How to Create a Website for Your Business

I'm back for another episode of business unveiled. I'm so excited to chat with our guest today. Because if you have a brand, and I'm assuming most of you listening do because you're entrepreneurs, and you've got some web design stuff. This girl loves being your cheerleader on the side, like for the entrepreneurs. And I just found out she's from Nashville, y'all. And so we are like two sisters, because we both love cheering entrepreneurs on. And I don't want to make this sound cheesy. But we really do want to help you build the business of your dreams. And it is possible, but it's gonna take a lot of work and focus and mentorship to get there. So we're going to talk about motivations and really just helping others see the most practical steps towards creating your business or making your business thrive even more. And so Gabriela Cruz, welcome to the show. Hi, thank you. So happy to be here. I'm so excited. We were just chatting before we started recording. So she's from Nashville and her your parents live in the hometown that I grew up in. It's like such a small world. That's crazy. It is.
But I want you to tell all the listeners because I know that I got to know a little bit about you and grown up in Nashville. But I would love for you to share with our listeners a little bit about your journey. Because obviously, if you're cheering other people on, you have been able to build this life that you absolutely love. You love waking up and doing what you do every single day. And so what took you what path and journey Have you been on to get to where you are today?
Yeah, so really started when I was younger. And I was actually introduced to like software development, the tech world by a family friend. And so and my mom knew that I was always interested in tech. And so she actually enrolled me in a digit girl, Microsoft camp, which is like this awesome thing. Yes, it's so much fun. But it was like a three day thing. And so they really like showed us new technologies like some Xbox stuff they had coming out a couple years before it was actually out. But it's really to help like diversify tech. And so if you have a daughter, and she's interested in tech, like definitely go and check out that program. But they one of the days, they said, Okay, we're gonna build a website in a day. And they showed us how to build a website and design things and change the colors. And for me, I've always loved like, even today, I love decorating and, you know, interior design. And I saw it as like interior design, but in the tech world, right, like you're creating this website and making it look like your own. And it was the coolest thing for me. So I kind of stuck with that all throughout, like high school kind of just like started making websites on my own. And then I went, you know, to college, got a degree in computer science and started working at Georgia Pacific, for some other more consumer brands like Angel, soft, brawny, quilted, Northern PE or tissue paper and things like that. And
so yeah, I started doing those brand sites doing web development on that, and then QA and testing out their sights for them. So that gave me one side of of tech world I also went into back end development to do some software development. And then I eventually made a switch to go into implementation which is a different side of the tech and software side but it was more of on a consumer
consumer basis and creating those websites for these fortune 500 companies and just getting more experience and building up my portfolio. But then from there I you know, I had a goal and some of my goals were really income based and I thought okay, if I make six figures if I make six figures like I'll be good, just to be financially secure.
To reach a goal of mine, and so I started I got that actually pretty young at at the age of 23. And I, you know, kind of started for a minute thinking to myself like, Okay, what now? You know, I kind of, I'm big on like sports analogies, and I kind of thought of like, you know, Tom Brady, he made, you know, got the Super Bowl for six years with the Patriots. And he probably thought, like, what now do I do?
And so yeah, I once I started making that I was like, Okay, what now? Like, what, what is my next goal? What is my next plan? Like, I kind of got to where I want to be, but what do I do? And so it kind of sparked an interest to want to help other people, not just these big companies, but help other people with their own small businesses.
Yeah, and I love that you mentioned Tom Brady, because I actually watched the Super Bowl. But I was still like doing stuff in the background. And but it's funny, because a lot of people on social media, they're like, Who are you going for? And I'm like, Well, I'm not really into sports. But we had a few clients that were playing for the chiefs. And so I'm like, Well, my clients, but at the same time, you know, they had been to the Super Bowl before. And but and I know Tom Brady has won a Super Bowl, but what in the back of my mind, I'm like, you know, I really do, would love to see if Tom Brady could go to this other team, that he's he had only been there since March, and actually take them to winning the Super Bowl. And so from an entrepreneurial standpoint, you know, I look at, if I'm watching anything, I'm always looking at it through the lens of a business owner. And I'm like, I'm actually so glad they won. Because that just goes to show you, you can take a great leader and plop them into any place. And if they're a great leader, and they have a good head on their shoulders, they can lead any team to the top of the top, which in you know, football, it's one of those a bubble, and they crushed Kansas City like they rush them again.
