How to Turn Your Website Into a Client Booking Machine With Lillian Gordan
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:
Lindsay (00:27):
Welcome back to another episode of the book, your dream clients podcast. Today, we're visiting with Lillian Gordon and we're chatting all about how to turn your website into a client booking machine. So sit back, relax and enjoy.
Lillian 00:44):
Hello.
Lindsay (00:44):
Thank you so much for being on the book, your dream clients podcast. I'm so excited. You're with us today.
Lillian (00:50):
Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here.
Lindsay (00:54):
Why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself and tell everyone about what you do and who you serve.
Lillian (01:00):
I'm Lil I'm a web designer, especially for coaches and I help coaches build irresistible online presence that actually make money without spending a whole lot of time using web design. So it's all about creating a website that actually works for you rather than something that is just there sitting pretty and actually like helps you book clients and convert
Lindsay (01:28):
So important. I can't wait to dig into that. How did you get started?
Lillian (01:32):
So I've probably been designing websites for most well since I was probably 15 back in the tumbler days. So I used to make little websites for myself. So I've been doing it for a really long time. I'm self taught. And a couple of years ago when I was starting my business, I got into the coaching industry. I certified and doodle all of that sort of thing. And then really found myself actually procrastinating my business and designing my website over and over and over again. And maybe like three months in I had the light bulb moment. I don't know why it took me that long. But had the light bulb moment that maybe I should be doing web design. I've probably been doing it for 10 years now and you know, it's what I do for a hobby. So I pivoted and here I am now.
Lindsay (02:27):
And so you just primarily work with coaches, right? And you help them create websites that help them book clients. I love that you, you said right off the bat that it's not about having a pretty website. It's about having a website that works for you. Can you explain that a little bit more?
Lillian (02:43):
Yeah, absolutely. So being pretty as part of it, obviously when someone jumps on your website, they want to see someone who's trustworthy and professional and has a visual style that we can relate to. So it's, you know, obviously there's visuals that we want to know about someone's ideal client and how we can relate through visuals, but it goes so much deeper than that. If we're just going and saying, I want a pretty website, then we're forgetting structure and a booking process that actually works. Each page on your website should really lead someone through a customer journey and it should be really mindfully mapped out all to lead them to a really quick and easy booking process. So your messaging is really important. Your visuals are really important and the structure and strategy behind your website is really, really important. It's not one thing.
Lillian (03:39):
It's a holistic sort of approach that really helps a website actually perform. So it's not about having the best branding colors and the best photos you have to actually have strategy behind it. And what if you have no idea what that means and you're listening and you're like, well, my website looks good from afar, but once you get into it and you're trying to navigate, it's a disaster, that's a really, really good question. And from a visual standpoint, there's a lot that you can do. And it's really, really fun to dive into some exercises that I love to do with my clients is getting them to jump onto Instagram and finding the absolute ideal client and screenshotting their their Instagram feed, because that gives us a really good idea of what they like, like myself. My ideal client really likes warm colors, which suits me.
Lillian (04:33):
I like warm colors too. So it's really about diving deep and jumping in on calls with client. I do clients and looking in their Instagram feeds, looking at their Pinterest, what do they save? What do they interact with? And going from there from a visual standpoint, and then the structure is a little bit more formulated and can be it's not as personal to a business. There's a little bit more of a formula to it. So what are the things, what are some trending mistakes that you see that are commonly made? And it's, it's easy to make them because they're probably caught up in all of the things. Just some website mistakes that you noticed with people who are having trouble booking clients. Oh, okay. Now we're getting to the nitty gritty. So there's a number of mistakes. The first one that I see is a website mistake, but it's also a business mistake.
Lillian (05:35):
And I think that a lot of these that I'm going to point out are actually business mistakes. So the first is having too many offerings. So and not being clear on what each of those offerings fulfills and just like throwing out, like I do a one hour session and then I do a group of five hour sessions and whatever it is you will probably have seen that a lot. So I'm not getting clear on what you all find, who you offer it for. And really something also that I say is the messaging is way, way off. So this is a business mistake and a marketing mistake as well. I'm not focusing on the transformation that your service provides and that needs to be throughout your website more than anything else. I know I'm a designer. But honestly, messaging is the most important thing that goes into website. It's not the design, it's not the structure even. I really do believe it's the messaging. So really diving deep into the pain points of your ideal customer and really speaking to them directly and being that guide that gets them from their pain point to where they want to go and positioning yourself as that guide. And as that expert, who's going to get them there.
