5 Reasons Why You Only Need a 5-Page Website to Launch a Business in 2023

Lessons Learned From Turning a Side Hustle Into a Six-Figure Business in Six Weeks

If you Google "how do I launch a digital business" and you will get 1,210,000,000 results in under 2 seconds -- most of which will tell you to use one company or another or show you a series of sponsored posts on the pros and cons of one software or another. And for a new entrepreneur or someone who dreams of being an entrepreneur, that can be overwhelming AF.

Over the last two decades, I have managed and launched websites for massive global brands like ABC's Live with Kelly Ripa, NBC's Meredith Vieira Show, and I have built hundreds of sites for small businesses and personal brands.

And for every site I have built and managed, I have fixed half a dozen more.

This post is designed to give you a non-nonsense approach to launching your digital business with ease. I help women turn their expertise into six-figure digital businesses that allow them to have the freedom to be present in their personal life and achieve financial freedom.

As a child, I spent my early days in the late 1980s and early 1990s under my mother's desk, watching her work in between unplugging her dial-up internet connection and organizing her filing system. I saw what it meant to be an independent, professional woman first-hand -- and it had a profound effect on me as a young girl and continues to have an impact on me as a professional woman.

I launched my first business as a side hustle that I turned into a six-figure business in six weeks at the age of 27. I spent my college years and early 20s hustling like a mother so I could BE a mother with the freedom to have a flexible schedule at some point in the (distant) future.

And it burned me out. Several times.

This blog details what I learned from the process and how you can apply it to simplify your digital business.

What I Learned While Recovering From Business Burnout

1. Keep It Simple

Everyone says this -- but how many people actually do this? When I launched my side hustle, I used my personal name and personal brand. I've had a version of vixreitano.com live on the internet since 2008. When I turned my side hustle into a full-time, six-figure business in six weeks, I got overwhelmed by imposter syndrome and built a separate website, a separate social identity and more. I was exhausted. If I had stayed true to what I advised my clients to do, I would have been able to spend more of my time on my personal goals, making the first years of my entrepreneurship journey far more fulfilling.

We live, we learn and we evolve. Change is the only constant in life and keeping it simple from the beginning allows you to shift as needed.

How This Applies to Web Design: Keep your website simple. Five pages is all you need - Home, About, Services, Calendar, Contact. Add Google Analytics and track the visits to your site to learn where people are going and, as you begin to get clients, ask what made them choose you. Make changes quarterly -- any more than that and you're going to drive yourself crazy! I find the first week of February, May, August and November to be the best time to make small changes (like pricing, services and terms of service) and the last two weeks of December to be the best time to make big changes (like branding).

2. You're Allowed to Change Your Mind

When I officially went all-in on my business in the summer of 2015, I was 27 years old. I had worked at six different corporate jobs in five years and a handful of other jobs in-person and remotely during college. It had been a busy (first) decade of my career. What I didn't realize at the time was that I was extremely burned out and dealing with a ton of work-related trauma. I was also dealing with life-related trauma, but that's a post for another day. Every human in the world has some sort of trauma. And that impacts our responses as well as our ability to recover. Resiliency was a word that we only started talking and thinking about collectively post-2020 -- however, it is a concept that we all needed to consider many, many years before.

Due to all of these factors, when I stepped into my "full-time entrepreneur" shoes, I wasn't fully sure of my vision for the future.

I was extremely clear on one thing -- I never wanted a man to be in control of my earning potential again. For you, the "man" might not be a person who identifies as he/him; instead, it might be a certain situation or environment, or another person entirely.

While that vision is valid, it didn't allow me to align with my true purpose nor did it play on my true strength -- my ability to break down complex subjects in a way that makes learning them fun and engaging.

The primary revenue stream for my business for the first 8 years was an agency model - I built a team, managed ads, email marketing, websites and sales funnels for clients of all sizes to grow their businesses. And I loved it!

Until I didn't. When my grandmother died suddenly in the spring of 2021, I found myself questioning what I really wanted out of life -- and I found myself leaning into my strength of creating step-by-step processes to break down complex things.

I did some healing, I did some growing and had some personal health challenges that led me to change my mind and realign with my own vision as I have taught hundreds of entrepreneurs to do over the course of my career.

How This Applies to Web Design: When I first launched my website, I used Dreamweaver and then shifted to WordPress and then to Squarespace and finally, to NurtureLead™, an all-in-one software solution that I built for the entrepreneur I was and the business owner I have become. The biggest mistake I made when I first started? Committing to annual contracts. Don't do it. It DOES make sense financially, however, you don't know if you like an app enough before you use it to commit to it for a year. Instead, take whatever free trial is available and then mark your calendar for the day before it renews after 3 months of use (or longer, based on the terms of use). Make sure you write down what you like and don't like as you use an app and reach out to their support service to see if there are things you're missing. This way, you'll be able to use the app for 90 days and see if it's right for you AND have a clear picture of the financial investment you're making -- which is key when you're managing your first business.

