Avoiding costly DIY website mistakes with Mel Driver

In this episode I speak to my guest, Mel Driver, about the costly mistakes of DIY-ing your own websites and how to avoid them.

We talk about the most common DIY website mistakes, what makes good practice, the importance of SEO, good photography and what to do if you're on a budget but still want to look pro.

Find out more about Mel:
meldriver.co
Shopify Blueprint Course
Merindah Botanicals (Mel's 43 award winning ecommerce business)

Connect with me

Website: www.newschoolofmarketing.com
Facebook: @newschoolofmarketing
Facebook group: @newschoolofmarketing
Instagram: @bianca_mckenzie

Learn from me:

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Transcript

Bianca: Welcome to the new School of Marketing Podcasts. I am Bianca McKenzie and today we're talking about avoiding costly, DIY website mistakes with Mel Driver. Lovingly nicknamed the Queen of Ecomm by her clients, Mel is a Shopify expert and the founder of a 43 time award winning skincare brand. With over a decade of ecommerce experience, she helps business owners avoid costly mistakes when building their websites. Mel specialises in creating high converting Shopify stores that stand out in the crowded ecommerce landscape. Welcome to the show, Mel. Super excited to have you here.

Mel: Thank you. Thanks so much for having me.

Bianca: You're most welcome. That is a bit of a mouthful. 43 time award winning skincare brand. That is incredible. Yeah, maybe we'll do a little bit of an intro. Tell me about your skincare brand, but also about the other side of your business.

Mel: Yeah, so I've been in business for over eleven years now with my skincare range and back in the days when natural skincare wasn't as mainstream as it is today, I had a very nasty allergic reaction to personal care products and skincare products. And for someone who's got no known allergies whatsoever, I was extremely shocked to see my face swell up beyond recognition and I couldn't see properly for days, which that which led me to do some research and look closer at ingredients that are used in skincare products. And I am still in disbelief today, like more than twelve years later, that also ingredients are used in skincare products, go also into garage degrees and brake fluid. And when I discovered that, I was thinking, well, why would anyone want to knowingly or even unknowingly put this onto their skin? And then I learned how to formulate the products myself. So I got myself a deployment, organic skincare science. I started to formulate my own products and it's basically a skincare range for busy women who don't have the time or patients for lengthy or complicated skincare routines like my best seller, my signature products. A five minute routine. So basically three steps in five minutes and you're out the door ready for the day. And yeah, so basically eleven years later it's plumed into a 43 time award winning skincare brand that's amazing.

Bianca: That is incredible. And then you've got, you know, your ecom Shopify website store. And that's what we're going to mostly talk about today. So. Yeah, let's talk about that.

Mel: Sure.

Bianca: Cool. Well, because of the intro, I want to know what are the most common mistakes business owners make when they are diying their shopify store? Because we all kind of know that Shopify is a platform where you can diy, but that doesn't mean that it's all going to be easy. So, yeah, let's talk about that.

Mel: Yeah. So just first of all, the tips and the mistakes I'm sharing today is basically across any website platform. It doesn't specifically have to do something with e commerce. It's literally for anyone diy-ing their website, whether using WordPress, wix, squarespace, and hopefully none of the other ones that are less known but still out there. So basically, the number one mistake I see is that overloading the homepage, it's. Yeah. So a lot of business owners think when they are diying a website, they think that they have to overload the homepage with way too much information. So whether it's showing every single product they have available in store, using too many colors, sometimes not even enough colours to highlight specific elements, or just adding excessive design elements, like a cluttered homepage, can overwhelm visitors and make it difficult for them to focus on what's important, like your products and your calls to action. So the tip here is to keep it simple, clean and focused. Only highlight your key products like best sellers or latest arrivals on your homepage. And then also just a select number of collections. I also see a lot of business owners feel like they have to literally plaster the homepage full of all the products or full of collections. So you literally don't have to show everything. Just select three products and three collections and then let them click through your website for more. Yeah, so that's basically tip number one and mistake number one.

