January 16, 2025 • 25 mins
Jen Whitlock shares her journey of building wonderwallbackdrops.com, discussing the challenges and successes of creating a DIY website. From platform selection to launch timeline, she provides valuable insights for other business owners considering the DIY route for their websites.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:09):
Hi, everyone.
This is Chrissy.
Welcome back to Website Success.
Today, I have a newfriend here joining me.
Her name is Jen Whitlock, and she isthe owner of Wonderwall Backdrops.
Jen, welcome to the show.
Hello, Chrissy.
Thanks for having me.
I'm super excited to be joining youand to share whatever wisdom I have.
(00:30):
Awesome.
Awesome.
Yes.
And so I asked Jen on here.
She volunteered becauseshe did everything herself.
And I would love to get some insightbecause I know a lot of the folks
that are listening to this podcastare trying to DIY their websites.
They're, they're doingeverything and it's a lot.
So I just sort of wanted her towalk through the process of how
(00:51):
she got her website up and running.
So Jen, if you could start, whydon't you tell us a little bit
about yourself and your business?
Absolutely.
Um, I'm Jen Whitlock.
My company is Wonderwall backdrops.
We are.
really, um, an event decor business.
We specialize in custom made or semicustom backdrops and balloon decor.
(01:16):
So, you know, people are havingbirthday parties or graduation parties,
wedding receptions, things like that.
We're the people who can come inand you say like DIY, we're trying
to help those people out there.
Get out of the DIY, um, space becauseit's painful and stressful and, and
what have you, but trying to do it ina way that doesn't, you know, break
(01:38):
the bank for somebody who wants tobring somebody in and then actually,
you know, be able to enjoy their event.
So, um, I officially started mybusiness about 18 months ago and
yes, I am the person who it'slike, do as I say, not as I do.
And I'm the person who as thebusiness owner, um, put together
(02:01):
all the stuff, all the stuff, allthe website and what have you.
So yeah, I'm happy to be an open book and,and hopefully, um, help your listeners.
In that regard,
Awesome.
Awesome.
Thank you.
And can you tell me what you arecurrently using for your website?
yes, I am utilizing Squarespace, um, 7.
(02:22):
1, if that means anything toanyone, but that's the, that's kind
of the version that it's run on.
And actually last night I justhit go on a total refresh, like
a total, like went throughand redid everything.
Um, and, and it was at the pointwhere I felt really good about it.
(02:45):
And I was like, awesome, this is great.
I hit go and I pulledthis there and I did that.
And I was like, hit refresh on all ofmy, you know, my phone and my computer.
And I was like, well, hotdiggity dog, it didn't refresh.
So I got it there.
But again, it's, um, For me, and Ihave a really strong background in
(03:09):
marketing and event planning andevent management and branding and
what have you, but it's, um, where doyou kind of like, really define your.
Area of expertise.
And guess what website development isnot my super strong area of expertise,
but as a business owner, as a smallbusiness owner and, you know, trying
(03:29):
to drive revenue and be mindful ofthings, that was the thing that I did.
So anyway,
And, and, um, how long ago didyou originally launch your, your,
your first Squarespace website?
So I originally launched it,um, I'd say back in August of 23
and it, um, it looked vastlydifferent than it does now.
(03:53):
It looked different thanit did two days ago.
Um, and it's very much the, like, youthink, you know, a little bit and you
can be savvy in some things online,but it's, it's, it's, it's, it's,
it's, As they say, and it's a mixedmetaphor, it's a whole nother world.
It just is.
So, um, I've probably gone throughlike two full refreshes because,
(04:19):
um, I feel very strongly that as abusiness owner, you should have a, your
brick and mortar, if you don't havea brick and mortar, is your website.
And, you know, right now we are currentlyin this Um, like gray area as to whether
or not things like a tick tock aregoing away and to to have all of your
(04:43):
work on social media and not having anonline presence is not a best practice.
I would recommend.
So that's
why I think that having a goodwebsite or at least something
really legitimizes yourself.
And.
A lot of the work that we do is, youknow, corporate events or working with
(05:03):
educational facilities and they want tosee that you exist and that you aren't
just existing on a social media platform.
So I've always had it since I kindof opened my doors and then have,
like I said, gone through and donekind of like two big old refreshes.
Okay.
And why did you choose Squarespace?
Um, I choose a choose.
(05:24):
I chose Squarespace because it seemed tome, I kind of vetted it with You know,
my colleagues and friends and ask thosewho are currently like in the, in the web
design world, like out of these, you know,out of Squarespace or Wix or WordPress,
um, which one is the kind of thing?
(05:47):
And they were all like, no, you needto develop it like in a native way.
Like you need to actuallyhave it programmed to be you.
But they said out of the ones thatwere available, kind of like, you
know, like, you know, cuts comingoff the shelf solutions that that
one was the best one for usabilityfor me and then, um, navigation and
(06:10):
such for my intended target audience.
Okay.
So, yes.
And can you walk us a little bit throughthe process and the path that you took
to get your first website up and running?
Sure, sure.
So, um, with Squarespace, and I imaginethat this is very much from what I
remember in terms of investigatingthe other platforms that I could
(06:32):
have gone with, it's looking atthe templates and starting there.
That's what made it, Iguess, the most successful.
palatable and, and easier for me than justlike a, I don't even know what I want.
And so, you know, starting there andlooking at like what kind of speaks to me.
