We all have them… you know, those words and phrases that make us absolutely cringe when we hear them. What are your (least) “favorites”?
How about these:
- Shifting paradigms
- Circle around
- Revisit
- It’s crunch-time!
- Shifting paradigms (sorry, so bad we had to list it twice!)
Search online and you’ll see volumes of the most overused phrases that we all just, well… overuse.
We could go on but let’s stop there and all just cringe together. Ready? Okay! (aren’t you glad that’s over now?)
Well, as our sub-headline promised (you just looked at it again, didn’t you?), this blog post is NOT about “those” words and phrases. This is about OUR version of the most terrible, horrible, no good, very bad phrases we fear and despise here at Fingerprint Marketing (hey, it’s our blog and you’re reading it so stick with us!)
Ready? Okay!
Here’s our list:
- “I can do our website much cheaper by using __________.” (insert DIY website builder name here)
- “A website is SOOOOO expensive. I’ll just go without one for a while longer.”
- “Yeah, yeah. They want thousands to build it and then you have to call them with every single teeny-weeny change and they’ll get to it when they can. Our Christmas specials will get posted in mid-July — I can see it now. They just want our money!”
- “You want to charge me how much to do my website? Are You #@&%$^! Kidding Me Right Now?”
It’s in print so it’s official. The stuff on this list (and many more) make us cringe every single time we hear a business owner say it.
And to answer a few burning questions:
Yes, you could say that we “do” websites here at Fingerprint Marketing. More accurately, we partner with businesses to create beautiful, dynamic, optimized, responsive websites that genuinely reflect your company, your brand, your message,and your story, all while taking care of your “business”. Websites where your ideal customers, clients, patients, patrons, and the like can find YOU because they ARE searching for YOU. They want you, they need you, so make it easy for them to find you!
Are websites “expensive’? Websites can cost a lot of money. Or not. It’s all relative and, if you factor in the opportunity cost, you may just find the paradigm has shifted and it’s time to circle around to revisit the topic now that it’s crunch-time. (Okay, we SO apologize for that but do you get our point? We knew you would because if you’re still reading, you must be really sharp!)
We could quote costs but the range of $5,000-$50,000 might make you cringe more than lists of overused words.
Can you go without a website in 2017? Ha ha ha. Put it this way: You can’t AFFORD to go without a website. Another quick search using the Google search engine (see, we didn’t use it as a verb) will display statistics that between 50 and 90% of potential customers will check out a business online BEFORE visiting or calling a traditional “brick and mortar”. This is not just retail locations but includes medical/dental facilities, attorney offices, schools, banks, restaurants, theaters, entertainment centers (both family-oriented and “others”!), service providers of all types, government agencies, etc. That doesn’t even touch businesses who do some or all of their business and/or transactions online.
So, the answer is NO – you cannot go without an online presence today unless you are intentionally hiding your business from the world (maybe that’s another blog post for another day!)
Do you have to have all of that “stuff” on your site — more stuff = more money, right? We could try to tell you everything you need on your website but, again, that’s taking another dangerous shot in the dark. You and your business are unique (and if you aren’t unique, we’d like to have a separate conversation with you!) Your website is not just a page in cyberspace with your name, logo, and a phone number on it. There was a time when that sort of worked. But let’s face it, those days are gone forever even as bell-bottoms circle back around.
Remember, there was also a time when doctors, dentists, and lawyers went to doctor, dentist, and lawyer school to graduate with top-notch doctor, dentist, and lawyer skills. All the marketing they needed was a sign outside their office and a yellow page ad. Somehow, this made the phone magically ring. (If you’re a doctor, dentist, or lawyer, what is your “cringe factor” right now?)
See, it’s like this:
- It takes smart people to design and build great websites that will help you do amazing things in your business
- Smart people deserve great money for the amazing work they do!
- Great websites take powerful technology that will help you do amazing things in your business
- Powerful technology costs a few bucks
That is all.
At Fingerprint Marketing, we have great people who will partner with you to design and create your ideal website so that you can do what you do best — run your business.
The cost? We’ll get to that when we talk.
Contact us and, together, we’ll do some amazing and powerful things in your business!