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

SDE

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Let me know below if you want a 2020 a Web Design Business/Sales thread :cool:


We would LOVE to see it.

Thanks in advance for shortening our learning curve.
 
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PapaGang

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Me and a friend will be doing website building together. How can we make the concept that Fox explains, work with 2 people?

We can build sites separately, but maybe there will be some friction because the one makes more money for the company than the other (we already have a venture together).

A possible solution would be that we split every project: one makes the websites himselves and the other does the copywriting. However, I'm doubting about this. Workload is not equal for example and our ideas about the site may be contradictory. Maybe it's better for one to do the whole thing himselve.

Any advice anyone?
You should read "Slicing Pie." It covers fair equity splits in startups.
 
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IlseVdG

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Hi @Fox, hi everyone

Excuse me for asking something that's probably been asked a zillion times, but with books on coding, and with my lack of knowledge about them, I'm just unsure at this moment whether I'll be reading something new or something slightly dated, so I ask this again, just to be sure - and maybe some other newbe can also benefit from the zillionst aswer here.

What is, right NOW, the best book on HTML? And what is the best one on CSS? I've already switched from codemy to codecademy which is an improvement for me personally (systematicly written explanations and lots of practice, much more digestible than just quick videos), so THANK YOU for that advice, but now, with the full exercises that I'm wanting to make, I feel the need to also have something on paper besides that. As a reference. To quickly look things up that I've forgotten about, for instance. (And to F* read more, Andy from Hard Challenge)

Thanks a lot in advance!
 

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Hi @Fox, hi everyone

Excuse me for asking something that's probably been asked a zillion times, but with books on coding, and with my lack of knowledge about them, I'm just unsure at this moment whether I'll be reading something new or something slightly dated, so I ask this again, just to be sure - and maybe some other newbe can also benefit from the zillionst aswer here.

What is, right NOW, the best book on HTML? And what is the best one on CSS? I've already switched from codemy to codecademy which is an improvement for me personally (systematicly written explanations and lots of practice, much more digestible than just quick videos), so THANK YOU for that advice, but now, with the full exercises that I'm wanting to make, I feel the need to also have something on paper besides that. As a reference. To quickly look things up that I've forgotten about, for instance. (And to F* read more, Andy from Hard Challenge)

Thanks a lot in advance!

I've found this to be the best HTML book: HTML and CSS: Design and Build Websites: Jon Duckett: 8601200464207: Amazon.com: Books. Html is rather easy and the skills can be acquired in a day or two, but learning css in conjunction is always a good idea, and this book is absolutely beautiful and easy to follow. You can save a bit of money and buy this combo which includes the book I mentioned as well as an additional book on Javascript, which is, in my opinion, the next logical progression after HTML and CSS in terms of learning web development: Web Design with HTML, CSS, JavaScript and jQuery Set: Jon Duckett: 8601419903887: Amazon.com: Books.
 
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IlseVdG

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I've found this to be the best HTML book: HTML and CSS: Design and Build Websites: Jon Duckett: 8601200464207: Amazon.com: Books. Html is rather easy and the skills can be acquired in a day or two, but learning css in conjunction is always a good idea, and this book is absolutely beautiful and easy to follow. You can save a bit of money and buy this combo which includes the book I mentioned as well as an additional book on Javascript, which is, in my opinion, the next logical progression after HTML and CSS in terms of learning web development: Web Design with HTML, CSS, JavaScript and jQuery Set: Jon Duckett: 8601419903887: Amazon.com: Books.

Thanks @tigerbalm !! I had in fact doubts about this one, because it's not 100% up to date, but thanks to your reference I looked at it again, and read some more reviews reflecting back what you said: it's really well written and layouted. For me, at this stage, the didactic approach is the most important. I suppose I'll soon be able to distinct the old from the new anyway. And I'll always have an online course to compare with. The combo is indeed a good deal. But darn it, it comes with high costs for shipping to Belgium, so I finally got it from the Dutch bol.com for 50 EUR. Still a good deal. Delivered tomorrow. I'm enjoying a week of leave, I'll know what to do. Thanks again :)

Now I've a good book to start with immediately, leaving me with no more excuses, but other suggestions of good books are of course still very welcome here.
 

