Making Money With Web Design 2017/2018

[Fox]

I am still getting PMs and question daily on how to best get started with web design, scale it, and potentially make some great money. My web design journey has progressed a lot since my original thread on web design.

While I love that thread my approach and methods have changed a lot also since I first started. That thread is a great primer on web design but I wanted to have a new thread with my most up to date advice. Some of the things I mentioned before I no longer do and others I now do way more effectively.

So from now on this will be the thread I update with my recent developments and tactics. Also If you feel like asking about a web design topic please ask here from now on. Thanks everyone.

 

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[Fox]

Hey!

Not a specific question, but I would love to hear you get a bit more in detail about what changed. What practices you stopped doing, what (and, eventually, if you feel like sharing, how!) changed for the better? etc.

Cheers Rob!

Good topic.

So in the beginning I was just trying to work with whoever I could. I would target certain types of businesses but at the same time I was quite open about who I worked with. Over time though I have really started to see a strong trend in who got the most ROI and who got a little (or none). Seeing a business get a small ROI is not a great feeling - one it feels terrible and also it is a complete time suck for your business. Generally these jobs pay the smallest amount but the lack of referrals, warm leads, and good visibility afterwards is terrible. This is a straight time for money trade that just never goes anywhere - I always want to avoid this. Leverage your time and work as much as possible!

Another big area with huge changes is my selling technique. I read at least one book a week on advanced selling and have taken a bunch of courses too. Plus with the school and FB group I can see what hundreds of others are doing and use that data also. The end result is my high ticket sales have gotten way better. I don't do many calls anymore (cause one sale can keep you busy for weeks) but when I do the close rate is very high (if a good fit).

Also I have started to really fit in web design with the bigger picture. I look a lot more at what a business is doing as an overall system and try link that in as much as possible. A good website is just a cog in a machine but built the right way it can really help a lot of other areas. Even just knowing how to do this can help you sell a lot because it is what business owners really care about...
***New cool website*** = "ah okay maybe"
***Effective sales and results system*** = sign me up

Also I now outsource a lot more and have a great team of about 15-20 people I can rely on to do certain jobs when needed. I don't use everyone all the time for the same job cause I like to see what others do and not heavily rely on ONE THING. Relying on any ONE thing is the how to have a full on business collapse when it fails.

Moving forwards my aim is to now start building business systems of my own since I have seen what has worked (or not worked) for 100s of other businesses. I am reinvesting a lot of what I have made into different projects and I really think 2018 is going to see some huge progress.

 

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[Fox]

I completely agree... but help me learn a bit please. I fail to see how a website could help in those situations (due to my lack of experience, I'm not contesting it since you've experienced it and have answers to those questions), could you give me some examples you came across?

Lets talk hypothetically about a large industrial firm. Let's say it's in the renewal energy field (or oil, or civil construction, you pick it). These guys don't rely on their website for work, they have contracts with the city hall and other large companies that are already in contact, so a new website would do nothing for them into getting new clients (especially when monthly searches on specific keywords is extremely low to justify it). What would be some examples on the other questions you mentioned that could be resolved with a website, and how would a new website provide value to them?

Hypothetical question so hypothetical answer...

Oil prices are globally low so city hall are getting squeezed for the high prices they were paying subcontractors a few years ago. Reelection is coming up and the current major has to show that all contracts were awarded to the best parties for the right prices. Enter your client.

You find out the above information during a phone call discussing how they get the majority of their contracts. You also know that on their bidding applications (multiple per month) they include a footer with information about the company. You also know these are publicly available and while viewed by those awarding the bids they are also viewed by those trying to see if the major/city hall is spending money in the best way.

You create a plan for a website that will focus on the showing how your client runs a very efficient business producing great results far below the cost of their competitors. You show they use cost pricing systems designed to reduce wastage and consistently complete projects under schedule. They also only hire workers who also support the city and follow similar practices. You show they are the best choice for delivering results within tighter budgets. While the competitors sites also have a little on these topics you present a plan for a website that will go in depth showing case studies, graphs, testimonials, and real data.

