Tips & Talk 12 – All Website Platforms are NOT Created Equal

Hi there.

I see that you made it over to the new tips

and talk portion of the podcast.

These are bite-sized topics that I pull from community questions and

things that I'm observing in the world of handmade,

small business.

All websites are not created equal.

If you're at a point where you're looking at starting your

website or revising your website,

then this session is going to be for you.

A website is not a website is not a website.

They don't all equally each other.

In my Facebook group,

gift biz breeze on Thursdays,

we do a Q and a session.

And the hot topic lately has been website reviews.

So people will submit their website and I go through and

review them and talk them through,

give ideas for adjustments.

And we get community reaction to if you're interested in joining

our group and you're a gift or baker craft or maker.

So you're a handmade product creator.

Join us in gift biz breeze.

This has been where this whole question comes up and the

question is always,

I want to start my website.

What platform do I use?

And I'm going to suggest to you that that's not the

right first question,

because every single website is not created equal.

I'm going to go through now the three different categories of

websites for you to then narrow in and consider what you

should be starting with.

Now, having said that you could also have multiple websites because

different websites attract different audiences are there for different purposes and

accomplish different things.

Also different websites require different levels of work,

different levels of experience and expertise,

getting them started,

et cetera,

et cetera.

So this is why that question of what platform should I

go on?

All websites aren't created equal.

So you need to first think of what is the purpose

for your website?

What are you trying to accomplish?

And then take it from there.

Let me start with the basic question,

which is,

do you need to have a website at all?

I've heard a lot of people talking lately that maybe you

don't even need a website,

just so on.

Social, just sell through Facebook or Instagram,

which can be fine.

And it's going to lead to my first category,

but that's not a long-term solution.

Social media changes pretty much every day.

And what if your account were to get shut down?

Okay. The three categories of websites,

the first one would be,

this is going to kind of sound a little bit different

from what I was just talking about,

but a Facebook shop on a Facebook business page.

Now, again,

this isn't your do all end all.

If you're just starting your business,

you're making hand beaded jewelry,

and you want to get product validation,

you to see if there's interest in your product.

You want to get a feel for if this whole business

thing is something that you'd want to be doing in the

first place.

Then Facebook shops could be a good starting point for you.

The reason that I say that is it doesn't cost really

anything to set up.

You're not paying into the system unless you actually sell a

product, which is different from all the other platforms.

It's a start to finish system.

If you're interested in knowing more about this,

I have a mini course it's called set up and sell

in Facebook shops.

But virtually with Facebook shops,

you upload your product.

They can provide shipping labels for you.

You can sell your product right on Facebook and then have

a link right in your post that goes directly to your

product, where they can buy and check out.

It's just very streamlined.

So it's perfect.

You also don't have to have your business registered.

So again,

if you're just starting out,

everything is done for you.

The second one,

the category I'm calling,

selling platform websites by that,

I mean,

platforms that are already established.

You're going to know some of these platforms like at sea,

Amazon handmade eBay sites that have some type of a turnkey

system in place.

I'm sure a lot of you already have an Etsy site,

which is great.

There's nothing wrong with Etsy at all.

In fact,

it's also another good place to start.

As you're establishing,

it's a step up from having a Facebook shop.

When you sign up with Etsy,

however, there are certain rules and costs that you have to

follow when you have an Etsy shop.

The other thing with what I'm calling the selling platform websites

is that when people are looking for your product,

they're searching product specific.

They're not coming in.

And just looking for you as a business,

they're going and looking for lemon,

scented candles or glass beaded jewelry.

The search is more by keyword and product.

Not by you as a business,

you would treat selling on Etsy different than you would treat

selling on Amazon,

handmade different than you'd be treating,

selling on eBay.

So even here within this sales platform,

websites, the way you would approach each is different on Etsy.

You're being very keyword specific,

driving into a product and thinking about what a customer's going

to be searching for when they go on that website.

And when they're looking for the product,

then they get to your store and they might see everything

else that's being offered.

So product titles,

keywords, product descriptions are key because that's how your going to

be found based on someone going into Etsy and searching the

other thing with Etsy.

And you'll hear this with some of the other websites too,

is you don't get customer information.

So you're not able to your email list.

You don't really have direct contact with that customer.

Yes, they can send you a message,

but you're not having the linkage in terms of email lists.

Now there are other ways around that kind of,

but it's something to consider again,

when you're looking at your website and what your main purpose

is of putting up a website,

moving on to Amazon,

made Amazon handmade is a total.

What I'm gonna call commodity play.

People are going in search for product,

and they're going to buy.

There is a disconnect between the product and a relationship that

you can create with a customer on Amazon.

If you're wanting to go in and just sell your products,

perfect place to be,

you want to sell a hundred vanilla candles on Amazon.

Then you can go on place your product,

put the descriptions,

sell your candles.

You don't get customer information on Amazon handmade either.

And again,

I'm not trying to suggest that these aren't good platforms for

you to be on.

It's just that you treat these platforms different and you recognize

that these platforms all serve different purposes.

eBay. If you have one of a kind items that you're

going to sell one and done,

eBay could be one location that you would be on and

you might be on multiples,

right? You might be on eBay and you might be on

Etsy and you might I'd be on Facebook shops,

all different places,

bringing revenue into your business.

What to recognize with the category of selling platform websites is

that you have less control over anything that happens.

I know some people have been frustrated with Etsy,

raising their prices on product postings or other types of things

though, the limits and the requirements for shipping or what you're

able to post Amazon handmade in particular has certain things that

you're allowed to put on and sell.

And you aren't allowed to put on and sell.

