The Say Less Podcast

010 - [SERIES] The First Year Files: Website Building

• Episode 10

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0:00 | 43:17

Building a Simple, High-Converting Website (Even if You're Just Starting Out)

In this episode, Alex and Grace share practical tips on creating a website that works for your photography or creative business—without the overwhelm. Whether you're in your first months or rebranding, learn how to keep it simple, effective, and aligned with your passion.

Key Topics:

  • Why less is more: the 5 essential pages you need for your website
  • How to choose the right platform — PixiSet, Wix, Squarespace, or Showit
  • The importance of mobile optimization and easy user experience
  • How to craft clear messaging that attracts clients and builds trust
  • Secrets to setting pricing and service pages that invite inquiries without confusion
  • Leveraging SEO and blogging to improve Google rankings
  • The power of gallery apps and client portals for a memorable experience
  • Integrating workflows with PixiSet and other tools for smooth operations

Resources & Links:

Remember: Your website is just the starting point. Focus on clarity, flow, and authenticity—those are the real conversion killers or boosters. Keep it simple, keep it real, and let your passion shine through your online space. And once you launch, you can always refine. The best part? You’re in control of building something that truly reflects YOU.

Send us burning questions, topic ideas, and things you’re loving about the podcast!

Connect with Alex & Grace:

Education:

Must-Have Systems

Arisa Haus Creative Marketing Agency

Grace & Andrew Cacho provide clarity to businesses and personal brands by means of Brand Message Clarity, Audits, Brand Strategy, Content Creation, Photo & Video, Web Design, and Social Media Management.

SPEAKER_00

Welcome back, guys. If you're in your first year building a website and you're currently three tabs deep in platform comparisons, take a deep breath. Today we're going to talk about building something simple, something clear, a website that's functional and built to convert. No midnight font spirals, no tech overwhelm, just the five pages you actually need and how to get it live. The internet will have you believing that you need a custom-coded 14-page luxury digital experience before you've even booked five clients, but you don't. We're talking all things pixie set and all things website. And stick around because apparently I'm also gonna school Grace on a certain website platform, Wix. Yes, that happened. Here we go. I wanted to start a podcast for creative entrepreneurs.

SPEAKER_01

So I asked Alex to join me and I said, say less, I'm in. Welcome to the Say Less podcast, where we actually say a lot more about motherhood, creativity, photography, business ownership, and everything in between.

SPEAKER_00

We're your hosts, Alex and Grace, and this is a space for creative women building something meaningful. Whether you're raising babies, raising your rates, or just trying to figure out your next move, we talk about all the real stuff.

SPEAKER_01

What's working, what's not, what we're unlearning, what nobody tells you about building a business that has to fit inside a real life.

