The Crucial Role of Your Website in Coaching Success: Insights from Jeffro

When you're building a coaching business, your website is more than just an online business card—it’s your digital first impression, the foundation of your online presence, and a vital tool for growth.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Jeffro, founder of FroBro Web Technologies, to dive into why a well-crafted website is crucial for coaches looking to scale their business.

Why Your Website Matters

As Jeffro put it, first impressions matter, especially in coaching.

Potential clients are looking for a guide, someone who’s a step ahead of them. If your website isn’t professional, it can damage their confidence in your ability to help them.

Your website should not only look good but also function as a conversion tool, effectively moving visitors from interest to action.

But here’s the thing: your website isn’t just for show. According to Jeffro, a great website has to be more than just aesthetically pleasing—it needs solid messaging.

He shared that many coaches fall into the trap of focusing only on design, but the true power lies in how well you communicate with your audience through the copy and user experience.

Start Where You Are

Building a website doesn’t have to be overwhelming or overly expensive. Jeffro offers options for every budget, from $500 starter websites to fully custom builds priced at $6,000 and up.

If you’re just starting out, a simple, well-structured website can do wonders. As you grow, your website should evolve too—it's never a one-and-done project.

One of the key takeaways from our conversation was the importance of viewing your website as a living, breathing entity.

It should grow with your business, constantly improving to better reflect your brand and serve your clients.

Hiring the Right Developer

If you're not tech-savvy, don’t panic. Hiring a pro can save you a ton of time and frustration. But how do you make sure you're hiring the right developer?

Jeffro’s advice: clarity is key. Before even interviewing a developer, be crystal clear about what role you want your website to play. Is it showcasing case studies, serving as a lead generation tool, or both?

When you know what you want, it's easier to find the right person for the job. And remember, cheaper isn't always better.

A good developer will help you with more than just design—they'll guide you through the process of crafting the right messaging to convert visitors into clients.

Why You Need a Website Early On

Some coaches hesitate to invest in a website right away, thinking they should wait until they have everything figured out. Jeffro and I agreed: the sooner you build your website, the better.

Why?

Because the process of creating your website forces you to clarify your messaging and your niche. You'll identify what makes you different from the sea of other coaches and start defining your unique value.

Leveraging Your Website to Build Relationships

One point we discussed that really struck a chord is how your website helps you build authentic relationships. Instead of worrying about cold-selling or rushing potential clients, your website can act as a natural extension of who you are, allowing people to get to know you and your services at their own pace.

Jeffro even pointed out how having a website gives you more flexibility when dealing with prospects. If someone isn’t ready to work with you yet, you can direct them to free resources or a lower-priced offering, ensuring you stay connected with them until the time is right.

The Power of Coaching and Continuous Improvement

Jeffro's journey with coaching has been similar to many of ours. He spoke about how having a coach illuminated his blind spots, helping him progress faster and avoid common mistakes.

And that's a perfect metaphor for your website too—it should help you overcome obstacles and project your professional growth.

In his own words: "A website is never finished, it’s always a work in progress." Just like coaching, your website is a continuous journey of improvement.

Final Thoughts

If you're a coach looking to create or revamp your website, Jeffro’s insights are invaluable. Whether you're DIY-ing it or hiring a pro, remember that your website is your digital storefront—it speaks volumes about your professionalism and your commitment to your clients' success.

Connect with Jeffro

📸 Instagram: @frobroweb,  @jeffro.official 

📱LinkedIn: Connect here 

Connect with Amanda 

🎙️ Podcast: Dive deep into success strategies with The Amanda Kaufman Show Listen here

📺 YouTube: Watch our latest episodes and coaching tips on our channel Subscribe here

📸 Instagram: Follow Amanda for daily motivation and behind-the-scenes content Follow here

Key Timestamps

0:00 - Introduction: Why your website matters more than you think
2:30 - First impressions: Why design AND messaging are crucial
4:55 - How to start building your website on a budget
7:35 - Hiring the right web developer: Key questions to ask
10:15 - When is the right time for a coach to launch a website?
12:45 - Building trust and relationships through your website
15:25 - Why your website is never "done" and should evolve with your business
18:50 - The role of coaching in Jeffro’s journey and why it’s invaluable

Full Transcript

AI Edits from Jeffro F Podcast Interview with - Sep 17 2024

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[00:00:00] A website can play multiple roles. the best starting point is understanding what you want your website to do. Is it a portfolio showing your case studies or is it a lead generation tool? Maybe both. If you're a startup, sometimes your website's talking to investors, but then the messaging is different than for potential customers.

