Fox's 2019 Make $100k Starting Web Design from Scratch Challenge

[Fox]

After the success of @Lex DeVille's Upwork challenge, I decided to start one of my own...

Start a completely new web design business in 2019, get it back to making over 100k+ a year, and document the whole thing.

Pretty ambitious but I thought this over and have fully committed. It for sure won't be easy (I am actually quite nervous) but at the same time it will:

- Force me to take huge action and step up my game
- Show others what is possible and how to get similar results
- Cuts out a lot of the nonsense within the web design teaching/guru space
- Should be a good bonus lesson for people on here in making valuable content and growing an audience

This is a 100% real challenge - I will document the whole thing and as much as possible and share will client details, projects, successes and failures etc.

I thought over a lot what sort of content would best help people looking at web design and figured showing the "real behind the scenes" stuff would cut through a lot of noise. Having to start again will force me to share what exact steps I am taking and how the market is responding.

On top of this, I will be also offering some extra services like video production, photos, email marketing and automation, and branding and marketing.

So here we go!

Here is the first video outlining the challenge....

If the Fastlane forum wants I can also make extra videos/answer questions just for the forum on the making and results of the actual challenge - Youtube production and growth, how it links to Fox Web School, and so on.

Taking this challenge does link to what I do with Fox Web School as I am hoping to make more real content that stands apart from what @MJ DeMarco calls "bro marketing". As things progress I will share also how those results are also and how I am hoping to disrupt the web design educational niche.

 

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[Fox]

Video 2 is up...

Any questions or feedback just let me know here.

Next week I start with actual client stuff so I am looking forward to seeing how that goes. I got one client meeting lined up so hopefully can record some of the sales meeting and the job itself.

 

[Fox]

This is awesome @Fox

I’m definitely subscribing to this thread!

Quick question: You mentioned earlier in the thread that you use html templates. Is the content populated through a CMS of some sort or just hardcoded into the template files?

Ill show my process when I get the first job but its pretty simple.

Get a good theme > make some simple but smart edits > punch in my content > good to go.

My thoughts are a site is for selling, I am not about pure coding. If the site gets results and performs well I am happy.

I got clients who have made multiple 100ks from sites built on $19 themes.

I'll take heat from the code guys for this but I see websites as just a way to get a sales message across.

Edit* my websites don't sell on the actual site / don't have to do complex tasks - so it's all good for me to go with static themes. When I get a project video up it will become pretty clear.

 

[Fox]

I tried to do this but i gave up. Too easly. Shame on me.
The things i had problems with are:

• even if i want to give a website for free it looks suspicious for people. How can i explain that to them?
• if someone is interested, then they want to meet during business hours, in my office. The problems is i work full time and i don't have any office. Meeting a client in a coffee shop is unprofessional, isn't it?

Have you had problems with that, @Fox? or @ChrisV ? Or anyone?

I think you are over thinking it a little.

It is work in exchange for free advertising/testimonials. That is probably as old as business itself.

Tell the businesses why you are doing it and that you need them to succeed so you can succeed (position yourself on their side of the table).

Meet in their office. Or have a phone call. Or meet anywhere.

Lots of freelancers don't have offices. I have never met a single client in my office (cause I don't have one) or my house. If it is someone local then their business is the best place to meet.

Get back out there and make it work!

 

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[Fox]

Hey Fox,

I've been following your content for a while now and I'm pretty excited to watch you take this journey. I've been a full-time front-end developer for the past 5 years and I'm hoping to do what you're doing one day. I do have a couple of questions for you.

1. How do you differentiate your services from Squarespace or Wix in a client's eye? If I was a business owner I'd look at the cost of making a Squarespace site vs hiring you to do my site for me and see that I could get a nice looking website for next to nothing. How do you get past that barrier?
2. What kind of clients do you target and how do they find you? Or do you go to them?

I did a business on Wix here a while back. It answers what you asked perfectly...