SPEAKER_00

The pivots, the pressure, the sustainability, and all of the seasons. If you've ever felt like you're creating in the margins of your time, your energy, or your confidence, you're not alone here. So say less. Let's get into it. Hey guys, welcome back to the first year files. I have been loving this series, and today we're jumping into something I really love and have some past experience in, as I know um Grace's husband Andrew does as well. So we'll yet again be speaking from experience, but let's get into the website file. We're gonna be talking about building something simple that converts. Okay, so I want to get into this really quick because if you're in your first year of business, I know we've been talking to people that are in months zero to three, zero to six. If you're a little bit beyond that, if you're rebranding, if you're starting over, if you took some years off and you're getting back into it, unclench your jaw, release the stress. If you're currently building your website, release the stress, out, breathe out the demons and inhale the positivity because we're ready to tell you how you can do this. Beginner creatives, they just get this idea in their head. Like when you're starting your business, you're looking at your top-ranking photographers or creative entrepreneurs that have websites that you love, and you're like, holy cow, this is like 17, 18 pages of this luxury online experience. What am I to do? What am I to do? And this is in I'm talking about if you're at the point before you've booked your clients. I know we just in our last episode talked about booking for free and getting started with your clients. So that's where we are. We're not ready for the 17-page luxury online experience. We have to start with something simple and clear and something super functional. We're gonna get into this because I know I said I have um website design experience. I have a design background prior to photography. So I've done it all, but you don't have to have that to convert. So we want to talk about that. If you've started with Googling, help H E L P help. I'm a photographer, I'm a creative entrepreneur, I need a website. You've probably seen different things and debates come up, like show it versus Squarespace versus WordPress, which is my background, is in WordPress coding. Yeah, Andrew Toon. Yeah. Andrew Too. Yeah. You did WordPress? Yeah. Oh my gosh. That was like post MySpace code of like, I was on such a high of like coding my own MySpace, like page that I was like, let me learn how to code. That's really like where it all began. So, you know, that's just like I if you are still doing WordPress and you're listening to this podcast, like credit to you. Credit and love and um all the positive vibes towards you because there are so many more easier options now to be able to look past that. We want to really talk about Pixie Set today. Grace and I both use Pixie Set, so we're gonna kind of get into that. But you, if you're in the beginning, you don't need a designer $700 template that Google's going to show you. They're gonna show you all the expensive templates. You may be looking on Creative Market or Etsy and all the places of where they sell like different um templates. And I know a template feels like an easy option, but don't pay for the super expensive ones when we're getting started. Here's your reality check. You just need a website that's going to show your work, explain what you do, and make it easy for someone to contact you. And that is it. Yeah. That's it. So your website is your business home. It's like where, like, think about social media as kind of like your dream world, your inspiration, your like show off what you can give to the world, like for the for the fun. But your website is your business home. So think of it as your home base. And social media is great, but it is rented land. It's not um where people are gonna find you initially. It could go away tomorrow. It literally could go away. Yeah, and it changes. And I don't want to go down to this rabbit hole, but it's like Facebook used to be it. Yeah, that was the it. And then it was Instagram. I still currently, for my business, feel like it's Instagram. Yeah, Grace has huge success on TikTok. And I know you be posting on TikTok and you be doing good there. So um, you just never know like what's the next thing. I'm heavy into threads right now, like Instagram threads. I love threads. Yeah. I've been like posting images there and random thoughts and kind of using it as my digital diary. So you just never know. But social media is rented land, but your website is where your portfolio is gonna live and where people are actually going to reach out to you when they Google and find you. That's where they're going to land. And especially for wedding photographers, people are still using Google. And I know we talked about this in our last episode because this is why the review aspect of it is so important. Yeah. Because higher reviews rank you higher in Google. So when people are typing in DFW wedding photographer, photographer in Denison Sherman near me, Fort Worth wedding photographer, they're going to your what Google's going to show first is going to be your website. Yeah. So when they land on your website, they should know immediately that they're in the right place. Which brings us to our first step. I'm going to let Grace highlight some of the steps. She is Mrs. Pixie Set. And I stand on business for Honeybook, and that is my lane. And I'm letting Grace have her Pixie Set lane because she's the queen of it, and I'm merely the core jester. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01

I've Pixie Set. Um, I'll kind of go a little bit deeper into this towards the end of the episode, but um, step one, you got to choose your platform. So you have Show It, you have Squarespace, who Wix. Wix is like the temu, I feel like, of all of the websites you could do. Don't do Wix, but it's an option. It's a choice. Pixie Set is what I used, what Alex uses. I have used it since the beginning of my business. And there was like a brief period of time where I tried to use show it, and I'll kind of talk about that later. But Pixie Set won the day. Just whatever feels intuitive to you. Some people want to spend, I mean, I have two little babies now. I'm not going to build out a whole website for myself or make my husband do it for me. Yeah. And I don't want to pay anybody to do it. That's just like the real cold hard truth. But your platform isn't the reason that you're not booking. It's it's not the reason that you will start booking. It's like Alex was talking about earlier. Like, how clear is is your website? How clear is your messaging? Like, this is what I do, this is who I help, and this is how you can contact me. Like the just keep it super simple. So choose the platform you can actually manage without crying at midnight. I think kind of again, Alex kind of touched on this. Done is better than perfect. Like you need something and you need to keep it simple.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, something simple and reliable is like exactly what you need. I have to find Dental's advocate for you. Okay. I have to go back to what you said. I like Wix. Really? So take back what you said now.

SPEAKER_01

I actually haven't looked at Wix since I was like in middle school.

SPEAKER_00

So that's like I'm like virtually holding your holding my hand to your throat. I have you like, I have your shirt grasped in my hands and I'm like getting ready to fight you. I actually, okay, if you're listening to this podcast and you're a creative entrepreneur, not a photographer. I don't recommend it for photographers, but I have built out websites for clients on Wix that plan on managing it themselves. I love that. Yeah. No website experience. That's great. So if you're, if that's you, if you're like, I have no website experience and you're not a photographer, you don't need the capabilities that Pixieset has of tailored specifically to photographers with like the platform feature, which is what makes PixieSet unique for photographers, is that aspect of it. Yeah. I do recommend Wix because it is super, super easy. They have a bunch of templates that are free and they also have paid options. Yeah. And um, every once in a while I build websites for friends, family, clients that I'm not planning on managing for them.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So if you have no experience in it and you need something super easy to change out your images, some copy, but you're not gonna be updating it all the time like a photographer would. Yeah. Um, I do recommend Wix. So take back what you said now.

