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Is your website generating the money you want it to in your business? Today’s guest, Kristen Morris joins us to share 5 ways to generate more money with your website so that it’s working for you!
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Kristen Morris helps online business owners create their websites and brands to elevate their online presence and impact. A self taught designer, she started learning web design over 6 years ago on nights and weekends while continuing to work her 9 to 5.
5 Ways To Generate More Money With Your Website
What is your website guiding your audience to do when they land on your site? Is it driving them to purchase from you? Could it be? Let’s review 5 ways your website can generate more money and revenue for your business!
Build a Strategy Behind Your Design
While your website is made up of pictures and text, there is so much more that can go into a website’s design when you incorporate a strategy and a journey for your user. When a new user comes to your website, it should be strategic in guiding them through where you want them to go as a customer. This customer journey takes a little bit of strategy when incorporating it into the design elements of your website.
Add CTA’s Throughout Your Website
One of the biggest mistakes you can make in your website’s design and customer journey is not including CTA’s (Calls-to-Action). While it feels pushy to add CTA’s throughout your website, if you’re not doing it, they don’t know what action to take in order to work with you. Simplify your website and the CTA’s to make it easy for them to take the action they’re on your website for!
Sell Digital Products
You may see the popularity rising in digital products, and that’s because they work! Digital products are a simple way for you to generate more money in your business without having to commit too much time to them. From templates and downloads to mini-courses, these products are typically an up-front investment that generates revenue over time and you drive traffic to them!
Include Your Services
While it may feel self-explanatory, including your services on your website is a valid way to generate revenue in your business. If you’re not explaining what you do or how you serve your customers, you may not be generating the inquiries you need!
Affiliate Marketing & Links
While most of your revenue will require your own skills and time, affiliate marketing is a great way to generate passive revenue and you can include them publicly on your website. Consider all of the tools and softwares you as a business owner use or even what your clients use! By becoming an affiliate for those brands, you can create passive revenue each time someone uses your link to purchase!
Turn Your Website Into a Money-Making Tool
If you’re ready to turn your website into a money-making tool, whether you’re doing it yourself or looking for external resources to help you, make sure you take advantage of the free resources out there. If you feel like you have no idea what you’re doing, don’t feel bad about that—we all start somewhere! Kristen also has a free download called Pics for Clicks that shares 100 websites to find high quality photos and graphics for your website or social media.
CONNECT WITH KRISTEN
www.instagram.com/redesignia.co
www.redesignia.com/free-download
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Review the Transcript:
Bonnie:
Hi friend, and welcome to the Brand Strategy Podcast, a show created to equip you with the inspiration, encouragement, and clarity you need to build a brand of your dreams. I’m your host, Bonnie Bakhtiari, brand designer, strategist, and founder of the Illume Retreat from sustainable Strategy to heartfelt Encouragement. Each episode is designed to equip you with the tools you need to chase after your dreams because you deserve a brand that empowers you to do what you love, connects with your dream clients, and offers a deep sense of fulfillment along the way. So grab a cup of coffee and join me on this journey, won’t you
Bonnie:
Friends? Welcome back to the Brand Strategy podcast where today we are talking about five ways to generate more money with your website with the incredible Kristen Morris. If you have not met Kristen before, I’m really excited to introduce you to her because she helps online business owners create websites and brands that elevate their online presence and impact. As a fellow self-taught designer, she actually started learning web design over six years ago on the nights and weekends while continuing to work her nine to five. So she fully understands what it’s like to be growing your business from the ground up and the importance of making sure that the assets you have at your disposal like your website are working hard for you. So Kristen, welcome to the show. Thanks so much for joining me. I’m really excited to get to chat about this topic with you today.
Kristen:
Yes, thanks so much for having me. I love podcasts, so I’m so excited to be on podcasts now because I listen to them like all the time when I’m designing or working and it’s just a little fun extra thing in my ear.
Bonnie:
I love that. I’m the same way. It’s just there’s something so great about like having a podcast on in the background when you’re working on something and you’re like hearing a really cool conversation or like learning something new, kind of like in the background or you’re even just like hearing about a really interesting story from the podcast host. So I can completely relate to that .
Kristen:
Mm-hmm .
Bonnie:
Well I love it if you’re comfortable, if you would share a little bit more about who you are and what you do in this incredible business that you’ve built.
