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Which Website Platform is the Best? · The Expert's Journey: Helping Speakers & Authors Succeed!

• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to The Experts Journey.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_01: Choosing the right platform for your website can make or break your online success.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: With so many options from WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, Kajabi, Shopify, Sisting, it's easy to get stuck wondering which one is the best for you.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: In this episode, we'll break down the pros and cons, what matters most from picking a platform, and how to match your choice to the type of business that you're building.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: Good morning, Dixie.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Good morning, Brad.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: I can't wait to talk about this because this area confuses me so much and frustrates me often, as I'm sure it does for many of our listeners.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, look, it's one of those things, and the goalposts are constantly changing.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that makes it even hardier.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: When we're talking about websites, the technology behind them changes very quickly.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: And it looks like you can do everything in the world with them, but do you really need to is the big question.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that's a good question.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Because just because something can be done doesn't mean that you have to do it.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I think chasing after bright, shiny objects for many of us is something that derails us if we think, oh, I have to have the movie flashing bits when in actual fact maybe the moving flashing bits just turn people off our websites.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: And look, websites are one of those things that are deeply personal.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I know I built hundreds of websites for clients over the years and still continue to do so.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: But understanding the needs of the client and what they want to achieve and what sort of things they want to add to the website, it's a very long conversation to actually set the scope for what they they actually want.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: And most times they don't know, which is even more frustrating.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I think you're hitting on something that I think we need to clarify right at the beginning is that if anyone is thinking about a new website, often they will fall victim to the salesperson for a design company.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: And they will say, We will create you a wonderful website.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: And that's great.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: But if you don't have someone who is liaising or project managing between what your content needs to be, what your core messaging and your branding is versus what your design looks like and how flashy it is or how sophisticated it is.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: And in some cases, as you said, it doesn't always need to be overly sophisticated, or in some cases, it needs to be more sophisticated in what it can do.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: But if you don't have someone who is then not just the salesperson selling the design who can take the broader picture of all the things that the website needs to be doing and ensure that you haven't got someone who is a designer finalizing your content, for example.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: The whole thing about websites now is become there are specialists in the design, there are specialists in the SEO, specialists in the content and branding.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes those people very rarely all come into one human body.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: But most of the time you'll need a team of people who can talk to each other in their own languages and still come up with the final result, which is going to be what the client actually wants.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: And it's a very difficult thing.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: I've been in this business since '96, and I've seen some of the world's biggest web design companies come and go.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I've seen some of the smallest ones come and go as well.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: And they charge for the same website, I've seen$1,000,$10,000, and$50,000, depending on who the client is buying it.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: And I've even had people tell me that they've had quotes for$50,000, and the company they work for said, no, it's that's too cheap.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: It must be something wrong with that.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: And yet, this person's the highest technology person in the world for a massive multinational.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: And they're sitting there going, Oh, this is exactly what we need.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: This is what we want.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: They're like, No, no, we have to have the best.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, yeah.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, you can pay a thousand dollars for a website, or we can pay ten thousand dollars.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: It depends who the salesperson is often.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: So if you go to some of these companies, I'll take you into a room, it's all lovely furniture, and there's 10 people sitting around the table.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: They talk about your project.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you better be aware you're you're not walking out of there for under 10 grand.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: And for a first-time website, that's probably not where you want to start.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: It depends on what you want.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: So let's have a look at some of the, there's probably five topics that I've broken this down into.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: And let's have a look at the first one.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: So the first one was ease of use versus flexibility.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Before we just go there, though, you just said something about if this is a first-time website.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Do you really think that many people these days that are working in the space that we're in, or people that are listening to this, are likely to be contemplating a first-time website?
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: Or is it mostly people who are several websites in that are wanting to explore what their options are?
