A website you're proud to share: a case study with Bryson Bookkeeping

Today is a case study episode with my client, Sarah of Bryson Bookkeeping. She initially had a website that she had DIYed and then handed it off to somebody else to design.

But when it came down to it, she realized that it did not really fit her, her personality. And as she was transitioning to niche down in her business, she wanted a website that was going to target those dream clients and really reflect who she was and give her a website that she was proud to share.

I'm really excited to have her talk about the VIP day process and what it's been like since we launched her website.

[00:00:56] Hi Sara. Thanks for joining today.

[00:01:01] Sara Bryson: Thanks for having me.

Meet Sara of Bryson Bookkeeping

[00:01:03] Samantha Mabe: So before we jump into kind of your website, can you tell us about your business and who you work with and kind of the background of everything?

[00:01:13] Sara Bryson: Sure, absolutely. So, um, my business is Bryce and Bookkeeping, and we offer both bookkeeping services and CFO or financial advisory services.

[00:01:23] We specialize in therapists, but ultimately we like to help people who help people. So we have several people in a lot of different industries. As long as they help people, we're there for 'em.

[00:01:35] Samantha Mabe: How did you, uh, get started in your bookkeeping business and then transition into mostly therapists?

[00:01:42] Sara Bryson: So it was a complete accident. Um, I, I was working a day job as a secretary and um, we got credit cards, which is weird in and of itself cuz this is the 2000's. You'd think a business would have credit cards by then, . Uh, but they didn't, but they got 'em. And, but they said the accounting department's not gonna take care of this. Find someone.

[00:02:04] So I was like, oh no, I'll do it. This is gonna be awful. Uh, and they literally, my training was, they handed me the login information and a chart of accounts, and they're like, there you go. I'm like, well then let's figure this out. Uh, but it turned out to be really fun for me. It just made a lot of sense, it clicked. Um, and that was my favorite part of the job for a decade.

[00:02:26] And then I said, well, maybe I'll do like a little side hustle. But it was not long before that side hustle, just this is what I should be doing. So quit my job, went with that, served a lot of different clients, and while working with all the different clients, it just, the therapist kept coming back to the forefront.

[00:02:45] It was just one of those things that just kept coming back in my life and I said, okay, universe, I hear you. So that's how I decided to niche specialty with therapists.

[00:02:55] Samantha Mabe: That's awesome. And I feel like that's a, a good niche because those people are so focused on helping others that they can tend to not think about their own business.

[00:03:05] Sara Bryson: Yeah. And then they also have a couple special considerations when it comes to HIPAA regulations, payment processing, um, and then, you know, the majority of software out there is not HIPAA compliant. So for the bookkeeping, they have a couple extra things that they need to keep in mind and be careful of.

[00:03:22] Um, and it's, it's definitely a group that doesn't really take time for themselves. And then the bookkeeping keeps getting pushed back and back and back and then becomes a big stressor for them.

[00:03:35] So it's really awesome to be able to come in and say, Nope, I got it. Let me take that off your plate. And then we can just check back in with them, make sure they know where their books are. And it's really, really fulfilling to see people have that extra time in their lives and, and the confidence of knowing that it's okay to not worry about it.

Sara's first website and experience working with another designer

[00:03:58] Samantha Mabe: So I wanted to talk about your website, but let's talk first about what you had before. How did you get started with your website? How has that changed over time since you started your business?

[00:04:10] Sara Bryson: Absolutely. So when I first launched, like I said, it was just gonna be a side hustle, so I'm like, eh, here's like a website, whatever, you know. Um, I didn't pay attention to much of anything except here's a contact form and my name.

[00:04:24] And one day someone mentioned to me, uh, have you ever looked at your site on a mobile device? I was like, no. Why? They're like, yay, yay. I wanna do that. And I was like, oh. Oh, that's bad. That's like, it was, it was an illegible mess. Like it was terrible. And, um, and this person said, you know, Hey, I, I do websites, so if you'd like for me to provide you with a website. I'm like, you know what, I think that's a good idea.

[00:04:51] So, um, moved over to them. Um, things were taking longer than I expected to get done. From the time I signed on until I actually got the first draft of the new website was close to a year actually. They'd asked a couple things about what I wanted and I said, well, I'm okay with, you know, the colors and the general layout. I just want it to be mobile friendly.

