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How to Learn Code, Start a Web Company, $15k+ per month within 9 months

lowtek

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Forgive me if this has been talked about already, but @Fox or anyone, when developing on your HTML template, how do you show your client what it looks like? I used to develop on Wordpress through a sub domain and my client could easily see the site as I create it. What do you do to keep your client updated on the design?

You can do the same thing with straight HTML. Just host it on a subdomain of your own personal domain.
 
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erikvm

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Apologies if this was already answered by you @Fox, but I scanned all 45 pages and couldn't find the answer. The question was found on page 1 and I'm also curious about this:

"This thread is a goldmine of information when it comes to what you do. I really appreciate you taking the time to share this information with us all. I do have a question though. Looking at the towing websites you listed above. Some of them aren't "bad" but not necessarily anything that would blow me away. Like they look clean(except the last one), have relevant information, fairly modern, links to social media. I guess I don't have an eye for design, but how would you change these for the better. I know you are changing for SEO and to convert more but if I were searching for a towing company I wouldn't judge them too harshly on their web page.

So I guess my question is, how do you convince the business owner who has a decently functional web page to upgrade? A lot of the industries you mentioned seem to be less about "flash" and more about functionality.

Again, thank you for all this info. You've kind of inspired me to pick up my web design/development studies where I left off."
 
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Maxboost

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Just completed the course recommended by Fox however, the course on Udemy is not as clear and concise in explaining some of the html elements. Great at teaching web design though!!! I signed up and bought Rob percival course for 15$ and found it a little better. The course already has free webhosting for a year so it pays itself off the moment you buy it, plus a free ebook that explains how the instructor built a web design company which is exactly what Fox did. Check it out guys, I recommend the complete web developer course 2.0 by Rob Percival on Udemy if you want a deeper understanding of HTML, python, etc..
 

Isaac Oh

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No such thing as a dumb question.

I justify my price by the value added. I don't work by the hour - its all done by the job. The book I linked in a post above is great for how to approach this with clients and get around the concept yourself. If I make a simple website but it produces huge results then I justify only charging a small % of those results.

In general 1-2k for a one page website, up to 6k for a six page website, 10-15k for something that will take over two weeks.
I think its a bargain for the results I get and the level of detail my sites have when they are finished.

If you have a lead then get in touch over PM and if it works out I will give you 20%. That means you have actually talked to someone in a company and you have them warmed up to the idea of a new website.

As for finding companies that could need a new website its very easy. In fact its probably one of the easiest services to find potential customers for.

Job formula: Google... "niche industry" + "local town" and go through the first few pages of results. Anything that looks below par is suitable. I try go for companies that are clearly doing well but haven't updated the website in 3-6 years. You can usually tell by the date in the footer.

So as an example I just googled this...

View attachment 13143

Within the first few searches this site came up...

http://envirosurfaceremovers.com/

Probably a 4k job. Nice thing is he is ranked high on Google but has a poorly converting site. I don't have to focus on SEO or convincing him people will visit since its already on the first page. All he needs now is good copy, images and a clear path of desired action for customers to take. I would probably start the phone call off with that.

You could do that all day and not run out of companies that need a better website.

This was probably my favorite post outside of the "main" thread you posted!
 
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Fox

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It seems like a lot of people are struggling to find the info they need. I made a new thread so everything is up to date and easier to manage...

Making Money With Web Design 2017/2018

If you have any questions for me please ask over there. This thread has a lot of great content but over time some things have changed.
It seemed like a new thread would be much more beneficial to everyone.
 

Fox

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Fox why was I banned from the Facebook group?

Take it up with me via PM.
Usually cause someone was spamming or being rude. I have no idea who you are though so can't say for sure.
 

dior616

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What’s the Facebook group, and can I join?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

MattR82

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Wow, this thread really excites me. I've known about it for a year but put off reading it because I had the wrong idea about what it was.

I'm only a few pages in but looks like my reading schedule tomorrow has just filled up with this gold.

Maybe it's not fastlane in the purest sense of the word, at least not to begin with, but this opens up so many opportunities. And also appeals a lot to my more creative side.