Bianca: I like that. And I can totally relate to that because, yeah, an overwhelmed mind says no. So if you open a website and it's just too much, you're like, no, I'm leaving. And given that you've been in the e commerce space for so long, I'm pretty sure that, and you've, I know you've worked on a lot of different websites. Can you tell us a little bit more about how poor website design can impact your bottom line? I know that, like, you know, having that fluttered space is one of them, but, yeah, what other factors? And like how can it really impact your, your income? In a way, yeah.

Mel: So basically it all has to do with all of the mistakes. So I'm trying to answer your question without naming all the other mistakes I've got lined up. But basically, if a visitor is overwhelmed with too many choices at one go, they just leave their website and they never come back. If a website is, it looks like, and I'm always trying to be nice here, but I see so many DIY websites and they just look like a dog's breakfast. So the quality, if the quality is not there, if it really looks like a diY, a lot of people, it would then reflect onto the product and people then think, if the website doesn't look very nice and homemade, then they do question the product quality and then they leave. If a website lights way too slow, you know, people don't have much attention span. It needs to be fast, otherwise they leave. And the bottom line here is you'll lose out on the customer or client depending on obviously what business you're in.

Bianca: Yes, I definitely can relate to that too. If it doesn't load fast enough, I'm out of here. Thank you very much. Got other things to do. Let's just dive into all the mistakes, to be honest. Let's just put it out there and we can just talk about all of that.

Mel: Amazing. So mistake number two is ignoring the user experience. So user experience is absolutely critical. Like a website that's too hard to navigate or too slow to load can quickly turn potential customers away. People won't just stick around. If your site is frustrating to use, focus on creating a clean, intuitive design and ensure your website loads quickly to keep visitors engaged. The tip here is to focus on clean, intuitive designs and fast loading times to improve the user experience and keep your visitors engaged. And also, the other thing is to don't have an overly confusing menus or make sure that's structured really well so you have your categories, collections and things like that. And you just don't. Also don't have it all on a homepage on the main menu. So you can use drop downs to simplify it a little bit, because again, too much choice gets too overwhelming and then people do leave. And then the other thing is you can also use online tools for image compression because if the images are too big, like, oh my God, you wouldn't believe. But I've actually just. So last week I've had customers or clients, I should say, upload product photos to the website. They're like 30 megabytes or something. And I nearly had a heart attack just looking at the numbers and I'm like, oh my goodness. So please do yourself a favour. Use something like tiny PNG or tiny JPEG or any other online compression tools to reduce the image file size before you upload them to avoid long, loyal times. And remember, a quiet user experience is key to converting your visitors into customers and then the next website. Mistake I see is a lack of opt mobile optimisation because in this day and age, more than 80% of website visitors are actually using their mobile phones and only 20% using their desktop. So we should really focus on designing the website for mobile optimisation first and then desktop second. So if your shopify isn't, or any website really isn't optimised for mobile, you're potentially losing a huge portion of your audience. And many DIY websites are not mobile friendly, which again leads to poor user experience on smartphones and tables. So make sure your store is fully responsive and looks great on any device. This really is the key to keeping your mobile visitors engaged and driving more sales.

Bianca: It's fascinating, isn't it, because shopify, in a way, I see as a platform that has the like, it is built for both mobile and so it's like if you are not optimising it, you're kind of nothing using it to its full potential because the options are all there. And I also find it interesting that people are not thinking mobile first. And I understand why because we mostly create the websites on our computers. I mean, I cannot do any website stuff on my phone. I can browse them. I can't create anything on my phone, so I can see why. But yeah, definitely, if you're nothing creating for mobile first, some businesses even have like a completely different look for mobile versus desktop because, yeah, with menu items and things like that, there is, I guess there is that option. So it's fascinating that businesses still do not have that. Yeah. That mobile optimisation happening, which is I just, yeah, baffles me a lot.