[00:00:16] So you want to think about how you're going to use it and then take that forward into, okay, now let's build this thing. Where are we going to start?

[00:00:23] [00:00:30] Mhm.

[00:00:42] Hello and welcome to the Amanda Kauffman Show. This is an interview that I did with Jeff Roe and I am so excited to share it with you, I managed to leave the spotlight, in the Zoom setting. on the whole time. And I thought about recutting the entire [00:01:00] episode.

[00:01:00] I thought about asking Jeffro to sit down again and do everything. But I realized that was not exactly in the spirit of what I am all about as a coach, as a practitioner, and really the spirit of the Coaches That Don't Suck series that Jeffro is a part of. This is an awesome interview and I don't want to ask him to do it again, but I am going to put a still picture of myself when I'm talking and you're just going to have to deal with the fact that it's not perfectly curated.

[00:01:29] Part [00:01:30] of the journey of building this business has beenfinding new ways to screw up. it doesn't mean that the interview sucks. It doesn't mean that I suck. It means that I have one more thing to add to my checklist before I do other interviews. Rest assured, as soon as I saw that was a mistake, I corrected it.

[00:01:48] Don't miss this episode with Jeffro. One of the things that is absolutely essential to having a really powerful presence online is to have a good website. I spent so [00:02:00] long beating myself up about not having the right design aesthetic, not knowing what the right technology was. when I finally hired someone like Jeffro, I was able to get those foundations and fundamentals in place and show up like the pro that I am online.

[00:02:14] Well, hello and welcome back to the Amanda Kauffman show and we're continuing our series on coaches that don't suck. I'm joined by my friend Jeff Rowe and we met in another coaching program, I was intrigued [00:02:30] because Jeff Rowe you are a wet I'll let you introduce yourself, but I'm going to tell you why you caught my eye and it was funny is In the coaching program, we connected on the Instagram and you had a very intriguing profile photo.

[00:02:48] And that's part of what caused me to reach out to you. So why don't you take 30 seconds and introduce yourself and give me a little bit of background on the Instagram presence. Sure. My name is Jeff [00:03:00] Rowe. I have a company called FroBro Web Technologies. That may have been the picture you saw of my logo with the.

[00:03:05] big fro and sunglasses, that thing. It's memorable. It's fun. And, it's me and my personality and that's the brand. So when you're getting me, you're getting my experience, the business that I've built to help other service businesses create a business website. That's actually good.

[00:03:19] That actually helps the business. And because there's different extremes, right? You can have a website that looks really good, but it doesn't bring any clients. Then you can have one that's really ugly that just turns people off and they, never click through. [00:03:30] I want to educate people.

[00:03:30] It's a process, right? we can dive into any aspect of it that you want to today. I'm excited to be here.

[00:03:35] hey, thanks for accepting my invitation to do this because I think one thing that a lot of coaches really struggle with is they do want to have, a beautiful web presence.

[00:03:44] I want to project their professionalism and all of that. I just found you to be so approachable when we were talking, I know what it was like when I was starting out. I felt everybody was trying to sell me on their website and their templates

[00:03:56] it would be really fun to just have a more chill [00:04:00] conversation about websites for coaches that really don't want to suck, they want to show up in the world and they want to win. What would you say are some of the things that help a coach win? If they were to do their website themselves, let's start there.

[00:04:13] what should they really be paying attention to?