Kristen:
Yep, definitely. So my kind of journey into design started when I was a kid. I just really enjoyed looking at things that I didn’t realize were all connected and we’re all design related. And I just enjoyed going to like art museums, looking at posters, book covers, album covers, basically all different kinds of design since design is everywhere and I didn’t really know it was called that, but I just really enjoyed seeing like why does this look so like cool and balanced? And then why does this one like make my eyes hurt ? So, um, when it came to um, going to college and trying to pick out a career or a job I wanted to do, most of the advice I got from all the adults in my life was like, don’t worry about doing anything like fun or exciting. Just make sure you get a degree so you can get a job and that’s the end of it.
Kristen:
Like nothing else to it. . So when I finally graduated and I found a full-time job in an office and it was kind of a more data and research oriented, so not a lot of room for flexibility or creativity there, which is totally fine, but after a few years and I’ve learned all the tasks, so everything’s pretty easy for me to do now, I kind of was getting a little bored and feeling a little unfulfilled. So I really wanted to just quit my job right away, which I was like, wait, probably shouldn’t do that since I had graduated during the recession. So it had taken me a couple years to find a full-time job. Mm-hmm. . So I was like, uh, probably shouldn’t just quit right away. So instead I decided to start looking into like creative projects and hobbies, maybe learning some new skills on the side.
Kristen:
And that’s when I came back to design. And I had always wanted to do something with graphic design specifically, but for some reason I had this mental block in my mind that since I wasn’t good at drawing, I couldn’t do graphic design and I have no idea where that came from, but that had stopped me before and I realized I didn’t really need to do that. Obviously drawing is a great skill to have, but you don’t absolutely need it for graphic design. Mm-hmm. and I basically just started playing around with that, going to meetup groups and learning more about graphic design. And that led into web design since I wanted to create my own website anyway. And I started a blog because everyone wants to start their own blog, . So that was my first website and after I finished creating that, I kind of wanted to keep creating more and I was really excited about how a website could just constantly evolve over time. So I started creating like mock-up websites and portfolio websites for people that didn’t even need or want websites. And finally like I kind of had a little light bulb moment that was like, Hey, maybe you could do this instead of your office job. That’s kind of boring. So that was the first thought that oh, maybe I could do this as a career. So from there I finally, it took years, but I finally decided to start my own business and become a web designer and that’s how redesigning it was started.
Bonnie:
That’s absolutely amazing and I love hearing kind of how that journey went for you because I think that so many designers can really resonate with different parts of your story, especially that piece of, well I’m not, you know, like a naturally gifted artist, so can I really get into graphic design? And that’s definitely something that I’ve seen a lot of designers kind of wrestling with. And that’s something that also I myself when I was starting my business was kind of like, oh, I dunno about this. But the cool thing about the design tools that we use is, and I mean you totally understand this, like we have so much flexibility and so much creativity with what we’re doing on our computers that we don’t necessarily need to be like, you know, expert level artists on paper to be able to translate our vision, what we’re picturing in our head onto our screens, and then create these really incredible designs and sometimes really intricate designs for our clients. Um, but with that being said, you were talking about website design, how that’s something that you really just kind of fell in love with and it’s something that you really felt attracted to the way that it could evolve. So since today we’re talking about how our websites can be these tools that help us generate more money as service providers, where do you see small business owners actually leaving money on the table when it comes to their websites?
Kristen:
So there is a few different things that I see all the time on websites and I won’t name anyone in particular. If I do, I’ll probably just pick on my own since I did plenty of them with my first website cause I had no idea what I was doing. For the most part, , . And one of those is not having a strategy behind your design and having it just be like the design elements, like pictures and text and then not really having there be a journey involved. Mm-hmm.
Bonnie:
. Yeah. So like that kind of, that concept of it, like the website’s pretty, but it’s not really purposefully designed and there was no consideration given to the user experience, right?
Kristen:
Mm-hmm. . Exactly. Yeah.
Bonnie:
Mm-hmm. . Got it. Okay.