[00:05:16] But I wound up getting a completely new website. And I can understand why they went the way they did, is they wanted it to be very general, very business friendly. They were looking at the general needs of a business and a little more corporate in the way that they created my website.

[00:05:34] But that didn't quite match me and my personality and it, it just wasn't me. You know, it was a website that I'm like, well, I have a website. Uh, it's a website. It works on the mobile devices. And so I, it was one of those things that I just kind of knew I needed something better. I just didn't know who to go to.

Why Sara decided to work with Lemon and the Sea

[00:06:01] Samantha Mabe: So how did you find me and decide to work with me to make this update?

[00:06:07] Sara Bryson: Sure. So I, the first thing was I had been trying to get new copy for a website for a long time, and I thought, okay, if I can get my copy, then I can figure out how to have this person redo my website so that the two can really go hand in hand.

[00:06:23] Because I, I think with the website, part of it is the visual design and appeal, but if you don't have the copy to go along with it, then you really only have half of of the solution you need.

[00:06:35] And so I reached out to someone I knew who was absolutely amazing, Jennifer Curfman with Untamed Creative, and we talked and she said, by the way, I'm getting a new website from Lemon and the Sea. You might wanna check 'em out. I'm like, all right, let me check 'em out.

[00:06:51] And I looked and I was just like, I love all these designs. Each one had this really lovely clean element to them. Nothing was, you know, you go to the website and you're like, I don't even know how to get to the next page, right? Or you're just continuously scroll and scroll and scroll cuz it's the one page website. Or it's, it's just a cluttered mess and you don't like, your eyes, can't settle on anything. And but the, they were all clean. They were so easy to navigate. And I said, you know what, this looks really great.

[00:07:23] And so I set up a call with you. And we went over the process and I was like, you know what, this, this sounds like a much better fit for me and I love all the designs. So, so I'm, I moved forward and I'm so happy I did. So happy.

The benefits of working with a copywriter

[00:07:41] Samantha Mabe: Yeah, Jennifer actually messaged me and she was like, I, I have this client and she might reach out to you. And we were very excited to work together because I love the way that she writes copy. And I knew I could bring that to life in her design. And it was so much fun to like work with a copywriter who's so good at what they do.

[00:08:02] Sara Bryson: Um, she is amazing. She, yeah, like I, when she was doing my copy, she. She was asking questions I'd never thought of.

The VIP Day questionnaire

[00:08:11] Sara Bryson: The same with when I was going through your questionnaire to, to look at my website. So I'm like, actually, I've never even thought about that. What, what do I want for this? Or what do I want for that? So it was really, really great to, to have someone else who could think of the things that I didn't even know I needed to consider, so that I could stop and go, oh, actually that is important, isn't it? Well, let me think, how do I want that to look? Or how do I want this to sound?

[00:08:37] So it was, it was just really, really different from any other experience I've had working, you know, like I said, the other person was just like, okay, we'll do a new website. So it was, it was completely different. It felt a lot more, uh, collaborative.

[00:08:55] Samantha Mabe: Yeah. So other than that, was there anything, um, that stood out with you in the process that you liked about that, that really stood out as far as working together?

[00:09:09] Sara Bryson: So I would definitely say the questionnaire. And there was, for me, I am the type of person that I like to just get in there and get it done. So the fact that I had, I think it was more than 30 days to start working on it. I'm like, oh, this is awesome. I can take my time and if I want to review what I've put in and I changed my mind cuz this is all something else, I had plenty of time to go through that.

[00:09:33] Um, but also for the people who maybe wait a little bit longer to, to meet their deadlines, uh, you, you did have helpful, helpful little reminder emails that would come out occasionally. Like, Hey, just a reminder, we've got this much more time beforehand.

[00:09:48] But having all of that time for me was fantastic because I really did take my time to make sure that everything I had submitted was submitted correctly, that I checked out my boxes cuz I'm a box checker. I'm one of those people, like I love lists. Um, and so for me that was huge. That was fantastic to have the time and to have the ability to push it back if I needed.

A VIP Day really is a fast transformation

[00:10:12] Samantha Mabe: What was your favorite part of the VIP day itself when we were actually doing the design?

