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

[Fox]

It has taken me a long time to have time to create this thread and for that I apologize. I have been getting PMs for months and while I helped a lot of you out with detailed responses I wanted to start a thread so everyone would have access to the same information.

*** This isn't exact Fastlane, at least not in the beginning, but its a great way to earn 5 figures a month, learn the skills to create and run your own FL business while building a network of top business people***

Back at the beginning of the year I packed up everything I owned in Canada and moved to South America. I was keen to make enough income to stay down there while also building my own Fastlane business. Problem was I had no online skills, no idea what to do and have never ran a successful business before.

I just launched my business last week and I am still down here living happily so I guess I could say things have gone very well. Hopefully this information helps others achieve similar success and allows them to start pursuing their dreams.


So first things first:

- I started with zero coding knowledge in January of this year. I didn't know how to host a website, I didn't know what HTML or CSS was, I made a tonne of really basic mistakes and figured it all out by myself. I didn't take any expensive courses, had no mentors and probably only spent a few hundred dollars getting set up.

It took me a while to refine my niche but what I now focus on is building simple yet powerful websites that get huge results. No crazy interactive code, no fancy graphics, just simple, clean, professional websites that add huge value to the clients who hire me.

In the last few months I have
- built a website that landed a $1 million pus contract for the guys who hired me (they hadn't worked in over 8 months - oil company)
- built a website that helped get a pro athlete into a world tournament and increased pay from his sponsors (social media profile increase)
- Built a website that has a lawyer making over 1k a week on consultations

While I made good money on these websites its nice to know that the value I added is many times more and all my clients have been very satisfied.

I am still in the early stages of figuring this all out though so as this thread goes along I will still update with what I am learning and what has changed. Right now my problem is scaling, I need more top sales people on the ground selling websites for me. I will come back to this in another post maybe.


So how to begin:

So todays lesson is on how to get started at the very start. You know nothing and you want to get in on this action too. Some quick notes - I build "custom" HTML websites 99% of the time, I don't use wordpress except in some rare cases for add on blog/news sections to my sites. Why? Most of my clients are very busy, non tech people. They don't want or have time to update their websites. They want it built well and they want it to run itself. HTML is a lot better for this and when done right looks way more professional.

How to begin with HTML:

Take the HTML and CSS lessons on https://www.codecademy.com/.

You can also do the JS section but I didn't and have been just fine.


Next take the following UDEMY course:

https://www.udemy.com/design-and-develop-a-killer-website-with-html5-and-css3/


After this you will now know how to edit and work with HTML themes. What does that mean?

Well there is no point creating a website from scratch. That takes years of coding experience and a lot of time for each new clients. Luckily enough people have gone and created HTML themes - its an already coded website where you just rearrange, switch out the pictures and text and add in a few extra bits (I will show how to do all of this at a later stage).

An example of a theme is here...

https://themeforest.net/item/foundry-multipurpose-html-variant-page-builder/11562108?s_rank=9

It just a blank slate with a certain style that you work with. While this may seem like strange or cheating (I thought this was how to learn to build websites!??) its not. Anyone with an internet can create a website these days so that is not where we will be adding value. We add value by building a website with a purpose. We want to build websites that get results and make money, or whatever they are trying to achieve, for the owner.

So how do you build a website that gets great results?

Good question.

As @Andy Black would say you want sales not a website. I am going to meet him half way with you want to build a website that gets sales. Not a website that looks amazing, has cool videos and sections, talks about the companies recent gold tournament or how they really wanted to do X since they were 5. Now it might do one or all of these things but only IF it helps gets sales.

Every page, link, click and action on the website is to help facilitate the growth of the company and sales.

Lets take for example an immigration lawyer website...

Is the goal of the site to teach you about immigration law?
Is it to show you stats of work, trade and education within the country?
Is it to teach you about what to do when you first arrive, what to pack, what to expect?

No.

The whole purpose of that website is for the user to either book a consultation or contact them regarding their services. Which both lead to that person hiring them as their immigration lawyer.

Now it might use some of the above to help with that goal but it only has one main purpose. Everything we do for that client must help with that goal or if it doesn't help... be removed.


You are going to learn to take the value of threads of here regarding copywriting, sales and the Fastlane Mindset and apply it other peoples businesses to help them achieve massive results. This just happens to take the form of a website. You are really selling sales and results.

Once you sell results there is no limit to what you can charge and achieve.


If you have read all this and want to start follow the above links, compete them fully and then follow along with the next stages. There will be a lot to cover but I will outline everything you need to know to be making over $10,000 a month with 6 months*.

*Assumes actual work ethic, being able to do some learning by yourself and filling in the gaps. I will give advice but I won't be holding anyones hand step-by-step.

Next lesson... Client selection.

 

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[Fox]

So how can you make decent money with limited web skills, only a few weeks/months experience, and just a simple laptop?

The types of clients you help.

Imagine for a second the website you build will only ever generate one sale per year. Maybe only one sale ever.


Now lets over some businesses you could have built that website for...

Client one: Jimmy & Friends Coffee Shop.
One sale is a cup of coffee or maybe if they are lucky a lunch special. One sale profit: $3-10 profit maybe.


Client Two: Jimmy & Co Travel Agency.
Maybe that one sale is a trip to Paris, or maybe even a round the world one year break. Profits on travel are slim though and the internet is really driving down those juice margins. One sale profit: $150- $1,000 profit maybe.


Client Three: Jimmy Inc. Industrial Clean Up Services.

Now this website is on the sexy side of things. It won't exact be winning website of the year award or going viral on FB but...
One sale of a large scale clean up at that oil refinery this winter... Maybe $500,000 to $4 million. Maybe more.

Now when it comes time to sell websites you always say you aim to get your clients ten times the results that they invest in you.

So lets do the maths...

Client One: You can justify 30c - $1
Client Two: You can justify $15 - $100
Client Three: You can justify $50k to $400,000.


Same amount of time dealing with the client, same amount of time coding, same amount fo time hiring a pro photographer. Very different result.

Now what you charge is your own choice. But the above example should clearly show who to build for:

- Construction
- Industrial Services
- Engineering
- Oil
- Legal
- Medical

The first four are my favorite. Unsexy, boring, aggressive clients, large contracts.


"Hey Mr. Fox but what about tech start ups and that new app, they are making a zillion dollars. Lets go build for them!!!"

No way and here is why...

- They are in the design and internet business, they know guys already or have minimum wage slaves to work round the clock on design and websites
- There is no shortage of guys trying to approach the "cool" companies for web design
- You will always be replaceable
- They won't see your value


Your aim is to become a problem solver for large, boring, industrial companies that know nothing about the internet and want to deal with a "regular guy" to fix that website.

