Your brand isn’t working if: you’re embarrassed by your website

As service business owners, it is not uncommon to have started out by building your own brand – DIY style. It feels empowering at first. You got that thing up and running all on your own, and started a business. But along the way, things change. You grow, you expand your reach, you become more agile and sophisticated not only in what you offer, but in how you talk about it, sell it, present it to the world. But, you might be feeling a bit of a drag on your momentum, kind of like broken tailpipe scraping the road behind you as you keep driving your business forward. 

So what is that scraping you hear, when everything else about your business has become a smoother ride alone the way?

The number telltale sign we see that it might be time for a brand tuneup: you don’t want to send people to your website. THAT’S the rusty old tailpipe you’re hearing.

Websites make us oddly vulnerable. They’re kind of like your car – since we’re already on that analogy. If it’s looking kind of old, the door handle is broken, there’s a bit of rust forming on the hood, or maybe you just haven’t cleaned it up for awhile (or ever, as we all seem to live out of our cars), you can feel a bit touchy when it’s your turn to drive carpool. Same thing with your website. If someone request your URL, and you suddenly get a little cagey (throwing out apologies, making excuses, stammering about your outdated photos, or quietly hoping they forget they asked) that's your sense of pride telling you something – your website isn’t an accurate reflection of your business offerings, quality, level of service, or brand ethos as it stands today. You’re sheepish because you know you’re better than what your www is communicating, and that is a signal worth listening to.

You should be proud to share your website. It should feel like a strong handshake, not a mumbled introduction. Your website is your storefront on the web, particularly if you don’t have an actual brick and mortar location where you see clients. When you find yourself steering people away from it rather than toward it, there is something about your brand that is no longer working for you. And if you’re being bashful and evasive, well, then it's actually working AGAINST you. 

The first step to any solution is first recognizing there’s a problem. If you're dying inside a little bit every time someone asks for your link, take that as useful insight that it might be time to face the discomfort and reexamine your branding.

Here’s a quick green/yellow/red light self-evaluation to assess where things stand with your current brand. You can fill this out in the privacy of your own space, free from external judegment so be honest with yourself. How are these things working out at this moment?

Brand evolution is a natural part of business growth. So if you find yourself in a website dodging conversation, or after completing the self-evaluation, you have more yellow and red lights than you expected, you are already armed with valuable information to take some next steps in tightening up your brand.

And if you want some guidance in that journey, reach out to your branding pals here at Alkimie and Book in a free 30 minute fit call .

We hope you take some of our learnings (and reminders) to help you take inventory of your own marketing. What’s working well? What has fallen through the cracks? Where could you use a tune-up? Is it time to try something new: a new approach, a new marketing channel, or setting up a new system? As we often say, marketing is a team sport, and we’re here to help. If you have thoughts or questions that you’d like to run by us, set-up an introduction call, OR pop in to our monthly Brand Clinic to pick our brains on all things branding and marketing.