I have to tell you right up front, that I’m a little ticked off. No, it’s not that a bunch of folks didn’t register IN ADVANCE for the live seminar. That was partly my fault. I failed to mention that there was no registration at the door.
As my buddy Mark likes to say, there’s no failure. Only feedback.
No, what really gets me going is running into folks, or hearing from people, who have been taken advantage of. Their websites, and therefore their business identity or entity held hostage if you will.
Not to mention wasted dollars. Wasted marketing opportunities.
Gone.
Lost forever, all because you decided to use a web developer who is only capable of building “custom” (think expensive, clunky, buggy and therefore totally useless today online) websites that YOU cannot modify, fix, change or add new content to.
What’s the point of that??
Not to mention that when you do need to change or modify something on your site (flexibility in business is an absolute MUST) they have to do it for you… for a price, of course!
But wait, it gets even worse for you than that. You have to understand that success in business today involves success online. Period. And that to thrive today, in this economy, it’s not about big versus small.
It’s about fast versus slow. Adapt or die. Ok, don’t believe me. Then read this…
“You see, it’s not enough to say, ‘Yes, that’s a good idea; we’re doing that’ or ‘Well, we did earn net profits of X.’ The question is When? When are you doing that? When did you earn those profits – this quarter or this year? And how much more is it than last quarter or last year?…
Time is one of the single biggest constraints that we all have to face. And given the core purpose of a business, to make money, the question is not ‘How can we make more money?’ It is ‘How can we make more money, faster?'”
– Brad Fallon, “The Net Effect” Vol. 1, Issue 1 p. 38 – 39.
Period. End of discussion.
Make no mistake about it. While you’re waiting in limbo for a phone call or email letting you know your site is ready, your competitor is already online, owning more and more of the internet. All while you wait for somebody to just make your site the way you’d like it.
Or the way it should be to actually make you money.
Yes, it really is that simple. As I ask questions like “are you happy with your site” or “is your site bringing in more business” or whatever I’m hitting a raw nerve.
And folks are just opening up about how badly they’ve been screwed. And, more often than not, are still getting screwed.
The first time I tried to get a website, I hired a “friend” of mine, paid him upfront, and then waited more than 7 months for… nothing.
That’s right. Months would go by with no word. Emails unanswered. Phone tag. Finally a deadline (3 months after the check cleared) that came… and went.
Nice, huh?
When he finally called to tell me the “first draft” was ready, it was too late. I had already bought a course and started building simple minisites to get a feel for the systems, programs, mechanisms behind it all.
Few people would have done that, I suppose, but I had lost months of marketing opportunities waiting for a “landing page” to drive offline traffic to.
What a waste!
What’s worse, I’m not alone. Check this out…
“Michael,
Thanks so much for all your help! I’ve been feeling like I’m hitting brick walls with everyone in the business world and I actually left our meeting feeling excited again. It’s nice to meet people with the same business ethics. Be sure I will be referring you to everyone. I’ll also be contacting Rob as soon as the web guys give me some dates and times they’re free. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all the advice and help from you guys!!!!
Rachel”
Do you want to know how long it took to get her site up? Over a year. Is she happy with it? No. Are the problems getting fixed in a timely manner?
You can probably figure that one out for yourself.
Now that we got all that out of the way, here’s a simple checklist to follow so you don’t get burned (again!)…
- choose a domain name that matches your business identity and keywords
- register the domain name YOURSELF.
- DON’T host your site on your web developers server, platform, etc. NEVER. EVER. NEVER.
- Use a REAL web hosting company that can support your business and growing traffic (bandwidth) and is secure.
We’ll actually explain why in upcoming posts, tackling each issue one by one. And when Rob checks out the article, he may just add a few more to the list.
Until then, you can always leave a comment, rant, opinion, whatever. Ask a question. Share a rip-off of your own. I promise we’ll get around to answering (more often than not, sooner than you might think or expect).
Next Steps…
Any questions? Comments? Did we hit a nerve?
Drop us a line by leaving a comment. We will reply (here, and by email if you’d like) as soon as we’re able. And if there’s a topic you want us to discuss, let us know.
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