(06:53):
And so it very much is identifying likewho you are as a company and what your,
um, I don't, I don't want to say vibeis, but really like if you're, you know,
depending upon your industry and dependingupon your niche and who you're like,
super targeting, um, in my industry,in the, the balloon and the backdrop
(07:15):
industry, a lot of people, and if thisis totally fine, they just want to have,
you know, the pale colors and the like,you know, confetti or what have you.
And me, my jam has always been, um, alittle more, I don't want to say it.
Fun or whatever, but I'm, I'm leaningto, um, bold and, and funky a little bit.
(07:38):
And so, um, I found a templatethat I liked and I started there.
And then you just, you start leaninginto, um, if you're smart, you lean
into what your brand colors are andyour font, and you start to try to
pull things through from your image,from your, Kind of go to market
strategy and make certain that that'sreplicated in your, in your website.
(08:03):
So, you know, what is your, whatis your tagline or your slogan?
What is your value proposition?
You want to pull all that through inthe things that you do on your website.
And then you just kindof start to tweak it.
And to, you know, you can on Squarespace,you pick like a, Quotes, but you pick a
font pack, you pick a, um, you kind ofpick a theme, like what are your buttons
(08:27):
look like in this and that and the other.
And yes, you can go in and customize,you know, based on your hex code
or, um, you can pull in a new font.
You can, um, you know, you uploadyour images or you can search
from other, you know, um, stockimages and things like that.
So that's really how I started it.
And I think even at that point I hadmy first iteration of my logo, which
(08:50):
I've, you know, kind of gotten rid of.
So it's really, um, starting with atemplate and then, you know, you add
sections, you add pages, you makecertain that it's covering everything
and hopefully you're building it in a waythat's smart and you are incorporating
your, um, keywords and being mindfulof SEO, uh, in a really smart way.
(09:11):
So that's how that happened.
Okay.
And for anybody that's curious,the website is wonderwallbackdrops.
com.
And it is definitely bold.
Uh, the, the currentversion, definitely bold.
Uh, there's, there's discoballs on the hero area.
So yeah, it's definitely, it, it, uh.
Reaches out and smacks you in the face.
(09:32):
Well, thank you.
I
think
in a good way, in a good way,
honestly, it's so funny because,um, I built that disco ball wall
by hand, disco ball by disco ball.
And, um, and it's funny because it, thestory is, and it's true is that years
ago, I started collecting disco balls.
I literally have them all overmy studio, but I just love them.
It's just, it's just something thathas always been one of my things.
(09:55):
And, When I built that, I built itwith a tutorial from a really great
friend who's out in California.
But anyway, it's like, it's not for me.
And it's funny because I take a lookat what's trending and what's here and
what's now what's coming and whatever.
And the disco ball trend, it'snever been a trend for me.
It's been a way of life.
So that's why I have it there.
So
(10:15):
yeah,
It looks great, it looks, it's,yeah, it's got a great personality.
Uh, it definitely comesthrough, so, um, yeah.
So again, wonderwallbackdrops.
com, take a look at it.
Uh, and and I actually I havea quick question because you
mentioned search engine optimizationare you're a local business.
So you're you're based in AnneArundel County, the Baltimore area.
(10:37):
Uh, do you have a Googlebusiness profile as well?
do.
I most definitely do.
But I am going to say this withas much Like self respect as I can
as well as you know, my Here's mything is that, yes, I do have that.
And yes, I am working on my SEO.
(10:57):
It is not where it needs to be.
It's just not like it needs to be.
But then I look at my list of allthe 74 things that need to be done.
And it's important because it'slike chicken and the egg, right?
Dedicate the time to your SEOand your SEO will work for you.
And I need to do that.
So, yes.
(11:18):
you are preaching to the choir hereand for any of you that have been
listening for a little while, you know,I've got lots of stuff on SEO and I
actually am working on a membership.
It's in.
Sorry.
My dog is saying
I love it.
hi, puppy.
he's whining.
But it's, uh, search the I'm sorry,SEO Success Club, and it is in
(11:39):
founding member status right now.
So it's, it's got the, the veryinexpensive pricing, but, uh, the
courses and the resources in therewalk you through the basics of SEO.
And we have SEO Q&As and SEO officehours and all kinds of support for that.
Uh, and one of the things that'scoming up, uh, I think this podcast
(11:59):
will be released before this.
This, uh, event coming up, but January27th, I've got a local SEO lab coming
up that is great for anybody that'sgot a Google business profile or needs
a Google business profile to show youhow to do your local SEO and all of
the stuff that's underneath of that.
(12:20):
There's, there's a lot toit, but, uh, walking, walking
everybody through all of that.
So,
um,
Okay.
You might want to sign up for it too.
I'm making a note.
I'm making a note right
January 27th.
It's, it's in Annapolis and online.
So for any of you that arelistening, uh, that you're not in
the Anne Arundel County area inMaryland, it's online and in person.
(12:40):
So you can do either one.
Um, now how long, when, when, with yourfirst website, how long, so I know you
said you launched it in August of 23.
How long from the time you startedworking on it until you launched
it, do you think that it took you?
So that's an amazing question.
How long did it take?
It was probably, um, oh my gosh.
(13:03):
I mean, it was maybe a monthor something and it was one of
those like, Oh, you know, thatstatement launched the damn thing.
