What Solopreneurs can learn from the IMMA website journey
What we built, broke, and rebuilt.
If you're building a purpose-led business in sustainability, climate, or social impact, you’ve probably been told:
"You need a website."
But what no one tells you is how unclear, overwhelming, and lonely the process can feel, especially in the early days.
What do you even write when the vision is still forming?
How do you make it look professional without spending a fortune?
What if you're still figuring out who you serve?
This newsletter is a behind-the-scenes look at the 11 versions of the IMMA website over two years: what worked, what didn’t, and what we’d do differently if starting today.
The first version: just get something up
If you're early in your journey, this might sound familiar:
You’re not quite sure who you're speaking to.
You’re second-guessing whether you have anything valuable to offer.
You’re afraid it’s “not ready yet.”
That’s exactly where I was in early 2023. The first IMMA Collective website felt like giving birth—emotionally exhausting, filled with doubt, and full of tiny design tweaks that took weeks to settle.
It was a simple one-pager. And to be honest, it wasn’t super clear what it was about. But the important thing is: it was live—a place to collect email addresses and invite people to monthly reflection calls.
No newsletter. No funnel. Just a start. And honestly? That was better than nothing.
Lesson #1: Don’t overthink the first version. Focus on clarity, not complexity.
A screen recording of the first website version that I launched with the help of Fran Cook and Shaleah Dawnley.
Writing for someone you haven’t got to know well yet
One of the biggest challenges for mission-driven solopreneurs is writing before you've had enough real conversations with clients.
You’re speaking into the void, unsure if anyone is listening.
That first site lacked clarity because I lacked clarity. I hadn’t yet supported enough people to truly understand what transformation I was offering.
But I kept refining.
The conversations kept coming.
And eventually, patterns emerged.
I started building a detailed picture of who IMMA is really for. I began writing to someone, not at everyone.
Lesson #2: Talk to real people. Build from their words, not just your ideas.
Tip: Start a living doc for your ideal client profile. Mine is now four pages long—covering demographics, psychographics, beliefs, needs, pains, and desires. It didn’t come from theory. It came from hundreds of conversations. I wish I’d started earlier.
What to do (and not do) early on
Here’s what I’d share with anyone building their first site:
Start with a one-pager. Multi-page sites multiply your work and your confusion.
Include a clear next step. Even a Google Form is enough.
Sketch a tiny funnel. How do people find you? What happens once they land?
Don’t get stuck trying to be “strategic” or “optimized.”
Just make it easy for people to understand who you serve and how to connect.
What changes when you start growing
As your offer gets clearer, your site has to grow with it.
In the beginning, IMMA’s website was about invitation and vision.
But eventually, it had to shift into conversation and conversion, a site that helps people see themselves, and nudges them to take the next step.
Every 3–4 months, we’d update the copy or structure to match new insights. The mistake? For too long, we tried to speak to two audiences at once: those who aspire to work for themselves, and those who already do.
That never really worked.
By 2025, we committed to one core audience:
Independent consultants, freelancers, solopreneurs, and solofounders who are already working for themselves.
They don’t want to hire employees—but want to build a small business that balances purpose and profit. All while doing it together, not alone.
Lesson #3: You can’t serve everyone. Choose one audience and go deep.
You can’t read the label from inside the jar
Eventually, you need help.
In the early days, I was lucky to be supported by Shaleah Danwley, who helped me shape the initial structure and messaging. Later on, Sophie Crowe and Isabelle Drury supported rewrites that brought more tone and clarity. Every time, it helped to have someone outside my own head.
And yet, something was still off.
That’s when Stefanie Kruse stepped in. She didn’t just give the site a new look. She asked the right questions—like “What does elevate mean for you, really?” and worked with what was already there.
We didn’t need a full rebrand. We just needed a gentle, thoughtful upgrade:
Refined the typography to feel more premium and less sterile
Adjusted the colour palette for better legibility
Added signature shapes we now use across different materials
Brought coherence and intentionality to every design element
It’s still the IMMA brand—just more aligned, more grown-up, and more us.
She also ran a sustainability and accessibility check on the site. The results were a wake-up call: the existing setup wasn’t performing as well as it could have. That’s when we made the decision to move from Squarespace to WordPress—not just for looks, but for impact.
WordPress allowed us to:
Build a more sustainable and performant site
Improve accessibility and speed, which directly affects how people experience the site
Create flexible templates that I can update myself, no code needed
It was less about a visual polish and more about long-term integrity. As Stefanie put it:
“If your values include sustainability and inclusion, your website should reflect that. Otherwise, you risk sending mixed signals, not just visually, but in credibility.”
Lesson #4: Don’t wait too long to get help. Time isn’t renewable. Money is.
Curious how it turned out?
We recently launched the latest version of the IMMA website, and it reflects all of these lessons, plus a few lovingly earned battle scars.
Whether you’re in the thick of building, evolving, or untangling your website—here are a few things that helped us most:
If you're just getting started:
Keep it simple: One page, one message, one call-to-action.
Write what you know now, not what you hope to know later.
Start collecting interest: Use a form, calendar link, or even WhatsApp.
If you're a little further in:
Let your site evolve. Revisit it every few months.
Get feedback or support: You can’t see your blind spots from inside the work.
Know your audience deeply: It’s the key to better writing and better offers.
Free Workshop: How to Launch a Website That Works
Still tweaking your site endlessly? Not sure where to start—or how to make it actually work?
That’s why we’re hosting a free workshop with Stefanie Kruse, founder of Re-Think the Web—a sustainable web studio for solopreneurs—for a hands-on workshop on building a simple, clear, and conversion-friendly one-page website.
You’ll learn:
Why a one-pager is often the smartest way to start
A step-by-step framework (CATCH) to build yours with ease
How to turn your site into a tool—not a task
Get a template you can reuse
Love this! Thanks for sharing all these learnings and pitfalls!