SPEAKER_01

How would you I take it back? Now I'm now I'm genuinely curious because I haven't looked at it in so long. Yeah. Um compared to like Squarespace or Show It, what what are your what are your thoughts on that? Because I I just literally haven't looked at it in forever.

SPEAKER_00

I will have to I'll send you off off the pod. Okay. That sounds like off the pod. Off the pod. That sounds like like potty. Like potty. Yeah, okay. Off the pod, I'll send you some of the websites that I've built. So my aunt runs a venue, like a wedding venue in Wichita Falls, and I built her website there, and it doesn't need to be changed often, right? So like it, like the venue is what it is. Like they're not making like mini upgrades. Um, I already like curated the images that showcase the venue properly. That's great. And I built the website for her, and she doesn't need to update it all the time, but every once in a while she goes in and kind of updates here and there. Um, maybe like if pricing changes, like the starting at price, stuff like that. Um, and it I love my aunt Janie. Joni for listening to this, I love you. But she's not a website designer. In fact, she's an accountant.

SPEAKER_01

So wait, I'm sorry, I just went to Wix.com and this does not look like the Wix.com that I know from 15 years ago.

SPEAKER_00

I said you have like an outdated perspective. I do. So I would say it's really similar to Squarespace, but even simpler to use.

SPEAKER_01

No, I love it. Not me looking at Wix later. That's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_00

I'm like, take back what you said. I take back what you said. I take it back. Yes, have built like quite a few websites there that are like super easy to use. Um, I also feel like the way that they do, like if you're updating any SEO social media, like the favicon images, like anything like that, they like spell it out for you in really simple terms, like on the left side of like step number one, build your size, step number two, social media, step number three, like mobile optimization and all that kind of stuff. And it's very simple for a non-website designer to use. So Wix.com, this is not a sponsored ad. It should be, it could be, it should be and it could be, but it's not. But if you are a creative entrepreneur and you're like, I'm not a website designer, I don't want to be a website designer. And if you kind of want to build more of like a static website, so you're not updating it. Whereas photographers, I think it is important to be like constantly updating your images and maybe like copy and text that is more representative of your work at that time. If that's not really true to you, Wix is a great option. They build really amazing static sites and you can change the colors of the website in like two clicks instead of like going through and changing everything. That's awesome. So it's really simple to use. So I love that. I'm glad I made you come back to that. But that was not a rabbit hole, and I'm sorry. No, don't apologize. I've been schooled in a good way. I've been schooled Lintel Andrew too.

SPEAKER_01

I don't think he's ever said an ill word about Wix. He just knows it's like it's like people ask you, like, why do you use Canon and not Nikon? It's just like that's literally all I need, but it's all I've never used.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, I will say I have like used them all. And there's well, really, but there are pros and cons to them all. But I think Wix is trying really hard to keep up with Squarespace. And I think Squarespace is great, more like modern and sleek, and Wix is kind of more like playful, fun, yeah. That's cool. Okay, yeah. Yeah, yeah, but like super easy to use. But back to Pixieset. So um, that is what Grace and I both use. We both believe it to be simple and reliable. Um, I love the feature of uploading your galleries and being able to link that to your website. So that's kind of why I went that way. I actually switched last summer from using WordPress for my website and moved it over to PixieSet mainly because and I'm getting ahead of myself and we'll come back to this. But because of flow themes, I had a flow themes template that actually cost me over $700.

SPEAKER_01

Like sidebar to your sidebar. I don't build websites, but uh, we have a friend who wanted Andrew to build a website, but it was very feminine. She was doing pageants and had a blog and all this stuff. So I built the website with flow themes. Like that's how easy and beautiful it was to use. So that was my like first and sadly last experience with flow themes while it was still flow themes.