For finding clients I am going to go slow and steady. I see a lot of people rushing in and making a 100 calls a day etc. That for sure is not my style. I only need around 20 projects to complete this challenge so I am going to be very strategic.

As to who exactly I will target I haven't decided yet. I will cover this soon though as its a step I need to lock in on.

 

[Chris Franklin]

Ill show my process when I get the first job but its pretty simple.

Get a good theme > make some simple but smart edits > punch in my content > good to go.

My thoughts are a site is for selling, I am not about pure coding. If the site gets results and performs well I am happy.

I got clients who have made multiple 100ks from sites built on $19 themes.

I'll take heat from the code guys for this but I see websites as just a way to get a sales message across.

Edit* my websites don't sell on the actual site / don't have to do complex tasks - so it's all good for me to go with static themes. When I get a project video up it will become pretty clear.

I am actually surprised by the number of web designers that don't follow this practice! Why in the world would you use anything other than a static template for a simple sales page? It should be about using the right tool for the job, not the one that you like most.

This is why it frustrates me when I go to a simple site with a home page, about, services and maybe 1 other page and I see "Powered by Wordpress" after a 5-second page load. Use static templates for static sites, Wordpress for blogs, and Javascript frameworks for web apps. Period.

I know my validation isn't worth more than the pixels on your screen, but you are doing the right thing @Fox.

 

[Fox]

Next episode is up...

Was so annoyed this week - had a great deal lined up and the guy just didn't even want to know about it. Anyway managed to land another free website project later in the week to kick things off.
---
Any questions on landing the first project or on the actual challenge itself (production etc) let me know here.
Thanks.

 

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[Fox]

Doing good so far - I'm up about 150 subs since that video went up.

I think people like the idea of a challenge like this and showing the real side of starting a new business.

Starting to record episode 2 today which will be on my strategies and the systems I will be using to hold myself accountable.

Still nervous (I am actually pretty camera shy) but I am feeling good about this project.

 

[Fox]

This is random but what is a really good easy WordPress Theme to use?

I actually use mostly HTML themes and don't use wordpress myself.

Elementor is really popular with my students and produces great results.

 

[Fox]

Got to hand it to you: You have a lot bigger balls than I do.

With that said, your video presence is really good, so I'm excited to see what comes in 2019.

As for your existing business, what happened to that? How are you starting a new company from scratch? You sold that one, or are branding and building up a separate corporation?

I am just handing over work to my business partner who works on the Fox Web School stuff. She has the time to handle any changes or updates and its a nice bonus for helping me in return. If I do make any income from those it will be separate to this challenge. It will mostly be small stuff if there is even any - my sites don't need much maintenance.

I'll be honest about the videos - it takes quite a few takes and some days I just give up and try again when I am feeling 100%. Video can really take it out of you (or at least me) so after a few dozen failed takes I get pretty tired/frustrated. I am sure I will get better in time but for now, even making the videos is a challenge ha!

 

[Fox]

@Fox besides a very small percentage, I think almost everyone is uncomfortable behind the camera for videos. It definitely doesn't show though, you seem calm and collected for the content that I've watched.

Even though I've been following this challenge in the Facebook groups, I haven't had a chance to ask some questions yet so here are a few that I was thinking about:

1. You've had success in certain niches with your other web design business. Is the plan to continue to target those industries or other ones that you haven't worked with before?

2. Although I doubt these objections come up as you have the skills to keep the sales conversations about the client's problems and how you can help but... do you have an idea of how you'd handle it if a client asked about your previous experience?

3. One thing I was personally guilty of in the past was thinking that when I needed to make a sale I would go crazy and cold call 200 businesses in a week instead of focusing on maybe 20 businesses to reach out to in a week. I'm assuming the more specialized strategy is what you'll be using... how much time do you usually spend doing targeting for each potential lead?

Thanks!

1) I will (most likely) be sticking with simple static sites for Blue Collar or similar industries. Only differences this time is added in value of things like video production, photos, and off-site systems like email.

