Website essentials for consultants and freelancers
Why is your website so darn important?
It’s pretty simple really.
Today, most potential clients meet your website before they meet you. So, it’d better make a damn good first impression.
Even if prospects come to you through a glowing personal referral, they’re still going to check you out online. And if your digital avatar isn’t up to the job, you won’t see them for dust.
An effective website for a consultant speaks directly to your ideal client, showing you get their challenges and have a solution they need. It also helps potential clients build a relationship with you by sharing valuable stories and resources.
Here’s how to nail those things and make your website your number one salesperson:
Make it clear what you do and who you help right away.
Prove you’ve experience delivering the goods to folks like them
Give it all away.
Make a clear offer.
Show your face and share your story.
Let’s take a look at each of those things in a bit more detail.
Make it clear what you do right away
The first few seconds people spend on your website decide whether they’ll stick around or sling their hook and never darken your door again.
Real truth here. People know most websites are useless to them, so they behave accordingly. In those first five seconds they’ll fillet your homepage with the dispassionate eye of a cosmetic surgeon eyeing you up for a nose job.
They want to know:
What does this person/ business do?
What’s in it for me?
Can I trust them?
How do I get what they offer?
If you don’t answer those questions in seconds, they’re out of there.
And you won’t get a second chance.
IS YOUR WEBSITE NAILING THE 5 SECOND CHALLENGE?
Recruit a friend who doesn’t know much about your business.
Set a five second timer and get ‘em to check out your home page.
After five minutes close the page and ask them to answer these questions:
What do I do?
Who do I work with?
Why should those people work with me?
What can people do on my site?
What’s the general impression you got of my business?
How’s your site doing when it comes to communicating these essentials?
If it’s not scoring so hot, never fear. There are a few simple things you can do today to make your digital elevator pitch stronger.
MAKE YOUR WEBSITE BETTER RIGHT NOW
Two tools can help you communicate what you’re about more clearly.
1. A strong tagline
Do you need a tagline?
Well, it depends.
Does the name of your business make it clear what you do?
Jacobs & Munro Architects
Rowan Martin Copywriting
Kim Hickford Design
If it does, then you don’t need a tagline.
You might choose to use one to say who you work with, or the services you deliver.
But you don’t need one, because architecture, copywriting, and design are all professions that are well enough understood to not require clarification.
However, if your business name’s more ambiguous, then a tagline’s a mighty handy thing because it helps potential clients understand what you do right away.
The key to an effective tagline is simplicity.
A strong tagline covers what you do and who you serve
Marketing for consultants
Copywriting for legal firms
Websites for artists
You can also work in the most valuable thing you deliver. But this only works within the context of what you do and who you serve. If you focus a tagline on value alone, it risks becoming too broad.
A good rule of thumb is if you can take your tagline and use it for different types of business, it’s too generic.
When I teach people how to write a useful tagline for their business, someone always says: “But what about the great taglines of our age?”
“Just do it”
“Taste the feeling”
“Think different”
Yeah. Well. Money.
If you have millions of dollars to pump into global marketing to burn your tagline into the minds of the masses, you can have any tagline you want.
But if you’ve a small business and a limited marketing budget, specific works better.
2. A clear concise introduction
Ever been to a consultant’s website where it’s impossible to work out what they do?
Yeah. Me too. All the time.
Let’s make sure your website isn’t suffering from a bad case of whatthefeckdotheydoitis.
Your prospective clients have four unspoken questions when they come to your site.
Who are you?
Can you help me?
How can you help me?
Why should I choose you
You want to answer all four of those questions in the very top section of your home page.
Here’s how you do it.
Tell them what you do. We’re an export marketing agency.
Tell them who you serve. We work with NZ businesses exporting to the USA.
Tell them what you do for those people. We help them break into the American market.
Tell them why they should choose you. The American market’s vastly different to NZ, so it’s tough for Kiwi exporters. We’ve an office in Chicago and an office in Auckland and we’ve helped Kiwi exporters succeed in the US for 20 years.
See how that works?
It’s the same formula you use when you’re doing an elevator pitch.
And your homepage is no different. It needs to communicate those four points fast and punchy because the brutal truth is that your ideal clients will give your website even less time than they give a cold caller at dinner, unless you grab ’em fast.
