4 things I wish I knew when I started my web design agency
Summary
TLDRThe speaker recounts their journey from a trapped senior web designer to financial freedom, emphasizing the importance of creating recurring income and specialization in web design services. They share insights on building a business, the value of professional services like marketing, leveraging white label partnerships, and the necessity of a lead generation system. The summary also touches on the importance of offering various service packages to cater to different client needs and the challenges of client acquisition.
Takeaways
- 😔 Feeling Trapped: The speaker felt trapped in their dream job as a senior web designer and developer, despite having a window for sunlight and decent pay.
- 🚀 Taking the Leap: Despite initial success with a few referrals and clients, the speaker decided to quit their job and start their own business, aiming for independence.
- 📉 Struggling to Start: After quitting, the speaker faced a period of six months with no new clients, feeling directionless and overwhelmed by the reality of running a business.
- 💡 Importance of Recurring Income: The speaker emphasizes the importance of creating recurring income streams through monthly services for clients, which is key to financial stability.
- 🔧 Leveraging White Label Partners: For those not wanting to learn advertising, using white label partners can be a way to offer services while generating recurring revenue.
- 🛠 Specialization Benefits: Becoming service-oriented and specializing in a particular industry can lead to longer client relationships, higher client satisfaction, and more revenue.
- 🤝 Networking for Growth: Attending local business networking events can be an effective way to generate leads and secure web design projects.
- 📈 Systematic Lead Generation: Having a systematic approach to lead generation is crucial for consistent business growth and meeting potential clients.
- 💸 Targeting $10,000 per Month: The speaker suggests that reaching $10,000 per month is a significant milestone that can greatly improve one's quality of life and business outlook.
- 📦 Offering Multiple Packages: Having both high and low ticket packages allows for flexibility in client acquisition and ensures that no potential business is left untapped.
- 🔗 Follow-up Resources: The speaker offers further in-depth guidance on their channel for those interested in learning more about sales and lead generation.
Q & A
What was the speaker's initial job and how did it make him feel?
-The speaker was a senior web designer and developer, which was his dream job. However, despite having the job he wanted, he felt trapped and empty, even though he was well-paid and had a window for sunlight.
What motivated the speaker to quit his job and start his own business?
-The speaker was motivated by the desire to go 'all in' on himself. He had a few referrals and some clients paying him a hosting fee, and he believed life would only get more complicated with age and more responsibilities.
What was the speaker's experience after quitting his job and attempting to build his business?
-After quitting his job, the speaker found himself without a clear plan for his business. Six months later, he had no clients, was struggling with time management, and had to get a job again due to financial pressures.
What was the embarrassing situation the speaker found himself in with his girlfriend?
-The speaker picked up his girlfriend without telling her they were going to Subway because he couldn't afford anything nicer. This was embarrassing because she was dressed up for a fancier outing.
How did the speaker eventually achieve financial freedom?
-The speaker achieved financial freedom by understanding and implementing certain principles related to creating recurring income, operating as a real company, and offering valuable services to clients.
What is the importance of creating recurring income in a web design business according to the speaker?
-Creating recurring income is crucial as it provides a stable cash flow. The speaker emphasizes that professionals in the industry understand the need to offer services that clients are willing to pay for on a monthly basis, ranging from simple to advanced services.
What is a 'white label partner' and how can it benefit a web designer?
-A 'white label partner' is a company that a web designer can pay to handle advertising services for their clients. This allows the web designer to offer advertising services without having to learn the skills themselves, generating a service fee from the client.
Why did the speaker transition from being a generalist web designer to a service-oriented one?
-The speaker transitioned to become more service-oriented because it led to longer client relationships, happier clients, and higher monthly payments. By understanding and servicing specific industries, the speaker was able to offer more tailored and valuable solutions.
What strategies did the speaker suggest for a web designer to find new clients?
-The speaker suggested attending local business networking groups like BNI or Chamber of Commerce meetings, which can lead to consistent and substantial web design projects.
Outlines
😔 Struggle in a Dream Job
The speaker reflects on their experience as a senior web designer and developer, feeling trapped in a cubicle despite having a dream job. Despite earning a decent salary, they felt empty and overworked. The speaker was motivated by a beach background on their phone, symbolizing their initial aspirations. Eventually, they decided to quit their job to pursue self-employment, but after six months, they struggled to gain clients and had to return to employment due to financial constraints. The narrative highlights the challenges of transitioning from a steady job to an uncertain entrepreneurial path.