Kristen:
So for me, again, I’ll just pick on myself cause I don’t wanna be like, this one’s horrible , but for my first website, the blog which kind of ended up being like a portfolio and a blog and just, I threw all my projects up there. So I definitely didn’t have a strategy at all. It was just like, here’s all my stuff. Look at it if you want to, if you don’t, I don’t really care , but if I had wanted something from it, like if I had wanted to like grow an email list or if I wanted people to sign up for something, then I probably would’ve been disappointed cuz no one would’ve followed through on those actions because I had no way to lead them to take those actions. So
Bonnie:
Mm-hmm. , that makes a lot of sense. So when we’re looking at our websites as you know, these tools that we have access to, you know, I think when I look at so many online business owners, the majority of folks these days have a website or they’re thinking about creating a website, whether it’s going the D I Y route or hiring somebody. But if we’re thinking about how to set up that website strategically so that it helps us to
Kristen:
Actually
Bonnie:
Generate more money, how do we begin to figure out where those opportunities are? Like when we’re thinking about website layout or website strategy, are there some things we should be considering so that we’re setting up our websites for success to be profitable?
Kristen:
Mm-hmm. for sure. Another one, another thing you could add to your website, which I also didn’t have for my blog since we’re gonna pick on that, is I didn’t have any CTAs and those are call to actions. So I think a lot of people get maybe kind of scared off of this cuz they don’t want to like demand that the their website visitors do something or they feel like they’re being too pushy. But if someone visits your website, they are like so excited by all the stuff on there, they wanna work with you, they wanna take the next steps with you. If there’s no way for them to do that or they’re, you’re not leading them to take a certain action, then they usually will either get confused or they’ll just be like, oh, I can’t do anything with this. Okay, I’ll just leave then. And they usually just leave. So having a CTA is really important for them.
Bonnie:
That makes all of the sense. I think that when I am chatting with service providers and we’re talking about website strategy, something that I hear a lot, and maybe you hear this from your clients too, but it’s, it’s kind of this thought of like, oh, well the next step is kind of common sense, right? Like let’s say you’ve got a user who’s on a services page and on that page the business owner is talking about the incredible work that they do, the amazing service they provide, but you get to like the bottom of the page and there’s no c t a, there’s no call to action. Well, I hear from some service providers, they’re like, well kind of the the logical next step is that they should go to my contact page to get in touch with me, me about, you know, booking a call with me or hiring me. And I know as a designer, if we don’t clearly educate our website visitors or website users about the steps we want them to take, they probably won’t take them. Right. And from your perspective as a designer, do you find that the more simply, the more kind of thoughtfully we lay out our websites, that helps to generate more revenue because it helps for folks to understand exactly where they’re supposed to go?
Kristen:
Yeah, definitely. A thing that used to be something I struggled with was, oh, I wanna put it all on there and have it be like all this stuff. But really the more simple you make it and the more sort of obvious it is, what the next steps are and how the layout is, and not trying to do all these like extra fancy things that can be fun to do obviously, but the more simple and like easy to read and easy to scan your website is, the more likely people will be able to follow along with the journey that you’re leading them on and the next action you want them to take.
Bonnie:
Mm-hmm. That makes, that makes sense. So obviously we want to make sure that we’re not leaving money on the table when it comes to our websites. So what are some other actions we can take or what are some ways that we can actually use our websites to help us generate more, more money as small business owners?
Kristen:
So the most obvious way I can think of is digital products. I feel like everyone’s been talking about this like all the time, but I think almost anyone in any area or niche or skill would be able to use digital products on their website to start selling. Like basically almost immediately since you can create a digital product once and there’s so many different kinds of digital products out there, like templates or spreadsheets, downloads, mini courses, like truly so many available and you can create that once and then basically kind of sell it forever. So that’s definitely one that I think anyone could get started doing that.
Bonnie:
Yeah, that’s an awesome, awesome piece of advice. Are there any others that you’ve seen in your experience that are, are really helpful or, you know, can be a great place to look next?
Kristen:
I mean also for, to build off of the digital products just in case you don’t already have your services or offers on there. Definitely put those on your website for the people who maybe if you’re offering a more kind of DIY digital product, like you a template for example, and the person landing on your website is like, yeah, that’s cool, but what if I just wanted you to do it all for me? So you definitely want to have that higher level, higher ticket offer also on your website.
Bonnie:
Hmm. So basically using our websites to kind of map out any sort of offer ladder or, you know, sort of overview of what our services look like so that it’s just abundantly clear all the specific ways that people can work with us, right?
Kristen:
Mm-hmm. . Yeah, definitely.
Bonnie:
Hmm. I love that. Um, are there any other things that you’ve noticed kind of tips, tricks or just, uh, opportunities that you’ve identified in the work that you’ve been doing with your own clients around this?
