> 00:09:10,640 control, at least easier without a lot of custom code. 152 00:09:10,670 --> 00:09:12,120 You can really control that. 153 00:09:12,150 --> 00:09:14,760 Wordpress is also great for someone who's been blog. 154 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:16,080 A lot 155 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:20,520 is great if you want something quick and you don't want to have to worry about it 156 00:09:20,550 --> 00:09:24,220 with WordPress, there is a lot of hacking involved. 157 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:26,160 You have to constantly make sure that all 158 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:29,200 of your themes and plugins and the WordPress version are up to date. 159 00:09:29,230 --> 00:09:35,100 Otherwise you're vulnerable to just more so annoying then you know, big 160 00:09:35,130 --> 00:09:38,920 scale hacking, but even just having an injection of code in your 161 00:09:38,940 --> 00:09:41,640 website can be enough to throw your day off. 162 00:09:41,670 --> 00:09:44,020 But you don't have that with Squarespace. 163 00:09:44,050 --> 00:09:48,120 The Squarespace, it's more you pay through Squarespace for the hosting, the 164 00:09:48,150 --> 00:09:51,400 SSL certificate and maybe even the domain you set up a website. 165 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:53,400 It can be as simple or as complicated as 166 00:09:53,430 --> 00:09:57,960 you want, and then you don't necessarily need to worry about it getting taken down 167 00:09:57,990 --> 00:10:01,280 or hacked or anything like that and then Shopify. 168 00:10:01,310 --> 00:10:05,640 It's good if you're selling anything because it has all the security in place. 169 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:07,280 You don't have to worry with WordPress. 170 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:09,040 There are all these extra plugins and 171 00:10:09,060 --> 00:10:12,580 payment processing pieces and Shopify just makes all of that easy. 172 00:10:12,610 --> 00:10:14,740 You've seen Squarespace and Wix then a 173 00:10:14,770 --> 00:10:19,740 good alternative if you are a blogger has become better blogging tool. 174 00:10:19,770 --> 00:10:22,340 I still definitely prefer WordPress when 175 00:10:22,370 --> 00:10:27,380 it comes to anyone that's win to blog regularly, and that might be more just 176 00:10:27,410 --> 00:10:32,340 subjective is because it's what I'm familiar with, 177 00:10:32,370 --> 00:10:37,160 but there are just so many great tools to WordPress built in for people who are 178 00:10:37,190 --> 00:10:41,040 going to regularly post blog, post, podcast or whatever. 179 00:10:41,060 --> 00:10:43,220 It is ongoing content like that, whereas 180 00:10:43,250 --> 00:10:48,660 with pore space, it's fantastic for someone who's maybe got to post ten blog 181 00:10:48,690 --> 00:10:51,440 posts a year as opposed to regularly updating. 182 00:10:51,470 --> 00:10:54,140 That was my impression too. 183 00:10:54,170 --> 00:10:59,400 And again, I'm not in Squarespace or Wix to know the upgrades and how they're 184 00:10:59,430 --> 00:11:03,600 changing to be more friendly to one sector or another. 185 00:11:03,630 --> 00:11:06,100 I was under that impression 186 00:11:06,130 --> 00:11:11,060 is what were impressed was based on is it built around blogging and such too? 187 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:13,740 So it's been a natural 188 00:11:13,770 --> 00:11:20,540 go to for podcasters because basically podcast is a blog verbalized and even more 189 00:11:20,570 --> 00:11:24,880 and then top it injecting video very easily. 190 00:11:24,910 --> 00:11:26,620 In saying that, though, are there 191 00:11:26,650 --> 00:11:30,920 alternatives to WordPress that could be considered is really the Squarespace and 192 00:11:30,950 --> 00:11:36,000 with the way to go or is there easier entry ways into WordPress that it's not 193 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:38,300 such a big Hill to climb once you get into WordPress. 194 00:11:38,330 --> 00:11:41,540 That'S a good question for one person. 