It's I mean, they just they crushed them. It's
so it's so amazing. I cannot imagine being him. And just like, you know, I'm sure he had, he definitely had something to prove to the world, but I'm sure to himself, like he just proved like, I can do this, which is amazing. Yeah. And my mom was sitting there giving me like, the backstory of all this new stuff, because I don't really watch the news anymore. And she's like, well, Kansas City, someone, one of the coaches son's, like, had a terrible wreck, and he got a DUI. And there's two children that he had a car and I bet you that the players can't focus. And she's like, telling me all this new stuff. And I'm like, That's terrible. And I'm sure you're right, but like, let's just watch the game. Like, let's be present right now and not worry about what happened two days ago, and I'll pray for the kids. And I hope they're okay. And but you know, there are certain personal situations that can completely derail your focus in if you are a leader, and you can't focus because something unexpected, terrible like that happen. How can you lead a team without that focus? And so I think there was a lot of stuff going on there. But I love that you brought that up. I'm not even gonna bring up the halftime show, because
a little different, but at the same time, again, as an entrepreneur, I'm like, he put how much of his own money into this, and I'm sure it still brought him great exposure. And people were in the middle of a freaking pandemic, like, I thought it was, you know, pretty good, I guess for like, being in the middle of a pandemic. But yeah, we won't even get to all the tech talks that I saw about it, and people making fun of him and like saying shit, I'm like, Are you an entrepreneur? Do you own your own business? Are you dropping seven mil? On like getting your brand out there? Hell no. So shut the fuck up.
I feel myself like taking up for him. But anyway, so tell us, because I want to know more about you. Like when did you decide that you were going to start design studios? How did you come up with the name? So yeah, so I started design studios, and the name came from really, I was just like, one day thinking I wanted to kind of have to do with what I'm actually doing. So design, which is web design. And then I just thought I love you know, anything with the G obviously, my name is Gabriella. So yeah, just instead of design with the D, its design or design with the G. So design studios. Yeah. And then, really, it was just it actually came from just other people asking me about websites. I think one thing, a blocker or something that we don't really realize is you're right
An expert in something. And I think sometimes when things come easy to us, we don't think it's, we're an expert is in it because we think it comes easy to everyone else. And then another thing is we start comparing ourselves to other people or, you know, 20 years in the game. And we don't notice that we still have, you know, more knowledge than the average Joe, who probably doesn't know what a hosting provider is, right? And so, I had a lot of people just start asking me on a daily like, hey, I want to start this new business, how do I start a website? What do I actually need, but it really came from people just coming to me and other friends like referring me and saying, Oh, well just ask Gabby, this is what she does. And I've really started realizing, wow, like, Okay, I have a skill that somebody else can, I can actually help them in, even though I, you know, I would always, when my manager in my like, nine to five came to me and was like, you're going to be a lead on our team. I had told him, I said, um, I don't have as much knowledge as the other people on our team, I don't think I'm the right person. And it was really a mindset block for me to really realize, I might not have as much as that person, that's 20 years in the game. But I do have more than what the average person has. You know, it's, it's even like, if you're flipping burgers at Burger King, even though you know, you don't minimize what you're actually doing right? You, you're probably an expert in creating the perfect burger. So find what you are an expert in, and then finding out different ways you can offer that to different people. And so I started, just, you know, helping other people helping close friends. And then I'm offering my services just like on social media to different people who wanted to start their business.