🚀 Transition to Financial Freedom
The speaker discusses their journey from financial struggles to achieving financial freedom, making over $20,000 per month. They emphasize the importance of creating recurring income streams, such as monthly hosting fees or advertising services, and the benefits of operating as a professional company rather than a freelancer. They also mention the option of partnering with white label companies for advertising services, allowing them to generate recurring revenue without needing to master the skills themselves. The speaker's transformation from a generalist web designer to a service-oriented professional is highlighted, as they began to focus on understanding and solving their clients' specific needs.
🤝 Building Client Relationships and Growing Business
The speaker shares insights on how to improve client relationships and grow a web design business. They advise becoming specialized in certain industries to better understand client needs and offer tailored solutions, such as an automatic appointment generation system for landscapers. The speaker also talks about the importance of joining local business groups for networking and generating referrals. They stress the need for a systematic approach to lead generation and sales, suggesting that having a consistent flow of meetings is key to a successful business. The speaker encourages setting a goal to reach $10,000 per month as a significant milestone for life improvement.
📈 Diversifying Services and Pricing Strategies
The speaker discusses the importance of offering multiple service packages at different price points to cater to a wider range of clients. They recount their own mistakes of only offering high-priced custom websites and missing opportunities for recurring revenue from smaller projects. They suggest that having both high-ticket and low-ticket plans can maximize the potential of every client meeting and ensure that no opportunity is wasted. The speaker also provides a link to another video for further insights on sales and client conversion strategies.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Cubicle
💡Web Designer and Developer
💡Recurring Income
💡White Label Partner
💡Service Oriented
💡Lead Generation System
💡BNI Meetings
💡Custom Websites
💡Baseline of Income
💡Multiple Packages
💡Financial Freedom
Highlights
The narrator felt trapped in their dream job as a senior web designer and developer, despite having a window for sunlight.
Despite being overworked and feeling empty, the narrator was motivated by a beach background on their phone, representing their initial business aspirations.
The decision to quit the job was influenced by having a few referrals and clients, and a desire to take control of one's life.
After quitting, the narrator faced a reality of not knowing what to do next and ended up without clients for six months.
The realization of the importance of reoccurring income in the web design industry came after struggling financially.
The narrator emphasizes the need for professionals to understand how to create reoccurring income through services.
Mistakes made early in the business included not having a clear direction or understanding of how to build a client base.
The importance of specialization in web design to better serve clients and increase monthly revenue is highlighted.
Networking through local business groups can be an effective way to generate new clients and projects.
The narrator shares personal experiences of embarrassment due to financial struggles, emphasizing the motivation for change.
Financial freedom was achieved by understanding and implementing principles of recurring revenue and business operation.
The narrator discusses the benefits of having a white label partner for advertising services, allowing for skill outsourcing.
The transition from a generalist to a service-oriented web designer led to better client relationships and higher income.
The importance of creating a lead generation system for consistent business growth is emphasized.
The narrator suggests aiming for a minimum income of $10,000 per month as a significant life and business milestone.
Having multiple packages in a web design business can cater to a wider range of clients and budgets.
The narrator shares insights on the importance of converting meetings into paying customers through effective sales strategies.