Mel: Yeah. And it's actually, for example, Shopify makes it quite easy and I'm pretty sure wix, for example, and squarespace do too. So they've got the option at the top that when you are designing in desktop mode, you can very easily toggle over to mobile and see how it looks. And then you'll be, most of the time you'll be shocked after you created the most beautiful page for desktop. Once you click over to look how it looks on mobile, you'll be absolutely shocked that you almost have to do more than 50% of the work because it just doesn't look good. It's just not optimised for mobile. Yeah.

Bianca: Fascinating, isn't it? I mean, yeah, and yeah, a lot of people do definitely forget about that. And then because this is, I find a tricky part of website design and I can imagine I'm not a website designer but I have created quite a few websites, I find the tricky part the whole user experience on desktop versus the user experience on mobile. You're almost creating two separate websites because the experience is quite different. How can a diyer really think about this user experience? Because I feel like when it's your own business, you're so close to it, you're often over complicating things or forgetting things because you're so close to it. So looking at it from someone who's at the other end, the user, how can they really help people navigate their website and make it a better experience? One example I can think of is have all the information but limit the amount of clicks because nobody wants to click and click and click and click. So, yeah, what other things can they think about?

Mel: Yeah. So for example, a lot of us tend to forget that images look, it depends on the image. So you might have a better image where you have your products all aligned next to each other and that looks beautiful on desktop, but then when you look on mobile, like the image is too big and too long and it might be too much text. So you would then have to have a look and finding a different image that you can use that is better suited for a mobile view. It might also if your theme, whichever you're using, has the option to change the text, to reduce the text. Or if your theme, again, it does unfortunately heavily depend on what theme you're using. But then sometimes there's the option where you can have the text. On desktop you would have the text on top of the image, but then on mobile you would select to have the text. It's usually on the main banner, you would select to have the copy underneath the image. So that's just one thing, just always keep in mind. Yeah, like literally, basically use your computer to design the website, but literally almost start with mobile and then move on to desktop because, yeah, as you said before, almost have to create two sites sometimes. And unfortunately, even though a lot of the themes available, they do say mobile optimised. There's still like certain elements like multi columns for for example, they just don't have enough options within that element to make it look good on mobile. So for example, if you wanted to display HS as an example, five trust batches, like, say, for example, plant based, gluten free, handmade, sugar free, and, I don't know, vegan, for example. So you've got them nicely lined up on desktop, but then the multicolumn doesn't really align them nicely on mobile. So you've got, you can either have five showing at once, so you've got three or two or three at the top and then you've got two underneath, but then there's no option to center the bottom two. And so, yeah, so you actually almost have to get a little bit tricky to work with that to make it look good on both.

Bianca: Yeah, it is really hard, isn't it? And I think at some point you got to kind of just make a decision on it, look at your data, I guess, and see where most of your visitors are coming from and which experience is better and, and kind of just go, well, I'm only getting 20% of traffic from desktop, so maybe I should just make the mobile look the priority. And, you know, it's not going to be perfect on desktop kind of thing until there's a better solution for it, maybe, I don't know. You already also mentioned if things look a bit diY'd and like, not really good and clear. And I think you're referring to photography in that sense as well. And this is another part, isn't it? I mean, you can have the most amazing looking theme and website, but if your photos are not good, it, I guess, drags the whole experience down. Can you talk a little bit about photography and how it affects sales and, like, what would you recommend people do?