I am going to take a guess and say that property and construction are going to be some main niches. I am not expecting much $ action for a few months though - I got to build up that portfolio first. WHich brings me to...

2) For the portfolio stage, I am going to go with some good web design training from one of my favourite movies...

I really am going to make them an offer they can't refuse:

- An amazing site with a clear plan to make them money and bring in new clients for basically no cost (during the portfolio stage).

The deals will be so good they won't care what I have done before and I will try to remove all risk. Ill try show exactly how this was done on the videos. I will take the money hit for this stage but it is the fastest way to get to the higher paying jobs.

3) I am going to be very strategic first few months. I won't need many calls at all in this stage - I will plan out deals that should have more of a chance of closing that not. But once the portfolio stage is done I then got to use that anyway I can to get real paying jobs. This is where the calls and emails will kick in. But even then I try to plan things out and avoid mega cold calling type approaches.

 

[Andy Black]

I can totally relate to your frustration: I recorded a few videos for a sales funnel 10 years ago
Very time-consuming and the result is not pro when the bad parts are just cut out of the sequence, so it has to be good, end-to-end.

It is so much easier to just record the voice on top of the screen action (e.g. with Camtasia).
That way the audio can be cut & pasted where needed and
You don't need many takes to get one good end to end sequence.

If I had to do it again, that's how I'd do 80% of the takes

So maybe it's worth wondering how much you actually need to be seen full screen on every video to achieve your goal?

Maybe the intro and conclusion of the video is enough, the rest just with audio on top of the screen recording?

Another option to consider is the way this guy does his courses on Udemy:
View attachment 22739
his face just appears in a bottom corner!
Pretty neat.

It still feels very personal, but we will not notice the interruption/change of position when a bad video sequence was cut out because we focus on the rest of the screen most of the time, not on his face;

I don’t mind jump cuts as a consumer.

As a producer it was quite the revelation when I figured out how to edit videos and not have to do things in one take.

 

[Fox]

Great thread! Thanks!

1. Are all of your future $5-20k clients going to be 1-page sites like the gym client? Or are you only doing 1-page sites for the free clients?
2. On average, and I know it varies, but how much time do you average to build each site, all inclusive of everything you do?
3. Does this end with filling your plate with projects, or do you plan to talk about leverage/outsourcing any parts of this?

1. Nah for free sites I want to keep them smaller but high quality - less time for me to make but they still have the same leverage to get real sales later. Future sites will be bigger.

2. The gym site will take maybe 30 hours all in. But it varies so much on each project - I don't have an exact figure really.

3. Ya later I will build a team and outsource etc. The whole year won't be me by myself - more showing people how to scale and grow as best as possible. For now, though I try do the most I can myself to replicate someone else's experience starting off.

---

So just got the gym promo video made up. Site should be live Monday...

I shot all this in one night and then edited the next morning. Around 7 hours of work.

 

[Stargazer]

I've been a full-time front-end developer for the past 5 years and I'm hoping to do what you're doing one day.

1. How do you differentiate your services from Squarespace or Wix in a client's eye? If I was a business owner I'd look at the cost of making a Squarespace site vs hiring you to do my site for me and see that I could get a nice looking website for next to nothing. How do you get past that barrier?

Your question only exists in your head because of what I have bolded

I promise you I have no idea what you are talking about. There is no barrier.

When sales people or Trades people start rubbing their chins and sucking air and scratching their heads when asked the price of their solution, half the time they are thinking the potential client is bound to know how easy it is to sort out themselves so I wonder what price I can un-confidently put forth.

Once we humans know something we start to assume everyone else knows what we do too.

Dan

 

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[Fox]

Great intro/episode one. I have more hard skills (coding) than natural soft skills- sales. And not much of a portfolio, at least not alive today. I hope sales is also a hard skill by definition!

When pitching to clients, especially when building portf. - do you overpromise just to close or underpromise & overdeliver?

