Tech Talk: Thinking through what technology to use in your practice or business

I often get asked questions about what technology I use for my coaching business, so I thought I would do a quick video on that today.

Most people, when they ask this question, it's because they do not feel confident working with tech.  The feel they need to be a software engineer, someone younger, or someone super tech savvy in order to get it right.

The great news is there are tons of easy platforms you can use to get an internet presence, and they are way cheaper than they were in the 90's.

A little about my experience.  I started my adult career in 2007 as a web developer for Wal-Mart.  It was super clunky, took a good amount of time to develop, and tons of resources to manage.

in 2010, I started working on a startup business and used a ton of systems like Wordpress, 1shoppingcart, a Tumblr blog, and a not cheap email marketing provider.  There were monthly costs involved to process payment, and keep the email marketing functionality.  And if you ever worked with Wordpress, there were tons of security updates to keep up with in maintaining my website.

In 2014, I started my coaching business and used Squarespace for my website, and mail chimp for my email marketing.  It was much easier to maintain, and a bit cheaper for what I started out doing.  Squarespace took care of any updates, and it was more streamlined on creating a site.

When I was ready to get serious with building online courses, I signed up for the new version of Kajabi, which. had Squarespace's point-and-click site building functionality, with email marketing, blogging, tracking, and e-commerce all in one.  A More expensive than my earlier setups, and much easier to implement and maintain.

So what are the takeaways for your business or practice?

• Wordpress
  
  • Great if you have some web knowhow, and are not intimidated by doing some maintenance or customization yourself
  • Very flexible, and supported by many online marketers
  • You will need to stitch together many systems for a full business; payment processing, email marketing, video hosting, blog, etc.
  • Can be cost effective if you do not hire a web guy
• Squarespace
  • Great if all you need is your information on the web.  More professional looking than a page on about.me, which is free (and also great)
  • Cheaper than Kajabi, though not as great at hosting online courses.
  • Streamlined professional looking site, though more knowledge needed to customize
• Kajabi
  • More expensive, easier to use than Wordpress or square space
  • One stop shop for most online product and marketing needs
  • Best for folks not confident in technology
  • Fairly customizable, with option for more advance customization

That's how I would think and generally advise on building an online platform in general.  Depending on your situation, of course.  In general, I love using Kajabi so if you are interested, check them out here!  (And full disclosure, I am affiliated with Kajabi)

If you have any questions, please comment below and I'll answer them personally!