[00:04:15] Yeah you should remember that first impressions matter especially when someone's looking for a coach Most of the time they're looking for someone that is beyond where they are if i'm looking for a coach and I see my website's better than theirs I lose confidence in the fact that they can help me.

[00:04:29] So make [00:04:30] sure that the website looks professional and that can be done a number of ways. But it usually, unless you're a designer doing it yourself, probably isn't going to get you there. So that's where it comes. Yeah. There's plenty of people that can do it

[00:04:43] Price levels, the differences that you get, we can talk about, but at the low end, you might get a website that looks good, but it might not be designed with conversion in mind. So maybe they didn't write good copy because they're not a copywriter. They just followed a good looking template.

[00:04:55] You want it to look good. But if you want it to actually convert, you need someone who's also got a copywriter on their [00:05:00] team who can write the messaging that really connects with that visitor. So they're drawn in and actually want to contact you. there's. All these factors that go into it that you can stack You start where you can afford now and then always be improving a website's never done So if you look at it through that lens, this is my first impression like okay do this do this not do a template once and then never think about it again That's not going to work. You got to start where you're at and just keep improving I love that.

[00:05:26] that's so helpful because when I went through my coaching [00:05:30] certification, I had this idea that I could just hang a shingle and people would know, I was in the world. it turned out that was not the case. I had to go out and really meet people. the role that my website played was really a reinforcement after we met in person somehow, or reinforcement, like after meeting on social media somehow.

[00:05:48] Can you speak to us about If we did want to hire somebody because our core genius is coach and we don't want to Spend too much time outside of our genius But you did just point out [00:06:00] something that I think is really common And that is there's so many people that are vying for this business, I can't open my messenger Without a bunch of DMS saying here, let me fix your website.

[00:06:11] So if somebody was shopping and I know you're an expert and you do this, but if you were to recommend somebody to go shopping and to interview people that could help, how do you make sure you spend a good dollar? Like you're going to get a return on that investment with the website developer.

[00:06:28] What should people be looking for [00:06:30] and asking about?

[00:06:31] that's a great question. before I fully answer it, I want to touch on something that you mentioned at the beginning of how you had your website as a place for people to go after they met you,

[00:06:39] A website can play multiple roles. the best starting point is understanding what you want your website to do. Is it a portfolio showing your case studies or is it a lead generation tool? Maybe both. If you're a startup, sometimes your website's talking to investors, but then the messaging is different than for potential customers.

[00:06:55] So you want to think about how you're going to use it and then take that forward into, okay, [00:07:00] now let's build this thing. Where are we going to start? So in order to do that, you want to look for someone obviously that has experience, but if you understand what you're doing now, I know, okay, not only do I need someone who can make it look good, I need it to actually Sound good with the messaging.

[00:07:13] So that means you're probably going to be paying a little bit more because you need an additional skill to have the messaging done right. for my company, if we're doing everything for you, we're probably starting at 6, 000 because we're doing custom design, custom copy, custom implementation, [00:07:30] CRM, whatever you're doing.

[00:07:32] Whereas if you don't have that budget yet and you're like, okay I just need a starter website. I can generate you one with AI that our tools have for 500 bucks. It's going to be good enough to start with, it's not as good as that 6, 000 website. Obviously there's a lot more that goes into that.

[00:07:48] You're going to have a lot more conversions on the other one, but Speak to just really quick about what is the difference in experience cause I've definitely invested in, coaching and courses and all of [00:08:00] those kinds of things. When you go to help somebody at the 500 level, there's going to be a level of interaction.

[00:08:06] And I have to imagine like at the 6, 000 level, it's like a process. It's a real project. Can you just describe that so that people have an idea of what it's like to work with a real pro. Yeah. So for the 500 website, it's you fill out a form that tells me some questions, information about your business and who you serve, your services and stuff.

[00:08:25] And then I spit out a website. I say, here you go. Good luck. With the other [00:08:30] one we have an onboarding meeting. You're still going to fill out some forms. They're going to be more detailed forms. And I'm going to ask a lot more questions about who your target customer is, what they care about, your price points.