Thats it for today.

Soon I will go over how to get your first few jobs and also how to find these clients (super easy).

Sneak peak... I don't use upwork or any other slave labor website. I go direct or hire sales guys who go direct.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

If you can't get a first client to pay because they can't trust a newbie, do something for free. If your work is good, it will steamroll from there.

If I was just getting started again, here's how I would go about it.

1. Find a notable company in a larger industry with a poorly designed website.
   
2. Find the decision maker and "try" to get authorization to redo their website... TOTALLY FREE OF CHARGE. If they like it, they can use it.
3. If you can't find the decision maker, DO IT ANYWAY.
4. Redesign the website.
   
5. Make sure it is your best work, and a clear improvement over the original website.
6. Email the entire upper management the link of the new website -- reiterate that it is FREE and that you will change anything they want.
7. Once they see the work and realize it is FREE, they will probably accept it.
8. Now you have your first client -- giving you the ability to say "We recently redesigned XXX's website." -- giving you social proof with a notable company. Now you can look to start charging. If not, repeat.
   
9. The above can be done for APPS as well. (I noticed you didn't have a mobile app?)
   
10. At some point, it will become easier and easier to find paid work.
11. Pick color of Lamborghini.

 

[goodguude]

Since I am also in this business for a month now I want to share some useful resources.
Hope it's okay to post them in your thread, @Fox .

Learning to code:

for free:
www.freecodecamp.com
(extensive)
www.codecademy.com -> look at the courses HTML & CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, Make a Website, Make an interactive Website
(not that extensive)

udemy:
https://www.udemy.com/the-web-developer-bootcamp/
https://www.udemy.com/design-and-develop-a-killer-website-with-html5-and-css3/


Learning something about UI:
http://goodui.org/


Beautiful Images:
(for free)

https://unsplash.com/
(excellent for hero images)
https://pixabay.com/de/
(more "standard" pictures)
https://placeit.net/
(iPhone Mockups)


Textures:
http://subtlepatterns.com/
http://www.freepik.com/


Beautiful VIDEOS:
http://www.coverr.co/
(really cool for the header of your website)


Colors:
https://flatuicolors.com/
http://www.w3schools.com/colors/colors_picker.asp


Fonts:
https://fonts.google.com/


Some Inspiration:
http://www.csszengarden.com/



Maybe I forgot some nice resources. Feel free to add some more.
Hope it is useful for some of you.

 

[Fox]

*** Disclaimer ***

While $15k+ a month (sales) might sound like a lot its not really. Its enough. Enough to invest in my real businesses and cover my basic living costs. Not every month is clean profit. I reinvest a lot of money into education, design and growing. Things go wrong and learning from scratch is hard work. Some jobs run overtime, some things I have to do twice, or three times or more.

I am not sipping cocktails on some beach while I go code once or twice a week on a hammock.
I am sleeping on a mattress with a desk, white boards and notepads in the corner. I code 8 - 10 hours a day and also spend half the morning at Uni trying to learn Spanish.

This is a crash course on entrepreneurship while you earn money. You have to learn to sell, cold call, manage, outsource, and so on. Everyday.
Coding websites is time intensive by nature.

If you are looking for easy money this probably isn't it. If you are looking to learn about business really fast though while funding and learning how to grow your own business this is excellent. Maybe in a few more months it will be more smooth but everyday right now is a full on grind. I love it though and have seen huge growth in a short time but its not for everyone.

Just want to add that in before someone thinks this is some overnight hack plan.

 

[Fox]

@The Racing Driver

I was going to go for copywriting but didn't think my level of English was decent enough to do it full time. I am actually dyslexic and have to spell check everything I write and usually make quite a lot of (sometimes funny) mistakes. One example is launching a site with an "intense" course instead of "intensive" .

I went through a few weeks of trying everything at the start of the year and finally clicked with web design. I have a good eye for design, detail and layout. I have two brothers who are professional artists and I guess I have some of same talent too.

Web Design is an nice area for the person who is good at a few different areas - design, SEO, content writing, images, sales.
You don't have to be amazing at each but if you have some knowledge of all you are way ahead of most web guys. As I have already said the code is available and is easy edited with some practice. The rest is about sales (for your client) and design which a lot of website companies are terrible at.

How would you best determine what service to start offering? And how should I approach these business? Just contact them upfront or spend some time creating a good website to display my work ? Now that I have some projects under my belt.

Approach the biggest person you can find and do a website for free or at a very reduced price. Offer to do it all in advance on your own domain and then they only have to use it (and pay for it) if they like it. I did this myself for a well known athlete. Although I spent 2-3 weeks building a website that actually lost money on I got a lot of jobs out of it and proven I could do a 10 page+ professional website.

To find suitable people (or companies) look for FB or IG pages with 30,000+ likes that don't have a website. These could be a professional sports person, company, fan club, business, anything in the industry that you are looking to get into. The idea is that when the page is done they will help promote your services and maybe do a few posts about you.

Once the sites is done, and hopefully they like it, ring up other companies and tell them you just did a site for XXXX. Tell them you are building your portfolio and want to do them a site at "1/2" your usual rate. Do a few like this a then move up to full price (but still cheap) and then increase your full price.

My first ten jobs looked something like this:


- Family Member (Free)
- Upwork Job ($100)
- Upwork Job ($150)
- Upwork Job ($120)
- Upwork Job ($130)
- Upwork Job (Didn't get paid - fired client)
- Famous Person (Free)
- Small Company $300
- First real Job ($2000)
- Bigger ($4500)
- Proper Size ($11,500)

It takes a few months but people only look at your last few jobs so you can increase fast once you get a good base.

 

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[Thiago Machado]

Just wanted to share some minor success I've been having after reading this thread.

A good friend of mine is one of the most sought after personal trainers in my city and is looking to venture into online fitness coaching. I noticed his facebook page and instagram profile were looking pretty amateurish and he still didn't build a website. He has a great reputation where I live, but no online presence. So I offered to fix his social media pages for free. I made him some custom graphics, facebook timeline cover, etc.

Now, must I remind you, I did this as genuinely as possible. Not once did I expect to receive anything in return (he's a real friend).

I went above and beyond, over-delivered, and low-and-behold: he was BLOWN AWAY!

Immediately, his new online presence caught people's attention. He said that everyone was complimenting him on the work that was done. They asked him "what agency are you using?"

Now, this is a guy who train's very wealthy people.
Luckily, 2 of his clients approached him and asked who did it.

I now have 2 hot leads from a dentist and heart surgeon (and my friend wants to put me on a monthly retainer to manage his marketing.)