Transcripts
I remember sitting in my cubicle with
these three walls around me feeling
trapped but I did have one window out in
the distance which gave me the only
sunlight that I saw all day but the
crazy part is this was my dream job even
though it sounds like a prison this is
the job that I wanted I was a senior web
designer and developer I was writing
code I was even getting paid pretty
decently well but I felt so empty I was
over worked but I remember having a
beach in Thailand as my background on my
phone to motivate me and show me why I
even got started in this business in the
first place and look one day I decided I
had enough and I wanted to go all in on
myself so what do you think I did I quit
look I had a couple referrals I made a
couple thousand that month I felt pretty
good about myself and I even had a
couple clients paying me $100 per month
as a hosting fee I thought to myself if
not now than when life is only going to
get more complicated as I get older with
more responsibilities and I was so
excited to leave that job and Branch out
on my own and guess what happened as
soon as I sat down the very next day and
I decided it's time for me to build my
business I opened up my laptop and I
realized I had no idea what to do and
long story short if we fast forward 6
months I got zero clients I absolutely
sucked and I didn't know what I was was
doing I spent random time on my phone
Doom scrolling or wasting time and just
procrastinating only to get nothing done
and making excuses in the meantime so I
had to get a job again I had no
reoccurring income and honestly I had
bills to pay and I was tired of being
broke in fact I remember picking up my
girlfriend at her house and she looked
good dude I'm talking heels everything
and it was only then that I realized
that I forgot to tell her that we're
just going to Subway I couldn't afford
anything nice or fancy or any of these
expensive places and as you can imagine
that was quite embarrassing I can't take
care of the people around me let alone
take care of my mom or my other family
and now if you fast forward a couple
years in my journey I was completely
financially free making over
$20,000 per month from my business being
able to pay my mama salary travel
wherever I want live out of airbnbs and
it's only because I understood some of
these principles that I'm going to be
sharing with you here today so let's
dive in so look if you are going to be a
web designer you're going to deliver
websites for your clients and sometimes
they are going to look at that website
and say okay thank you now what what do
we do now with this website how do we
actually get more traffic how do we
actually turn this into new business how
do we turn this into money and that is
why the real Professionals in this
industry under understand that you have
to create reoccurring income now I notic
some people that's an evil word they
don't know how to get clients to pay
them anywhere from $1 to $200 per month
for simple Services all the way up to2
or $3,000 per month for more Advanced
Services like marketing and advertising
now the real professionals that I have
seen in my life that make 20 30 40
$50,000 per month plus all have their
own teams and have staff in place that
are able to do this for them they
operate their web design business or
their agency business as a real company
they're no longer this freelancer this
oneman show and if you don't want to
learn advertising services like Google
ads or Facebook ads you don't have to
you can also find a white label partner
and the way that works is you
essentially pay a company $3 or $400 per
month and they take care of all the
advertising for for that client so if
you charge a client $11,000 per month
for advertising which is cheap we charge
$2,000 per month and that's our service
fee but let's just keep it simple you
charge 1K and you pay $300 that's still
means you're making
$700 per month in recurring revenue and
this white label partner that you have
is running all of the ads for you so you
don't have to learn the skills I
literally remember clients asking me if
I run Faceook Facebook ads or Google ads
because they want more business and I
said no look at all this money I was
leaving on the table and I'm not going
to go super far in depth into these
recurring Services because I have a ton
of other videos if you want to see
exactly what we offer you can watch my
other video on my Channel about how we
make over
$21,000 per month from my agency after
this video look in the beginning I
viewed myself as this generalist web
designer and I would service anyone that
would freaking pay me the more service
oriented I became around my clients and
I kept asking what else what else can I
do for you what else can I solve for you
the better I became and as I kept
leveling up and evolving and offering
more to my clients I realized they
stayed on for longer they were much
happier and they paid me more every
single month than any other clients and
the reason for this is because you
genuinely
become a better option for that business
owner if let's say you have a bunch of
clients that are landscapers and you
start to understand that industry a
little bit you start to understand what
it's like for them to deal with their
customers and so now you're building a
website that isn't just any generic
website but you're building something
that allows them to get more estimates
meaning more quotes meaning they can
make more money and not only that but
now you are beginning to understand that
they actually don't want more phone
calls they they say they do but what
they really want is more booked
appointments and so now when you talk to
a client you all of a sudden can offer
them an automatic appointment generation
machine because you're not just
delivering random website leads to them
but now you're actually booking them
appointments and even following up with
those appointments automatically using
automations and Ai and all of this now
imagine your client is telling you hey
we're getting too many website form
submissions how can we filter from the
lowquality ones and the high quality
ones and you give them that solution
because you've built it before you have
this quote estimator form that you can
