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Built From Scratch is a podcast about the real stories behind building businesses, brands, and ideas from the ground up.
Hosted by Danny Lakey - broadcaster, storyteller, and curious conversationalist - each episode dives into the journeys of entrepreneurs, founders, and business owners to uncover the wins, setbacks, pivots, and lessons that shaped their success. From first ideas to hard-earned breakthroughs, Danny explores what it really takes to build something that lasts.
Whether you’re launching your first venture, growing an established business, or simply fascinated by the people behind great businesses, Built From Scratch delivers honest conversations, practical insights, and inspiring stories to help you build your own path from scratch.
Brought to you by Podfire.
00;00;06;16 - 00;00;31;01
Danny
This is the Built From Scratch podcast stories of business, entrepreneurship and building brands. And the one question every business owner needs to ask is your business. Easy to find, easy to trust, and most importantly, easy to contact. Because if your business is online, profile is not working the way buyers actually make decisions. Web Spree Digital can fix that.
00;00;31;03 - 00;00;40;16
Danny
For Web Spree Digital on Instagram and Facebook. And the founder of Web Spree joining us Julian Price. Welcome to the built From Scratch podcast.
00;00;40;17 - 00;00;41;27
Julian
Thanks. Thanks for having me.
00;00;41;28 - 00;00;59;06
Danny
Let's start from ground zero. We'll get into a web spree and everything about what the business is about and how it can help customers and your story around that. But who are you and what have you done that's gotten you to this point to to be a business owner and the figurehead of Westbury so far?
00;00;59;09 - 00;01;32;01
Julian
Well, you're looking at someone who started off, thought he was going to be the next Michael Jackson and then, you know, found that, okay, the personality I had and the fact that I love meeting people then ended up working behind bars and then got into sales. And from a sales point of view, I realized that so many people were moving to the digital space and you'd needed to know how to use a computer.
00;01;32;04 - 00;01;46;28
Julian
Okay, because you couldn't depend on knocking on doors anymore. There was that distance created. So from there, I ended up with selling and selling around the online space.
00;01;47;01 - 00;01;53;18
Danny
Have you always had an entrepreneurial streak in you, or did that start later on when a few other ideas were sparked?
00;01;53;20 - 00;02;26;18
Julian
I didn't realize I did have an entrepreneurial feel, but when I was 16, many, many years ago, I thought it would be really good to actually do people shopping for them and then charge them for that. Now we're talking about 1976. If I did that, I'd be a billionaire by now. But yeah, always had ideas. Always thinking about the, the the quickest way to do something, you know.
00;02;26;20 - 00;02;32;21
Julian
And I always looked at something I thought, okay, there's got to be a easier way.
00;02;32;23 - 00;02;52;24
Danny
Okay. So you had the Amazon idea, but that that was already taken. The next best thing is web spray from from what I can understand, just from a quick snapshot looking at the website. This is coming from more of a, I guess, a sales perspective rather than you think with traditional website design. It's a tech guy who can just help make a website.
00;02;52;25 - 00;03;04;07
Danny
Did you see a gap in the market, perhaps a bit more of a strategic focus on on what a customer may see and what a business owner may have maybe left in his blind spot when it came to a website?
00;03;04;08 - 00;03;25;20
Julian
Yeah, I realized that a lot of business owners were being coached around the sales process. You know, let's focus on your sales process. And at the end of the day, if I wanted to sell you this, Mike, I would just say to you. Here's a mike. This is what it does. You pay. Thanks very much. So thinking about the buyer's process.
00;03;25;20 - 00;03;57;20
Julian
And so when I put my sales hat on, I thought, what are the things a person does before they actually make the decision to go ahead and realizing that they needed choices, you know? So one that's where I came up with attracting someone attract, convert and nurture. So when when there are some people, when they go to a shop, they like to walk in and find someone straight away that can help them.
00;03;57;22 - 00;04;16;25
Julian
Then you've got the other type that will actually walk in and say, no, leave me alone. I just want to have a look. I want to make my own decision. Then there's the one who says, okay, yes, I want to have a look. I'm not here to buy anything. I'm just browsing and then they leave. So you've got to get ready.
00;04;16;26 - 00;04;38;27
Julian
You've got to be prepared for all of those. Now, me telling you that you need those things is one thing. And what I found was a lot of digital marketing agency is what they would do is they would say, let's do an audit on your on your website. Now it's like asking a mechanic to actually can you look at my car and see if there's anything wrong.