SPEAKER_00

While it was still flow themes. So flow themes, for those of you that don't know, is a like template website, um, specifically geared towards photographers. Haven't they always been towards photographers? I don't know. Definitely like more on the feminine aesthetic side. Okay. So the photographer that trained me when I started in this business over 10 years ago that I learned from, she like stood on business for flow themes, just like emotionally, not actually for their business, but you know what I mean? Like standing on business for flow themes. And I bought one and it was an investment. Yes. I mean, it was like this was over 10 years ago, and I spent like over $600 on it, which was kind of shocking. However, it served my business for nine years. Literally, I used the same template for nine years. It was beautiful. And thank you. Yeah. And it was like continually updated, and they had like new features and new blocks, and I would update the website. But it was a pain, it was a thorn in my side, really. Like at the end of it. Just like now, as a mom having like the limited time, I just like don't really have like the time to click clack on a website like I used to. So the point of this, Flow Themes now has like integrated with Pixie Set. So we'll get to that. Really, we will. But like that integration is kind of what pulled me over to Pixie Set full time. I was already using PixieSet as like my gallery delivery service. They also have like the integration where you can like use it for like invoicing and meetings and stuff like emailing stuff like that now. I stayed on business with Honey Book. Y'all be knowing this. I will not leave, I will not leave Honey Book and like the systems I have set up there. But they do offer that. But they have the website now that's integrated with Flow Theme. So I upgraded um to now I spend about $50 a month and have my gallery delivery service and website tied into one. It's so worth it. Which has been great. So when you're getting started with your website, I think personally, and I know I touched on this, but you don't need the 17-page luxury gallery situation. You really only need five pages to start. You don't need a press page, you don't need where you've been published, you don't need a blog with 18 posts on day one of your website. You don't need 40 plus galleries. You literally just need five pages. And those of you that are note takers, here they are home about portfolio services, and contact. And I want to quickly break these down. I'm not gonna go into detail, but your homepage should just answer one question immediately. Am I in the right place? So go ahead and say who you serve, what you offer, and where they should go next. That's it on your homepage. Make it super simple. Make sure the brand reflects you. Make it how you want, but keep it simple. Keep it simple. You're gonna continue to change it. It's not a final destination when you're building your website. It's going to be continually changing, like we talked about in the last episode of your editing style is gonna change. So is your website. Things change. So just get at what reflects your business now and then go from there. Um, your about page. This is actually a hot topic because I'm like not a huge fan of like about. And I do think it's important to like show your face, but I don't think this needs to be your life story. I think it should be just like who you are and who you're serving and kind of like why you care and why you're passionate about it, yeah, why you're trustworthy, like maybe the experience you have. And I think you can share, you know, if you're a mom, if that's important to your brand, especially those photographers that do like the lifestyle and the mom minis and stuff like that, and sharing your faith if that's important to you, if that's um how you want to lead your business. But like I just don't think we need the live story. Like, I'm not gonna put on there 10 years ago, I picked up a camera and sense that, you know, it just doesn't need to be that. Just show who you serve, why you're passionate about it, and um, show your face. Yeah, some fun. Yes, show your face, show your caps. And I think that will answer the question of um, you know, when people are searching, if I do I feel safe hiring this person. I think that's important. And they'll also know if they're picking the right person for what they're looking for, right? Like if they're looking for a wedding photographer, I want them to go on my page and see I have 10 years of experience shooting weddings and I'm married, so I know the importance of weddings and marriage and that kind of stuff. But no life story, no life story needed. But we don't need all that for your portfolio. Make sure you keep this curated and not everything you've ever shot. If you're in the beginning stages, maybe a lot of what you've shot is important. But if you've done only five or 10 sessions, make sure to show the best in what you think represents your brand because that's going to teach the people that are on your website what to hire you for. So um, I know I always joke about this because I'll never forget it when I did pictures of my friend's dog. And I don't know why I did that. But I'm like, that is nowhere to be found. Like you I simply will not search or find any of those pictures because that's not what I want to be hired for. Yeah. So, but I mean, you know, I had to figure that out. But just remember that quality over quantity. So keep that in mind for the whole thing. Just show your best stuff, don't show everything. Two more pages, you guys. Services and contact for your services, just spell it out really simple. Grace is more of a words girl than I am because I'm simply like plotting photographer. And Grace is like, she's like, let me string together like two poetic sentences that like literally are so beautiful. And I know are the reason people hire you, but me, I'm like, plotting photographer. And that's it. And that's it. Just um spell it out super simple, what you offer and what's included and who's it, who it's for. This is also another hot button topic, and we're going to get into pricing, specifically like pricing your business for sustainability and not burning out. But I I wanted to hear your take on this, Grace, because I genuinely don't think that you should list all your pricing on your website. I don't want to be sneaky or vague. I do like to list a starting at price for a couple reasons. The two main reasons being number one, I don't want to turn people away by like posting my price without being able to show why I'm unique and why I should be hired. I don't want like the number to be like, ah, alarming and like I'm not gonna hire you because like it's too much or it's too little compared to other photographers you've looked at. And then also, um, I don't want to not show it because I don't want to try to be sneaky. Yeah, you know, yeah, I feel like it can be um kind of confusing. Well, yeah, what do you think about sharing price on your services page?

