[00:14] On this week’s Engaging Marketeer podcast, I wanted to do an episode aimed pretty much at web designers. If you’re not a web designer or a digital marketing company, this might not be of interest, because it’s aimed at new web designers getting into the business for the first time. I’m going to go through three things we’ve done over the years that we regret — mistakes we wouldn’t do again.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t do these; they might be right for you and might work out. But when we’ve done them, they’ve never really worked out — and I’ll explain why. You will invariably get people offering you these three things. They’ll think it’s the first time you’ve heard it. I still get offered them now, and sometimes I know what’s coming before they even say it.
[01:24] The first one: a business owner wants a website, but they don’t want to pay for it. Red flag. They want a “partnership.” You build and host a lead generation website, manage it, send all the leads to them for their industry, they’ll convert or sell the leads, and then split profit with you 50/50. Sounds fantastic, right? I’ve had that pitched to me probably 20–25 times over 16 years at Engage Web.
Most recently it was last year. A financial advisor emailed: “I’ve got an idea I want to go through with you. Can we have a one-to-one?” I knew immediately what he was going to say — because this is how they broach it. “I’ve got an idea I want to run by you.” Oh yeah? You want me to build you a lead gen website for free and share the profit? “How did you know that?” Because this isn’t my first rodeo.
[02:34] Why it doesn’t work: first, the person suggesting it has no money — no skin in the game. They’re not investing money or time. You’re doing all of it. Second, because they’ve invested nothing, they don’t value it. They don’t value your effort or giving you a share of profits — “you just threw a website together that takes five minutes.”
Third, with no skin in the game, if it doesn’t work in the first month or two — and let’s face it, something like equity release takes longer to get quality leads — they’ll get offered a job and [expletive] off. That’s exactly what happened to us 15 years ago in equity release. We built and optimised the site, inquiries started to come in, and then they disappeared. We were left with nothing.
[03:44] If you build a website for somebody who doesn’t pay because it’s a “partnership,” they won’t value what you’ve done, and they’ll vanish at a moment’s notice when something shinier comes along. Don’t do it. Caveat: maybe it works for you if you truly trust the person and they’ll see it through — fine, your call — but be extremely cautious. We’ve done it; it didn’t work. Every time I’ve been pitched since: no, because we know what happens.
That’s the first thing not to do. The second is similar, and we did this back in 2010–2011. You’re hungry for clients as a startup, so you reduce costs — maybe even do a website for free because they’re a startup. That’s the worst thing you can do.
[04:54] We were on a panel of business advisers for a nonprofit — a business coach, offline marketing, us for web, someone for paid ads. Businesses would come for advice: what to do first, requirements, insurance, how to get a website up and running. We decided we’d do three or four free websites for the most “worthy” startup ideas.
We designed, built, hosted, and managed these simple brochure sites for free. How many of those startups lasted 12 months? [Expletive] all. Here’s the problem: clients who pay the least cause the biggest headaches. Clients who pay properly value your time and expertise — they don’t cause big headaches. Penny-pinchers cause the most headaches. Clients who pay nothing don’t value you at all.
[06:04] To them, you’re just a tool — no better than a spatula. They don’t care about you or what you’ve done: you did it for free, so your service must be worth nothing. It doesn’t work. So my advice to new web designers: if you get involved with nonprofits advising businesses — great, give advice. Help them. But do not do free websites for startups.
Don’t do it expecting they’ll “grow with you” and then hire you for marketing. You won’t make a profit; you’ll get headaches and nothing in return. By and large, those businesses won’t value what you’ve done. That’s the second one.
[07:14] The third one — I’ll cover this in more detail in another podcast in a couple of weeks (I’ll have legal look over that one). Sometimes a business owner says: “My previous site was built by another company and I’ve lost contact or fallen out with them” — first red flag — “I like the site as it is. I want you to recreate it. Just copy it.”
Don’t [expletive] do that. Or they’ll say: “Here’s a competitor’s site — I love it. Copy it and change the colours to my brand.” Don’t do that either. Whenever someone says “copy this website exactly,” no. We even had a tender recently where the document said: “Our existing website is really good. It doesn’t need changing.”
[08:24] What do you want then? If you’re copying a site, maybe changing colours and the logo — if the existing site “doesn’t need changing,” what’s the point of you even being there? There’s no benefit or value you’re adding. You’re just a copy-and-paste merchant. Any idiot can do that. If you do that, you’re on a hiding to nothing.
We did that last year. Someone said it to one of our team; I didn’t realise that’s what had been agreed. It was a disaster — absolute disaster. I’ll follow that up in another podcast (carefully). As a web designer, if someone says “copy this,” do not do it. You’re a creative. Their goals may be different now than before, or different to their competitors.
[09:34] Customer flows change; usage changes; web design evolves; systems and platforms change. Do not copy a website at any time for any reason. No matter what they say, don’t do it. We have a golden rule now: we will not do that. If a client asks us to copy, the answer is no.
So those are the three things for web designers starting out — never do these. If you do, it’s on your head. If someone comes with a “collaboration” where you build the site for free in exchange for revenue share from sales or leads, don’t do it — they won’t follow through because they don’t value you.
If a startup wants a free website with a promise of future work, don’t do it — they won’t value you. If they’ve no money for a website, they’ve no money for anything else, and the business likely won’t work.
[11:19] And third, don’t copy a website. If a client asks you to copy, it won’t work — you’ll add no value, and it’ll be a disaster. Those are three rules for web designers. Follow them or don’t — I don’t mind — but if you go against what I’ve said, it’s completely on you.
That’s been the Engaging Marketeer podcast. Thank you for listening. I’ll catch you on the next podcast.
