16 reasons why you don’t have a successful website

Common excuses for why you don’t have a successful website

I see you. I see you out there giving it your all, you are trying to be successful online. You are trying to do what God has asked you to do. You feel called to be here online and you are giving it your best and trying to find success. You’re trying to find the people you’re meant to help, and you’re trying to make money.

But the truth is that success can sometimes feel very elusive and it’s easy to get discouraged. And you tend to blame your lack of success on things that are outside of your control. Maybe you decide:

I’m just not lucky.

I don’t have the time.

I’m not smart enough.

Right now  just must not be the right time for me.

I just don’t know the right people.

I’m not as pretty as so-and-so.

I don’t have enough followers yet.

I’m just not good on camera.

I’ve got too many young kids still at home.

I’m just not techie enough.

All of these things lie outside of your control and I know that you are attempted to blame your lack of success on all of those things. But, I believe that is one of Satan’s lies and it’s holding you back. I want to help propel you forward so that you can be seen as distinct and different by the people that you are meant to help and serve.

The #1 distraction for a faith-filled business owner

I know that you feel called to be here online. You actually felt prompted to start a business or a website or an Instagram account. You know that Heavenly Father wants you here in some way. 

But I also know that you sometimes doubt that calling. You wonder if you really heard him right. If you really understood Him. You wonder if you’re really cut out for this online entrepreneur, mompreneur, content marketing thing.

I want you to reflect, for a minute, on the story found in Moses 1. We learn here that Moses saw Christ face to face and Christ told him and showed him all sorts of really amazing things.

But I believe the most important thing he heard from the Savior that day was the phrase:

Thou art my son (Moses 1:4).

He heard that with his own ears. He saw our world and everything that God had created, the person who Moses had just heard was his Father. That means that the potential within him was mind-blowing. What an incredible experience.

Now, I’m not trying to say that God has shown you the entire world and all of His creations, or that you have spoken with Him face to face. But I know that you have had some type of an experience where you knew that your Heavenly Parents and the Savior want you here. So in that sense, you’re similar to Moses.

But guess what happened to Moses next? Jesus Christ leaves, Moses is exhausted. And then Satan comes. He tries to get Moses to forget what Christ had just told him. He calls Moses ‘son of man’ (Moses 1:12).

Now, if you were to look at the man or woman sitting next to you on the bench at church on Sunday in their current imperfect state, with all their weaknesses  or if you were to look inside yourself and your own weaknesses and believe that that’s all you were cut out for, you might give up. Being simply the son of a man is not enough for you to find success here online.

But Christ told Moses ‘thou art my son’ and He created the entire world, the entire universe and beyond. We are His children and we have the potential to become like Him.

But just like Moses, I know that Satan is going to step in and he is going to try to discourage you. He is going to tell you that you are an imposter, that you shouldn’t be here, that you don’t have the skills it takes, that you don’t have the knowledge it takes, that you aren’t lucky enough or pretty enough or smart enough, that you don’t know the right people, that you don’t have the right connections, that you aren’t good on camera, that you can’t do it while still being a good mom. He is going to throw every lie he can at you because he knows this is where you’re meant to be.

I know that you face real obstacles and difficulties, as you struggle to just put one foot in front of the other, while you try to build your business and balance other important duties, like your family and your church calling. But I don’t believe that those obstacles are evidence that you’re on the wrong path.

Have you considered that maybe they mean you’re on the right path and Satan wants you to forget what God told you about yourself and your purpose here online?

Examples of things I struggle with as a mompreneur

I also want you to know that you’re not alone in those obstacles. I have been online since 2008, and I know many of you probably think or assume, or at least wonder, if it’s just easy for me. It’s not, I struggle.

Here are just a few things that I have struggled with recently that I want you to know about.

#1 – I struggle with depression and anxiety.

I take meds for it and just this past Monday, I forgot to take my medicine. When that happens, I am significantly affected.

I didn’t take my medicine on Monday and all day Tuesday, it got worse and worse. By about three or four o’clock that afternoon, I was on the verge of tears until I went to bed. Every moment, for no reason. There was nothing going wrong, but I was fighting back tears from mid-afternoon until I finally collapsed into bed.

Wednesday, it was a little bit better because I took my medicine on Tuesday, but it still took me time to recover. I laid in bed all day long and read a book. I know many of you have struggled with the same thing. I know some of you struggle with illness. There are so many reasons why our health gets in the way of our success.

#2 – My kids struggle with anxiety and even suicidal thoughts.

We’ve even had one minor suicide attempt in our home. That takes serious time and emotional energy for me. There are days where I simply cannot give any time to my business because my kids need me and they absolutely must come first. I know that many of you have children with significant needs – physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and that that takes your time.

#3 – I still have tech issues.

If you were around for the very first launch of my website templates back in March of 2021, you will know that I faced some serious tech issues. I sold these templates and they did not deliver on their promise immediately. It took me a couple of weeks to get them fixed and ready to go. Those who purchased were incredibly patient and wonderful and I was so grateful, but I still face tech issues.

#4 – I also have had much slower growth than I have wanted.

And this comes because my time is limited. I had to choose between really throwing myself into growing my audience or throwing myself into creating great products for you. I chose to create great products first and only now am I really going to start focusing on growing my audience.

We have limited time as mompreneurs. I know that you do, but that doesn’t mean that you cannot be successful. I also still face learning curves. In fact, the Instagram app was a huge learning curve for me. With my previous business I only used Facebook. So when I came back into this world and I was researching where the best place was to find all of you, it was not Facebook. It was Instagram. And I got on the Instagram app and I about hyperventilated, there was so much to learn.

