[100] When info is easier to get, what can you share to grow your business?
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[00:00:00] You are listening to episode 100 of Think Inside the Square. Think Inside the Square is a podcast for Squarespace users where I, Becca Harpain, love to share tips and tricks for helping you create a website that's uniquely yours. And I never thought I would reach 100 episodes of my podcast, and I think it is pretty cool that we're here.
[00:00:22] Now, I could sit back and do a highlight reel or maybe talk about some of my favorite people that I interviewed, but forget that. I don't wanna look at the past. I wanna look at the future, and that's exactly what we're talking about in this episode. For a transcript, visit insidethesquare.co/podcast, and for a link to any resources that I'll mention, visit insidethesquare.co/podcast.
[00:00:44] One more important note, the term Squarespace is a trademark of Squarespace Incorporated, and this content is not affiliated with or endorsed by Squarespace Incorporated.
[00:00:53] I know I just said that I don't wanna talk about the past, but I do realize I've got one quick little piece I [00:01:00] wanna share with you so we can truly talk about the future. We've gotta set the scene, okay? So I want you to think back to twenty nineteen, oh, so long ago when the world was very different. I was sitting there in my living room looking for more web design clients because I hadn't been hired for a couple of months, and I had a mortgage to pay.
[00:01:20] So I decided to share one of my favorite Squarespace CSS tricks in a video. I put it out there on the Internet, and I hoped that someone watching this video would say, "Whoa, that's a cool code trick. I better hire her to help me on my project." Well, that didn't exactly happen, but quite a few people did comment with, "Whoa, that was a cool code trick.
[00:01:42] Do you have any more?" And lucky for them, I sure did. I had a massive Google Doc that was full of random little code snippets that I had written over the years for different client projects.
[00:01:54] So I started making a video for each one of those code snippets, and I took that code collection [00:02:00] and I cleaned it up and put it in a PDF that I started to sell. And that business basically built itself. Someone needed to find a super specific answer, they'd find my content. If they found me more than once and they liked my stuff, they'd usually go about purchasing the one thing that I had to sell.
[00:02:16] It grew pretty fast, and that is what turned me from a website designer and expert into an educator. My business was built around being easy to find when someone needed an answer.
[00:02:28] But things have dramatically changed, and what I've been thinking about a lot is what happens when the thing that people used to need me for suddenly gets a lot easier. Squarespace now does a lot of the things that we used to have to code. AI can generate a lot of the answers that I used to share, and people don't need to search the internet the same way that they used to.
[00:02:52] I've started to realize that the problem I was solving hasn't disappeared, but the way people solve the problem [00:03:00] has changed. Over the last six or seven years, over four million people have tuned into my YouTube tutorials to learn how to customize Squarespace. But we have now reached the age of the internet where people don't really need CSS tutorials anymore.
[00:03:16] But something has not changed. People still want control over their Squarespace website.
[00:03:22] So the problem that I used to solve, it's still there, but the solution that I've offered for years is no longer going to cut it. This format is just not needed. So things are changing here inside The Square. Now, I want you to think about this in the perspective of your own business. Episode 100, it's not just about me.
[00:03:42] What is your version of CSS tutorials for your own business? What's the thing that you give to people to help solve the problem? And what would happen if technology changed and that version of the solution, the way that you solved it, wasn't working [00:04:00] anymore
[00:04:01] The answers that I used to provide are much easier to get, but the core problem that people are trying to find a solution for is control over their Squarespace website. The code that they're having AI generate, that still needs to be evaluated. An AI mockup, we still need to see if that actually makes sense for a website.
[00:04:20] A client can have ten ideas and still need someone who knows what to do and what not to do. So just because the answers are easier to get, that doesn't mean the decisions are easier to make. I think my value is going to be shifting from knowing the answer to knowing what to do with the answer.
[00:04:40] I'm taking a new direction where Squarespace will still be at the center of everything, but it's gonna be a lot less of click here, paste this, and a lot more of what do we do when this happens? We're gonna be talking about client expectations, AI-generated code, strange requests and when to push back, when to customize [00:05:00] and when not to customize,
[00:05:01] this is a new direction for Inside the Square
[00:05:04] The internet is changing, and my business needs to change with it. I'm still going to keep all of my old tutorials archived at tutorials.squarespace.com, but here on the podcast Think Inside the Square and on my own website, I'm shifting the way that I teach to focus on the core problem. How do we make Squarespace something unique?