Kristen:
There’s also like, uh, affiliate marketing or links, like for example, if you have some products or software that you really enjoy using, you can become an affiliate for those. And then if you create blog posts, you can add those links in there and then get like a little bit of an affiliate commission too.
Bonnie:
Hmm. That’s a really smart way to do that. And I find that, you know, these days there’s so many affiliate programs or referral programs for tools, apps, subscriptions, services, literally all of the things out there. So it, there’s a lot of options available to small businesses to join different programs and to use that as a way to generate additional income on the side. Um, and in terms of like best, best practices with that, I love how you mentioned using blog posts as a way to organically work those in. Do you think that, and I know that this depends on how heavily an entrepreneur or a small business owner is using affiliate marketing and affiliate links, but do you find that there’s a need for a business owner to create like separate pages of their website for each program they’re a part of? Like, you know, hey come check out HoneyBook or check out, you know, like do Soto or whatever kind of CRM they’re using, or does it make more sense to keep it a little bit more simple and just focus on using those links in like blog content and social media content or even like in conversations with clients or industry friends?
Kristen:
I’ve seen it both ways. So I think both ways can work, but I think the more kind of organic approach with like blog posts or having them linked throughout your website a little bit more organically, to me that just seems to be a little bit better. Just personal opinion. Mm-hmm. , because it seems probably less salesy than the other way, but of course they can both work. But yeah,
Bonnie:
Mm-hmm. that makes sense. And I know that that’s like, you know, it’s all relative. It totally depends on the program, on the person who’s a part of the program on, you know, how they’re sharing that affiliate information with folks who their audience is all the things. So not to turn this into a conversation about affiliate marketing, but definitely something to to think about. And I appreciate that you share that as another way for folks to monetize their website in a way that is in addition to the services or the digital products they already offer. Outside of those three fantastic opportunities, are there any other opportunities that you see? Or are those kind of the, the top ones that really stand out to you?
Kristen:
Yeah, for me those are the, probably the top three obviously could probably like go on forever. You could get into even more things like maybe speaking fees, things like that, going to conferences. But I mean, possibilities are kind of endless
Bonnie:
. Mm. Right, right. Well I think that this is really helpful because it starts, you know, for those who are tuning in today, it starts to help us get our wheels turning about ways that we can be more vocal and more visible about what we do, what we offer, and how people can either hire us or, you know, pay us and not necessarily being so shy or tentative about those opportunities, right? It’s like if we wanna have a website that helps us generate money, this isn’t the time to be super shy and quiet about the work that you do as a service provider. And you know, we don’t wanna go to the opposite end of the spectrum and be like really salesy and really in people’s faces. But if we look at our websites as these opportunities to serve our potential clients or our potential customers, then it absolutely makes sense that we should be laying out our websites in a way that makes it abundantly clear how folks can work with us so that we can generate the revenue that we’re looking for, right?
Kristen:
Mm-hmm. . Exactly. Yeah, it’s a fine line because I feel like a lot of people have seen those like really old school websites where there’s just like buy now and flashing lights everywhere and you’re just like, oh God, I don’t wanna be like that. But then you can’t over-correct and be like, oh, I’m gonna like hide all of my offers, products, and services so no one can find them. So you gotta find the happy medium there.
Bonnie:
Hmm, that’s a really good point. It’s like if we want for revenue to flow to us, and not just revenue but profit, like if we want the money to come to us , we need to like open up these channels where it’s easy for the money and the clients and the customers to come to us and we’re not doing anybody any favors by being like, you know, the best kept secret, right? .
Kristen:
Mm-hmm. . Exactly. .
Bonnie:
So when you are, you know, like talking about this concept of turning your website into this moneymaking tool, I know we’re talking about a lot of things that folks can keep in mind. This could be especially helpful for people who are going the d i y route. Do you think that setting up your website strategically is something that is, is, you know, easy to do when we’re going the d i y route? Or do you think, are there resources, tools, obviously they’re incredible service providers and website designers out there who you can hire, but for folks who are, you know, wanting to get started with this, are there any next steps or resources that you would wanna share with them?
Kristen:
Yes, for sure. Especially since I started out DIYing websites from scratch. So I know it can be a little overwhelming. You’re like, I have no idea what to do. So it definitely take advantage of all of those free resources out there from web designers, YouTube channels. It’s just, I mean, they’re everywhere, all over the internet. I recently just for fun, like Googled either free web design resources or web design resources and got like millions of results. So they’re definitely out there . And if you, there’s also probably a few other resources that might be low priced offers or templates that could also really help you if you don’t want to pay to have a web designer completely do everything from scratch, there’s still some low price downloads and templates that could also really set your website up for success. If you are still super confused or starting from scratch, that could be really helpful when creating your website.