This clearly makes a lot of sense for your client and they have been spending a fortune on new bids with very little results (remember times are tougher so the process has got more competitive). Each potential contract is worth $300,000 to $5,000,000. They are happy to spend the $20,000 investment for a website with such a clear plan.

You then build this site and advice your client how to best use it during their bidding process. Now they not only focus on the cost savings (one win) but also on letting city hall know that this is the best political move that safeguards them further political exposure (second win). When it comes time to award the next bidding process who is more likely to win?

Of course this is highly fictional but you asked for one example. The thing is though there are millions of ways to do something similar and add just as much value. It starts with looking at it in the right way.

Meanwhile Jimmy McColdSpam is trying to get pass the secretary so he can let them know they are only showing up second for some google keywords.

 

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[Fox]

Asked you this in PM last night but will ask it fully here so that anyone else struggling might be able to get some guidance in regards to this.
When you started, before you had a portfolio of projects backing your work up, how did you interact with business owners? How did you manage to get sales?

Was it as simple as walking into a business you knew didn't have a website and asking to speak to the owner and offer to make one?
Or cold calling businesses and see if they were interested?

While I guess the above seems simple, it's a very intimidating thing to think about so would love some elaboration and advice on how to approach this sort of stuff.

I also agree a lot with what @• nikita • says above and it shares a similar problem to my above text.

I just answered this a little above but what I now use is a "stack" sales technique. I will show dozens of ways I can add value and remove nearly all of the risk.
I made a non website (but highly related) business call the other day with someone I want to work with on a project. During the call I showed multiple ways I can add a ton of value through improving their product, increasing their market size, creating a new market, and improving their brand. A not vague promises either - I had done the work and had clear steps they could use. I also reversed all the risk in multiple different ways.
They can't lose and stand to gain a lot >>> deal was made.

I would suggest something similar.

To illustrate this:

Typical web sales person: "Hey I seen you on google and the site isn't great. I sell responsive web design and wanted to see if you are interested in being the number #1 search result for..."

My approach: "Hey how are you, I seen you read the email but I will go over the points again quickly: I see a lot of room to improve your current business by doing X, Y and Z. I have seen this work before with _________ and I know because you are doing ______ and probably looking to also get into _______ that this would be great for ___________. How I see this working is something like..." (enter huge value drop with detailed research)

Bottom line > every owner is sick of generic business messages. A highly tailored, planned out sales pitch with huge, real value gives you ar every high % chance of doing business together.

It sounds like a lot of work (and it does take some time for sure) but it is the difference between 5 sales calls a month making great money and 50 sales calls a day and scraping by. Once you get how this works it is very easy to make deals.

 

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[Fox]

When starting out, without any portfolio pieces, would you say it's best to just start calling up places even though you have no examples, or get some work in via Upwork? I don't have any friends or family that want a website done. All the business I've contacted (local or not) shot me down. I was first motivated to start on Upwork but all the clients I have reply incredibly slowly, or ask for a full-blown project that would take me 24/7 work for a month for very little pay. I just don't know how I would convince business with a cold call that they need a website when I have nothing to show them besides my business's site.

Would you say using ads (reddit or FB) for my business website is useless?

Good question. The end goal here is to be able to build big profitable sites. So all the initial goals should lead to that (hopefully as soon as possible)

So working BACKWARDS:

- Selling big sites for 10K plus: You will need to really understand how this business works and how you can help them, you must be able to sell high ticket sales and understand what will make people buy, you need to have proven results

So in short: valuable business knowledge, ability to sell, solid portfolio.

The portfolio is the place to start because the other two you will generally pick up as you go along. A good portfolio consists of things like:

- Sites look great
- Preform excellent
- Are driving results for the clients
- Great ROI with clear "wins"
- Visibility, they are active and still churning out all of the above.

So this is what your main focus should be on where you start. Getting in with the right business and getting them results. Without this the wheels of progress will never start turning. This is how most people get stuck at making $500 websites forever.

