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Have you ever created a website for your business and thought, “oh my gosh, now I actually have to show it to the world?” We sometimes spend months putting this thing together and when it’s time to release it into the wild, a sudden fear creeps in. You feel so exposed and vulnerable! Well, today we are joined by Ezekiel Rochet, who helps solopreneurs get websites up and running that they are proud to share. We invited him on to discuss: Common pitfalls solopreneurs often encounter when developing their websites Effective strategies for solopreneurs to convert website visitors into leads Tips and tricks for people who are limited on time, budget and resources What to look for if you want to outsource the creation of a website and potential red flags Plus so much more, so be sure to tune in! Oh, and be sure to check out our latest resources available to solopreneurs at lifestarr.com! Leaving us a five-star review would be really awesome as well :)
Have you ever created a website for your business and thought, “oh my gosh, now I actually have to show it to the world?”
We sometimes spend months putting this thing together and when it’s time to release it into the wild, a sudden fear creeps in. You feel so exposed and vulnerable!
Well, today we are joined by Ezekiel Rochet, who helps solopreneurs get websites up and running that they are proud to share. We invited him on to discuss:
Common pitfalls solopreneurs often encounter when developing their websites
Effective strategies for solopreneurs to convert website visitors into leads
Tips and tricks for people who are limited on time, budget and resources
What to look for if you want to outsource the creation of a website and potential red flags
Plus so much more, so be sure to tune in!
Oh, and be sure to check out our latest resources available to solopreneurs at lifestarr.com!
Leaving us a five-star review would be really awesome as well :)
*Formerly known as Solopreneur: The One-Person Business Podcast*
Welcome to The Aspiring Solopreneur, the weekly podcast that dives deep into the world of solopreneurship. Join us as we bring you insightful interviews with industry experts and successful solopreneurs who have mastered the art of running their own businesses.
Are you a solopreneur looking for guidance on how to attract clients? Or maybe you're searching for ways to stay motivated and overcome the challenges of working alone. Perhaps you're even struggling with the intricacies of taxes and financial management. No matter what obstacles you face, The Aspiring Solopreneur Podcast is here to provide you with the knowledge, inspiration, and practical advice you need.
In each episode, our hosts, Joe Rando and Carly Ries, sit down with a diverse range of guests, including seasoned solopreneurs, marketing gurus, financial experts, and productivity specialists. Together, they unpack the secrets to solo success, sharing their personal stories, strategies, and actionable tips.
Learn from those who have paved the way before you, as they reveal their tried-and-true methods for growing their company of one.
Subscribe now and join our community of solopreneurs who are committed to achieving their goals, mastering their craft, and creating a fulfilling and prosperous business on their own terms. Get ready to unlock the secrets to solo success and become the best version of yourself as a one-person business owner.
Want to learn from and grow with other solopreneurs? Join our movement for FREE at https://www.lifestarr.com/solosuite-intro-for-solopreneurs
Have you ever created a website for your business and thought, oh my gosh. Now I actually have to show this to the world? We sometimes spend months putting this thing together, and when it's time to release it into the wild, a sudden fear creeps in. You feel so exposed and vulnerable. Well, today, we're joined by Ezekiel Rochat who helps solopreneurs get websites up and running that they're proud to share.
Carly Ries:We invited him on to discuss common pitfalls solopreneurs often encounter when developing their websites, effective strategies for solopreneurs to convert website visitors into leads, tips and tricks for people who are limited on time, budget, and resources. Hello, solopreneurs. And what to look for if you want to outsource the creation of a website and potential red flags when doing so. Plus, so much more. So be sure to tune in.
Carly Ries:You're listening to The Aspiring Solopreneur, the podcast for those just taking the bold step or even just thinking about taking that step into the world of solo entrepreneurship. My name is Carly Ries, and my co host Joe Rando and I are your guides to navigating this crazy but awesome journey as a company of 1. We take pride in being part of Lifestarr, a digital hub dedicated to all aspects of solopreneurship that has empowered and educated countless solopreneurs looking to build a business that resonates with their life's ambitions. We help people work to live, not live to work. And if you're looking for a get rich quick scheme, this is not the show for you.
Carly Ries:So if you're eager to gain valuable insights from industry experts on running a business the right way the first time around or want to learn from the missteps of solopreneurs who've paved the way before you, then stick around. We've got your back because flying solo in business doesn't mean you're alone. Okay. So before we jump into this episode, I just have to share this new free offer we have called the SoloSuite Starter. Being a solopreneur is awesome, but it's not easy.
Carly Ries:It's hard to get noticed, and most business advice is for bigger companies, and you're all alone until now. LifeStarr's SoloSuite gives you free education, community, and tools to build a thriving one person business. So if you're lacking direction, having a hard time generating leads, having trouble keeping up with everything you have to do, or or even if you're just lonely running a company of 1. Be sure to check out SoloSuite Starter at lifestarr.com and click on products and pricing at the top menu. It's the first one in the drop down.