Fox

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Hi @Fox, hi everyone

Excuse me for asking something that's probably been asked a zillion times, but with books on coding, and with my lack of knowledge about them, I'm just unsure at this moment whether I'll be reading something new or something slightly dated, so I ask this again, just to be sure - and maybe some other newbe can also benefit from the zillionst aswer here.

What is, right NOW, the best book on HTML? And what is the best one on CSS? I've already switched from codemy to codecademy which is an improvement for me personally (systematicly written explanations and lots of practice, much more digestible than just quick videos), so THANK YOU for that advice, but now, with the full exercises that I'm wanting to make, I feel the need to also have something on paper besides that. As a reference. To quickly look things up that I've forgotten about, for instance. (And to F* read more, Andy from Hard Challenge)

Thanks a lot in advance!

The book @tigerbalm linked to is the only book on coding I ever bought. And it spent most of its time under my monitor to boost the height ha (but it is a good book).

I think it is best to use online resources as they should be the most up to date possible. I learned most of what know from Udemy, google, youtube and courses.
 

IlseVdG

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The book @tigerbalm linked to is the only book on coding I ever bought. And it spent most of its time under my monitor to boost the height ha (but it is a good book).

I think it is best to use online resources as they should be the most up to date possible. I learned most of what know from Udemy, google, youtube and courses.

If I may ask: what kind of monitor do you use? I only have a macbook pro at this moment; I'm looking for a more practical way to manage different documents & online sources at the same time.

EDIT: especially: would there be certain requirements with webbuilding in mind?
 
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Are EM

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It looks like it's going to be one of my main ways to raise money for the business. I've taken some steps along the learning, edited the code, approached the local businessman and showed them the index.html lol. He was shocked and now wants to buy it from me. This definitely has a need in my place. Going to implement all the golden nuggets from this thread, finish the courses to know my shit and then take bigger steps. Thank you @Fox and all.

It'll be great to hear things from you about how do you upload the web sites on the internet. I found it of course, but just curious to know how do you do this? Are you still setting up godaddy account for the clients?
 

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It'll be great to hear things from you about how do you upload the web sites on the internet. I found it of course, but just curious to know how do you do this? Are you still setting up godaddy account for the clients?

Hey, this video covers it step by step (hosting is towards the end).

 

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If I may ask: what kind of monitor do you use? I only have a macbook pro at this moment; I'm looking for a more practical way to manage different documents & online sources at the same time.

EDIT: especially: would there be certain requirements with webbuilding in mind?

Nah whatever is a decent size.I like the wide screens though - you can get a lot more done in less time. I think it is a Samsung - I am away travelling right now.
 
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Hey Mr992, thanks for the reply.

I know UG is possible, thats what im founding right now. The problem with larger companies (GmbH's) is that usually they will not take UG's very seriously and HERE's WHY:

1. As an UG, by definition, everyone knows that u have less than 25k in your bank account.

2. As an UG, you have limited liability, to the same extent as a llc or GmbH.

My experience with the UG so far, is that people take you even less seriously and make your life more difficult then we you start a sole proprietorship. Why? Because if you are a sole proprietor, then at least if you are not able to pay ur bills, they have the ability to go after your house, car or whatever else (unlimited liability). For a UG, they know you only have 25k (maximum) and incase you are not able to pay, you are protected by limited liability, which makes lots of more established businesses shy away from doing businesses with a UG.

In reality for me so far: only hassle I have had was that the bank I wanted to open an account with did not allow me to do so for the UG (although they did for my sole proprietorship business lol).

Anyways, im opening my bank account with another bank next week Friday and the fee's will be a bit higher, nothing too bad. Atleast I have the privilege of enjoying limited liability, which was very important to me, since my ventures are online business.

Dam... this text got a bit longer than I had hoped for, but incase any german readers take a look at this, it might be useful to them :)

Best,
Champion

Sorry to come in late, but this is not correct. For a Gmbh you need capital of 25k...but you don't need to pay it all upfront. yo only need to pay half upfront (12.5k). so one or two good jobs could get you there.

but the key thing is that you need to talk your clients and figures out what wroks for them. maybe younger, more dynamic companies will be the only ones to take a risk on you at first, but that's just sales-- matching your abilities to create solutions with the customers' wants and needs. if a customer really makes a huge deal about needing a GMBh (and they shouldn't if you message it well...), then they were never really your customer.
 
