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

Thomas Baptiste

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Great stuff. You just clarified something extremely important for me. I have been proficient in HTML5/CSS3 for a long time now, and I have made websites from scratch. Wordpress truly saves times but it's not necessarily the best thing to go for. Regardless, I've been distracted and led to believe that if I don't follow along with the evolving technologies and JavaScript frameworks like Angular 4 and Django, I would not be able to build a proper websites. So I've been stuck learning so many unnecessary things, when I had the skills all along!!
 
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Pitoyz07

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Having a current goal of making even $100 this month. I thought about how to make that kind of money, and decided to learn how to make a website. Maybe i should have started this during highschool since I'm capable, but what matter is now. Just finished learning HTML at codecademy yesterday. Soon starting for CSS.
Thanks for the thread.
 

Late Bloomer

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Having a current goal of making even $100 this month. I thought about how to make that kind of money, and decided to learn how to make a website. Maybe i should have started this during highschool since I'm capable, but what matter is now. Just finished learning HTML at codecademy yesterday. Soon starting for CSS.
Thanks for the thread.

I see that you're in the Philippines. With English language and the difference in cost of living, a lot of people say that outsourcing to Filipinos is a great option for American businesses that need some routine work done. There are some great threads here about the gig sites like Fiverr and Upwork. That might be a good option for you to look into.
 

Late Bloomer

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I've been distracted and led to believe that if I don't follow along with the evolving technologies and JavaScript frameworks like Angular 4 and Django, I would not be able to build a proper websites. So I've been stuck learning so many unnecessary things, when I had the skills all along!!

True for me too, since I have a coding background. It can be tough to tell the difference between what really is the next big thing that matters in technology... or what is just a hyped up fad everyone wants to play with today but they'll forget it by next year... or maybe it's useful but some company is pushing it too hard for their own reasons. Definitely agree that Rob's experience brings it back to basics of communication, not to try to impress anyone with all the buzzwords in your technology stack.
 
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Late Bloomer

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Fox,

Thank you so much for starting this thread. You have dropped a ton of knowledge, and everybody else has been contributing in their own way. I’ve even subscribed to your YouTube channel. You’re awesome!

It took me a few days of reading to actually catch up to the end of this thread. 47 pages of content is incredible.

Admittedly, after reading around the 3rd page, I took two weeks to finishing the HTML & CSS course 100%! Immediately after I was done, I wanted a client. I wanted to work. I wanted to provide value ASAP.

My first call actually ended up being a perfect portfolio builder. I ended up calling a local martial arts gym, and offered to redo their website for free in exchange for a portfolio addition and any references. After about a 20 minute phone call, he agreed and I started to work.

I purchased my own domain to begin building it and learned a ton of design principles, resources, and helpful tips along the way to help me with my next job. My domain (where the site is currently finished and is simply being held until we can begin the transition to the owners’ server), is www.derekdhardin.com.

Something that has been a pain in my a$$ since completing the design aspect of the job, is that the owner is so particular about having certain useless text in the website; going against my advice of keeping the webpage simple and to not overwhelm any visitors with too much information. He loves the design, the images, and the layout, but it seems he can’t come to grips with me writing the content for the website itself.

I’m starting to wonder the best way of handling this would be. I can still use the site as a portfolio piece, but the content will most definitely be different if someone decides to check out his website. There’s a distinct chance that him adding huge amounts of text will actually make the page very unappealing.

I’m also struggling a bit to find my next client, who I am wanting to provide my services in exchange for the flat fee. It seems that, even though these businesses have horribly designed websites, they still object with ‘sorry, but we aren’t interested.’ Something has to be wrong with my pitch.

I’m unsure how to proceed, but I have a bit of an idea. Any advice or guidance anyone could throw my way would be highly appreciated.

Derek, here's the order I recommended for Rob's videos, for a friend with a sales background but no web experience.

1 no experience
2 work for free?
3 business results whiteboard
4 first sale with email templates
5 what to charge
6 sales questions
7 sales mistakes
8 $3,000 sale

As for the wordiness...
1. If there's someone teaching something, I don't see it as a problem if they want to have some articles and essays.
2. I don't see where the wordiness is on the site. All I see is a few paragraphs here and there about the different martial arts styles, instructors etc. This looks like a clean modern appealing site, that makes me think the company knows what they're doing. This doesn't look wordy at all. So I think you don't need any kind of apology.
3. I wouldn't bring up the quantity of words or the lack of SEO or whatever. If a potential client says something to you about it, just simply tell them that you did the design, and the client wanted to use their own words without any copywriting from you.

