1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:04,280 I like to call it the MVP, the minimum viable product. 2 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:09,120 It is so much more important to get it out there than keep 3 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:12,920 tweaking with it behind the scenes and never publishing it. 4 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:16,120 And I think for two reasons, 1, you need it out there so people 5 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:19,520 can start finding you and two, tweaking with your website in 6 00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:22,320 the beginning is not what you should be spending your time on. 7 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:25,360 I see people get hung up on their colors and their logos all 8 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:30,560 the time, and I truly do not think that your logo is going to 9 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:34,240 keep somebody from hiring you. And when you look at the way a 10 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:37,880 lot of logos are designed right now, there's a lot that are just 11 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:43,360 word marks where it's just text and there's no icon or image 12 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:46,480 that goes with it. So honestly, you can save 13 00:00:46,480 --> 00:00:50,920 yourself some time and just write your name, you know of 14 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:52,960 your business up at the top of the website. 15 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:59,120 You're now listening to Design Curious, a place where you, 16 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:03,120 Creative one, are here to learn about what it really is like to 17 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:06,680 be an interior designer. And I'm your host and mentor, 18 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:09,880 Rebecca Ward. If you're worried about how to 19 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:13,920 succeed in a creative career, if you're ready to learn your next 20 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:18,080 steps to become an interior designer, and if you want the 21 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:22,160 satisfaction of doing something you love every day, you are in 22 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:25,320 the right place. Grab a coffee, a notebook, and 23 00:01:25,320 --> 00:01:30,840 let's dig into today's episode. Hello and welcome to episode 194 24 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:34,800 of Design Curious podcast. Today on the podcast, we have 25 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:40,120 returning guest Robin White. She was way back on episode 50 26 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:44,520 and she's returned today to give us a lot more insight on 27 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:47,280 websites. But let me tell you, or remind 28 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:51,960 you about her, that she brings a rare fusion of strategy and 29 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:54,520 aesthetics to interior design websites. 30 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:58,120 A website designer who didn't follow the traditional path, she 31 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:02,120 began her career working at one of the most prestigious art 32 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:05,800 galleries in the world. She learned how the affluent 33 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:08,880 think, what they value and who they choose to work with. 34 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:16,240 In 2019, she founded RDW Design Studio where she combines that 35 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:20,240 luxury market expertise with digital strategy to help elevate 36 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:24,840 interior designers into the high end market via an online 37 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:28,240 presence that aligns with the clients, projects and 38 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:31,760 opportunities they deserve so they can step into their next 39 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:35,280 level of success. Robin has been featured by a 40 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:38,440 range of design industry resources from Business of Home 41 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:43,080 to High Point market. And I'm always love talking with 42 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:45,360 her. I've talked with her for 43 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:49,120 personal things from my on my own website and just connecting 44 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:51,360 her with other people in the industry. 45 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:54,760 And she's just so easy to talk with and get along with. 46 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:58,800 And I know you're going to love our second conversation and 47 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:00,600 you'll probably want to go and reach out to her too. 48 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:04,960 So let's talk with Robin. Hi Robin, welcome back to Design 49 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:07,320 Cares podcast. It's great to have you again. 50 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:10,120 Hi, Rebecca. It is so great to be back. 51 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:12,720 Thank you. Yeah, and it's like having a 52 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:16,720 friend come back because we've been chatting for my own 53 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:20,120 business on different things. And so I loved talking with you 54 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:23,720 and it's great to have you here to share with everyone else your 55 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:26,600 expertise. I'm really happy to be here. 56 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:29,520 Yeah, yeah. So today I thought it'd be great 57 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:33,360 for us to talk about what it's really like working with a 58 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:36,360 website designer. When do you need to do it? 59 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:39,240 Is the template going to work and the different levels? 60 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:42,520 And I'm coming to it because, you know, we recently had our 61 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:46,840 boot campers go through my laundry business boot camp, and 62 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:49,960 they're all starting out and starting their website. 63 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:53,000 And so these are questions too that they're asking like what 64 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:55,640 level of investment should I do and what do I need to know about 65 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:58,920 working with a website designer? So let's start there and talk 66 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:01,440 about what it's like to work with a website designer and 67 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:03,440 questions you should ask. Sure. 68 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:06,720 One thing that I think is really important for your listeners to 69 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:09,880 understand is that website designers like interior 70 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:12,160 designers, we're all really different. 71 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:14,840 We all include very different things. 