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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 Learn to Code - for Free | Codecademy.

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


Next take the following UDEMY course:

Build Responsive Websites 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...

Foundry Multipurpose HTML + Variant Page Builder

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.
I really liked your post. It will help all the people who want to create a blog for them. I also suggest people to make a blog where they can write to earn.
 

brief

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Don't know if this was asked before but do you charge maintenance/hosting costs for these websites per month?

Thanks!
 
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ads0401

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Thank you so much for sharing @Fox

Do you think in 2020 it's still worth learning HTML and CSS or is it too saturated? I'm keen to learn regardless just wanted somebody's opinion who is in the know!.

Great thread, thanks again!
 

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Thank you so much for sharing @Fox

Do you think in 2020 it's still worth learning HTML and CSS or is it too saturated? I'm keen to learn regardless just wanted somebody's opinion who is in the know!.

Great thread, thanks again!

I'm a freelance web developer and depending on your goal I think HTML and CSS is still worth learning as they are the basics of almost everything that will come on your path learning web development. If your goal is to make money with only knowledge of HTML and CSS I think the tips in the opening post of this thread are still actual and usable. After that, I would recommend learning JavaScript as soon as possible.
 

ads0401

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I'm a freelance web developer and depending on your goal I think HTML and CSS is still worth learning as they are the basics of almost everything that will come on your path learning web development. If your goal is to make money with only knowledge of HTML and CSS I think the tips in the opening post of this thread are still actual and usable. After that, I would recommend learning JavaScript as soon as possible.

Great thanks for your response, just what I wanted to hear :) . I wanted to learn web development anyway and with so much time with this lockdown it makes sense to do it now.
 
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Fox

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Thank you so much for sharing @Fox

Do you think in 2020 it's still worth learning HTML and CSS or is it too saturated? I'm keen to learn regardless just wanted somebody's opinion who is in the know!.

Great thread, thanks again!

Ya its the foundation of all coding so its the best way to start. Once you got some basic HTML and CSS you got a lot of options already when it comes to building websites (themes, templates, theme builders etc).

As for saturated all businesses are going to be focused on the value of what you build - they don't care too much (or at all) how it was built.

To get valuable focus on the purpose behind what you are making. Right now every business wants to get more competitive - keeping their current customers and cash flow, while also trying to find new ways to bring in money too. So focus your websites on what they can help with and you will do well.

A basic HTML website with a business plan behind it is worth 100 fancy shiny websites that do nothing.
 

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@Fox , I started one year ago to study Web design thanks to you and this thread.
Recently I'm worried because I can't sell anything despite I'm quite good to do this job (they say. I know html and css; also I'm comfy with JS, some php and I know well bootstrap4) and I also created a lot of fake-website for training. I also designed three real websites: a Wordpress blog for a friend (with a database) and I'm working to finish it soon; a website for a famous local festival; a website for an electrician company of a friend's father. I worked free for all three projects.

So I was thinking "oh my God, what can I do? potential local customers don't reply, what is wrong?"

Today I casually returned to this thread and started reading. Then I found your "1000k challenge" on YouTube.
I have to say you a big THANKS, because now I'm understanding what I'm doing wrong: potential customers don't have trust in me.
I wasn't doing all wrong: in fact, in my e-mails I try to explain that in this pandemic situation, a website helps to mantain customers and to reach new; also my mind is not focused just to the style but I really try to give value, I want that the website gives results.
But I never think about trust: I thought that persons in my area (northern Italy) were just "old minds" who don't care about the internet. Partially I'm right, 'cause they really are old minded, but it's not impossible as I thought!
So, now I'll work to build trust around me. Your videos are very interesting, I appreciate a lot.
Again, thank you!
 

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@Fox , I started one year ago to study Web design thanks to you and this thread.
Recently I'm worried because I can't sell anything despite I'm quite good to do this job (they say. I know html and css; also I'm comfy with JS, some php and I know well bootstrap4) and I also created a lot of fake-website for training. I also designed three real websites: a Wordpress blog for a friend (with a database) and I'm working to finish it soon; a website for a famous local festival; a website for an electrician company of a friend's father. I worked free for all three projects.