00;04;39;03 - 00;05;06;05
Julian
All right. Nine times out of ten they'll find something. So what I do is I say, well, okay, you search for the solution that you offer and see how you show up. So if you're a mechanic, go online and search mechanic near me. And that way you can see exactly what people are seeing or are seeing and how easy or difficult you're making it for them to actually take the next step.
00;05;06;06 - 00;05;24;21
Danny
Yeah. That's interesting. And yeah, that's so true. So what three types of buyers really in, you know, I guess any any sales situation. Yeah. And you your aim is to, to cater to all three of those via via a website, via a business with already an existing website or with no website at all.
00;05;24;23 - 00;05;43;12
Julian
Yeah, yeah. Because some say to me that they don't need a website because they got a lot of they get a lot of business through word of mouth and referrals. And I don't know about you, Danny, but I know that when you may say to me, there's a great restaurant across the road from you. You should try it out.
00;05;43;17 - 00;06;10;24
Julian
Now, the thing is, what I do because it's so easily available to me, I'll go online and see what other people say. Okay. And nine times out of ten, you're not looking for positives. You're actually looking. Is there anything negative I need to know? Okay, so you know, one, I don't call myself a digital marketer. You know, I call myself an online profile strategist because that's what I want you to focus on.
00;06;10;27 - 00;06;15;00
Julian
Look at your space online. Have a look and see what other people see.
00;06;15;04 - 00;06;34;15
Danny
Yeah, I'm thinking about all the restaurants that I've been recommended, and they're like 4.8 on Google. And I'll still go to the lowest ratings first just to see what is the worst of the worst of these things. Yeah, that's really interesting. The three types of buyers and and coming at it from more of a strategic point of view based on your expertise, I'm assuming.
00;06;34;15 - 00;06;51;24
Danny
Then there's someone else who builds the website behind the scenes. Is there an example of a business owner recently who perhaps thought that they had all the answers already via their website or via their online strategy, and you've managed to poke holes and point things out that they hadn't thought about before?
00;06;51;27 - 00;07;14;02
Julian
Yeah, I had a friend of mine who was a mechanic and he used to service our cars, and he said to me, It's Julian, I know what you do, but I don't need I don't need a new website. He said, I've spent thousands on my website and it does well. I'll say nothing for me. But he used stronger words and I said, well, that's strange.
00;07;14;02 - 00;07;30;26
Julian
And he said, oh, look. He said, it's just a waste of time. He said, you know, he said, I spend this money because I'm told that I need to mark it. And so I said, okay. I said, look, let me have a look at it. So he said he finally agreed. He said, okay, I've known you for years.
00;07;30;26 - 00;07;55;06
Julian
He said, have a go. And what I did was I had a look online to see what was missing. He called me a week later after signing up and said, he said, I can't believe it. He said it's already paid for itself. And I said to him, Neil, I said, I haven't actually started the website yet. So he said, well, what's happened?
00;07;55;08 - 00;08;04;08
Julian
He said, the phone's been going crazy. I said, we actually let Google though, that you existed.
00;08;04;11 - 00;08;05;27
Julian
That was so.
00;08;06;02 - 00;08;20;28
Danny
I mean, from someone with no experience with online business or having a website that is obviously part of it, you can build it. It doesn't necessarily mean that they will come. There's a strategy behind getting people to visit and that starts with with Google ads, right?
00;08;20;29 - 00;08;52;03
Julian
Well, not even Google ads. It's think of Google as a library. Okay. Now, years ago, I'd walk into the library, get a library card that would give me all the information for me to find the book that I was looking for. So when you go, okay, Google wants to look good. Okay, so if we're looking for WebSphere Digital and Google says hold on, this person is looking for WebSphere digital, let's see what we can find.
00;08;52;06 - 00;09;15;08
Julian
Now if they can't find anything to do with WebSphere digital, Google knows that the customer is going to say bloody. Google's a waste of time. I can't find what I'm looking for, and what they will do is they will penalize the business because I haven't given them enough information to be able to know who, where and why. Three digital exists.
00;09;15;10 - 00;09;44;17
Julian
So when Google when somebody puts in, for example, I'll say plumber near me and all of a sudden Google would say, hold on. Here's a plumber is located locally. There's the phone number to connect with them. They give enough information on their services. So then the person that was searching will say, I love Google. Okay, so Google, what Google was doing was saying, right.
00;09;44;18 - 00;09;57;20
Julian
They're going to penalize the businesses that aren't making them look good by giving them enough information, and they're going to rank higher. The businesses that have actually provided the tools that make it look good.
