Ep. 54: How To Make Sure Your Website is More Than A Pretty Face With Brad Hussey

Interviews, strategy and advice for building your online business with your host Trudy Rankin.

Summary

Brad Hussey is a Web Designer.

Originally from a remote area in Northern Canada, Brad was already doing client work for web design and strategy while he was still in school. He eventually left his full time job to focus on his successful web design business.

That road led Brad to teaching Web Design, coding and then he fell into teaching courses. All of which allowed Brad to combine his passion for web design and e-learning online.

In this podcast episode, Brad talks about the nitty gritty of getting started with an online business … how the work involved in getting your first customers isn’t very ‘sexy’. It’s HARD work and it means giving more with your initial customers. Brad knows what he’s talking about. His first job led to another and then to another … all from word of mouth and that’s a very powerful marketing strategy in itself.

Having been thrown in the deep end, with the business part of his web design business, Brad quickly realised that the best way to learn is on the job. He believes that ‘action provides clarity’. A common question Brad gets asked by his students is ‘when can or do I start?’ The short answer is ASAP.

Brad and Trudy talk about –

Different branches of Brad’s business – he's an ideas person and is big about trial and error, that’s his style of business.
Brad’s current business offerings are – web design services, training products and web design courses – The choice of choosing a service and being specific about it.
Need to be clear about expectations and boundaries when it comes to your refund service/guarantee.
Brad’s biggest challenge – letting go of doing everything himself, even though he already outsources certain things in his business. (Letting other people help)
Valuing your time and converting that to dollars because not doing that can lead to lost opportunities such as leads, business exposure and more.
DIY is empowering but it doesn’t always mean it’s the right choice – with your website it’s not as dangerous like building a home but you might be missing out on traffic or conversions … especially if you don’t realise those things can be dependent on how long your website takes to load, SEO and more.
Top 3-5 things that people can do (with an existing website) to improve it – Way too many links and distractions on the website, cut it in half at least, second thing is who is it for? Who is your target audience and what do they struggle with? Third thing is what’s the one thing that your website should do? Fourth thing is the design element – stick to something simple and minimal, then other elements or colours can be added, the fifth is hire an expert to do it for you.
Measuring data with 1 core objective of the website- The website is an entry point for your potential customers.
How to handle different objectives for a website – People buy from people they trust, so getting people on the email list, in order to add value and nurture the relationship is important. The sale happens after the relationship is built.
One of the biggest mindset shifts in order to build your business is leverage – separate your one-to-one time from your income and you can leverage that income with the tools and technology we have.

The transcript for this episode can be found here.