Go check your site and see if you’re delivering clarity.
Prove you deliver the goods
Trust. Important innit?
You can promise people everything they dream of, but nobody’s going to hand over their dollars if they don’t believe you can deliver.
So how do you convince people that you’re the real McDaddy?
Do you:
Tell them how awesome you are?
Use loadsa of industry jargon so they see that you’re a real pro?
Get a bunch of photos taken with your new Porsche?
Pay a lot of money for a flash website?
Get your clients to tell your new clients what a great job you did for them?
If you picked number 5, you get the picture. Blowing your own trumpet will never count for as much as your clients’ own words.
Proof comes in six tasty flavours. Deploy a mixture of these on your website.
Testimonials. These are direct quotes from your clients about what it’s like to work with you and the quality of the work you do. Make asking for testimonials part of your project process, because they’re just as important as an invoice.
Client logos. Proof at a glance. This is a quick way to show you’ve worked with businesses and people like your ideal client.
Case studies. These tell the story of a project in your clients’ own words, sharing proof, process and learnings. Learn how to write case studies here.
Success stats. Figures that prove how qualified you are to help your ideal client. Examples include: number of businesses served, number of years in business, number of projects completed, amount of money raised, increase in revenue, return on investment, etc.
Writing credits. If you’ve been published in newspapers, magazines, and blogs that your ideal clients rate and read, then name check those babies.
Awards. Last on the list, because they’re a bit wanky, and everyone knows most industry awards are pay to play. But if you’ve racked up a few shiny dust catchers, pop ‘em down the bottom of your homepage, because they prove your peers rate you too.
MAKE YOUR WEBSITE BETTER RIGHT NOW
Go check your Homepage, your About page and your key service pages. Have you proof on those pages that you deliver what you say you do?
If you haven’t got proof, or your proof is out of date, start by asking ten of your favourite clients for a testimonial.
Then work your way down the list of ways to prove you got the moves, and think about how you can incorporate more proof into your website pudding.
Give it all away
The best way to prove you’ve got what it takes is to show someone your moves.
But how do you do that, before they sign up to work with you?
You give your expertise away, with free resources that help people solve the problem they pay you to fix.
It may feel counter-intuitive to give away the knowledge that people pay you for.
But the truth is, people don’t pay you for that knowledge.
Knowledge is cheap.
Your clients pay you to apply your knowledge and expertise to their problem and come up with a solution that works for them.
So, by giving your knowledge away, you prove that you've got what it takes to fix their problems.
They read your resources, they see you can help them, and they reach out to you for help. Because there’s a big difference between having a great cake recipe and having the time, ingredients and skill to bake that cake.
CREATE A CONTENT HUB
How do you give it all away on your website?
You create a content library.
It can be:
A blog
A series of white papers.
Courses
Webinars.
A podcast.
Videos.
The format you choose depends on two things:
The content format your audience prefers.
The content format you enjoy producing the most.
The second’s important, because you’re more likely to stick with producing content if you enjoy the process. Content that’s published and shared (no matter how imperfect) is always better than a great content idea stuck in your head.
HAVE A CONTENT STRATEGY
You’re also more likely to stick with producing content if you have a plan. When you ask folks what stops them from making content, most times they say not enough ideas.
Having a content strategy helps overcome the fear of the blank page.
At the heart of a content strategy is a list of topics you go back to repeatedly. Repetition is important when it comes to establishing a brand as an expert, so don’t be afraid to talk about the same stuff over and over again.
Here are some simple content strategy ideas that will work for any consultant or freelancer. Grab a few of these and get started creating.
WORK SMART & REPURPOSE YOUR CONTENT
The key to working smarter is to produce key pieces of content and then repurpose them for all other channels. Here’s how that process works.
Build a content hub for your website.
Start with a big high value piece of content like a meaty how to guide.
Break it down into snackable chunks for your various marketing channels.
Repurpose everything to get maximum ROI on your content marketing investment.
Here’s how a blog driven content production plan could work:
Write a weekly article, for example a how to guide including examples, advice and actionable takeaways.
Break that article up into 4-5 social posts for the week ahead.