Carly Ries:Again, it's totally free, so check it out at lifestarr.com Click on products and pricing, and it's the first one in the menu. Hope to see you there. Oh my gosh. Ezekiel, we are so happy you are here.
Carly Ries:It has been a minute since you and I have chatted.
Ezekiel Rochat:Yeah. Absolutely, Carly. I was so excited that you agreed to this and allowed me to come on, and I'm excited to be talking with you.
Carly Ries:Well, so fun part for our listeners, both of you were actually previous clients of mine. So, Joan, that's how we ended up working together. Ezekiel, we were kind of of mine. I have never actually met either of you, which is like I love that about the world of marketing. I love that about the world of solopreneurship.
Carly Ries:It is such a small world. Like, Joe, we've always said 50,000,000 people are solopreneurs or freelancers these days. Yeah. I feel like I run around in the same circles and everybody just kind of ties back to each other. So this is for me, it's a very thrilling podcast because I get to hang out with you 2.
Carly Ries:But Ezekiel, since the last time we spoke, you have launched a successful company where you help consultants, coaches, creators get a website out that they're proud to share, and I I think this is so relatable. I think back to when I jumped ship jumped ship, excuse me, in 2016. I'm a marketer. I have the background information on what goes on a website, but when I created my own, I would tweak little things here and there because I just it it would it for some reason, I felt so so vulnerable getting it out to a world because it was all on me and that's with a marketing background. So so many people out there don't have that marketing background and I feel like you can really speak to these people who are kinda like, k.
Carly Ries:Cool. I just jumped ship. I'm starting my own business, but, oh my gosh, where do I start? So if you are okay with it, you are kind of going to be our guide today walking us through these steps.
Ezekiel Rochat:Yes. Absolutely. Let's do it.
Carly Ries:Okay. So I I guess a lot of people like to start with the positive and say, this is what I should do, but I I kinda wanna start with the pitfalls you see solopreneurs make. It because if you can figure out what you shouldn't do, it'll help you figure out what you should. So for people starting out as their one person business, when they're developing their websites, what do you see people do wrong, and how can they avoid these challenges?
Ezekiel Rochat:Yeah. For sure. So the first one that comes to mind is kind of silly, but just not doing anything at all. You know, creating a website, like, that's pretty that's pretty overwhelming to some folks. And what I see is even though today with, like, how the technology is and how easy it is to, you know, get a website up and going, it's still pretty overwhelming, and it can be a daunting task.
Ezekiel Rochat:And so that's one kind of pitfall I see is folks who have a a business. They're serving their clients. Maybe they are, you know, just primarily on LinkedIn or something like that, but they're just not putting a website out there. Another one that comes to mind is just kind of expecting too much from their website. You know, putting it out in the world, kind of a build it and they will come mentality, but then not really spending any time on any type of, you know, traffic generation, activities.
Ezekiel Rochat:Just kinda launching and being like, alright. Where's my customers at? And, another one is I call it the me monster. So you create your website and you're like, hey. This is my website.
Ezekiel Rochat:I should be talking about me. Right? But the reality is your clients don't really care about you. What they care about is is getting their problems solved and and how you can make their lives better. And and it's really about them, but it's easy when you're creating your website just to get really kind of that silo thinking, to where you think, okay.
Ezekiel Rochat:I gotta tell them, you know, why they should work with me, like, all the all the good things about me. And and what ends up happening is it's it's just a boring read. And I'm I'm sure we'll dive in more about how you can do the opposite of that. And then and then the last pitfall I see is just making their website too big, making it making it, you know, tens of pages, and and and it just ends up becoming fluff. And you might experience this sometimes.
Ezekiel Rochat:You hop on a website and you just kinda start scrolling, and it's just kind of it kinda glazes over your eyes. And and that's what I find with a lot of websites too where they end up just putting a lot of content on there, but it's not really saying anything.
Carly Ries:Yeah. So we need to bookmark that point because I I have a follow-up question right now. But I do know a lot of people do that because they think it's good for SEO. So keep that in the back of your mind. I wanna I wanna touch on that later, but you I can totally see how the people can easily fall into these traps.
Carly Ries:So let's kind of guide them on what they should include in their website. What are the must have elements that you see for solopreneurs?
Joe Rando:Can I just ask a fun question before we dig into that stuff? What portion of solopreneur, one person business websites that you help people with that they've already built have the h one that, you know, in the hero text be their name.