So I was thinking "oh my God, what can I do? potential local customers don't reply, what is wrong?"

Today I casually returned to this thread and started reading. Then I found your "1000k challenge" on YouTube.
I have to say you a big THANKS, because now I'm understanding what I'm doing wrong: potential customers don't have trust in me.
I wasn't doing all wrong: in fact, in my e-mails I try to explain that in this pandemic situation, a website helps to mantain customers and to reach new; also my mind is not focused just to the style but I really try to give value, I want that the website gives results.
But I never think about trust: I thought that persons in my area (northern Italy) were just "old minds" who don't care about the internet. Partially I'm right, 'cause they really are old minded, but it's not impossible as I thought!
So, now I'll work to build trust around me. Your videos are very interesting, I appreciate a lot.
Again, thank you!

Hey great to see this.

This recent video should help you a lot also...


The big three things when you need to first start charing for your websites are:

Have enough trust: this is why using your own network or friends of friends can work so well. But you can also use your past projects to create trust by showing what you have helped with.

Have enough value: Even on a smaller paid project clients still have to invest focus and energy. The more value you can show for them in a project the more likely they are to take action. Free or cheap doesn't mean "no effort".

So always work on having the highest perceived value possible - a low price won't help if they don't see the point. On the flip side - a HIGH price is very possible when they see a lot of value.

Remove as much risk as possible: There will always be some risk for a client in hiring you but try get it as close to zero as possible. Show past results, split the payment up, have a very clear plan, let them know what exactly they can expect, look professional etc.

The final thing to help you is pain.

The bigger the pain a client is in the more likely they are to take action. If a have a small pain I might wait to see a doctor for months - if I am in MASSIVE pain I want anyone to help me right now. The same goes for web design. By finding people who need urgent help you make it much more about their situation and the focus will be less on you (great when first starting).
 
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Gabry_ITA

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Hey great to see this.

This recent video should help you a lot also...


The big three things when you need to first start charing for your websites are:

Have enough trust: this is why using your own network or friends of friends can work so well. But you can also use your past projects to create trust by showing what you have helped with.

Have enough value: Even on a smaller paid project clients still have to invest focus and energy. The more value you can show for them in a project the more likely they are to take action. Free or cheap doesn't mean "no effort".

So always work on having the highest perceived value possible - a low price won't help if they don't see the point. On the flip side - a HIGH price is very possible when they see a lot of value.

Remove as much risk as possible: There will always be some risk for a client in hiring you but try get it as close to zero as possible. Show past results, split the payment up, have a very clear plan, let them know what exactly they can expect, look professional etc.

The final thing to help you is pain.

The bigger the pain a client is in the more likely they are to take action. If a have a small pain I might wait to see a doctor for months - if I am in MASSIVE pain I want anyone to help me right now. The same goes for web design. By finding people who need urgent help you make it much more about their situation and the focus will be less on you (great when first starting).
Firstly: thank you again!
I've just watched the video, very interesting and useful. Now I can understand what was wrong and correct in my e-mails.
I think that the bigger mistake was my "sell-oriented" mentality: I was worried to write as a copy, trying to seduce the potential customer and calling to action. I forgot to think more...humanly.
I'm not a manipulative person but my studies at the college(International Relations in the past and now Communication and Marketing) push a lot to the dark side (Star Wars fan here :D). Also, now I've proves that this approach is not good in terms of results.
Now I want to think about potential customers, look my little portfolio and then follow your advices. I'll absolutely write here about progress.

Just a question, but it needs a preamble: I said that here there are many old-minded business owners; unfortunately many don't trust the internet and we, in my area, are famous to be a little stingy (hope that is the right translation from the italian words "taccagno" or "tirchio").
I have friends (they work in different IT areas) who went abroad because here they frequently have problems to be paid or to find good prospects.
I also know freelancers who live here but have only foreign customers.
Obviously there are also good business owners, but there is a general resistance to internet: it's a productive area and tertiary is seen as a "you-do-nothing-job. For example, when I left my slowlane job, colleagues jokingly said "hey, from tomorrow you'll be home, sleeping until 10 am, working less, earning a lot of money eh?".
Many business owners think in the same way: if you don't create something tangible, you are doing nothing. Also my girlfriend, who works for a Web agency, deal with many persons who think in this way.
It's hard and frustrating to approach people so mentally close.
The question is: you said to focus locally when someone start; do you think, given the particular situation here, that it could be useful to try to reach also foreign people? I was thinking about open-minded markets as UK, US and Canada (didn't do particular researches yet).
Thank you for your time, I appreciate!
 