Remember Rob suggested 3-5 free clients if needed before trying hard to sell paying projects.

Do you have a progress thread of your own on the forum? I'd like to keep up with how it goes for you!
 

Late Bloomer

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Where I found the biggest response rate is in actually networking with people live. Not on some event where everyone pitches everyone, but going about my day, and then you meet this or that person, friend of a friend, they ask you what you do - and then are all over you to make them a website.

But didn't figure how to make this a regular occurrence in my life

You can make this part of your life by talking about it more.

How's it going, Fast? Oh great, having fun building some more web sites for clients.

What about this rain, Fast? I don't mind, it lets me stay in and code a couple more web sites.

Want some chopsticks for your sushi, Fast? Sure, that's not as complicated as what I had to code for a web site yesterday.

If you keep bringing it up in passing, people are going to start thinking of you as the website guy.
 

KeithWallace

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Great stuff. You just clarified something extremely important for me. I have been proficient in HTML5/CSS3 for a long time now, and I have made websites from scratch. Wordpress truly saves times but it's not necessarily the best thing to go for. Regardless, I've been distracted and led to believe that if I don't follow along with the evolving technologies and JavaScript frameworks like Angular 4 and Django, I would not be able to build a proper websites. So I've been stuck learning so many unnecessary things, when I had the skills all along!!
Quite right Thomas, you could literally spend your whole life trying to master all of these technologies and never actually achieve anything of value. I regularly fall into the same trap - there are people developing new shiny toys faster than I can possibly learn them. I thought I'd never be able to do a web project until I was fully proficient in JavaScript (including the yearly updates to the language), JQuery, Node, React, Ember, Angular, Grunt, Gulp, npm, bower, less, sass... the list just goes on for ever.

Some of these frameworks and tools are designed to solve specific problems (problems that you probably don't have), and some are just the result of computer techs wanting to make something cooler and better than what has gone before. The creators of these things aren't necessarily creating to fulfil a business need; they are thinking like a tech and not an owner/boss/entrepreneur wanting to make some big, fast money.

You won't need any of it, unless you're applying for a specific job in coding with a company, or you're developing a complex web app. By that time you'll know what you need and why. HTML and CSS will get you a functional, fast, clean website.

And if there's something you consistently find yourself doing over and over again that you suddenly wish there was an easier way, or a way to automate it, or was easier to structure, then probably one of the above tools will help out.

Sure these things can be useful and cool, but not essential for our business needs. I just spent two days learning grunt and gulp, only to realise at the end that I don't actually need a workflow! I can easily create a few folders myself, copy a bit of code and get cracking. I just got caught up in too many tech blogs and things you 'must know as a web developer'. Grrr!
 
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momomaurice

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Great post Fox. I havent read it all yet but their is some excellent stuff on here. I feel like packing my bags and moving to Spain and starting my own online business after reading this.
 

momomaurice

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I Read this thread about 2 weeks ago and couldn't stop thinking about it. I bought the web school course, a Udemy coding course and a copywriting course. I am working on them every day and night and I'm moving to Spain on September 15th. I'm going all in on this and I'm sure I will be ready before I make the move. I will definitely make a progress thread when I start getting sales.
 

Oklm

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This is more than a gold thread! Fantastic

I Read this thread about 2 weeks ago and couldn't stop thinking about it. I bought the web school course, a Udemy coding course and a copywriting course. I am working on them every day and night and I'm moving to Spain on September 15th. I'm going all in on this and I'm sure I will be ready before I make the move. I will definitely make a progress thread when I start getting sales.
I went to spain a month ago and I definitely loved it, I plan on moving there soon too

@Fox can I send you a private message? It's not a question about how this or that works, I'd have asked here. I promise it won't take more than a minute to read it
 
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sblaughton

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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
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Fox

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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) - The Complete JavaScript Course 2018: Build Real Projects!

Web Design for Web Developers: Build Beautiful Websites! (Jonas Schmedtmann) - Web Design for Web Developers: Build Beautiful Websites!