Ezekiel Rochat:Right. Oh my word. Yeah. So, a lot of times, to be honest, Joe, I've run across sites that don't even have an h one set and, you know, I ran into the site the other day where it was just an image that that was basically acting as their h one tag. I was like, oh, man. let's change this. Consequently, t that company was saying, man, we're not showing up even when you search our company name in Google. Our website isn't showing up. That that's one change you could definitely make.
Joe Rando:And that h one text is what tells Google what this site is basically. What's what's it about? So, you know, you put in an image, Google can't read the image, maybe someday. But, Google can't read the image and so you, Google goes, yeah. That's nothing.
Joe Rando:Exactly.
Carly Ries:So I feel like we're getting ahead of ourselves. H one, all techs, what the heck are these things? Well, Yeah. Ezekiel, why don't you run through this? We can get that technical or we could keep it high level.
Carly Ries:You run the show. I wanna hear what you have to say, and we'll throw in some clarifying questions.
Ezekiel Rochat:Yeah. For sure. So I wanna kinda just dive into the home page a little bit. I think for most folks, especially folks who've fallen to the, you know, solopreneur, freelance, or consulting arena, that the homepage is what you need to focus on. That's gonna be kinda like your critical page, you know, speaking of what I said about sites becoming too much full of fluff, a lot of the times it's because they start creating too many pages.
Ezekiel Rochat:Let's just focus in on that home page right now. So what I like to always start with is is the first section on your home page, it should answer the critical 4. Critical 4 is, who you are, what you do, who you serve, and the best next step to work with you. So when you're thinking about that main headline in the in the home page section, this needs to be super clear. A lot of times folks can try to get really clever with it, but it ends up just confusing folks more than actually clarifying what you do.
Ezekiel Rochat:You hop on a site and you're confused by the first section, you're just gonna jump off until you find something and you say, oh, yeah. This is what I'm looking for. So just make sure you're really ultra clear with that first headline. We do this for these types of folks. Like, that's a really good formula to use.
Ezekiel Rochat:We help these types of folks get this outcome. That's I love that formula. Just just use that and you'll be above 90% of, you know, websites, that are out there right now. The subtext under that headline, you could just use that to clarify a little bit more, speak into maybe a little bit more on the services that you do so that when someone's reading it, they're like, yep. I need that.
Ezekiel Rochat:That's like my that's like my my dream for websites is that you create these moments where the visitor that's reading them says, yes. This person gets me. Like, ah, yeah. They they have what I need. And then the last bit of, the critical 4 is the best next step to work with you.
Ezekiel Rochat:And for that, I would just say, have a really big obvious button that says do this next. You know, book a consultation call, download this form, you know, whatever it might be. Make sure that next step is, is clear.
Carly Ries:But just in case people are confused, they they earlier we said that there is messaging that should be targeted at your audience, and then we are just saying we do this. What's the dance? What's the fine line between saying what you do, but also not talking about yourself and speaking to your customer?
Ezekiel Rochat:Yeah. That's great. Okay. So, when you have a problem and you go to a site to get solved, say you need, like, accounting for your business, You're looking for an accountant to solve that problem. And so the critical 4, what that helps to do is it gets past that initial initial door of confusion where you're saying, like, hey, is this is this company what I need or or are they doing something else?
Ezekiel Rochat:So because it's the first section on the site, we need to get past that, like I said, that initial door where they're saying, hey, is this even what I want? So that's why on the critical 4, you just need to be really clear on what you do, who you serve, and the best next step to work with you so you can kinda get past that. So that's where I say most of the rest of the site is then targeted towards the problems that your clients are facing and how it can win.
Joe Rando:So that section is almost like a filter, basically. Maybe 9 out of 10 people that get to your site might move on because they should, but that one person that should stay stays. Is that right? Is that is that what you're saying?
Ezekiel Rochat:Yeah. Exactly. And and, Joe, it seems like a lot of folks there, they want they wanna get really clever with that section. And what I find is then that that will force even the one person who might need your services to hop off too because they end up thinking like, I don't even know what this means. So, yeah, just being ultra clear on that.
Joe Rando:I love to change lives, you know. We we change lives through cost accounting, you know. It's like, please.
Ezekiel Rochat:Your dreams fulfilled.
Carly Ries:So you have those 4. So then where should people focus? I know you're talking about the home page. Is there more of the home page or should they have or is that when you start focusing on other areas of the site?
Ezekiel Rochat:Yeah. For sure. So we've gone past the critical for who you are, what you do, who you serve, the best next step to work with you. And now this is when we start connecting with your ideal client. So I call this the the problems and pain points section where I learned this was from Donald Miller, his book story brand.
Ezekiel Rochat:I feel like kind of brought this idea to the public. But this column and pain point section, it's it's it's key to connecting with your on deal client. Because what this does is it creates moments for the client to read it and say, man. Yeah. This this person, they get they get exactly what I'm going through.