So I learned through first-hand experience:

• Good things come to those who act.
• Be empathetic.
• Show genuine interest and that you care about the person.
• Provide massive value.
• And deliver solid results.

By doing these simple things, you shouldn't worry so much about cold-calling or figuring out where the next job is coming from.

Thanks @Fox

 

[Fox]

Great thread. I have a few questions, and forgive my ignorance if they're a little redundant.

How do you quantify what to charge for these websites? When you quote the company initially, do you have a general idea of what time cost it will require and base off that or do you have another method of determining the valuation?

Secondly, how do you find these companies? Do you look for companies that have poorly designed websites or no website at all? If the former, I know of a few in your target industries that I can point your way(all located in Canada).

Again, sorry if these are stupid questions

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...



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.

 

[Fox]

This is wonderful. Thank you, Fox!

I had the same thinking regarding the usage of themes - but in the end it boils down to what you've said: we are not adding value by building a beautiful website, but by generating sales for the client.

Its taking away from the clients value by spending so much time coding from scratch when there are many solid base templates to work off. My websites are definitely not cookie cutter but I do like to build upon clean code and then customize from there.


Must reads for this thread:

https://www.freshbooks.com/ebooks/breaking-the-time-barrier

How to think about your work, the value you add and price your jobs accordingly.


https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...ith-no-degree-no-feedback-no-portfolio.58837/

@SinisterLex


https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/the-astonishing-secrets-thread.50097/

@IceCreamKid

 

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[Fox]

I just did towing + Calgary for the laugh...

http://www.citywidetowing.com/
http://urbantowingltd.com/
http://towing-calgary.ca/

All of these guys need new websites. Maybe 2-4k each.

This person needs one the most though...

http://towingcalgaryab.ca/

"Hello, you are literally losing thousands of dollars a year, maybe every month, by not having an up to date website. I can have a fully functional website online by next week that gets you a LOT more calls, looks good on a phone and ranks better in Google. Here are the last four jobs I did in Alberta.... "

 

[QDF]

I had one client in Colombia but never again. I focus 90% on Canada and 10% on Europe the US. More money, better to deal with.

I lived in Canada for three years so that gives me a good in with businesses there. Its where my sales guy is based too but 50% of my sales come directly from me.

Working with clients remotely has been fine. Over Skype and emails it is possible to do everything and I have a good system in place.
Finding clients is a little ticker. I use as much referrals as possible and try find new companies that will know who my past clients are.

I take 50% up front and 50% on completion so its important to have a lot of trust before someone wires me a few thousand dollars. My company is based in Canada and all my paperwork runs through there so apart from me actually being physically in Colombia its a Canadian company. This is also where my sales guy comes in handy. He has been great with dealing with clients in person and setting things up like photographers. He didn't know anything about websites until I took him on and he is making 2-4 K a month for a few hours work. I pay good commission to keep him on board, 20-25%.

Moving forwards I would like two sales guys in the US and maybe one in Ireland or Europe ( I am Irish) too. I am working on this at the moment.

If a client ever asks about the set up and explain why live down here. Most are really curious and a little jealous ha. Also even if I lived in the same city its not like I would be calling in everyday to collect photos and get feedback so its pretty much the same process anyway - Skype / Email.

In the future I will try get some cold calls, email templates, quotes up here to show how I manage sales/work flow.

Great advice here. Thanks.

This is my first month really focusing on this.

I already have a successful ecommerce business and am using this for 2 reasons: 1. To raise more capital to invest in my ecommerce business, and 2. To actually turn this into a legit business too since my ecommerce business still leaves me with free time and I enjoy the whole process of helping businesses and building websites.

For those looking into this who are used to retail or dealing directly with consumers...

Biggest difference I've noticed so far with b2b compared to consumers....don't just try to get every customer you can. Screen your customers and choose which ones are right for you. I'm used to just trying to get every possible customer I interact with and realized very quickly this is the wrong approach.

Even with my advertisements. I've placed ads in newspapers so far (lots of older, non tech savvy business owners as audience), with great response rates (because that's what I was aiming for). Because of my ad and offer being created with the goal of attracting the most customers possible, I've also attracted a lot of cheap leads. I'm going to change my ads very soon, and it'll probably reduce my response rate, but I expect to get better leads.

Bottom line for b2b: Don't attract the most customers, attract the best customers.

This has been my biggest lesson and obstacle so far in my first month, and what I'm currently working on: getting better, higher quality leads/clients and weeding out the other ones fast.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Finally caught up in this thread, marked NOTABLE. The business might not be Fastlane, but the thought process (especially targeting the higher value businesses) is!

Interestingly, what you're describing is how I got started many moons ago.

 

[germandude]

Earlier today I talked with a professional salesman from Canada. He sold website design for years for a Canadian company and was very experienced and helped me a lot, so I am here to share what he said. His company was selling around half a million per year (in my estimates).

My first question was how did he get over the anxiety of making calls?​

His response was to ask yourself why are you selling today. By asking yourself why you are there you will see your motive for being there, which will help you form the base needed to get your a$$ down on that chair and get calling.
After this he pointed out to take it easy, we are not brain surgeons - we are salespeople. It is nothing scary and is one of the easier jobs in the world. The ROI is amazing. Plus, as a salesman, you play a vital part of the economy and the business ecosystem. Withous salespeople, less things are sold, resulting in slowing down of the economy and the economic growth. So you are actually doing a bad service for society if you aren't selling.

Next, realize that you have a positive impact on the lives of these people. You are helping them get more business, more leads and more money.
His next tip was getting yourself detached from the sales activity. Realize that the sales process and the results thereof are only results of the position of salesman, not your personality or character. When they say NO, they are not saying NO to you, they would be probably saying it to any salesperson calling them at that time. So it's nothing personal, it's just that they don't need your services or that they don't have the money.

My second question was regarding the first touch he has with the company, how does he do it, what does he do with the gatekeepers and so on?​

What he said was to treat the gatekeeper as a friend. As they will be deciding whether or not you will talk to the decision maker, you have to make them feel respected.
Something else he mentioned was that you need to explain what exactly you are doing to the gatekeeper. He framed it similarly to this: "We increase the number of customers, we get you more business, more leads and more clients. The Internet is a vital part of the business world and if the company you work for doesn't get help, you might be out of a job in a year or two.

When he got to the decision maker he was brilliant in my opinion. Something I have personally noticed is the fact that when they hear the "How are you doing today" part of your script, they immediately put their guard up because of that hint of salesmanship. He got around this by starting the conversation with "Are you looking to increase your number of customers/sales/prospect (what you use depends on the industry). When he got the yes, he could initiate the conversation and if he got no it was probably a no sale and he called up the next guy.