The Web Developer Bootcamp (Colt Steele) The Web Developer Bootcamp | Udemy

JavaScript For Beginners : Learn JavaScript From Scratch (Ashitosh Pawar) - JavaScript For Beginners : Learn JavaScript From Scratch

The Complete Web Developer Course 2.0 (Rob Percival) - The Complete Web Developer Course 2.0 | Udemy

Get Job ready with 13 projects, 2 courses, and 10 books - P1xt/p1xt-guides

| Codecademy

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


Wow. Welcome to the forum and thanks for a super high value intro post.

Glad this thread and others helped. Let us know how we can help you in return.

+Rep
 

Oklm

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Hi, I have a question

How can you make sure that you don't lose SEO ranking when you redo a website?

It could be dramatic for a company if they're ranked page 1 and when you redo the website they fall page 2, 3 or more

@Fox (or anyone who have a bit of experience) have you ever experienced a loss in rankings after your new website? If not, what did you do to avoid that?

Thank you!
 
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Fox

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Hi, I have a question

How can you make sure that you don't lose SEO ranking when you redo a website?

It could be dramatic for a company if they're ranked page 1 and when you redo the website they fall page 2, 3 or more

@Fox (or anyone who have a bit of experience) have you ever experienced a loss in rankings after your new website? If not, what did you do to avoid that?

Thank you!

Without getting into technical SEO a site that has a better user experience, is more specific to exactly what the user wants, and covers all the SEO bases is going to rise in ranking.

At the end of the day though I look at things from a sales perspective. If they have a site that isn't selling then focus on ranking isn't optimal. But good selling systems usually closely link in with what google wants anyway.
 

Longinus

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Hi, I have a question

How can you make sure that you don't lose SEO ranking when you redo a website?

It could be dramatic for a company if they're ranked page 1 and when you redo the website they fall page 2, 3 or more

@Fox (or anyone who have a bit of experience) have you ever experienced a loss in rankings after your new website? If not, what did you do to avoid that?

Thank you!

I had this problem with 2 websites. But the good news is that most companies don't even know how they're doing on Google. Now, I would recommend to use WP because this has more useful plugins for a steady SEO.
 

Oklm

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Without getting into technical SEO a site that has a better user experience, is more specific to exactly what the user wants, and covers all the SEO bases is going to rise in ranking.

At the end of the day though I look at things from a sales perspective. If they have a site that isn't selling then focus on ranking isn't optimal. But good selling systems usually closely link in with what google wants anyway.
Thanks for your answer

Does that mean when you redo a website ranked page 1 or 2 you don't really do anything to make sure it keeps its ranking other than creating a website with a good user experience? And with that strategy you've never experienced a bad situation like a page or 2 lost in rankings?

I had this problem with 2 websites. But the good news is that most companies don't even know how they're doing on Google. Now, I would recommend to use WP because this has more useful plugins for a steady SEO.
Thanks for your answer too

I'm not sure that most companies don't even know how they're doing on Google haha but yeah I guess a lot don't know

Even if they don't know though, it could be terrible for them. Let's see a quick example with fantasy numbers

Website A, shitty, doesn't convert much but ranked page 1
8k visitors/day, converts 1%. That's 80 clients

Website B, new design new copywriting new everything, killer website, converts 2x better than website A but now is ranked page 2 or 3
3k visitors/day, converts 2%. That's 60 clients

It converts better but the loss in rankings killed this asset. Obviously the figures are fantasy but it's just to illustrate that a good ranking might be more interesting than a killer website. Pretty much an illustration of "quantity over quality"

And since we're aiming to provide value, it could be hard to justify that even if the website is way better and converts more at the end of the day figures are pretty much the same

That's why i'm trying to know if I can be sure that i'm not going to lose the ranking of a website, that's the only thing that holds me back tbh
 
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Longinus

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Thanks for your answer

Does that mean when you redo a website ranked page 1 or 2 you don't really do anything to make sure it keeps its ranking other than creating a website with a good user experience? And with that strategy you've never experienced a bad situation like a page or 2 lost in rankings?


Thanks for your answer too

I'm not sure that most companies don't even know how they're doing on Google haha but yeah I guess a lot don't know

Even if they don't know though, it could be terrible for them. Let's see a quick example with fantasy numbers

Website A, shitty, doesn't convert much but ranked page 1
8k visitors/day, converts 1%. That's 80 clients

Website B, new design new copywriting new everything, killer website, converts 2x better than website A but now is ranked page 2 or 3
3k visitors/day, converts 2%. That's 60 clients

It converts better but the loss in rankings killed this asset. Obviously the figures are fantasy but it's just to illustrate that a good ranking might be more interesting than a killer website. Pretty much an illustration of "quantity over quality"

And since we're aiming to provide value, it could be hard to justify that even if the website is way better and converts more at the end of the day figures are pretty much the same

That's why i'm trying to know if I can be sure that i'm not going to lose the ranking of a website, that's the only thing that holds me back tbh

You are right with your numbers, but not all clients get a lot of sales from their website. So simply restyling it can already make a big difference.