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's a mixture.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: You've got a lot of new people coming into the industry, whether it be speaking or author.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: So, more often than not, they may have been working for a business and are an expert and are going out on their own or releasing their first book or starting speaking.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: So often it is their first website, in my experience, funnily enough.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, there's people who've been in the industry a while, but it's amazing how many people are getting a new website.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: And even people have had one before, realistically.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's a big deal.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: This is the face of your company.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: Great.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, wow.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: Let's have a look at our first one.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: So flexibility versus ease of use.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: So when we talk about websites, it's all very well to get it designed.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: So you go to a designer, they design the website, the developers build the website, they launch it.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: And then it's up to you what you do with that.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: Either you pay ongoing fees to them, or you have someone in-house who manages it or whatever.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: But in the end, it'll actually come down to how flexible the platform is and how easy it is to edit, whether you like your website or not.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I think you have to like your website, otherwise you'll just get frustrated and then you'll move on to investing in another one far sooner than what you had anticipated.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, there's nothing more frustrating than when you go to your website and you go, I just want to add an article.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: And the website designers used a drag and drop program, and you can't just type an article and press post.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: So an example of that might be like WordPress, where you go and you create a new post, and you just put the title in, you put your text in, you put your pictures in, you press go, and it's all live and it's lovely.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: On the other hand, if you want to create a page, you've got to drag and drop elements and do all sorts of stuff.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: And to be honest, it's beyond the capabilities of at least 95% of the people that I come across.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: And that's can be really frustrating for people.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: So you need to actually look at the platform that people are suggesting.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't matter what it is, doesn't matter whether it's WordPress or Pajabi or whatever.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: You need to actually sit down, log in, get a free account, which you know you can get for almost every one of these sort of systems, and actually try and create a page.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe watch your YouTube video and then try and create something because it all sounds very interesting and all sounds very cool when people demonstrate it to you.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: But chances are you'll be given your website and you'll be left on your own.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a challenging space to find finding yourself in if you don't have those skills.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because there's no money in looking after people.
• 7:47
  unknown: Yeah.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: The money's in launching websites.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: So what do you recommend as being an easy option for someone who is relatively non-tech savvy as a starting point?
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like, is there a specific program that you think is better than some of the others to start working with?
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I've got to be honest, I'd say no.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: I really think things have got way too complicated over the last 10 years.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_01: So even WordPress, which started out as a very easy platform to use.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the reasons I loved it is indexed well from an SEO perspective.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: And it was easy to add a page and add a post.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: Now, with all these builders like Divi and Elementor and all this, they've actually complicated it greatly.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: Now, luckily, WordPress has kind of come back out with their own drag and drop editor, and that's probably pulling it back a bit.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, almost every platform has quite a severe learning curve.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: Well, some are much worse than others, but I don't think there's any easy platform anymore if you want control.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: So do you therefore think that if you're going to have a new website, that you either have to do a deep dive into learning about some aspects of this yourself and that that should be a part of what you're paying for is the training.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: Or do you need to specifically engage someone to work on your team who will manage it?
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: Well, obviously that's going to come down a budget.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: But I think it's worth learning how to do the things that you need to do.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: So, for example, if it is add an article, learn how to do that.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: Find a YouTube post.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: But make sure that you're looking at a platform that has good help files.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: So YouTube obviously is a great place to go for help files these days, but often the platforms themselves have help files too.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: Some are much better than others.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: Even ones that have been around a long time, it can be quite difficult to find an answer.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're willing to Google things, you can work out how to do it.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: But my suggestion is that you work out a list of things that you're going to want to fiddle with and then go to the developer and say, it was part of this.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: I would like someone to teach me these things.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: And then we kind of apply just in time learning.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: As you need to learn to do a bit more, you go and watch a video or get a lesson from someone.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: One of the things that I have found really helpful over the years is having got a WordPress site years ago, like 15 years or more, lost track of time of that.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: But over the years, I've always had a WordPress site.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: And for many of those years, I've had a Divi theme.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: So instead of having to get a new website every time I want to update something, all we've done is just upgraded the theme or changed the look or modified the design and then updated the content.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: Because I started out early with this, and I'm smarter than the average bear, which does help.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: I have been able to grow my own knowledge base within that one program.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: And that has been a good thing to have done.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: And in hindsight, I would do that again and recommend to anyone that if they're going to have a long-term view, don't throw the baby up with the bathwater every time you want to change something.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: Grow and develop and evolve with the program or the platform that you particularly are already happy with or like and are comfortable with.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: Because those programs will hopefully also continue to grow.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: And that saves a lot of time and anxiety around those small changes that you want to make.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: But what I am also finding is that even Divi, for example, has become a lot more sophisticated over the years.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: So I have the wonderful Amy and yourself.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, if I get stuck with something that I can't do or is above my pay grade, but essentially, there is still a lot of sticking to my knitting, staying in my lane with what I can and can't do.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: And then knowing when to bring in the experts and how to bring in what else needs to be done.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: But one of the things that I have also noticed is that the more I've become involved with just this one particular program that I personally like, the harder it is to step into other programs.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: So for example, occasionally I'll step into the back end of someone else's website that we might be working with, and it'll be elementor, and I can navigate my way around some parts of that theme, but it's not necessarily as easy as it used to be when they were all a lot more alike.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: So again, you have to make some decisions early about what you do like and not necessarily deviate too far from those things and have a long-term view.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's really hard because most people they go to a different designer when they get their next website done, and that different designer uses a different platform or a different plugin for WordPress, for example.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: So they don't use Divi, they use Elementor or whatever.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: In which case, they're like, Well, it's just like Divi.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: And you're like, Well, yes, it is, but it's not.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's all very well to say, yes, I can learn a new platform, but is that what you do?
