the summer my site turned pretty [idgaf 015]

Hey Reader,

It was February 2025 and I had just launched a new website.

After having been told a month earlier that the agency that had been sending me $150k a year worth of work was being sold, I'd realised that I'd been neglecting my own site....

...badly.

I worked frantically for a month to come up with a really cool design, tweak the copy, try make my portfolio look... reasonably recent. Overall, it was pretty great! Made me look like a proper agency.

So I launched it and waited eagerly for the enquiries.

And...

Nothing.

Sure I got enquiries sometimes but they were the kinds of people who filled in every contact form they could find to get quotes.

Lucky I was networking a lot, otherwise I'd be toast.

But.... contrast that with my new site that I launched a few weeks ago.

So far I've had 8 decent enquiries, 3 that have became actual "leads" (I hate that term so much), and 1 new client (so far).

In two weeks!

So what changed to make my site actually start working?

And more importantly, what can YOU take away from this (beyond "hire Nick to build my website")?

The look and feel of the site was a huge step up, compared to what I had. It's fully custom, very unique, and stands out even in an industry where people make sites that stand out.

People can tell the site was built with care, which makes it a great example of my work. It makes me hit the next level of "legit" (which is awesome when I want people to hire me for this stuff).

How can you use this? Don't settle for barely good enough.

Yeah you might not be able to get some amazingly epic design for your website.... but if you're not a designer, that doesn't matter (much). Instead, look at what DOES matter.

Your work!

If you write copy, make sure your copy is the best version of what you can do. If you're a consultant, make sure your views and beliefs are clear. If you're a videographer, make sure your videos are amazing. Everything out there represents you, so make it represent you.

I spent WEEKS on the copy on my website.

I obsessed over it.

Refined.

Rewrote.

Deleted it and started again.

Over and over.

But in the end I came up with something I think really gets my core message across. All the stuff I've been saying in my emails each week.

Instead of saying the same things all my competitors say, I went with the stuff I say.

I highlighted the same frustrations my clients would vent to me during our therapy discovery calls, and showed how I get rid of those frustrations.

And I made sure I kept my personality going the whole way through it.

Like, there's parts where I was like "shit, should I really say that?" But I did, cause I know that stuff works.

The person pulling the trigger on a $20k website project is binging netflix on the weekend just like the rest of us. Why would I need to be boring for them to like me?

How can you use this? You need to have a core belief, and approach that proves it, and a problem you solve. Then make that super clear on your website, in your linkedin profile, and anywhere else you hang.

And don't forget about your personality! The more you can get that across, the better a job it'll do for you.

If you're stuck on this, check out idgaf 005 and idgaf 006 (both about the whole belief/approach/problem thing) and idgaf 014 (about having personality).

Literally every website I've ever had, I wrote "get in touch" as my primary call to action (ie. what I want people to do).

But that feels like a big step, and doesn't tell them what to expect, or what we're actually talking about. Plus, what about people who don't really want to talk yet?

It isn't a great call to action.

With this site, I changed things. I modified my "primary" call to action to say start a project, and put more detail about what we run through, what they can expect, and what happens after they put in their details.

That was a good first step, but what about people who aren't really that interested in talking to me just yet?

Well, for those people, I added a "secondary" call to action. I know, I know. You're probably thinking "this guy's crazy! And handsome!"

Your secondary call to action is the other thing you want people to do, when your main thing is a bit much. For example, you might ask people to sign up to your newsletter. Or maybe they can download some resource or something. Or fill in a survey. Or request an audit (my friend Dave does this using AI and it's scarily impressive).

I wanted something that would put me in a situation kinda like talking, but without it being a big deal for the visitor. I wanted them to get a feel for me, cause if they like me, they'd be more likely to want to work together.

Which led to setting up the website teardown page to be my secondary call to action. This is where people can ask me to check their sites, and I'd do a video walking through it (which would have my little talking head in it).

And similar to the start a project page, I made sure it was really clear what people should expect. I even have an example of a teardown so they'd know exactly what to expect.

How can you use this? Does your website ask people to get in touch? FOR SHAME (kidding)!

Look, this can be challenging. At the VERY least, make it super clear what happens when they fill in that form, or ring that number, or send that smoke signal (however you handle enquiries on your site). The clearer it is, the less scary it seems.

I think the concept of lead magnets is huge and could probably be it's own email, so I'll save that as a topic for another week (if anyone wants info about it).

This new site is doing better than any site I've ever had. I nailed my design, nailed my message, and have pretty decent calls to action.

You don't need to spend loads of money to make your site better.

Just... think about it a bit more. Put that extra bit of effort in. Don't say "good enough" so soon.

But also, you can totally spend loads of money if you want to 😎

Cowabunga,Nick Gulic