As a diverse small business owner, founder, or creative, setting up the necessary digital components of your business can be overwhelming. With so many resources available to help you "do it yourself," it can be tempting to take on all of the work yourself. However, there's also value in hiring a professional to help you set up these components. In this blog post, we'll explore the pros and cons of "doing it yourself" versus hiring someone to help you, especially in the context of setting up the digital components of your business.
The Intruige of DIY
On the one hand, doing it yourself can be tempting because it's often easier to jump into things and there are truly endless resources available these days to help you, guide you, and make things easier for you. For example, there are many website builders and templates available that make it easy to create a website without any coding experience. These website builders truly make it easy for anyone to launch a fairly decent website in a matter of hours. Additionally, many tools and services make it easy to set up an email newsletter, social media accounts, and more.
Putting the tools themselves aside, there are also endless resources that help you navigate the tools themselves. From Google to YouTube, from blog posts just like this one to other online forums, there is so much free content on the internet these days that make setting up most things that much easier. Sometimes it really does feel like there’s an answer for everything these days!
And let’s be super honest, the main reason why DIY is so intriguing is because it can be more cost effective. Most people choose DIY because it means they don’t have to pay someone else to do it! And this totally makes sense!
The Difficulty of DIY
While DIY is so much easier these days, there are also many technical aspects of setting up digital components that can be difficult to navigate, especially for those without a technical background.
For example, setting up Search Engine Optimization (SEO) on your website can be complicated, and if not done correctly, can hurt your website's ranking on search engines. Similarly, setting up website security, including SSL certificates, firewalls, GDPR best practices, and other measures to protect your website can also be technical and time-consuming. Sure, you can get a website up quickly and easily these days, but there are so many components to setting websites up for success that non-technical people may not be aware of - again, like SEO, SSL certificates, firewalls, GDPR, and more. And these examples are simply for websites, one of the many digital components.
In this case, hiring a professional can bring a lot of value to your business. A professional can help you navigate the technical aspects of setting up your digital components, ensuring that they are set up correctly and securely. Additionally, a professional can help you with the little details. Using the same website example, there are so many additional little details like site metadata, site favicon, site thumbnails, and site Web Clips that can make a big impact on your website's overall look and feel.
Another example is setting up an email newsletter. An email newsletter can be a crucial component of your digital strategy, but it's also one of the most complex. Again, in this case, hiring a professional can help you set up your email newsletter correctly, ensuring that it looks great, is easy to navigate, and delivers value to your subscribers.
What Route Should You Choose?
“Doing it yourself” versus hiring someone to help you is a personal choice that depends on your skills, resources, and goals. While "doing it yourself" can be tempting because it's often easier, the more affordable option, and there are many resources available to help you, there's also value in hiring a professional to help you set up the digital components of your business. A professional can help you navigate the technical aspects, ensure that everything is set up correctly and securely, and help you with the little details that can make a big impact on your digital offerings.
Should you need any professional help, our team is here and ready to support you, your business, and your digital offerings. To learn more about how we can help you set up the digital components of your business, explore our offerings on our services page.