72 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:17,560 We all work very differently. We all bring very different 73 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:21,399 skill sets to the table. And when you're thinking about 74 00:04:21,399 --> 00:04:25,000 hiring a website designer, it can range anywhere from let's 75 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:30,480 say $500 to upwards of $50,000. And I think interior designers 76 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:34,040 would often say the same thing. So I, for example, will custom 77 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:38,560 quote all of my projects based on what different people need, 78 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:40,600 the functionalities they need, things like that. 79 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:44,600 So just kind of bear that in mind when you are looking at 80 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:47,720 different designers websites and thinking about having discovery 81 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:50,560 calls with them that they're all bringing different things to the 82 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:53,360 table. So when you think about question 83 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:56,360 that you should ask before hiring them, this is where 84 00:04:56,360 --> 00:04:59,760 you're really going to be able to find out so much more about 85 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:01,720 them and whether it's going to be a good fit for you. 86 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:05,880 So I would say one of the most important questions is to ask 87 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:10,680 what platform do they work on? And the three big ones, 88 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:15,520 WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace. There's also Shopify, if you 89 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:19,160 sell and then show it, it's become increasingly popular. 90 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:24,360 So if you have an idea of what platform you're familiar with. 91 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:28,200 So for example, if you did your own website on Squarespace and 92 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:30,600 you know how to use it and now you just want something that's 93 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:33,600 professionally designed, you might want to stay with 94 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:35,720 Squarespace. And then you need to be really 95 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:38,480 careful that the designers you're talking to actually work 96 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:41,880 in that platform. I personally only work in 97 00:05:41,880 --> 00:05:45,160 WordPress, so I wouldn't be a good fit if they really wanted 98 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:47,920 Squarespace. But then the flip side of that 99 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:50,120 is that where you should be spending your time. 100 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:53,000 Should you be in your website all the time doing things or 101 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:55,920 should you leave that to your website designer to do so you 102 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:59,560 can focus on your clients and other marketing initiatives, in 103 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:03,120 which case then go ahead and hire them for whatever platform 104 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:06,080 they work on. So platform is super important. 105 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:10,200 I always suggest asking about their process because like 106 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:13,160 interior designers, you want your website designer to have a 107 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:15,320 process. It shows a lot of different 108 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:17,120 things. One, it shows they've done this 109 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:19,960 before, right? So they know what they're doing. 110 00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:23,440 They're going to be the guide that's guiding you through this. 111 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:27,160 They should be taking charge. They should be letting you know 112 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:29,320 they have this four step process. 113 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:30,880 This is what's going to happen here. 114 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:32,280 This is what's going to happen here. 115 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:35,960 I like all of my clients to know exactly what's going to happen 116 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:40,080 when, when they're going to be the most involved, when I'm 117 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:42,800 going to need them the most, when it's going to be the 118 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:46,240 quietest for them. And we actually plan a timeline 119 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:50,000 collaboratively. So I can say, well, normally 120 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:53,800 this would take six weeks, but what else do you have going on 121 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:55,960 during this time? Like are you going to High Point 122 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:57,640 Market? Are you going to Vegas market? 123 00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:00,720 Do you have a big install? Do you have a family vacation 124 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:03,960 plan so that we can build out that timeline so that you're 125 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:06,760 never stressed. So that process is something 126 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:09,600 that you really want to ask about and find out about 127 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:12,240 timeline. That's really important. 128 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:15,240 How far out are they booking? Can they start your project 129 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:18,320 right away or do you have to wait three months before they 130 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:21,440 can start the project? And then once you start, how 131 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:25,120 long does the project take? And this is something that I 132 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:27,640 think is really important to think about because again, this 133 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:30,520 goes back to us all working differently. 134 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:35,880 So in their mind, do you give them all of your materials and 135 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:39,360 then the project starts. So you're kind of on your own to 136 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:43,280 do everything. Or are they working with you, 137 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:48,280 helping you with your photos, with your copy, with whatever 138 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:52,880 else they need for the website? And that's when the project 139 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:55,640 starts, then they start working with you, then they start the 140 00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:57,800 design. So we all work a little 141 00:07:57,800 --> 00:07:59,560 differently. So that's something really 142 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:03,240 important to find out. Are you getting a collaborative 143 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:06,760 partner who's going to be guiding you through everything 144 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:10,680 or you on your own and then submitting materials and then it 145 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:14,400 starts, right? What kind of testing do they do? 146 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:19,680 What happens when it's launched? What type of support is there 147 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:23,120 after launch? What kind of training is there? 148 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:26,920 Those are all questions to ask. What kind of information are 149 00:08:26,920 --> 00:08:30,080 they going to need from you, right? 150 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:33,039 Do you have to write your own copy or are they writing it for 151 00:08:33,039 --> 00:08:34,840 you? Is there a copywriter involved, 152 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:39,559 right, those kinds of things. And then obviously the cost and 153 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:42,360 exactly what's included with that. 154 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:45,560 So like I said, is branding included with that? 155 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:47,720 Is copywriting included with that? 156 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:50,640 Is SEO included with that, right? 157 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:55,360 So all of those different factors are going to impact the 158 00:08:55,360 --> 00:08:59,080 timeline and the process and the cost, right? 