Mel: Yeah, so photography is actually on my list of mistakes as well. So many business owners things, they think that they can take their own product photos with an iPhone or digital camera, but poor product photography can seriously undermine the perceived quality of your products. So just as a little bit of a story, my husband actually studied photography, not so much product photography, however, he did study photography and I may say is a pretty good photographer. He tried to take my product photo and my product photos back in the days when I first started, because I am, I was, as many of us, trying to diy everything to keep the costs down of starting business. And so he's taken product photos and it just makes a huge, like, I mean, I can't say that it was. There is a. I mean, he took quite nice pictures, but still today, I would not ever upload them to a website. And so that's just as an example even though you might think you can take photos, product photography is so much trickier, but not just the trickiness of taking the right picture. Shadows, lights, you know, for example, my products, they have metallic logo, so that makes it extra hard to take photos. Black packaging, again, is very hard to take photos of. But not just that. There is so many elements that go into photography. Like you basically when you first start. Ideally you should be working with a brand strategist to bring the whole strategy together before you actually look at anything. I work with someone and I'm pretty sure you'll be able to see in my product photography if you visit my website that everything is lined up. Like literally everything has been discussed for weeks and weeks and weeks. It's a proper strategy in place. So it's not like I'm feeling like I could take a few photos today and see what props I can find in the kitchen or in the garden and a line is all up and it just doesn't work. Good product photography is essential for attracting and converting customers. So if you're not confident in your photography skills, consider investing in professional product photos or learning the absolute basics, which is literally non negotiable because quality images build trust and enhance the perceived value of your products, which leads to more sales. And I actually have another story on this topic as well. I recently worked with a client, she started to diy her website, but she got stuck because it was just overhead and also no time. And I seem to come in a lot when people starting their DIY projects and then they feeling like they haven't done a good job and then fixing up the DIY mistakes is kind of my jam. But she also wanted to get her partner to do the product photography and I am, I think, like, no, no, I don't think I need a know that she is so grateful that I talked her out of it because I recommended her to my product photographer and she is over the moon. Like what? It made a difference on her website to using product photography done by a professional. Like, you wouldn't believe what a difference it might. And it's the launch day for her tonight, so she's launching tonight and I'm so excited because she's got the most beautiful product photos and a very brain website and it just makes such a, such a difference. But then also the other mistake I really wanted to touch on is a poor product description. So it's a lot of the product descriptions that I see are very vague, uninspiring or overly generic descriptions that fail to communicate the unique value of the products. So this can lead to customers feeling unconvinced and ultimately leaving without making a purchase. And to avoid this, use clear, engaging language that speaks directly to your audience. Focus on the benefits of your products. Answer questions that a customer may have, and include sensory words to help your customers imagine using your products. So consider using a formula feature plus benefit plus emotional hook. Try to tell a story. Paint a picture that captures not just attention, but also targets your ideal customers emotions.

Bianca: Yes, I would totally, 100% agree with that. Photography and the words kind of, in a way, go together much. Made in heaven. Like, you can have the most amazing photos, but if you barely describe the product or who it's for or what it can do for them, then I'm just looking at, like, you know, like, if it's skincare, I'm just looking at a picture of a bottle. It, like, it doesn't speak to me because it's just, I guess, a picture, but without, with just the words and not very good photography. Well, probably wouldn't even read the words because I'd look at the photo going, yeah, I don't know if I can trust that. So, yeah, the two, they do go hand in hand, and it is all about speaking. And I talk about this all the time. Speaking to your ideal client, like, who is it for and how? And, but not just, not only just listing the benefits or what's in the product, it's like, who's it for and how. What do they want to get out of it? That's always my question, like, what does your client want to get out of it? Because they're, they're in, they're not interested in what is in the thing. They're interested in what it can do for them. So, yeah, having, it's amazing, isn't it? Like, you start a business and you're really good at creating X, Y or Z, and then you have to wear all the hats, you have to do the website, you have to write the copy. There's the images, there's everything. And as much as diy-ing can get you to a certain point, and I definitely will say DIY if that's the only way you can start your business, because there's so many people that let themselves be held back because there's so many other obstacles. But if you can at all invest, I, yeah, I'm like, totally on your side. Like, with the photography and all of that, the other thing. And I don't know if you see this is when you do photography, don't just photograph the product. This is my personal opinion, but also, like, my marketing opinion. Don't only photograph the product, photograph how it's used. Like, it's almost like I work with a number of clients and it's like, great, you've got this photo of the product and in this case it's a food product. And I'm like, but how do I know what's in it? Like, in terms of how big is it? Like, how big is the product that's in it? How many come in a bag? What does it look like? So, like, it's like, don't just give me the packaging. And this is definitely the food kind of product that I'm thinking about. But, like, show me the product in, like, outside of its bag and in its use and, like, you know how many are in the bag? So, yeah, it's like there's product photography and then there's, I guess, the whole lifestyle photography with it. It's the same when I buy clothes, I don't want to just see it from the front and from the back. I want to see multiple different models wear it. And I know it adds to cost and things like that, but I'm not a size eight. Can you put it on some other people so I can see what I'm purchasing? So I guess that's more of, I guess, the product photography. And then, yeah, I agree with the words that you write and it has a secondary benefit. And I really want to ask you about as well because I know and you know that SEO is really important and search engine optimisation. Can you talk a little bit more about that? Because I don't think a lot of my audience would know what it is and what it does for your website. Why is it important?