Lindsay (06:53):
So basically the things that you find people are doing when they're making some mistakes, they don't even, they're not even aware they're making mistakes is because they're doing too much and they're probably trying to do what everyone else is doing. Do you see that?
Lillian (07:07):
Absolutely. Absolutely. So from a visual standpoint, the biggest mistake I see people making is taking a look at the visuals of the leaders in their niche and copying those visuals. And I love to tell people that if you want to position yourself as a leader the first thing you need to do is stop copying other people's visuals. And that doesn't necessarily have to be copying necessarily, but you need to carve out your own style and your own look for your brand.
Lindsay (07:40):
It is so important. And when you're just starting out, I remember feeling like if I don't do it like somebody, then I don't know what I'm supposed to be, because you don't know how to step into that, into that position. So it's a scary transition to make. And when you don't feel confident in your own transformation, it's like, how can I put this out there? So I'll just hide behind somebody else, but tell everyone what that does to you when you try to be somebody else, when you're using your website as the face of your business, what is the, what are the downsides to doing that?
Lillian (08:14):
Oh, there's so many from a mindset point of view, it's really hindering you from stepping up as a leader. Really, for me as a visual person, the first step of me feeling like a leader is having visuals that make me look like one. And so it's, you really want to be able to step onto your website, scroll through your own Instagram feed and be like, yeah, I'm, I'm a leader. I look like a leader, even though my follow account may not be as high as X or I may not have as many clients or whatever, at least I look like a leader. And when I start showing up people going to come to my online space and see someone who's looking professional and all of that. So obviously it really helps your mindset if you can put everyone what everyone else is doing in the bin and carve out your own space and your own look it really like in terms of color palette and all of that sort of thing, there's color palettes that are really associated with people in your niche and by you know, using similar color palette.
Lillian (09:29):
You're really hearing yourself from standing out. And you are subconsciously in people's subconscious. You probably going to be positioning yourself as a follower and not as a leader. Yeah, it's just really damaging, but for the most part, I really think that it's really important for your mindset as a coach to just be like, this is my look and my space, and this is what it looks like. And might feel like a leader.
Lindsay (09:57):
It's exhausting to try to be like somebody else, because it's not it's, it's like wearing somebody else's shoes and clothes and it doesn't feel like you, and it just wears you out. And so it doesn't serve you. So if you're not, if you're not, if your website isn't you, and it feels if you go onto it and it just feels like you're visiting someone else's home, then it's time to change it. So what's the next step, but that's an intimidating thing to do is change your website. And I know I've done it a billion times and you, but what is, how can you make this feel like an easy transition from being somebody else to stepping into your own?
Lillian (10:38):
Mm, I think I'm going to follow on with what I was saying. It's a mindset, a mindset step first, and really going okay, I'm going to rid myself of what everyone else is doing. Give myself space from that and then start a fresh and really look inwards at who you are. Looking at your own personal style, your own unique values. It can be quite a testing experience. And I really do encourage not to rush the process if you're DIY or you're working with a designer it's really important not to rush that process. I've way too many times tried to rush a rebrand for myself or a website redesign. And only in a months time, I'm looking at it and going, that's not me because I did not reflect inward enough and I didn't do the market research enough. And now I'm finding that I don't, it doesn't align.
Lillian (11:38):
So it's really about creating that space. And then doing all the practical stuff, like having fun with Pinterest boards and saving inspiration, looking at industry leaders. I know that I just said, I'm not to fuller industry leaders and carve out your own space, but look at them and look at their websites structure, not the look, the structure and follow what they're doing, what what's their headline, where's their headline positioned on the website? Where do they put their paid offerings versus their free offerings? You know, all of that sort of stuff. You can learn a lot from what other people are doing and what's working for them. It's just about being mindful of where that line goes with. Like, okay, well, she's doing that. So I have to do it. You don't want to do that. You want to be strategic about it,
Lindsay (12:32):
Right? Cause it could be that the person you're trying to be like, it doesn't have the same end goal as you. And if you're a coach and you want to book clients and you're going off to somebody who has a program based business, it's going to be such a disaster because you're trying to map out a journey that is not the same destination. So for coaches who their main goal is, let's just say to fill up their calendar with their one-on-one client work. I think my, my thing is always keeping things simple. How, what's your point of view for that
Lillian (13:06):
Rarely agree if it was a new coach wanting to book out their one on one service, I would be suggesting if you're DIY on your website, I would be suggesting start with your sales page and work back from there. So starting with your sales page, design, design, your sales page, basically, and make that your home page and have it the only page on your site for the time being that way you can work on the backend and build out your about page and everything else. Cause essentially a sales page should have your about section and your frequently asked questions and your story and everything there to make someone want to buy from you. So I know a lot of newbies and DIY is we'll focus on some of the fun stuff like their homepage or their about page or their blog, but it's really about honing in your focus on what's actually going to make you money. And what's actually going to convert.
