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Pre-P.S. This email was written by a friend I met in the Co-Pro Club.
If you’re reading this between holiday gatherings and new year planning, Hiiiiii! 👋I'm Carolyn, from Maypop Creative Studio, and I’m crashing Sammy's inbox (with her blessing).
I’m a Website Evolution Expert who creates sites that charm the pants off visitors and work their butts off behind the scenes. I was telling Sammy about a website mistake I see business owners make constantly - and she said, come tell Reader!
So let's talk about why websites fall apart before they even get going.
→ You're excited to finally fix your site. → You want to dive in and start building. → So you skip the boring prep and jump straight to the fun stuff - fonts, colors, layouts.
Then 6 months later? You're tweaking. Or rebuilding the whole thing.
🫠 Your service pages aren't clear on the process or how someone actually books. 🫠 You're scrambling for testimonials buried in screenshots, Google Drive, and old emails. 🫠 Your photos are a Frankenstein mix of an outdated shoot, random stock images, and that one iPhone pic that's "good enough."
It's not just you. I see it constantly.
I mean, truly: constantly.
I had a super-smart client with a $9k custom project - who thought they were totally prepared for their start date. I kept checking in as we got closer and they assured me they were on track. They'd dumped photos in our shared google drive, gave me their domain name, and were excited to get started. Turns out they hadn't looked through all the onboarding materials….
When it was time to start what should have been a smooth process, we hit a wall. They didn’t have these 5 essentials nailed down, and the project hit a 3-week, $1300 delay 😱
Here's the thing: it's not that you didn't prepare. It's that nobody tells you what prep actually means for websites.
Most resources focus on design and copy.
But there's a layer before that - the pre-prep prep - that makes everything else easier, faster, and more effective. Whether you DIY or hire a copywriter, brand designer, or web pro.
What are the 5 foundational things you need – before you touch anything else?
A clear brand bio - Start with the strategic stuff - who you help, what you do, and what makes you different - then write it like a human. 2-3 sentences that actually introduce you, not a list of credentials or a bunch of jargon-filled fluff.
Documented services/offers - List out every detail for each service or offer: who each offer is for, the process, outcomes, pricing, logistics. If you can’t explain it clearly, your website can’t either.
Defined website goal - What your site needs to DO, not just how it should look. One primary call-to-action that guides every decision, and a secondary for browsers who want to know more but aren’t ready to commit.
Gathered social proof - Your best testimonials, organized and ready to deploy - not scattered across your inbox and DMs.
Curated visuals - Gather all of the visuals you want to use. Not all of your photos and graphics from when you first started til now, but a curated selection. A small, organized folder of images, graphics, patterns, icons, etc that actually feel like you right now.
Without these, even a gorgeous site won’t convert. You’ll be tweaking and rebuilding within the year.
With these handled? Your project stays on timeline. Your copy has a clear direction. And your site actually does its job.
Problem is: most people don’t realize they have a prep problem until they’re already knee-deep in the project.
What if you could start your next site with all of this already gathered, with help from a pro?
Join me for the Get Your Site Together Challenge - FREE, January 14-20.
5 days. 5 tasks. Everything gathered and organized via Slack, alongside a small group of fellow business owners.
You'll walk away with a confident brand bio, your offers fully documented, clear website goals, organized testimonials, and a curated visuals folder. No tech skills needed - just dedicated time to finally get this done.
Thanks to Sammy for letting me borrow her inbox. Now go enjoy the rest of your holidays - without the prep stress on your mind!
Carolyn, Maypop Creative Studio
Join the challenge now!
Sammy Bohannon
CEO & Founder | Bohannon Virtual Solutions
Online Business Manager