159 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:02,400 Yeah, Yeah. I think probably a lot of people 160 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:06,720 would assume that the branding and the SEO and copyright would 161 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:09,320 be included if you're going to a website designer. 162 00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:12,400 But it's not, it's common I think for those to be outsourced 163 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:16,960 by the designer or by the the client coming to like the 164 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:18,560 interior designer coming to them, so. 165 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:20,840 Yeah. Well, sometimes what happens 166 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:25,840 with me is a client will come to me and they have an existing 167 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:30,560 logo, color palette and typography that they really like 168 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:34,160 that a graphic designer did for them a couple of years ago, and 169 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:38,560 they want me to work with that. Sometimes that works, sometimes 170 00:09:38,560 --> 00:09:41,160 that doesn't. It depends after we start 171 00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:44,960 getting into strategy, whether that's truly representative of 172 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:47,080 them or not. But something that you'll find 173 00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:50,800 is website design and graphic design are different skill sets. 174 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:53,440 So sometimes people can do both, sometimes not. 175 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:56,280 Generally speaking, you don't want your website designer 176 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:59,200 writing your copyright, just like you wouldn't want your 177 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:00,920 copywriter designing your website. 178 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:05,600 A website designer can tell you what kind of content the pages 179 00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:07,800 need, but they might not be a wordsmith. 180 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:12,280 And then as far as SEO goes, there's lots of different 181 00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:15,400 schools of thought about this, but generally speaking, website 182 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:18,640 design and SEO are two very different skill sets as well. 183 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:23,520 So depending on the skill set of the web designer that you work 184 00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:28,240 with, they may offer foundational SEO in your website 185 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:31,640 build where they're taking care more of like technical things on 186 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:35,560 the back end and proper heading structure on the page, page 187 00:10:35,560 --> 00:10:38,880 titles and meta descriptions. And then you might get someone 188 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:42,560 more like me who's also doing keyword research, research and 189 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:46,520 content optimization. So again, there's a a big 190 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:48,680 variance in terms of skill sets there. 191 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:51,520 Yeah. So it's good to pinpoint what 192 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:54,880 the scope of work would be by the website designer. 193 00:10:55,480 --> 00:11:00,000 Do you think that for a chain of events coming to work with a 194 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:04,360 website designer, I mean, maybe you've thought that like, oh, I 195 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:08,080 need to rebrand and then the website will be a part of that. 196 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:11,520 And so they work with a branding specialist first before they 197 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:15,960 even meet a website designer. Do you think that that's OK? 198 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:19,680 Or should they in conjunction like be talking to a website 199 00:11:19,680 --> 00:11:22,240 designer and a branding person at the same time? 200 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:27,640 I would say most of the time your website designer will be, 201 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:32,640 well, generally they're going to deal with brand strategy and 202 00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:36,520 that's really the first step. So before you're hiring someone 203 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:40,600 who's going to work on any brand visuals for you, you really want 204 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:43,440 to work on your brand foundations, your brand 205 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:45,680 strategy. So that's really where you're 206 00:11:45,680 --> 00:11:51,640 thinking about your mission, vision, goals, positioning, 207 00:11:51,640 --> 00:11:54,840 messaging, ideal client differentiator, all of those 208 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:59,840 types of things. And you really have to have that 209 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:04,840 ironed out and clarity around those foundational elements of 210 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:08,760 your brand before you can start working on brand visuals. 211 00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:12,520 Because let's think about it, depending on who your ideal 212 00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:17,680 client is, and then depending on how you want people to feel when 213 00:12:17,680 --> 00:12:21,680 they interact with your brand, you're going to select different 214 00:12:21,680 --> 00:12:25,120 fonts and different colors based on that. 215 00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:31,520 So an example is if your ideal client are single men, bachelors 216 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:37,360 in their 20s, pink is probably not a great brand color for you, 217 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:39,560 right? I'm just speaking very 218 00:12:39,560 --> 00:12:42,880 generally. That may not resonate with that 219 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:46,680 target audience, right? And you're probably not going to 220 00:12:46,680 --> 00:12:51,240 want a really girly type of font, right? 221 00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:54,760 So you just want to think about that and then you know your 222 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:57,320 personality. Are you like buttoned up and 223 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:00,880 professional? Are you like fun and carefree 224 00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:04,080 and whimsical? Like all of that needs to come 225 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:06,640 into play in your brand foundations And then that's 226 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:11,360 visually represented in your colors and your typography. 227 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:14,360 And then once that's ironed out, you can move on to logo 228 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:18,560 concepts. Then you can move on to writing 229 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:21,960 the words on your website so that your messaging is coming 230 00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:24,120 across and then designing the website. 231 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:28,440 I would say often times, yes, they should all be together. 232 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:30,960 And a lot of the times your website designer is going to do 233 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:34,480 an enormous amount of strategy with you or they can't deliver a 234 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:36,640 website that's really going to function as a strategic 235 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:38,240 marketing tool for your business. 236 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:41,280 OK, that's good to know. So start with the website 237 00:13:41,560 --> 00:13:44,080 designer. Generally speaking, I would say 238 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:47,200 yes, because if it's so I'll I'll use myself for as an 239 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:49,000 example. While I don't do the actual 240 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:54,400 graphic design of the logo, I do the brand strategy part and then 241 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:57,440 I don't do the writing. But I have a copywriter and a 242 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:00,200 graphic designer on my team. So if you come to me, you can 243 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:02,480 get it all in house, all under one umbrella. 