Just get it out.
Right.
Get it out.
Get something out that saysI exist proof of concept.
And was it where I wanted it to be?
No, no, it wasn't.
But I was kind of likeat that point where.
(13:25):
I'm tired of monkeying withthis and I just need to say
like I exist at that point.
And to be honest with you, it was,I was also dancing between, um, I
was launching, I didn't have anylike actual booked business yet, but
I had, You know, I had backdrops.
I wanted to get those kind of, youknow, shot and, and on there somehow.
(13:48):
And so here I am playing photographer,getting that done kind of a thing.
So it was all happening at the same time.
None of it was fun.
None of it was easy, but it like, Iwas just at the point where, okay.
I'm my own worst critic.
We are all our own worst criticsand things that I notice are not
the things that a, you know, generalperson would notice because I know
(14:10):
that, you know, whatever, likeI'll look at my own work and go.
Farts, I missed a balloon in that spot.
Whatever.
That's why I always use likemy camera instead of my eyes to
look at things, kind of a thing.
So, um, so yeah, it was probably asolid month of like, just banging it
out and, you know, being like, hereit is, world, take it or leave it.
(14:35):
So,
Yeah.
And, and I, I have, yeah, a lot, I havea lot of the clients that I've worked
with that have had the same issuewhere it's just like, just launch it.
Just get it out there.
Get it, get it out.
You can.
I, and I worked, uh, with a printdesigner that was, was noodling over
whether or not she was ready to launch,and I, I had a reminder, it's a website.
Once you publish it, you can change
Yeah.
(14:55):
Right.
Exactly.
Right.
That's it.
a
Yeah.
You can, you can publish it and thenyou can change it, and it, it's.
Live all of a sudden, and
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And also, I just want to go back andsay one thing you just said something
that made me do like whatever is havingthe ability to go in and like, I can
go in and load photos under my gallery.
I can go in and tweak different things.
(15:17):
I probably could do that withthe assistance of, you know, some
other platform or what have you.
But I knew that I was going to beobsessive about it at times and
wanting to be able to have somethingthat was semi user friendly.
So that's why too.
okay,
valid, valid.
Uh, now, did you run into any issues,tech issues, or any, any trouble
(15:40):
when you were building your website?
And if you did, where did you go?
Oh, yeah.
I mean, where do I go?
I don't know.
I mean, I've utilized, I'veutilized, you know, Squarespace.
You don't get a person.
You don't get Chrissy.
You get, you get, hi, this is whatever,you know, Frank from Squarespace chat
or what have you, who can And, and Iwill tell you that their, their customer
(16:03):
service is good in that respect, butI am one of, you know, whatever, 14
million people using their products.
And, um, you know, the best helpthey can give me is a chat function.
So there's no phone number, there's nolike jump on a zoom and let's like, you
know, work this out kind of a thing.
So I have had to tap into there.
(16:23):
Some of the things I've justbeen like, well, guess what?
I'm just not going to do this now then.
And you know, like I've wanted to,um, I think I had a really hard time
getting my product page launch launched.
And really that was just, um, like forpeople who wanted to order grab and go
balloon garlands or, you know, stufflike seasonal Valentine's day, um,
(16:45):
football playoffs, things like that.
And I was like, well, guess what?
I'm missing the boat on that.
So tough nuggies and I'll justfigure it out later kind of a thing.
So,
and you know, when you have that andit's tied into a financial component
where you're accepting, you know,credit card payments, there's things
that really kind of have to match up.
So, you know, that could be, that couldbe a real deal breaker for somebody who
(17:07):
is utilizing a website to actually sell100 percent of their products, right?
Mine is more of a service offering.
I need to show you that I exist foryou and I to work together, for you
to have faith and trust in me, butI don't have to put my grab and go
balloon garlands on there, you know,as a product page, but some people do.
(17:27):
Absolutely.
hmm, right, okay.
Now, if you could do it all overagain, and, and you could do
everything 100 percent right fromthe start, how would you do things
differently, or would you do things
I would.
I would because I'll tell you that I,um, I, the, the refresh that I just did.
Um, I bought a great, um, template andI worked with somebody in like making it
(17:52):
mine, the, the creator of the template.
And she was amazing.
Um, but if I could, if I couldhonestly, like the little persons
hovering above me would say, Hey, Okay.
Hey, guess what?
You know, hindsight is 2020.
Let's look a year anda half down the road.
You probably spent more and it'snot necessarily the quote unquote
(18:14):
check that you write, but it's thelike, it's the investment in my time.
Like my time that I invested in mywebsite development is the time that
took away from me actually, Um, doingbetter marketing or, you know, networking
or, you know, all those things.
And so, you know, whatever, like if,if I want, if I have my designated
(18:35):
like hourly, like I need to make Xdollars of, you know, an hour, um,
I probably lost quote unquote lostmoney in that by not just saying,
Hey Chrissy, here's all my content.
Here's what I want to do with it.
Do it, you know?
Um, so that's probably like, if I hadhad that, you know, forward vision,
(19:01):
you know, out of the windshield,instead of behind me on the rear
view mirror, um, it, that would have,that would have probably been a great
thing for me to have just invested in.
And then, you know, maybe Iwould have had a native look
and feel and whatever about it.
I really like where my website isright now, but again, it's, you know,
It's like a, uh, it's like a, it'slike a lost, you know, at the cost of
(19:23):
a lost opportunity kind of a thing.