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: So I truly believe that if you choose a platform that you like.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, for example, I've worked in WordPress a very long time.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: I've now moved my content over to Systeam because I wanted a bigger platform with more options available to me.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: But it's not perfect.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: I've had to actually add a WordPress site in for the blogging side of my website because I wanted to automate it and I couldn't automate it on Systein.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes you've got to go around things as well, but I have the ability to do that, and most people wouldn't.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: So, yes, it's a case of sticking to one.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_01: You made a wise choice by sticking to Divi, and you were lucky they stayed a good company, right?
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_01: Because we've all jumped on plugins that have died.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I had quite a few clients on one plugin, and that plugin just petered out after 10 years, which sounds like a long time, but it isn't.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, choosing the platform is all about looking at the potential of the platform, what it is you're trying to do, what you're willing to do yourself, and whether there's experts available to you that you can rely on.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: You can say, look, I'll pay you for a couple of hours work.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: Can you fix this for me?
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: Which is something I'll often do for people.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm happy to go in there and nut around because I am used to being in different platforms.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: So for me, it's not so much of a hassle.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: But for yourself, it's definitely a case of understanding what it is that you're capable of.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: So number two, cost and ongoing fees.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: Now, this one's a killer because this is what I argue with myself about a lot of times is that a lot of platforms, like if you go to say Kajabi, it might be$197 a month.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: Now, that doesn't sound like much if you're making$100,000 a year from a website.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: But if you're starting out and you're not making much,$197 US dollars converted into Australian is a lot of money.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: And so you've got to kind of work out do I really need this?
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: Is this something I can plug in later?
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: Because it you've got to keep paying or your website will die.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: You have no choice.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: If it's$197 a month, then you're up for however many dollars that is,$2,400 a year, whether you like it or not.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: And if you stop paying, your website will die.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's not like you can just pick it up and move it.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're using, say, Kajabi or Systeam, it's not like WordPress.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: WordPress, you can download and put it on new hosting that is WordPress as well.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a bit to consider there.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: Some people like more control over the website.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: Like I don't like that host want to move.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I've had clients say that to me.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: So WordPress for them is probably ideal.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: But for other people, it's not so important.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: So working out what the ongoing fees is really important to your business.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: Well, one of the things that has come up over the years for me, and that you and I have talked about frequently in the past, is whether you have something like, for example, WordPress.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: With WordPress, what I do is I have a plugin that connects my Mailchimp to WordPress.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: And if there are other things that I want to plug in and add to, then I have them as separate.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people argue that going to something like Kajabi is where you have everything all in one, like your automated system, your database, your mail out system, your website, your everything is all in one.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: And that you therefore don't have to pay all those extra costs of all of the plugins.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: Me personally, I prefer to have that flexibility of not having everything all in one, even though it's probably costing me about the same because MailChimp is getting a little more expensive.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: Essentially, you can still have the free version of some of these programs and test around and feel what you like.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: So I've talked to people over the years who have said, Well, I've got everything on Kajabi, for example, and I love all of this, but I preferred to use MailChimp because that was an easier way of doing my mailing out.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I kept up with the technology there.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: So sometimes you want that flexibility of having the different programs.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I agree with you.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: And that is one of the beauties of WordPress, for example, is you can plug it into anything and you can choose to connect it with whatever you want.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: But the other side to that is it's completely insecure most of the time because the plugins go out of date.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: And so every day you're updating the plugins, and that causes other problems because then the plugins play up with the system, and you have massive websites crash, like I have sometimes with clients.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: And it can be six months till the plugins fix themselves, like the companies that run the plugins fix themselves.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: So that website can actually be frozen insecure for up to six months.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: So all your data is sitting out there in a way for anyone who actually finds it to be able to get into it.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: And so having everything in a single platform, even though you pay more, at least it is within the secure platform and the programmers who are writing it within their own secure area.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: So there's more chance that if there is a problem from a security perspective, which is a big thing these days, security is a massive issue.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: When they fix it for this guy, it fixes it for everybody because you all get the same update and it won't break your site because you're using something that is all tied together.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: And so, because of that, it's well worth sometimes going to those platforms because of that.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: Again, two sides flexibility versus controls, but you know, there's all of those things.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: So it is kind of it's frustrating.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: And there is no correct answer.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_01: I will say this to everybody who's listening.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: There's no correct answer.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: You need to find what works for yourself.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: But these are things I think just got to consider how much you're prepared to pay.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: And remember, you could be paying it for 20 years.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: Are you going to get the value out of what you're paying per month?