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Awesome thread! I'm learning copywriting now to apply it to my websites!

Just a few questions for Fox, or anyone else that can help:

1. If the client isn't in your city, what can you do for photos? Do you use the best stock photos you can find? I'm starting out, so I don't want to hire a photographer yet.

2. How do you get paid, when the time comes? PayPal? Also, do you have to register as a business?

3. Do you have a public online portfolio you use for social proof?
 

enchifred

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Awesome thread! I'm learning copywriting now to apply it to my websites!

Just a few questions for Fox, or anyone else that can help:

1. If the client isn't in your city, what can you do for photos? Do you use the best stock photos you can find? I'm starting out, so I don't want to hire a photographer yet.

2. How do you get paid, when the time comes? PayPal? Also, do you have to register as a business?

3. Do you have a public online portfolio you use for social proof?
Hey spirit,

This might help answer your first question :)
 
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Milos

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In 2017 I started learning how to build websites. While I did acquire the knowledge, I never followed up with my plan to be as direct and aggressive as possible with acquiring clients. My initial plan was to design a basic landing page for the potential client, print it out and take it directly to them, or at least send it by mail. The idea behind that approach was that they would get impressed by their potential landing page so much, they would have no choice but to give me a call.

3 years later and I got interested in building websites again. Because of Coronavirus, I had 2 months off work and I used it to get back into building websites. I still like the idea of designing something basic for clients, because it doesn't take much time, and I feel it would help with convincing them to build the whole site. The thing is, I realized that when I do that, I get attached to the potential project before I even show the page to them. I now have 10 landing pages, that I constantly refine because I want to increase my chances of impressing them. Crazy right?

Well, today I realized that this is getting nowhere, and I decided to flush the perfectionism down the toilet and act fast. My new approach? I just go there, ask them a few questions about their products, and say I will check their website. I ask them about how to find it, and when they say they don't have it, I say I could build one for them. Nothing particularly creative, but I like personal approaches.

I did this 5 times today, and 2 responses were mildly positive, meaning they took my number, and might call me. 2 were negative, in that they don't need it right now. 1 was... special. An old lady told me they have a website, but they just use Google instead. I got the feeling she didn't have any idea what a website is.

Nothing spectacular, but a good start. At least I broke the ice with seeking clients this way. It was fun as well, in the first shop there were 5 people discussing something with the owner, and then I interrupted them to offer a website :). After that, it was a breeze talking with anyone else.

I have some other ideas. I will offer to bundle the website with some other free things. I could make some small amount of t shirts for them. Or I would walk trough the town with a sign, that has their company name on it as a bonus. Humiliating yourself a bit helps a lot in life, because we are all holding back from doing something because we are afraid of ridicule. After doing some crazy stuff you get off the rails, and you are more willing to experiment in the future.

I have some more creative and wild ideas that I might test, but I'll leave that for some other time.


Sorry for a lengthy text, and thanks for reading.
 

Milos

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I also know freelancers who live here but have only foreign customers.
Obviously there are also good business owners, but there is a general resistance to internet: it's a productive area and tertiary is seen as a "you-do-nothing-job. For example, when I left my slowlane job, colleagues jokingly said "hey, from tomorrow you'll be home, sleeping until 10 am, working less, earning a lot of money eh?".
Many business owners think in the same way: if you don't create something tangible, you are doing nothing. Also my girlfriend, who works for a Web agency, deal with many persons who think in this way.
It's hard and frustrating to approach people so mentally close.
I didn't know Italy is like that, damn. I'm in Serbia, and it's the same thing, people have no idea what a computer can do for them. Owners hate computers, and would rather work without them, yet they can't because they obviously provide a lot of value. If we could only convince them about the potential benefits... I am in the process of trying to convince my 63 year old uncle that he could simplify and speed things up a lot by using computers instead of paper. If I can sway him, I am confident that I can change the entire country.
 

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