So, yeah,
Okay.
Yeah, that's, that's something that I,that I, I talked to either, well, both
the done for you and the done with you
yeah,
client is if you're not paying for it withyour money, you're paying for it with your
absolutely.
Absolutely.
Yeah,
which is going to work better for you.
right.
Exactly.
So yeah,
And for a lot of, a lot of my, myclients where I do it for them,
(19:46):
they just would rather me do it.
And then they can do thestuff that they're good at.
exactly.
it just makes things a lot easier.
I am like a little MacGyver, right?
I am bubblegum paperclip and, andyou know, rubber band rubber bands
are always on my wrist, but, um,that's how I get the, that's how I
get it done is, is just kind of like,what's the worst that can happen?
(20:08):
But again, it's.
If I had dedicated the financialinvestment and just was able to get
that off my plate, you know, I, Ilistened to, um, a lot of podcasts
and one of them is, is, uh, by someonein the, in the balloon industry.
And she said, look, if I want to dosomething at a hundred percent, but
if I can get, pay somebody and theycan get it at 80 percent to what I
(20:32):
would do, like that's a win and a win.
And I was like, Oh,that's what I need to do.
So yeah.
Yeah.
And in a lot of cases, we, I'lldo the building of the website
and I let the clients worry abouttheir content and, and all of that.
Cause that's, Yes, I can do their content,but they're going to know their stuff
(20:53):
Sure.
Sure.
Absolutely.
Yes.
Yep.
Yeah.
Awesome.
Okay.
Um, so is, do you have anythingelse that you'd like to share about
your process, your business or yourwebsite or any, anything else that
he, do you have any events coming up
Oh, I mean, I have like, we're startingto kick off and get like really busy.
(21:13):
And, um, we'll like the spring,summer will be, you know,
chock full of, um, proms andgraduations and things like that.
Um, I mean, it's definitely, you know,in terms of your website, I just, I
can't say it enough that it's, it'sreally kind of what legitimizes.
Most I would say, if not all companiesand to lean into that for before
(21:38):
you like, worry about your contentcreation on, you know, instagram
and tick tock and things like that.
Yes, it's important.
But, um, It's still where people are goingto go when you know, to make sure that you
exist, you know They're just gonna searchon something random and you're either
gonna pop up or you're not gonna pop upBut But if I need to show a body of work
(21:59):
to somebody The fastest way I can do thatis to send them to my website You know I
can give them an actual link and they cango to the gallery and they can look at you
know Oh, you want to look at all balloons?
There you go.
You want to look at all the backdrops?
Go there.
You want to look at someof the other things we do?
Here's, you know, here'syour, here's your spot.
Um, you know, have, have a way for youto tie in a, um, lead gen, um, mechanism.
(22:23):
So, you know, have a spot on there forindividuals to sign up for a newsletter,
offer them, you know, something 10percent off or give something away or,
Um, and have a great contact us form.
You know, that for me is, it was sofunny because I literally was like
flipping the website last night.
And, um, I was like, Oh,it didn't, it refreshed.
(22:46):
Oh no, it didn't refresh.
But then it was so funny becausemy lead, um, my contact, um, form
is tied into my like CRM and.
It thankfully was stilloperational because a
lead came in at the same time and I waslike, oh, thank God, you know, so, um, and
really, you know, it's just, Trying to tieup all those like little loose ends and
(23:08):
the things that go on behind the sceneswith the SEO can be makers or breakers.
And I know that there are somethings out there on mine right
now that are breakers that I needto go back in and take care of.
But again, it's my list of 74 things.
So, so yeah, so I mean, it's really,I'm, I'm super pumped about, you
know, Um, what I'm doing and youknow, my, it's a, it's always what,
(23:30):
what industry isn't competitive.
It's a competitive landscape and,um, you know, we kind of hang our
hat on stellar customer service.
We're not going to be, um, the leastexpensive and we're by far not going to
be the most expensive, but we're goingto be the ones that are like, you can
hear, and I've often heard people say, Ican hear you smiling through the phone.
(23:51):
So, um, that's the impression thatI want to make with people and, you
know, I always say, um, my first goalis to listen and to problem solve.
And it sounds like, why is it a problem?
Well, you know, someone'scoming to me because they don't
want to do all this stuff.
So keep my ears open and, um, come back.
And you know, I always say if peoplewant, you know, polka dots and I say,
(24:13):
Hey, stripes might look better here,but at the end of the day, if they
want polka dots, they get polka dots.
So that's it.
so well again, thank you so muchfor joining me and sharing your
experience with your website andgetting your business online.
I really appreciate it.
Thanks everybody for listening.
If you are in need of backdrops,balloons, event design, Reach out to Jen.
(24:36):
Uh, it's, uh, wonderwallbackdrops.
com, backdrops with an S dot com.
Uh, she is in the Annapolis,Baltimore, Maryland area.
So if you're in this area, willyou, will you travel outside of the
Oh yeah, absolutely.
Um, actually I think like wehave clients in Delaware and,
you know, all over the place.
So, uh, PA, yep.
Yep.
okay.
(24:56):
Yeah.
So check her out.
Uh, and again, thank youso much for joining us.
Thanks for having me.
This was fantastic.
Awesome, awesome.