I was doing sales for a friends small digital marketing (SEO) company awhile back. While they were all focussed on spamming I was niching down, searching through pages and pages if Google and analysing their sites to see who needed the most help, then putting together a 5 min personalised screencast video showing how I could help them. Im no guru or genius, but most were missing the most basic conversion methods. Sure I made a lot of mistakes, but im glad I did it now and have that experience.

I also feel like I could have an eye for design, and with experience in sales, and a general knowledge of a few things that are good enough to get me by, or at least know what's good or bad, I could have a real go at this.

Reminds me of a German girlfriend I had that was a programmer who would build websites for spare cash while studying. Technically brilliant and pretty sites but with my background in sales, even then with no experience I could tell something was wrong.

Looking forward to getting into this thread. Rep incoming ++
 

MJ DeMarco

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Perfect example of a website that needs a total rework.

http://www.dwadeconstruction.com/

Something like this is what I call "anti-advertising".

Think about it.

The purpose of the website is to attract customers. Instead, this is doing the opposite -- it's turning them away.

The testimonial link doesn't work. "View our work" link, doesn't work. After that, I left. There's probably more...

If this kind of attention to detail is put forth on the website, what kind of detail can I expect in a project?
 
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jpanarra

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InspireHD

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There was a similar question in the Facebook group where a business stated they did not get a single lead from their website and were unsure if they needed one.

Their website was 2 pages. The first was a couple pictures that scrolled and had their logo -- there was nothing extended below the screen to scroll. And the second page was their contact page.

The thing is that maybe they haven't gotten any leads, but imagine how many customers or buyers went to the site and left. They were being turned away. Imagine how much money they were losing instead. It wasn't a tangible thing so they weren't thinking about the lost customers. They were just seeing they weren't getting any leads.
 

InspireHD

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What about Lynda.com as a website for learning Website design? I got free access to it until the end of the year.

The resources that Fox was recommending is mainly to get comfortable with HTML and CSS. Honestly, it probably doesn't matter where you learn it. If Lynda teaches more advanced concepts, then that's great. The Udemy course is great because it shows you how to build a mock-client website from nothing. Don't spend a ton of time on it, though, because it's not enough to just say, "yes, I know html and css." You have to bring value to a business and be able to sell those services.

So, in short, it doesn't matter where you learn how to use HTML and CSS. If you really wanted to get technical, you almost don't even need to know it. If your expertise is selling, then bring a partner in who knows how to code and then you do the selling. Does that make sense?
 

Fox

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All you need to be able to do is make changes to themes. Anything else after that is a bonus.

The courses I recommended are one way, but there are 100s.

Coding is only a small (but kinda necessary) part of the puzzle.
 

Andy Daniels

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Hey @Fox quick question my man. You say you code from a pre-built theme on themeforest or wherever, and then you custom code from the theme correct? Do you upload the theme files to Brackets? That part of the process confuses me
 

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Jonny Blaze

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All you need to be able to do is make changes to themes. Anything else after that is a bonus.

The courses I recommended are one way, but there are 100s.

Coding is only a small (but kinda necessary) part of the puzzle.
Do you ever have clients that ask you to add a certain feature to their website that you have no idea how to create? Do you just outsource it and eat the cost or learn it yourself? By the way this thread is so awesome, thank you for all the information.
 
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Niptuck MD

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i tried to join the group (last line of fox's signature) and this is what appears. i am on my macbook as well...Screen Shot 2017-11-05 at 4.45.33 PM.png Screen Shot 2017-11-05 at 4.45.33 PM.png
 

BD64

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Do you ever have clients that ask you to add a certain feature to their website that you have no idea how to create? Do you just outsource it and eat the cost or learn it yourself? By the way this thread is so awesome, thank you for all the information.

