Listen, a lot of things can change in a year.
At the beginning of 2023, my website and branding were working fine for me! However, as the year went on and clients came and went, I started noticing a need for change.
The biggest thing that tipped me off? My client inquiries.
Now don't get me wrong - I have LOVED each and every one of my clients this year. Rest assured, I am not talking about them.
Rather, a good majority of my website inquiries were unfortunately not my ideal client or target audience, and I was constantly having to sift through, educate, or turn away those unqualified leads.
Bummer!
Now keep in mind, when I say “unqualified," I do not want you to think that I'm saying that they're necessarily “bad”! Unqualified leads can simply mean a number of things:
- You don't offer the service they need / want
- Your timelines don't line up
- Their budget isn't ready for the investment
- They aren't the type of business or industry that you specialize in
- And more!
Your brand and website should be attracting your ideal clients, so you can spend less time sifting through inquiries that aren't.
So what did I do? I put my head down and made a list of all the things about my business that were no longer serving me in the way I needed, in order to determine what exactly needed to change.
This will look different for everyone, but for me it looked something like:
- Operating under my own name instead of a business/studio name keeps my audience seeing me as a “amateur freelancer,” when I want to be seen as an expert.
- Therefore, I constantly have to spend time sifting through inquiries that don't value my expertise or services, instead of having a consistent stream of qualified leads.
- I am constantly having to answer the same questions about my services to my inquiry leads that my website should be answering.
- My pricing is incredibly low for the industry standard and no longer reflects my level of knowledge or expertise, which can often attract leads that don't value what I offer.
- After working with multiple clients, I'm learning what best serves them and their business, and I need to adjust my packages and services.
- My branding feels too youthful and immature, and a little outdated, which keeps me from being seen as the professional that I am.
And voila! After making this list, it became pretty clear that what my business desperately needed was a complete rebrand and website overhaul.