“Tug of War” For Entrepreneurs

Website or Web Presence.

Which one is tugging harder?

You can have a website that resembles designer fashionwear — with all the latest trendy tools and trimmings.

Peachy.

I mean, after all, who doesn’t want to LOOK good, right?  And not only is form important, so is function.  You’ve got to have a website that’s working for you — easy to navigate, captivating content, and one that won’t have people clicking away in seconds.

Your work is cut out for you.

It’s not an onvernight accomplishment to design a website that educates, enriches, entertains, and engages your target audience.

Website is pulling pretty hard on that rope!

But what about web presence?

I’m sure you know this by now.  To have success on the internet, you’ve got to be seen everywhere.  You can’t hang around on your website all day and expect to create a presence online.  Ain’t gonna happen.

But being seen everywhere takes mounds of time.

Joining conversations on Twitter, answering questions on Quora and LinkedIn, participating in forum discussions, submitting articles to article directories, interacting on Facebook, recording audios, doing interviews, hosting teleseminars, publishing blog posts — WHEW!  And this is only a partial list.

Looks like web presence is pulling pretty hard on that rope, too!

So which one is going to win the entrepreneurial game of “Tug of War”?

Website?

Or Web Presence?

You tell me.

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  • Thanks for your input, Hajra. I like how you’ve remained neutral.

    Are you, by any chance, a Libra? 🙂

  • Both actually…they are just going to tug harder. If one has a great website but doesn’t tell everyone about it, whats the point. And if one shouts it out real loud but doesn’t work on the site, people will just keep ignoring it. So it has to work both ways

  • @Theresa — You’ve touched a chord, no doubt, with many folks who insist on making sure every “t” is crossed and every “i” is dotted (a.k.a. perfectionists). I’m a recovering perfectionist so I can certainly empathize.

    You’re 100% right. If your website is absolutely “showroom” quality but nobody shows up, then what? You’ve designed a masterpiece only your eyes will set on. Not a good scenario.

    Happy to know ‘web presence’ is tugging harder on your rope and thanks for swinging by. 🙂

  • If you have a gorgeous website and nobody comes… what’s it worth?

    I see people wait to launch a site until it’s perfect (ITHO). By then, months have passed, time you’ll never get back. My vote goes for Web Presence Melanie.

    Just start getting out there, you’ll often be surprised where it takes you. Great question!

  • @Jane — Thanks for the visit. You sure sound like the voice of experience! Glad you enjoy the cartoons here. 🙂

  • Melanie:
    So many newbie entrepreneurs spent a massive chuck of time with the appearance of the physical site. Yet, the reality is your clients and interested parties are looking for value-added content.

    Love your cartoons Melanie. The picture reminds me of walking on a tightrope when it comes to web presence. Learning to juggle social media. creating blogging content with the 4 elements, and marketing can be challenging.

    Taking the time to write informative posts that will help the reader by sharing your knowledge and being proactive in the blogging communities and forums with get more visiblity and traffic to your site.
    Thank you .

  • @Amberly — No doubt about it! It’s ALL about connecting and building lasting and meaningful relationships with your target audience as well as other experts in your niche. Looks like ‘web presence’ is winning the Tug of War! 🙂 Thanks so much for the visit, Amberly.

  • I would certainly say web presence…it’s all about getting out there and connecting with others. You might get a few people to your website by advertising it online, but if people know of you and hear about you from others, that is going to be the most effective way to drive traffic to your blog! Great post!

  • @Keith — Marcus Sheridan and Tristan Higbee are what I call ‘enigmas’ in the blogging arena — not to mention true champions. I’m sure there’s a motive to their madness but I’m not sure how long they’ll be able to keep up this pace. It’s got to be grueling.

    One way or another, I intend to use this line in a speech: “Perhaps the seeds of our success will bear the fruits of our failure!”

    Let’s face it, Keith …

    Your one-liners are your signature genius! 🙂

    Thank goodness you were able to do some blog hopping this weekend. I’ve really missed not seeing you here lately. Don’t be gone so long next time, okay?

  • Hi, Melanie! I don’t see website and web presence as two different things in a tug of war. I see all of it as “web presence.” My site or blog is part of all I do online. So, it’s an integrated whole and it’s about finding the right mix or balance with each of the elements that I choose to include in that whole.

    Awesome post. I love how you totally left it up to your readers to share their thoughts. Well done.

    • @Leanne — You’re a sweetie and thank you! And one smart cookie. You’re the first person to recognize the “intention” behind this post. It wasn’t only the content I wanted to present, but a platform of personal expression, as well. You rock!

  • Hi Mel
    “You can’t hang around on your website all day and expect to create a presence online. Ain’t gonna happen.”