Ezekiel Rochat:So you all probably have clients who come to you and and say, like, hey. I'm dealing with this problem, or you've just kind of picked it up through osmosis. They're like, oh, wow. They're running into this, etcetera. Leave that out in that in that section. talk about those problems that are, you know, related to your service that that your ideal client continue to have. And that way, when when folks on your site, they read that, they're they they can feel comforted that you actually understand what you're going through, or understand what they're going through rather. And this can be, like, a sentence structure. This could be, like, bullet points of problems that they might be dealing with, but just get those problems up there so that they can can see that you understand. And then and then what we do from there is we kind of we paint the picture.
Ezekiel Rochat:Hey. This is where you are now. Let's talk about where you want to go. And so then the second section after that problem section, I call it the what life looks like on the other side section. So you wanna paint what life is gonna look like for them after they work with you.
Ezekiel Rochat:So, you know, you're dealing with all of these problems. Okay. Now what is life gonna look like after they work with you and all your problems are solved? You know, what's the antithesis of of those problems that they're dealing with? And that's where you paint those out.
Ezekiel Rochat:After that, we want to to to show them it's possible because you can promise someone the world, but unless it's actually possible, it doesn't really mean that much. So let's give them some social proof. Let's show them some maybe some testimonials, some past work that you've done, anything to say like, hey. No. This is this is doable for you.
Ezekiel Rochat:This isn't just, you know, some some far off promise. Real people have experienced what I'm telling you. And kind of to follow-up on that, give folks a plan to success. Show them like, hey. You know, this isn't that difficult.
Ezekiel Rochat:We can take you from here to there. First, you know, reach out to us, then we'll get to work. We'll craft a plan that's, you know, for you to reach your goals, and then you can focus on what matters most. It just it's funny. I mean, it sounds so silly laying out those 3 step plans, but when you read them, it does feel like a weight's lifted.
Ezekiel Rochat:You're like, oh, okay. Yeah. All I have to do is reach out to them, making it really simple for your client to reach out to you.
Joe Rando:Well, you know, for me, I find that when I see that kind of thing, I'm gone. They know that. I'm worried that they don't know it, in which case, you know, what am I getting myself into here? You know, it's like they, you know, some people just want you to basically come in and they want to collect an hourly fee from you. And it's nice to feel like there's a process that's got a beginning, a middle, and some kind of an end.
Joe Rando:So, yeah, I love that. I love that idea of kind of laying out the process because it makes me feel like I know what I'm getting into. It doesn't sound dumb at all to me.
Ezekiel Rochat:Yeah. That's so good, Joe. I totally agree with that. And I would say with that kind of a part 2, would be if you're gonna have, like, an offer, just just make it really clear. You know, a lot of folks, they might have 1 or 2 main offers that they provide. I'm not saying you have to show your pricing on your website. I think there are a lot of benefits to it. But if you do have consistent offers, go ahead and make those really clear for folks. I'm not a huge fan of customizing an offer for every single engagement that you have, and it helps folks out to to to have an understanding of, oh, this is what you provide here. This is who it's for.
Ezekiel Rochat:This is what I can expect. It's just a really nice kind of clarifying section.
Carly Ries:And just to clarify that point, there are a lot of platforms that allow you to do smart content. So HubSpot is, like, one of those where you can do smart content depending on the visitor, but you should still stick with that one call to action, that one CTA for the, like, person that's visited. Like, don't is right? Like, don't mix it all up, but you can it's okay to do smart content, which is a whole other episode, I feel like. But you just have to be consistent with the verse with the specific audience you're going after.
Ezekiel Rochat:Yeah, man. Carly, that's a great point. I mean, if you can get to the point where you decide and commit, like, no. I'm gonna I'm gonna target this audience with this offer. You know, Alex Hormozi, he talks about, until you reach $1,000,000 in revenue, you should have one audience, one offer, and one channel for marketing.
Ezekiel Rochat:And then you can totally reach it with those with those three points. And that's a hard thing to accept. It took me 2 years, of doing this solopreneur thing to finally commit to an audience and commit to an offer. But, yeah, I would highly recommend doing that, and it makes it way simpler to craft great landing page, a great homepage when that's all in place.
Ezekiel Rochat:Last two little bits on the home page. Two last sections that I really think you should incorporate the about the client section. So it's really easy to wanna put a big about me section on your page, and and I would say that's good, but just maybe maybe change it slightly. Obviously, people want to know who they're working with. They wanna have that connection made, and so have a picture of yourself and have a have a little blurb about who you are.
Ezekiel Rochat:But I would say within that, bring it back to the client. So say things like, hey. I've been, you know, working in this industry for x years. I found that, this type of client struggled with this issue, and I thought that was awful. And I wanted to help that client with that.