Post 4-5 times a week on LinkedIn and engage with people’s content every day.
Put a call to action in every social post. This can be as simple as comment, or follow for more good gear like this, or it can be a link to your e-newsletter sign up or a lead magnet.
Write a potted version for your e-newsletter.
GET YOUR CONTENT OUT THERE
As well as repurposing your content to get maximum ROI from each piece, you also want to get that content in front of as many eyes as possible.
Writing an article like this takes a decent chunk of time and effort so make the beast work hard for you.
There are six ways for you to distribute and promote your content.
Social media.
E-marketing.
Guest publishing in third-party publications that target your core markets.
Republishing content as articles on platforms like LinkedIn on Medium.
Boosting the reach of your content with paid Facebook and LinkedIn advertising.
Sending direct to:
Clients who may value the information.
Prospects who may value the information.
Publications and online communities that may share the stories.
Influencers who may enjoy sharing with their audience.
MAKE YOUR WEBSITE BETTER RIGHT NOW
Have you got a content hub where you’re publishing free resources that build trust and show off your mad skills? If not, get on it.
If you’ve already got a content hub, what are you using it for?
Are people reading your resources and contacting you to ask for your help? If that’s not happening, your content ain’t doing its job.
Revisit your content strategy.
Is it focused on delivering value to your clients? If not, refocus.
If you’re already creating entertaining content that delivers useful advice to your clients, and it’s still not delivering new business leads, there are two possibilities.
People aren’t reading your content. There’s no point creating great resources if you’re not putting them out there in the world. Repurpose and distribute. Get return on that content investment.
Your content isn’t as good as you think it is. Ask a few trusted clients if they’d review your content in return for a reward. Listen to what they have to say and improve accordingly.
Now get on with giving it all away.
And remember, content marketing is a strong game but it’s a long game. It takes three-six months of consistent content creation to start to see results, and at least a year before it makes a significant difference to your bottom line. But once content starts to get traction, growth can become exponential.
So, commit to this for the long haul, knowing that you’re investing in building a content magnet that attracts your ideal clients to your business.
Make a clear offer
Most consultants and freelancers offer project-based services.
For us, our offer is an invitation to a client to do a specific project together.
Simple right?
But many consultants and service providers are lousy at making clear offers. Here are three common mistakes consultants make:
Having too many service offerings. Your clients get confused. What do they choose? At the same time, you’re trying to do too much and spreading yourself too thin. Focusing your offers enables you to become better, faster, and more profitable at what you do.
Not making clear offers. Yes you know your services inside out, but don’t assume your clients know what you can do for them. Say you’re an architect. Saying, “I design great buildings,” isn’t the same as saying, “Would you like to get a better understanding of your options for your site? No problem. We can do you a feasibility report. Here’s what we’ll do and here’s how much that report costs”.
Making offers into arduous proposals. You know the sort I mean. Detailed proposals that take hours to craft. You often spend time researching your potential client to create them. They may include free ideas. We’re talking documents packed with value. But do they always convert? Do they heck.
Offers are the heart of the sales process, and essential to a profitable business. And they’re what drive potential clients to take action on your website.
So as consultants and freelancers we gotta nail the offer.
A strong offer has four rules.
It fixes a problem your client is experiencing.
It offers good value for the money / time your client must invest.
It’s easy to understand.
It has a strong call to action that gives them a reason to act now.
There are two ways you can get better at making offers.
Create a clear sales process.
Package your services in a more compelling way.
Let’s take a closer look at those two things.
1. CREATE A CLEAR SALES PROCESS
Selling isn’t complicated. You identify someone who has a problem you can solve, build trust, then explain to them how you can fix their pain.
But people go wrong when they try to fast forward building trust.
Because building trust isn’t instant.
To trust you, a potential client needs to:
Feel they know you.
Feel they like you.
Be satisfied you have the skills to help them.
A clear sales process acknowledges trust takes time. It includes steps that build a relationship with your potential client and proves you know your stuff.
This sales process can look like this:
Step 1: Attract attention and build trust
Put content out in the world that talks directly to your ideal client and solves their problems for free. You can do this with blog posts, reports, self-assessment forms, webinars, checklists. Give it all away and close with a call to action for Step 2.