Uh, if you enjoyed this episode, andI'm sure you did, everybody loves these
episodes, uh, make sure you subscribe,leave a review, come back to the next
episode, and we'll catch you next time.
Thanks Chrissy.
Hi, everyone.
This is Chrissy.
Welcome back to Website Success.
Today, I have a newfriend here joining me.
Her name is Jen Whitlock, and she isthe owner of Wonderwall Backdrops.
Jen, welcome to the show.
Hello, Chrissy.
Thanks for having me.
I'm super excited to be joining youand to share whatever wisdom I have.
(00:30):
Awesome.
Awesome.
Yes.
And so I asked Jen on here.
She volunteered becauseshe did everything herself.
And I would love to get some insightbecause I know a lot of the folks
that are listening to this podcastare trying to DIY their websites.
They're, they're doingeverything and it's a lot.
So I just sort of wanted her towalk through the process of how
(00:51):
she got her website up and running.
So Jen, if you could start, whydon't you tell us a little bit
about yourself and your business?
Absolutely.
Um, I'm Jen Whitlock.
My company is Wonderwall backdrops.
We are.
really, um, an event decor business.
We specialize in custom made or semicustom backdrops and balloon decor.
(01:16):
So, you know, people are havingbirthday parties or graduation parties,
wedding receptions, things like that.
We're the people who can come inand you say like DIY, we're trying
to help those people out there.
Get out of the DIY, um, space becauseit's painful and stressful and, and
what have you, but trying to do it ina way that doesn't, you know, break
(01:38):
the bank for somebody who wants tobring somebody in and then actually,
you know, be able to enjoy their event.
So, um, I officially started mybusiness about 18 months ago and
yes, I am the person who it'slike, do as I say, not as I do.
And I'm the person who as thebusiness owner, um, put together
(02:01):
all the stuff, all the stuff, allthe website and what have you.
So yeah, I'm happy to be an open book and,and hopefully, um, help your listeners.
In that regard,
Awesome.
Awesome.
Thank you.
And can you tell me what you arecurrently using for your website?
yes, I am utilizing Squarespace, um, 7.
(02:22):
1, if that means anything toanyone, but that's the, that's kind
of the version that it's run on.
And actually last night I justhit go on a total refresh, like
a total, like went throughand redid everything.
Um, and, and it was at the pointwhere I felt really good about it.
(02:45):
And I was like, awesome, this is great.
I hit go and I pulledthis there and I did that.
And I was like, hit refresh on all ofmy, you know, my phone and my computer.
And I was like, well, hotdiggity dog, it didn't refresh.
So I got it there.
But again, it's, um, For me, and Ihave a really strong background in
(03:09):
marketing and event planning andevent management and branding and
what have you, but it's, um, where doyou kind of like, really define your.
Area of expertise.
And guess what website development isnot my super strong area of expertise,
but as a business owner, as a smallbusiness owner and, you know, trying
(03:29):
to drive revenue and be mindful ofthings, that was the thing that I did.
So anyway,
And, and, um, how long ago didyou originally launch your, your,
your first Squarespace website?
So I originally launched it,um, I'd say back in August of 23
and it, um, it looked vastlydifferent than it does now.
(03:53):
It looked different thanit did two days ago.
Um, and it's very much the, like, youthink, you know, a little bit and you
can be savvy in some things online,but it's, it's, it's, it's, it's,
it's, As they say, and it's a mixedmetaphor, it's a whole nother world.
It just is.
So, um, I've probably gone throughlike two full refreshes because,
(04:19):
um, I feel very strongly that as abusiness owner, you should have a, your
brick and mortar, if you don't havea brick and mortar, is your website.
And, you know, right now we are currentlyin this Um, like gray area as to whether
or not things like a tick tock aregoing away and to to have all of your
(04:43):
work on social media and not having anonline presence is not a best practice.
I would recommend.
So that's
why I think that having a goodwebsite or at least something
really legitimizes yourself.
And.
A lot of the work that we do is, youknow, corporate events or working with
(05:03):
educational facilities and they want tosee that you exist and that you aren't
just existing on a social media platform.
So I've always had it since I kindof opened my doors and then have,
like I said, gone through and donekind of like two big old refreshes.
Okay.
And why did you choose Squarespace?
Um, I choose a choose.
(05:24):
I chose Squarespace because it seemed tome, I kind of vetted it with You know,
my colleagues and friends and ask thosewho are currently like in the, in the web
design world, like out of these, you know,out of Squarespace or Wix or WordPress,
um, which one is the kind of thing?
(05:47):
And they were all like, no, you needto develop it like in a native way.
Like you need to actuallyhave it programmed to be you.
But they said out of the ones thatwere available, kind of like, you
know, like, you know, cuts comingoff the shelf solutions that that
one was the best one for usabilityfor me and then, um, navigation and
(06:10):
such for my intended target audience.
Okay.
So, yes.
And can you walk us a little bit throughthe process and the path that you took
to get your first website up and running?
Sure, sure.
So, um, with Squarespace, and I imaginethat this is very much from what I
remember in terms of investigatingthe other platforms that I could
(06:32):
have gone with, it's looking atthe templates and starting there.
That's what made it, Iguess, the most successful.
palatable and, and easier for me than justlike a, I don't even know what I want.
And so, you know, starting there andlooking at like what kind of speaks to me.