[00:08:40] We're going to get into more details because I'm going to need to hand that to my copywriting team and say, we got to figure out the messaging on this site. that's the first thing we do. We don't start with the design. And I think a lot of people fall into that trap of the first thing they do.

[00:08:52] Be like, I need a website. Let me pick a template I like. the problem with that is when you get the messaging, you're shoehorning it in You're like, [00:09:00] they didn't really leave me enough space. I had more to say but it doesn't fit in the template. So then you're cutting stuff out and that's hurting your ability to connect with your audience.

[00:09:07] So we start with the copy first. Then we come up with a homepage design as a first pass. We bring that back to the client and say, here's what we've come up with. As our initial thoughts with the design and the messaging. What do you think? We do a round of feedback, talk about it. And if we need to make tweaks, we do that once we're happy with the way the homepage look and feel if they like it.

[00:09:29] Great, good [00:09:30] direction. we'll build out the other pages and review the copy and design after we get that done, then we do the integrations if there's any custom forms that we're doing with built in conditional logic. If someone fills out a form and they select, I'm in this region.

[00:09:43] We can automatically have that form submission go to this sales guy versus that one. We can automatically upload files into this Google Drive folder over here. So whatever integrations you have, if we need to send out a PDF for signature we can do all that. But that comes after we built the site to make it more functional for you on the back end as the [00:10:00] business owner.

[00:10:00] And then we test it, make it go live, and that's it. It usually takessix to eight weeks, sometimes it's four to six depending on the customer and how on top of it they are with getting back to us How many edits you have? I think sometimes people think, goodness, like I'll never forget this story.

[00:10:17] I had a person that I was talking to about possibly working together on their strategy for their coaching business. they said, I gave this agency 15, 000 and didn't get one single lead. I [00:10:30] was like, if you'd listen to maybe a podcast like this, where you hear what the actual experience should be like, you would realize that if an agency is promised to help you with lead generation, for example, if you don't have a single lead it's hard to manage a process you don't understand.

[00:10:43] So I really appreciate that. Now, something that came up as I was thinking about this is a lot of coaches really hold back on their presence online. I know I have an opinion on this, but I'm super curious what yours is. If a coach is starting out and they have a [00:11:00] certification, but they're still working out the specifics of the target market they want to work with, or maybe they're still generating some of those very first testimonials.

[00:11:10] At what stage do you think they should have a website or be thinking about this? Is it something that they should have right out the gate, even if they're working on a lot of the messaging? Or is this something that they should maybe wait on, stick with the link tree? What do you think is a good strategy for a coach that's Finding themselves and figuring out who they want to [00:11:30] serve.

[00:11:30] I think the sooner you can have the website, the better just because that first impression makes you look more professional. And the other reason to do it sooner is because you'll realize how much you haven't figured out, When you start writing this messaging, you're like, Oh, how do I?

[00:11:45] How am I positioning myself? How am I different from everybody else? it'll force you to think through that and find your niche or your differentiators otherwise you're just gonna sit there in the sea of sameness for a long time And wonder why nobody's finding you or caring or picking you out of the pile, [00:12:00] right?

[00:12:00] Yeah, I really love that and it's also super validating on my own experience. I built several websites and social media things and did a lot of You workshops and stuff and it honestly in the beginning felt a little like slinging spaghetti at the wall But by doing that I faced Those demons or monsters that were scaring me out of even starting you know my current website is way better than it was when I started I used to joke that I had a unique talent for taking a beautiful template and making it hideous.

[00:12:29] [00:12:30] You're not the only one. It's like a common struggle. You obviously believe in coaching, and that's one of the reasons why I invited you. Can you share with us a little bit about the role that coaching has played in your journey?

[00:12:45] Sure. We all have blind spots and coaching is a great way to shine a light on those I think to, Be a good coaching student. We have to be ready to receive feedback and criticism. a lot of times when we're first starting out, we're too insecure and don't want to [00:13:00] know what's wrong.