So it's funny, because probably 99% of the people that I talked to, there, they started their business because of their passion, and people kept coming to them, which is exactly why you should start a business is because you're listening to your audience. And typically, it does start with like, friends and family. And I know for the first two years that I worked by Vince business, I mean, my sister and I would decorate and do things for fun for free, literally for like two years, because we both had jobs in the healthcare industry. We didn't need the money. We really, truly enjoyed doing it. And then when I really started going full blown business, it almost started to where, I mean, I needed to learn to say no more. But I just like kept saying, yes, yes, yes. So then I got so overwhelmed, and then I got burned out. And then I'm like, I need to do something else, because this is just too much. But that's what you have to start clarified like, okay, who's my perfect client, who's my target audience and, you know, got more serious about it, which there's so many coaches and consultants that preach all of that today. And I didn't have that many, many years ago when I started my first business. But I'm also interested to know your take on this because there's so many business owners who they don't know what they don't know, in marketing, and especially when it comes to a website. And I never wanted to really build websites or anything like that. And we do some basic things like landing pages for sales funnels, and things like that, that people want. But I would love to know your thoughts on like, when people start a business, do you feel like they need to budget a certain amount of money and like, you know, spend 510 grand on like a full blown site or because that's what people used to do. And in the last few years, there's lots of other and I would say more sales funnel lead capture, but it probably depends on their needs. But I would love to know your thought like as a web web developer and a designer like versus this full blown website versus like a lead pages a Click Funnels, the Squarespace hosting like what are your thoughts on the the wake says in the the easy drag and drop? Like, what a web developers think about that? I'm just curious. Um, so I would say one, okay, if you don't have a website at all, and you're just starting out, or if you just have like, a really minimal website, don't blow a huge budget on a website. And so I actually have clients that come to me Who have you know, they've never even sold a product or they've never even started or offered their services, like what you said, offering for free is something that I always say, you know, do, you don't have to do it on a huge scale, but like a scaled back version, just offer something for free, and see where you need to tweak things. But if you haven't, if you don't have a solid foundation in your business already, then don't go and blow 1000s of dollars on a website. I would say also like you need to have your branding solid, not just your logo and your colors, but also you know what your business, your values, what's your targeted audience, and really
Diving into that, before you start your website, because if not, you're going to spend 1000s of dollars on this website, and then you're going to have to redo it once you've actually figured out your business, which is going to be a couple other 1000s of dollars. But then I would say is, so if you are starting out, and if you can do you know, you have the technical aspects to do, like a quick Wix website, then that'll probably do for the beginning, you know, the beginning part, something smaller, scaled back, just to have your traffic funnel to. But I would say to, if you have been there in a couple years, and at least a year, and you haven't worked on your website, it can definitely hurt your business. If you don't, you know, if you're funneling traffic, and people get to your website, and it's, you know, the split, the speed is slow, it doesn't match your branding, it's not speaking to your targeted audience, you will definitely hurt your business, no matter how good your product is. So it's not anything that you need to also cheap out on. Once you're in it for in the game and you're solid on where your business is, you need to definitely, you know, pour a bit of money into your website to you know, establish yourself as the actual business.
I love that. And y'all Listen, I'm going to repeat what she just said, Get your branding, and your visual identity, your logo, your colors, who are you maybe hire a copywriter, somebody that can help you put the words together and what you do, I would almost invest in that and like figure out how to build my own for y'all. It's so important to do that. And, and something else that you said, that's really important that I want to bring up. So you mentioned the speed. And so something that I learned the hard way, when we when we hired somebody and got our first website, there was this thing called flash. Do you remember flash? Yes, never flash. Oh, my God, I loved flash. This is way before iPhones, okay, I think had a blackberry back then. And blackberry thumb. And I absolutely I love my website, it was beautiful. It like did all these moving things. And then iPhones came out, and then flash went away. And then I'm like shit, we have to take all this content. And in rebuilding, it was a huge investment. But luckily, like we have a great web team that they're still our web team today, almost two decades later. And their team has grown, our team has grown grown, we have pivoted, we started multiple businesses, they built multiple brands for us. But the first thing we do is we sit down. And we take about a month to go through the visual identity, the copywriting, we get all the stuff done first, then we do the photoshoots and the pictures and the video and you don't need all that stuff. And I love that you said that. But one thing you'd need to note two things. One, as you said, the speed of the site. So I know a lot of people, my brother included when he started his business a couple years ago, dragging and dropping. And I'm like the This video is great, these pictures are great, but they're not the right size for web. And also as you're building, looking at it in preview mode on your phone, because the phone experience is kind of more important these days than the desktop experience. And I know you guys are building your websites on desktop Come on, or you know, a laptop, you can't really build a I've never seen anybody build a website on an iPad or an iPhone, or, or a droid or an Android or smartphone. So make sure that I mean, you could build this whole blown out site. And then you look at the phone and looks like shit. And so make sure that your pictures and then your videos like we host all of our videos on YouTube or Vimeo for various reasons. And then we'll pull them in through our blog, I just I think the speed like I didn't understand, I was getting these huge resolution pictures from photographers and then uploading them on my blog and my site. And then people started to tell me like your site's really slow. And if it takes more than like three seconds, people are just going to move on. So that's one thing like make sure that your stuff is really sized, specifically your pictures or smaller web resolution, and then use a third party hosting site to pull in your videos. And then the other thing that I want to say is, and I don't know if you run across this too, and I actually want to ask you, when you build people's websites, do you hook up their URL and their analytics to Google Analytics? I mean, y'all it's free. But D is that something that you guys do when you build a site? Yes, I do. It can be an add on. But then also with Facebook, I will also ask I mean if they're gonna run Facebook ads and Instagram ads, Facebook and Instagram have those awesome analytics as well. So it's dependent on like, what their actual business goals are. Gotcha. It just a couple when the pandemic started.
