Have you seen GoDaddy's Happy Plasterer advert? If so, you'll already be familiar with the story of Robin Dew aka the Happy Plasterer.
If you haven't, here's the advert:
Robin's desire to grow and attract more customers will be familiar to every business owner, and his website is playing a crucial part in that.
He said:
"It seems to me that if you want to look professional, more professional than the competition one of the things to do is to get a website."
"It's all about getting people to remember you, and differentiating yourself from other businesses."
Robin also believes the changing way people communicate is another reason for having a website.
"In this day and age, time is short and people don't like waiting on phone calls and things like that," he explained.
"So the thing that's good for me about my website is that customers can contact me directly from the website just by clicking a form.
"I get a lot more enquiries through that than I would through people phoning me up.
"It's good to get your name out there and get customers contacting you."
Robin added: "It's definitely good for your business."
And for Robin it isn't about making a choice between having a website and being present on social media and Checkatrade as all these things complement each other.
"I think the website gives a focal point," Robin said.
"If people have seen me on Checkatrade, where my reviews are good anyway, and they've seen the advert on TV and then they see that I've got the website as well, then it tilts the odds in my favour of winning work over someone who doesn't have all that."
And as for the process of getting a website up and running in the first place, Robin doesn't consider himself to be particularly technically minded but that didn't matter when it came to using GoDaddy's Website Builder.
"I'm not a particularly technical person, when it comes to computers and stuff like that, but it's relatively easy to use the Website Builder interface and make any changes I want," he said.
Now Robin has his sights set on expansion.
"I've been working by myself for about 10 or 12 years, and it is hard work because as well as all the plastering you have to do all the labouring as well," he said.
"If I've got enough work coming in, then I can look to take on someone else and ease the workload on myself a little bit, and then potentially take on more jobs.
"There is a view to expand if I can maintain the demand."
And featuring in GoDaddy's advert has helped increase the profile of the Happy Plasterer.
"Most of the people I know have seen the advert now. And I've been hearing from a lot of people I haven't heard from in a long time going 'Oh is that you? That's good.'," Robin said.
"On the business side of things I've been getting a lot of enquiries through the website, mainly because of the advert I imagine. I've had quite a few people say 'Oh yeah we've seen the advert on TV', but they have come direct through the website."
Inspired to get your own website?
If the Happy Plasterer has inspired you to create your own business website, then you can check out GoDaddy's Website Builder, which offers everything you need to get your business online and start promoting it.
It tilts the odds in my favour of winning work.
If you need a bit more guidance, try this article on four ways to create a new website for your small business, or this article on how to set up an online shop.
Or you can always get in touch with the GoDaddy Guides if you need a helping hand.
And if you need some plastering done in the Bristol area, we know just the guy…
