Episode 277: Why Your Website Isn’t Working (Top 3 Mistakes) With Kris Jones
Have you ever slogged through writing a sales page on your website thinking, "This is the one; it's going to work!" And crickets. Nothing seems to stick. You know what I'm talking about if you run a business and have a website.
Kris Jones, of Red Door Designs, will explain exactly why that's happening and what you can do to fix it. StoryBrand's Donald Miller hand-selected Kris as a mentee. She's cracked the code on turning expertise into sales. After 20 years of crafting stories for giants like Nike and Adidas, she discovered something shocking. A single well-told story can replace all your marketing and double your revenue.
She helps coaches and consultants scale from $30,000 to $300,000 months using her signature storytelling system, proving that you don't need endless content or complicated funnels to attract premium clients – just one story told very well.
Born storyteller to website copy expert
Kris says she evolved to get to where she is now, but she was born a visual storyteller. As a child, her play involved making fake trifold brochures for vacation. She went on to become a designer and work in branding.
"My heart's always been with that self-employed business owner, the small business, the solopreneur, the people that are really also on the planet doing the work that they're meant to do, right, that are really aligned with their purpose," says Kris. "Those are the people that I like to help. And those are the people that really can benefit the most from telling a really powerful story."
"You can't outsource your own voice," says Kris. "I've never come across in 23 years a strategy or an approach that has the power and the effectiveness that storytelling does."
When you apply a story to your website, people recognize that you're somebody they can really trust. It's important that the story you're telling them doesn't pressure them to take action but inspires them to take that next step of wanting to work with you.
"Our environment has changed a lot as far as like the digital world that we live in, but we are all wired for story, and that is never going to change," says Kris.
Top 3 mistakes on service provider websites
Here are three website mistakes Kris that are easy fixes for service providers:
You’re not the hero of your story
Kris says the biggest mistake people make on their websites is making themselves the hero of their story. She likens it to meeting someone for a quick coffee date—you sit down and connect with them first, then check in with where they are.
You wouldn't sit down and say, "I just had a flood at my house, and this is the best plumber, and you should work with this plumber!" They don't have any plumbing issues. Take the time to connect with them first.
In your website copy, you want to let people know that they matter and understand what is happening in their lives before you start talking about yourself and what problems you solve.
Nobody wants to “learn more”
Kris says the call to action needs to be a natural next step in working with you. She says a lot of people offer a "learn more" call—nobody wants to "learn more."
People don't want to have to go to multiple pages to gather the information they need. Kris suggests a one-page homepage format, which allows users to scroll. It's a comfortable and natural mobile design.
It also allows the story to unfold and provides all the information rather than siloing your website's copy on different pages, such as services or testimonials. Changing pages requires more effort than the scrolling motion.
Website design is an afterthought
Kris says the other common website mistake is designing the page as an afterthought. The design components need to bring your story to life and align with it. Our brains process visuals so fast.
Photographs are so powerful. Instead of having a bunch of pictures of ourselves, show the client in their happy, successful state. Shift the lens to make your clients the hero of your story through both words and visuals.
"When you're the hero of your own story, you kick a potential client out of your story," says Kris.
Kris says that, in fact, the hero is the weakest character in the story. As the business owner, you want to be the guiding character—like Yoda or Mr. Miyagi. These characters don't enter the story until a third of the way through.
"We're somewhat of a background character. We're there, and we matter. But our clients matter the most."
Writing your story
If you’re having trouble writing your website copy, the questions to ask yourself are:
• What are my clients struggling with?
• What is the problem my client is having?
• What is the client complaining about?
• How do we solve this problem?
• What’s your unique way of solving it?
• What does the client experience when the problem is solved?
That's the most powerful way to create that connection on your website—really articulate their problem. Clients then feel seen, heard, validated, and not alone. Most importantly, when we articulate their problem well, they feel like we are the best ones to solve it, says Kris.
"The way that I see a lot of people doing this wrong is that they take this opportunity to talk about features of the work they do, which is actually talking about yourself," says Kris. "We really want to answer that question that they have in their brain when they land on their website. They're asking themselves three important questions: What's in it for me? What's in it for me? And what's in it for me?"
Mentioned in this episode
- Book from Kris Jones: From Click to Client
- How to Write Compelling Copy in 5 Minutes
- Building a Story Brand Book
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