Why I No Longer Give A Shit About My Web Site

This post is part of a seemingly limitless series entitled "Reflections On Being A Writer in the 21st Century. If you would like to read more posts in this series, visit my LI Profile page (http://tinyurl.com/oqotzrt) and look for posts with header pic you see to your right.
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If you look down at the bottom of this post, you will see in my sign-off area there is no web site URL listed. And some of you might find that a bit odd.
I have had a web site for years. It’s a good site. It’s highly informative, so anyone who is visiting it will come away with a very good impression of what I do and what I can do for them.
The Trouble Is The Anyones.
Over the years I have had a number of people call me, who had visited my web site. These people, quite literally 100% of them, were clueless idiots.
These clueless idiots would ask questions like: How much do you charge for an ad? Can you create a logo for my company for $200. When you say copywriting, does that mean you don’t do direct mail?
These are actual questions. If I had bothered to record and transcribe the conversations that ensued from these questions, you would be peeing your pants from uncontrollable laughter.
The Internet is a big wide place. And if you subscribe, like I do, to the 80/20 Differential, (shortened down from the bulkier 80/20 Rule of Almost Everything), you will find that no matter how refined your SEO program might be, no matter how your site is filled with specifics about what you do and even, in some cases how you do it, that you will invariably attract clueless idiots from all over the world about 80% of the time.
Thus rendering my site virtually useless.
I say virtually because it does have one redeeming quality. It’s URL on my business card has the miraculous power of proving to people that I am for real somehow.
That Was Then...This is Whatever...
Now there was a time when the prospects you met would go to your web site to ‘check you out’  before making the commitment to hire you.
This isn’t the case so much any more. In fact, my LinkedIn profile page has definitely replaced my web site at the the point of reference for proving that I am everything I tell these people I am.
It’s not so strange. And I certainly am not making any kind of universal statement on the relative uselessness of web sites. Just mine.
If people really want to find out more about me, I suggest that the best place to go is to a simple page on my WordPress blog site where I have collapsed all the info that is on my website into a much easier to navigate presentation. I have my Case Studies, samples of my work in the various media I work in. All that good stuff.

So Why Do I Keep My Web Site?
Honestly, I don’t know. Most of the people I work with have come to me through LinkedIn or referrals from other people I have worked with. Or my partners in crime, Rahul Pereira and John McLachlan.  (3 Guys 6 Hats)
My web site is all about me. But there is no ‘me’, because for the most part I am a key component of an ‘us’. And that us is a formidable trio that can do just about anything when it comes to communications.
There are a lot of people who have great and useful web sites. They blog on their sites, they spend lots of money on SEO and PPC and other shit to bring traffic to their web sites and a lot of them do quite well. That’s the 20%.
The 80%? Well these are the people who still subscribe to arcane platitudes like ‘If you build it they will come’. Which is naive at best. Out to lunch at worst.
Here's The Thing
The relative utility of your web site is, to a great extent, dependent on the stuff you sell.
If you have a widget and it’s a good one and it’s priced right and you know who would want to buy one, then a web site is a great place to sell that.
If you have a restaurant or any sort of retail operation a web site will help you attract customers.
But if you’re like me and you need to talk to people who make decisions about communications for their businesses or their companies, a web site doesn’t mean much beyond a verification that you are for real.
To get that business you need to be in front of them. Impress them with your insights. Get them to like you. Get them to believe you understand  their business and the challenges they are facing. Talk about stuff you have done for other people. All that jazz.
Advertising agencies know this is true. Which is why most of the better agencies actually say very little on their sites. They get connected to clients through reputation, political affiliations, referrals and the work that’s out there in the media.
You could argue that for the majority of people in the consulting business, a web site is the least important marketing tool in their arsenal.
Or you could go the other way, especially if you have had a good experience with your web site.
In which case I would suggest you write a book about it, because there are probably a ton of people who would like to know how you pulled it off.

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I am a communications professional, primarily a strategist & writer and one leg of the three-legged stool that is 3 GUYS 6 HATS. We work with B to B clients, large and small,and marketing & Business consultants to create hard working, strategically.-focused communications in all on and offline media.

If you have a marketing or communications challenge
you would like to discuss, (no obligation), let's talk.
Phone: 416 463-3475 • Email: onandup3@gmail.com
Skype: jimbobmur61
~~~ Links ~~~
My LI Profile Page
http://tinyurl.com/oqotzrt
My WP Portfolio Page
http://tinyurl.com/p6vqxex
My bebee.com Publisher Page (my new headquarters)
https://www.bebee.com/producer/@jim-murray
My free ebook, Small Business Communications For The Real World
https://wordpress.com/post/onwordsandupwords.wordpress.com/557

Content copyright 2016, Jim Murray Onwords & Upwords

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