Starting a new business is exciting but full of priorities that need immediate attention. Often, business owners get caught up in investing into a website. Having a great website in the beginning can reap its benefits, however, depending on the stage of your startup, your budget, cashflow, and plans, it might not be essential right away. 

There are a few things to consider when deciding if investing in a website is the right timing for your business:

• Are you selling online goods?
• Are you a service-based business?
• What is your timeline?
• What is your budget?
• How many customers do you have?

If you are a service-based business, you can probably set up your Facebook page, GoogleMyBusiness listing, and start to generate new clients. Once you have a steady stream of revenue, that’s a good time to start working on your website. 

Do you want to build your website?

If you answered yes – good for you! There are many great platforms to create your website for free with no experience necessary! 

If you are unsure about how or where to start, don’t worry because we have a free mini-course to show you how to build your website on a dime that’s available on-demand.  Building your own website might seem intimidating at first, but, once you dive in and have a step-by-step process, you’ll see how fun the process can be and rewarding.

Maybe you are too busy to build your own website and hiring a professional is your option.

Should you hire a professional? 

It depends on your business goals, timeline, and your budget. 

Hiring a professional right off the bat will allow you to focus on other aspects of the business while they can make sure your site looks professional and functions the way you envision. Just be sure to make sure to ask your web designer how you can make edits later on and always be sure you own 100% of the content. We have met business owners who signed up for costly website services and didn’t realize if they ever left, their website would go away because the marketing firm owned the content! Yikes!  At Gnarketing, we work with our clients to find the right solutions for their budget and needs and you will always own 100% of your content and site. Our goal is to help you become self-sufficient and understand how to manage your new website. Contact us if you’d like to discuss your plans.

We are excited to offer a series of free mini online courses. The new courses are geared towards new business owners who are needing help creating their mission and vision statements and writers who are interested in learning about self-publishing. Whether you are starting a new business or writing a book, taking the first steps can be very intimidating. Each course is offered on an online course platform so that when someone registers, they can view it at any time.

The free mini-courses include:

Creating Mission and Vision Statements featuring Laramie Life Coach, Laura Pollard

Laura Pollard has had a long career in building teams as an NCAA and NAIA women’s basketball coach and has worked with universities, non-profits, and organizations on their mission and vision statements and implementation. In this free mini-course, Laura teaches how to create and implement mission and vision statements in your business or organization.

My Self Publishing Journey featuring Laramie author Diana Seabeck

Diana Seabeck published her first children’s book, “My Grammy Says I Can’t Grow Up!” during the pandemic. In this interview, Diana covers everything from ideas to self-publishing, challenges she overcame, and how her book became available online and made it on the shelves in local bookstores.

You can register for the free courses by following this link!

After you register, you’ll be prompted to create a username and password. From there, you can watch the courses at any time as they will be available on your dashboard.

As an entrepreneur, website designer, and cycling coach, my days are spent staring at a screen. Many professionals are on screens all day from work, school, meetings, to social media. To unwind or take a ‘break’ from work, you may find yourself engaging in social media and flipping through the apps on your phone. In order to fully give that brain its needed recovery from a load of stimulus, we have to put a focused effort into taking breaks. Until I suffered from a brain injury this past year, I had no idea how much stress we put on our brains from screen time. I found that by taking frequent breaks from screen time, my brain was able to work more efficiently and by the end of the day, I was feeling much more level-headed.

When you are working on a project, it’s easy to get in the ‘zone’ and lose track of time. You may have a proposal due, or a project deadline, and taking a short break seems counterproductive. However, do you find yourself slowing down or feeling ‘cross-eyed’? Does your stress level rise? Let’s work more efficiently so you can still meet those deadlines with confidence and have an increase in your brainpower for that project.

When I first implemented this strategy of taking screen-time breaks, I set a timer for every 30 minutes. When the timer went off, I would stop and close my eyes for just a couple of minutes. The results for me were staggering! I went from being a cranky mom at the end of the day to a more laid-back mom. Think of how your muscles function – can you do 3 sets of 10 squats easier than 30 squats in a row? Of course, you can! Or have you ever overworked a muscle to the point of cramping? That is our brains on screen time!

Respect your brain just like you would a muscle by giving it frequent breaks. You should find yourself functioning better, feeling less stressed, more level-headed, and overall more efficient in your productivity.

Being the best in any given market can come down to your strategy and how you can stand out from the crowd. Oftentimes, it’s easy to get caught up in all of your competition – but the real question is: How are you different? Do you offer services or expertise that is unique? How can you differentiate yourself so you can stand out?

If you are a runner or a mountain biker, you may have experienced this first hand where you participated in an event with very little competition and finished at the top! I remember going to my first Xterra event at the Deuces Wild in Pinetop, Arizona. In many of the women’s categories, there wasn’t a big field, so the chances of making the podium were much higher. Given my strengths as a cyclist, mediocre runner, and ability to push through a lot of pain, I was able to use those strengths to help me finish on the podium!

James Clear, author of ‘Atomic Habits’ writes, “When you can’t win by being better, you can win by being different. By combining your skills, you reduce the level of competition, which makes it easier to stand out. A good player works hard to win the game everyone else is playing. A great player creates a new game that favors their strengths and avoids their weaknesses.”

Business is similar to sports in that everyone likes a winner. When have you ever heard someone ask, “Where can I find a mediocre restaurant or mediocre massage?”? What you hear is, “Where can I find the best burger or best massage?”. With this in mind, how can YOUR business stand out on its own?

“Anyone who is going to hire you, buy from you, recommend you, vote for you, or do what you want them to do is going to wonder if you’re the best choice. Best as in: best for them, right now, based on what they believe and know. And in the world as in: their world, the world they have access to.” -Seth Godin, “The Dip”, pg. 10.

Be strategic and minimize your direct competition by standing out. Then follow with first class services and you will be successful!