So if I was starting tomorrow again my first focus would be to do whatever it took to get three suitable businesses to allow me to build them a website. Their business profile (type) should be as close as possible to the end profile I want to target for bigger businesses. So if my end goal is massive oil and construction companies I should be starting off with little handyman or oil transport operations. Doesn't have to be directly related but a similar niche (and of course way smaller).

It will come down to each person how to best tackle that:
- Use all current connections (family, friends, social, school, clubs etc)
- Learn how to sell to cold connections
- Learn how to code to a level where it makes the above two even easier
- Create solutions like building sample sites and mockups etc

From your post I looks like learning how to sell (yourself and your product). For another person they might already have all those connections and be able to get started right away. It depends on individual circumstances. That being said though there is great methods anyone can use for each of those different methods.

 

[Fox]

Hey man,

Still going strong with web design as well thanks to your older thread!

Throughout my journey, I clearly screwed up while building my foundation. That video you posted clearly resonated with me. At first, I tried to help out anybody within my network and who "needed" a website. You clearly explained why that can keep you stuck and limit your progress to getting bigger and better clients. So for anyone reading this, watch that video and follow exactly what he says.

A quote of yours really got my attention:

"I will show dozens of ways I can add value and remove nearly all of the risk."

"I also reversed all the risk in multiple different ways."

"They can't lose and stand to gain a lot >>> deal was made."

I agree with you 100% on what you said and thought this was a genius move. When people can clearly see they have all to gain and nothing to lose, it makes your offer irresistible and selling your service a lot easier.

By any chance do you have an example of "removing risk"?

I have seen this done in SEO and PPC before, but never in web design, so I'm curious as to how this approach is done within our field.


"Bottom line > every owner is sick of generic business messages. A highly tailored, planned out sales pitch with huge, real value gives you ar every high % chance of doing business together."

"It sounds like a lot of work (and it does take some time for sure) but it is the difference between 5 sales calls a month making great money and 50 sales calls a day and scraping by. Once you get how this works it is very easy to make deals."

I agree as well.

I quoted this because I was wondering what has worked best for you in terms of prospecting to people you don't know.

Within the facebook group, I have seen email examples of group members sending businesses a message, showcasing their problems, and inviting them to a call.

Do you think this is still the best way to go about it? Or throughout this time have you found a better approach?


Hope all is well,

I closed a 6k site today. It took one hour long call and two emails (for logistics).

Here is the second email after the phone call to recap...

(DONT JUST COPY THIS - that defeats the whole point of what I am showing here, this is an example of the level of detail even after the sale is agreed on. If you want big sales this is what you need to be prepared to do)


Hi ****** thanks for the call earlier,

Also ****** it is nice to meet you!


So I took a bit of time after the call and reflected over everything you said. There is a lot of different moving parts to this project but its possible to do something great and also have it done on time. I think the main points right now are this...

- Immediate fix of the sign up page. This design and the way it structured is not helping your business. This would be the first area to focus on and really do up something great (but still one page) that allows you to not lose any more business and start collecting the details you will need for later when you launch.

This can be done fast and should be the first step. Once you are ready to move ahead I will start on this right away. It will need some work from your end (I will try to do everything possible for me to do myself though) but I will outline exactly what that is when we start.

You want as many sign ups as possible for when you are ready to begin your seminars so this is crucial.


- Next would be the front end of the site. This is just a fancy term for everything you see that isn't the seminars and videos you host. This will be the second area I will focus on. My area of expertise is in sales. I build websites that sell and everything I design is done from that approach. So it does take a bit of time to study your business and your different types of clients but I will do this in detail and design a site that ensures you get the most possible students out of the people who come across your site.

- Third will be the back end of the website - again this just is a term to mean where your videos and products are hosted. We will use the platform I showed ****** on the call but I will rebrand it and connect it to your site so its a seamless transition for your users. You will be able to control all of this allowing for easy sign ups, payments, new courses etc. Its great software and actually kinda fun to use (or maybe I am just a little geeky ha!).