Mel: Yeah, absolutely. Again, it's actually one of the mistakes on my list is neglecting the SEO basics. So basically, SEO is crucial for making your website visible to potential customers, but it's even overlooked. So basically what it does for you, in very short, it's basically using the right keywords on the right pages so that once and hopefully you have submitted your sitemap to your Google search console that people are able to find you using those keywords. Say, for example, you are a candle maker and you're selling coconut wax candles. So you would definitely then wanting to use keywords, obviously you need to do some proper keyword research. This is just at the top of my head. But you want to, for example, use some keywords that include coconut wax candles. If you make them yourself, you want to probably include hand poured candles. If you're selling at markets locally, you probably want to do a little bit of local SEO and scatter a few locations within your area onto your website. And again, there needs to be a proper strategy. So don't just go wildly and plaster your website full of different keywords. So you have one main keyword per page and per page you have then that one keyword and you have multiple keyword variations. So as an example, you've got, say for example, coconut wax candles is one keyword. And then you could then have hand poured candles or hand poured coconut wax candles or something like this. Just as an example. And again, without using targeted keywords in your meta descriptions, product descriptions, titles and optimised content, your site might not appear in search results and you miss out on valuable organic traffic. So make sure you do proper keyword research and there's some fantastic tools available. The majority is not free. So you've got ubersuggest, which is from Neil Patel, that's on a more affordable side of things. And then you have Semrush and Ih refs and they are in hundreds of dollars on a monthly basis. And but you also need to ensure you have all your images optimised. And actually naming your images correctly doesn't just help you, doesn't just help Google, it also helps you. Because if you say, for example, you're running your business and you're operating for two or three years down the track and you continue uploading images and images and you never name them properly. Like, you would never find an image that has XYZ 1234, something like this in the name. But if you were to name your image properly and say green class candle or something like that, then at least, you know, you can look for the word green in your files on your website and can find that again. And that also, that avoids uploading the same images over and over and over again.

Bianca: Yeah, there's a whole lot more to this, isn't there? Like, SEO is so important, but it's like some of it even goes over my head and I've been doing this for more than ten years as well. So yeah, I'm getting to that point where it's like, oh, definitely, diy-ing is great, but there's so much more that is involved with creating a website that's just so much involved with it.

Mel: Absolutely. It's not just about being able to add elements to the website. It's a whole, like, it's a proper strategy usually in place for the flow of the homepage and the pages because ideally you want people to, you know, when they end up on your homepage, you want to basically be able to funnel them through so they end up on your product pages about us page and ultimately checkout and on a thank you page. And there is literally so many elements and I see a lot of people that just finding tutorials on YouTube and on just one specific section and element for one page. But it's just so much more to that the whole user experience. And it's something, you know, just because we know how to move elements on a website and we can upload some pictures does not unfortunately mean that we are a website designer. I always like to try to put it nicely, like if you are making candles, then I wouldn't go ahead and try and attempt making candles. So we all have our own specialties and a lot of things can go wrong when it comes to website design. And I look at it from a different perspective as well because yes, you are saving money diying your website, but ultimately what are you losing on sales if your website is not up to scratch? So yes, it might be a little investment at the start to get someone to do your website properly or to hire, or end to hire a product photographer to get it all nice and beautiful, but then it's done for a while and then you can focus on all the other things. Because I also find that a lot of people who are diying their website whilst the website is never finished, it's never like a project you set and forget there's always work to be done. But I find they're spending a lot more time overcorrecting. And also another mistake actually, which is not on my list. They post in various Facebook groups, I've just launched my business, I designed my website myself and I'm not getting any sales. And mind you, might have been only last week. Could I please get some feedback? And the mistake with things like that is a lot of people have input. So you might end up with a list of 100 different things that you might want to optimise on your website based on the feedback people who actually got no idea about websites have provided and you basically going down another rabbit hole. So you think you're doing yourself a favour asking for feedback, but you're not when you're asking the wrong people.

