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

[JakeVW]

So I’m about 5 weeks in and really enjoying the learning process. I feel like I should be further ahead though. I’m not sure if it’s because I expect more from myself or if it’s simply my lack of available time that’s slowing me down. Juggling this, work and family is a major challenge.

I have the basics down and I have been messing around building a site from scratch to reinforce what I’ve learned. It’s going ok, but again, I feel like I should be ready by now and using my time getting clients vs. parking my a$$ in front of my screen trying to perfect this.

On top of that, I am digging into some of the GOLD threads here and on the INSIDERS forum which is raising some internal conflict. I see the great e-comm progress that others have made/are making and I am now 2nd guessing if I’m on the right path or not.

I know there are countless other posts on this board similar to this and I’m not expecting anyone to spoon feed me the answers. I know what I need to do. I think I just needed to get it out there on “paper” to help myself gain some clarity on my direction.

Hey man, we each started around the same time doing this stuff (beginning of February). I know what it feels like, wondering if you are even good enough to get a sale. I went on Upwork and got my first job for $300. It was a lot of work but I'd say it was worth it. I'm still currently working on the job but I've already learned a lot and this will be a great site to put on my portfolio. I'd recommend finding someone with a bad site and just going ahead and offering to make them a site. You can try selling it, and if they say no just let them know why you need to make them a site (for your portfolio) and ask them what they'd be willing to pay. Do it if it's free, it doesn't matter. Once you have that first site it's a lot easier to get other clients. I already am talking with another guy about a job after I sent him a "mockup" AKA half finished site from my Upwork gig. People like to see that you're capable of making sites. Stick with it and you will be rewarded!


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[Drew D]

You use Variant too? Or just brackets?

Noticed that the link to the theme in the OP is for Variant, which seems to be just a customize the blocks site builder that anyone can do.

 

[kubbaaa]

What are price ranges of sites for heavy industry (oil&gas, steel etc.) in Great Britain or USA?

 

[FastNAwesome]

@Fox and others - are there subject lines that work particularly well for you? Do you place much importance on it, or use emails more as a way to "warm" the follow up cold call a little?

 

[uroz]

Looks like I'm going to sell my first website. Its for my current employer but it's a start and something to add into my portfolio. Page is on the domain atm and just waiting for some feedback from the owners so I can fix that and then its live. Hopefully today or tomorrow.

 

[Fox]

@Fox and others - are there subject lines that work particularly well for you? Do you place much importance on it, or use emails more as a way to "warm" the follow up cold call a little?

Keep it generic. Something simple that looks normal. These have the best chance at getting read.
If you have a name for someone who works there then add that in.

 

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[craig1928]

saw this article on HN earlier, thought it'd be relevant here.

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

 

[AnteUp]

Whew, finally made it through the thread while simultaneously taking a Udemy WebDev course.

Fox, thanks a ton for posting this.

I want to throw this out there just in case you or any of your guys need some extra phone time:

I'm focusing solely on building my sales skillset, but I would love to partner up if any of you guys need an extra sales guy. I took the course so I can be somewhat fluent in qualifying client needs and managing expectations. I have about 3 years of experience in selling to c-level execs and business owners. Can provide references.

Initially I can only do this part time but would love to be an additional resource for someone. Would love to chat over Skype to see if we're a good fit.

Either way, hope you guys keep killing it!

 

[Drew D]

@Fox
Hey have you decided to learn Javascript and or PHP or are you still just using HTML and CSS?

 

[JakeVW]

I can't speak for @Fox, but after HTML and CSS I've found Bootstrap to be the most useful. While it isn't a language (IIRC), it definitely makes development much faster and saves a ton of time with responsive work


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[lowtek]

I can't speak for @Fox, but after HTML and CSS I've found Bootstrap to be the most useful. While it isn't a language (IIRC), it definitely makes development much faster and saves a ton of time with responsive work


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Correct, bootstrap is a CSS framework.

Learning javascript, jQuery, and some Angular would be the next logical step.

You guys can check out free code camp - I did it for a while, before I decided being a web dev wasn't for me. However, it's a great resource to learn the ins and outs of javascript, and actually has quite a bit of practical material.

 

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[johnnyfriendly]

@Fox,

You mentioned that you are based in Colombia but do a lot of sites for US businesses. Does that mean that you rarely if ever have a face to face meeting with clients? I can't see you hopping on a plane each time you get a warm lead, it would cost a packet. Does your sales guy who you have prospecting go and meet clients? But the same question applies to him. The US is a big place.....I can't see him jetting all over the country to meet with prospective clients/customers. TIA.

 

[Fox]

@Fox,

You mentioned that you are based in Colombia but do a lot of sites for US businesses. Does that mean that you rarely if ever have a face to face meeting with clients? I can't see you hopping on a plane each time you get a warm lead, it would cost a packet. Does your sales guy who you have prospecting go and meet clients? But the same question applies to him. The US is a big place.....I can't see him jetting all over the country to meet with prospective clients/customers. TIA.

I have only meet one client in person ever and that was months after the site was finished. Its not needed - people are fine with dealing 100% online.

 

[johnnyfriendly]

I have only meet one client in person ever and that was months after the site was finished. Its not needed - people are fine with dealing 100% online.

Truly amazing. Completely off topic. Can anyone explain how I can send a PM to a user on here? I can't seem to find a button or menue choice for that.

 

[Fox]

Start a conversation.

 

[Drew D]

What does everyone use for hosting?

 

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[GUEST417]

Rang them twice - no response.

Its only 5:47pm in Canada.

Is sales "sieve" an expression?

I am scrolling through this thread as we speak. Could you mention some of your sales strategy? What do you say on the phone and via email in your pitch that they need you?

