This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
When you're making a website, should you hire a designer or just get it done on your own? In this case, we are assuming you are not a designer, right? And in this listener's case, who's calling in, trying to figure out what to do, they're really not sure. So let's see if we can help them make the decision. And naturally, in some cases, the answer is one way and in others, it's the other.
In some cases, it's pretty obvious. You really need some help here. In other cases, it's like, it would actually be good to learn a little bit about this because the website I'm gonna make is not that complicated. And if I had a little bit of skill here, then it might actually help me in the future. So our caller today specifically, they make and sell watercolors of pets, especially golden retrievers.
Like who doesn't wanna frame the watercolor of a golden retriever above their mantle? I'm gonna order right now, but let's stay on track, listen to the question and consider what you might need help with because perhaps you might not have this exact problem, but you might encounter the same dilemma of do I get help or just kind of make my way through on my own. So it could go either way, but I'm gonna try to give my definitive answer or at least a definitive suggestion in response. All right, stay tuned. [Music]
Hi, Chris, this is April.
And I recently found the show after a friend recommended it. I've been trying to make my own website and it's been a struggle. I bought a bunch of books, including WordPress for Dummies, but maybe I need a remedial course first. Should I just go out and hire someone who knows what they're doing? I really like the idea of learning myself along the way, but not if it's going to hold me back for months.
Help, thanks. [Music]
So how do you answer a question like this? Bigger picture, I think it is a two-part test or a two-part question to answer the question. The first is how much is your time worth? You can think about it from that perspective.
You could say, well, it might take me X number of hours to learn to do this and I'm not gonna become an expert, but that would allow me to obtain some degree of proficiency. Is my time worth that? Or is it better off for me to get some help somewhere else? But the second part is, what is your interest level in design or whatever the particular task requires? Because I don't think it's all about money.
Ultimately, you're trying to advance yourself, you're trying to improve, but you also wanna be somewhat efficient. You want to be somewhat optimal. You want to play to your strengths, okay? So overall, I think trying to design a website when you don't have any experience at all with that is definitely gonna hold you back for months. So if you're approaching it from that perspective, like you've never done any sort of design, you don't have any programming experience or skill at all, my recommendation is hire somebody.
It doesn't have to be expensive at all, especially for your first website. You can definitely do it on the cheap. Look at sites like Fiber and Upwork, where skill designers often compete at low prices. Or just do something using a platform like Wix or Squarespace or WordPress.com. Most of those have been sponsors of the podcast in the past, but I think they're actually all great companies.
They all offer great options for people who don't have design skills, but want to get their website up, which is a big market. Lots of people out there like that. On that point, I should just note, for our designers out there, because we've got a lot of those too, I also do believe in investing in design and custom solutions at a higher level, but just not usually at the outset of a very new project. So I think it's really okay to do something on the cheap in the beginning, and then if it starts to work, or if you see this as a legacy project, something you're really excited about, you actually want to invest, that's when you look at saying, okay, I want to get somebody who has more skill, who has more expertise, and there I do want to spend. But you definitely don't have to do that in the beginning.
So lots of options there, but I would say, unless you have some experience, or you really want to get some experience, find a way to do this, find a way to do this without reading WordPress for dummies, because that's gonna take you a long, long time. That's what I think about that. Good luck, listeners, if you're struggling with something, if you're trying to figure out what to do next, let me know. Love to know what you're working on, sidehustleschool.com/questions. We'll continue to feature them throughout the year, along with updates from listeners as they launch and grow their projects.
I'm so excited for all you're working on. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
