Fleur Hamilton

There is a big difference between looking like a hungry start-up (which people love) and an inexperienced novice (which people avoid).

Even if you’re very new, you still need to look as professional as possible at all times. You want to look like you’re ready for the big time, not like a big-time risk.

Here are 3 things that instantly make you look unprofessional.

1. A DIY Website 

Just because you can build your own website for free doesn’t mean you should.

Website builders like Wix make it look easy to build a website in less time than it takes to build a PowerPoint presentation. 

However, what they don’t tell you is how unprofessional you may come off if there is a “Built by Wix” watermark at the bottom of your site.

Of course, you can pay more to upgrade and have that watermark removed. But, at that point, you might as well have gone with a better website builder/host right from the start. If you’re even thinking about building or hosting your site with Wix, we recommend you click this link to find the best website hosting provider and use one of their free website templates.

It will look better than a Wix site, with more reliable hosting.

2. Having No Website at All

Amazingly, about 40% of small businesses do not have a website of any kind.

The most popular excuses are:

• Our type of business doesn’t need one
• We don’t have time to make one
• We’re doing fine without one
• We have a Facebook page and that’s enough

The counter-arguments are:

• Yes, it does. Trust us
• It takes less time than you think. If you started last week, it could be up by now
• You’re doing “fine,” but your competition is doing even better thanks to free leads
• Facebook is a good start, but isn’t good enough

It’s simple, 70-80% of people research a small business online before calling or making a purchase. Most of them will move onto your competition if they can’t find you.

Don’t limit yourself to only 20% of your sales funnel.

3. Taking Too Long to Respond to Messages or Phone Calls

Data shows that over 80% of today’s customers expect an immediate reply when they reach out with a question.

If it’s a complex question or a detailed quote, you need to at least acknowledge them and let them know that:

• You hear them
• You’re personally working on their inquiry
• You will be in touch soon. And a realistic timeline is always helpful 

Personalized attention is free and extremely effective. If you don’t have the time to personally respond to emails and messages, redirect them to someone else, or invest in a CRM system to automate things.

When you don’t have a lot of time or budget, it places more importance on spending your resources in the right places. Believe us when we say that spending the time and money to set up a proper website can be a business-breaker, and so can getting back to your customers in a timely fashion.

You may think you’re busy now, but you will be amazed how those simple things can unlock more time, and more money.