If you’re reading this, you’re likely some sort of business professional. You might work in a corporation or church, non-profit or “Mom and Pop”, but bottom line, you’re in business to serve people.
Your Website Means “Open For Business”
Your website today is an online welcome mat for inviting people that you can serve. But if you don’t have a website, or perhaps you have one but it’s not being used effectively, it’s like you’ve flipped the sign by the window to say “Closed for today”.
One of the worst things I’ve seen happen is businesses great and small get snookered into expensive “enterprise” solutions for managing their online content. Granted, sometimes these solutions are warranted. But suppose I shared with you a solution that will do 90% of what you need at probably 10% of the cost.
Here’s my secret: WordPress.
Do 90% while only spending 10%
You can save time, money and effort if you use WordPress for your Content Management System (CMS). According to 2016 data, WordPress now powers over a quarter of the world’s websites.
I myself started using WordPress back in 2006 to replace Blogger when I wanted a better way to manage my online content.
But it wasn’t until 2010 that I realized that WordPress could be used for more than blogging, but also for building business websites. To date, I’ve used WordPress as a CMS for everyone from major corporations, non-profits, small business, micro business, churches… you get the point?
WordPress? More like “WorthLess”?
“You can’t do [INSERT FEATURE HERE] with WordPress!” – Many Web Developers
True. There are many things WordPress doesn’t do as well as other CMSs. That’s why I said it can do 90% of what you need at 10% of the cost – that cost being time and money.
However, much of the remaining 10% can be taken care of through the use of plugins, apps that extend the functionality of WordPress much like apps on your phone or tablet. Here’s some common objections I’ve heard:
- You can’t showcase events in WordPress: Yes you can with Event Calendar, Event Espresso or Events Manager.
- You can’t capture leads or contact info: Yes you can with Contact Form 7, Ninja Forms, or Gravity Forms.
- You can’t create custom content beyond posts and pages: Yes you can with Advanced Custom Fields.
- You can’t easily drag & drop content: Yes you can with page builders like Divi Builder or Page Builder.
Again, other CMSs like Joomla or Drupal may be a better solution for you, but with each passing year I’ve noticed the gap between WordPress and other “real” content management systems shrink.
Still, even WordPress won’t help you unless you have a plan
So, getting back to business, if you’re think you’re missing out on serving people because your online welcome mat is crunched up in the corner somewhere, consider WordPress as a content management system.
However, before jumping in, you need a plan:
- You need to clarify your WWW:
- Who are you trying to serve
- What do you want them to do
- Why you want them to do it.
- You then need to come up with SMART Goals for your website that are specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic, and time-bound. If you have lofty goals like “I want more customers”, there’s no way to tell if you’re accomplishing that goal or not. But a SMART goal like “I want 30 new customers to bring in an online coupon to Mom & Pop’s Pet Shop by March 31” can be measured and met.
- You finally need to commit to a Spending Plan of how much time and money you’ll invest per day. You can get yourself a decent website for under a buck a day, and you can create consistent, shareable content to drive traffic to your website in about 30-45 minutes a day, about the same time it takes to watch a crime drama on DVR.
If you want, I’ve got a workbook that covers this and more on my website. It’s a free bonus if you sign up for my weekly newsletter.