SPEAKER_01

So for my services page, like my sales page, I do offer like three different wedding packages with the option to add a lot of things on. So, like my base is like just photos. And I think it's it again, it's very poetically written about the experience, but the whole gist is they know right off the bat that they're gonna get eight hours with one photographer and it starts at X amount of dollars, and that's all they know. Number two, they can do photo and video at X amount of hours and whatever. So Ed, I think that that's a good, a good thing to do, like starting because you're not being sneaky and like it could be more. Yeah. Um, inquire with me and I'll send you like a whole flippin' guide that's you know, 10 pages, 40 pages, whatever with all the information. I'm like, I'm an open book. You can literally ask me anything. I'm not trying to hustle you. But it's like you said, don't want to be at this point in our businesses, maybe at the beginning, but at this point in our businesses, we don't want to be chosen just based off of a number. We want to like jive with whoever we're working with. And so there's a little bit of discovery that has to happen there. And if someone is not willing to reach out to you because they want to see more prices on your website, it just sifts through that without you having to have weird conversations.

SPEAKER_00

Totally, totally. And I also think because like the starting at price is important because every wedding day is. So different. Like just what you said. Like, I know you have the add-on. I don't have that many add-ons because I don't have as many amazing features or a husband that is as creative as you do. But um I do have like hours. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Yeah, additional, I do have like the additional hours or like additional, like I offer bridals and boudoir like separately. So I'm like, I have those add-ons too. But I'm like, the starting at price is important because every wedding day is unique. Like I offer eight hours as like base, but like really 10 hours is kind of more like my general. But then I have some couples that like I just shot one like last November that was like married in a field with like a little dinner, and there literally wasn't anywhere to be for eight hours, right? So it was like really more of like a five, six hour day. Um and I don't normally cut off hours, but like in that instance, like of course I needed to. So it's starting at. It's starting at. So I do think that it needs to be on there, but we're gonna get more into pricing later. Yep. I just think for your services, it's important that you spell out what you're offering, what's included, who it's for, list a starting at price. You don't have to do your full pricing, but just make sure it's not confusing. Put those starting points and your clear next steps, which leads me to the last page, which is your contact page. Keep it really easy. Just, hey, I can't wait to connect. I want to um hear more from you. I want to share more with you, but just keep it really simple and easy. Get that inquiry form, collect their name, their email, the event date or the project type, what they kind of have going on, the location, and if they want to include a little message. But the fewer steps, the better. But test the form, submit it yourself. Yeah. Kind of make sure it works. Make sure it works. Make sure it works. And then this will kind of um start those automation steps that Grace has already talked about in um the episode about workflows. So get started on that automation, make sure they receive something automatically and go from there. Yeah. You can go from there. Let's make sure. Yes, make sure it's easy to submit something because you can always get more details later, but don't like go crazy on the form with like, tell me your love story. So it's like they're not ready to share it. They're not sold on you yet. Keep a simp. Keep a simp. Keep a simp. All right, all right. Let's um, I know we've already kind of touched into this, but let's deep dive into Pixie Set. Grace and I both use it. We love it. We are like deep into it. Um, Grace's husband builds websites. I used to build websites, but we still use Pixie Set. And we both still use Pixie Set because it's so easy. It works so well. Okay, Grace.

SPEAKER_01

I'm gonna let you take it over because I will love it. I will do a deep dive, but I'll try to keep it brief. Go on. Um it's I think Pixieset is one of the most overlooked tools for photographers because it is it's built for photographers. And I think before Flow Themes kind of integrated with Pixieset, Pixie Set was a little bit simple, like too simple for some people. Like you couldn't stack photos and you could only customize templates to a certain extent and you could change colors and you could change fonts, but like the fonts were super limited. So I have I have a lot to say, and again, I'm gonna try to keep it really brief. But Pixieset isn't just a website builder, it's is an entire ecosystem. And again, if you haven't started from anything, like Alex and I both use Honeybook, but if you need like a CRM and gallery delivery and a website, all in one, this is a really great starting point. And I think like their smallest package for the whole suite starts at like $28 a month. And so if you don't have a lot of photos to showcase, if you're not taking up a ton of space with a blog, if you don't have a ton of pages or contact forms yet, you could probably get away with just the super simple one. Um, but yeah, there's client galleries. It started as a gallery delivery platform, which is why photographers loved it immediately. Easy downloads, mobile-friendly viewing, just a really clean client experience, like the whole walkthrough thing. And you can choose to put a pin in there so they can it can be secret.

