Why Newbies Are Afraid To Build A Website
By Joe Robson
Can you remember when you first decided to build a Website?I can. And my toes curl up every time I think about it.
What a mammoth task!
I started out in my innocence and designed a stunning site with Microsoft Publisher. 'Hey this is great' I thought. "Just some Desk Top publishing, save it in HTML format (whatever that is) and then figure out how to get it up onto the Web".
Dear oh dear, oh dear. What an absolute disaster!
If you have your own Website, you know exactly where I went wrong. BUT, if you're a Newbie you WON'T!
So I searched the Internet for help. Here, there, and everywhere I went, printing out mountains of techie stuff, instant-build it stuff and HTML tutorials. Man, I couldn't even understand WHY I needed to learn HTML. Why not a WYSIWYG instant Web Builder?
So off I went again and collected all the advertising promises of 'No HTML knowledge required' etc etc etc. What a complete waste of time! The truth is that had I not been absolutely determined to build a Website to promote my existing offline Copywriting service, I would have given up.
I needed all this mystifying hype, lies, and confusing techie-talk, like a hole in the head. Because the biggest problem was that I didn't know where to look for the *impartial* advice I was desperately seeking. Hey, I didn't even know WHAT advice I was looking for! Everyone shouted "Buy Me!" Know the feeling.
Some said I needed a WYSIWYG Website builder, but they didn't warn me that I still needed to know some HTML. Some advised me to learn all sorts of Techie stuff that left me totally confused. Others said they'd show me how to start from scratch, but their instructions left me more frustrated than before I started.
Sheesh!
I ended up with a shopping list of tools and software that would break the bank ...
An HTML course costing $200, and weeks to learn.
A Graphics program setting me back $250 and a learning curve steeper than Everest.
Subscription to a graphics site - another $30.
A graphics optimizer for $40 - another learning curve.
A Scanner to copy my own pictures for the Site.
And a host of other expensive 'Techie' stuff, with no-one to advise me which was best. Or even if I really needed it! And of course I learned later, that most of it wasn't needed.
Heck, my bookshelves were groaning under the weight of all the information and tutorials I had printed out. And of course I was worrying about how to 'upload' it to my ISP's server, and which software to use to do it.
It's only since Tom Glander and I created The Newbie Club that I've come to realize that ...
Every Newbie has exactly the same problem
And unfortunately the vast majority are so confused and frustrated that they never even make the attempt. The truth is that most of them are downright SCARED to make a start.
Why do we experienced people make it so darned difficult for Newbies? Why is it that as soon as we start becoming 'successful' we immediately develop amnesia and forget the problems we all went through? Why do we deny the millions of Newbies the benefit of our experience and actually make it EASY for them to learn from our mistakes? In short ...
Why do so many of us treat Newbies with so much contempt?
Lack of gray matter - that's why!
Doesn't it make business sense to make our products, software and courses Newbie-friendly? Doesn't it make business sense to talk in language that they can actually understand? Doesn't it make business sense to explain HOW to download your ebook? Because if it's your customer's first download, why risk losing a sale for the sake of a few instructions.
I don't know about you, but if I read instructions that are basic and clearly written, I don't feel offended or 'spoken down to'. In fact I respect the Webmaster for it. At least I don't get lost!
It's because of most Web business owners negative attitudes toward Newbies, that has made The Newbie Club so outstandingly successful. Yet all we do is practice the age old sales idiom ... "Find out what they WANT, and GIVE it to them." Well, Newbies WANT to be treated as 'normal adults' so that's what we GIVE them.
And that's why The Newbie Club Website Builder was partially written by a Newbie. And because we speak to our readers in jargon-free, language they not only find it easy to understand, but they TRUST us.
And isn't trust the essential ingredient of doing business?
So if you want to increase your business - no matter how technical your product - have your Website copy, help files and tutorials read out loud by a Newbie. You'll be amazed at what you learn! And perhaps even realize why some Newbies may actually be scared of doing business with you.