Upon getting an appointment, he immediately sent the confirmation thing below via email. This sort of traps the calendar for the decision maker and makes them feel like they should be there. Note that you should only mark the call as something that will take 20 minutes, everybody has 20 minutes so getting the yes is easier. Instructions on how to do this.

My third question for him was which arguments he used to get them to realize the importance of a new website, aka how to show the value of a redesign?​

The first 2 he used what I expected, which were the increase of sales and the value added to the business by having a responsive design.

But the second 2 were something else. First being, the fact that for deals with the size of $3k-$4k IT'S NORMAL to have the site made onWordPress. Arguments being, these themes were designed from website design veterans, people who have researched and studied design for years. They know that a logo goes top left all the time and that the language options go top right. That means, offering to build the website on Wordpress isn't bad at all and you can quote the client the custom design price, which is more than $10k. He then went on to connect the second thing with Wordpress by saying to the client that with their design, the client can add content, pictures and modify things with ease on Wordpress. All it took was one hour for the client to get trained and bam he the client got the C of the CENTS.

One final note was SEO, especially when calling small, local businesses. He used a common sense approach and told the client that all customers are looking for services in their cities through the internet. They do this by typing in "service+town" and open up 3-4 of the TOP results on the first page of Google. If the client isn't there, he is losing an enormous number of sales to competitors. I think that this scare + common sense tactic is something huge and should work swell.

My fourth question was about price justification.
​

His answer was to get the client to see absolutely every ounce of value you will get them. Only then start discussing price and use the Breaking the Time Barrier approach Fox recommended. I would add another book, which I think is much better as it goes to the core of the issue, helps you get it better and is more helpful, which is "Value-Based Fees".

My fifth question was what does he use as CRM?​

He said that he and his team use Trello. I think that the picture below explains very well how do they do it, so I won't write about this anymore.

[/url][/IMG]

My sixth question was about tools he uses in the sales process?​

The first one was https://vocus.io/ to see when and if the emails he sent were opened. His tip was to call the guy immediately when he opens up the email, so you are still fresh in their mind. Also, if you know that they opened the email and you call them and ask whether they did, if they say NO, very often they won't buy.
The second tool was hunter's email extracting tool. He uses the chrome extension. He goes to decision maker's linkedin or social media and more often the not he can get their email with this tool.

My seventh and final question (we spoke for about 45 minutes on his drive at work, I got super early and was able to hustle into a convo with him) was whether he had any tips, tricks and advice to share?​

His response was that as a salesman, your task is to get better every day at your area of work. So, if you are selling web design, you will read about it everyday. You will read sales books, magazines and other materials. You should also be taking part in some communities related to what you do (guess you are doing that now).
His end-of-the-day metrics were: number of calls made, number of meetings booked and number of email sent. He shared this with his manager at the end of the day and used it as a retrospective on his performance.

Finally, he said that lack of passion in your company, product or service is going to slaughter the sale. The moment you are on the phone, if the person you are talking to doesn't feel like you are highly energetic and enthusiastic about what you are selling, YOU ARE GOING DOWN.

Ok, that wasn't his final thought. He also told me it important for the sales team not to be under huge pressure, especially at the beginning. However, having goals that will push them a bit and let them know what's expected of them is natural and you won't get far ahead without it.

I hope that was valuable and that it allowed me to give back to the community.

 

[FastNAwesome]

Thanks @Fox for the amazing thread. Since some fantastic resources have been shared (thanks @goodguude), here are some more which may be helpful to someone.

Images:
http://www.splitshire.com/
https://foodiesfeed.com/
http://kaboompics.com/
http://cupcake.nilssonlee.se/
https://www.snapwi.re/
http://lockandstockphotos.com/
https://picjumbo.com/
http://www.lifeofpix.com/
http://www.gratisography.com/
https://unsplash.com/
http://isorepublic.com/
http://stokpic.com/
http://realisticshots.com/
http://www.imcreator.com/free
http://openphoto.net/
http://barnimages.com/images/
https://stocksnap.io/
http://freestocks.org/
https://stock.tookapic.com/photos?filter=free
https://pixabay.com/
http://picography.co/
http://mmtstock.com/
https://www.goodfreephotos.com/
http://raumrot.com/
http://www.winephoto.co/
http://jaymantri.com/
http://jeshoots.com/
http://nos.twnsnd.co/
http://deathtothestockphoto.com/
http://littlevisuals.co/
http://frankenfotos.com/
https://www.pexels.com/u/markusspiske/
http://magdeleine.co/
http://startupstockphotos.com/
http://freeuse.io/
http://en.freejpg.com.ar/
http://negativespace.co/
http://freefoodphotos.com/
http://foter.com/
https://www.pond5.com/free
https://goodstock.photos/
http://highresolution.photography/
http://fancycrave.com/
http://brainandstorm.com/visuals
http://www.rgbstock.com/
https://visualhunt.com/
http://foodeverest.com/
http://epicantus.tumblr.com/

Colors:
http://paletton.com/
http://www.lolcolors.com/
http://colllor.com/

Typography:
http://www.gridlover.net/try
http://www.modularscale.com/

Learning programming:
https://www.codeschool.com/free
http://programming-motherfcker.com/become.html

 

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[Denim Chicken]

I didn't do any course but have worked in a few jobs where I had front of house positions. I think of a website like this...

View attachment 13291

Lets say there are 10 possible links on any one page. 8 will being them "downstream" while only one or two go back to the home page.
Every click brings them through a little journey that ticks all the boxes needed for a sale (social proof, trust, scarcity, and so on...)

Now one one page I might have three different links that all say different stuff but go to the SAME page. For example...
"See how we can start helping you today" (link)
"Begin your journey towards better results now"(link)
"Our proven record of success" (link)

All these links bring them to the Services page. And so on until someone has gone the whole way through the site till and they end up on the COA page which asks them to do only ONE simple task - call, usually email or buy.

Now if someone really wants they can find the company history page or privacy policy but its not promoted.
Also its all done in a set order. Lots of websites just have links going everywhere with no plan or formula.

My before and after analytic stats on website designs show the results. Time on the site goes up 100-300%, amount of pages views is the same. And of course COA results go up to.

Thanks for the great thread. Maybe I can help..

I worked as a top producer in inside sales, means I have experience being the best selling things that cost anywhere from $99 to $50k, over the phone or email for a major SAAS company that you may have heard of. It gave me so much insight on how to run it as a business, especially the sales and marketing.

