I’ll cut right to it. Spending 6 figures on a website is CHEAP. Yep – you read that right. Some of you are probably picking yourselves up off the floor. If that’s you – read on to find out why.
Yes, at first, a 6 figure quote might seem like a lot of money for a website, but here’s the thing.. it’s actually a bargain. The truth is, whether you pay $8K or $75K, websites are cheap at any cost.
What it costs is actually not important —it’s the value of a website that really means something.
Saying that you just want a good looking website is tantamount to saying all cars are tin boxes that have wheels and get you from A to B. The latter statement is indeed true but everyone understands there is more to cars than that. You have to ask the right questions… How important is safety? How reliable do you want it? How important is comfort? What about Control? Design? Speed? You wouldn’t assume that a $5,000 car is the same as a $100,000 car or even a $50,000 one. You just know from years of education that you get what you pay for. Maybe you don’t need the $100k car but maybe the $5,000 one is too unreliable. So you weigh up all the criteria that is important to you and then you look at what the cost of a car is that meets that criteria.
The problem with websites are that most people don’t have the same education or experience as they do with cars. So here’s an analogy that will make it easier to understand why it’s worth investing properly in your website.
A website needs to be the best sales person you ever employed.
Replace the word ‘Website’ with ‘Salesperson’
It needs to cold call millions of visitors and direct them to your site. It needs to appear professional and knowledgeable. It needs to be a consultant first and ask the customer what he/she needs, then it needs to provide the correct information and showcase the product, and finally, ask for the sale when it is appropriate. It can’t stumble over tough questions, or lie about certain features and benefits. It has to make things clear and easy for the buyer so that there is no question as to why he/she should purchase from you.
Imagine that you have just hired a new salesperson. And they are amazing because:
- They work all day every day 24/7, 365 days a year.
- They never eat or sleep. Their sole purpose in life is to talk to your customers and promote your business.
- They know everything about your business, and can pitch it perfectly every time.
- They can talk to hundreds of people every day, all at once and still give everybody individual attention.
- They can be anywhere in the world at any time, and multiple places at once if he needs to be. Best of all, they file no expense reports and needs no plane fares.
- They are cheap. Super dooper cheap. Let’s assume your business employs this person for three years — that initial upfront $30,000 price tag turns into a tiny salary of $10,000/year. And the longer they work for you, the cheaper they get.
- Oh and did I mention – they’ll never quit!
A website is not an expense, but it can be…
People are sometimes surprised to learn how much salespeople earn. When you pay someone over $100,000 dollars to bring in customers you really want to be sure that that person is pulling their weight. Salespeople are good at what they do and not everyone can be a salesperson. Most of us are too scared to even consider becoming a salesperson. The great thing about a website though, is that they can ALL be great sales people and most of them won’t cost you a $100k a year. If built well, (depending on your business) you won’t even have to hire any salespeople because the website will do it all.
But, if built incorrectly, a website can turn into one of the sleazy, pushy car salesmen we all dread and your successful business and beautiful products will become tarnished for good. Like any sales employee, they should be contributing to your business turnover and just like a salesperson, your website can and should bring in the dollars.
So start viewing your website like an employee and expect that in order to add value to what you do you need to invest in it. Go through the same motions as if you were hiring someone, what are the most important things that you want your new employee to achieve? And what would you expect to pay for someone who achieved all of that?
When you think of a website as an employee you start to see the value that it brings to your business rather than just the outgoing expense that it costs you up front.
And then $30,000 sounds cheap. Right?