I know what you feel like when you decide you’re going to build a website and there is so much to learn and you feel like you are drowning. That is how I felt with Instagram. I’m pretty comfortable now, but it’s been like a year and a half, two years until I really felt comfortable.

#5 – I have also wasted enormous amounts of money.

About a year and a half ago, I spent around $5,000 on a Facebook ads course. The course was crap and they wouldn’t give me my money back. Yup. I have made big financial mistakes, but I still do not let it hold me back.

I want you to know that while I have more experience, I am in the trenches with you. I face a lot of the same obstacles, but because of the experience that I have, I believe I have more hope than you. And I want to share that hope with you.

Your success as a mompreneur is possible

You can see success. I truly believe that the only thing that is absolutely 100% required, to see success as a mompreneur, is a commitment to not give up. If you know you’re supposed to be here and commit now to not give up, you will see success eventually.

My initial success in my previous business took many, many years, and I hope that it doesn’t take you that long. That’s why I’m here, because I want to shorten that time for you. But no matter what, if you stay committed, you will find success because you have your Heavenly Parents and Savior on your side.

Over the next several months, I want to dive into 16 very specific reasons that I believe your website is not seeing the success that you were hoping to find. I invite you to humbly, and prayerfully, seek to discover two or three of these things that you’re going to work on. Things that are in your control, that are holding you back from the success you want.

I want you to stop telling yourself things like you don’t belong, you don’t have enough followers, you just aren’t lucky enough, you don’t have a time, you aren’t smart enough. Stop telling yourself those things and dig down deep and be honest and choose a few of the things that I’ll talk with you about, over the next several months, to work on.

I personally define success as making money and serving people. I don’t believe that I am successful unless I am doing both. This is the foundation of the MAP Method. You’ll find this idea, that I want to make money and I want to serve people, throughout everything that I do and teach.

The 16 reasons you’re not seeing success from your website

Today I am going to quickly go through all 16 and then we’re going to dig deep into each one of them and give each of them their own post. So here are the 16 reasons:

#1 – You don’t have a website. I mean, that’s a big reason, right? Your website isn’t going to be successful unless you at least have one. But what does this really mean? It means that you’re trying to build your business on Instagram. Instagram has a place in your business, but it should not be your business plan. You need a website.

#2 – You are asking the wrong people for advice on your website. Yes, there are very specific people you should ask for advice from, opinions from. Most often, I see you turning to the wrong sources for that advice.

#3 – You don’t have an email list, you aren’t sending people to your email list, or you have an email list, but you treat the people on Instagram better than your email list.

#4 – You are trying to do everything on your website all by yourself. You’re not asking God or your family or mentors or hiring help. You need help on your website.

#5 – You think you’re saving money, but you’re actually wasting money on your website.

#6 – You are afraid of making money. Have you considered that? Are you afraid of making money? Many of you are.

#7 – You’re overlooking a digital product as a source of income. Instead, you’re focused on getting more page views. So you get paid more from your ads or you’re focused on influencer marketing, or you’re focused on physical products and you have excluded digital products as a source of income. Digital products are especially effective for mompreneurs who want to earn passive income.

#8 – You don’t have a tripwire. If you don’t know what a tripwire is, we’ll go into more detail on that in a future post, but a tripwire is essential. It tells people:

• I don’t give away everything for free.
• It gives people a very, very low price point to get in and purchase something with you so that you’re not asking them to commit hundreds of dollars upfront.
• And, it gives you an opportunity to exceed their expectations. This is a really important piece of your website.

#9 – You misunderstand what branding is about. You think it’s all about your colors and your fonts instead of your messaging, who you want to help, and how you’re going to use your superpower.

#10 – You don’t show your face. I don’t care if you’re not good on video, we still need to see your face. It’s important.

#11 – You are getting your copy from the wrong places. What do I mean by copy? Copy are the words that you put on your website. I can almost guarantee that you are getting those words from the wrong place.

#12 – You have too many words, too many stories, too many sentences, too many paragraphs. Simple copy sells.

#13 – You are afraid of being bossy. Now, I’m the oldest so I am a little bit bossy, but a lot of times we are afraid of telling people exactly what we know they need. We give them too many choices. We create a website that is essentially a choose-your-own adventure website. This will not work. You need to know exactly what your people need, what the next step is for them. And then you need to tell them.

#14 – You make decisions slowly. Quick decisions lead to quality information that will allow you to make better decisions. 

#15 – You are not using analytics. Whether you don’t have analytics set up on your website or you’re using them in the wrong way, this is a big reason why your website may not be providing the success that you hoped that it would.

#16 – You make big changes instead of small changes to your website. Oftentimes we think, ‘oh, I’ve got to scrap my entire homepage. It’s all crap.’ Instead of making small changes, one little thing at a time, one step at a time based on our analytics.

What is holding you back?

All right. So there you have it, the 16 reasons that you are not seeing the success you want from your website. If you feel called to be online, if you feel that this is where your Heavenly Parents want you, then I invite you to get on my email list at DesignedForGoodness.com/join. Send me a DM or send me an email, tell me what is holding you back. What do you feel stands in your way?

Now I have a really big favor to ask of you. I know that you know someone who needs this series about building a successful website. I don’t know them. I can’t reach out to them directly and they don’t know me. They may not trust me, but you do. Will you please reach out to them and tell them about this post?

Give them a link to my Instagram profile at @mistydmarsh. Tell them to join my email list at DesignedForGoodness.com/join. Invite them to be a part of the goodness squad. I want us, as women, to join together in spreading goodness online, and we need all of us because we all have different superpowers.