The following is a guest post by writer Phyllis Amaral, owner of Elite Writing Services and one of our fabulous Rebel Circle Members!
My Website “Takeover Makeover”
Being part of the Wild Web Women Rebel Circle Program has been an amazing experience and a journey of growth, both professionally and personally. You think you know what you need or want, or where you are on your journey, and then you have those moments – the “Oops! I forgot about that bit of work that still needs doing.”
Those pesky personal work things are affecting your business.
For me, it was my website. Which leads me to the friendly “Takeover Makeover” of my website that was a bonus perk to being a part of this great support program for digital women entrepreneurs!
I’m Doing Just Fine, Thank You…ish
On one of the monthly calls I have with Lorrie, she looked at my website and then suggested she own optimizing it and it wouldn’t be any additional charge, it would be part of my monthly member perks as a Rebel Circle member. She rattled off some things about the flow of my website and moving some of the great copy on my about page to the home page. She said it needed to be crystal clear on the home page who I am, what I do, and whom I serve. It all made sense, but my first reaction was one of some resistance. I knew my website wasn’t perfect but thought it was good enough; I also felt like I “should” have been able to make any changes to my website by myself. In my spare time.
Oh wait, I am a writer, not a website designer. And I don’t have spare time to master website work!
I delved deeper into my resistance. It boiled down to a bit of a control issue AND even more, a feeling that “I don’t want to impose,” a lifelong (and totally useless) skin I’ve been learning to shed.
If talented people offer you something, accept it gratefully and gracefully at face-value! How simple is that?
Lorrie convinced me that it was okay to accept help, in her wonderfully mega-direct manner (seriously, I love it), so she and her team dug in. I handed over the keys to the website and trusted the process. Lorrie and Wil (love that the Wild Web Women team has one man too!) also discovered some SEO and metadata info that was out-of-date and focused on my old business.
My original website was intended for my life many years ago as a health coach, and it was adequate for that purpose. Although at that time I was of the firm belief and fervent hope that my website would bring in all my business all by itself. (You can stop laughing now.)
Over the years I added personal training and group fitness class instruction to my repertoire, something I’d been on the receiving end of for many decades; it made sense and sort of all fit together. So, I was happy to make the website changes myself.
Then COVID-19 hit and rather than switch all my clients and classes over to completely online, I decided it was the perfect time to dive fully into a writing career, something I’d loved doing all my life but lack of confidence held me back from making a full-time living at it. My writing business took off almost immediately, but my website didn’t adequately reflect it, despite my by now feeble attempts.
Back to SEO and metadata – everything pointed to my being a personal trainer or coach, so anyone searching for me as a writer, unless I gave them my website link directly, like agencies and other clients interested in checking me out, sure weren’t likely to find me!
I love that all my copy remained, they left the writing alone but simply rearranged things, cleaned things up, and added beautiful design to make what I do really stand out and be overall soo much more aesthetically pleasing and effective.
My reaction when they were done with the Takeover Makeover?
“I finally have a website that I love!”
And I do. You can check it out here and see what you think! Below is my website now (to the left) and before (to the right)
Being in a headspace where I unapologetically (thank you for that concept, Lorrie!) appreciate and accept help from people who are gifted and do what they do best allows me to do what I do best.
That’s what the most successful people do, and I am now looking at other areas of my business where I can delegate things with which I struggle.
I love being a part of this program and being supported by this group of women (and one man, thanks Wil!), learning and growing together without shame, embarrassment, or competition, raising each other up along the way.
How empowering!
And what fun!
And now, instead of banging my head against the wall (as often), I can ask for help.
Without feeling guilty. Who would’ve thought?
Thank you Phyllis for this gorgeous guest post! We love supporting you embrace your inner Rebel!
If you are super passionate about your web-based work, don’t believe in limitations and are ready to take your business to the next level, then you can’t afford to not to be in the Wild Web Women Rebel Circle.