If your client is really concerned about SEO, go with WP with free Yoast plugin. You can do it with html too, but you'll have to figure it out yourself then (xml-sitemaps for example).
 

vanTaylson

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Thanks for your answer

Does that mean when you redo a website ranked page 1 or 2 you don't really do anything to make sure it keeps its ranking other than creating a website with a good user experience? And with that strategy you've never experienced a bad situation like a page or 2 lost in rankings?


Thanks for your answer too

I'm not sure that most companies don't even know how they're doing on Google haha but yeah I guess a lot don't know

Even if they don't know though, it could be terrible for them. Let's see a quick example with fantasy numbers

Website A, shitty, doesn't convert much but ranked page 1
8k visitors/day, converts 1%. That's 80 clients

Website B, new design new copywriting new everything, killer website, converts 2x better than website A but now is ranked page 2 or 3
3k visitors/day, converts 2%. That's 60 clients

It converts better but the loss in rankings killed this asset. Obviously the figures are fantasy but it's just to illustrate that a good ranking might be more interesting than a killer website. Pretty much an illustration of "quantity over quality"

And since we're aiming to provide value, it could be hard to justify that even if the website is way better and converts more at the end of the day figures are pretty much the same

That's why i'm trying to know if I can be sure that i'm not going to lose the ranking of a website, that's the only thing that holds me back tbh

As @Fox mentioned in his reply, you cover the SEO bases.

You would keep the same site structure and page urls (if this is not possible, then add redirects from old to new urls), so old links will still be active and google won't see any dead links/pages.

In terms of onpage SEO, again you would try to keep a similar structure in terms of headings, but by improving the user experience of these pages which in turn will increase the conversions, the bounce/exit rates will drop which from Google's point of view, shows that these pages are of value to the user which should increase its rankings.

There may be an initial drop in rankings when the new site first goes live, but by informing Google of these changes - submitting sitemaps through the Search Console, for example, should alleviate or minimise this as much as possible.
 

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As @Fox mentioned in his reply, you cover the SEO bases.

You would keep the same site structure and page urls (if this is not possible, then add redirects from old to new urls), so old links will still be active and google won't see any dead links/pages.

In terms of onpage SEO, again you would try to keep a similar structure in terms of headings, but by improving the user experience of these pages which in turn will increase the conversions, the bounce/exit rates will drop which from Google's point of view, shows that these pages are of value to the user which should increase its rankings.

There may be an initial drop in rankings when the new site first goes live, but by informing Google of these changes - submitting sitemaps through the Search Console, for example, should alleviate or minimise this as much as possible.

Welcome to the forum! If you want check out the intro thread so you can make a post.

Good points above.
 
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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.
This is brilliant man. Thanks so much.
 
D

Deleted50669

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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) - The Complete JavaScript Course 2018: Build Real Projects!

Web Design for Web Developers: Build Beautiful Websites! (Jonas Schmedtmann) - Web Design for Web Developers: Build Beautiful Websites!

The Web Developer Bootcamp (Colt Steele) The Web Developer Bootcamp | Udemy

JavaScript For Beginners : Learn JavaScript From Scratch (Ashitosh Pawar) - JavaScript For Beginners : Learn JavaScript From Scratch

The Complete Web Developer Course 2.0 (Rob Percival) - The Complete Web Developer Course 2.0 | Udemy

Get Job ready with 13 projects, 2 courses, and 10 books - P1xt/p1xt-guides

| Codecademy

Learn to code with free online courses, programming projects, and interview preparation for developer jobs.

Learn Code the Hard Way

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 - The Net Ninja

{USEFUL WEBSITES TOOLS}

X | The Theme - X | The Theme

WordPress - Blog Tool, Publishing Platform, and CMS — WordPress

Graphic Design Software - Graphic Design: Make Logo, Website & More DIY Tools | The Design Shop

DIVI - Divi Layouts | premade layout templates for Divi Theme by Elegant Themes + 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
Holy smokes, that's a lot of consolidated value in a post. Thank you so much for doing this.
 