[00:10:19] Sara Bryson: I think for me the most exciting part was how quick it was. Like, I mean, I know it's a VIP day, but it really was just so fast.

[00:10:29] And I'm assuming a lot of this because you've been looking at all the information. But, uh, but really was it was I logged on and I just made sure I was near my email throughout the day. It wasn't a constant barrage, it was just, Hey, here's your first rough draft of this page. How's it look?

[00:10:47] So that I had plenty of time to take a look and if I didn't like an element or something felt odd or I wanted to try a different color, there was plenty of time to do that.

[00:10:57] But I mean, it really was like, here's your first page, and then within maybe a couple hours, it was like a full website that was done instead of, like I said, with with another person it took like a year to get everything.

[00:11:12] It was almost like a Christmas morning, you like open the present. You're like, Ooh, I got a present. Then you're like, Ooh, I got some more presents. And you keep opening all these neat little presents. And it was exciting and really rewarding to see the work and effort that I had put in to start out really coming to fruition with the end product that really was just, here you go. Here it is.

Sara's new confidence in sharing her website

[00:11:40] Samantha Mabe: So, what results have you seen from your new website? You know, how does, how do you feel now? Have you had any new clients or any of those other kinds of results from it?

[00:11:51] Sara Bryson: So far when it comes to clients, no. It's only been up for a couple weeks, not, not really a full month. And I'm sure as time goes by, I will start to see them.

[00:12:03] I also didn't even have any analytics on my previous website, so, but now I do have analytics, so if nothing else, I can go in and see. That's huge for me to be able to look and see, hey, people are accessing my website, here's where they're getting it from. Here are the devices they're looking at it on. And that has been huge. That's been such a wonderful, wonderful update for me.

[00:12:27] And the other thing is showing, I'm, I'm happy and proud to show my website to people. Now I'm like, Hey, I got a website, take a look. And, uh, all of my colleagues, everyone who's seen the website, who knows me, they say, this website is you. This is, this is you, like every page is you. And I see you and I hear you. And it's so easy to navigate and it's beautiful. And I've had some people ask me, so who did your website?

Why setting up analtyics and SEO is an important part of the VIP Day

[00:12:52] Sara Bryson: So that's, that's been really rewarding knowing that I can track mm-hmm. now, and I can see where traffic's coming from. And, you know, as far as the SEO type side of it, that's gonna take time. It's, it's not an overnight now you're on the first page, Google. It takes time for, for those analytics to start driving you up. Um, but I'm 99.9% sure I am definitely gonna see myself starting to raise in the Google searches now that I have, you know, I have keywords and especially a website that is aimed more at my target audience rather than a completely broad audience.

[00:13:30] Samantha Mabe: Yeah, and we were able to, to, you know, your copy includes your keywords that Jennifer did, and then we also took that and added it to the SEO kind of on the back end.

[00:13:41] So over time, all of that's gonna come together and you, you've got a good base set up and then you've got a blog set up so you can use that as you need. And that always helps. So it really is like giving you the foundation to continue to grow.

[00:13:58] Sara Bryson: Yeah. And I, I already have a subscriber to my newsletter, , which was brand new the newsletter was brand new. Um, and I'm like, ah, no one is gonna subscribe or whatever. It's there. And I, I already have a subscriber. So that alone shows me that it is definitely making progress and definitely getting more eyes on me.

Make time to prep for your VIP Day

[00:14:19] Samantha Mabe: So what advice would you give somebody who is thinking about working with women in the sea, especially in the VIP day process?

[00:14:28] Sara Bryson: I would say to really look at your schedule and block days out. If you're someone who, uh, for me, I, in my schedule, I have work on the business days and I have those blocked out specifically because if I don't, the rest of the work just kind of bleeds into everything. So I would say, get that ready.

[00:14:52] I would say get your copy ready first. If someone else is providing your copy, because so much of that copy is going to, to flavor the website. It's like that extra seasoning that the website needs to, to really flow and I would say get to copy them first, you know, maybe 30, 40, even 60 days, uh, ahead of time. Just so that you have it, you know it's good, you like it.

[00:15:20] Then look at setting up your VIP day. Make sure that you block out as soon as you schedule that day, block out that day. And I would even say block out the day before, just, just in case something comes up and you need to do X or Y or Z. Just make sure that you have the time set aside because you don't, you don't want your VIP day to come and have you not be ready for it.