[00:13:00] Or if somebody points it out, it hurts too much. But when you get to the point where you know what, screw that. I'd rather make progress. So I'm going to pay somebody to tell me what's wrong or what to do better. And then I can move a lot faster. It's just so helpful having someone who's gone where I want to be before They've seen all the pitfalls and traps.

[00:13:18] They've gone through all the mistakes already and said, okay, here's what you're doing wrong. Here's what you need to be doing. It's not that complicated or You're just not doing it, whatever they need to do to slap you around a little bit. We all [00:13:30] need that sometimes, right?

[00:13:31] Cause we overcomplicate things. we're too close to it sometimes, right? And we just can't see that. If I just take a step back or fix these things. I'm going to make a lot of progress.

[00:13:39] good coaches can make you go so much faster and avoid a lot of pitfalls along the way that's Super aligned to how I think of what a coach is and what makes a good coach I was going to ask you what are the three things that You think make a really great winning coach like [00:14:00] somebody that is very likely to succeed What do you notice is those top three?

[00:14:05] Things that they do perhaps differently from the sea of sameness. I think They have to have good perspective, right? And that usually means they're farther than where I am. There are a lot of people who are just starting out as coaches. who maybe feel insecure cause they don't know if they're good enough yet.

[00:14:20] And that comes across, right? So a good coach has done it. They know their stuff. They don't feel like they need to prove anything and they know they can help you. [00:14:30] So that's really helpful because they just get right to the point. So that's number one. Number two is they have different levels of resources, right?

[00:14:38] different ways can help people. Not everyone's ready to pay 10, 000 a year or even a month, For really high end coaches. you can't just start there in most cases. they might have a free guide. I have a podcast, a YouTube channel where they break stuff down, maybe some.

[00:14:51] Cheat sheets or courses. you have an entry point where you can start learning from them. if you apply this stuff, you will make progress so that you're ready for the next level. And see [00:15:00] that my friend is exactly why I invited you here, right? Is because I knew that, given your expertise, given how serious you are about your business, I was so confident that you would have something really amazing to share in your zone of genius.

[00:15:15] With my audience and as a coach, I'm helping people with their branding messaging. I'm helping people with their confidence to show up and to translate that certification into something really meaningful. But I, relatively speaking on the [00:15:30] website development, the lead conversion, I'm a dabbler, right?

[00:15:32] As compared to you, for example. the goal with this whole series is to give people. Actionable perspective that is going to move them out of that insecurity because so many times people have extremely valuable experience. They're just not stepping into sharing it, right?

[00:15:55] Yeah, so good. I think I cut you off at number two. I'm so sorry, We can continue in that vein, [00:16:00] I was going to saythe website helps support this, because. You can promote all your different offerings, and ways you can help people. as you're getting started and talking to people, you're probably realizing, Oh, I don't have a good way to help this person yet.

[00:16:13] you might just say, Sorry, I don't think we're a good fit yet, but come back in six months or when you hit this revenue mark. It's better if you can say, you know what, I don't think we're a good fit yet. Check out my book or my YouTube channel right now.

[00:16:24] There's some stuff that I think will help you right now, where you're at. And then I'll follow up in a few months to see [00:16:30] how things are going. You want to have a place to send someone, you want to help them, instead of just Shutting the door unless it's absolutely, totally outside your realm.

[00:16:38] Of course, you need to know that up front, but you are hitting on something. That is a big Annoyance of mine from the industry in general, which is this turn and burn of relationships when I reached out to connect with you, I was like, really not sure of, are you somebody that I might buy from?

[00:16:58] Are you somebody that might just be a [00:17:00] friend? Are you somebody that we could collaborate? Turned out we were collaborative, right? Are you somebody that I could help? I think sometimes when we approach relationships, we can be like if you're not a client, you're not worthy or I'm scared to talk to you because I don't want to get sold to

[00:17:15] That's a big one. I'm scared to talk to you because I'm scared of being sold to. And having a great website and a great web presence it just shows the world more explicitly, like who you are, what you're about, and how you can help without having to turn and burn [00:17:30] through the relationships.