Ezekiel Rochat:So then I started creating outcome. And so sorry. That was kind of a messy formula. But, basically, the idea is, yeah, talk about yourself some, but then, again, go back to speaking to the problems that your clients are running into, the transformation that you wanna see occur in their life. And and then finally, in that about section, I would say call them to action.
Ezekiel Rochat:And that kinda leads us to the last section that I think every website should have, which is a call to action section.
Joe Rando:I love that, by the way. I've never heard anybody put it that way before, you know, using the about me section to talk about them in a way or what you do for them. it's a great idea.
Carly Ries:Feel like it's like a visual hug. Like, I got you and adoring.
Ezekiel Rochat:It makes a big difference. I mean, if you're reading an about me section and they instantly are talking about you, who is it that said that the, the most favorite word in the English language is your name? I forget who said that,
Joe Rando:Dale Carnegie.
Ezekiel Rochat:Dale Carnegie. That sounds right. Yeah. And so, kinda using that about section to, again, just end up talking about the client.
Ezekiel Rochat:It can be pretty powerful.
Carly Ries:Well, and then, if all, like you said, the CTA section, and I know we pass over that really quick, but that's so important. So go ahead and elaborate.
Ezekiel Rochat:Yeah. And I would say for this, you know, there are some design things that you can do to make this stand out. But if there's going to be a section on your page that does stand out, I would make it this one. Like, make this section be the one that's colored and big and bold and bright. Simple call to action, like, hey.
Ezekiel Rochat:Interested to get started? Book a call now. You know, you've just gone on this long story of taking them, you know, showing them what you do, explaining that you understand the problems they have, showing them what life could look like on the other side of working with you, giving them all this proof, the plan to get there. And now it's up to them. It's like, okay.
Ezekiel Rochat:Do you wanna make a step? I would say have a primary call to action, and I'm sure we'll get into this later. But then if you if you want to, you could also have a secondary call to action, something like a lead generator download, you know, a free 20 minute, you know, consultation call, something like that. You can do a a a more foot in the door offer, like, sign up for my newsletter or something like that.
Carly Ries:And these are always just to clarify, the calls to action are good ways to, just get people into your system. It's a good way to collect emails, good way to get contact information so that your website is actually working for you and not just a pretty website. But to piggyback off of that, when I was again, I have a marketing background, but when I was creating my personal site, which no longer exists, I was so focused on the visual. And what, like, what is the fine line between making it so so pretty, but just making it more user friendly is how should people approach that?
Ezekiel Rochat:Yeah. Okay. So I would say start with simple and clear. I don't think we should approach our websites, with the plan of winning any design awards. And and if the end goal is to get folks in your system, if the end goal is to generate leads, then you would just want that site to be radically clear for your ideal client.
Ezekiel Rochat:So, start with that initial structure, get that all in place and make sure it makes a lot of sense and make sure that you can understand it. You know, have a friend read your site and know, maybe someone who doesn't know what you do at the coffee shop. They're like, hey, could you take 20 seconds to read this? Like, what do you think this person does? Make sure that your site is ultra clear before you start adding in any fun design elements. once it's clear, then come in, add some color, add some pop, and add some graphics in the background. But what I would say is probably less is more, with this most of the times, unless you are in, like, a highly creative field where you're trying to show off, you know, your, design capabilities specifically for that, I would say air on the side of simple.
Carly Ries:Yeah. I like that. Well, so keeping it simple, you were saying that having a gazillion pages isn't necessary. So in your mind, what are the key other pages for a website they must have then maybe they have more like a blog or something and maybe they don't, but what are what are those areas?
Ezekiel Rochat:Yeah. I think there's 3. I think there's 3 key pages that most websites should have. I think it's the home page. Obviously, it's the most visited page.
Ezekiel Rochat:Google's usually going to kinda push that to be the top ranked page, of a site, especially for branded searches. And then the the about page, it is also one of the most visited pages. And, again, I would say, you know, we talked about the about blurb, making it about the client. What you can do with that about page is make it all about the client again, and kind of go more into depth on that. You know, maybe on the company side, you know, how they're serving the client, and then maybe go more in-depth on, like, the founder story and and more specific to you, but, again, tie it back to the client.
Ezekiel Rochat:And then the last page is just a a dedicated landing page, a dedicated contact page. That that that those are, like, the the main three. But there are there are a few other, like, supplemental pages that I think most solar panels will probably end up wanting to have. Service pages that you can go in more depth with your offers, and they become kind of their own individual landing pages. And then, what you said, Carly, a blog collection and a blog post template page, you know, that that way you can kinda share insights.
Ezekiel Rochat:People can learn more about you without even having to sign up for a newsletter just because one more step to be, like, kind of clarifying your authority.