SPEAKER_00

What I love and what I love too about like the delivery service aspect of it is like my mom can use it. Yes. And that's like like literally, was it staples? That was like so easy a caveman can do it because like my mom, as far as website stuff, is a caveman. Oh my gosh. So I'm like, I in 10 years that I've been using it, I've probably had a handful can count on one hand how many times someone has emailed me being like, help me, I'm struggling. Yeah, which is crazy. Because we'd be delivering to boomers and to my mom and to all the people that could struggle, and they really have ease of use with this website. So keep that in mind. Keep that in mind.

SPEAKER_01

Pixie Set is also a website builder and it has templates. I don't, I should have counted how many templates there are, at least a dozen. Um, you know, mark marketing towards wedding photographers or portrait photographers or just creative like families. Their templates kind of cater to whoever you can change wording on everything. But as far as like layouts and ease of use, galleries, collages, and actual website templates, it there's room for everybody. Um, they really tried to cater to everybody. So the templates are included, which means you're not buying a $700 template on top of the Pixie Set website builder. They include all of these templates. They also offer full page layout templates. So let's say I want to do a set website template and I want to add a page that's not there. Like I use, I'm gonna just say I use the Odette template on PixieSet, and there is uh, there's like landing page options. I can have a landing page that is not included in my navigation just for mini sessions. And it's like a whole pre-templated layout for like I have motherhood mini sessions that will probably have already happened by the time this episode comes up, but I'm sure they went great. But I have just a separate not included in navigation, and I didn't have to change hardly any formatting or where text goes or anything because it was literally created for a mini session landing page. So there's that, and then like pre-built sections. So you can, you're not building everything from scratch, but it's still really customizable. Like you can build from scratch. The flex blocks are what I love, and they have not always been there in Pixie Set. So you've been able to like edit things, like edit templates, but you haven't been able to move around individual uh text boxes or pictures or overlay things, and now you can with Flow Theme's flex blocks in there, which I love. You can add, like, let's say there's something not included in your template, like a cutesy little um like a what am I trying to say? Like little graphics that make a website unique, like stickers or whatever. Like you can upload PNG files and like really make your website unique still. You may not want to do that, but just know that if you start here and you do the most basic, you can elaborate on it later on. So you can rearrange all the things image, text, galleries, layout, spacing. It can feel very branded and unique.

SPEAKER_00

Um's Otis, by the way. You're Otis. Yeah, I used Otis. I've been like wanting to like redesign mine completely though, which maybe I will, maybe I won't. But like I threw this up because I was like switching from WordPress and I was like getting to the point where it was like about to expire, like on WordPress. So I was like, I'm about to just not have a website at all. Like this was all happening last summer. And I like chose Otis and kind of like just styled it. I think I literally spent like less than five hours total and got my entire website up. I know. And like I think I did it in like two nights, like two evenings after the kids were asleep. So like I know like I have past design experience, but I really personalized mine. Yeah. If I would have done it just like base level, I could have done it in probably an hour, and I'm not kidding you.

SPEAKER_01

So I'm you can do a draft site so you can like start working on what a new one, which I love. That's what I'm I'm getting ready to do. I know I need to. She's like, I'm doing it right now. I'm literally like blah, blah.

SPEAKER_00

I have a million other important things, but sure.

SPEAKER_01

But like, why not? Um, another thing that I love that is super underrated with um Pixieset is blogging and SEO capability. Love it. I don't, okay, so I I have a blog. I have not kept up with it, so I just removed it from my site, would love to get it back up. Uh SEO. I love PixieSet's SEO features because so much of it is AI, SEO. Like it will, you can you can do your own descriptions and stuff, but you can do, sorry, this is important. Sorry, I'm gonna go backwards a little bit. The backwards. Yeah, blogging is gonna help Google find your website and future clients discover you. I think blogging is super important. Alex has always been really good about this. Um, and then it also includes SEO tools, social sharing images, and then alt text for photos, which is what I was about to get into ahead of myself. Quick break, quick pause.

SPEAKER_00

For those of you that don't know, SEO stands for search engine optimization. Tell the people. So, yeah, yes. Um, this is my marketing degree going hold the phone, Hong Kong, Hong Kong. SEO stands for search engine optimization. This is for it, the caveman that are listening to the podcast, slash my mom. I'm just kidding. Anyone that doesn't know what it is, because I think it's a common term now, but it hasn't always been. Search engine optimization is how Google and other search engines are going to help your website perform better so that you're found on different search engines. So when people are Googling Fort Worth wedding photographer, using those keywords on the back end of your website so that you come up higher in the search. But that used to be a very hard thing in WordPress and in other more complex website builders. It used to be like a custom code required situation of tucking it into the right place, of putting it in your H1 header, putting your tagline in your H2. And it was really, which is, you know, another not important, not important, but a lot of work and really confusing for those that don't specialize in website building. For those of us that don't have a MySpace custom code background, it's really confusing. And Pixie Set and Wix, because I know Grace says it now, have made it super easy of um just asking for those things. You're able to type them in. They even can like prompt it and help you with like this is what it should sound like so that you know you're putting in the right information in order to perform better for search engines.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Sorry for that little brain break. I had interrupt you in case anyone that's listening doesn't know about SEO. No, that's great. Um, but Pixieset has really, really done a great job with that, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_01