Step 2: Build a relationship
Solve another problem your client is experiencing for free. But this time, you solve the problem through a free in person consultation. They got to know you. You add more value. And you close with a call to action for Step 3.
Step 3: Convert them to a client
Package up the first step in your project process as an affordable offer. This is typically the project scoping phase, when you work out the scope of work, deliverables, project process, timeline, and prepare a detailed estimate.
Often consultants do this work for free. But we shouldn’t because it’s the foundation of a project and requires time and expertise. It deserves to be taken seriously. Charging a fee shows your client this is valuable work.
Working like this also mitigates your client’s risk. For a small fee they get a well thought out plan of attack for their project. They can then choose to implement that plan with you, with another consultant, or by themselves. And they get to see what it’s like to work with you and the quality of work you deliver before they commit to a larger investment.
At the end of Step 3, your client decides whether they’d like to accept your estimate for delivering their project.
This gradual sales process achieves three things.
It increases your revenue by packaging the scoping phase of a project into an easily digestible product.
And it increases your conversion rate by building more opportunities to build trust and relationship into the sales process.
Most importantly, it makes it easier for your clients to access your services. And that’s a great thing, because you have valuable expertise to share.
2. PACKAGE YOUR SERVICES BETTER
Every service you offer needs a sales page on your website.
A sales page takes people on a journey, showing them the value of your service and how it can fix their problem, before closing the deal with proof and a clear offer.
Service sales pages contain 10 key elements:
A short intro to the service you offer. Who, what, why.
Who the service is for.
The problems you solve with this service. Explain why this problem is a big deal to your potential client. What effect is it having on their lives? What’s at risk if they fail to solve this problem. This is where client interviews come in handy.
The results and benefits you deliver.
Your process. What happens when your client signs up to work with you? What steps will their project move through? What’s it like to work with you?
Answer any FAQS you get.
Proof from happy clients. Testimonials and case studies.
Pricing. Fixed price package or services start from $XXXX for Y.
Your promise / guarantee. This alleviates your clients’ fears and mitigates their risk. List all the things that stop people buying your service. Then address each fear with a promise.
A strong call to action that gives them a reason to act now.
MAKE YOUR WEBSITE BETTER RIGHT NOW
1. Review your sales process.
Are you giving potential clients enough time to grow to trust you?
Does it include steps that build a relationship with your potential client?
Does it prove you know your stuff?
2. Is your sales process clear on your website?
Do blog posts and resources include a CTA for a free in person consultation.
Have you packaged the first step in your project process as an affordable product and create a service sales page for that product?
3. Do your service sales pages contain the 10 key elements they need for success?
Show your face and share your story
Sometimes consultants and freelancers stand out because of superior experience.
Sometimes the outcomes we deliver are so good we outclass our competition.
Sometimes the niche we choose is our point of difference.
But what if you can’t differentiate yourself through your experience, results, or services?
You’re going to find it tough to create a compelling unique value proposition.
Does this mean you have no hope of success?
Fortunately not.
Because while a competitive advantage is important, it doesn’t factor in one important thing.
You.
There are hundreds (maybe thousands) of people out there doing what you do.
But there’s only one you.
You, your life story, and your unique combination of experiences are your true unique value proposition. Particularly if they qualify you to help the people you serve.
Remember that most potential clients meet your website before they meet you.
Showing your face and sharing your story helps people get a feel for the sort of person you are. It’s a little magical. People feel like they know you. You’ve already built trust and even a form of relationship before they approach you.
There are two key ways to infuse your site with personality.
1. Make your About page work harder for you.
2. Find your own tone of voice.
MAKE YOUR ABOUT PAGE WORK HARDER
Your About page is vital. It’s almost always the second most visited page on a consultant’s site, after your homepage.
People are interested in people. They come to your About page to see who you are.
So, you could be forgiven for thinking that your About page should be all about you.
Ostensibly it is.
In reality, it’s a brilliant opportunity for you to convince a potential client you’re the one for them. So, it’s really all about them.
You evoke emotion and establish credibility by telling stories that show how you became qualified to solve your target market’s problems and help them attain their goals.
If you’d like to improve your About page, there’s a detailed guide over here. Enjoy.