3. Know Your Numbers

I have always been obsessed with the revenue and expenses of my business. I have managed the balance sheet myself from my solopreneur days to the days when I had a team of 11 with W2 employees and even now with a smaller team of contractors. I have also always looked at the metrics for my website, my social channels and my sales goals. Thanks to my experience in marketing and sales, I know which metrics to look out for and how to measure success (and set reasonable goals) however, even I get caught up in imposter syndrome and comparisonitis every now and again.

Knowing your numbers is not about using them to punish yourself -- it is more about using them to understand which of the actions you're taking toward your goal are moving you in the direction you want to go.

How This Applies to Web Design: Install Google Analytics and Google Search Console on your website. Use UberSuggest for SEO (it is paid, but it is worth it!) management and consider using Anyword for your AI-related writing needs (click here and use Anyword20 to save 20% when you sign-up). (Chat-GPT is great but it's not always easy for a beginner) The metrics that matter? Total Sessions, New Sessions and Time on Site. Google Search Console will also tell you HOW people are finding your website and your business so that you can begin to use certain words in your organic marketing efforts. It will also show you which social platform is driving the most traffic -- start with Facebook and Instagram and THEN consider expanding.

4. Streamline Your Customer Journey

This goes along with the first tip of keeping things simple and expands on it a bit more - launching a sustainable digital business is all about considering how much time you want to spend doing the work you're selling and how much time you want to spend selling the work you're doing.

In order to make things even easier for you, you have to streamline your customers' journey. We call our customers clients in the digital business game (it sounds better) but the marketing term is Customer Journey. It refers to the steps your ideal client has to take to become aware of your business, consider your business as a solution to their unique problem and convert as a client of your business who refers their family and friends. (Yes, the sales and marketing funnel is more complex than this, but we're keeping it simple, remember?)

How This Applies to Web Design: One freebie. One core offer. One nurture funnel. Period, the end. You can add on in the future (one per quarter is my recommendation; make it a campaign!) but when you're first starting out? Keep It Simple! The freebie, aka an opt-in to your email and text message marketing list, should be something that is related to the work you do in your core offer. Your core offer can have up to three pricing options, however, it should be a repeatable offer. There are exceptions to the rule, always -- that's what I call back pocket offers -- but you can't begin to design those until you have a few clients signed on. If you're offering something that you have a proven track record in? You can start by offering training on your unique process -- it's the fastest way to develop a passive income stream and get paid to do it. (Want to learn more about that? Join my 30-Day Jumpstart to develop your own).

5. Embrace New Systems Quarterly

I had a Facebook account in High School. The first Facebook Business Page I managed was This Old House's Pumpkin Carving Group during my first internship with the storied brand in 2008. Ya, I'm that old. I started my Instagram with daily shoe posts. In college, I had a blog called The Recessionista and my Professor told me to focus on that and forget about getting a job - if only I had listened!

The point of those small snippets of my past? To show you just how much has changed 15+ years into my career. And how much is changing every, single day.

How This Applies to Web Design: Create a system to review the software and processes in your business. I recommend quarterly revisions on the same schedule as your website updates. This ties into several points already discussed around embracing change, but it also allows you to stay focused. You're going to see competitors, colleagues and randos on the internet share "THE NEXT BEST THING?!" and a part of you will (always) want to try it. There is no magic pill -- there are proven strategies and systems that work and then there are the systems and strategies that work for you. Find a system, try it out and then create a system to review and revise quarterly. It will save you a lot of late nights.

Ultimately, Your Website Is a Living Thing That Deserves Your Care + Concern

If you came into this post thinking about spending $5K on a website, stop right now. There is no reason to spend that amount of money. Most large companies don't need a website that is that expensive -- let alone solopreneurs or small business owners.

Invest in the strategies that will generate your revenue -- and create a system of your own (or with the help of a coach or consultant -- that's what I'm here for) to ensure that these systems are still supporting YOUR vision for your life, with your personal life leading the decisions you make.

Life is short, precious and meant to be lived -- your business needs to support the vision your highest self has for how you will experience all it has to offer.

---

Victoria Reitano, known professionally as Vix, is an award-winning entrepreneur who teaches women how to launch and scale sustainable six-figure businesses digitally. She is a Forbes NEXT100 Founder, a nationally recognized marketing and sales expert and the Creator of NurtureLead™, an all-in-one software for entrepreneurs who are serious about their businesses. Book a call to learn how you can work with her here.