All my friends and entrepreneur organization, they know that I know like, stuff about websites and marketing, I've turned into a total analytical geek nerd. Like, if you would have met me 10 years ago, you'd be like, Who are you now, because data drives our marketing decisions that are how we spend our money. It's not what I think anymore. And all these analytics and these dashboards, like, I'm such a geek and a nerd about it. And when someone asks me something, I'm like, well, that's like your analytics. And then
I'm like, What do you mean? What do you mean, you don't know how to you don't have Google? I'm like, What? Like, how did the song How do you have five locations? If you don't?
Like I'm flabbergasted. And so one of my friends that was opening a sixth location, we were trying to look at our analytics. This is right before the pandemic, she texted the company that built all of her sites. And you know what the girl said, well, you never asked for it. And like, I guess she may have asked, you know, said it was an add on. But what I'm finding is most entrepreneurs, like, we don't know why we need that. So it's kind of like, I'm like, Oh, my God, even if it's $2,000 more to go in and build you a dashboard. Like, I wouldn't build a website and have stuff out there without the analytics. And I wouldn't have Facebook ads and Instagram ads without a pixel code, tracking all of that stuff. So making sure that you're tracking and again, you don't know what you don't know, is so important. So when you go to build a website for someone, do you walk them through? Like, these are the things I need to know this is the strategy? Or do people show up with all that stuff? And they're like, here's the copy, here's the visual identity, here's the logo, here's the fonts, here's the colors, the PMS because the hex codes and all that, like, do people show up with that stuff? And they know that they need that? Or is that something that you guys help them through? It's definitely something people don't show up with.
And it's definitely something that's needed. I've had clients come to me and I ask them those questions. And they don't have that. And I have to turn them down. Because it's, it makes such a big difference when you're building a website. Especially when you say analytics, what I related to is, I used to work at the limited. So it's, it's similar to you know, they track every time someone who comes into the store, every amount of person that comes in the store, there's like automatically tried how many people come in, and then if they walk right out, like that's tracked as well. So, um, your website is like your storefront, right? And you want to know who's coming into your store? What are they actually doing on your site? Even like, at the limited in the store, they would test out? Hey, what if we put this outfit in these products closer to the front? Is that going to drive more sales for these products? Or do we need to put you know, a different thing. And like, once it comes to springtime, we're going to put out our spring collection and the way things are placed on the floor is dependent on what we're trying to sell. And that's it. Same thing with your website, you know, what you put on your homepage should be that number one thing that you're trying to drive traffic to. And so, and you don't know who's actually getting to that, who's actually clicked on that, who's actually seen that page, until you run your analytic analytics and look at that. So it's very something that's practical, something that needs to drive your business decisions, to know how you're actually targeting your audience and what's actually working for them.
And then, yeah, it's it, you also have to have a very solid business plan to know, you know, on your website, on your homepage, what are you trying to sell? What's your number one goal when someone which reaches your website, what do you want them to actually do? If you have a new campaign? What's that one thing you want them to purchase? So that you're driving and you're actually thinking deeper into what the psychology of when someone actually lands to your business or lands on your website? You know, a lot of you know, there's a whole science on user experience. It's a huge industry. It's not just you know, I have a website that looks good. In Let's keep going. It's a lot of science and psychology that goes into it.