Carly Ries:So what are your thoughts on this? Because a lot of you do blog for SEO purposes. I'm gonna circle back to that original question. And this is the marketer in me, so I might use some jargon terms, but that's just to kind of prove a point for my question. When you said a contact us page, it immediately went to, oh, well, if they're local, they should include a map and an address.
Carly Ries:And then for the home page, we were talking h ones and all text and everything. A lot of what I just said is super foreign to our audience. They're, like, why are you speaking Chinese right now that is I don't understand what you're saying. How in your opinion and Joe and I go back and forth on this. How important is SEO for a solopreneur?
Carly Ries:Because maybe they don't they don't need millions of clients. May they maybe they just need 3 or 4 to keep their business going. And if it is important, do, like, do they really need to focus on the technical stuff, or should they just focus on having, like, a place to drive people when they meet them?
Ezekiel Rochat:Yeah. Man, so so good. So I would love to talk about lead generation and how the website comes into play after this, topic because I think it's it it it goes all like so well with this. Yeah. This might be a little bit of a hot take, but I think for a lot of solopreneurs, freelancers, you know, early stage business folks, SEO can be a bit of a distraction.
Ezekiel Rochat:When I think about marketing tactics, it's really rare that I think, oh, you know what would start generating leads for you really quickly and help put food on the table? SEO. I just I it's really rare for me to think that you have of these massive companies who are who are pouring 1,000,000 of dollars into SEO. Like, look at HubSpot. You type a single marketing term, you're gonna see HubSpot show up in the first five links.
Ezekiel Rochat:Like, you're trying to compete against HubSpot, and you think you'll just start generating leads? Unlikely. But I'm happy to go into more about what I think about it, too, but I'm curious what you guys think, if that's in line here.
Carly Ries:Oh, I think that you are speaking our language and it's been really hard for me to come full circle with this because I've had clients that are fortune 500 companies. I've had clients that, like, at the more clients the better, or more customers the better. So SEO is huge. And as a trained marketer, SEO is obviously just ingrained in my brain.
Carly Ries:But the more and more Joe and I have worked with these with solopreneurs, I mean, we work with them day in and day out, the more it's like, no. I need and the for our business, we target people that want a business that supports their lifestyle. They don't need to be billionaires. They be able to take their kids to school while also supporting a life. So from that sense, sometimes they only need 4 or 5 clients.
Carly Ries:And if that's the case, SEO, blogging, all of that isn't necessarily their number one priority. So we totally agree with you, but the trained marketer in me is like, SEO.
Joe Rando:Well, I have a question though. I completely agree with you that SEO is just such a big company game now. It's really hard. Unless you do something, you know, really weird, really, really niche. We always talk about being a fair portrait artist, you know?
Joe Rando:ou if you did that, you would come up number 1 on Google when somebody searched for it. But for most businesses, you're not gonna be able to do that. But the exception I wonder is if you're a local business. If you are doing, you know, working in a certain market and targeting a certain market, I think it still might make sense to try to do SEO.
Ezekiel Rochat:Yeah. I agree with you, Joe. And, you know, the way I like to think about SEO, and I I don't claim to be an SEO expert, but the way I like to think about it is in 4 main pillars. So I think technical SEO, like, that's all the stuff on the actual website. Do we have it all set up so that Google can read the site and understand the content that we have on there?
Ezekiel Rochat:So I think technical SEO is one pillar. I think content itself is a pillar. So that's where you are, you know, creating your blog articles, you know, having your case studies, all that content that Google can read and then, you know, produce it for, the different keyword searches. Backlinks is another pillar. I still think it's such a huge, you know, part of Google's ranking, you know, algorithm.
Ezekiel Rochat:Say, hey. These sites are promoting this site, so it must have some authority there. And then the last pillar, Joe, to your point, I think is reviews. And I used to call this pillar local SEO, but whenever I would say local SEO, all I really meant is that, you know, getting Google business listing reviews, getting, getting reviews on Yelp or getting, you know, the the different directories, having your business show up on there. So that that's the way I think about SEO.
Ezekiel Rochat:And, yeah, you're industry, reviews is everything, and local SEO in that in that sense is that is everything. So
Carly Ries:I'm just gonna backtrack a little bit because I said I might use some jargon. SEO might be jargon for some people. So, what we're trying to see is search engine optimization. Basically, there are some techniques you can use that will promote your site higher on search engine results pages like Google. So we're just kinda talking about some techniques.
Carly Ries:This is a whole other conversation for a whole other day. We could have 10 episodes just dedicated to SEO and local SEO, but it is something that sometimes gets factored in to websites which is why we wanted to bring it up. But Ezekiel you were saying that you wanted to talk about lead gen which I think is much more important for all newer teleporters to be focusing on because your website shouldn't just be a resume, it should be working for you. So what can people do to have their website work for them?