195 00:11:41,570 --> 00:11:46,460 Something might seem really complicated and like a lot to handle and for someone 196 00:11:46,490 --> 00:11:48,740 else they might just pick it up right away. 197 00:11:48,770 --> 00:11:51,680 I personally find Wix to be a little hard 198 00:11:51,710 --> 00:11:57,260 to fully understand how they have it set up and that's me being someone that has 199 00:11:57,290 --> 00:12:01,840 worked on dozens of Wix websites over the years, like, I have a pretty good handle 200 00:12:01,870 --> 00:12:06,660 on how it's set up, but still, sometimes it can feel kind of wonky to me. 201 00:12:06,690 --> 00:12:08,180 Squarespace. 202 00:12:08,210 --> 00:12:12,320 They recently came out with a newer version that I think is much more user 203 00:12:12,350 --> 00:12:14,740 friendly than anything they had in the past. 204 00:12:14,770 --> 00:12:19,980 But that being said, there are still some things that in my mind don't necessarily 205 00:12:20,010 --> 00:12:22,460 function as I would expect or want them to. 206 00:12:22,490 --> 00:12:25,280 But in general, when someone when I know 207 00:12:25,310 --> 00:12:30,440 that they're serious about blogging and they want to have ongoing content updates, 208 00:12:30,470 --> 00:12:34,120 WordPress, it's typically going to be the best option. 209 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:34,660 In my mind. 210 00:12:34,690 --> 00:12:37,420 I see the benefit of working with somebody like you. 211 00:12:37,450 --> 00:12:41,420 Pretty huge building websites. A big lift. 212 00:12:41,450 --> 00:12:42,500 It really is. 213 00:12:42,530 --> 00:12:44,780 It from the beginning stages, I think once 214 00:12:44,810 --> 00:12:50,360 it's built and you're given the tools to at least be able to post, to update, to 215 00:12:50,360 --> 00:12:52,500 know, to go in and update and such like that. 216 00:12:52,530 --> 00:12:54,460 What would be some advice 217 00:12:54,490 --> 00:13:01,000 that you would give in regards to how to interview a website developer? 218 00:13:01,030 --> 00:13:03,560 What are some things that, as a podcast or 219 00:13:03,560 --> 00:13:06,000 a business owner, they should be asking right up front? 220 00:13:06,030 --> 00:13:09,980 That kind of helps sift through people like you doing the services. 221 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:10,920 They're doing great. 222 00:13:10,950 --> 00:13:15,960 But everybody has their little their Lane they go through to in regards to what they 223 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:18,580 do with their clients, what they do with building websites? 224 00:13:18,610 --> 00:13:20,820 What are some good questions to ask? 225 00:13:20,850 --> 00:13:25,060 So I would say, up front, everyone works very differently. 226 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:29,580 And sometimes people want to have their hand held 227 00:13:29,610 --> 00:13:34,740 from every step of the process where they really overwhelmed and uncomfortable. 228 00:13:34,770 --> 00:13:38,460 And they want someone that can help you 229 00:13:38,490 --> 00:13:43,200 with walking through the beginning, the branding, the mission, and all of that 230 00:13:43,230 --> 00:13:45,920 stuff all the way to the end of launching a website. 231 00:13:45,950 --> 00:13:50,040 And so for those people, sometimes interviewing some of the bigger firms that 232 00:13:50,070 --> 00:13:57,180 include people that have a few is the way to go, whereas for 233 00:13:57,210 --> 00:14:02,800 other businesses they might be looking for no, I've already got some of these pieces 234 00:14:02,830 --> 00:14:05,980 in place, but I need help tackling the website part. 235 00:14:06,010 --> 00:14:11,620 And then it might be good to find someone such as myself who is happy to do projects 236 00:14:11,650 --> 00:14:16,840 here and there, as opposed to working with a larger firm that expects, you know, it's 237 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:19,020 going to be a six month commitment sort of thing. 238 00:14:19,050 --> 00:14:24,000 So it really depends what their personality is and what they 239 00:14:24,030 --> 00:14:28,060 need, because just like anything else, there's going to be good fit to match. 240 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:30,300 Well. And it sounds as though, too, as you 241 00:14:30,330 --> 00:14:34,040 just stated, there should be some questions coming from someone like you as 242 00:14:34,070 --> 00:14:39,400 well to really filter out what that person that business needs, right? 