I only work with businesses where I believe my work is a small fraction of the value you get in return. This definitely seems to be the case with this project and I actually under priced a little because I think with some more work next year you could hugely increase your revenue. I don't see any reason to not be doing similar revenues to the other businesses we looked at and especially with a better website and platform. Anyway I would love to knock this first stage out of the park so that you are happy to work with me again if that happens.

If you have any questions let me know but how I work is this - 50% up front and 50% when its online and you are all fully happy. I start right away and I work very fast. I also keep in mind you are all busy too so I make it really simple to give me what I need and then I work solo as much as possible.

I will send my quote in a few minutes but I wanted to send this first.

Any questions or feedback just let me know. If not once payment is made I will start with the initial plan and let you know what information I will need from you. I think the first stage (the sign up page) can be live this week but it does require some access details from your end.

Thanks,

Rob


P.s. I almost forgot...

Here are some references that you asked for, if you want more just ask...

>>> enter two solid references I have made a million + dollars for directly through their websites. <<<

-------------

This email is something I shouldn't even share here but if you can figure out why this style of email is so effective and use the same approach for yourself you will see your close rates go way up and the overall work required go way down.

 

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[The-J]

#notable #goldwatch

Wow $500! Thanks buddy.

I gave u $500 that day because the GOLD in that post, and many of your other posts, is between the lines.

To recap for people: the money is in solutions. @Fox doesn't sell websites or web design: that's just the commodity he offers.

He solves problems.

The difference between a $300 website and a $10,000 website is the size of the solution. Building a site for someone just because 'you need something' and building it for someone because 'it will help solve one of the biggest problems you have at the moment' are two totally different things.

 

[Fox]

Anyone else worried that the market will dry up and this is fruitless endeavor? The face book group has 5000 members...

No. There is no shortage of businesses that need some kind of online solution.

Every year there are new products, services, and companies. Also every year people have new problems and new goals. Also every year millions of previously okay websites need updating or to be redesigned.

5,000 isn’t a lot of people. Think of how many people are interested in selling on amazon (do a YouTube search and see the numbers), or how many copies a bestselling property investment book sells, and so on. There are 100s of Facebook groups for every niche and business hustle.

Don’t stop yourself before you even start. The only real competition you will have in web design is yourself. If you can learn to sell and deliver value you will make money. You only need around 20 good clients a year to make 100k plus and you are building skill sets that easily allow you to do into saas, ecommerce, apps, and much more.

There are other ways I make money too but I know it’s not smart to talk about them. With web design though the demand is so huge and the number of good web designers so small that it won’t change anything.

 

[Fox]

Thanks a lot!
Last question (for now )
Do you have any books / guides on sales and improving online presence , clearly I wanna make more than a pretty canvas, but in terms of helping generating sales for a towing truck company, I'm a bit at loss. Are there some guidelines / beginner tips?

I great place to start with sales is to understand it for yourself. If you can sell yourself you can sell for others too.

- SPIN Selling
- Science of Selling
- The Challenger Sale
- Breaking the Time Barrier (free pdf - google it)

 

[Fox]

Apologies on being way behind posting on this thread - I sold $17,000 worth of sites last week and was busy finishing the web developer course before that.

I will be updating this thread with YouTube content and posts during 2018. If you have any topics you would like to see please post here and let me know.

 

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[Fox]

Hey Fox would you recommend doing some work for free to build portfolio and then starting charging a bit of money?

I feel it will be very difficult to sell your skills without any portfolio to backed it up.

Only do free work if:
- It is a real business that will see real results from a better website
- They are committed and will help you finished the job fast
- They will give you permission to use the site/them to land future jobs
- It is a small website. Don't go building 8 page websites for free. 1 - 4 pages is fine and its a lot better to have good quality work than quantity.

I usually recommend you charge a small amount to test commitment and have them more mentally invested in the project.

Also this means free AFTER you sell them on the idea.
DONT do free sites up front and then call them trying to get them to use the site. This is a terrible idea.

 

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[Fox]

#notable #goldwatch



I gave u $500 that day because the GOLD in that post, and many of your other posts, is between the lines.

To recap for people: the money is in solutions. @Fox doesn't sell websites or web design: that's just the commodity he offers.