[00:17:31] So Yeah, on the website portion you just mentioned it's okay if you don't get it right the first time. Even my own website, took a long time. I felt I could do other people's websites way better and more efficiently, but doing my own was really hard. I think that's like a rite of passage, this cobbler with no shoes thing.

[00:17:50] and I'm sure it's the same as a coach because you're trying to figure out, okay, how am I different? what do I highlight? Is it weird if I'm saying I'm good at this? No, you're a coach. You have to point out what [00:18:00] you're good at. That's essentially what you're selling is yourself, your experience, and your ability to help other people.

[00:18:05] So yes, draw attention to that. I do it through case studies in various ways, but you need to figure that out. Otherwise, why should people hire you? And what I love about this whole conversation and really taking a whole episode to just talk about your website is I think there's so much attention that goes to the new shiny thing of oh, here's this new feature on Instagram or let's use these bots for this

[00:18:27] And what's really interesting is I've been [00:18:30] in business as a coach online for about eight years personally. There's basically two things digitally that have been the same the whole time, or maybe three. one of those is your website. One is your email list. And then the third thing is probably more like a YouTube sort of presence or a Facebook presence or an Instagram.

[00:18:50] At least one of those where you've been consistent and reliable and present. But it all comes back to this website and what's your domain. [00:19:00] Coaches that have at gmail. com on their email address. I mean you're laughing. You probably agree with me here it's just you're not all in yet.

[00:19:08] So why would somebody be all in on you? And that's a huge giveaway to someone who's not serious It just means you haven't evolved with the times. You're not keeping up, investing in that personal brand or your business brand to do things the right way.

[00:19:21] You're not committed. I don't know if you're going to leave tomorrow. sometimes we tell ourselves, I don't have 500, I can't hire Jeffro. And it's a lot of [00:19:30] stuff you can cobble together on YouTube.

[00:19:33] To just demonstrate the caring, and I love that. I think that's really important. what would you say to somebody who, says I'm not techie. What would you say to that mindset? There are plenty of people who are ready and willing to help you.

[00:19:49] It's not an objection. There's any of those things that you get stuck on and you got to step back and realize, okay, I'm just keeping myself safe right now. Maybe there's an insecurity here. Maybe I need to meet more [00:20:00] people ask for recommendations from other coaches who helped them and how they got there, but you can't let that be an excuse.

[00:20:07] Obviously people have done this. They figured it out. There's a way forward. Put the goal ahead of your excuse. I love that. All right, Jeffro. This is so fun. I really enjoyed getting to chat with you. If people wanted to get to know you better, what's the super best way to do that?

[00:20:23] I've got my website pro bro.com. On there you'll see all my different services we provide, web design, SEO [00:20:30] hosting and all that. I've got a podcast called Digital Dominance. You can see it on my background if you're doing the video version of the podcast, digital dominance podcast.com. It's on Apple, Spotify, and everything, and we talk about digital marketing for service businesses.

[00:20:42] Includes coaches, in my opinion, that's a service, obviously. So we talk about ads and Facebook and social media, copywriting, all of these things. So that's a great way to get some good advice. if you want to follow me on Instagram, I've got the business account at Frobroweb and my personal one at jeffro.

[00:20:58] official, which I recently [00:21:00] started posting there. You won't see a ton of posts, but I'm going to be doing a lot more If you follow me on Instagram, send me a DM with the word audit. because you're listening to this podcast, I'll give you a free website audit where I record a video, go through your website, say, Hey, this is something you could fix and tweak and upgrade, or it'll help you Amazing. That is so generous. And I'm going to make sure that we have all your links in the show notes as well. And Hey, before we go make sure that you subscribe and give us a wonderful rating for this amazing episode [00:21:30] because it'll help other people choose to listen

[00:21:32] I'm so excited to have had you here, Jeffro. Thank you so much. And for everybody else, we'll see you next time. Take care. Thanks, Amanda.