243 00:14:39,430 --> 00:14:42,340 Yeah. And that's always great. 244 00:14:42,370 --> 00:14:42,940 In my mind. 245 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:46,320 That would be probably a good advice to give to a business owner if someone 246 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:48,420 doesn't ask any questions when they reach out. 247 00:14:48,450 --> 00:14:53,300 And a potential web designer developer, just like, yeah, sure. 248 00:14:53,330 --> 00:14:59,400 Well, that might be a bit of a tag, because if it's yes or without knowing if 249 00:14:59,430 --> 00:15:02,260 it's a good fit or not, that's not ideal for me. 250 00:15:02,290 --> 00:15:05,220 I like to know I 251 00:15:05,250 --> 00:15:10,020 don't want to go into any sort of business relationship with a bad fit. 252 00:15:10,050 --> 00:15:13,880 So I like to have conversations with people for a little bit before we would 253 00:15:13,910 --> 00:15:18,440 even start just to make sure that we're on the same page or communication deadlines. 254 00:15:18,470 --> 00:15:19,740 All of that. 255 00:15:19,770 --> 00:15:21,540 But yeah, with anything. 256 00:15:21,570 --> 00:15:24,180 This definitely included communication, 257 00:15:24,210 --> 00:15:29,920 transparency and being honest about what you expect, what you charge, what your 258 00:15:29,950 --> 00:15:32,980 budget is all sides, just honesty and being. 259 00:15:33,010 --> 00:15:37,520 I would think everybody's going to be happy in the long run when the project's 260 00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:40,320 done, or at least to the point where, hey, here are the keys. 261 00:15:40,350 --> 00:15:43,640 That's what you want, or I take care of everything and such, too. 262 00:15:43,670 --> 00:15:47,340 I would think another red flag would be. 263 00:15:47,370 --> 00:15:49,600 The answer is we have to tear it down and 264 00:15:49,630 --> 00:15:53,640 rebuild it unless it's just the worst built website. 265 00:15:53,670 --> 00:15:56,440 But I going in that the business owner 266 00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:59,400 podcaster would know that, and that would be the first thing I got to rebuild. 267 00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:02,880 I know it's a terrible website, but that, to me, is a red flag as well, too. 268 00:16:02,910 --> 00:16:05,260 Like, maybe not everything has to be rebuilt. 269 00:16:05,290 --> 00:16:09,340 But again, like you said, case by case, who knows, until you get in and take a 270 00:16:09,370 --> 00:16:13,100 look and what are the end goals for what you want that website to do? 271 00:16:13,130 --> 00:16:14,720 Ultimately, absolutely. 272 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:17,640 And I mean that's just same as anything right with the house. 273 00:16:17,670 --> 00:16:21,600 You can usually find a way to fix it without starting over. 274 00:16:21,630 --> 00:16:24,620 Same with the website, even if it was built ten years ago. 275 00:16:24,650 --> 00:16:28,400 There are ways to make it work without having to ditch what 276 00:16:28,430 --> 00:16:32,040 you already have or when you're building a website. 277 00:16:32,070 --> 00:16:35,900 You should be, I think at least building for the future as well, too. 278 00:16:35,930 --> 00:16:37,740 Add ons of thinking. 279 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:38,960 Okay, today you're doing this. 280 00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:40,860 But what do you want to do in a few years? 281 00:16:40,890 --> 00:16:45,680 What are some of those common things that you suggest as well as add ons it's like 282 00:16:45,710 --> 00:16:50,120 you're doing this right now, but be thinking about this to me. 283 00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:54,100 It could be as simple as we got to make sure you include your social media icons, 284 00:16:54,130 --> 00:16:57,340 those little things here, or certain things are always top one. 285 00:16:57,370 --> 00:16:59,740 Remember to always add this to websites. 