D

Deleted50669

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Fox, I spent 5 hours today reading through this awesome thread. As many others have said, you're the man for investing so much time in this. I am wondering, in mid 2018 do you see freelance web design as a field that's becoming saturated / is there space for folks who are newer to find business? My instincts tell me yes, but it feels worth asking. My question is motivated after seeing stuff like this:

r/webdev - Is Web Development a Dying Profession?
 
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Maxboost

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Fox, I spent 5 hours today reading through this awesome thread. As many others have said, you're the man for investing so much time in this. I am wondering, in mid 2018 do you see freelance web design as a field that's becoming saturated / is there space for folks who are newer to find business? My instincts tell me yes, but it feels worth asking. My question is motivated after seeing stuff like this:

r/webdev - Is Web Development a Dying Profession?

The answer is somewhere in the middle.

Nothing is stopping someone from being a professional photographer but only a select few can charge $5k to shoot your wedding photographs. Results, reputation, and value is what will separate you from the herd. I am learning this as I attempt a web design business myself.

I would rank web development alongside with real estate agents. %80 of the business is being taken by 20% of the BEST web designers. Everyone else fights for scraps.

Learning how to sell is probably more important than doing the actual coding. I've seen "professional" web development agencies with offices here in my city that do TERRRIBLE work. That should leave plenty of oppurtunities for freelance workers. The question is how many people are willing to pick up the phone and try to sell? Not many.....
 

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Fox, I spent 5 hours today reading through this awesome thread. As many others have said, you're the man for investing so much time in this. I am wondering, in mid 2018 do you see freelance web design as a field that's becoming saturated / is there space for folks who are newer to find business? My instincts tell me yes, but it feels worth asking. My question is motivated after seeing stuff like this:

r/webdev - Is Web Development a Dying Profession?

Thanks

There is still massive opportunity but you need to be able to think big picture. Its not just a website anymore - its a sales system. You got to understand the user behaviour before and after they use the site.

Also understanding the companies sales system. What do they want these people to do? What can you help with and what should you leave till later? What actions should you try develop and what different directions should you send people in?

If you focus on sales (more than design) you will always be in demand. It is extremely hard for advanced sales to be automated or outsourced cheaply.

Also keep in mind that:
- more businesses need a new website everyday
- old websites age out, break, need updating etc
- many web designers move on to their own things once experienced

So it still has massive opportunity but it needs the right approach.
 

andrewsyc

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This thread really put into perspective on things I understood to a degree but not to this extent. I've read through most of this thread but will have to reread and take notes on specific posts. GOLD/PLATINUM/EPIC.
 
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Everyman

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Let me just say, I take back whatever nonsense I was saying earlier about worrying about this niche being saturated. Good grief, there are so many bad sites out there. I spent and hour looking and found over 50.

Yes. Just remember they are bad for a reason and the effort lies in finding businesses that want and need a good website. Most of them don't use them and don't need them (or don't have the right mindset).
 

Maxboost

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Let me just say, I take back whatever nonsense I was saying earlier about worrying about this niche being saturated. Good grief, there are so many bad sites out there. I spent and hour looking and found over 50.

That's only 1 part of the problem. The best web designers making the big bucks are also the best Salesman. You have to sell them on the idea that redesigning the site is in their best interest. It's a tough business so far from what I've learned...
 
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D

Deleted50669

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Yes. Just remember they are bad for a reason and the effort lies in finding businesses that want and need a good website. Most of them don't use them and don't need them (or don't have the right mindset).

Yea, that's a good point.

That's only 1 part of the problem. The best web designers making the big bucks are also the best Salesman. You have to sell them on the idea that redesigning the site is in their best interest. It's a tough business so far from what I've learned...

I can see that being the case. North of a million folks have done the codecademy stuff from what I saw, so I'm sure as with any red ocean the spoils are going to the top 10% salesmen.
 

andrewsyc

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Yea, that's a good point.
I can see that being the case. North of a million folks have done the codecademy stuff from what I saw, so I'm sure as with any red ocean the spoils are going to the top 10% salesmen.

The thing this thread really pulled me out of is all the developers that get stuck in code land and never see who is paying their bills. Many of those principles are important in certain applications but beyond that, they just make them a good employee in a specific part of the company.
 

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