“Can’t you just use social media to promote yourself?” | get this question a lot, even from myself. So, let’s find out in which cases it’s best to have a website and the opposite.
As a creator who’s building a business around your passion, you probably have come up with thoughts about branding, marketing, or any other form of promotion.
When people are starting out with their businesses, they usually create a social media account to kick things off. However, they may find that their potential customers aren’t getting enough information about their products or services to feel confident enough to make a purchase. Here’s the catch: marketing efforts alone usually don’t end up in a purchase. To sell something, we have to talk about it, explain it, present a value proposition, etc. Often the biggest mistake is when people rely on social media to sell.
People connect with stories not product images and service descriptions.
Think about yourself – you follow your favorite content creator because he/she brings some kind of value to you, and talks about the topic you’re interested in. As the content creator gives expertise in a certain field, you start to trust him/her. When you face a problem that is related to a creator’s expertise, he/she is the first thing that comes to your mind. At this point, the content creator has got your attention using social media and you start looking for pathways to the creator’s personal office/headquarters (to get more & detailed information about him/her) which ideally should be a website.
Here’s a good example of this journey:
Rebecca gives an interesting story and at the end of the post leads potential customers to her website.
So I suggest you think of a website as your online storefront and the place people initially come to learn about you and your passion. It’s a place to gather all information about yourself, your experience, story, products or services, and contact information – things that would clutter your social media. And all of this should be presented in a way that helps people decide to use your products or services.
To answer shortly, you should have a website when you feel a need for scaling up your passion.
Let me explain. The website should bring back a positive return on investment if done properly. If you’re ready to invest money and time, and most importantly you want to scale your passion, it is the right time. Making a positive decision for a website will help you:
Remember, the internet is growing day by day. People search for information 24/7. Sure, presence on social media also works, but remember who has the greatest search engine. Social media networks are indexed on Google, and social media posts can be found with the search engine, but a website gives you access to many more tools and strategies for attracting people who search for your solution.
In this saturated internet age, there’s no doubt that people search for trust. A website is a statement of legitimacy and a way of instilling confidence in your passion. A clean, modern page that is regularly updated and pops up in search engines is an instant credibility boost.
No one likes to be limited. Owning a website gives you freedom of expression. You can’t customize your social media presence to the same extent. All your assets have to be in the same format as everybody else’s. If you want to stand out, a website is an answer. The absolute design freedom allows you to present your brand uniquely and showcase its voice and personality.
There are plenty more benefits to owning a website, but these in my opinion are the most important ones.
If you feel that it’s time to scale your passion and make living out of it, create a website (if you don’t have it already).
While a website can help build credibility and help customers find you organically, you certainly don’t need a website to make money from a passion. Many entrepreneurs have built their businesses and passions even with minimal digital presence.
An answer to this question is a matter of at what stage your passion is right now. You don’t need a website if:
Social media is a way more appropriate tool to spread awareness about your new journey.
I believe that making a living from passion and using only social media for marketing activities is possible. And more certainly some people’re already doing that.
For example, suppose I’m making beautiful ceramic dishes and from time to time posting them on social media as an inspiration. In that case, it shouldn’t be hard to gather followers who enjoy seeing beautiful ceramic dishes. More than that, I can easily sell using Instagram, Yeah, of course, using the right balance between selling and engaging. There are people for whom it just works perfectly fine. And again, it’s a matter of scale. If my ceramic dish business goes well and keeps growing, I would love to create my personal e-commerce website.
A website is an investment. If you decide to craft it by yourself, you have to buy a domain and hosting, learn how to connect everything, and spend hours designing and making it responsive to all devices. There are excellent and easy-to-use platforms such as Wix, but it will still take some money and time from you. And on top of that, for a website to do the magic, you have to build it from an end-user perspective, which requires a certain skillset and experience.
P.S. Nowadays the demand is rapidly growing for UX (user experience) jobs.
You’re in the wrong headspace to make it a success if you’re not ready to spend resources on it.
So…
Should everyone have their own website?
No…
Can a website be useful in helping you grow and scale your passion?
Absolutely!
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