[00:15:46] You wanna make sure that throughout your time you've been able to maybe, cuz like I said, it's a thorough questionnaire.

[00:15:52] Samantha Mabe: Yeah, it is.

[00:15:53] Sara Bryson: This is, this isn't a, Hey, do you like puppies? Check yes or no. It's . It's gonna be a lot more involved. You have to provide your copy for every page. How many pages do you want? Do you have a newsletter? Do you have a blog? Do you want these different things connected?

[00:16:08] And you provide all of that, but it's up to the client to make sure you have all the data and all the resources so you can provide that. So if they aren't taking the time to take it seriously and make sure that they get you all of the information, then you're not gonna be able to provide them with that website. You know, just like that.

[00:16:29] You're gonna have to say, Hey, here's what I could do, right, but I still need some more. So it really is just be proactive, set aside the time. I know it's much easier to do a, a chill with the Netflix day, but it is important to get that information.

Sit back and enjoy your VIP Day transformation

[00:16:48] Samantha Mabe: Yeah. And your VIP day can be pretty chill because at that point your work is done. Like all you're doing is giving some feedback and I'm doing all the work. Give yourself enough time ahead of time to get it done in whatever way works best for you and then hand it off.

[00:17:04] Sara Bryson: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it was, I think we had maybe three or four emails total that day and, and the first one was basically, here's the start. How's it look? I'm like, amazing. That was basically it. Uh, and then, you know, the other emails were just kind of checking in, making sure that, that, I liked the balance.

[00:17:24] I know there was one where on my particular browser there was, there was one part that just looked really wide. So I just, you know, filmed a quick Loom video so you could see what I saw. And you know, and that's a thing is my browsers aren't necessarily the same browsers do you use or that other people visiting the site might use. So it's always really great to be able to view it on different browsers, on different monitors and different screens so that everybody collaboratively can make sure that this website looks exactly the way you want it to.

[00:17:58] Samantha Mabe: Yeah. And that's what I love when my clients can send me like a Loom video because that way I see what they're seeing because even though I've checked it on different devices, it can still look different on different people's things. So it's always helpful for me to see what you see and then I can make adjustments.

[00:18:16] Sara Bryson: Yeah. Yeah, and it, and like I said, it was so simple and easy. It was like I was just kind of sitting here almost. I was expecting to need to do more, if that makes sense. I'm like, all right, she's gonna need me to do this, or she's gonna ask for these things and nope. It was just, Hey, does it look cool? Do you have any changes you want? Do you have any edits?

[00:18:36] It was basically a day where I just went through emails and just, oh, hey, I've got a new email for Lemon and the Sea, let's go take a look. Film a, I mean, literally, I think maybe my Loom videos were two minutes and mostly me just scroll ing through, through the website so you could see exactly what I saw.

[00:18:52] Yeah. Well, awesome. Thank you so much for sharing and I'm excited to see, as you know, we further into your website being live now that that's all finished, how things go and, uh, really like watch as those analytics come in and, and make sure that it's doing the job it's supposed to be doing.

[00:19:11] Oh, I'm, I'm sure it will. I'm, like I said, if nothing else, this is the first time that someone asks for my website and I'm happy to give it to. I'm like, heck yeah. Here it's check it out. Isn't it pretty cool? Yeah, it is. And that's, that alone has just been having a website that really feels like me, like a representation of me is just, is awesome and, and I didn't have to do much. I did a couple, some leg work in the beginning and that was it. Everything else was done for me and that for me was the value and, and made the VIP day totally worth it.

[00:19:51] Samantha Mabe: Well, thank you so much for coming on.

[00:19:54] Sara Bryson: And thank you so much for having me and doing my website.

[00:20:00] Samantha Mabe: If you feel like your DIY website is just not cutting it and you cringe everybody, time every, if you feel like your DIY website isn't cutting it and you cringe every time someone asks for it, let me help. You can apply now for a VIP day. Or if you just want some other eyes on your website, you can go to LemonandtheSea.com.review and I'll give you a free 15 minute review of your site to help you focus on the things you're struggling most with, to make more sales and bring in more clients.