Yeah, and the other thing, too, I'm glad you brought that up. That's a great point. Because the old me, I'm like, it just needs to look perfect. And then I didn't understand that the back end of the way your site's actually built, the way it's indexed. The way you have keywords set up the way your SEO is set up the the meta descriptions and all the blogs like that is how people find you, y'all. Your website. I mean, I've seen some websites, it's sites and some landing pages. And as a marketer, I mean, we use a few tools like I love built with where I can get in there. And with one click of a button, I can see everything on the backend of your website of what you're doing. I can see what it's hosted on.
If you have Google Analytics, if your favorite Facebook has all the all these plugins for marketers, and I can, but it helps us know, like, how can we best serve that client. And a lot of times, like, they just don't know what they don't know. And that was me so many years ago, where I didn't know because no one told me I didn't even know what SEO was, and like, What the hell was that. So search engine optimization. But the backend is just way more important than the way that your site looks on the front end. Because if people aren't finding you, then that's not good. And then if you're building your site for you and what you want, then just make sure it's going to really bring in the type of clients you want, because something that I learned in a be split testing, which I'm a junkie with now, thanks to my analytical team. And I don't think that way, I would choose pictures for ads, when this is when Facebook ads first started, that I liked. And then they would split test these pictures, and my picture never won. And finally, I just was like, quit, because I'm tired of buying, you guys want an expensive one. And so I'm like just a be split test and do your job. Like, I don't care what picture you choose, you know, as long as we own the rights to it, and we're able to post a design, it was okay with the client, you know, look at their contracts and all that. But it's about what your consumer wants, not what you want. And so it will put you in your place real fast, when you do a little bit of research and a little bit of data gathering. And also now you know, we have these great features like on Instagram, for instance, you can pull your audience, you can ask them like, Hey, what do you guys want? What do you think? And sometimes what I think and what 85% of the population thinks is like two different things. It's it's just, it's crazy to me. And so I know that you have really found like, your passion. And you know, you started your dream business on the side. And but people for people who are listening, like, how do you even know like, how do you have the confidence to know that, like, it's possible, like, because some people I feel like they, they're not surrounded by the right people sometimes. And so they're not being led? Or, you know, they don't have those positive thoughts and people and saying affirmations like, so anybody that's listening, how would they know that it's actually possible to like, actually, do your passion, make money and like, have a dream business?
Yeah, so I think sometimes, um, if we have a dream, one, it takes a lot, knowing yourself and knowing like, what you actually want to pursue, don't just go after what makes money because especially starting out, you know, you're going to be busting your butt and you're not going to be making you know, money. So if you think you're gonna be working overtime and busting your butt for something that you're not getting paid extra for, and that you're not passionate about, it's just not gonna happen, right? It's gonna drop off at a few months, or a year or something. So make sure that you know, you know yourself, you know, what you're actually passionate about. And then also, in this dream, this big goal that you have, it's probably just know that everything's figured out a bowl. Like I heard someone else say that. And I was like, all it really is, I used to think starting an LLC was such a big task, like, in my mind, thought, you have to go to the court, you have to justify what this business is, and you have to do that takes a lot of money until I saw someone else a close friend of mine, start his LLC. And I was like, wait, you did that. And it took how much time and it was really simple. Like, you know, once we you know, get out of our head and see someone else do it, then we're like, oh, it is actually obtainable. And then also, like, what am I consuming? We we really focus on like, okay, who's following us? Who's following us on social media? But like, Are you following people that are, you know, pouring into you? And are you waking up and seeing, you know, another female entrepreneur, like doing something different in her business? And then you're motivated, like, Oh, crap, I gotta get back on my stuff? Or are you just following people that are just posting pretty pictures of their vacation, you know, that's not really gonna pour into you. And you're not consuming something that's motivating you. You're just consuming something that's, you know, here and there and like, you just keep going and you're not really being motivated. So just to say you know, you are what you eat, you are what you consume. And that's you have to be intentional about your mindset and what what you're letting pour into you. And whether you know it or not, something is pouring into you. You know, like whether you're purposely going out and subscribing to positive things. Or if you're not subscribing to something at all, it's something is going into you and you have to really watch on what you're letting in.