[00:05:24] How do we make it a website that does exactly what we want it to do?
[00:05:28] The internet is changing rapidly, and so is my business. And I'm really excited about this new direction here, and I want to encourage you to think about your business differently too
[00:05:37] When technology changes, how can we change what we're sharing with the world to still solve the problem that we want to solve? For me, I want to help you make Squarespace uniquely yours, and it might be easier for you to find an answer that you're looking for, so let me help you make sure that you're asking the right questions.
[00:05:56] This is actually why I made Now What.
[00:05:59] This is a [00:06:00] new resource for Squarespace designers who are finding AI infiltrating their work in ways you might not have expected. I've been working with clients a lot more in the last six months than I have in the last six years, and it has been so fascinating to see the dramatic shift in AI adoption from their perspective.
[00:06:19] I've had people bring in briefs that were written by AI. I've had people give me copy that was so clearly not them, and I've even had people show up to a meeting with AI-generated code and mock-ups that really shouldn't be on a website. So I've created Now What to give you an example of how I'm responding to these situations.
[00:06:43] You can find it at insidethesquare.co/nowwhat So for episode 100, I want this to be about you as much as it is about me. I'm changing everything here inside the Square, But my core mission is still exactly the same: help you make a Squarespace [00:07:00] website that's uniquely yours.
[00:07:01] So for your own business, as you're navigating whatever technology shifts and innovations you're navigating, I want you to think about these three questions. What problem are you actually helping people solve? What has changed about how people solve that problem? And what part still needs your experience, your judgment, your taste, or your perspective?
[00:07:23] Even if you're not a Squarespace designer like me, you could be finding your business affected by the way the internet is changing. The way people found the answers to their questions, it's different.
[00:07:34] The questions people are asking are different, but the solutions that they're looking for are usually still the same. So think about your business torn down all the way to its foundation. How are you helping people solve a problem, and how can you do that in a new and innovative way?
[00:07:50] That's what I'm working on here inside the square, and I hope you're along for the ride. Thank you so much for tuning in to episode 100. If you enjoyed it, give it a like, [00:08:00] let me know in the comments, and feel free to send me an email anytime. I'd love to hear what kind of conversations you're having in your business and how I can help support you.
[00:08:08] Hello@insidethesquare.co. My inbox is always open. I'm Becca from Inside the Square. Thank you so much for tuning in, and most importantly, have fun with your Squarespace website. Bye for now
For years, Inside the Square was built around answers.
Someone had a specific Squarespace problem. They searched for a solution. I made a tutorial that helped them solve it.
That model worked incredibly well, until the way people found those answers started to change.
Squarespace can now handle many customizations that once required code. AI can generate code, layouts, copy, ideas, and technical answers in seconds. But just because the answer is easier to get doesn't mean the decision is easier to make.
And that's the shift I'm exploring in episode 100.
The problem I built my business around hasn't disappeared. People still want more control over their Squarespace websites. But the way they solve that problem is changing — which means the way I help solve it needs to change too.
In this episode, I'm sharing what that realization means for the future of Inside the Square, why I think value is shifting from knowing the answer to knowing what to do with the answer, and how you can use the same idea to think differently about your own work.
In this episode:
How one tiny CSS tutorial accidentally became Inside the Square
Why the business model that worked in 2019 doesn't make as much sense today
The difference between the problem you solve and the method you use to solve it
Why easier access to answers doesn't automatically lead to better decisions
Where experience, judgment, taste, and perspective become more valuable
What the next chapter of Think Inside the Square will focus on
Three questions to ask when technology starts changing your industry
Three questions to think about:
What problem are you actually helping people solve?
What has changed about how people solve that problem?
What part still needs your experience, judgment, taste, or perspective?
Those are the questions I'm asking about Inside the Square right now — and they're shaping what comes next.
We're still talking about Squarespace. But we're going beyond step-by-step answers into client expectations, AI-generated code, strange requests, technical decisions, when to customize, when to push back, and what to do when the answer isn't obvious.
Explore Now What?
AI is already showing up in Squarespace client projects in some pretty unexpected ways.
Now What? walks through six situations, from AI-generated code and mockups to questionable copy and complicated client expectations, and how I'm thinking through my response.
Have a weird AI/client situation of your own? Send it my way at hello@insidethesquare.co
Most importantly, have fun with your Squarespace website.