Outsource and forward the cost to the client in 99% of cases. Or in other cases where it is manageable you may learn it yourself. But don't try to do something too far beyond your skill-set at the time, the ROI for your time to learn it may not be favorable.
 

inputchip

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Outsource and forward the cost to the client in 99% of cases. Or in other cases where it is manageable you may learn it yourself. But don't try to do something too far beyond your skill-set at the time, the ROI for your time to learn it may not be favorable.
Even better, outsource and pay a little extra and then ask the person to show you how they did it so you can LEARN and hopefully be able to do it yourself the next time.
 
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Fox

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DaringK

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The fact is, you should charge based on what your customers are willing to pay. That is how it works in any business, whether it's web or retail. By your logic the barber that charges me $500 for a hair cut is cheating me ethically because his overhead may be the same as a normal one. As if too much profit is bad.

Prices are not set by fox or anyone else. It's set by economics and the market. Rather than asking yourself how come fox charges so much, why not ask why the hell are so many people paying his price?

Sorry but where I come from paying thousands for a simple website for an industrial company is standard. Anyone else charging pennies is doing themselves a disservice. Or probably the leading reason... They don't understand b2b sales.

The reason why the price is at the floor for many artists is because they get education on refining their skills but no business or sales education usually. They taught that price scales inline with their skill which couldn't be further from the truth.
I agree with your point. Especially regarding the markets and economics. We could enter into a whole conversation about why Rich people are rich and poor people are poor. Why some one working at Mcdonalds earns less than a lawyer. It is all about demand and supply. Mcdonalds could pay their employees more than the minimum wage IF customers were happy paying premium prices for a Big Mac. One could argue that a Big Mac taste better than Gourmet burgers but why are we going to pay more for gourmet? It isnt because scientifically one is better than the other. It is because the supply for Gourmet is being met by the demand (limited it may be).

Lastly "premium-price" is relative. You say Fox may be taking advantage charging $12 000. Some one here in Africa or India could argue that charging $5000 for a basic website is a rip off as they would do it for $500.
 
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DaringK

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Man Buys $9 Million License Plate For His Rolls-Royce

By that logic, the license plate is really worth that much since there are people willing to pay for it.

Worth is relative, the same way a Big Mac in America may be "worth" more or less compared to a south african. Why? It is all about perception, demand and supply. Literally at any given moment a uninformed individual might feel that the supply of a website he needs is low and his demand is so high. So high that he either does not want to do the research to find maybe you who could do the website for 5k where the person offering it is charging 12k. Because of the perception of demand and supply of that individual at that moment, the 12k will be justified to him. The same way some stores

It does not matter to me what Fox does, and he's certainly not hurting my business in any way haha. I know that sales is a lot of work and I am not discrediting him for all his hard efforts. Perhaps there was a misunderstanding, so I rest my case :)



There are websites which sell customized license plates like these, so there is definitely a market for it. When it's not your own money, or you have too much money, you have no problem with spending $50k on a website, $1 million on an app and hundreds of thousands on a license plate. Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately? :) ) we don't all live like that.

BTW I love this forum and thread for exactly this reason. It is not only about learning but engaging. I thank you and appreciate you opinion and for sharing it. I think you have even answered a question I have been wanting ask. And that question is how do I price a service that is $5000 but if I convert it in my currency it would be like charging $50 000 for the same service.
 
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Hey @Fox, been following this thread for about 6 months. Left my job a couple months ago and have just got my payment from my first client. Got 4 more who are (hopefully) about to sign their monthly contract and about 10 warm leads that "want to start after the new year", which has been a common excuse...

I am trying to do recurring model instead with different packages that have different monthly maintenance hours/updates, hosting and potentially social media stuff. I see it working in the long run, but for now its very slow. Hope to get 50 by next October.

A few questions...

I know you like to stay local but have you gone about getting clients not local, say a few hours away in your state or a whole state over? I ask because I am doing everything to get clients from cold calling, cold approaching businesses, just sent a direct mailer to 1000 in my area etc. and services online offer already qualified leads that just need a quote from you (i.e. Thumbtack). These are normally remote jobs but I feel they are a great source for leads. I am in the early stages and want/need as much business as possible. Am I over stretching and should wait? Because I know you say referrals are huge... I am also about to hire on a cold-caller from upwork as well.
 
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