Lindsay (14:05):
Yes, whenever I have new students or clients and they they're working on their smaller pages, I always say, just work on your one on one page, we call, we call it their VIP page to get that done. So it's out of the way. And I think it's intimidating for people to work on their sales page because they feel like when for some reason they think they need a lunch, their one-on-one services, which I've never done before. I say, just get it out there and it'll all work. But I think it's so intimidating to actually put that service out there, that high dollar, that ticket price. And so they spend their time doing those, those comfortable things. And I love that you kind of tap into the mindset issues of, of, of branding and marketing, because it is always going to go back to like, how do you actually feel about, about your colors and your messaging and your transformation and, and yourself. And it all just ties back into that. So how can, okay, so I'm picturing websites maybe in 2010 to 2000, even 2015, they were so busy. There was like, Oh, cars and like a billion things on there. And I know many people still have that, but for me, I just see like cutting off the homepages aren't long anymore. Like everything is so short and sweet. Why do you think that is?
Lillian (15:27):
People are lazy basically. Your visitors are really, really lazy. They don't want to head to your website and read a whole essay, especially on a home page or somewhere they expect, especially a home page. Actually. That's where people expect to get, find out who you are, what you do and how you can help them. And that's it. When someone's visiting a homepage, then not wanting to find out what your favorite food is or 101 offerings just want the basics in a world where we get content so quickly and we're swiping so quickly, having a website filled with a lot of distractions whether they're visual or through your copy or whatever. The click out rate is just going to go way, way up. And you're going to have to work so much harder, say on your Instagram or whatever marketing strategy, you have to have people go onto a website and stay there.
Lillian (16:28):
You're, you're going to have to basically say, it's your Instagram strategy, sell a lot harder in Instagram. So that by the time they're ready to go to your website, their interest is piqued enough that they will put up with all of the weirdness that's going on your website, which is not likely you know, you really the dream the dream scenario, someone stumbles across your Instagram, they see that you do, you help people with this and they jump on and they book, you don't want to have to be working crazy, crazy hard with your Instagram to book people. Not really, no, not at all
Lindsay (17:07):
Ever talk about. And it really much of any, I have over 50 freebies for example, and I never have to go on Instagram and be like, you guys go to my website and download my grief. I never have to do that. Right. And you kind of used to have to do that, which was exhausting when you're planning ahead and all of those things. But I love that. You said people are lazy because it's true. And they're also very, they lack attention because most of the time they want to hang out on social media, probably Instagram for our people. And they'd rather be scrolling through there back in the day. I sound like I'm some grandma, but back in the day, they, we spent a lot of time on other people's websites because we know anywhere else to go. We didn't have anywhere to go. So we were reading blog posts and we were like, just, we knew their websites so well. Hmm.
Lillian (17:56):
But now, well you have to give it
Lindsay (17:59):
A reason to go to your website. So your profile is really going to drive me over there. It's like the, it's the, it's a determinant of whether or not I'm going to leave Instagram. So that is super important. And then once they go to your website, they should feel like it matches your Instagram. It's like the it's like opening a magazine like, Oh, here, everything is right. Yeah,
Lillian (18:22):
Absolutely. And on that point, something that I've been kind of noticing at the moment and it's been ticking me off a little bit. So I mentioned is having Instagrams that are absolutely stunning. The imagery is gorgeous, everything. And then jumping over to a website and it's a completely different story. Now I'm not saying that a website should be absolutely stunning, but it should match your Instagram because that's telling people that you have the ability to be consistent. If you can't be consistent between your Instagram and your website and maybe your Facebook or your Pinterest or whatever, then what are they going to find when they buy from you? These are things that people taking, even if it's on a subconscious level. So it's really, really important.