 

[GUEST417]

@Fox Do you have any links to websites you have designed already posted?

 

[Fox]

@Myles Kobe I know the thread is large but both of these are answered in the thread. Thanks.

 

[mtak.doc]

Thank you for this thread.
Great help

 

[Ika]

What do you guys do when your client has already a website design in mind?

Oftentimes there is a reason they are outsourcing design & development to me. It's because they don't have an eye for good and clean design.

Yet they send me links of their competition's website and want me to recreate a section or even the whole website.
I tried to show them, point by point, what is good about the website and what is not - what I can improve. But they think because their competition is using it the website is perfect.

I know that I am a part of the problem. I do not have the persuation skills, especially in English. Plus I can't show them commercial projects that proove with tracked data how the change & design effected the sales.
Or am I choosing stubborn clients?

I've came across this problem with various clients and people I've worked with so far - maybe you guys can add your opinion and help me.

~ Ika

(If the question was a part of this thread, just tell me. I did not have the time to go through all of the 30 pages)

 

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[Fox]

What do you guys do when your client has already a website design in mind?

Oftentimes there is a reason they are outsourcing design & development to me. It's because they don't have an eye for good and clean design.

Yet they send me links of their competition's website and want me to recreate a section or even the whole website.
I tried to show them, point by point, what is good about the website and what is not - what I can improve. But they think because their competition is using it the website is perfect.

I know that I am a part of the problem. I do not have the persuation skills, especially in English. Plus I can't show them commercial projects that proove with tracked data how the change & design effected the sales.
Or am I choosing stubborn clients?

I've came across this problem with various clients and people I've worked with so far - maybe you guys can add your opinion and help me.

~ Ika

(If the question was a part of this thread, just tell me. I did not have the time to go through all of the 30 pages)

Usually this gets better as you target bigger and busier clients. Do you mind sharing the size of the jobs and a little about the companies themselves?

If I am having issues with his I usually try frame it as a smarter move to let me work uninterrupted...

"Here is a job I did in the past where they let me pick the best design and layout for them and the results were really great because..."

This has happened less and less though as I have gotten bigger jobs. They are just busier and don't have time to micromanage.

 

[GoodluckChuck]

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

City Wide Towing & Recovery Service Ltd. | Cakgary, Airdrie, Okotoks, & Strathmore
Urban Towing ltd. | Calgary Towing | Road Side Assistance
Towing Calgary, Get the Best Roadside Assistance in Calgary

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

This person needs one the most though...

$59 ~ Towing Calgary - Low Cost Tow Trucks Services 24 hour!

"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.... "

It looks like these sites have been redone now. Thoughts on them?

 

[DaRK9]

You use Variant too? Or just brackets?

Noticed that the link to the theme in the OP is for Variant, which seems to be just a customize the blocks site builder that anyone can do.

I use both. If I want to fast prototype a site I will use Variant just to get the client to visualize something.

Then the work begins.

 

[Ika]

Usually this gets better as you target bigger and busier clients. Do you mind sharing the size of the jobs and a little about the companies themselves?

If I am having issues with his I usually try frame it as a smarter move to let me work uninterrupted...

"Here is a job I did in the past where they let me pick the best design and layout for them and the results were really great because..."

This has happened less and less though as I have gotten bigger jobs. They are just busier and don't have time to micromanage.

Thank you for the fast answer!
That might be the reason - all of them run quite small businesses and have too much time.

Most of the time, they built their last website on their own using some kind of website builder, but it neither looked or performed good.

So I either created a complete new website or polished the existing one.

The pay was low, but it was great to get my first sales and start moving, start helping people. Working with stubborn clients is better than not working at all.

The experience & portfolio pieces will help to gradually get bigger and easier clients though.

I will try to approach clients that don't have the time to do the work instead of clients that don't have the skills to do it (but have plenty of time).


If I find a way to find, approach and sell to those type of clients better, I will share it here - hopefully it can help others starting out.
My guess so far: I'm not confident enough (in myself and my skills) to approach the bigger clients..

~Ika

 

[Eran123]

I don't know if anyone is interested but there is a currently free course for JS on udemy: JavaScript For Absolute Beginners With 15+ Coding Challenges that you can do in addition to the code academy one, but as mentioned earlier in this thread you don't really have to have it.

 

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[Fox]

It looks like these sites have been redone now. Thoughts on them?

Interesting, I wonder if it was someone reading this thread.

I still don't think they look great - it is a lot of content and its not organized the best to drive sales.



No one will read this (and thats only a fraction of the text). They would have been better highlighting a few key points with a strong call to action.

 

[Eran123]

Interesting, I wonder if it was someone reading this thread.

I still don't think they look great - it is a lot of content and its not organized the best to drive sales.

View attachment 14644

No one will read this (and thats only a fraction of the text). They would have been better highlighting a few key points with a strong call to action.

That seems to be the most common issue I see. Just pages and pages of random, often completely irrelevant text.

 

[JakeVW]

That seems to be the most common issue I see. Just pages and pages of random, often completely irrelevant text.

One issue that I've run into is often these business owners are truly convinced they need all that. Either from some old school SEO "guru" that told them more is better, or stemming from the fact they believe people want all that information at once. Despite my best efforts, when I run into people like this I can never convince them that their website would be better with less text. Any suggestions? Or are they really a lost cause?


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[Fox]

Despite my best efforts, when I run into people like this I can never convince them that their website would be better with less text. Any suggestions? Or are they really a lost cause?

Explain that people only spend 2-3 minutes on a website and if they leave they are probably never coming back.
That time can be spent reading content that sells or not.