I was talking to a potential client the recently about setting up an e-commerce site for her business. I was busy explaining how she would need to devote time to uploading products, writing descriptions, and managing the site and she asked an interesting question.
“How much time each week will I need to spend?”
That is a very, very good question. But my answer to her was a question. “How much time do you want to invest to make your website pay off for you?“
This stopped her in her tracks, because she hadn’t thought about it in that way. For her, it was about how much time was she going to be away from doing her retail business to deal with her online business, one more task in her daily to-do list. When in fact the issue she needed to address was not how much time it was going to take her, but how much time did she want to put in to make it successful.
Long gone are the days of set it and forget when it comes to your online presence
If your website is more than just a digital business card, then you can’t expect it to work for you without putting in any effort. We can design and develop a great website for you. It can look and work great and do everything you want it to do.
But you have to work at it too. “If you build it, they will come” only works in the movies. They might come. But they probably won’t unless you are working hard to give them a reason to show up.
It’s not about how much time you have to put in, like homework you dread having to do. It’s about how much of yourself and your time you are willing to invest into making it work. Just having a new website that you paid for and leaving it there isn’t enough. Your customers are going to demand more and if you aren’t doing it, someone else is.
It’s no longer just about the website
Having a website is no longer a novelty. Everyone has a website. What makes yours stand out? Having a great website design is just the beginning. How else will you be using your online presence for your business? Will you be using social media? That requires time to set up and manage too because just having a profile on Twitter isn’t going to do ANYTHING for your business. Just having a profile on Instagram doesn’t help you. You have to work at it, and yes, it takes time.
Think about your favorite accounts you follow on social media – what makes them great? Is it because they post once a week and then ignore everything else? Probably not. It’s because they post great, engaging content and photos that gets you interested. They engage with their followers.
You may need help and that’s okay.
Guess what? It takes a lot of time to manage all these different aspects of your online presence. You may say, “I’m so busy, I don’t have time for any of this!” and that may be true. Congratulations to you! But if you want to use your online presence to grow your business more, but don’t have time to do it, it may be time to consider options for how to manage all these aspects while also running your business.
The business owner from my initial example wanted to add e-commerce to her website, but hadn’t thought about the time she’d need to spend adding products and filling orders, not to mention the time and cost of marketing it would need to be successful. Her only thought was on the revenue she could add to her bottom line if she sold online as well as in the store. And that’s a major mistake.
Your website, and all other aspects of your online presence, won’t work for you. You have to work at it too. You need to think about what it’ll take to make it successful and how to manage that success as well.
How much time is worth it to invest to you? I can’t answer that question for you, but I can help you get a website and learn how to use it. Contact us today to find out how.
Amy Masson
Amy is the co-owner, developer, and website strategist for Sumy Designs. She's been making websites with WordPress since 2006 and is passionate about making sure websites are as functional as they are beautiful.