And then uh alt text for like alt alternate text for photos. As a photographer, you know you have a million photos on your website. I literally go into my back end and I'm like, yes, do alt text for all of my photos and it will AI read what is happening, what it sees in my images, and go through every single image on my website. It'll do it in 10 minutes or less and do alt text for every single one of my photos. And so that also is gonna help your search engine optimization, just super, super important. Um, and then you also have like client store and print sales, which I don't use myself. I use. Yeah. Um, I just I it's there, but I don't tell people. I'm I'm someone that probably misses out on a lot of sales for prints. So I can't speak to that, but it's hard.

SPEAKER_00

And I know we have a whole other episode on IPS, the in-person sales process of photography, but um, it it's a great feature. I don't push it heavily, um, but I do recommend it for like certain types of purchases. You can choose the lab that you want your things to run through, and you can actually choose the markup percentage. So um, like the money you want to make on it, which I think is great if you are like really selling it. So not just like posting it and being like 200% markup for my clients. But if you're going to like either sit down or take a video call or a phone call, FaceTime, whatever with your client and explain the importance of running professional images through a professional lab, then like the markup obviously is worth it because it's your time and your service that you're offering. So it's just only something to think of. We have an um sales email coming later in life. So I won't get into it, but Pixieset makes it super easy to make the money, receive the money, mark it up. And they have a lot of great options to run it through Miller Labs or KISS or anything like that for different things. So another little sidebar there.

SPEAKER_01

Love it. Yes. Um, another cool thing that Pixieset does is gallery apps. So one Oh, I love this. I always forget about this. I know. So when you deliver a wedding gallery or an engagement session, you can actually turn their gallery into an app. So they can download the app onto their phone and it's just easier than going into their email and going to, oh my gosh, when did she send that email? What did it say exactly? How do I find my photos again? And they can literally just keep it on their phone. Obviously, a gallery should eventually expire. But while it is, while it's there, um, they can download photos straight to their phone or share them whatever. It's just really, really easy to use. And they love that. Makes them feel very special. Okay, we're we're wrapping things up. Um one of the last things is the studio manager in Pixieset. The client relations management software includes inquiries, contracts, invoicing, scheduling. I personally use Honeybook for most of my workflow, but whenever I do mini sessions, um, I really have found that Pixieset does a great job of um letting you just really quickly throw up a type of session and the day and scheduling and how much space you want in between each set each session. And it's just really great for mini sessions. So that's mostly what I use that for. Or if I'm doing like vendor-to-vendor contracts. So like if I need a second shooter or something, it's just not something that lives in my honey book because it's not really a project. I mean, it kind of is, but if I want to add like a second shooter to a wedding project, but I don't want them to see all of my clients' personal information and like being part of my team, I'll just send them a contract through Pixie Set um and let it live there.

SPEAKER_00

Um I do think that if you if you upgrade to have the website and the gallery that the studio managers is included. Okay. Like I I don't think you, I think it's like kind of an all or nothing type thing. So if you haven't already started with Honey Book, which I know we've been like huge proponents for it, but if you, I mean, you have to have a gallery delivery service. You have to. So if you're gonna start with Pixie Set, um, I do recommend giving their studio manager a try because having it all in one, especially if you're in months zero to three, zero to six, like we've been discussing, would probably be a great option. Yeah. So definitely look into that um and then maybe move on to Honey Book. I know they've been constantly updating their studio manager too. I know it's like their newest air quote newest feature. But I think they've had it for a couple years, but I'm saying quote unquote newest feature. And I know they're updating it constantly. So it's definitely worth looking into, which um I know kind of wraps into the pricing, but it starts around $28 a month and it can include like all the things. So I don't think you can pick and choose what to use. I think it goes it already just includes the website, the gallery delivery, the blog, the client store, which we talked about, like the print store, and the CRM tool there, um studio manager is what they call it. But that's really affordable compared to paying for like multiple platforms, yeah, in my opinion. Fraction of the costs. Yeah, simply a fraction. Like my WordPress, I'm remembering was like 300 plus a year, not including the domain and hosting and all that.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um, and then I was paying for Pixie Set, and then I, you know, just a flex, but I never paid for honeybook. For honeybook. Because I've grandfathered the system, but isn't it like $200 a year?