I try never to overpromise but I do use selling techniques to get them to take action...
- Stack as much value as you can
- Remove any doubts, fears, resistance to change

With clients, I would say I succeed cause I ask good questions/listen well and figure out the above two things the best I can.
> What can I do to give them as much value as possible?
> What do they consider valuable?
and
> How can I reduce anything which currently annoys or frustrates them?
> And also making buying from me as easy as possible?

That is a very simple version but should help. Ill cover more in the future when I got real clients to refer to.

 

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[Fox]

The newest video is up.

Was hard to keep going on Christmas eve but got it done!

I also just moved to Oaxaca so ready to go for 2019.
Hoping to really push myself to make some great content in 2019.

Ill make a big update post end of year.

 

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[GWan]

This is random but what is a really good easy WordPress Theme to use?

Here's a great video showing how to use WordPress + Elementor that taught me everything I needed to know. Found this on a post by @GuitarManDan on the Fox Web Inside Group on FB.

 

[Fox]

Latest video is up...

I got the opportunity to help a local construction business create more leads and if successful I will earn a % on any sales. Pretty challenging project but I feel solid about it.

 

[AgainstAllOdds]

How did this challenge end up?

 

[.B.]

I'll be honest about the videos - it takes quite a few takes and some days I just give up and try again when I am feeling 100%. Video can really take it out of you (or at least me) so after a few dozen failed takes I get pretty tired/frustrated. I am sure I will get better in time but for now, even making the videos is a challenge ha!

I can totally relate to your frustration: I recorded a few videos for a sales funnel 10 years ago
Very time-consuming and the result is not pro when the bad parts are just cut out of the sequence, so it has to be good, end-to-end.

It is so much easier to just record the voice on top of the screen action (e.g. with Camtasia).
That way the audio can be cut & pasted where needed and
You don't need many takes to get one good end to end sequence.

If I had to do it again, that's how I'd do 80% of the takes

So maybe it's worth wondering how much you actually need to be seen full screen on every video to achieve your goal?

Maybe the intro and conclusion of the video is enough, the rest just with audio on top of the screen recording?

Another option to consider is the way this guy does his courses on Udemy:

his face just appears in a bottom corner!
Pretty neat.

It still feels very personal, but we will not notice the interruption/change of position when a bad video sequence was cut out because we focus on the rest of the screen most of the time, not on his face;

 

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[Fox]

New video up.

This is starting to move in the direction I was aiming for - real details and info about actual website projects. Still a long way to go with production but this is the video I am probably most happy with so far.

Thanks for this thread @Fox
What are you using to make your sites?

Just HTML themes for now - simple and fast.

 

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[GuitarManDan]

Also remember do not limit yourself by the price of a project, but by the value that you can provide to a customer with a project. A $10K project might be even easier than a $2K simply because the $10K project came from a client with a much bigger budget, not because the work was inherently more difficult. Don't create arbitrary mental barriers for yourself. If company A will pay you $10K for a project but company B will only pay you $2K for an identical project, you aren't a 5x better web designer / copywriter for picking company A, but a 5x better prospector.

The inspiration for this idea came from a really valuable insight taken from a member of Fox's Make Money with Web Design Facebook group:

"I have a theory, and it's something I think a lot of experienced guys here will agree with. The $1,000-$2,000 site range could be the HARDEST to enter. This is why "bottom-up" sales will screw you. The people that will spend 1-2k on a site recognize that they're worth more than a starter site, but may not have the cashflow to commit to what they're worth. Business is hard, and when you're in the intermediate stage, it feels important to appear professional but often times the budget gets in the way. It is for this reason that I believe most people will hit a plateau.

If you're hitting this barrier, stop trying to climb the barrier. Walk right past it. This is where "top-down sales" comes into play. Starting with your highest, most seemingly unachievable client, sell to them then work your way down. Even though selling to top businesses takes more work, There's a few reasons you should do this. The first is that you will learn a TON. Forcing yourself to dig into a corporate structure will teach you a lot about who gets what calls, who makes what decisions, and the language they speak. You'll learn about what they want to hear, and what will get you hung up on. You'll learn how to talk with gatekeepers and not sound as salesy, which means you'll bypass a lot more gatekeepers."