Sales and marketing is EVERYTHING. It's funny, I got downvoted into oblivion on reddit for suggesting someone work on their sales and marketing when they asked how to generate more revenue for their freelancing job. Apparently, freelancing and graphic designers and web developers are all focused on the skill (and rightfully so) and don't know shit about sales. I read a thread where a freelancer was looking to partner with a sales guy and the sales guy asked "What's your value proposition?" and not only did he (the freelancer) have no clue what that meant, he said "I dont want to work with someone who uses the word value proposition".. ugh end rant.

Anyway, here's a way you can go fastlane with this. You are currently spending HOURS coding and these websites honestly aren't hard to do from a coding or design perspective. I know HTML and CSS. Like what you said, the key is the funnel and increasing revenue, not a pretty digital paperweight. What you are charging doesn't matter if it brings in revenue for them, ie ROI. I've sold a $20k plan to someone for a HR tool because that 20k brought in about $100k+ in business for them.

Once you have a specific sales process down, something you can literally take your hands off of and teach someone, hire more sales people. Go 50/50 split with no base salary or work on different comp structures and hire more sales guys. When they sell more than you can fulfill (I.e. landing contracts but you have not enough time to code it yourself)..

Then I would outsource the coding and it doesn't mean hiring 100 people in Pakistan to do shitty work but you have a formula and once you feel confident in it, you find someone reputable and establish a relationship (either online or local) and have them do the coding. They're happy as an employee and they can handle multiple projects at once.

Eventually you want to be the VP of Sales/Head of design or Agency owner. It's funny, as a sales guy if I have a product and no one to fulfill, I'll go out and land a contract and agreement and then go find someone who will fulfill that. It's kind of an opposite mentality versus all the graphic designers who complain that their work is amazing but cant land someone to buy a $200 website.

For sales, you'll want a CRM (cheap or excel will do) where you have the contact info, notes of everyone you contact. And you'll want to systematize your sales process. It'll work short term to juts google and start calling random people but eventually you will lose track of people you called and who you talked to. I've only used salesforce (expensive) but say you call Company A and the DM is the VP of Marketing named Jim. You have his contact info. and log every contact or "touch" you have with him. If he says he's not interested but their budget refreshes next quarter, log it, put it in gmail calendar to call Jim and always, always end the call with an action. "Ok cool, mind if I circle back in a few months?" Most of the time they say sure. And when you call, its very professional. And remember this, when you call him in a few months, he's a warm/hot LEAD. People forget this. I know the newbies and shitty sales people in my company would just say "OK thank you, have a great day". I'm like you're a moron, he juts said he may be interested in a few months, why dont you call him back in a few months.

Prospecting is an art in itself. But id say systematizing this is key. By company size, name, location, whatever. If you hire sales guys, are you going to free for all? (If you hire a lot, there will be arguments over engagement. who gets who if they both have contact) Once you have maybe 10+ sales guys, you will def think of writing a proper rules of engagement and comping the sales guy with legit analytics. This is when you go from a couple dudes selling for you, into a true SAAS company IMO.

Hope this helps.

For those of you that are starting out, I would actually do what MJ suggested, doing work for free and kind of "forcing it" onto to them by donig it voluntarily and showing them the work. With their approval. If they sign off on it, that goes in your portfolio. I would also be very interested in doing work for anyone famous or recognizable, that's a gold mine for future clients right there.

Another idea would be to run an adwords campaign with FREE website but have it come to a landing page describing your services and how you are offering a free website for qualifying companies. Make sure they fill out a lead form including all their contact, their DM info, their current website. And target this specific to pay very little for conversions. Now you have incoming leads. You have people who are interested in a free website. You can sort thru the good ones and possibly upsell for paid services later.

 

[Fox]

Andy nailed it. I will say I made less than $1000 total my first four months since I started with zero knowledge or help.

I am finishing a job worth 3k today and another worth over 12k this week. I do take weeks off though to work on other things and usually don't work full days since I have University all morning.

I think after three months of following the advice on here, along with lots of hard work, you could make at least 5k a month profit. There is no one answer, some guy could kill it and do double my numbers in a few months, another guy might never get it.

If you have a good feel for sales, design and adding value I think it would be well suited.

I would say something like this:

- Weeks 0 - 6, just learn code, design and the basics
- Weeks 6 - 10, do two free designs
- Weeks 10 - 5, do 5 basic one week jobs on upwork for pennies (good luck making more than $300 a job)
- Weeks 15+, Start selling properly to real companies. At least two $2500 Jobs a month.
- Weeks 25-30+, Jump up to larger 5-15k jobs

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Update:

So my friend told me to write up what I could do for him on a monthly basis (more so on the social media side. He wants to put out content + run targeted facebook ads + etc)
Sent him a proposal with samples, mockups, etc.
He agreed to the monthly retainer I proposed.
The deal is good for both parties.
He's super happy and is refering me to many of his upscale clients.
And I got a client, great portfolio piece, and am potentially in the making of a successful case study with him if all goes well.

Everybody wins.

Next up: appointment with the 2 leads he gave me.

Just wanted to share some minor success I've been having after reading this thread.

A good friend of mine is one of the most sought after personal trainers in my city and is looking to venture into online fitness coaching. I noticed his facebook page and instagram profile were looking pretty amateurish and he still didn't build a website. He has a great reputation where I live, but no online presence. So I offered to fix his social media pages for free. I made him some custom graphics, facebook timeline cover, etc.

Now, must I remind you, I did this as genuinely as possible. Not once did I expect to receive anything in return (he's a real friend).

I went above and beyond, over-delivered, and low-and-behold: he was BLOWN AWAY!
Immediately, his new online presence caught people's attention. He said that everyone was complimenting him on the work that was done. They asked him "what agency are you using?"

Now, this is a guy who train's very wealthy people.
Luckily, 2 of his clients approached him and asked who did it.

I now have 2 hot leads from a dentist and heart surgeon (and my friend wants to put me on a monthly retainer to manage his marketing.)

So I learned through first-hand experience:

• Good things come to those who act.
• Be empathetic.
• Show genuine interest and that you care about the person.
• Provide massive value.
• And deliver solid results.

By doing these simple things, you shouldn't worry so much about cold-calling or figuring out where the next job is coming from.

Thanks @Fox

These posts just transformed this thread from NOTABLE to GOLD.

Anyhow, this is exactly how I got started in the web design business which paid my bills in those early days.

After I did my first design, the clients started rolling in.

If you can't get a first client to pay because they can't trust a newbie, do something for free. If your work is good, it will steamroll from there.

 

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[Fox]

Not disagreeing with you, but it also depends on the location.

Web developer in Silicon Vally, and you'll probably be homeless. Go to an up and coming city, and you can easily set yourself apart.