Bonnie:
Those are really great pieces of of advice and resources because, you know, I think it’s important to acknowledge that while some of us as business owners are in a season where we are able and interested and ready to invest in a done for you service experience, if you’re in a season of growth or if you know you’re being mindful of your resources right now, there’s nothing wrong with going the d i y route and knowing that, like, like you said, Kristen, there are like millions of hits out there on YouTube, on Google that can help us figure out how to, you know, for a while go it ourselves, but not without Saccr. You know, we don’t wanna sacrifice the, the quality of what we’re creating, creating. That’s incredibly helpful. So for those who are tuning in today who’ve been just absorbing everything you’re sharing and they’re, you know, thinking, all right, I’m ready to get started with this. I’m gonna take a look at my website, I’m gonna make sure that I’m not leaving any money on the table here. Are there any pieces of final words of encouragement or any kind of lingering advice that you would like to share for them today?
Kristen:
Sure. I mean, it’s basically related to the last thing I said, but don’t feel bad if you feel like you have no idea what you’re doing if, especially if you’re just starting out from scratch DIY on your website for the first time. So definitely don’t worry about that because that’s where most people start out. I don’t think anyone inherently knows how to do everything on their website when they first start out. So I would definitely say take advantage of all of those free resources out there, especially from web designers because we have free downloads or low priced digital products that could definitely help you out if you wanna do it yourself and you don’t want to have it be fully customized yet we can definitely still help you with resources.
Bonnie:
Mm. And speaking of resources, um, correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t you have this really awesome free download called Picks for Clicks?
Kristen:
Yep, I do. That’s my free download if you sign up for my email list, you get a hundred plus websites to find high quality photos and graphics for your website or social media.
Bonnie:
That’s amazing. And friends who are tuning in today, as always, we’re gonna have that download link in today’s show notes so you can head on over and click and join so that you can get access to those 100 plus websites, you know, as soon as possible. So if you go to brand strategy podcast.com and click on the latest episode link, then you’ll be able to go exactly where you need to to get your hands on this really awesome free resource that Kristen has created. Thanks so much for sharing that, Kristen. I’m excited for folks to get to check that out because I know that finding quality stock imagery can be such a struggle,
Kristen:
. Yeah, definitely.
Bonnie:
Well, where can folks find you online if they wanna follow along more with what you’re doing, want to learn more about how they could potentially work with you or, um, you know, absorb more of the, the incredible educational content that you’re sharing too.
Kristen:
So you can find me at my website, which is redesigning it.com, and that’s eSign ia.com. And you can also find me on Instagram, which is@redesigningit.co because someone else had redesign you, but what can you do?
Bonnie:
? , just gotta roll with it when that happens. . Yep. Awesome. And for those two are tuning in, of course we’re gonna have all of these links in the show notes along with a full transcript of today’s episode if that’s something that would be helpful for you. Kristen, thanks so much for coming on and for having this conversation with me about ways to ensure that we’re not leaving money on the table when it comes to our websites as service providers and online business owners. It was really great hearing your insight, hearing what stands out to you as an expert on this topic, and I’m grateful for you sharing your, your thoughts with us in this way today. Thanks
Kristen:
So much for having
Bonnie:
Me. Absolutely. Friends who’ve been tuning in today, I hope that today’s episode was helpful and that you’re walking away with tons of ideas about how you can elevate your website to be even more profitable for you so that it’s serving you well. It’s working as much as it can to help impact your bottom line. If today’s episode was helpful, be sure to connect with Kristen online, let her know that you appreciated it, let her know a takeaway that really resonated with you. I’m sure she would love to hear that her expertise has been helpful for you. And as always, uh, remember that I’m cheering you on from Waco.
Bonnie:
Thank you so much for joining me today. Friend, before you go, I would be so grateful to receive your feedback on the Brand Strategy podcast. If you enjoyed this episode or the podcast in general has helped you grow your brand, I’d really appreciate it if you left us a review in iTunes. Your positive reviews enable the brand strategy podcast to continue to grow and reach like-minded creatives just like you. Thank you for all your support and encouragement as together we pursue building brands with purpose and intention. Until next time, I’m cheer you on from Waco.
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