Absolutely solid advice for anyone starting off. As someone who's been running a web design/SEO business for about a year and a half now, this is 100% accurate.

The $800-$2k or so range is the most competitive and the clients are the most difficult. They want the world for $1000 and nit pick every little detail.

This video was an absolute game changer for me, so much wisdom here that made me think about all of this differently when I was starting off and afraid to charge what I considered "high prices".

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKXZ7t_RiOE


If you run any kind of services business, you won't regret checking this one out.

 

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[ontheRIGHTtrack]

This is awesome!
I feel lost in my corporate job. I have a bond with the company and have to pay them up 2000$ in order to be able to quit the company within my first 12 months.
I am going to put my all in with your challenge and get my first steps in the entrepreneurial world and quit my dead end job for good.
Thanks for the timely video @Fox .

 

[Fox]

How much do you think the site you're doing for free is worth if you charged your full price?

And what was your criteria for the business you would do it for? I remember you once mentioned doing a site for a family member that nobody ever even saw or used and it was a waste of time, even as a portfolio piece. What criteria makes doing this for free worth it?

Probably like $2,000 - $3,000.

They sell membership at $200 a year so wouldn't be hard to justify the cost. It is a good niche to start with to show the value of a website but not a great "profit" niche since gyms are generally low margins and it's super competitive.

For a website, my main thing to look for is "value".

It usally breaks down to mostly more customers/sales/profit.

So if I can bring in more people to the site - win (SEO)
If I can get more people to buy on the site - win (Conversion)
If I can get people to buy MORE (Sales in general) - win

I want to improve all three but I like to work with sites that have some SEO/views already.

There are other harder to track things too like trust, credibility, new services, or products etc.

For any site I need to make sure there will be people viewing the site. Without this none of the other things matter. No views - no sales.

So with a new site, I need to make sure that it will get listed. With a typical niche this could be an issue but with a gym, people will be searching a lot. They have a decent amount of natural search volume already (gyms in this town in general).

I just need to make sure I can get it listed on google businesses and it should do the rest itself.

Ill cover this in one of the upcoming videos too.

 

[The Abundant Man]

Meeting a client in a coffee shop is unprofessional, isn't it?
Have you had problems with that, @Fox? or @ChrisV ? Or anyone?

There's a psychological reason behind coffee. It's due to association.

For example, you and your girlfriend have a favorite song together. You two break up one day. Now whenever you hear that one song, it hurts. You hate it now.

Coffee is warm. Whenever you drink coffee with a person, your brain associates the feeling of warmness with the other person.

 

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[GregDott]

Ill show my process when I get the first job but its pretty simple.

Get a good theme > make some simple but smart edits > punch in my content > good to go.

My thoughts are a site is for selling, I am not about pure coding. If the site gets results and performs well I am happy.

I got clients who have made multiple 100ks from sites built on $19 themes.

I'll take heat from the code guys for this but I see websites as just a way to get a sales message across.

Edit* my websites don't sell on the actual site / don't have to do complex tasks - so it's all good for me to go with static themes. When I get a project video up it will become pretty clear.

I'm from a coding background myself and I personally opt to use themes whenever possible. Saves on time spent working and increases revenue. There are so many greatly designed themes out there as well. Far better than anything I am capable of creating myself.

I think there is a slightly mad elitism floating about. Mad as in it causes people to do more work than they need to.

 

[ChrisV]

I tried to do this but i gave up. Too easly. Shame on me.
The things i had problems with are:

• even if i want to give a website for free it looks suspicious for people. How can i explain that to them?
• if someone is interested, then they want to meet during business hours, in my office. The problems is i work full time and i don't have any office. Meeting a client in a coffee shop is unprofessional, isn't it?

