What actually happens when you book a call with a small business web designer

3 Mar

Hello there.

Now, maybe you’ve been mooching around my website and hovering over that ‘book a call’ button but you’re not exactly sure if you’re ready or what the call will be like…or maybe you’re worried that by booking a call you are then gonna be talked into something.

So I want to break down exactly what happens when you do go ahead and book that call with me.

Web designer and small business owner

If we haven’t met yet then hello, I’m Ishbel and I work with small business owners to build website’s to be proud of. Website’s that don’t ‘just’ look great (I mean they will look great!), but strategic website’s that actually help to build your business and ultimately help make you more money.

Before I pivoted into web design, I worked for 17 years as an independent jewellery designer and maker. I’m telling you this cos I want you to know that I fully and deeply understand the realities of running a small creative business. So when I tell you that booking in for a call with me will never be a corporate, sell sell sell type of experience I totally mean it.

And that leads me onto the first thing I want to share…

It’s just a chat.
Some people like to call this a discovery call but really, it’s a chat. It’s a free 20 min call on Google Meet to see if we want to work together. There’s no script or pitch from my end. We’ll have a conversation, you tell me about your business and where you’re currently at with your website and I’ll tell you my thoughts and how I think I can help.

The vibe is pretty relaxed. I’m an easy going human and am genuinely interested in finding out about your small business and helping you make the most awesome website possible.

One client told me on our first call that she was looking for was someone she felt comfortable enough with asking "silly" questions to (she’d spent two years working with a developer who still hadn't got her site live)

No such thing as silly questions here. You don’t know what you don’t know, right??
What do we actually talk about?
That depends on where you’re starting from.

If you have a website already then we can talk through what you think isn’t working. People often come to me knowing that ‘something’ isn’t quite right with their site but they don’t always know exactly what. Which makes total sense… as a small business owner, you have to do ALL of the things yourself and when you are that deep in your business, it can be hard to stand back and see your website clearly. You’re too close to it. It becomes a big overwhelming thing and then gets pushed back down the to-do list.

A pair of fresh eyes can make all the difference.

One of my clients Sophie, from Glasgow Forest School put it perfectly:

"I had a bit of an 'ah ha' moment when Ishbel proposed the current site structure. I had so much info but it was a big jumbled mess that I couldn’t make sense of. The new structure has enabled me to reorganise what I offer my network in a clear way."

If you don’t have an existing website and we’re starting from the beginning then it’s the same conversation but with a slightly different angle. We talk about your business, what you're trying to achieve, what you want people to do when they land on your site. We work out the goals and build a clear picture of what the site actually needs to do for you.

Either way, we brainstorm. We make a plan. You leave the call with more clarity than you came in with.
After our chat
After our call, I’ll send you a written proposal that outlines what we talked about and my proposed action plan for how we can move forward. I’ll cover how I’d approach your project, how much it will cost and what the next steps are if you want to go ahead.

Then it’s up to you.

If you want to go ahead brilliant - you just need to accept my proposal and we move onto the next phase.

If I’m not the right fit or you’re not quite ready yet, that’s totally fine. You’ve now got some new info, which in itself is a step forward in building your small business website.
What if I’m not the one for you?
It happens sometimes, and I'll always be straight with you. I specialise in making Squarespace websites for small businesses, so if you need something built in WordPress, I'm probably not your person. But I'll talk you through your options and point you in the right direction as best I can.

I think it’s super important to have a comfortable working relationship with my clients and if after the call you aren’t feeling it, no worries. I'd rather you end up with the right solution for you and your business than the wrong one.
Cool, I’m in. How do I book a chat?
You can book a call here (I open my calendar 2 weeks in advance so if you are looking for further ahead than that and don’t see any availability that is why).

I intentionally don’t have my full day open cos I need to make sure I keep time in my calendar to actually do my client work. But I can be flexible so if there are no times that suit you, drop me an email to suggest one.

It’s super helpful if you send me over a link to your existing website (if you have one) and give me an idea as to what your business it. This is because it gives my brain time to percolate on your business before we speak. I can get a feel for where you're at so that when we do speak, we're not starting from zero.