He solves problems.

The difference between a $300 website and a $10,000 website is the size of the solution. Building a site for someone just because 'you need something' and building it for someone because 'it will help solve one of the biggest problems you have at the moment' are two totally different things.

Ya my coding skills have maybe gone up 50% in the last year, my design 100%, but my problem finding and solving skills 1000%. That’s how I sell so well and why my sites usually produce huge ROI.

 

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[Fox]

Finally got the video tutorials going. These should help a lot over time.

Let me know any thoughts or feedback since I am still quite new to video.

 

[Fox]

Awesome, glad to see your starting up a new thread here @Fox!

Sitting in class (I'm not very engaged, senioritis? Lack of interest? Both?) I came up with a few questions for ya.

1.) It seems as if you, not so long ago, were deep in the trenches with coding and copy-writing sites as well as actively finding new gigs. Now that you have managed to scale to a team of 10-15 people how has that changed what you do on a day to day and when did you realize it was time to begin building up a team?

2.) What would you say is the end-goal for your web design business? And from a more general perspective, how are you going to get there? (I guess this question is just more food for thought but I was still curious).

As always, thanks for sharing with us!

The 15 people are not full time, just solid freelancers I can depend on when I need them. My day to day is now a lot more about where I am headed. I have great savings from coding the first year and I now want to work on my business a lot more than in it. I will take what bigger jobs come my way but I am not actively looking for work as much as I used to. My goal right now is to take my 6 figures and make it into 7. And then 8 .

The bigger goals right now are to build up my web school which is a good test of using everything I have learned so far in both business systems and knowledge. And I also want to get into ecommerce. I have found a great niche and product but I am waiting until the next stage of the school is finished first. I like to do one thing fully at a time.

 

[Fox]

Hey @Fox. Another great thread, it's great to see you crushing it. Quick question what books on selling and marketing would you recommend?

- MJs books
- Spin Selling
- Breaking the Time Barrier (free ebook)
- The Boron Letters

 

[Fox]

I posted this on the FB group in answer to a question but I figured maybe some people will get value out of it here too.

 

[DanielB]

Hey!

Not a specific question, but I would love to hear you get a bit more in detail about what changed. What practices you stopped doing, what (and, eventually, if you feel like sharing, how!) changed for the better? etc.

Cheers Rob!

 

[Andy Black]

Bottom line > every owner is sick of generic business messages.

100%
I try to get to Skype asap and have a call tailored to their business.

 

[Fox]

Hello @Fox
Thanks a lot for this thread. I'm following.

I have worked with some clients that wanted a website as a side offer from another business. My question would be, how do you decide to charge? I mean, what is the difference from $1,000 to $2,000? Also, do you offer your own hosting service or you just buid their websites? I know this is bit detailed question but this has been a pain in the @** because when they wanted to keep their hosting service I had to find out how each service works and many times they do not even offer english version...

For a budget you want to look at what will give them the best ROI. If you can get them a quicker and better return on $2,000 rather than $1,000 then aim to charge that. For every job there will be a range where it is best for them to be in that budget. To low and its not built well enough, too much and its overbuilt. It is up to you to advice them of that range and then agree on a price within it somewhere - every job is different. So in this case I would be wondering it an extra $1,000 allows me to hire a copywriter and get some graphic design and if that would result in a better ROI?

I do mess around with hosting. I have the clients send me their access and I do it for them but I don't aim to make money on it. I have some students who are making great money off monthly hosting plans but it is an area I just always ignored. I prefer the big cash up front and move on to the next job. It is personal preference. If you do it that way make sure you are always getting paid upfront for hosting and try have it set up as automatic payments so you don't have to waste time chasing people up. It only makes sense if you have a good system for it (very little to zero time involved once set up).

 

[Fox]

Hi @Fox,
Thanks for doing a secondary thread. I have read through the first one entirely and am a part of the FB group as well.

I am just now beginning the web design business and there is one thing that I would like some advice on.