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_01: Or are you better going with a cheaper option for now and then looking to upgrade down the track?
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, the other thing is the cost to change.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: You might think, oh, we're paying for the same thing for 20 years, that's going to be a lot.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: But 15 years into something, and then suddenly the price doubles, or not even necessarily doubles, but it takes a big hike.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: And then you're suddenly faced with, but if I change, there's all of this additional cost, therefore I am stuck in this option.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: So you have to do it long term.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_01: And that's a tough one because then you start going around in circles in your head.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_01: And that's dangerous too, because you can get caught up in what might or might not happen.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: And you can never be future-proof when it comes to websites.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: You can only be future-proof for one or two years realistically.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: But if you look over the history of the companies that you're looking at.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: So if you look at WordPress, they're not going anywhere.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: They're a big company.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: Automatic is a huge company.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: Wix, big company, just spent$62 million or something on an AI automation tool to go in there.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: Squarespace, same thing.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_01: Fortune 500 company.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_01: Shopify, massive company.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, huge.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: And so you can at least go and look at them and decide, well, they're probably not going anywhere.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: So the next one is your content for needs.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: So when you're building a website, certainly as a speaker, an author, or an expert, you need kind of certain content things.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: Now there might be, okay, I need to be able to blog or write articles.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: Blog is the traditional term for that.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: I need to be able to add new pages.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: Do I need a shopping cart?
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: Do I need a membership area?
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of things that we may want to add or that we just need straight out of the box.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: And we need to think about those things.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: And they are absolutely worth writing down before you go to have a meeting with someone because it will completely change what options are given to you.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: For example, I like System because I have everything there.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: I've got a shopping cart, I've got uh membership area, I've got courses, I've got article sections, I've got it all there.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: And that's one of the reasons I like it, is because it's all integrated, it's all on the one platform.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's not perfect, and I've got to kind of know my way through it, but it's all there and it's all secure.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: But if you take WordPress, like you've got, you can say, okay, well, I've got WooCommerce, so I can put a cart on there, I can get a membership plugin, they're available.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_01: There is options available to you, but you really need to think about those things before you start.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: The other thing is, too, is it just a simple site?
