Advisors ask me all the time about their websites.
Most of the time, they’re asking for help in terms of optimizing their site’s performance: capturing more leads, driving new prospects, expanding their reach.
To be honest, building a website for most advisors (for most people, really) is an utterly overwhelming process.
Why building a website is overwhelming
It’s human nature: when we don’t quite understand something, we seek professional help. That’s why your clients seek out your advice, right?
I’m guilty as charged, too. Here — and on my exclusive Advisor Insider newsletter – -I’m also trying to provide you with powerful tools, tips and technologies to help you build your financial practice.
But when it comes to something so far out of our expertise — like technology, website design, Internet marketing — we seem to slink away from making big, bold decisions and almost over-delegate to the work.
Most advisors will turn to someone who understands this stuff and empower them to get the project done. Without oversight, without true understanding of what’s going on technologically, without understanding design best practices — as advisors, we overpay on technology projects and frequently, get underdelivered on our results.
That’s just the facts.
A better way to get a better website design
Many designers — good, honest people — wouldn’t want you to know about the resource I’m going to give you next. It’s major competition for them (in a good way). It keeps prices competitive and standards high for designing awesome websites.
It’s www.99designs.com
With 99 designs, you can get a professionally-designed website for about $600 (not the thousands that you would normally need to pay).
Q: What is it? How does it work?
A: Essentially, you hold a design contest where thousands of web designers compete to design a site you’re 100% happy with — or, you get your money back.
So, for about $600, you get to plumb the ideas of designers around the globe, tweaking your site until you get an awesome design. The great thing is that this process is transparent, so you see the ideas designers are generating and you can build upon them to get exactly what you want.
By the way, you can get almost anything designed here — logos, stationery, book covers, etc.
How it works
Here’s how www.99designs.com works:
Why 99 designs is good for advisor websites
- competition is good: We’re in the investing game and we know competition is good for business. Getting multiple ideas and designs only makes the final product — your website — better.
- diversification keeps costs down: Getting numerous designers to compete for your business means you place less responsibility on a single service provider. You have less chance of getting screwed — or at least, taken for a ride.
- transparency is awesome: the contest is held in the raw — wide open for everyone to see. It keeps standards high and ideas flowing.
- cost: I know from speaking with friends in the web development business that they like advisors as clients. Because we don’t know a whole lot about technology or web design, we don’t ask too many questions. Costs aren’t always competitive. Designing a site via 99 designs ensures they are.
That’s it. Check out www.99designs.com
Let me know what you think — I’m curious to see if this is helpful for you.