Ezekiel Rochat:Yeah. Absolutely. So, man, when when I started building websites, it was really easy to have that mentality of, man, the website, that's the lead generator. Like, that's the thing that if if this if I publish this and I'm not getting leads, then must be a bad website. But that's not that's not true at all.
Ezekiel Rochat:You can build a beautiful home, but if no one ever sees it, like, no one's gonna buy it. You gotta get that home you gotta get that home exposed. And so what I always say is, like, there's a there's a 3 step plan to getting a lead on your website. So the first is, there's kind of sub items within each of these three steps. So the first would be get clear on that critical four I told you about who you are, what you do, who you serve, the best next step to work with you.
Ezekiel Rochat:Speak to the problems and pain points of your ideal client. Show them what life will look like on the other side, and then just be super clear on the offers. Be super clear on on your actual service that you're providing for them. So that's step 1. Get those things in place like that.
Ezekiel Rochat:That is just key. Step 2 is start investing in a traffic generation channel daily. In my opinion, if you're like a solopreneur or a freelancer consultant, you should be investing, like, at least I invest 2 hours a day into this. So in my opinion, you should be investing at least 1 or 2 hours a day. Some folks even say half your time into lead generating activities.
Ezekiel Rochat:So what is a lead generation channel? Things like LinkedIn, X, or Twitter. If you have the budget for it, things like digital ads, Google ads, search ads, something like that. Another great option for solopreneurs is working with other people's audiences. So making those connections, do affiliate programs, you know, be a guest on a podcast or or get on someone else's newsletter as a guest.
Ezekiel Rochat:Try to use your authority and your expertise to to the advantage of reaching other audiences that are, you know, targeting that same ideal client that you are. And I would I would I would also say that SEO is a traffic generation channel, and that's where it can kind of get a little confusing because some folks look at SEO as this slow magic bullet they can, you know, use on your website, whereas it's really a traffic generation channel you have to invest in if you wanna see success from there. The last step of that, 3 step plan I said to getting leads from your website would just be make sure that your primary call to action and your secondary call to action are obvious and clear and easy to easy to take the next step on. But it really does come down to that critical second step of investing in that traffic generation channel.
Carly Ries:And don't get this far in the journey and not respond to people. If you aren't getting leads on your website, let's make a point to respond to them.
Ezekiel Rochat:Oh, man. Yeah.
Carly Ries:A lot of people that finally get the leads, and then they just never interact with them. And it's, like, come on, man.
Joe Rando:It's frighteningly true.
Carly Ries:Yeah. It's Freaky out.
Joe Rando:I mean, that's happened.
Carly Ries:I'm trying to jump back to my 2016 self when I first went off on my own, and it's like there that is a lot to do. We're talking about building a website. We're talking about designing a website. We're talking about lead generation. This whole list.
Carly Ries:But for people that do want to take it on themselves and do it all by themselves, Do you have any tips to streamline streamline the process? I know that, Ezekiel, we we were talking before about, like, for me, I like Canva because I'm not a designer, but it makes me feel like I'm a designer. Are there any other tools or tips you'd recommend for people that want to do it by themselves to help out with the process?
Ezekiel Rochat:Yeah. Absolutely. It's such an awesome time to be a solopreneur because for most of the things that you have to do, like, if you have the the willpower to go and watch a few YouTube videos on how to do something, like, you can probably figure it out. So I would recommend, Squarespace is super DIY friendly. They have some great templates, and you can just either get one of the free templates or the, you know, low cost templates that they have available, and you could probably build your site in, like, 3 hours.
Ezekiel Rochat:If you just committed to a Saturday morning, say, okay. I'm gonna build this site, watch a couple YouTube tutorials on it, hop in there, grab a template, and and and and just build the site. But I would say before you hop in there and build it, just either use, you know, a pen and paper or something and sketch out some of those sections that we talked about. Okay. Like, what am I gonna say at that first section?
Ezekiel Rochat:You know, how am I gonna show folks that this is exactly what I do and this is who I do it for? What are the problems I wanna talk about? Kind of sketch out some of those those sections before you actually get into the tool, and now we'll make the whole process feel way less overwhelming. I think back to, you know, when I was writing papers in school, you know, staring at a blank cursor or a blinking cursor on a blank page, that is just about the most overwhelming thing. And in my opinion, you could make a a bearded man wearing a flannel cry.
Ezekiel Rochat:But if you're gonna create some constraints and have some ideas of, like, okay. This is what I'm writing about in this section. This is what I'm write. It makes it way less overwhelming. So, yeah, Squarespace, Framer, Carrd spelled with 2 r's.
Ezekiel Rochat:These are some great tools that are DIY friendly. I love Webflow, and so I'll always, promote Webflow. They have some great DIY templates as well you might check out.