(06:53):
And so it very much is identifying likewho you are as a company and what your,
um, I don't, I don't want to say vibeis, but really like if you're, you know,
depending upon your industry and dependingupon your niche and who you're like,
super targeting, um, in my industry,in the, the balloon and the backdrop
(07:15):
industry, a lot of people, and if thisis totally fine, they just want to have,
you know, the pale colors and the like,you know, confetti or what have you.
And me, my jam has always been, um, alittle more, I don't want to say it.
Fun or whatever, but I'm, I'm leaningto, um, bold and, and funky a little bit.
(07:38):
And so, um, I found a templatethat I liked and I started there.
And then you just, you start leaninginto, um, if you're smart, you lean
into what your brand colors are andyour font, and you start to try to
pull things through from your image,from your, Kind of go to market
strategy and make certain that that'sreplicated in your, in your website.
(08:03):
So, you know, what is your, whatis your tagline or your slogan?
What is your value proposition?
You want to pull all that through inthe things that you do on your website.
And then you just kindof start to tweak it.
And to, you know, you can on Squarespace,you pick like a, Quotes, but you pick a
font pack, you pick a, um, you kind ofpick a theme, like what are your buttons
(08:27):
look like in this and that and the other.
And yes, you can go in and customize,you know, based on your hex code
or, um, you can pull in a new font.
You can, um, you know, you uploadyour images or you can search
from other, you know, um, stockimages and things like that.
So that's really how I started it.
And I think even at that point I hadmy first iteration of my logo, which
(08:50):
I've, you know, kind of gotten rid of.
So it's really, um, starting with atemplate and then, you know, you add
sections, you add pages, you makecertain that it's covering everything
and hopefully you're building it in a waythat's smart and you are incorporating
your, um, keywords and being mindfulof SEO, uh, in a really smart way.
(09:11):
So that's how that happened.
Okay.
And for anybody that's curious,the website is wonderwallbackdrops.
com.
And it is definitely bold.
Uh, the, the currentversion, definitely bold.
Uh, there's, there's discoballs on the hero area.
So yeah, it's definitely, it, it, uh.
Reaches out and smacks you in the face.
(09:32):
Well, thank you.
I
think
in a good way, in a good way,
honestly, it's so funny because,um, I built that disco ball wall
by hand, disco ball by disco ball.
And, um, and it's funny because it, thestory is, and it's true is that years
ago, I started collecting disco balls.
I literally have them all overmy studio, but I just love them.
It's just, it's just something thathas always been one of my things.
(09:55):
And, When I built that, I built itwith a tutorial from a really great
friend who's out in California.
But anyway, it's like, it's not for me.
And it's funny because I take a lookat what's trending and what's here and
what's now what's coming and whatever.
And the disco ball trend, it'snever been a trend for me.
It's been a way of life.
So that's why I have it there.
So
(10:15):
yeah,
It looks great, it looks, it's,yeah, it's got a great personality.
Uh, it definitely comesthrough, so, um, yeah.
So again, wonderwallbackdrops.
com, take a look at it.
Uh, and and I actually I havea quick question because you
mentioned search engine optimizationare you're a local business.
So you're you're based in AnneArundel County, the Baltimore area.
(10:37):
Uh, do you have a Googlebusiness profile as well?
do.
I most definitely do.
But I am going to say this withas much Like self respect as I can
as well as you know, my Here's mything is that, yes, I do have that.
And yes, I am working on my SEO.
(10:57):
It is not where it needs to be.
It's just not like it needs to be.
But then I look at my list of allthe 74 things that need to be done.
And it's important because it'slike chicken and the egg, right?
Dedicate the time to your SEOand your SEO will work for you.
And I need to do that.
So, yes.
(11:18):
you are preaching to the choir hereand for any of you that have been
listening for a little while, you know,I've got lots of stuff on SEO and I
actually am working on a membership.
It's in.
Sorry.
My dog is saying
I love it.
hi, puppy.
he's whining.
But it's, uh, search the I'm sorry,SEO Success Club, and it is in
(11:39):
founding member status right now.
So it's, it's got the, the veryinexpensive pricing, but, uh, the
courses and the resources in therewalk you through the basics of SEO.
And we have SEO Q&As and SEO officehours and all kinds of support for that.
Uh, and one of the things that'scoming up, uh, I think this podcast
(11:59):
will be released before this.
This, uh, event coming up, but January27th, I've got a local SEO lab coming
up that is great for anybody that'sgot a Google business profile or needs
a Google business profile to show youhow to do your local SEO and all of
the stuff that's underneath of that.
(12:20):
There's, there's a lot toit, but, uh, walking, walking
everybody through all of that.
So,
um,
Okay.
You might want to sign up for it too.
I'm making a note.
I'm making a note right
January 27th.
It's, it's in Annapolis and online.
So for any of you that arelistening, uh, that you're not in
the Anne Arundel County area inMaryland, it's online and in person.
(12:40):
So you can do either one.
Um, now how long, when, when, with yourfirst website, how long, so I know you
said you launched it in August of 23.
How long from the time you startedworking on it until you launched
it, do you think that it took you?
So that's an amazing question.
How long did it take?
It was probably, um, oh my gosh.
(13:03):
I mean, it was maybe a monthor something and it was one of
those like, Oh, you know, thatstatement launched the damn thing.
Just get it out.
Right.
Get it out.
Get something out that saysI exist proof of concept.
And was it where I wanted it to be?
No, no, it wasn't.