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not always about complexity.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: This might just be a small landing page site that you're building.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: So these are what we call micro sites, and they might be just for your book.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_01: So you might do a site for your book with the name of the book, BradHauplebook.com.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: And we have the landing page, and then it clicks through to a sales page, and there's a contact you page or something, a very small site, in which case, you know, using something like WordPress might be ideal because it's not like you're going to build on this.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: This is just there if people search for the book to come up straight away.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I think we overcomplicate things unnecessarily.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: In so many parts of their lives, with a I can recall that it used to be so fashionable, let's say, to have a landing page that was using specific software that was just software for landing pages.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: And then WordPress spike click funnels.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I think uncomplicating things is something that we don't necessarily spend enough time thinking about.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you've got to do your research.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_01: There's really good plugins for WordPress for doing landing pages.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_01: And they're just as good as somewhere like ClickFunnels where they're pre-populated, and all you've got to do is click and change the words on the page.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_01: You've just got to find the right one.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: Now that's where if you're working with a web designer, it's probably better because they will have a list of plugins that they know work for that sort of thing.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, there's nothing to stop you Googling that and going and looking at people's sites and the examples on the plug-in site where you can see them.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: Canva, for example, does an interesting range of options where you can actually literally create your website using some of their templates, and then I think you just load it into whatever hosting program or goes straight into WordPress or something.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not quite sure how it works.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: I haven't played with it that much, but you know, there's those sort of options as well that give you the power to create it the way you want it to look, put some of the populated content into it, and then you I don't know.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you can actually host it at Canva.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: So Penny, my daughter, who's a video editor and has a business turn out for stickers and people, her website's actually done on Canva.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_01: And you can actually just point a custom domain to it if you want to.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_01: And she did that herself very easily, just using the drag and drop on Canva.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_01: And was I was impressed.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, well, actually, that makes a lot of sense for something.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_01: More stuff around with complex software when you've got software that's so easy to use.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: And Canva is such a flexible, friendly, easy-to-use platform for anything that if that gives you an option where you're still trying to figure out what you need, but you need something quickly, then you know, that's a really good option.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: I totally agree.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_01: I use it for my presentations now.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_01: Certainly any presentations I'm doing online.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, I can't take them with me, but it works really well.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_01: Look, there's so many options.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: Again, it comes back to what do you need?
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_01: What are you looking to do?
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_01: What do you need, what are your content needs, and all those.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_01: So next one is scalability.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_01: And that is can you grow your business?
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_01: And we talked a little bit about this, but uh some companies will offer you a system where you can have, and it's not as common anymore, but it used to be you can have 10 pages and you can have five posts.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_01: And if you want any more than that, then you've got to move to the next package where you can have 50 pages.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_01: If you're still seeing that sort of stuff, you're talking to the wrong web designers because those days are gone.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: There are certain people who are still selling it, and people will buy it every day of the week.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: Really?
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, that's quite sad to hear, actually.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: It is because you should be able to have unlimited pages and unlimited posts, and whatever you want to do, you should be able to do it based on your content needs in the design phase.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: So scalability to me is probably my biggest one.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: What am I looking to do in the future?
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what we've talked about in the past, this podcast.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: But certainly looking at am I going to want a shopping cart?
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: Am I going to want to be able to put articles up?
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: All those things.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: I think this comes down to my favorite subject of planning, planning ahead.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_00: And as part of your plan.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_01: Do you planning?
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: Why do you plan things?
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: We just live by the set of our plans.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: Well, yes, I know.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: But then that's such a fun thing to do if you're a risk, a happy risk taker.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: But generally with our businesses, we should be doing planning, we should be doing forecasting, we should be doing things like what does my business look like in five years if I do this?
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_00: How do I then break that down to what it's going to look like in three years, two years, one year?
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: And website updates and marketing updates should be part of your overall regular planning.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, where are you going?
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: How are you going to get there?
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: You don't do a business plan when you start a new business and think that you're only going to be in business for a year.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: You do a business plan and a marketing plan, and you think this is what the next two to three years looks like, at the very least.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: One thing that you'll see these days, and it's talked about a lot when we come to startups, is talking about tech stacks.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: And so a tech stack is a stack of technical tools that you use to create something.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_01: And it's really common that what you'll see when you try new websites, new launches, are often a tech stack.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_01: So they've taken, for example, in your case, you had WordPress and MailChin.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_01: So those two are part of your tech stack.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_01: Now you might plug in a few other things as well.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_01: And we can use automation tools like make.com to stack things together.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: When you do this, and that comes out the other end.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_01: So that's a common way that people will build their first website if they're looking towards the future.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_01: So they'll get a WordPress site and then they'll have already had MailTune because they've been building an email list.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: So they'll tack that in.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_01: And then down the track, they go, I need a shopping cart.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_01: So okay, I can always plug in Shopify.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: So I'll plug in a Shopify.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: So the good thing is that if you think of it like a tech stack, you still have options no matter what you're doing.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_01: Because of Zapier and Mate.com and N8N and a few of those tools that are available now, and certainly a lot more of the AI agents that are coming out.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_01: You can always stack other things and connect them up if you need to.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_01: So there is ways around scalability.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, keep that one in mind.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: A tech stack is really a common thing we'll see.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: Gosh, tech stacking used to consist of a cash register, a telephone, and a fixed machine.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_01: Well, now you would be surprised how many of the websites you're using who are new AI tools are actually just tech stacks.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_01: They're just things connected to other things to give you an output.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_01: And you put something in on the website and you get an output, but in the back end it's four or five things all connected together.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_01: They're not really programmed as such.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that's a whole another podcast topic to talk about.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's totally different.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: So the last one I had was support and control.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_01: And support to me is a big one.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's really easy when you're a technical person to kind of nut your way through a problem and will work out how to fix it.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like I will Google it, I'll go to YouTube, I'll find it because I'm technical and that's the way I am.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_01: Whereas many of my clients are not.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: And they will have a go and then they get to a point and they'll ring me and say, Hey, I'm trying to do this.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: Can you please fix it?