Bianca: Yes, if they're not your ideal client, then it doesn't really matter. So yeah, SEO and strategy and this is so many pieces to setting up a business. And yeah, diy-ing is great, but I don't know. And this is probably from me being in business for so long as well. You can try things, you can YouTube things, you can Facebook group things. You can ask for feedback. Like you said, if it's not from the right people, it's not necessarily the right feedback. So what can people do to, I guess one, stay on track, because that's the other thing. If you go to 50 different YouTube sites and you get, you know, feedback from all these different places, it's going to look like when you're building a house and you put an extension on, on that side and then you put something on the roof on that side. In the end it looks terrible because you just put all these random bits and pieces on and a website is the same. And I know that when you start in business, there's just so much advice that comes at you. So what can people do to stay on track, but also to really get something that they're proud of and that they're happy to market and that looks so professional and amazing even if they haven't spent like $50,000 to start it all off, what can people do?

Mel: Yeah, well, there's a few things. So if you do want to stay on the DIy pass, less is more. And keep it simple is probably something that I would go with. Just really think about your product, photography and your website in general. Asking friends and family for feedback is always a bad idea as well because most of the time they tell you to love it anyway. And again, but there's also the thing with asking for feedback in various Facebook groups. So it can be quite tricky to DIY and then get something that looks absolutely beautiful and professionally done and things like that. In my opinion, I do not exactly recommend diy-ing a complete website. I, when I just as an example, when I work on websites for my clients and after I deliver a website, I always have a walkthrough for an hour on Zoom because I always show them how they can do things themselves because, you know, sometimes you might want to update a product on the homepage or you have a special and then you want to know how to, how to do things yourself. And I'd hate for them to having to go and pay someone to just change like a tiny little something on the website. So I always, always do that. It's very important to me that my clients actually know how they can do things themselves. They could look at courses that are available. They're basically like my Shopify blueprint course, for example. It's basically a course. It's easy to follow. It walks you through step by step how to start creating a shopify account all the way up to connecting your domain to your store when everything is ready. Or alternatively, you can just hire someone, which again, I know it is probably for those who are on a very strict budget, a little bit out of the question. But again, I do want to stretch that or stress that if you are diy-ing your website and it is not up to scratch, you have the potential of losing a lot of sales, which again costs you money in the long term. So you'll just have to really make that decision. Do I diy or do I just pay someone and get it done properly from the start?

Bianca: Yep, I like that it's like go all in, was it go hard or go home? Kind of thing? But I do like that you are actually giving people an option so that if you cannot invest fully in a done for you website, at least look at a done with you option. Or yeah, like a course that you can follow. And I'll pop the link for your Shopify blueprint course in the show notes as well. Because yeah, if you cannot fully invest in it, then at least get some support and get support from one person, not, you know, YouTube, five different people and still have it look like a dog's breakfast and not all nicely put together. And I like that your course also has connecting your domain because a lot of people don't actually know. It's not like you sign up for Shopify and you get the domain name and you need to link it and then potentially setting up an email address with that same domain. There are so many steps that are part of this journey of setting up a business and getting it ready, getting your stuff ready to sell. And I if you are not getting sales in your online store, I would say, and this is like completely off topic, but just thought about it. Take your products to a market first where your ideal clients, your potential clients, come and get that real time feedback on your packaging, on the product. If your stuff is already selling and it's selling at markets, then it can potentially sell online. With the right setup, with the right website, the right descriptions, the right product photography, it's kind of like a market, but you don't have that face to face where you can tell people about the product. So find out what questions they're asking. And I kind of like that exercise. It's like, well, to figure out if your stuff sell, take it to a few markets first and pay attention to how people interact with your product, what questions they ask it's so much good information to then write your product descriptions and. Yeah, and then I guess you can take the next few steps. Do you have anything to add to that? I don't know.