But I was kind of likeat that point where.
(13:25):
I'm tired of monkeying withthis and I just need to say
like I exist at that point.
And to be honest with you, it was,I was also dancing between, um, I
was launching, I didn't have anylike actual booked business yet, but
I had, You know, I had backdrops.
I wanted to get those kind of, youknow, shot and, and on there somehow.
(13:48):
And so here I am playing photographer,getting that done kind of a thing.
So it was all happening at the same time.
None of it was fun.
None of it was easy, but it like, Iwas just at the point where, okay.
I'm my own worst critic.
We are all our own worst criticsand things that I notice are not
the things that a, you know, generalperson would notice because I know
(14:10):
that, you know, whatever, likeI'll look at my own work and go.
Farts, I missed a balloon in that spot.
Whatever.
That's why I always use likemy camera instead of my eyes to
look at things, kind of a thing.
So, um, so yeah, it was probably asolid month of like, just banging it
out and, you know, being like, hereit is, world, take it or leave it.
(14:35):
So,
Yeah.
And, and I, I have, yeah, a lot, I havea lot of the clients that I've worked
with that have had the same issuewhere it's just like, just launch it.
Just get it out there.
Get it, get it out.
You can.
I, and I worked, uh, with a printdesigner that was, was noodling over
whether or not she was ready to launch,and I, I had a reminder, it's a website.
Once you publish it, you can change
Yeah.
(14:55):
Right.
Exactly.
Right.
That's it.
a
Yeah.
You can, you can publish it and thenyou can change it, and it, it's.
Live all of a sudden, and
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And also, I just want to go back andsay one thing you just said something
that made me do like whatever is havingthe ability to go in and like, I can
go in and load photos under my gallery.
I can go in and tweak different things.
(15:17):
I probably could do that withthe assistance of, you know, some
other platform or what have you.
But I knew that I was going to beobsessive about it at times and
wanting to be able to have somethingthat was semi user friendly.
So that's why too.
okay,
valid, valid.
Uh, now, did you run into any issues,tech issues, or any, any trouble
(15:40):
when you were building your website?
And if you did, where did you go?
Oh, yeah.
I mean, where do I go?
I don't know.
I mean, I've utilized, I'veutilized, you know, Squarespace.
You don't get a person.
You don't get Chrissy.
You get, you get, hi, this is whatever,you know, Frank from Squarespace chat
or what have you, who can And, and Iwill tell you that their, their customer
(16:03):
service is good in that respect, butI am one of, you know, whatever, 14
million people using their products.
And, um, you know, the best helpthey can give me is a chat function.
So there's no phone number, there's nolike jump on a zoom and let's like, you
know, work this out kind of a thing.
So I have had to tap into there.
(16:23):
Some of the things I've justbeen like, well, guess what?
I'm just not going to do this now then.
And you know, like I've wanted to,um, I think I had a really hard time
getting my product page launch launched.
And really that was just, um, like forpeople who wanted to order grab and go
balloon garlands or, you know, stufflike seasonal Valentine's day, um,
(16:45):
football playoffs, things like that.
And I was like, well, guess what?
I'm missing the boat on that.
So tough nuggies and I'll justfigure it out later kind of a thing.
So,
and you know, when you have that andit's tied into a financial component
where you're accepting, you know,credit card payments, there's things
that really kind of have to match up.
So, you know, that could be, that couldbe a real deal breaker for somebody who
(17:07):
is utilizing a website to actually sell100 percent of their products, right?
Mine is more of a service offering.
I need to show you that I exist foryou and I to work together, for you
to have faith and trust in me, butI don't have to put my grab and go
balloon garlands on there, you know,as a product page, but some people do.
(17:27):
Absolutely.
hmm, right, okay.
Now, if you could do it all overagain, and, and you could do
everything 100 percent right fromthe start, how would you do things
differently, or would you do things
I would.
I would because I'll tell you that I,um, I, the, the refresh that I just did.
Um, I bought a great, um, template andI worked with somebody in like making it
(17:52):
mine, the, the creator of the template.
And she was amazing.
Um, but if I could, if I couldhonestly, like the little persons
hovering above me would say, Hey, Okay.
Hey, guess what?
You know, hindsight is 2020.
Let's look a year anda half down the road.
You probably spent more and it'snot necessarily the quote unquote
(18:14):
check that you write, but it's thelike, it's the investment in my time.
Like my time that I invested in mywebsite development is the time that
took away from me actually, Um, doingbetter marketing or, you know, networking
or, you know, all those things.
And so, you know, whatever, like if,if I want, if I have my designated
(18:35):
like hourly, like I need to make Xdollars of, you know, an hour, um,
I probably lost quote unquote lostmoney in that by not just saying,
Hey Chrissy, here's all my content.
Here's what I want to do with it.
Do it, you know?
Um, so that's probably like, if I hadhad that, you know, forward vision,
(19:01):
you know, out of the windshield,instead of behind me on the rear
view mirror, um, it, that would have,that would have probably been a great
thing for me to have just invested in.
And then, you know, maybe Iwould have had a native look
and feel and whatever about it.
I really like where my website isright now, but again, it's, you know,
It's like a, uh, it's like a, it'slike a lost, you know, at the cost of
(19:23):
a lost opportunity kind of a thing.
So, yeah,
Okay.