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I say, Yes.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_01: And it takes me fully 20 seconds because I know what I'm doing.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_01: And often I'll do it while they're on the phone or we're in a Zoom call or something.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_01: I'll say, okay, is this what you want?
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I'll change it.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: And they reload.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_01: And you need someone like that in your life.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: You're really doing.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes it's those little tiny things that just trip you up and cause you the biggest surgeon grey hair and wrinkles.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_00: Often it's something that, as you say, it might only take someone that that knows what they're doing 20 seconds to do it, but they're still worth their weight in gold for having on board.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: And you've got to look after those relationships and be prepared to pay for those services, even if you think, oh, it's only going to take Brad 20 seconds to do it.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: That's not the point because if you don't have someone who can help you out quickly that you have a commercial relationship with, then you are going to struggle to find someone who will not charge you an arm and a leg for a call-out fee, et cetera, et cetera.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a fine line between having the tech guy have to drive to your house and fix the cable versus someone that you can ring and say, can you tell me which button to push or which thing to plug in?
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a lot of space in between there.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_00: And you do need to have those relationships and think of them as good commercial relationships, even if it is just a mate that you might want to pick up the phone and say, Hey, how do you do this?
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_01: And you've got to understand that when you're tapping into people's professional knowledge, too, it is going to cost you.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's upwards of$150 an hour.
• 30:44
  unknown: Yeah.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you can get someone out of a third world country to do it for you.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_01: But sometimes it's better to pay and have it done right there and then somebody you can converse with.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: But there are companies who specialize in this sort of stuff.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_01: So an example of that might be WP Curve, which was an Australian company.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: I think they got sold.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_01: But basically, you paid a flat rate and then entitled you to a certain number of hours a month support for your WordPress site.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_01: And they would do anything, anything at all.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_01: You I need this plugin, I need that fixed, whatever.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's a really good option for people.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_01: And there is a range of providers doing that for all different sorts of websites.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_01: You've just got to ask around.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: And you can find those people on Fiverr.com or Upwork.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_01: Or if you go to the actual platform where the website was first built.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_01: So if you take uh Kajabi, for example, they will have an area where there's Kajabi professionals.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_01: Or if you go to Shopify, there is Shopify professionals.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_01: And those people are available and their companies are there.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_01: So it's worth remembering that you don't always have to go back to your website designer.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_01: As I said, it's often the case in a website designer, they're not eating if they're not selling sites.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_01: So selling support is really hard for them.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I think look, that's really important is that you do have that support because that's where most people have their biggest frustrations.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's not the actual website, it's not the look.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's not even how it's functioning most times.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's just how do I fix this?
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_01: How do I add that?
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_01: How do I keep it secure?
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_01: All those sorts of things.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that was a great discussion about things that we often don't necessarily think about, but that are critical to our businesses, no matter what we're doing.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I think we've touched on some really interesting points there.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_01: Look, websites are a huge part of any business.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, I would go as far as to say if you don't have a website, you're not in business these days.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, absolutely.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_01: So 100%.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for tuning into the experts journey.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_01: If you picked up some useful tips today, please take a moment to subscribe and share this episode with a fellow speaker or expert in your network.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_01: It really helps us reach more people.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_01: And don't forget to check out our books on Amazon.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_01: Dixie's Start with the Draft, How to Easily Plan and Write a Nonfiction Book and Authority Island.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: And my book, Microcourse Profits, Build a Seven Figure Income with Bite Sized Courses.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_01: Both are packed with practical tools to help you grow your business faster.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_01: We'll catch you next time.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, Brett.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_00: See you soon.