And give some thought to the imagery you use.
It’s important to show your face on your Homepage, your About page and ideally on other pages too.
But think about how the imagery you choose portrays you.
Images tell a story. What story do you want to tell?
· How formal do you want to look?
· What settings do you want to be seen in?
· Do you want posed studio shots or candid slice of life images?
· Can you bring your clients and services into the picture?
· How much of your personal life do you want to show?
Find a photographer whose style you love, and invest in some quality shots that tell a story about who you are, how you live and work, and what you offer.
FIND YOUR OWN TONE OF VOICE
When people read your website, you want them to get a feel for you as a person.
Part of that comes from the stories you tell.
Part of that comes from how you write.
You already have a distinctive voice. You use it when you speak, especially when you speak with your friends.
But many people have been taught to strip their personality out of their business writing.
We’ve been brainwashed into believing that professional means bland. And safe. And middle of the road. And mediocre. And boring.
That’s utter shandy.
· Your job is to stand out from your competitors. A distinctive voice helps.
· Your job is to attract people who dig you. A distinctive voice helps with that too.
· Your job is put off people who aren’t your ideal clients. A distinctive voice helps chase away people who don't dig your vibe.
Stop trying to play it safe.
You don’t have to appeal to everyone.
It’s impossible. No one is universally liked.
And besides, you don’t want to work with everyone. You want to work with your ideal clients. If people don’t like your style, they’re not the right client for you, and you’ll be miserable working with them.
So, reclaim your own voice and use it.
If your writing has become stilted by years of reports and business jargon, here’s how to get your warmth, humanity, and character back.
Good content is conversational. Record yourself telling your story to a friend, transcribe that conversation and use extracts. The way we explain things in conversation is often more dynamic and accessible than the way we write. Use this technique whenever you want to break out of your business writing box.
If you’ve a personal social media channel where you engage with friends and family, analyse how you write on that. Grab phrases that appeal to you and start using them in your business writing.
Make yourself a style guide of your signature phrases. We all have turns of phrase that we use often. Using them in your writing infuses it with your personality.
Avoid jargon. If people don’t understand it, you’ve created a barrier. Feck knows why, but most people won't ask if they don't understand something. The only time you can get away with using jargon is if you’re 150% positive that your clients and potential clients also use the same terminology, and even then, I recommend explaining yourself in plain English.
Write as if you’re writing for a nine-year old kid and use language and sentence construction that works for them. Simple is always better. The Hemmingway app is a handy tool to keep you on track. Aim for between Grade 4 and Grade 6 like the man himself.
Show don’t tell. Or show and tell. Illustrate the point you’re making with a real-life example. We’re hardwired to engage with stories and remember them.
Mainly, relax and be yourself.
Telling stories is fun.
Sharing your expertise is fun.
Helping your ideal clients out by creating great content is fun.
Business doesn’t have to be boring.
MAKE YOUR WEBSITE BETTER RIGHT NOW
1. Check out your About page.
Is it all about you? If it is, make it more about what you do for your client instead.
Does it help people get to know you by sharing (relevant) stories from your life?
Do the images tell the story you want to share.
2. Review your website and ask yourself if the tone of voice is warm, friendly and authentically you. If you’re too close to it to tell, invite a discerning and honest friend to read a few pages from your site, and ask them the same question.
If it’s a bit too business socks, then start loosening it up.
Just do a page at a time, starting with your homepage.
Don’t let your website let you down
I often have consultants tell me that their website isn’t important to them because it doesn’t bring them in any business.
What those folks aren’t considering is that their website is not only NOT bringing them in business, it’s also actively losing them business.
And I’m not talking about losing clients who aren’t right for you. You want your site to put those people off.
I’m talking about losing potential ideal clients who are put off because your site:
Doesn’t make it clear what you do and who you help right away.
Doesn’t prove you deliver the goods to folks like them
Doesn’t help solve their problems for free.
Doesn’t make it clear how they start working with you.
Doesn’t help them build a relationship with you.
Your website is more than a virtual calling card. It’s your virtual avatar. And people make its acquaintance before they meet you.
So, make sure your website makes people want to get to know you better. Because you’re awesome. And they need your superpowers in their life.