Yeah, that's, that's something that I,that I, I talked to either, well, both
the done for you and the done with you
yeah,
client is if you're not paying for it withyour money, you're paying for it with your
absolutely.
Absolutely.
Yeah,
which is going to work better for you.
right.
Exactly.
So yeah,
And for a lot of, a lot of my, myclients where I do it for them,
(19:46):
they just would rather me do it.
And then they can do thestuff that they're good at.
exactly.
it just makes things a lot easier.
I am like a little MacGyver, right?
I am bubblegum paperclip and, andyou know, rubber band rubber bands
are always on my wrist, but, um,that's how I get the, that's how I
get it done is, is just kind of like,what's the worst that can happen?
(20:08):
But again, it's.
If I had dedicated the financialinvestment and just was able to get
that off my plate, you know, I, Ilistened to, um, a lot of podcasts
and one of them is, is, uh, by someonein the, in the balloon industry.
And she said, look, if I want to dosomething at a hundred percent, but
if I can get, pay somebody and theycan get it at 80 percent to what I
(20:32):
would do, like that's a win and a win.
And I was like, Oh,that's what I need to do.
So yeah.
Yeah.
And in a lot of cases, we, I'lldo the building of the website
and I let the clients worry abouttheir content and, and all of that.
Cause that's, Yes, I can do their content,but they're going to know their stuff
(20:53):
Sure.
Sure.
Absolutely.
Yes.
Yep.
Yeah.
Awesome.
Okay.
Um, so is, do you have anythingelse that you'd like to share about
your process, your business or yourwebsite or any, anything else that
he, do you have any events coming up
Oh, I mean, I have like, we're startingto kick off and get like really busy.
(21:13):
And, um, we'll like the spring,summer will be, you know,
chock full of, um, proms andgraduations and things like that.
Um, I mean, it's definitely, you know,in terms of your website, I just, I
can't say it enough that it's, it'sreally kind of what legitimizes.
Most I would say, if not all companiesand to lean into that for before
(21:38):
you like, worry about your contentcreation on, you know, instagram
and tick tock and things like that.
Yes, it's important.
But, um, It's still where people are goingto go when you know, to make sure that you
exist, you know They're just gonna searchon something random and you're either
gonna pop up or you're not gonna pop upBut But if I need to show a body of work
(21:59):
to somebody The fastest way I can do thatis to send them to my website You know I
can give them an actual link and they cango to the gallery and they can look at you
know Oh, you want to look at all balloons?
There you go.
You want to look at all the backdrops?
Go there.
You want to look at someof the other things we do?
Here's, you know, here'syour, here's your spot.
Um, you know, have, have a way for youto tie in a, um, lead gen, um, mechanism.
(22:23):
So, you know, have a spot on there forindividuals to sign up for a newsletter,
offer them, you know, something 10percent off or give something away or,
Um, and have a great contact us form.
You know, that for me is, it was sofunny because I literally was like
flipping the website last night.
And, um, I was like, Oh,it didn't, it refreshed.
(22:46):
Oh no, it didn't refresh.
But then it was so funny becausemy lead, um, my contact, um, form
is tied into my like CRM and.
It thankfully was stilloperational because a
lead came in at the same time and I waslike, oh, thank God, you know, so, um, and
really, you know, it's just, Trying to tieup all those like little loose ends and
(23:08):
the things that go on behind the sceneswith the SEO can be makers or breakers.
And I know that there are somethings out there on mine right
now that are breakers that I needto go back in and take care of.
But again, it's my list of 74 things.
So, so yeah, so I mean, it's really,I'm, I'm super pumped about, you
know, Um, what I'm doing and youknow, my, it's a, it's always what,
(23:30):
what industry isn't competitive.
It's a competitive landscape and,um, you know, we kind of hang our
hat on stellar customer service.
We're not going to be, um, the leastexpensive and we're by far not going to
be the most expensive, but we're goingto be the ones that are like, you can
hear, and I've often heard people say, Ican hear you smiling through the phone.
(23:51):
So, um, that's the impression thatI want to make with people and, you
know, I always say, um, my first goalis to listen and to problem solve.
And it sounds like, why is it a problem?
Well, you know, someone'scoming to me because they don't
want to do all this stuff.
So keep my ears open and, um, come back.
And you know, I always say if peoplewant, you know, polka dots and I say,
(24:13):
Hey, stripes might look better here,but at the end of the day, if they
want polka dots, they get polka dots.
So that's it.
so well again, thank you so muchfor joining me and sharing your
experience with your website andgetting your business online.
I really appreciate it.
Thanks everybody for listening.
If you are in need of backdrops,balloons, event design, Reach out to Jen.
(24:36):
Uh, it's, uh, wonderwallbackdrops.
com, backdrops with an S dot com.
Uh, she is in the Annapolis,Baltimore, Maryland area.
So if you're in this area, willyou, will you travel outside of the
Oh yeah, absolutely.
Um, actually I think like wehave clients in Delaware and,
you know, all over the place.
So, uh, PA, yep.
Yep.
okay.
(24:56):
Yeah.
So check her out.
Uh, and again, thank youso much for joining us.
Thanks for having me.
This was fantastic.
Awesome, awesome.
Uh, if you enjoyed this episode, andI'm sure you did, everybody loves these
episodes, uh, make sure you subscribe,leave a review, come back to the next
episode, and we'll catch you next time.
Thanks Chrissy.
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