286 00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:01,600 I mean, I guess the big thing that comes 287 00:17:01,630 --> 00:17:05,250 up more often than I would have necessarily expected is sometimes people 288 00:17:05,280 --> 00:17:10,810 will realize down the line that they want to sell, and we're already 289 00:17:10,840 --> 00:17:14,050 on the square space path, for example, which is totally fine. 290 00:17:14,080 --> 00:17:15,860 But if you want a robust 291 00:17:15,890 --> 00:17:21,050 website, a robust selling platform than Shopify, the better choice. 292 00:17:21,080 --> 00:17:22,160 And it's fine. 293 00:17:22,160 --> 00:17:24,660 You can sell with a space you can sell with WordPress. 294 00:17:24,690 --> 00:17:26,840 But if at any point in your business you 295 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:30,420 think that you're going to want to add a shop online, then it's probably good to 296 00:17:30,450 --> 00:17:35,240 consider Shopify as your first step, as opposed to going too far down the wrong 297 00:17:35,270 --> 00:17:39,600 direction and then finding yourself trying to recreate that website in Shopify, 298 00:17:39,630 --> 00:17:45,160 because all these platforms work a little bit differently, and it's just start with 299 00:17:45,190 --> 00:17:48,740 the right choice for you as opposed to having to like you said. 300 00:17:48,770 --> 00:17:54,280 And that's good advice, because for a podcast or in a business, no matter 301 00:17:54,310 --> 00:17:58,240 what that is, a monetization option is even of a pod. 302 00:17:58,270 --> 00:18:00,940 Counselor wants to sell T shirts without 303 00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:03,560 going through a third party, or it could be through third party. 304 00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:05,010 But you want to make it easy on their 305 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:11,050 website to sell T shirts or laptop stickers or whatever the case might be. 306 00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:15,810 If that's on the radar to do, then. Yeah. 307 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:18,420 Say that outlaw to your website designer, 308 00:18:18,450 --> 00:18:23,760 because even if it doesn't come true, at least, you know, in the long run, we'd 309 00:18:23,790 --> 00:18:27,460 love to let's make sure that can happen, or it could be 310 00:18:27,490 --> 00:18:33,980 developing an email newsletter that in itself has sign up options as well, too. 311 00:18:34,010 --> 00:18:36,380 So I think being honest with you is web 312 00:18:36,410 --> 00:18:41,010 developer is crucial in that first step, correct? 313 00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:42,000 Yeah, absolutely. 314 00:18:42,030 --> 00:18:47,040 And that brings up a good point where it's good to have all these conversations at 315 00:18:47,070 --> 00:18:49,320 the very start of getting a better understand. 316 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:52,620 What is it you hope to us from this website or we want an email list. 317 00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:52,960 Okay. 318 00:18:52,990 --> 00:18:55,600 Let's decide what kind of email lists you want. 319 00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:57,330 Are you going to use mail chimp or do you 320 00:18:57,360 --> 00:18:59,530 want to do something a little simpler to start? 321 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:01,320 I mean, what do you have in mind and just 322 00:19:01,350 --> 00:19:05,480 kind of being able to talk through and gather all that information as the 323 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:07,720 foundation before you even get too far into anything. 324 00:19:07,750 --> 00:19:09,520 It's just a good place to start. 325 00:19:09,550 --> 00:19:15,010 I ran across an article just a couple of days ago prior to this interview. 326 00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:18,520 It was posted by At Exchanger dot com. 327 00:19:18,550 --> 00:19:23,570 And it's talking about where Panasonic is using podcasting as a 328 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:27,140 powerful lead Gen tool or a tool for B to B marketers. 329 00:19:27,170 --> 00:19:29,560 But it really wasn't necessarily the 330 00:19:29,590 --> 00:19:34,800 podcast itself, is that it's giving them more SEO juice because people are staying 331 00:19:34,830 --> 00:19:38,480 on their page longer by listening to a podcast link on their website. 