Sexy:
- They're already looking to buy
- Know what they want
- Have materials ready to go online
- Pay is less, but you can fit in more projects

I'd love to hear more about how you approach these industrial companies, if you're so inclined.

I go for a certain niche - guys that probably don't like to deal with web companies. A lot of the companies up in Western Canada (and the part of the states I do target) are run by red blooded, blue collar guys. The last thing they want is some "nerd" they have to deal with. I run a no-bullshit web design and know the way these people like to do deals and communicate. I don't talk about "migrating hosting" I just simply say the website has to be moved etc. I have 3 years experience on the oil rigs and grew up in a construction family so I know how to get on well with these guys. I think thats one main area that sets me apart.

I hear a lot of "our current web guy is impossible to deal with, he is really weird / annoying /lazy / arrogant ". Its not a tough game to be better than the rest and Im only getting started.

As for approaching new clients I will be posting some info soon. I might even do some recorded cold calls but not sure just yet.

 

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[Fox]

You mentioned that it's quite possible for someone to get up to $4000 - $5000 per month with hard work and hustle within 4-6 months.

- Is that assuming that person has average sales ability, or is exceptional ability required?

- What inspired you to take this course of action? You moved to another country and started from scratch and pretty quickly built yourself a nice service business. Did you see someone do this before? How did you know that you'd be able to get this off the ground quickly with so much at stake?

It just assumes they have a sales ability. If you are 50% of the next guy just do twice as much. Ill be honest, I could do a lot more to sell. More calls, more emails, more research but I just do enough. Once my University course is done I will step things up and try aim for bigger monthly figures.

The idea on picking the right company is that its the easiest sale possible. So I don't see it as sales, I see it as selection. There are a lot of low hanging fruit in web design and that suits me just fine. I aim for a sweet spot of big companies in obscure industries with terrible websites.

I always wanted to be my own boss so I just decided one day to go for it. I thought if I could survive a year then I could do it forever. I will reach the year mark in two months. My dad, my uncles, my two brothers, my granddads - all self employed. Even when I was making big oil money it would still get to me that I had a boss and couldn't decide on my own destiny. If I was told I was working somewhere thats where I went. I make a lot less now (I had months over 40K) but I much prefer it. I would rather be a hungry lion than a well feed lion in a zoo.

If you go for something with the right approach you will make it work. I always think back to my family linage over 100s or 1000s of years. Everything they went through with how Ireland was and the work and sacrifice it would have taken to get by. For me to sit in front of a computer and just sell some websites to companies is super easy compared to that. Everything you need is freely available, you can call and email as much as you want and nothing is stopping you. In short I just made it work.

 

[Andy Black]

If I was just getting started again, here's how I would go about it.

1. Find a notable company in a larger industry with a poorly designed website.
   
2. Find the decision maker and "try" to get authorization to redo their website... TOTALLY FREE OF CHARGE. If they like it, they can use it.
3. If you can't find the decision maker, DO IT ANYWAY.
4. Redesign the website.
   
5. Make sure it is your best work, and a clear improvement over the original website.
6. Email the entire upper management the link of the new website -- reiterate that it is FREE and that you will change anything they want.
7. Once they see the work and realize it is FREE, they will probably accept it.
8. Now you have your first client -- giving you the ability to say "We recently redesigned XXX's website." -- giving you social proof with a notable company. Now you can look to start charging. If not, repeat.
   
9. The above can be done for APPS as well. (I noticed you didn't have a mobile app?)
   
10. At some point, it will become easier and easier to find paid work.
11. Pick color of Lamborghini.

Anyone still want steps?


My favourite bit? "DO IT ANYWAY".

You don't need permission.

You could spend weeks trying to get someone to agree to you building something for them for free.

Or you could spend that time doing it anyway, then show them what you've done.

"Show, don't tell."

I did a thread along those lines here:

• Show, don't tell

You don't need permission to help someone or make their life better.

You don't need to be an expert.

You already know enough.

Listen to the first radio interview in my signature. It describes how I got started on a similar path. (The second interview is a continuation and may help you too.)



Bonus tip:

Spend as much time writing up how you built the site and promoting this case study, as it took you to build it.

Eventually, try to focus on one vertical.

Ask yourself:

"How many more times can I sell this widget?"

"How can I leverage what I've already done?"


Become known as "The XYZ Guy/Gal".

The guy who builds websites for bowling alleys.

The guy who builds websites for plastic surgeons.


One direction you could go to scale is described here:

• www.tropicalmba.com/scale

I don't know if this is their website, but study it:

• www.dentalcmo.com

And this one:

• www.plumberseo.net

And watch the video after you subscribe here:

• www.sevenfigureagency.com

(You'll be in their auto-responder sequence mind, but the video itself is just confirmation that you need to focus.)




Something you should consider is trying to get people into a monthly recurring payment.

What can you offer them after the website build?

Monthly AdWords, Facebook ads, SEO/Content Marketing, social media management, hosting, support, maintenance, etc.


Love this thread...

 

[sblaughton]

Just got done reading this complete thread stretching over an entire week and wanted to say thank you to everyone who has contributed and especially @Fox. I am new to the forum and have learnt so much from this thread and the input given.

As i went through i bookmarked many links and saved them all in a semi-organised way for future reference and use. Hopefully this doesn't break any rules and can be used by others who are just finishing or new to this post like me. This is my way of contributing (I hope!).

Thanks again!

{READING MATERIALS}

“Web Design: Only started in Jan this year, making over $10,000 consistently every month. Lots of lessons...AMA -”r/Entrepreneur - Web Design: Only started in Jan this year, making over $10,000 consistently every month. Lots of lessons... AMA

“Breaking the time barrier” - https://www.freshbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/breaking-the-time-barrier.pdf

“AndyTalks with Fox about Selling Websites & AdWords Services” - AndyTalks with Fox about Selling Websites & AdWords Services

“How I blew up a business for under $60” - How I Blew Up A Business For Under $60

“AndyTalks to Nico about Graphic Design & Selling Services” - AndyTalks to Nico about Graphic Design & Selling Services

“AndyTalks with SinisterLex about Selling & Scaling” - AndyTalks with SinisterLex about Selling & Scaling

“Cold calls: I went from nothing to $120k/year solo using this process. Script included. AMA” -Cold calls: I went from nothing to $120k/year solo using this process. Script included. AMA • r/Entrepreneur

“Spend your money on diesel and coffee” - "Spend your money on diesel and coffee"

“The "Astonishing Secrets" Thread” - GOLD! - The "Astonishing Secrets" Thread

“germandude's Guide to Naming Your Brand!” - germandude's Guide to Naming Your Brand!

