What Is the Value of Value?
I’ve seen countless websites where the business owner or practice owner obviously paid thousands of dollars to have a flashy, state-of-the-art website designed and built…and seemed to have spent a whopping $1.85 to have the content written, edited, and proofread. A neat, eye-catching website may grab a potential customer’s or patient’s attention, but it’s the words on the website that really inform them of your goods or services, distinguish you from your competitors, and persuade a potential customer or patient to entrust their wants, their needs, and even their health to you and your staff. Shouldn’t you invest in and respect the words on your website at least as much as you invest in and respect the photos of your warm, welcoming office; your pleasant, inviting store; your leading-edge equipment, and your abundant inventory?
Many business, medical, and dental professionals who opt for the lowest bid often end up spending more than they anticipate. Hiring someone with little or no professional writing or editing experience and paying him or her a dirt-cheap fee to write or edit content for your website, brochure, or patient education materials may seem like a great deal. However, what happens if the person does an unsatisfactory job and then is unwilling or unable to correct it to your satisfaction? You may end up having to hire a second, more experienced person to revise – or even completely redo – the project, and you’ll incur additional costs. In many cases, you would have spent less of your hard-earned money if you had hired the more experienced person in the first place.
“I know how to write. Why should I hire a writer?”
Do-it-yourself projects are appealing because, often, they offer the chance to save a lot of money. On the other hand, they also offer an opportunity for an inexperienced person to waste a lot of money and a lot of time and even to make the problem they set out to solve even worse than it was before they started “fixing” it.
Another way to think of it is this: How many times have you cautioned your patients against self-diagnosing and self-treating their pains and illnesses? Why do you do this? You do it because you know that while there are some situations where over-the-counter medications are sufficient to address your patient’s complaint, there are other situations where your training and experience as a dentist or physician are called for to ensure that what may seem to your patient like temporary tooth sensitivity, a simple headache, or minor gas pain is not actually a warning sign of a more serious condition. The same holds true for your written business communications. Certain tasks are best handled by professionals with the training and experience to meet the specific needs of your situation successfully.
“My web designer is going to write content for my website and give me a good price for everything.”
It’s very convenient to hire one person who will create your website and the words that go on it, but a “good price” is only good if you get quality. And “quality” means more than just proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation; it also means using the persuasive words and techniques that turn visitors to your website into customers or patients in your store or office. “Quality” also means having your website content crafted right the first time so that you don’t get caught up in endless revisions that may result in additional costs and a delay in launching your website.
Remember the old adage: “You can have something done fast; you can have something done well; and you can have something done cheap, but you can have only two of the three.”