I feel like the general consensus is that Wordpress is the way to go due to the many plugins available along with built in SEO. Would you recommend going the WordPress route over raw html / css? If not, what kind of framework do you use? (i.e. Are you using Bootstrap? Semantic-UI? an html layout? Could you link?)

On the contrary, if going the WordPress route is the ideal method for getting the business up and running as efficiently and quickly as possible, what frameworks can anyone recommend? I've heard some great things about Genesis and I am considering purchasing the Genesis framework with all child themes. Knowing a bit of html/css, I feel like I can customize the themes to what I need and take advantage of wordpress plugins for specific features.

If not Genesis, what can someone recommend? The goal here is for me to efficiently produce quality, business enhancing, result producing websites for businesses. I would like a framework that I could customize based on the client's needs without much trouble.

I usually build with HTML because my clients are best served with static websites that don't change much over time. If you are targeting niches that need a lot of updates (property, entertainment, food) then maybe wordpress is best. Don't get caught up on the technology - focus on why you are doing it that way. What you build a website with is only 10% (if even) of the overall process. Whatever best works for you and your clients is what you should pick.

Since you are in the FB group you will have seen what a lot of others are working with so that will give some options, but don't get too caught up on this.

 

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[Fox]

Would you say these types of companies are a bad fit for what we're trying to do here? Make a website that converts better. Seems like this is a whole different beast to tackle

Big businesses with big problems are the best fit. So much potential to add value and get real results.

This is what I focus on, not what color the CTA should be (although I like that stuff too).

 

[Fox]

Thanks for the reply. I'm really overwhelmed by all information from all different sources that I'm stuck in some analysis paralysis. I just end up googling different terms and looking at website, forgetting to take action - it kinda springs in that I don't really know what to do once I find a potential (read: shitty) website.
These big companies should probably not be my first clients, no? Maybe I should go for John Does towing company..

Nah start quite small. Once you see success it is easy to move fast. But even when you start small aim for someone who will see real improvement. That might be turning 3 bookings a week into 5 or selling 10 more widgets a week than before. You need that time in the beginning to practice your skills and develop your system. It would be liking sending a boxer right into a title fight > you need to work up the ranks with some easier fights to gain the experience first.

 

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[Fox]

You approach the manager in the shop and ask them about it, they have no clue and suggest you speak to the owner. However, the owner isn't there.

What is a hypothetical solution to this? Leave your card with the manager? In my opinion, while this might be an option, I don't see this having a very high success rate.

Same as any other sales - ask what is the best way to follow up and proceed to contact them by that method. Usually drop in again or by phone or email.

As another hypothetical, what should you be charging people/businesses for your services if you have little or no portfolio to show?

Depends on your certainty of being able to generate a result and your ability to sell it.

The first few jobs you should be focused on creating a portfolio though not on profit. Charge enough to cover your end and instead put focus on getting the best jobs possible to show what you are capable off. If you can't drive results yet then that is something you should be working on first before increasing prices.

In general you will know when to boost prices because you are seeing all the value you have already created.

 

[Fox]

Hey @Fox - I have since reading your previous forum thread been knee deep in learning web design. I started googling "towing + stockholm" and other cities and found this as a first target:
www.assistansbrgaren-4nb.se/

They rank well (bottom on first page) and I figured with some better SEO + copy it can rank higher.

I have had 0 contact with this towing company but decided to whip up a new design and it looks something like this:
http:// 165.227.170.214 (there's a space after http:// because thefastlaneforum is formatting it really stupidly)

I am going to call this towing company this week to present my new design and I just wonder if there is something you think I should do differently. (I know it's in a foreign language but you can get the gist of the website if you just google translate it)

Is there something you'd do differently? How's the "sales funnel"?

Thanks a million

(ps. the copy could be better, I know)

It can be harder to sell sometimes when you have already done the work.
I have seen some people make it work but it usually backfires. I think it looks like a generic solution when you already have it built.

Either way I would call them directly and see what they think. Focus on the business and what would help them. If I had to guess I would say they would be more interested in reducing work rather than directly increasing sales (but that is possible also if they do breakdown towing etc). Maybe some sections on how people can collect their cars, what the policies are, directions and times to come collect etc. <<< reduce all the common issues that require them to waste time.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[Fox]

Hi Fox, I'd like to thank you for your help. You're already helping me change my life.