332 00:19:38,510 --> 00:19:40,740 It has that. 333 00:19:40,770 --> 00:19:43,180 Are there other ideas? 334 00:19:43,210 --> 00:19:46,040 I think adding a podcast, the website. 335 00:19:46,070 --> 00:19:48,420 I've seen that more and more people are 336 00:19:48,450 --> 00:19:55,080 talking about that the interaction, the opportunity for somebody to stay on a page 337 00:19:55,110 --> 00:20:00,160 a little bit longer that stickiness that podcasts can have. Are you seeing that a 338 00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:03,800 little bit more in regards to maybe even focus on how the blog is used with a 339 00:20:03,830 --> 00:20:09,330 podcast or these ideas of keeping people on your web page a little bit longer? 340 00:20:09,360 --> 00:20:10,200 Oh, absolutely. 341 00:20:10,230 --> 00:20:14,290 And I think that's fantastic when people do take the time to 342 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:18,380 make sure that their podcast is on the right services that you can 343 00:20:18,410 --> 00:20:22,880 easily for someone who doesn't even know code easily embed each podcast. 344 00:20:22,910 --> 00:20:27,920 This one post on the website so that they do remain on the website. 345 00:20:27,950 --> 00:20:30,460 And then there are certainly ways. 346 00:20:30,490 --> 00:20:32,500 If you're on WordPress, for example, if 347 00:20:32,530 --> 00:20:37,880 you're website is built on WordPress and you want to optimize the podcast for SEO, 348 00:20:37,910 --> 00:20:42,620 you can use iOS or something similar to make sure that you are including the intro 349 00:20:42,650 --> 00:20:46,940 paragraphs that have the right search keywords and all of that too. 350 00:20:46,970 --> 00:20:49,480 And it's just another way to pull people in. 351 00:20:49,480 --> 00:20:52,620 And then, like you said, to get them to stay on your website as well. 352 00:20:52,650 --> 00:20:54,360 Laura, thanks so much. 353 00:20:54,390 --> 00:20:56,500 This has been very insightful. 354 00:20:56,530 --> 00:21:01,290 Hopefully, listeners get a bit of well, at least it takes away the fear to want to 355 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:05,570 work with a website designer or at least know that they can go. 356 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:08,810 And if nothing else, contacts you to at least talk it out. 357 00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:10,720 Kind of going. Hey, I have one built. 358 00:21:10,750 --> 00:21:13,980 I'm kind of happy with it, but I know it can be better. 359 00:21:14,010 --> 00:21:15,940 And I think 360 00:21:15,970 --> 00:21:20,010 price is always scary, but in the time, but I think it's worth it in long on 361 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:23,600 thinking about these incidents like yesterday. 362 00:21:23,630 --> 00:21:27,040 If you're relying on social media, it doesn't cut it. 363 00:21:27,070 --> 00:21:29,080 You've got to have a better home base. 364 00:21:29,110 --> 00:21:32,220 And if you're not happy with it, make it better. 365 00:21:32,250 --> 00:21:35,330 Otherwise, you don't want to cringe every 366 00:21:35,360 --> 00:21:37,620 time you log in, going, oh, I hate this website. 367 00:21:37,650 --> 00:21:40,140 I wish to fix it. 368 00:21:40,170 --> 00:21:43,720 There are lots of people like Laura. They can do it. 369 00:21:43,750 --> 00:21:48,400 But what's a good contact information to get a hold of you if they just want to 370 00:21:48,430 --> 00:21:52,180 give you a shout to kind of go, hey, let's talk. 371 00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:55,940 Sure. So my website is Starburst Columbus dot. 372 00:21:55,960 --> 00:21:58,320 Com. And then my email is Laura at starburst. 373 00:21:58,320 --> 00:21:59,180 Columbus. Com. 374 00:21:59,210 --> 00:22:03,640 And I am literally always happy to answer questions over email. 375 00:22:03,670 --> 00:22:06,660 If anyone has any super good. Good. 376 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:07,980 Good. Well, thanks again, Laura. 377 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:09,520 I appreciate it. Well, thank you so much. 378 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:09,760 Brett.