    You’re on the money again Mel.
    Posts, comments, replies to comments, twitter, facebook, wordpress upgrades, theme upgrades…

    If you’re not careful you can spend your life sitting at the keyboard.

    I asked Marcus over at The Sales Lion at what point he would stop replying to all his comments… take a look here for his reply:

    http://www.thesaleslion.com/ways-get-tons-massive-blog-comments/

    Marcus has a hugely successful blog and replies to every comment and then leaves a comment on the commenters site.
    But as the comments increase… can he carry on doing that?

    Perhaps the seeds of our success will bear the fruits of our failure!

    Very insightful post.
    Bang on the money Mel, bang on the money.

  • @Yvonne — Nicely stated! Thanks for your insights on the ‘war’. And you’re right. There are tricks and tools and techniques to make our lives easier as entrepreneurs and help us to create some ‘balance’ in focusing on both website and web presence. The key? As you’ve said, you’ve got to figure out which tools to use and exactly how to implement them for the desired results.

    Appreciate the visit, Yvonne, and glad you enjoy my little graphics. I usually choose cartoons because I don’t think we should EVER let go of the child in us. 🙂

  • Melanie, I look forward to seeing your graphics as much as reading your posts 🙂

    I think that I’d go with a balancing pole because we need both. We may have to spend more time, but doing so wisely, creating the essential web presence; however, we need to spend time updating our website and responding to questions and comments as well.

    There are tools that connect various sites together that can help to make creating a web presence a little easier once we learn how to use them so that one update may be published in several places. The challenge there is to know which tools to use and how 🙂

  • @Martha — Really good point!! If you’re in a financial position to hire help … for Pete’s sake, hire a VA! Personally, I’m still rowing my own boat so the luxury of a pair of helping hands isn’t in the scheme of things. But I have had the wonderful experience of being able to do some bartering along the way and I love it when those occasions arise. 🙂

  • So much of the work can be delegated to a VA, especially the website tasks, article submissions, etc. Both areas of an online biz are important however, there’s no way one person can do it all. Success is to be found in outsourcing.

  • @Lynn — Ahh … the good old days. Or maybe they WEREN’T so good when it comes to branding yourself and marketing your products and services. Thank goodness (like in medicine), we make a little progress along the way. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!

  • Tug of War is a great way to look at it Melanie! I try to balance both … scheduling time for both my site (blog) and my marketing (awareness). Gotta love the social media sites that make it much easier now, than the ‘old days’.

  • @Lis — Thumbs up! A website is an essential part of the web presence mix. And I would definitely put more eggs in the ‘web presence’ basket rather than focus on perfecting my site. 🙂 Thanks for coming over here today. I always love a visit from you.

  • Melanie, another thought-provoking post! I personally think web presence is the overarching phrase. A website will be part of that mix.

  • @Maureen — The really awesome news? You’ve got your thinking cap on and taking note of what you may want to change to get the results you desire. Good for you!! And for starters, ‘navigation’ is truly critical. Best of luck to you. 🙂

  • @Roy — Conceptually, you’re right! May sound esoteric, Roy, but in this case you’re on both teams, both sides at once. No question about it, “Web Presence is totally dependent upon others perception of you.” However, it’s your responsibility to ‘get yourself out there’ and create that presence so people can determine how they perceive you. Thanks for your input — always appreciated.

  • Melanie:

    Wow, now that is thought provoking! I am having an issue with a pretty site with very little traffic although I blog 5 days a week!
    I don’t think my website is all that easy to navigate which I am working on right now.

    Thanks for another great post!

  • @Sherrie — Great planning! You’ve come up with a way to take care of both (and your clients). And if the truth be told, we could tweak our websites till the cows come home! Thanks for swinging by today. 🙂

  • @Bruce — You got THAT right! They’re both like infants that demand our time and attention. Thanks for knocking on my door today!

  • A tug of war requires contestants on either side- and you are part of one of the teams. WebPresence is totally dependent upon others perception of you. As such, it’s not a battle- your website needs to engage others. That’s how you develop WebPresence. Twitter, email, the rest- they are just the marketing (or advertising, dependent upon what you are providing) to insure your success.

  • I think the point is to know when to stop tweaking with your website and start building your web presence. My goal from now on is to set a side part of one day a week to work on my website. The rest of the time goes to building my presence and helping clients. Thanks, Melanie!

  • Melanie, in my limited experience, it’s like the ‘Which came first?’ question. Without a website, how is anyone going to know you have a web presence? But without a web presence, who is going to know you have a website? The process of building both is, IMHO, a combination of the two. Balancing the two is the trick, because the both take time.

  • @Sheila — Good thinking! No matter where you show up on the web, pointing people back to your “hub” is always the best strategy.

  • Soooo true!

    It can feel like a tug of war. I just have to remember that the most important part of my web presence is my blog and point everything else there. My think is that it is my strongest point.