How To Pay for An Expensive Website

I’m so glad you decided to read this article because this topic has been on my mind for months! If you’re here it’s likely because you want to work with a high end website designer (by high end I’m talking about someone who is charging $3-10K to design a custom website for you) but, you don’t know how you can pay them at that price point. So how exactly do you get the funds for an expensive website designer?

Let’s get into it.

In this article we’re going to be talking about:

1. When you know you’re ready to hire a high end designer
2.  6 Ways to pay for an expensive website

When you know you’re ready to hire a high end website designer

Before you try to figure out how to pay for a high end website designer, you need to know if you’re ready. I wrote an article here, where I talked about why designers are so damn expensive, and went into detail about what you’re really getting when you pay them so much. In a nutshell I mentioned that these designers are giving you a little more than a pretty website, they’re also…

1. Providing income strategies
2. Optimizing your website
3. Providing creative direction
4. Developing 
5. Consulting
6. And sometime even providing ongoing support

And the reason you need them is because you’ve got a specific problem with your website that you’re hoping they’re going to come in and fix. For example:

1. Getting more email subscribers
2. Converting more visitors into buyers
3. Creating a better buying experience
4. Etc.

So if you don’t have that specific goal in mind, or you haven’t done your homework, and don’t know who your audience is, or know what you want for your business in general, hit the pause button because you’re not ready to hire a high end designer just yet. You’d likely be paying someone a lot of money for a bucket full of disappointment. Why? Because you didn’t have a legitimate reason to design that custom website to begin with.

But you’ll know you’re ready to drop some serious coin on your website designer if…

1. You know your audience better than your favorite brand of pizza, and 
2. you know exactly what problem you’re having and what you need to do to fix it.

So now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about coming up with the cash to pay that high end website designer.

Ways to pay for an expensive website designer

I only say expensive here because it’s likely the word you’re using to describe the price point. But if we’re all honest here, expensive is subjective. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t look at a million dollar house and say “Oh hell nah, that’s expensive” Yet I’m sure Jay-Z is looking at that same home like “Just a milli? I got that” So yes to some of us, spending $3 – 10K on a website is crazy money, but keep in mind, some other business owners are like “If it makes me 100K this quarter, where do I sign up?”

Rant aside, Let’s talk about the way we pay for a pricey website.

Booking early. 

Most website designers increase their prices by $500 every 3 to 6 months. I know some who increase it after every project. So your best bet is to book earlier in the year, in january if you can, when their prices are the lowest for the year.

Use the Payment plans. 

Almost everyone nowadays will offer a payment plan because they want to work with you. Payments can spread out the cost in 3,6, 9 or 12 chunks. The beauty of this is that you’re usually making your money back way before you’ve finished paying.

Hustle / Make the Money

Let’s use an example here. If Christmas were 30 days away, and you wanted to buy gifts, you would pick up some extra work to pay for the gifts. This is no different. If you don’t have the money, go find it. You already have an audience, so make them an offer, and use the sales as the funds you will need for your dream website.

Save Up.

You should treat the website design project like any other big purchase you would make in your life and save up to get a good one. You wouldn’t buy a janky looking car that’s just barely keeping you on the road. You’d save up to get a really good one. Most people think they can’t make a sale without a website, and they’re absolutely wrong. I preach that a website is a money making machine, but you have to have a system in place for that machine to work. So while you’re making sales using good ‘ol fashion direct marketing, take 10% of every sale and put it aside for that dream website.

Find a sponsor (aka get someone to pay for it)

I got my parents to sponsor the first 21 years of my life (suckers). In all seriousness, sometimes there’s no shame in asking someone to swoop in and foot the bill. We use this tactic in other aspects of our lives, but turn our nose up at it when it’s suggested in our business. There’s way too much mindset work that needs to go on here for me to dive into it with this article, just know this: Don’t be so above asking for help that you let your pride make bad business decisions.

Think along the terms of getting grants, brand partnerships, etc. For instance, IFW (I fund Women) is a website dedicated to helping women in business get the funds they need for their business which could be used for expenses such as paying for your website development. You’re Welcome!

Affiliate deal/partnerships. 

As a LAST resort, and I stress last, ask the person you want to work with if you can collaboratively do an affiliate deal or partnership in exchange for their service. Notice I didn’t say ask them to do it for free or in exchange for some mystical future potential opportunity. I want you to think of a way that you and the other person can both tangibly PROFIT from a partnership. For example creating a bundle package deal with your product and their service that is exclusively available. I recently did this and was able to get several referrals from it. Not only was I able to profit, but my client is able to profit from it too (getting increased website traffic, higher conversion, sales, etc.). This is a win win for everybody.

Time to Show Up

I want you to start planning your website budget today. No more excuses. Make a list of 3 major problems that your website currently has. Then get a quote for how much it’s going to cost you to fix them, and pick one of the strategies mentioned in this article to fund your website. Which tactic are you going to use? List it in the comments below so we can start the convo.

Summary

When you’ve figured out the exact problem that your current website has and know exactly how you want to fix it, then you’re likely ready to hire a high end/ “expensive” website designer who can get you the results you’re looking for.
A few ways you can pay for a high end website are..

1. Booking a designer early in the year
2. Using payment plans
3. Making the money specifically to fund it
4. Saving up to pay for it
5. Finding someone who can pay for it
6. Doing a profitable partnership deal