Carly Ries:And we will include all of these links in the show notes, but let's say a person's listening to us right now and they're like, oh, Ezekiel, that's cute that you think I have 3 hours on a Saturday because I'm a solopreneur and I'm already spread way too thin. I am not doing this myself. Somebody else has to do it. So if they want to outsource this, if well, obviously, they should work with you because this is what you do. But if they were to go look for somebody else, what things should they look for and what are some red flags on this hunt and how do people even go about finding people to help them build the website if they wanted to outsource?
Ezekiel Rochat:Yeah. As I started diving into the web design world more, you know, my my background was just generalist marketing for about 5 years, and then I kind of hyper focused into web design. Something I realized about it that was new to me is that folks really separate the web design process into different buckets. And so what I've come to understand is there's 3 main buckets when you're talking about web design. There's strategy and copy, there's design, and there is development.
Ezekiel Rochat:And so the first thing I would say, if you're gonna outsource it, just recognize that. If you talk to someone and you say, hey. I want you to build me a website. That in their minds, they might be thinking you're only talking about one of those buckets. When you in reality, you need all 3 to actually have a completed website.
Ezekiel Rochat:If you go to somewhere and say, hey. I need to purchase a web design, they might only think, oh, they need me to design pages out in, like, an Adobe product or, you know, Figma or something like that, but then they'll go and get those pages developed. And so I would just say just keep that in mind that you have those 3 main buckets in web design, and you really need all 3. So make sure that whoever you're talking to, you have all those 3 considered and you know who's doing what in those 3. A lot of times they'll say the copy is on you.
Ezekiel Rochat:Sometimes you'll have folks who can provide some copy recommendations, but from what I can tell, most most of the times, the copy is on, it's on you. Couple red flags to watch out for, Do they have past work that you like? This is pretty obvious, but, you know, if you hop on a phone call with them, do you enjoy talking with them? You're about to spend a good amount of time going back and forth with this person. And I would say the last the last red flag to really look out for is, are they making promises that are just unreasonable?
Ezekiel Rochat:Like, do they make do they say things that are just, like, oh, after we get you this website, you'll have endless leads. Like, watch out for that because that's that's probably not totally accurate.
Carly Ries:The guarantees. That is super helpful. It's so funny because we try to keep these episodes between, like, 30, 45 minutes. But, man, this ups I feel like this content we could go on for days days days.
Carly Ries:So to prevent us from doing that, I mean, to cut us off. Ezekiel, you help people find success through their websites. We ask all of our guests this. What is your favorite quote about success?
Ezekiel Rochat:And, yeah, thankfully, you provided me some, heads up that you were gonna be asking this.
Joe Rando:You read it. That's the good news.
Ezekiel Rochat:I don't have the greatest memory, but, one of the kind of unlocks that I had last year was, I read if you couldn't tell, I'm a big fan of Alex Hormozi. And and something he says that really helped me in regards to success is if you have a goal in mind, if you have something that you're trying to attain that can seem daunting or overwhelming, try, you know, just make a little bulleted list and write down all the things that you would have to do for it to be unreasonable for you to not succeed. And then and then once I kinda do that, I'm like, oh, well, if I absolutely have to get some leads by the end of the month, I could DM a 100 people. I could post content every day.
Ezekiel Rochat:I could ask, other agencies in the area if they have more work that, I could help out with. Once I start writing all those things down, like, oh, I could totally I could totally hit this goal. And it just makes it feel a lot less overwhelming. So I don't that's not technically a quote, but, it it was a pretty big unlock for me when it comes to success in general.
Carly Ries:No. I think that is super helpful. Well, where can people find you if they want to learn more about you, wanna work with you, or just wanna see what you're up to?
Ezekiel Rochat:Yeah. I'm on LinkedIn, Ezekiel Rochat. I doubt there's anyone else named that, on this planet at this point, but, there we go. And then my website is rocship.com, spelled rocship.com. And if you go to forward slash solo, just for this podcast, I'm creating a website template, that your listeners can download for free and, hopefully, put them more on their way, to getting that website that they're proud to share.
Carly Ries:Oh, I love that. Thank you so much. So listeners, be sure to check that out. Well played, Ezekiel.
Carly Ries:And selfishly, it has just been so great catching up with you. This has been so informative. I just know it'll help a bunch of people out there. If you have any questions based on this content, feel free to reach out to Ezekiel on this site that you mentioned or on LinkedIn.
Carly Ries:We also happy to respond to questions at carly@lifestarr.com and joe@lifestarr.com. But otherwise, listeners, thank you so much for tuning in. As always, we love those 5 star reviews. We love those comments. We love your feedback.
Carly Ries:So be sure to subscribe to the podcast, subscribe to our YouTube channel, leave those reviews, and we will see you next week on another episode of solopreneur.