00;09;57;22 - 00;10;25;00
Danny
That's true because every time I'm looking for a service, I'm not necessarily opening 5 or 6 different websites and going through. It is. It's that automatic 2 or 3. They've got the location with the Google Maps, they've got their phone number, they've got a link to the website if needed. Without giving away all your secrets. What information would be necessary for a plumber and what things are left out that would keep the plumber off that first 3 or 4 from a Google point of view?
00;10;25;00 - 00;10;55;03
Julian
So nine times out of ten, especially if we use the plumber analogy. So it's usually emergency. Okay, somebody needs a plumber now. So if the plumber hasn't actually made their phone number easy to see okay. And to actually click on that's a problem. If the location isn't clear that's a problem. There's three things is what we call the nap name address and phone number.
00;10;55;05 - 00;11;16;15
Julian
Okay. So I'll say to and look, if I can help a business owner out there make a change is going to make a difference. That's me being part of the solution. I like that, so go and check when you search and get to your website one. Do people have to scroll forever to actually find a way to contact you?
00;11;16;21 - 00;11;39;19
Julian
Okay. Do. Is it clear the services that you offer? And thirdly, have you made it clear of your location because people like to deal with local. Okay. And so yeah, that's the main thing. So you don't have to spend a lot of money on Google ads to be found. You've just got to make sure that you provide enough information.
00;11;39;19 - 00;11;45;27
Julian
And that's what makes Google Rank you higher than others. It's not the money you spend.
00;11;46;00 - 00;11;57;02
Danny
I could get. This is really interesting. I could get bogged down in this all day. I want to ask what stuff you put on your website to make you attractive from a Google search that come into it. Yeah, yeah.
00;11;57;03 - 00;12;26;09
Julian
It's so what I did was I looked at, you know, these three things attract, converted, nurture. And I know that there are business owners that will they want a solution. And the main focus is they want a result. Okay. So what I do is I say what's a business owner looking for? They're looking for sales. And what they don't realize is that a lot of the people they've sold to in the past are their potential salespeople.
00;12;26;11 - 00;12;45;14
Julian
And I've asked them, I say, look, what happens to the people of Sota before. And they said, oh, yeah, they're all there on an Excel sheet. What do you do with them? Nothing. So knowing that people are busy and they like to focus on a particular area. So okay, we'll provide you with the support to be able to do either one.
00;12;45;14 - 00;13;10;09
Julian
Just attract or just convert or the ability to nurture the past clients so that they remember you. Because a lot of times the reason somebody goes to somebody else, it's not because they didn't like the experience with you, it's because they've forgotten about you. They weren't thinking about you at the time. So that's why you sort of keep that engagement going.
00;13;10;11 - 00;13;34;29
Julian
And what we've done is instead of having a home page that says, guess what, we can help you all your digital marketing, we provide all these things, all these services. I related to the analogy I use is I know there's been times where I have been hungry. It's lunchtime. I walk into a food court and there's all these choices.
00;13;35;01 - 00;13;59;01
Julian
Danny, the number of times I've actually just said I can't be bothered, it's too hard and I've walked out without anything. So that's what people do on a website. If you go, I'm looking for a cleaning solution. Send them to a page that just talks about that cleaning solution and just mention that other services, because what happens is this the person that was searching is satisfied.
00;13;59;02 - 00;14;05;21
Julian
They found what they want. They could or leave it and then they can move on.
00;14;05;23 - 00;14;09;11
Danny
When you are thinking about how long is Westbury in?
00;14;09;12 - 00;14;09;29
Julian
Seven years.
00;14;09;29 - 00;14;33;17
Danny
Now rewind seven years. Are there a whole bunch of doubts that come into a potential business owners mind of why it wouldn't work? Or did the idea spring to you because you saw a clear gap in the market? Or could you back then have still listed on two hands reasons why you shouldn't go down this route, or why that could fail?
00;14;33;20 - 00;15;09;07
Julian
It was because I worked for a digital marketing agency, which for charging people anywhere from $10,000 upwards for a website. And I thought, you know, you don't need to spend that kind of money. And the small businesses were suffering because what they were doing was going away and make building there. No offense, but their Wix websites and doing that themselves and not getting a return, so they weren't getting the opportunity to grow because they were building make dos.
00;15;09;10 - 00;15;34;16
Julian
Okay. And I thought, well, no, if you support the business and give the business the right foundation, then not only will they grow, but if you stay connected, then you can grow as well. So I just wanted to make it easier for small businesses. And that was the gap that was to prevent them from going away and doing them selves or giving it to their son who's just left uni.