244 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:05,400 We all work together. So I would say yes, that's 245 00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:06,920 probably the best place to start. 246 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:10,680 And they would hopefully be very honest with you whether they can 247 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:14,840 tackle that entire project themselves or with team members. 248 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:18,640 Yeah. And it really correlates well to 249 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:21,880 interior design process as well, because we want the client to 250 00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:24,520 start with the interior designer, not the contractor. 251 00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:27,120 You know, so like, they could start with the contractor, but 252 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:29,760 the the contractor is not really going to be able to give them 253 00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:33,400 accurate information until they've discovered what it is 254 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:36,760 their scope of work really needs to be after talking with the 255 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:39,680 designer. So yeah, it's very true, yeah. 256 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:42,920 Yeah. I found the more designers that 257 00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:45,320 I work with, the more similarities there are between 258 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:48,720 our two industries in terms of how we really work and what the 259 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:51,160 process is. It's really interesting. 260 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:55,320 One example is when you guys present a design concept and 261 00:14:55,320 --> 00:15:00,360 then the client disappears for a couple of weeks or something 262 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:03,280 before giving a response and it totally messes up the project. 263 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:07,080 And the same thing can happen with a website designer if a 264 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:10,360 client disappears and doesn't give you their materials, right? 265 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:14,800 So it's a lot of similarities. Yeah, OK. 266 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:17,280 Well, that's really good information to know where to 267 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:19,760 start. I didn't start that way at all. 268 00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:21,640 Of course. This is like, you know, we're 269 00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:25,520 going on like 19, you know, 18 years ago when I actually did 270 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:28,760 make my website and I feel like there's a lot less online 271 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:32,120 resources than there are now 18 years ago. 272 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:37,120 So I just kind of picked a template that came with, you 273 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:39,720 know, as Google or Microsoft or something like that. 274 00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:42,480 And I just, they had a photo of a chair. 275 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:44,960 So I plugged that in. And then, but I mean, at the 276 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:48,200 time there was a not a lot of competition for interior design 277 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:50,120 websites. I was one of the few that 278 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:52,840 actually had a website, probably because I was younger and all 279 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:56,160 the experienced designers really maybe had a landing page, but 280 00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:58,720 that was it. They still use the Yellow Pages 281 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:02,040 and you know. So things have changed a lot, 282 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:04,640 but needless. A lot has changed, yes. 283 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:09,200 It took me a long time to actually work with a website 284 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:13,880 designer and when I finally did, I really appreciated what they 285 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:18,120 brought to the table. And just as personal, no, I have 286 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:21,360 a band with my husband. And so I created like a little 287 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:25,120 mini website just at a page so that we can like update our show 288 00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:27,760 dates and playlist and everything like that. 289 00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:31,080 And so I chose WordPress because that's the platform that my 290 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:33,960 business website is on. And I just tried to use a 291 00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:36,840 template from WordPress and it was so frustrating without 292 00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:40,920 having all the usual things set up that the website designer had 293 00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:43,520 done for me. So even using a template with 294 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:46,440 that was I'm like, this is not really worth it having to get 295 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:49,320 someone else to do it. But but I didn't really want to 296 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:51,840 spend that much money on it just needs to be like a little, you 297 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:52,640 know, free. Sure. 298 00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:56,200 But yeah. So anyway, website designers, 299 00:16:56,200 --> 00:16:58,560 what I'm trying to say is like worth every penny. 300 00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:02,480 And so, but maybe we could talk a little bit about templates and 301 00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:05,920 when it's right to use a template if you're starting now 302 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:08,880 or not, or what's your take on that? 303 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:12,040 Yeah. So my opinion is when you're 304 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:17,240 first starting out, so let's say your first two or three years, 305 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:21,160 there's a lot of things that you're still figuring out, still 306 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:25,440 learning. And I don't recommend investing 307 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:29,040 in a custom website at that stage. 308 00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:33,800 And the reason is that most likely within those first two 309 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:35,840 years, everything's going to change. 310 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:41,840 Because of that, I sometimes think it's easier just do a logo 311 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:46,720 on Canva, pick some colors and some fonts, and find a template 312 00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:50,680 that you like and have a web presence because it's incredibly 313 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:53,240 important to be taken seriously nowadays. 314 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:58,520 You need a website, but I wouldn't spend a ton of time 315 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:01,800 obsessing over it because in the beginning it's more important 316 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:05,640 that you're getting your networking and your marketing 317 00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:07,800 and you're getting the word out and you're getting clients and 318 00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:10,640 you're working on projects that you have them for your 319 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:14,840 portfolio, right? And then figuring out who is it 320 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:18,160 that your ideal client is, what are the services that you 321 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:21,640 actually want to offer? Because you can start out saying 322 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:26,320 XYZ is your ideal client and 2 1/2 years later it's ABC. 323 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:31,480 And you can say you offer 123 as your services and then a year 324 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:34,320 and a half in, you hate 2:00 and 3:00 and you're just focusing on 325 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:37,200 one and you're going to offer four as well, right? 