SPEAKER_01

Um, we do monthly, but uh we've also kind of bothered into some other prices, so we're not even paying as much as some people are now. Right. We pay for like $45 a month or something like that, but still. Yeah, still on top of more. On top of Pixie Set, on top of if you choose to use something like Pick Time.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, just all the all the different things. Yeah, like so compared to the thing.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, no, it is, it is, and I'm like, Pixie Set does not know who we are. Like, hello, we're Grace and Alex, and we're the podcast hosts of say less of the podcast, but like they should know who we are because like it's really such a great website, and we're like promoting them for free. Yeah, actually. Yep, actually, but yeah, so that's kind of like the gist on websites.

SPEAKER_01

I couldn't sorry, I'm gonna include one more thing. Um sorry, mobile optimization uh is a big thing. So, and then also like iPad. So if you if you take the templates as is and you don't customize anything, like you don't change the shape of a photo, it will automatically optimize for iPad and iPhone. But if you do change anything, like where a button is located or you add something, you have to make sure and go like change those on the other formats as well. But still, that's super user-friendly.

SPEAKER_00

I really forgot that I was like even the one that added that about mobile optimization. And then I was just gonna skip over it. It's important, it's super important because I think that um the way the industry's going, the way that people are hiring service providers and creative entrepreneurs in this phase of life, people are like just doing a quick give it a goog on their phone and not sitting down at their like computers like um the boomer generation, which that's the second time I've used boomer on this podcast. So funny. Sorry to my mom. But actually sitting down on their computers and being like, time for research hour. Like it's more of a well, I need to like quickly research some photographers, screenshot, screenshot, let me save those for later. Yeah. So having it optimized for the iPads and for your phone is really important. You don't want your website to be big and clunky when people are looking on their phone because then they're just gonna click out of it. If they're not able to fill out your form, they're not gonna do it. Yeah. So yeah, that was like the last tip. I definitely like wanted to add in. I think it's super, super important. So I'm sorry I almost skipped it, but we're back. Fine. Yep, we're back. Take us home. Take us home, Alex. Take us home. Okay. We've been staying months zero through six of your business. And I'm gonna continue to emphasize that because that is our first year file. It's kind of like the tagline of it. If you're in month zero to three, if you're in month zero to six, or if you're rebranding and starting over, doing something totally new, which props to you. Do what makes you happy, live your best life, live, laugh, love, do what you want. We want to give you permission to do what is simple. Do what's simple and easy and reliable, and just go ahead and launch it with where you're at in your business. Get it out there, get it into the world. We don't want any typos or anything like that, but you can refine it later. Your website's gonna be your first draft of where you're at in your business after you've done your free shoots, after you've set your systems in place. This is your first draft. This is not your legacy. You're gonna look back in a few years and maybe you'll cringe a little. Um, I know Grace and I both have with like looking back, and I know she mentioned she's re-edited some stuff, not because they were cringe, but because everything's gonna evolve. So hopefully you don't cringe. Keep it simple. Seeing it from looking back and you know, looking now what you used to do is just showing your growth.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Your job and your website's job is not to impress other photographers. So don't make it showy and don't flex on, I think this is the most artistic, and I've done it once and I did it because I saw this trend or copied this other thing. Your website is your is the guide for someone to inquire and hire you for what you want to be doing, for where your heartbeat is and your passion, and that's it. And that's it. So keep it simple, stupid. Have you heard that phrase? Keep it simple. Oh, yeah. Keep it simple, stupid. Keep it simple. Those of you that are stupid, unless I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm like, I've really said caveman and roasted my mom, and then said keep it simple, stupid. Sorry about that. But really, keep it simple, make it a draft, refine it as you grow in your business and go from there. I love it. Yes. This was such a good one. Thank you. I think so too. You did a really great job with all the Pixie Set stuff. I'm standing behind you on that. And I'm looking forward to, I know I've kind of hinted and teased at it, but I'm looking forward to talking about pricing in your first year and pricing your business if you're further down the line too, for sustainability and not burnout. Yeah. And stop guessing what you charge. And of course, this varies based on location. So we're gonna talk about that a lot. But until we get there, get started on your website, make it simple, your future booked out self with a full calendar. Well, thank you. Thank you. Well, thank you. Can't wait for the next one. Me either. All right, all right, bye.