Oh my gosh, it's so true. If you're listening to a lot of negativity, then that's what you're going to like. If you breathe it, you put it out. You are what you eat.
Like, it's, it's oh my gosh, that's so true. So what actions can people take to actually get started like, and again, I know some people listening, they already have a brand, they have a website, you also made a point a few minutes ago that I want to bring up to guys make sure that you're looking at your website at least once a year, we update our website probably once a week, because I mean, we're in the backend of WordPress a ton. Because we're posting blogs, we're posting consistent content, at least three, at least three times a week. Now we're doing the podcast and the productivity tip series, and we're constantly putting stuff on there, that's how people find you is you keep up with the trends, you're talking about relevant information. But at least once a year, if anything, you've got to keep up with your website updated a little bit and change the copyright at the bottom people like just Yes, don't be lazy.
It's one thing that like, as a marketer, when if someone sent me they're like, Hey, you know, look at this, what do you think I scrolled with? And I'm like, Well, first off, they don't have a breadcrumb like, that's the first thing from a branding perspective, like in the tab, and then I go to the bottom, I'm like under copyright ces 2017. Like Come on people, and get an intern get Get, get help. If you don't know how to do it. It is good to have a little bit of knowledge of like how to work in the back of the backend of your website. Not that you have to, you know, be a web designer or web developer. I know a lot of people that which do you offer support? Like, once you build a website? Are you done? And you wipe your hands of it? And you show the client? Like how to keep up with it? Or do you guys even offer support? Because I know some people don't do that? No, yeah, I definitely I offer training with every website that I do. So I'll make sure that you do at the minimum, know how to update your copyright date. And then I make sure if like, there's any text or images that you want to update, you can do that on your own. Just because I'm not here for you know, just to take your money, if it's something that I think you're capable of, I will let you know how to do that. But then bigger projects, I'm always around, and I definitely have free consultations for anyone. So let anyone just contact me and let them know what it'll actually take to make bigger updates to their websites. Gotcha. Yeah, I love that it I just I think it's so important.
So if you're listening, and you're new, or you've been around for a long time, like what are what are the actions they need to take to either get started or to update their site? Like, what would you tell them to do? Yes, So to get started, I would say if you haven't, you know, hone down on your branding, you definitely have to do that like, No way like you can start a website without your branding solid, it doesn't have to be perfect. And it can change over time, right. But you have to have something, what makes a good website is good branding. And then on top of that, a photo, like you have to have visual images, you I think I always encourage like my new clients go and have a brand photoshoot before we start your website, so then we know what we're working with, we can kind of tailor your website to look like that brand and look like those images. And so they all place nicely. So please do that, especially if you're in the process. Even if you're updating your brand, or you haven't updated in a couple years, it's always good to refresh, to speak towards that targeted audience that you're going for. And then I would say if you need a web designer, you know, ask a lot of these questions like analytics asked about, you know, what hosting providers, do they recommend?
Anything, anything like that, that they can see, to help you, you know, have a better website, you know, speak towards your targeted audience, things like that. But also, consistency is always you know, the magic formula sustained consistent on on your brand on your social media, and then making sure that ties into your website.
Yes, consistency. And, and just like brand consistency across like every platform. That's something that I learned, even recently, because I didn't used to us. We're working with a consultant who is trying to help us like across the board exactly what you just said, make sure social is matching the website and everything that you're doing. And because I'm part of multiple companies and various industries, I never googled my name. I just I'm like, why would I do that? And so she's like the first of every month, I want you to put it on your calendar and in your reminders to Google your name. And she's like, I want you to do it in an incognito window and do it from your phone and do it from your different computers and see what's actually showing up. Because if you're about to either launch a book, which you said everything is figured out about that's Marie Forleo his book title which I've listened to it, it's great book. Great, listen, great read. She has great podcast. She's a wonderful leader in the woman entrepreneurial space and
And her stories are great. And so making sure that all of your, your, your visual identity identity as a, and especially if your name is your brand. And so just googling your name and seeing what comes up and like getting control of that. So for example, like if we go on a podcast or if we go if we do an article, you know, we tell reporters we tell host what we want them to say. So like, have a one sheet with your branding, that has your bio that has what you do, because guess what, if you don't have those assets, people make shut up about you. And it's not that they mean to or not that they're stating, like lazur, anything, it's just when you don't know people are making things up about your, your social persona. And that may not be you at all. So instead of like leaving it up to people to figure out what to write about you or say about you, like, tell them who you are and what you do, right? I mean, exactly. And if you're shopping like for a web designer, and they don't ask you questions about your brand in the or the questions, you're just like, surfacey, okay, you want an e commerce fashion website, cool, I'll do that for you. That's probably not a good sign, like they're not there technically, to help build out your business are just there to create a website for you. And that's not necessarily what you want, right? You want someone who not only is there to create a nice website for you and knows the technical aspects, but also can help you on that business side to know what drives that traffic to your website, and what's going to match your business brand in that business side of things and married the two.
