Do I need two web sites or one?
One of the reasons coaching as a profession appeals to SO many bright and talented people is that they see coaching as a way for them to break out of the “box” imposed upon them by Corporate America.
For example, Nancy is an aspiring coach. She works for a Fortune 1000 company and while at work she is defined as “Nancy in accounting”. Nancy’s degree and aptitude in accounting are indeed what got her the job, but from Nancy’s point of view she’s a whole lot more than just accounting. In addition to having a knack with numbers, Nancy is also an exceptional organizer and she’s done a lot of work on “clearing clutter”, both the emotional AND physical variety.
It’s natural, as Nancy steps out to launch her business and begin working for herself for her to want to COMBINE her skills in accounting with her organizational skills. As any self employed person will tell you, it’s virtually impossible to divorce who you are from the services you provide. The web developer whose hobby is dog breeding will find her love of dogs permeates all she does in web development. Meanwhile, Nancy is all about “accounting_clearing_emotional_and_physical_clutter”.
So, Nancy launches her new business which offers the following services:
- Accounting and bookkeeping services
- Coaching services focused upon helping her clients deal with emotional and physical clutter.
Like every other bootstrapping entrepreneur, Nancy would rather launch one web site which focuses both on her accounting services (which she offers as a supplemental stream of income) as well as well her coaching services. It’s the web equivalent of killing two birds with one stone… right?
Unfortunately, the answer is a resounding “NO!”
Nancy needs TWO web sites, one for each of her two business ventures and the reason is NOT to frivolously pad some web developer’s bank account.
Nancy needs to think of her two businesses as two separate boats tied to a pier on the lake. If your businesses are small enough for your to consider using a single web site to promote all of them, then this word picture is for you. The water is deep and the boats you offer are small. Your prospective customer’s first thought will be, “Can that tiny little boat REALLY get me to the other shore?”
When you try to promote two micro businesses with a single web site, you are asking your potential client to put a foot into one tiny boat and the other foot into the other tiny boat. While a few brave X-treme sport style souls may bravely do so, most of your web site’s visitors will be frightened off by the prospect of either choosing which boat to use OR trying to balance between the two boats.
Of course a case can be made that the same analytical thought processes that make Nancy SUCH a great accountant are the same thought processes that make her a great organizational clutter busting coach. However, if Nancy tries to promote BOTH her businesses via the same web site, she’ll be spending a LOT of time trying to explain why these two businesses are a great fit rather than spending that time and energy explaining why someone should hire her as their accountant and/or their coach.
Instead of giving too many choices on one web site…. Nancy should launch two web sites. She can rest secure in the knowledge that her clutter busting clients, once they’ve experienced her methodical thinking will want to move from the coaching boat to the accounting boat and put their finances into her capable hands. On the other hand, Nancy’s accounting clients may make a comment about not being able to find a vital receipt… which Nancy can treat as an invitation to introduce another service she offers: Clutter Busting Coaching.
Offering too many choices is overwhelming. Tightly target your message to your tightly targeted audience… which means two web sites instead of one.
Take a look around and you’ll see that most professionals who make a good living on the internet have 5, 10 or even 20 web sites… each one tightly targeted to a specific product and a specific audience. Begin with one… then add the next. It’s the best path to take.