00;15;34;19 - 00;15;35;10
Julian
Yeah.
00;15;35;13 - 00;15;56;25
Danny
Convincing a business owner to do that probably has its own unique challenges, right? Because like you said, Wix and all those websites that could just automatically kind of make something for you. AI is on the rise, or I'm sure you can just prompt a language model to build a website from scratch yourself. And also just social media in terms of some businesses would just be very steadfast.
00;15;56;25 - 00;16;11;14
Danny
Hey, all I need is an Instagram and a Facebook page and that's how I get my business as well. So they'd be constant changes in technology that I don't say the word threaten, but but challenge the customer to make a choice. Going with a product.
00;16;11;15 - 00;16;12;00
Julian
Definitely.
00;16;12;00 - 00;16;16;16
Danny
That you have versus oh no, I'd rather the low risk, low cost air method.
00;16;16;17 - 00;16;40;27
Julian
Yeah, definitely. And I always tell people that, look, go away and do it yourself or get that other business to do it for you. It's it's all about knowing that you've asked the right questions. Okay. In the past, I had someone complain to me that they'd been to a company and the company got these all these leads, and they were rubbish.
00;16;41;02 - 00;16;59;06
Julian
And I said, well, okay, when you approach the company where you ask, what did you ask for? And I said, I wanted leads and I said, okay. Was there any criteria around that, any qualification round it? No, I just wanted leads. I said, so where when you think about that, the company didn't do anything wrong. You asked for leads.
00;16;59;06 - 00;17;22;10
Julian
They gave you leads. The fact that they weren't looking for what you were looking for, what you were providing. But that's different. But yes, you know, AI and there are tools out there. And look, I use some of the tools as well, you know, but what you could have realized is that having a website or having something online is one thing.
00;17;22;11 - 00;17;50;11
Julian
Okay, I've had I've seen some fantastic websites, but then they haven't taken care of, let's say the SEO search engine optimization that helps a browser, that helps Google and all these browsers connect with your business and the company. When I say to the business owner, look, you know, how come it's not being found? Oh well, the company said, I didn't ask for that.
00;17;50;14 - 00;18;20;14
Julian
That I needed to ask for the website, but I also needed to ask for SEO. And I said, okay, one thing about WebSphere Digital is we make sure that one where we build a website, we give you a foundation that can actually be found. Okay. So, you know, it's it's asking the right questions, knowing why you want a website, if you're going to have a website just for the sake of having a website, don't have a website, okay.
00;18;20;15 - 00;18;45;12
Julian
And when it comes to AI, people have said to me, look. Do you feel threatened by AI? I said, please remember that AI is a tool. It's a fantastic tool, but use it as a tool. I've seen people copy and paste directly out of AI and put it on their website and find out why it's actually gone down, as opposed to up.
00;18;45;14 - 00;19;03;01
Julian
So and also people are now getting concerned in terms of is this email from from someone or is it from AI? Now more people are saying to me, I'd like to catch up for a coffee as opposed to an online meeting.
00;19;03;04 - 00;19;23;13
Danny
Yeah, I guess AI it can be a time saver, but not necessarily a business builder. When you started seven years ago and fast forward to now. Has your business strategy changed at all? Has you as an entrepreneur changed at all? Was there an element of imposter syndrome when you first went out on your own?
00;19;23;14 - 00;19;59;12
Julian
I it's changed three times. We're still always been a digital marketing agency, but people's habits change and what they need change. And basically, you know, the algorithms and Google and Facebook and the control they have, you know, they make you they force you to change. And at the end of the day, again, going back to he said previously, yes, there are a lot of tools that can help you do the things that we do for a lot less and save a lot of time.
00;19;59;12 - 00;20;27;02
Julian
But the I suppose the advantage that I've seen is that it's never set and forget and it will never be set and forget. Okay, so I've seen that you've always got to be thinking give us always got to be again. Going back to that, think about the actual buyers process because that may change. And you've also got to be aware of that.
00;20;27;05 - 00;20;40;18
Danny
What's the telltale signs that something's changed their algorithm? Do Google change their algorithm Facebook changed their algorithm better in general. And so and how are you aware that that's happening. And then what can you do on the fly to change that.