326 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:41,040 So all of that changes. And when all of that 327 00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:44,520 foundational stuff changes, you're going to need a new 328 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:46,920 website, right? Because nothing about that 329 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:49,920 original 1 is really going to be representative of you anymore. 330 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:54,480 That's when it's then time to invest in going custom. 331 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:57,760 So in the beginning, I think a template can be a really great 332 00:18:57,760 --> 00:19:03,520 way to have a website that's been professionally designed at 333 00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:06,760 least so it doesn't look too DIY. 334 00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:10,760 The great thing about templates is the budget is going to be 335 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:13,080 less, the timeline is going to be shorter. 336 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:16,440 Those are two really big things when you need something quickly 337 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:19,480 and you haven't gotten a lot of clients under your belt, so you 338 00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:20,800 don't have a lot of money to spend. 339 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:27,080 Yeah, when it's not appropriate is when you are established and 340 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:32,640 you know who your brand is because the template is 341 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:37,120 essentially, you know, it's kind of set so there's less 342 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:42,040 manipulating that you can do. A custom site's going to be 343 00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:46,320 designed very specifically to you and your ideal client and 344 00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:48,280 the customer journey that you want to take them on. 345 00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:51,560 So a template is a great a great starting point. 346 00:19:52,120 --> 00:19:53,320 OK, great. Yeah. 347 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:58,280 And I know from talking with a lot of new designers in business 348 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:04,000 that it's really hard for them to publish their first website, 349 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:08,960 I think without it being perfect and the way they went, like the 350 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:11,800 little minor details can be holding them back from 351 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:14,160 publishing it. You know, I always encourage 352 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:18,200 them just get it out there, you know, 80% better than not at all 353 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:20,640 and so. Would you agree with that and do 354 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:23,080 you have any recommendations for people struggling with that? 355 00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:27,800 You agree 100% with that? I like to call it the MVP, the 356 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:31,880 minimum viable product. It is so much more important to 357 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:36,560 get it out there than keep tweaking with it behind the 358 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:40,320 scenes and never publishing it. And I think for two reasons, 1, 359 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:42,960 you need it out there so people can start finding you. 360 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:46,160 And two, tweaking with your website in the beginning is not 361 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:48,960 what you should be spending your time on, right? 362 00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:52,160 I see people get hung up on their colors and their logos all 363 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:55,920 the time. And I truly do not think that 364 00:20:56,400 --> 00:20:59,200 your logo is going to keep somebody from hiring you. 365 00:20:59,360 --> 00:21:03,120 And when you look at the way a lot of logos are designed right 366 00:21:03,120 --> 00:21:07,680 now, there's a lot that are just word marks where it's just text 367 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:11,600 and there's no icon or image that goes with it. 368 00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:15,800 So honestly, you can save yourself some time and just 369 00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:19,560 write your name, you know of your business up at the top of 370 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:22,640 the website. You can easily go on Pinterest 371 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:24,560 or Google and find font pairings. 372 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:27,880 Like in the beginning. This just shouldn't be what 373 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:33,320 matters, right? What's much more important is 374 00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:38,560 how you are presenting your work and the quality of your photos 375 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:42,680 of your work that people are really going to notice much more 376 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:47,480 and how you are sharing your story and the messaging that 377 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:50,080 you're getting across. So I would say if there's 378 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:54,000 anything that you're going to be nitpicking, it should be the 379 00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:59,120 words almost and your images more than anything else in the 380 00:21:59,120 --> 00:22:01,920 beginning. OK, that's good to know. 381 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:04,880 Yeah. And what if they don't have a 382 00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:07,200 lot of images? So I always will recommend 383 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:11,360 designers like get some flat lays, do a corner of your house 384 00:22:11,360 --> 00:22:14,960 and get like a photographer to come in and just pay for those 385 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:18,280 professional looking photos, even if it's not a whole project 386 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:20,600 that you've worked on. But do you have any other advice 387 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:23,000 for people that might not have a big portfolio yet? 388 00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:27,000 Yeah, it's a great question and it's one that I hear a lot. 389 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:29,920 I agree with you about their own homes. 390 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:34,000 You, you designed your home and even if you didn't do the whole 391 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:39,760 home or a whole room, like you said, set up a beautiful area in 392 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:42,680 a room and you don't need a full room shot. 393 00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:46,760 Have a professional photographer come in and get those detail 394 00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:50,680 shots if possible. I think it's really important to 395 00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:53,440 have it done professionally. You can tell the difference 396 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:56,480 immediately between an iPhone photograph and a professional 397 00:22:56,480 --> 00:22:58,600 photograph. The other thing is, like you 398 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:02,560 said, flat lays, mood boards, renderings. 399 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:06,920 Yeah, in the beginning. And I don't think you need to 400 00:23:07,360 --> 00:23:10,920 lie about the fact that you're a new business, right? 