Have you had problems with that, @Fox? or @ChrisV ? Or anyone?

Edit: I misunderstood the question somewhat, but I’ll leave the answer anyway because I think it’s useful. I thought he was responding about our template conversation.

Original message:

Every designer buys resources. Whether it be fonts, or stock photos, or layouts. Even major TV show producers use stock footage and buy templates for Adobe InDesign. No one can do 100% of Graphic Design by themselves.

But the important thing is... I’d think of it terms of value. You go to the store and buy a $4 cheeseburger. It’s really good. You’re happy with your purchase. That cheeseburger has added at least $4 worth the value to your life. Do you care if robots made it, or if someone had to slave over a hot stove making it from scratch.

If you charge $1,500 for a site (which is a good price when you’re starting out) if your customer feels like they got even $1,501 worth the value from it, they’re going to be happy.

So let me ask you this question. If you were a customer... would you rather someone made you an amazing, awesome website for $1,500... or would you rather they gave you a ‘meh’ one that they worked really really hard on.

At the end of the day they’re paying for the results.

And trust me... even using templates, you’re going to be putting in work. They’re going to be messaging you asking you to make tweaks, change fonts, move pictures. And if anyone asks just say ‘I buy like 30 different templates, choose one that fit’s my client’s needs, and use them as starting points'

Again, it’s the results that matter more than how you got the results. If you needed your lawn mowed would you be mad if the landscaper had big, awesome equipment that made it really easy for them, or if they used a n on-electrical push mower. In reality, you’d probably prefer someone with the fancy equipment because it provides better/faster results.

As for the second question, I just talk to my clients over the phone and email. But sure, meet them in a coffee shop. Freelance graphic designers a lot of times don’t have offices.

 

[Fox]

I never posted the last video so here it is:

Mixed feelings on this one.
- I launched on New Year's Eve so the view count was terrible.
- I don't really like making code videos even though it is a big part of making a web design. It is boring to make and also everyone has different software/methods so its hard to appeal to your whole audience. I think it is the last step-by-step coding video I will make. I much prefer to focus on sales.

New Years and Christmas really messed up my schedule. Everything was closed and I also stayed at my gf's place (good for eating, bad for work).

I think I will only be able to get started again on the gym website next week which means I will have to cover another topic this week.

For 2019 I am going to be learning a lot about filmmaking and trying to keep improving the production of the videos. At the same time, I just need to focus on getting content out there and sticking to my plan. The challenge is definitely attracting new people to the channel but each episode should be able to stand on it's own legs too.

 

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[Fox]

Okay so my business partner Alex worked on the thumbnails this weekend and I think it looks a lot better...

I remember someone suggesting to fix that ha!

So this video is good but a little off track for my challenge. With the holidays and moving to Oaxaca it has been hard to get time (and when it was actually open) to move ahead with the gym project. This week though I am good to go so hoping to catch up big time with actual web work.

Hopefully, very soon I got some good content about actual sites (that are finished) and am making more progress.

 

[Andy Black]

Meeting a client in a coffee shop is unprofessional, isn't it?

I presume you mean meeting a prospect rather than a client?

If I meet a prospect, which I rarely do, then I *prefer* to meet in coffee shops.

If I travel to a coffee shop near them then they also have to make a small effort to leave their offices and meet me. It’s a nice little filter.

A coffee shop is also neutral ground and we’re meeting as peers. I’m a business owner chatting to another business owner.

By making it a chat over coffee then we’re avoiding the “sales dance” and can build a proper relationship.

Some folks, such as tradesmen, are used to traveling and meeting people in all sorts of offices and dwellings. If you’re working on a computer at home they often respect that. 1) Because they’d love to work from home sometimes. 2) Because they figure they’re not paying for your office.


All of the above to warn you to be careful of dismissing things so easily.

I often ask myself: Do I really need that? Is it possible someone in the world does very well without that?