[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
One beautiful day, two years ago, I decided to be a person of dialogue and exchange. I came up with the idea: since I have a website to make, and someone has a boiler to replace \u2013 maybe we can connect the two. A bit of barter magic.<\/p>\n
And then came the ideal candidate \u2013 a fellow countryman, a plumber, referred to me. A supposed expert, at least according to his own stories. We met, we talked. I presented my proposal: I\u2019ll make you a proper website<\/strong>, responsive, optimized, everything ready to go, and you\u2019ll replace my boiler<\/strong>, legally, with a certificate, with a smile. Simple, transparent.<\/p>\n And then I heard laughter. A genuine, deep laugh. You know, the kind of laugh that suggests you\u2019ve just said something so absurd, as if you had asked for free holidays in Mallorca in exchange for a calendar with kittens on it.<\/p>\n \u201cA website? Me? Why would I need a website? I get clients by word of mouth. I don\u2019t even have Facebook. And you think I need something like that?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I dropped the topic. I thought: okay, not everyone understands the value of visibility online. Especially if they have word-of-mouth recommendations and an uncle who embroiders logos on jackets. And then came his price. For a service that \u2013 as it turned out later \u2013 another company did for me cheaper, faster, and most importantly, without unnecessary stories.<\/p>\n That one needed five days and two people<\/strong>. From the person who referred him to me, I then heard that the owner was a top-class professional, but the assistant\u2026 well, it seemed that his biggest teacher was YouTube. In the end, I paid through the nose, and I had the feeling I was sponsoring internal training in his family.<\/p>\n A year goes by. A phone call. I get a number I don\u2019t recognize. I pick up.<\/p>\n \u2013 Hi, it\u2019s the plumber\u2026 Do you remember me? I\u2019ve got something to discuss.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And I knew right away. He didn\u2019t hide it \u2013 he said directly: I need a website. Fewer clients, younger people aren\u2019t calling, everyone asks where they can see my work. Times have changed.<\/p>\n But the offer was no longer valid<\/strong>. Because a boiler is not something you replace every day. Prices change too. And the market doesn\u2019t wait.<\/p>\n Laugh, laugh, but have a website.<\/strong> Because before someone recommends you, people will still check you out. And if they only find your number on a piece of paper in a shop and a picture from a decade ago on Google Street View, that might not be enough.<\/p>\n And you know what? Even though I refused back then, it wasn\u2019t out of spite. The world has changed \u2013 so have I. Time, knowledge, experience \u2013 all these things have value now. But does that mean I won\u2019t help? No. I\u2019ll help \u2013 but on different terms, without jokes and underestimating<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Because even if someone laughed once, everyone has the right to reflect and start fresh. And I always respect those who can come back and say: \u201cOkay, you were right.\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A plumber laughs at the idea of trading plumbing services for a website, but when business slows down, he realizes the value of an online presence. This story reflects on the importance of adapting to changing times and the value of mutual exchange.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1181,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" One beautiful day, two years ago, I decided to be a person of dialogue and exchange. I came up with the idea: since I have a website to make, and someone has a boiler to replace \u2013 maybe we can connect the two. A bit of barter magic.<\/p>\r\n\r\n And then came the ideal candidate \u2013 a fellow countryman, a plumber, referred to me. A supposed expert, at least according to his own stories. We met, we talked. I presented my proposal: I\u2019ll make you a proper website<\/strong>, responsive, optimized, everything ready to go, and you\u2019ll replace my boiler<\/strong>, legally, with a certificate, with a smile. Simple, transparent.<\/p>\r\n\r\n And then I heard laughter. A genuine, deep laugh. You know, the kind of laugh that suggests you\u2019ve just said something so absurd, as if you had asked for free holidays in Mallorca in exchange for a calendar with kittens on it.<\/p>\r\n I dropped the topic. I thought: okay, not everyone understands the value of visibility online. Especially if they have word-of-mouth recommendations and an uncle who embroiders logos on jackets. And then came his price. For a service that \u2013 as it turned out later \u2013 another company did for me cheaper, faster, and most importantly, without unnecessary stories.<\/p>\r\n\r\n That one needed five days and two people<\/strong>. From the person who referred him to me, I then heard that the owner was a top-class professional, but the assistant\u2026 well, it seemed that his biggest teacher was YouTube. In the end, I paid through the nose, and I had the feeling I was sponsoring internal training in his family.<\/p>\r\n\r\n A year goes by. A phone call. I get a number I don\u2019t recognize. I pick up.<\/p>\r\n And I knew right away. He didn\u2019t hide it \u2013 he said directly: I need a website. Fewer clients, younger people aren\u2019t calling, everyone asks where they can see my work. Times have changed.<\/p>\r\n\r\n But the offer was no longer valid<\/strong>. Because a boiler is not something you replace every day. Prices change too. And the market doesn\u2019t wait.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Laugh, laugh, but have a website.<\/strong> Because before someone recommends you, people will still check you out. And if they only find your number on a piece of paper in a shop and a picture from a decade ago on Google Street View, that might not be enough.<\/p>\r\n\r\n And you know what? Even though I refused back then, it wasn\u2019t out of spite. The world has changed \u2013 so have I. Time, knowledge, experience \u2013 all these things have value now. But does that mean I won\u2019t help? No. I\u2019ll help \u2013 but on different terms, without jokes and underestimating<\/strong>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Because even if someone laughed once, everyone has the right to reflect and start fresh. And I always respect those who can come back and say: \u201cOkay, you were right.\u201d<\/p>","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[59,66,65],"class_list":["post-1352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-media-en","tag-client-relationships","tag-online-presence","tag-website-value"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pawelopitek.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pawelopitek.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pawelopitek.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pawelopitek.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pawelopitek.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pawelopitek.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pawelopitek.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pawelopitek.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pawelopitek.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pawelopitek.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}One Year Later…<\/h2>\n
What\u2019s the moral of this story?<\/h2>\n
\u201cA website? Me? Why would I need a website? I get clients by word of mouth. I don\u2019t even have Facebook. And you think I need something like that?\u201d<\/blockquote>\r\n
One Year Later...<\/h2>\r\n
\u2013 Hi, it\u2019s the plumber\u2026 Do you remember me? I\u2019ve got something to discuss.<\/blockquote>\r\n
What\u2019s the moral of this story?<\/h2>\r\n