401 00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:16,520 Get photos of you, hire a professional photographer, do a 402 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:20,680 brand photo shoot and get shots of you in action. 403 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:25,080 So arranging a floral arrangement on a dining room 404 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:29,680 table, arranging decor on a bookshelf, looking through tile 405 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:33,200 samples, fabric samples, paint samples, whatever it is, things 406 00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:36,840 like that you in action. Those can be photos that you can 407 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:40,400 use on your website until you build up your portfolio. 408 00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:44,400 And frankly, in the very beginning, you can go without a 409 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:48,400 portfolio page if you need to just have home about services 410 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,440 and contact portfolio, right. Coming soon. 411 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:55,800 Yeah, people will understand as long as there's some photos that 412 00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:57,960 you can show them of work that you've done. 413 00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:01,240 Yeah, yeah. And I also think you can make up 414 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:06,400 projects and do mood boards and renderings and flat lace for 415 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:08,680 them. And then what you can have in 416 00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:13,320 your portfolio is coming soon. Yeah, OK, with a photo. 417 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:16,760 Yeah. And I, I think that's where a 418 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:19,600 lot of people might be hesitant because they're like, I don't 419 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:22,560 want to show that I'm so inexperienced. 420 00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:25,920 But at the same time, you, you kind of want that transparency 421 00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:28,840 as well, because you don't want your client to expect that 422 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:31,400 they're, you know, getting someone with 10 years of 423 00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:35,160 experience when they're not. And so I think that clients 424 00:24:35,360 --> 00:24:38,480 would appreciate that transparency and understand 425 00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:41,200 that, you know, you're just starting out and some clients 426 00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:43,080 are looking for that. They're looking for that new 427 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:45,440 designer because probably you're charging a little bit less and 428 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:48,560 they're willing to take the risk of you learning through the 429 00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:52,440 process and that's totally fine. So I think that does hold people 430 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:54,560 back, the fact that they don't have a portfolio. 431 00:24:55,040 --> 00:24:57,000 Yeah, I think it shouldn't hold you back. 432 00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:59,440 And the other thing is, you know, a lot of times it'll be a 433 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:03,520 designer who possibly worked for another firm for 15 years and 434 00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:07,280 just doesn't have work that they can share because it was under 435 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:11,120 another firm's name. And that's something you can 436 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:15,200 probably creatively get across on your about page. 437 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:18,240 You know that you have all of this experience that you just, 438 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:21,200 and in a discovery call that you just started out on your own. 439 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:26,160 Maybe there is a way that some photos of projects that you 440 00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:31,120 worked on with that other firm can be shown in person in a 441 00:25:31,120 --> 00:25:35,520 consultation where is you're not able to share those online on 442 00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:37,520 your website or in your social media. 443 00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:40,360 So I think there's some some ways around it, but I always 444 00:25:40,360 --> 00:25:44,000 think being honest and transparent is way better than 445 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:47,440 using stock photos. That's misrepresenting because 446 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:50,880 people will automatically assume that it's your work and it's 447 00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:52,000 not. OK. 448 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:55,080 Yeah, that was my next question was, is it appropriate to use 449 00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:58,720 stock photos for anything on your website? 450 00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:04,080 I am not a fan of designers doing that because even if 451 00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:08,280 you're using it on pages that are not portfolio, your 452 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:13,360 portfolio page or a project page, I think it's just a given 453 00:26:13,360 --> 00:26:16,480 that people assume all the photos on the website are your 454 00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:17,360 work. OK. 455 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:20,280 So to me it's a little misleading. 456 00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:25,200 The other thing is if you're going to free stock photo sites, 457 00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:28,080 I think you need to be really careful because a lot of times 458 00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:32,160 those photos are familiar. We've seen them before. 459 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:36,800 And then think about like, what sort of message does that send? 460 00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:40,320 If a potential client comes to your website and sees a 461 00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:44,120 photograph that they've seen somebody else using on social 462 00:26:44,120 --> 00:26:48,520 media, that makes them immediately question and 463 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:52,800 possibly distrust you or both designers, right? 464 00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:54,760 Yeah. So I just don't think it's a 465 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:57,080 good idea. I'd rather see less. 466 00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:00,600 OK, we talked about renderings are OK, like if you create 467 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:03,440 through SketchUp or something. But what about like AI generated 468 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:08,240 renderings that might be, you know, just through ChatGPT or? 469 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:14,120 Something I think that we're moving there and I don't 470 00:27:14,120 --> 00:27:16,440 necessarily have an issue with that. 471 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:22,360 If you've given chat all of the instructions and the prompts 472 00:27:22,360 --> 00:27:25,800 about how to do it, it's essentially something that 473 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:30,080 you've created. So I do think we're going to see 474 00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:34,040 a lot more people using AI to generate renderings. 475 00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:37,960 It can be done so much more quickly, right? 476 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:41,280 So I think while now renderings can be really difficult or very 477 00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:44,360 expensive to outsource, so they're not always included as 478 00:27:44,360 --> 00:27:48,680 part of the designers process. With the rise of AI and it being 479 00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:52,480 able to create these for you that are looking really good, I 480 00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:54,680 think there's going to be more and more of those. 