“The biggest reason websites suck” - NOTABLE! - The biggest reason websites suck

“How To Socratically Question New Project Leads” - How To Socratically Question New Project Leads - Double Your Freelancing

“Lead Gen for Local Service Businesses” - Lead Gen for Local Service Businesses

“10 cold email tips I used to get 60,000 signups” - 10 cold email tips I used to get 60,000 signups – Marketing and Entrepreneurship – Medium

My list of technologies I use to create static websites in the most organized and efficient way + how to host 100% for free - r/learnprogramming - My list of technologies I use to create static websites in the most organized and efficient way + how to host 100% for free

“How Loading Time Affects Your Bottom Line” - https://neilpatel.com/blog/loading-time/

{COURSES/VIDEO TUTORIALS}

Build Responsive Real World Websites with HTML5 and CSS3 (Jonas Schmedtmann) - Build Responsive Real World Websites with HTML5 and CSS3

The complete JavaScript Course 2018 (Jonas Schmedtmann) - https://www.udemy.com/the-complete-javascript-course/

Web Design for Web Developers: Build Beautiful Websites! (Jonas Schmedtmann) - https://www.udemy.com/web-design-secrets/

The Web Developer Bootcamp (Colt Steele) https://www.udemy.com/the-web-developer-bootcamp/

JavaScript For Beginners : Learn JavaScript From Scratch (Ashitosh Pawar) - https://www.udemy.com/javascript-course-for-beginners/

The Complete Web Developer Course 2.0 (Rob Percival) - https://www.udemy.com/the-complete-web-developer-course-2/

Get Job ready with 13 projects, 2 courses, and 10 books - https://github.com/P1xt/p1xt-guides/blob/master/job-ready.md

https://www.codecademy.com/learn

https://www.freecodecamp.org/

https://learncodethehardway.org/

Building Websites with a HTML Template - 2018 Step by Step Tutorial (FoxWebSchool) -

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25kLPVowGGg


How to Buy, Download, Install and Set up a HTML Website Theme (FoxWebDesign) -

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNPrtZU72vE


How to Sell a Website - Successful $3,000 Website Sales Call (FoxWebSchool) -

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5O1lQ6pM9s


TheNetNinja - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW5YeuERMmlnqo4oq8vwUpg

{USEFUL WEBSITES TOOLS}

X | The Theme - https://themeforest.net/item/x-the-theme/5871901

WordPress - https://wordpress.org/

Graphic Design Software - https://www.designmantic.com/

DIVI - https://www.divithemeexamples.com/divi-layouts/ + https://dribbble.com/MarioMaruffi + https://layoutscafe.com/

Website Management - https://managewp.com/

Free CSS templates/layouts - https://www.free-css.com/

File Transfer - https://filezilla-project.org/

WampServer - http://www.wampserver.com/en/

Zeit - https://zeit.co/

Semantic User Interface - https://semantic-ui.com/

Bootstrap themes and templates - https://startbootstrap.com/

{USEFUL BUSINESS/SALES/MARKETING TOOLS}

Small Business Accounting - https://www.freshbooks.com/

Website Data - https://www.similarweb.com/

Email tracking - https://vocus.io/ + https://www.cirrusinsight.com/

Productivity Platform - https://trello.com/

Google Calendar Events - https://support.google.com/calendar/answer/37161?co=GENIE.Platform=Desktop&hl=en

Service providers by location - https://www.angieslist.com/companylist/

Cold email template - http://www.breakthroughemail.com/coldemailtemplate.pdf

Data source - https://www.import.io/

SEO - https://www.semrush.com/ + https://moz.com/

Website Questionnaire - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfIqJrS17a_nNj3_GmWpH__TIeKaW37gnwt7Lp59fscBiAH-Q/viewform

Web design pricing - https://www.webpagefx.com/websitedesign.htm

 

[Fox]

Are your clients local in Columbia? Or do you work remotely with them?

I've found it much easier so far to secure clients when you're able to meet them in person. Wondering what your experience is with this.

I had one client in Colombia but never again. I focus 90% on Canada and 10% on Europe the US. More money, better to deal with.

I lived in Canada for three years so that gives me a good in with businesses there. Its where my sales guy is based too but 50% of my sales come directly from me.

Working with clients remotely has been fine. Over Skype and emails it is possible to do everything and I have a good system in place.
Finding clients is a little tricker. I use as much referrals as possible and try find new companies that will know who my past clients are.

I take 50% up front and 50% on completion so its important to have a lot of trust before someone wires me a few thousand dollars. My company is based in Canada and all my paperwork runs through there so apart from me actually being physically in Colombia its a Canadian company. This is also where my sales guy comes in handy. He has been great with dealing with clients in person and setting things up like photographers. He didn't know anything about websites until I took him on and he is making 2-4 K a month for a few hours work. I pay good commission to keep him on board, 20-25%.

Moving forwards I would like two sales guys in the US and maybe one in Ireland or Europe ( I am Irish) too. I am working on this at the moment.

If a client ever asks about the set up and just explain why I live down here. Most are really curious and a little jealous ha. Also even if I lived in the same city its not like I would be calling in everyday to collect photos and get feedback so its pretty much the same process anyway - Skype / Email.

In the future I will try get some cold calls, email templates, quotes up here to show how I manage sales/work flow.

 

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[Fox]

Doing a bit of research today (along with 8 hours copywriting) and can across this...



Top search on a highly competitive search term BUT the website looks like this...

http://www.somjen.com/



Here is a company pumping money into Adwords with a website that looks like a 12 year olds school project.

Maybe @Andy Black can give some insight into what these people might be thinking!!?

These sorts of companies are ripe for starting off with your web design. I might even contact them next week. If someone calls them first then post it up here.


***If you can edit a template then start calling companies like these, use excellent copy guys like @SinisterLex or @Thiago Machado (and many more on here) and start making some money. A new basic site for this person would be $2-4k and should only take one week to put together.

Buy Theme $30
Copywriter @ $100 a page (5 pages) $500
Total time coding - 60 Hours

Price to client - $3500

Profit 2970 / 60 Hours = $49.50 an hour.

 

[Fox]

I have posted this before elsewhere but getting sales is 60-80% of running a web design company. Learn how to do it yourself and you will aways be in work.

I am not against the above service, although $5250 is a decent chunk of change, but start off learn how to sell yourself.

One of my favorite parts of doing this whole thing is the fun of selling sites. I like knowing a few minutes on the phone could be worth 5 figures in income.

 

[Fox]

I've read all the pages in this thread but still have a question. I see your main service is to not only to design a website but to draw customers into purchasing the site owner's product/service. Where do I learn this skill? Like how to successfully make call to actions, funneling, etc.? thank you!