Yeah, I love that. You said that too. Because we work with a lot of people on Upwork. And I can tell and I'm always looking, I'm usually not looking at the price. I'm looking at, like their experience their case studies what they've done, because we do a lot of outsourcing through there. And we've really built a great team around it. But you're so right, because I would say Okay, are we going to have an intake call? Do you have an intake form? Like what information do you need to know? And I literally had a guy recently because we were looking for some YouTube strategist. And he was like, Well, here's the two channels that I manage that I've grown. You know, it was like, the numbers were big, but they weren't in my industry at all. They weren't in events, they weren't in coaching. They weren't in productivity. And they were fish scaling, like how to fish and then how to scale fish and like literally make fish and cook and I'm allergic to seafood. And I'm not a cook, so it really grossed me out on.
And I'm just like, okay, but like, he's like, I just need your password. And I'm like, do you think I'm fucking Chris stupid? Like, no, I'm not just giving you my Google My Business G Suite password, no. And like, we also use dash lane, which we share all of our passwords with our VCs through that they can't see our passwords, like it's all private, but they can copy and paste so they can get access to what they need access to. But I could just tell like, he was young, he was an experienced, he didn't ask any questions. And then another guy that reached out to me, because he saw the job post that he's like, I would love the opportunity. Like I didn't even have to ask for these things. He He's like, here's my one sheet. Here's my case studies. Here's the coach, I've already looked at your website, I know that you're in productivity and coaching. And here's my intake form, y'all. It was five pages. And I was like, okay, which this guy was like triple the other guy when I looked at the price, I'm like, but this guy knows his shit. And so, you know, I took the time I looked into the case studies, and then I'm like, let's have a call. Let's just make sure that, you know, I like to zoom with people and make sure like, you know, they're real people before I'm like, send me an agreement. Send me an invoice. You know, so we talked. But you've got to make sure that people are asking our questions. So thank you for bringing this. This was so awesome. This was so helpful, so insightful. Where can people find you and connect with you? What's your favorite platform? So Instagram, it's on every platform on design studios. So yep, Instagram is my favorite one. So you can catch me on there.
Awesome. And we will put all the links to design studios in there. And also, the website, we've got a download for you guys if you're interested in it. And I just want you all to know like, again, this is the first thing that people are looking at when they Google your service or your name. So just make sure that people are going to show up for you the way you're showing up for them. And I think your website is one of the first thing like don't rely on Facebook, don't rely on a third party. Because guess what you can get hacked which that's happened to some of our clients, they weren't our clients is what happened. And then, you know, don't rely on Facebook to be your website for you because they're a third party. You don't own any of your stuff. So
So we've learned the hard way to, to own everything, put it on our blog first and then you know, we'll put it out to third party. So just make sure you have your stuff. Gabriella, thank you so much for your time today. This is amazing. Thank you so much. Awesome. And everybody that's listening. Thank you so much for your time. And be sure to tune in next week to another episode of business unveiled bio. That's it for this week's episode of business unveiled. Now that you have all the tools that you need to conquer the world and GSD get shit done. Would you share this with your friends and fellow business leaders? One thing that would really really help us and help new listeners is for you to rate the show. And leave a comment and Apple podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you tune in and listen to business unveiled. You can check out the show notes at Angela proffitt.com slash podcast and link up with us on social media so you can share your biggest insights. And I want to know your aha moments. Until next week, remember the profitable shifts and structures you're creating in your business help you be more present in your life. So get out there and GSD