481 00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:57,560 It's going to become a bit more the norm than the exception. 482 00:27:58,360 --> 00:28:00,720 OK, yeah. And I think it probably, you 483 00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:04,520 know, you could show the renderings, but also noting that 484 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:08,360 it's an inspiration design or something like it's not supposed 485 00:28:08,360 --> 00:28:10,920 to be a photo realistic project like that. 486 00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:13,760 You don't try to pretend that you've done the work when you 487 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:17,840 have it, you know, Right. OK, that's good to know. 488 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:19,360 I think those are all really good points. 489 00:28:19,360 --> 00:28:23,960 What else should we be mindful of as we are working with a 490 00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:25,880 website designer? Yeah. 491 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:29,480 So one thing I think you should really think about when you are 492 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:35,160 looking to hire 1 is take a close look at their website and 493 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:41,600 look at their portfolio. We all have our own styles, same 494 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:44,160 way interior designers have their own styles. 495 00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:50,040 And yes, we can design for specific brands and specific 496 00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:53,880 kinds of target audiences and things, but our underlying style 497 00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:58,640 will most likely peek through in every website. 498 00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:02,360 So you want to make sure that you're really looking at the 499 00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:05,880 work that the website designer has done and that there's 500 00:29:05,880 --> 00:29:08,960 something about it that resonates with you, that you 501 00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:13,320 really like knowing that they're capable of doing something 502 00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:16,480 different. But this is just generally what 503 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:20,240 their sites look like. So take a look at those and if 504 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:23,880 you can actually visit the live site, a lot of times they'll 505 00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:27,760 have project pages that will have screenshots and then links 506 00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:31,280 to the live site. Go take a look at that, see how 507 00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:36,120 it works on different devices and see how quickly it loads and 508 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:39,360 you know the functionality of it so you really know what they're 509 00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:43,400 capable of delivering. I think that's really important. 510 00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:48,080 And then I think it's really important to spend time on that 511 00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:52,600 initial discovery call and to have a second one if necessary 512 00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:56,520 so that you can get a really good feel for their personality. 513 00:29:56,520 --> 00:30:00,160 Because if you're doing a custom project, it's going to be 514 00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:02,680 several months that you'll be working together. 515 00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:05,880 So personality matters. You want to make sure you 516 00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:08,560 actually like this person. You know that you can see 517 00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:12,360 yourself actually working with them for an extended period of 518 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:17,480 time, like watch how they communicate because that's 519 00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:20,120 probably how they're going to communicate throughout the 520 00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:21,640 project. OK, right. 521 00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:25,760 So, you know, there's some web designers who will probably 522 00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:28,600 never get on a Zoom call. They want to do everything via 523 00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:31,840 e-mail, you know? So is that the way you want to 524 00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:34,440 work or not? So those kinds of things you 525 00:30:34,440 --> 00:30:38,800 should really think about. Like personally, I always ask 526 00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:42,920 that everything's done in e-mail so that I have a record of 527 00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:44,920 everything and I can refer back to things. 528 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:49,000 All of our calls are on Zoom, so I can see you, right? 529 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:51,920 So it's more personal to me than phone. 530 00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:55,480 I tend not to check my phone during the day, but I let my 531 00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:58,360 clients know that so they know if you need me quickly, like 532 00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:01,720 e-mail me because I check that I don't look at my texts during 533 00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:03,480 the day, like my phone's on silent, right? 534 00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:07,360 So make sure that they know how to communicate how they work 535 00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:10,800 with you so that you can make sure that's in line with how you 536 00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:14,400 like to work as well. OK, that's a really good point. 537 00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:16,360 Yeah. And then what do we need to know 538 00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:20,320 about the after work on the website? 539 00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:24,240 So once it's launched and published and everything, the 540 00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:27,880 website designers typically set it and forget it or are they 541 00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:32,000 hands on to help update as you need or is there, are there 542 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:34,120 different? I'm sure everyone offers 543 00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:36,320 something different, but. I think everyone's a little 544 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:39,320 different and I think a lot of it also depends on the platform. 545 00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:53,720 So Squarespace and Wix are simpler, more all in So chances 546 00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:57,240 are, generally speaking, if you have a Squarespace or a Wix 547 00:31:57,280 --> 00:32:00,640 website, Squarespace and Wix are taking care of the security, 548 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:04,040 they're taking care of software updates, things like that, so 549 00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:08,760 that you don't have to do that. And generally speaking, adding 550 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:11,440 photos to your website, creating new pages is going to be a much 551 00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:15,040 more simple process. With WordPress, as you know, 552 00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:18,600 Rebecca, it is open source rather than a closed platform. 553 00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:23,040 And with that gives you an enormous amount of control over 554 00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:25,440 everything. We get to choose our own host. 555 00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:28,360 We can move our website to another host whenever we want 556 00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:29,800 to. So we have a lot more 557 00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:32,640 flexibility, customization, control over things. 558 00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:34,920 With that control comes responsibility. 