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Growing a web design business

A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

Fiftytwos

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Jun 17, 2020
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Owasso, Oklahoma
Hey Everyone,

I've been on the forum for a few months now and I've learned so much in the months here. I'm putting what I've learned into practice in this thread. I started my web design business with the help of @Fox 's course and a lot of inspiration from @GuitarManDan. I had a conversation with Dan before I joined the course, and after talking with him I knew I was headed in the right direction. That conversation is what gave me the push I needed to overcome the resistance to starting, and the groups associated with Fox's course are great for keeping me going in the right direction.

I'm excited to contribute here and share everything I have going on with the forum. I'll be sharing my successes as well as my failures here, so check back for regular updates.

The web design business is my sole source of income right now. Current things going on with my business - I'm in the process of finishing my company website and I'm working on my first portfolio project for an electronics manufacturing company I worked for in the past. I have a meeting on Friday to discuss how I can help a local business owner with their website and sales (they run a local gaming store). I'm hoping this meeting goes well because this guy also owns a few other companies and he mentioned that he'd be interested in me doing websites for those companies if this project goes good.

Feel free to ask any questions you have!
 
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Stargazer

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Mar 8, 2018
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Great.

I like the projects you are doing. Especially the manufacturing one.

With the fragility of world wide supply chains due to both Geo-politics and the rise of 3D industrial printing more and more North American and European companies will look towards 'local' ie internal manufacturers for their supplies.

And yet most of them do not present themselves online very well. They rely on their existing base, word of mouth, Trade Ads and Shows - all good stuff but neglect where the new clients of the future will be coming from.

Dan
 
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Fiftytwos

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Jun 17, 2020
13
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Owasso, Oklahoma
Hey guys,

It's been almost a month since my first post. I've learned a lot over the past month so I feel it's time for an update here.

Since I last posted I've finished my company website, finished the website for my former employer the electronics manufacturer, and am working on mockup website for the gaming store client. I've made my first few cold calls (they felt rough haha), and sent out many cold emails. I've also learned about my shortcomings when it comes to getting myself to stay productive.

The electronics manufacturer site went very well, it was smooth communication between us and the site looks great. It'll make a great portfolio piece for me. They liked it so much they paid me $500 for it even though I went into the project and told them it was free. I learned about managing expectations with this project, and learned the basics of how to layout a site and what criteria it needs to fulfill.

Some backstory on the gaming store prospect, I met the prospect when I went to his store with a friend of mine just as customers, he and I got to talking when I was there and we arranged a meeting to see how I can help him and his companies that Friday. I went to the meeting and it went well overall, I got a lot of experience on how to sell and what questions to ask, as well as managing expectations, setting a professional frame, and showing I'm an expert. The meeting ended but I didn't have a direct sale. He says he likes my work, but is worried that he won't see an ROI on his site if the Illinois governor closes businesses again with the current situation so we decided to put the project on the backburner for a month. In my free time I've been working on a mockup for his site to show him soon.

Other than those two things my month has been rather uneventful when it comes to this business, I've been reaching out to local businesses through cold emailing (mostly), and some cold calling to follow up my cold emailing. The biggest wall I'm hitting right now on that front is getting people to trust me, and finding people who need my help. I know this is temporary but It's frustrating trying to get new clients. I just need to keep going and I'll get good enough to the point where more people trust me. I also want to find other methods of prospecting though, I would love to go to some kind of networking event around me, but there aren't many going on at the moment.

One of the other things I'm struggling with / learning about myself is I'm very easily distracted on the internet. There's days where I can't seem to break myself out of spiraling on Youtube all day, or other avoidant behaviors. This is taking more of my focus to break out of, and going into this I didn't think it would be a problem haha. The ways I'm addressing these issues is by using time blocking to keep myself working on the current task, then when my attention span breaks at the end of the block I get a break and come back to work after the break. I also downloaded a website blocker that blocks distractions on my pc to keep my focused.

I want to find a niche where I can be effective and provide value to the clients I work with. This is one of my main focuses right now. I think focusing on the electronics manufacturing industry could be a good one, or focusing on medical professionals or legal professionals. I want to be the go to guy for my type of service in one of these niches.

The the last thing on my mind for this post it to touch on something else I feel may effect my productivity. Winter here in Chicago is coming soon, and I know it effects me in the wrong ways (seasonal depression). I want to leave this state soon and move to Arizona. I will be visiting there in the next few months to look at apartments, the question is which area I'm going to look in. I'm thinking around Scottsdale / Phoenix areas. If anyone has recommendations for apartments in these areas please post them here or message me, thank you!

Lastly, I joined a challenge that I know will push me to the next level when it comes to this business. Fox web school is hosting a 100 day challenge for its students to help us level up. This has lit a fire under me to be better and ask myself the important questions at the end of every day about what I did well, what I didn't do well, and what I'll change about tomorrow. I also am in an accountability group for this challenge and the guys I'm working with are great, we're all pushing each other to be better and it's giving me the motivation I need to work harder and be better, I think this is something I was missing and didn't know I needed. Competing with these guys makes me excited to work more than usual which I'm grateful for!

We're coming up on the end of this year already and I have goals to hit before that time.

The goals I want to hit before the end of this year are:
-Make $5000 by the end of December (currently $500/$5000 goal)
-Find my niche (industry to focus on)
-Sharpen my prospecting skills and gain at least 5 new clients
-Learn SEO

Thanks everyone for reading, more updates coming in the future.
 
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