Lindsay (19:07):
Well, it's like going through Pinterest and then you click on a pin and you want to go to the website and it looks like a complete scam and you don't pay any attention. You almost feel like something bad could happen to view if you click on anything and it's deceiving, that's what it is deceiving. Yeah,
Lillian (19:25):
Exactly. And that, that doesn't, that doesn't help me convert you just again, so much harder to get people to head over to your website and actually click the apply button.
Lindsay (19:36):
Yeah. And you know, when you're building a coaching business, the things that are important, social media is very important. Your website's important. Your messaging is important. All of those things, they all tie together. So we can get 100% of all of us into one thing we have to, we have to have balance and all of that. So Lillian, why don't you tell everyone what it's like to work with you?
Lillian (20:01):
Yeah. So basically I have one offering, like I said, I like to keep it simple. So when a coach wants to work with me, we go through a two week web design process. So before the two weeks say your book before the two weeks you get sent a bit of homework. So that's basically your time to create space and really explore how you want to show up as a leader. So as part of the homework, something that I really really noticed with coaches is, and with their websites is we would design these stunning web websites and the navigation would be beautiful and it would take them through. Ideally it would take people through a really gorgeous journey, but then the messaging would fall off and they'd put in their copy, which they've DIY. And it would just fall on its face. Like we were saying, it takes a whole lot of things to make it all happen. So part of the homework processes I give you copy templates, which helps you form your messaging. That's actually going to help people buy. And then day one week, one of your project, we jump on, I design your home page. You say, whether you like it, whether you don't, we have changes and away we go for the next two weeks. And then after two weeks, we're done launch bang away we go. I like that.
Lindsay (21:23):
Break it out into simple little bites. It's not just a, it's not an eight week, eight week process. Whereas most coaches don't have any patients. I know that I won't do something for a web design if it's that long. Cause I have zero patients. So I love that.
Lillian (21:38):
I don't have a patience for a project to take that long. I just couldn't end. It's not necessary for a website to take that long when you know the structure that a website needs to have, and you've got everything prepped beforehand, which is why the homework's so, so important. It's the most important part of the process. Then things can go along super, super quickly. Yeah. You
Lindsay (22:04):
Literally just have to plug everything in and they're in a spot and,
Lillian (22:07):
And it works. Yeah, exactly. What's your favorite website platform? Squarespace. What's yours. Do you use Squarespace? Oh yes. It's the best. That would be what I recommend for anyone like DIY nodding out or even those who aren't starting out. I'm like, there's so many ways that you can make a Squarespace custom and totally undetectable that it's, you know, a
Lindsay (22:38):
Totally, yeah. Yeah. Well, we have similar backgrounds when I started years ago, I used to design websites for people too. And I always used a Squarespace and I always recommend it. I have a free training or a free class and SCANA coaching Academy that helps you build your Squarespace was there. So I love it. I can always spot the Squarespace spacers one guest tricked me. I thought she was going to be a square spacer. And she was actually wicks. I'm like, how did the heck did you get your website to look so Squarespace?
Lillian (23:07):
Oh my God, that's gorgeous. Very talented. That's that's total talent. Yeah. If not magic that so professional.
Lindsay (23:21):
Oh gosh, it absolutely did. I would have bet money that it was a Squarespace website.
Lillian (23:26):
Wow. That's well, Lilly,
Lindsay (23:29):
Why don't you tell us all how we can find you so we can work with you.
Lillian (23:34):
Awesome. So you can either find me over at at Lillian company on Instagram or Lillian and company.com, which is my website and that's it. Oh, amazing. Thank you so much
Lindsay (23:46):
For sharing all of that information. I love talking to Squarespace and all web designers, cause you guys have such completely different points of views on everything. And it's so interesting to learn about how we can make our websites better or how we can get some help to make it better. So thank you so much for spending some time with me and thank you for sharing all of your good tips. Thank you for having me Lindsay. It was awesome. Awesome. Thank you. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the book, your dream clients podcast. I am so grateful for you and I want to be sure you are a part of my free community. Go to dream client, community.com and join our free Facebook group. We have all kinds of cool things happening every single day. So don't miss out. Also, if you love downloading freebies checkup my freebie balls on my website, by going to Lindsey maloney.com, selecting freebie balls. And there you can download all the things I will help you start and scale your coaching business. And if you're feeling extra generous, be sure you hit that subscribe button.
2 years ago Lillian quit her job with no backup plan and built the business of her dreams. Lilian now helps women like you, create an irresistible and profitable online presence without relying on a large online following, through her 2-week web design service.
Links:
Websites: https://lillianandcompany.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lillianandcompany/