Mel: No. I think we definitely covered all the mistakes I've had on my list. The only thing I can also say, or if that's okay to say. So the waitlist is now open for my Shopify blueprint. And it's a very boutique, very boutique course, so it's only limited to ten spaces because it's very hands on and it will be. I can't remember if it's an eight weeks or ten weeks course, but we're literally doing everything. So you get the training videos every week. It's a new release of a new module. But then we also have a private Facebook group where everyone will have access to me and we're doing weekly live stream calls. Everyone can jump on and ask questions or can show them, but we'll also be having other experts that will give some tips on product photography, SEO, how to price your products for profit and a few other things. And of course, designed to help anyone just starting out to set them up right. So they basically have everything to become a successful business owner.

Bianca: I love that. Perfect. So, yeah, if you can't invest in someone doing it all for you, like I said before, do it with someone because I know how many businesses probably sit there waiting to be launched and people just don't do it because there's just too much, too much standing in their way. And there's a lot of amazing businesses. You and I are both in Tasmania. There's a lot of amazing businesses in Tasmania that I see at markets, but they do have not. They don't have a web presence, they have no website. And I don't know if that is because of potentially it's too expensive or it's too hard. So if you are in that position, then definitely look at like a done with you option like the one Mel has. Because, yeah, there's so much potential online, there's potential for more sales and, you know, you started from scratch and then your 43 award winning business. So that is incredible. I love that. Thank you. I always have two other questions that I ask my podcast guests and they can be completely, like, not business related. Well, one of them is, what are you curious about right now?

Mel: Oh, that is a very good question. I don't know, actually. I think I'm curious, always curious because I'm such a busy woman and I'm always curious about how I can be healthier, live a healthier lifestyle. That still fits into my crazy work day because obviously I'm running two businesses, so as if one wasn't busy enough, right? So I'm definitely always curious on how I can improve my health and health of my family and still be there as well as not really mom, but for mom and wife and live healthy.

Bianca: Yeah, that is one that I'm forever questioning too, because it's like sometimes you don't feel like cooking. How can I still have those healthy options while also running around like, yeah, crazy. And if you had $5,000 in your marketing budget, what would you spend it on right now?

Mel: I would definitely spend it on advertising.

Bianca: Everyone's not everyone, but a lot of people say that. Like, I feel like I need to remove this question because it's not necessary to say it because I gotta do ads. But I thought maybe. I thought you said photography.

Mel: Yeah, no, I definitely am covered with my product photography. I actually have a really good product photographer on hand and she's actually so reasonably wouldn't believe it. No, but the other thing would be updating some of my stocks. So I have a couple of products that have been out of stock for a little while and they are just so expensive. So that definitely would be something to, I'm so desperate to add them back into the range because I get requests all the time. And yeah, that would be another really good investment. 5000 for that.

Bianca: Awesome. Thank you so much. Well, that is the end of this week's show. If you have questions about avoiding costly website mistakes, head to Meldriver.Co I'll pop all of the links in the show notes for the blueprint course, but all of Mel's links as well. A really big thanks to you, Mel, for coming on the podcast. Really appreciate it.

Mel: Been my pleasure. Thank you for having me and thanks.

Bianca: To you for listening. If you liked the show, don't forget to subscribe and leave a five star rating and review on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you heard the podcast. Your review will help others find the show and learn more about the amazing world of online marketing. Don't forget to check out the show notes for this episode at newschoolofmarketing.com where you can learn more about mail, check out useful links, download free resources, and leave a comment about the show.