plug into their website and people that
are on their website can get an
automatic price based on their
specifications and how big their lawn is
or their property and now you can
deliver that for the client and if you
compare that web designer with someone
that's generic we build websites for
e-commerce stores and then for flower
shops and then for CrossFit Gyms and
they have this massive portfolio they
won't be able to help this Landscaping
client that you're working with as much
as you and you'll be able to charge five
times more with the other web designer
charges let's talk about getting clients
if you're anything like me you probably
have no idea how to actually generate
new clients no one ever taught you that
maybe you've even tried to read some
sales book or some negotiation book but
it doesn't help you at all there's no
tangible advice and so you're left kind
of scurrying around and hoping that
someone reaches out to you hoping that
you get a referral maybe you've even
tried code calling a couple businesses
from Google or from a phone book but
nothing seems to be working consistently
now over the years I've met a ton of web
designers I've seen people go to these
BNI meetings these Chamber of Commerce
meetings and actually get some pretty
decent siiz website projects from these
local business groups in fact there's
one guy in Vegas that I met and that's
all he did when I lived there he told me
all he did was go to these local
networking groups and he had a multi6
figure per year web design business so I
know it works but the problem is you
can't necessarily Crank that up you
can't just say I want more referrals
today and most web designers completely
avoid this because they just don't want
to focus on sales they don't want to
focus on getting new meetings they want
to be web designers you would probably
rather sit there and look at different
templates and design different things
than actually reaching out to clients
and tell telling them about your
services and that's fine that was me as
well but the only way that you're
actually going to grow your business is
if you have a system that will
automatically put meetings on your
calendar so you can wake up and you just
have people to talk to every single day
about your services this is the only way
you're going to build a life that you
actually like the only way you'll be
able to go to restaurants and not even
look at the price of any food this is
the only way you'll be able to retire
your family or retire your mom and pay
them a salary like I did having this in
place allowed me to buy my first Rolex
has allowed me to travel the world
anywhere I want live out of airbnbs and
know that I'm going to be okay because I
have unlimited meetings that I can book
on my calendar honestly you need to get
to $10,000 per month ASAP and that's
when your life will shift the most going
from10 to $20,000 a month even though
yes you doubled your income your
happiness and your quality of life does
not go up you just might be flying
business class now you might be eating
slightly fancier food or slightly
fancier restaurants and over tipping and
overpaying for things but you don't
actually care it doesn't matter as much
as going from zero to 10,000 per month
and I know me saying this might upset
some people but honestly I just want to
motivate you and tell you what's on the
other side once you actually put this
all together and once you figure it out
because it will be tough and you're
going to need that motivation in the
back of your mind of what's waiting for
you when you push past all the difficult
moments and the challenges that you're
going to have and all the rejection that
you're going to face when you're
pitching your services but no one wants
to sign up so focus on creating a lead
generation system and then go all in I
have countless of other videos on my
channel where I go super in-depth into
all this Click by click I show you click
here click there this is how you do it
so if you want to learn more about how
to do that you can check those out after
this video and last but certainly not
least you want to have multiple packages
in your web design business I did this
completely wrong I've done so many
meetings with businesses and Pitch them
a $4,000 $5,000 website Knowing damn
well that they are not going to be able
to afford it not every client's going to
be a good client and yet still I could
have Downs sold them a cheap copy paste
website that would have taken me 10
minutes to do and I would have had
monthly recurring Revenue this is not
the ideal situation if you want to sell
expensive custom websites however you
can build an amazing Baseline of income
if you just have a bunch of people
paying you $150 a month for hosting and
you don't have to stick in that $4 to
$6,000 range I've seen other web
designers charge $10,000
$155,000 per project but that's not
going to be for everyone in fact I used
to work at a big Dental marketing agency
and all of their websites were more
expensive than that but all in all the
hardest part about this business is
getting people interested in your
company and then getting them to show up
on zooms you can actually pitch your
services if you don't have a high ticket
plan and a low ticket plan you are
wasting a lot of time and a lot of
meetings you've already put in all the
energy to book the meeting you've put in
all the time you've set a time Block in
your calendar that you're going to be
speaking to this person so it doesn't
make sense to just let them go and not
have a cheaper plan a cheaper package
for them that they can actually move
forward with and I've just found that a
lot of times clients are cool with just
a copy and paste website if they have
nothing up because I'm sure you and I
can both agree that them having
something and a place to put some of
their portfolio and having a place to
Showcase a couple of their reviews is
still better than zero and not being
found online at all so if you want to
learn more about sales and you want to
learn about how to not only get clients
on meetings but actually convert them
into paying customers I'm going to link
up a video right here
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