wix.com and other site building sites/promotions, hurting freelancers?

[gnojham]

how much impact do things like wix and website building offers from like godaddy or whatever have on you guys who build sites for people as part of your living?

do you get questions about why wouldnt they just use wix?

for wix i imagine the answer is simple, because they dont have design skills to make a nice site, even for free, and it will be on wix domain. theres probably more reasons?

but how about goddady or whatever, the downside for the client is the recurring cost? anything else?

seems like this is getting to be bigger and bigger. trying to understand if it will put a hurting on people who do it for a living.

 

obviously if the clients dont ask, then theres no problem yet.

 

[ShayB]

You have to go with the flow.

 

I have a friend of mine who designs websites, but she also gives classes on how to build a website with Wix. 

 

If someone isn't willing to pay her to create a fairly complex website (a custom or a WP one), she can still leverage her time and expertise by teaching the masses how to use a DIY option. She doesn't teach them what she does (she never uses Wix for clients), but she gives them something less complex to do on their own.

 

She also charges per hour for consultation, so she also makes money from helping them DIY. 

 

The new tech isn't going away. You have to adapt and shift your biz model to maximize the landscape.  

[JamesAlmeida]

ShayR is right. just go with the flow. If the client wants the domain to be free but the quality and the system itself is not nice, then it is their choice.
But if the client wants the website to be paid and is properly controlled by the Admin, Then recommend the paid one.

[Guest]

Just my two cents, but I don't think it's really taking away much business simply because the folks that use them either aren't willing to pay for a decent site or don't understand enough about websites in general to know what they're doing. 

 

That said, the OP is on the right track - Educate your existing and prospective clients to the benefits of maintaining control over their sites by not giving it over to third parties. Over the years (decades?) I've seen site building systems come and go - anyone remember Geocities? 

 

You can ask your clients:

 

1. What is their contingency plan if Wix gives them the boot, crashes or goes out of business? 

 

2. What will they do if Wix arbitrarily implements new rules regarding content? Marketing? SEO? 

 

3. Down the road, if they need to move, how will they migrate to a real website? And what will it cost them because of the urgency to get it up and running? 

 

I agree with Shay though - sometimes you just gotta go with the flow; but, try to keep in touch with the client for work down the road

[Art Moran]

First I would suggest, as Jat Samit says; "Protect Your Turf!" and recommend they don't build their house on someone else's lawn...

 

But, now and again I browse these drag n' drop website builder's and remember when I was a Blogspot (bum marketer) and it works in a pinch. So, I agree - it boils down to letting the people determine what it is they want? 

 

"You can lead a noob to Wordpress, but...You can't make em' Think!"

(*Damn,Tee Spring anyone...that would make an AWESOME T-Shirt!)