So you have to go with the requirements and whatever restrictions

each of these platforms have and when they change yeah,

to be okay with those changes because you're buying into their

platforms. The thing that is really great about the selling platform

websites is the audience is already there.

Your real goal on these sites is within your product titles,

your product descriptions,

any keywords that you're using and the high quality images that

you're posting,

that you're going to attract people to you.

The other good thing is they provide tutorials on how to

set up and then also best practices for the platform.

Running ads,

looking at your numbers,

all types of things.

The third platform that I want to talk about is your

own website.

And this is the premier.

This is where you want to get to it's your golden

nugget. No matter what your end goal is to have a

website that you own by that.

I mean,

you control all the content.

You control,

how it looks.

You control any extensions that you put in.

You can add blogs to it.

You virtually it's almost free reign.

There are different platforms out there that you can use to

build a website.

So gone are the days where you've had to hire out

and have someone custom design a whole website.

Now we have template type theme driven platforms that make this

so much easier.

Think Shopify,

Wix, Squarespace.

There are a whole lot of them out there creating a

website, for example,

on Shopify,

which is my preferred platform is different than having a shop

on Etsy on Etsy,

your putting your real estate on someone else's platform,

even though it's your company name in your products.

But when you go to a platform like Shopify,

this is your own website and consider this your home base

for your business.

So this is where you direct everybody.

When you're doing anything and talking and directing anybody online,

you have them come to your headquarters,

which is your website.

You have control over the content and the creative you can

put in opt-ins.

You can collect email addresses so you can continue communication with

people who have come onto your website.

You also have tracking analytics,

which gives you a lot of information of things that you

can adjust.

So you can get to the ultimate goal of your website,

which of course is the sale.

Think of having your website on a platform like Shopify versus

having your website on Etsy,

as a difference between owning your home or renting an apartment,

should the website describe what you're selling or more of one

brand that goes to which platform you're on.

And then also what your intent is.

Let's do an example.

I think this would be really good.

Let's say you sell candles.

So your website might have all versions of candles that you

sell in different sizes,

different sense.

You may have a blog that talks about the best way

to burn a candle,

to get the most time out of it,

to get the longest scent duration,

you know,

whatever that is.

It might be health benefits of a candle or what to

look at.

So blog article establishing you as a professional in that industry,

that would be on your own site.

You might also have an opt-in,

so you can collect addresses.

Maybe it's a discount for a first-time customer.

Maybe it's some type of a freebie having to do with

how to store candles.

Something like that side note,

I am a candle lover.

And if you went into my basement,

you would see a full floor to ceiling,

several racks with all my candles,

because seasonally,

I bring them in and out all the time up and

down. Cause sometimes I haven't down a whole candle yet.

And so I want to save it because it's pumpkin spice

and it's may.

So I don't want to use that yet.

I'm going to use that again in October.

Anyway, that was kind of a side rant.

So your site,

like the end result,

the golden nugget,

your headquarters would be your own site on a platform like

Shopify. And then you'd put everything there.

Okay? Cause that's your home base at your headquarters.

But then when you go over to Etsy,

maybe you find on Etsy.

Well, I'm only going to sell a few cents in a

few sizes because on Etsy,

you also have to pay for every single listing that you

put up.

So maybe you decide of the 30 candles that you have

on your website.

You only have 10 candles in your Etsy shop with the

variations and the color of the sense and all of that.

Okay. But then maybe on Amazon,

there's one specific scent.

That is the one that you can sell all the time.

It's your best seller.

Let's call it vanilla.

So you always have them in stock.

You've always got them poured.

They're ready to go.

You have a good stock of them,

right? So that could be a good product for Amazon because

you're going to sell more of them.

And that's a commodity sale.

They buy it,

you send it,

you get the revenue,

very little interaction with the customer.

And then finally the other one,

we're going backwards.

Now here on Facebook shops,

you have a community of people who call you on Facebook.

They're now over on your Facebook page.

Some of these folks may be family and friends.

They might be people in your community and you do live

shows and you talk about,

oh, I just finished making all these candles here.

They are.

I'm selling them the right in my shop here,

if you want,

and you can go grab one right now to see how

that's very different than what you're doing on at sea versus

what you're doing on your website.

Let's wrap this conversation up with a little summary.

When you're thinking about a website,

don't just say,

oh, what platform should I be on?

I want you to consider the fact that there are three

different levels of platforms.

The first being a very starter platform like Facebook shops,

easy to get on no investment.

You can get a feel for the platform.

You can sell through products,

a beautiful place to start.

If you haven't even decided really,

if you want to be in business yet,

the second level are these what I'm calling,

selling platform websites.

So this is Etsy,

Amazon handmade.

E-bay all of them are great in their own,

right? Just understand that you don't have full access to your

customers through these platforms.

And then the third platform of course,

is your very own.

I like using Shopify.

You have full control and free reign.

So when you're thinking of starting a website,

the first question is going to be,

what level do you want to enter in on level one,

two or three.

And then from there,

when you're on social media,

when you're out at networking events,

and you're telling people where to find you online,

you want to direct them to the place where your product

can be purchased.

If you want to have further conversation about this,

go join me in gift biz breeze.

As I said,

we do website reviews every Thursday in our Q and A's

right now,

we're doing website reviews.

We take other business Q and A's too.

But right now we're doing website reviews and we can talk

through, you know,

which websites attract certain audiences.

You're looking for.

What are the strategies for different websites and what are the

results that you can expect based on the strategies that you

employ on these different websites?

Remember a website is not a website is not a website.

All websites are not created equal.

That's a wrap.

I may get to the point kind of girl.

And this is what you can expect from these quick midweek

session. Now it's your turn go out and fulfill that dream

of yours,

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