I didn't do any course but have worked in a few jobs where I had front of house positions. I think of a website like this...



Lets say there are 10 possible links on any one page. 8 will being them "downstream" while only one or two go back to the home page.
Every click brings them through a little journey that ticks all the boxes needed for a sale (social proof, trust, scarcity, and so on...)

Now one one page I might have three different links that all say different stuff but go to the SAME page. For example...
"See how we can start helping you today" (link)
"Begin your journey towards better results now"(link)
"Our proven record of success" (link)

All these links bring them to the Services page. And so on until someone has gone the whole way through the site till and they end up on the COA page which asks them to do only ONE simple task - call, usually email or buy.

Now if someone really wants they can find the company history page or privacy policy but its not promoted.
Also its all done in a set order. Lots of websites just have links going everywhere with no plan or formula.

My before and after analytic stats on website designs show the results. Time on the site goes up 100-300%, amount of pages views is the same. And of course COA results go up to.

 

[QDF]

Great thread. I'm torn on whether to learn how to build websites or not. I see a lot of people say you can outsource, but this thread makes a lot of good points in showing how much money there is to be made individually by helping update or build websites for businesses.

How many hours a day/week did you spend learning to code in the initial 9 months?

You can literally learn the basic syntax of HTML and CSS (structure and style of a site) in a day - enough to know how and what to edit to make desired changes, looking up certain properties, etc. as needed.

From there, I would learn jQuery (a JavaScript library that makes adding animations/interactivity to a site easier) if you still want to learn more. Although if you're building on WordPress, you usually can make desired customizations with themes, plugins, and a little bit of custom HTML/CSS, while outsourcing the stuff beyond this that you can't do.

Note: I know @Fox recommends straight HTML templates - once you know a little about sites, you can decide for yourself which you want to go with and why. I personally prefer WordPress (but only with the right premium themes and tools/plugins). I have the StudioPress "Pro Plus All-Theme Package" (http://my.studiopress.com/pro-plus/) and have started using the Genesis framework with BeaverBuilder (and the Dambuster plugin) as per @codo3500 's recommendation, and you can customize virtually even aspect of a site with almost no code, although this set up makes it very easy to make custom changes using CSS and JS if necessary. Even if you know how to code, I've found this set up to be faster.

If you still want to learn more, I'd go to JavaScript and learn different languages/frameworks that you can build web apps with; however, the learning curve increases significantly at this point - you're making the transition here from web design to web development pretty much.

So to answer your question....maybe 1-2 weeks for what you'd need initially to get started. While you won't usually need to code anyway, it's good to know if you're doing this stuff.

 

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[Fox]

This is why I don't really make too many cold calls or have to chase down work that often. If you build solid websites, treat the customer well ( read @SinisterLex thread on copywriting), and provide value they come to you. This isn't to say I am above cold calls. If I did not have work I would be busting my a$$ off making calls and I started off that way but its nice to know that all that hard work does come back around.

This pic isn't too brag. Its a good lesson on adding value. There are hundreds, maybe 1000s of guys chasing down $300 websites on Upwork, not even 9 months doing code and here is another $4-6k website.

Also talked to my other client today and they are super happy with the work done. Maybe another few leads there.


If you are starting off...

Use the 1000s of threads on here and apply that knowledge to the whole experience of someone getting a website off you.

Guys a lot smarter than me have posted dozens of posts on value, customer relations, sales, mindset and on and on. Its all here.


I am still on small money compared to the big guys on here but I do think this is a great lessons in the skills that I hope to put to use on bigger projects down the line. Add value - money will come afterwards.

 

[Fox]

How to grow and scale to $100,000 plus within six months...

Learn all the basics with this thread from me and others

Start on one page websites, doing sales and cold calls yourself

Get a feel for selling and basic websites. See several small jobs through from start to finish

Read up on sales, design basics, sales funnels, landing pages etc. Become knowledge on a range of subjects related to web development

Build a tidy portfolio of nice smaller websites

Start approaching jobs in the 2-5k range. Build several 2-8 page websites with maybe some basic add on features if needed (Wordpress page, application page, booking software etc)

Start to scale

Hire sales guys at 15-25% commission

Hire good copywriters, usually they charge $80-150 a page (depends on experience and also size of content)

Use client refrerels and step up a more aggressive sales strategy

Aim for multiple 5-15k jobs projects

Start building prepackaged custom code that saves time on every project

Hire someone who can do logos, Gil uploading, hosting stuff. Usually grab these guys off fiverr or FB groups

Expand sales team again, hire additional coder, focus more on overall business and management

**********

Can be done starting from zero knowledge in 6-12 months. Depending on a few factors that could be a 100-300k company.

A large job price breakdown with a team would be something like:

15k project (12 pages)

Sales guy $3000
Copywriter $1200
Design Stuff $500
Coder $2000
Hosting and email $300

Costs $7000, Profit $8000

A good team could do two of these a month or smaller projects that add up to the same.

I'm on my phone so if the formatting is weird on this that's the reason. Just some thoughts on what's possible with this.

 

[Andy Black]

Andy you should try get on a podcast with these guys. I have listened to a few in the past, they are great. Thanks.

Ack. I'd rather chat with and help people in this forum than get on some established podcast somewhere else.

I'm sure I could help their audience too, but it boils down to that Mother Teresa quote in my signature - "Help the people closest to you".

Maybe I end up with a podcast, maybe I don't. I'm just following my nose at the minute and doing what I can't NOT do.

Also, podcasting etc raises MY profile, and can distract me from building a business that can run without me.



Anyway, I'm doing a slight disservice to people interested enough in this thread to get to this point.

Don't just listen to the podcast I mentioned above.

Listen to these three podcasts in this order:

1. www.tropicalmba.com/consulting
2. www.tropicalmba.com/services
3. www.tropicalmba.com/scale

Pay attention to the sliding scale from intern to employee to freelancer and beyond.

Pay attention to the value in niching down and becoming known as "The XYZ Guy".

Then listen to (one way) how a business scaled up once they found their focus.

These three podcasts should open your mind to what you can do, and why it should work.

Then work out your own "how" and blaze your own path.

 

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[Fox]

Just did an hour Skype with someone just getting started. Really nice to pass on all the info that will save the weeks/months I spent figuring it out for myself.

If @MJ DeMarco can make it happen I would like to do an INSIDERS call for this. Its not mega millions but I think 1-2 hours will be enough to get anyone interested started towards a 5-10k monthly income after a few months.

If people are interested in something like this let me know. I have gotten a lot of PMs and while I try my best its not going to be possible to Skype everyone for an hour.

 

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