559 00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:38,680 So we're actually responsible for the security of our website 560 00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:43,600 for the software updates. And most WordPress website 561 00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:48,320 designers will offer some type of monthly care plan, monthly 562 00:32:48,320 --> 00:32:51,640 maintenance plan where they take care of that for the client. 563 00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:53,880 So you don't have to worry about that. 564 00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:58,840 So Ioffer that to my clients where I do weekly updates, I 565 00:32:58,840 --> 00:33:02,040 monitor the security, I monitor the uptime, things like that. 566 00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:04,760 So you're basically paying for Peace of Mind. 567 00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:06,280 You don't have to think about it. 568 00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:09,080 You know that your website is up and running and it's secure. 569 00:33:09,520 --> 00:33:13,960 And then generally speaking with WordPress, it depends whether 570 00:33:13,960 --> 00:33:18,520 you decide you want to learn how to add new pages and add new 571 00:33:18,520 --> 00:33:22,320 photos or whether you have a relationship with your web 572 00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:25,040 designer where you can go to them and they take care of all 573 00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:28,320 of that for you. So the majority of my clients 574 00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:31,080 are established interior designers. 575 00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:32,840 They've been in business for quite a while. 576 00:33:32,840 --> 00:33:35,400 They're very busy. The last thing they want to do 577 00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:38,680 is log into their website, learn how to use it and add new 578 00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:42,280 project pages to it. So they generally come to me. 579 00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:45,560 I do design days so I can turn everything around in a day for 580 00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:48,280 them, make it nice, simple and easy. 581 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:51,920 I have a couple of clients who have more active websites where, 582 00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:55,200 you know, I'm doing things on a weekly basis in terms of content 583 00:33:55,200 --> 00:33:58,200 for them. So it totally depends on the 584 00:33:58,200 --> 00:34:01,040 designer and on the client what their needs are going to be. 585 00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:04,760 But I would say generally speaking, I like to develop long 586 00:34:04,760 --> 00:34:06,560 term relationships with my clients. 587 00:34:06,560 --> 00:34:10,320 I've had several who've come to me for a redesign. 588 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:13,760 They might have been one of my early clients and you know, it's 589 00:34:13,760 --> 00:34:17,360 three or four years later and lots of things have changed and 590 00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:19,159 they want to redesign and a rebrand. 591 00:34:19,159 --> 00:34:22,080 So I love that, you know, get to work with someone who I already 592 00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:24,400 have a established relationship with. 593 00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:25,840 That's wonderful. Right. 594 00:34:25,840 --> 00:34:27,960 Yeah. Yeah, exactly. 595 00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:30,159 So I hope that helps answer that question. 596 00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:33,080 Yeah, for sure. Well, Robin, this has been 597 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:36,560 really great talking with you and getting all this information 598 00:34:36,560 --> 00:34:38,639 again, like you've been so helpful. 599 00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:41,560 Always good to have you on and let's remind everybody where 600 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:43,639 they can find you. Oh sure. 601 00:34:43,639 --> 00:34:46,440 So the best place to find me is my website and that is 602 00:34:46,440 --> 00:34:51,560 rdwdesignstudio.com and then I'm also on Instagram. 603 00:34:51,560 --> 00:34:55,800 That's the social media platform I'm most active on and that is 604 00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:59,680 our DW Design Studio. Feel free to follow, reach out 605 00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:01,440 and say hello. Perfect. 606 00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:04,760 We'll put those links in the show notes, and thank you for 607 00:35:04,760 --> 00:35:07,480 coming on today. Maybe we'll have you back again 608 00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:10,320 in a couple years and then there'll be new things to talk 609 00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:11,960 about, I'm sure. Always new things. 610 00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:13,840 Thank you so much for having me on Rebecca. 611 00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:24,120 It was really a treat. All right, so reach out to Robin 612 00:35:24,120 --> 00:35:28,120 if you're interested in getting your website updated. 613 00:35:28,640 --> 00:35:32,320 I love that she specializes in interior design websites and she 614 00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:36,520 knows exactly what we need to communicate and so you're in 615 00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:40,240 good hands with her. Before we leave today, I need to 616 00:35:40,240 --> 00:35:44,880 remind you we've got webinars coming up, so June 10th and then 617 00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:47,120 I'm going to do it again June 24th. 618 00:35:47,120 --> 00:35:50,720 These are live teachings that I'll be doing and we'll be 619 00:35:50,720 --> 00:35:53,600 answering the question, Are you ready to start your interior 620 00:35:53,600 --> 00:35:56,800 design business and how much is it going to cost? 621 00:35:56,960 --> 00:36:00,000 Like how much money do you need to start a business? 622 00:36:00,240 --> 00:36:02,040 So we're going to answer those questions for you in the 623 00:36:02,040 --> 00:36:04,320 webinar. Those free teachings you can 624 00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:08,200 sign up for June 10th. June 24th has coming up. 625 00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:11,480 Also, doors are open right now for boot camp. 626 00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:14,480 I'd love to see you in there if you know that you are ready to 627 00:36:14,480 --> 00:36:16,600 start your entire design business. 628 00:36:16,760 --> 00:36:20,160 So in eight weeks we're going to get you going from dreaming to 629 00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:25,720 designing all set up legitimate, the right way, all the i's 630 00:36:25,720 --> 00:36:28,400 dotted and the T's crossed and you're ready to go. 631 00:36:28,960 --> 00:36:33,400 It's such a great offering honestly for everyone has gone 632 00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:39,240 through it and it's just like a real quick, I mean, you have to 633 00:36:39,240 --> 00:36:42,360 do a lot of work like you have to roll up for your sleeves and 634 00:36:42,360 --> 00:36:45,440 get it done. But you are ready to go and take 635 00:36:45,440 --> 00:36:49,800 on your first clients this fall. So if that excites you, then 636 00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:52,240 sign up for boot camp. And of course, my design mentor 637 00:36:52,240 --> 00:36:55,120 is always here for you. If you want to work with me 638 00:36:55,400 --> 00:36:59,120 online one-on-one through coaching calls or through more 639 00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:02,120 learnings that I have for you in that program, then sign up for 640 00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:03,280 them. OK. 641 00:37:03,280 --> 00:37:05,280 All the links can be found in the show notes. 642 00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:07,480 And that is all I have for you today. 643 00:37:08,120 --> 00:37:11,240 Next week we'll have another great episode and until then, 644 00:37:11,360 --> 00:37:14,880 stay creative. Thanks for listening. 645 00:37:15,080 --> 00:37:18,200 If you love this episode, please leave a rating and a review. 646 00:37:18,440 --> 00:37:21,200 This helps me reach other curious creatives like you. 647 00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:25,360 If you have a topic request or would like to contact me, simply 648 00:37:25,360 --> 00:37:30,320 head over to my website rawarddesign.com or e-mail me at 649 00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:33,040 podcast@rawarddesign.com.