00;20;40;21 - 00;21;12;15
Julian
It's it's usually a case of where someone's website was on the page one. And all of a sudden it's on page three. And, and I think the annoying part is that, you know, these companies that have control of that aren't necessarily telling you what to do to fix it. And you know, they won't, they'll take your site down or they'll take your Facebook profile down and no one's there to talk to to say, well, okay, it's down because you made these mistakes.
00;21;12;17 - 00;21;29;23
Julian
Okay. So what we've got to do is we've got to keep monitoring. We've got to keep watching and saying what? Okay, why is all of a sudden one of our sites that we've built for you that was always on the first page, disappeared and then make the the changes that need to be applied?
00;21;29;24 - 00;21;43;08
Danny
Yeah, maybe not from a company standpoint, but maybe from a personal standpoint. Have you had any big failures along your your journey of of running a business yourself?
00;21;43;15 - 00;21;44;01
Julian
Yes.
00;21;44;02 - 00;21;50;10
Danny
It is transparent or as in line. But I'm sure there's plenty of challenges and hurdles along the way, and people would love to hear that.
00;21;50;11 - 00;22;37;13
Julian
I think it's a case of realizing that you can't help everyone. And to begin with. We want it to be the affordable digital marketing agency. But affordability to one doesn't give us money to actually grow the business. I found that yes, wanting to help people was one thing and over over delivering. But then there's no real value to the customer because they didn't realize the difference between what we were offering and what, and other business, you know, you'd find that they'd go away and spend three times the amount of money with another business to get less than what we were offering.
00;22;37;16 - 00;23;01;24
Julian
So, yeah, I think you've got to realize that at the end of the day, if you want to help more people, you've got to charge for your services, okay? And you've got to take into consideration the other people around you. But yeah, that was the mistake. I just, I had. That's why I had to change the business, because we were doing a lot of giving.
00;23;01;26 - 00;23;04;01
Julian
And sometimes you've got to take as.
00;23;04;01 - 00;23;10;02
Danny
Well as that shaped and molded over the years what success looks like to you from a business owner as well?
00;23;10;05 - 00;23;33;18
Julian
Yeah, it's it's made a difference in terms of just surviving to actually growing and, and that's, that's the big lesson. And also realizing that saying you can't help everybody. There are times where you made a potential customer add something inside says it's not a good fit.
00;23;33;21 - 00;24;04;24
Julian
I think you've got to actually listen to that and, and realize that the times where you had that feeling and still moved forward and then it was, you know, just a clash. Yeah. Again, you just can't help everyone. So yeah, those were the lessons. And being able to say no and realizing that, you know, this person may be the difference in paying your mortgage this month, but you should still learn when to say no.
00;24;04;27 - 00;24;18;05
Danny
Two questions left, Jules. First one, if someone listening right now has a kernel of an idea and want to build something from scratch business wise, what advice would you have for them?
00;24;18;07 - 00;24;47;27
Julian
Talk to get a good network and talk to people outside of the family, because family and friends love to be supportive, and a lot of times there'll be a lot of yeses. But it's people that don't know you that will you've got a better chance of getting on his feedback because they're your potential customers. So yeah, having an idea is good and acting upon it as well is good.
00;24;47;27 - 00;25;02;09
Julian
But, you know, get some help from people that have, you know, other entrepreneurs and people around you that have worked within the same arena as your idea, and that should help.
00;25;02;11 - 00;25;19;22
Danny
And final one, if you hypothetically had to go back to to Ground Zero, if everything was wiped, if Google had a meltdown and everything disappeared and you had to start building from scratch again, would you do anything different?
00;25;19;24 - 00;25;42;20
Julian
Yes, yes. I think the Bay thing is do for yourself what you intend to do for others, because I spent a lot of time helping others increase in ranking and being found online and didn't put time into getting our business found online.
00;25;42;23 - 00;26;05;15
Danny
Sure, take care of yourself. It's like when when the plane goes down, you take care of yourself before taking care of everyone else around you. Jules, fantastic. Thank you so much for joining us today on the Bill From Scratch podcast. Inspiring to hear your story. And definitely some some kernels of wisdom across the online sphere and developing websites, and from a strategic sales point of view is really interesting.
00;26;05;15 - 00;26;11;00
Danny
So congratulations on what you've built and excited. I'm sure you are for for whatever's to come next as well.
00;26;11;03 - 00;26;12;23
Julian
Thank you. Yeah. Watch this space.
00;26;12;24 - 00;26;23;10
Danny
Web spree comma. If you want to check them out on Facebook and Instagram as well. Web spree digital. Thanks for joining us for another episode of the Built From Scratch podcast.