I spent yesterday cold calling local businesses and restaurant's asking if they need web design and SEO help, and finally a Mexican restaurant agreed to pay me $250. I'm supposed to call him back today but I'm nervous because I've never really done anything aside from that Udemy course. Should I still take the money and build him a website even though i'm a noob, or should I keep practicing and learning until I'm ready?

Good on you for taking action!
Actually taking action and then facing the problems is the sign of a real entrepreneur (as opposed to thinking what might happen and doing nothing).

I would build it with the agreement that they only pay you if they like it more than their current site.
That way its win-win and real experience for you either way.

If you do get the job let us know and we can help you through it.

 

[Thiago Machado]

Hey man,

Still going strong with web design as well thanks to your older thread!

Throughout my journey, I clearly screwed up while building my foundation. That video you posted clearly resonated with me. At first, I tried to help out anybody within my network and who "needed" a website. You clearly explained why that can keep you stuck and limit your progress to getting bigger and better clients. So for anyone reading this, watch that video and follow exactly what he says.

A quote of yours really got my attention:

"I will show dozens of ways I can add value and remove nearly all of the risk."

"I also reversed all the risk in multiple different ways."

"They can't lose and stand to gain a lot >>> deal was made."

I agree with you 100% on what you said and thought this was a genius move. When people can clearly see they have all to gain and nothing to lose, it makes your offer irresistible and selling your service a lot easier.

By any chance do you have an example of "removing risk"?

I have seen this done in SEO and PPC before, but never in web design, so I'm curious as to how this approach is done within our field.


"Bottom line > every owner is sick of generic business messages. A highly tailored, planned out sales pitch with huge, real value gives you ar every high % chance of doing business together."

"It sounds like a lot of work (and it does take some time for sure) but it is the difference between 5 sales calls a month making great money and 50 sales calls a day and scraping by. Once you get how this works it is very easy to make deals."

I agree as well.

I quoted this because I was wondering what has worked best for you in terms of prospecting to people you don't know.

Within the facebook group, I have seen email examples of group members sending businesses a message, showcasing their problems, and inviting them to a call.

Do you think this is still the best way to go about it? Or throughout this time have you found a better approach?


Hope all is well,

 

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[Huracan]

Hello @Fox
Thanks a lot for this thread. I'm following.

I have worked with some clients that wanted a website as a side offer from another business. My question would be, how do you decide to charge? I mean, what is the difference from $1,000 to $2,000? Also, do you offer your own hosting service or you just buid their websites? I know this is bit detailed question but this has been a pain in the @** because when they wanted to keep their hosting service I had to find out how each service works and many times they do not even offer english version...

Fox mentioned in the first thread to read "Breaking the time barrier - how to unlock your true earning potential" it's free to download and it will answer a lot of your questions on how to price your services.

 

[Fox]

I think I have an eye for design as well, but it's just "all the other stuff" I'm concerned about. I have scanned the web for shitty websites and found a few, for instance this one: HMB Construction AB

This is a Swedish construction company pulling in over $100 million USD a year (!). Website is awful, yes, but do they care? I don't know. How do you convince these oldschool businesses that they could use an upgrade, website-wise? I have a feeling that they don't really care? Are they even converting anything online?
What's your approach to tackle this issue?

They might not care about how it looks but if you can link it to a company goal they will care a lot more.

- How are they getting new clients?
- Where are they losing money?
- What are their next big moves?
- What is their sales system?

If you knew the answers to these problems you could begin to start coming up with a solution that might involve a website. All the jobs over 15k I have done was not because the website sucked but because it helped them make 6 or 7 figures on the backend and/or reduced a LOT of workload. You need to find bigger companies problems and goals that you can link to a website. Trying to sell to these types of businesses on how a website looks usually gets nowhere. They are more concerned with bigger goals.

 

[DanielB]

I just got schooled, and I am grateful for it. Thank you Rob. I already knew how much more I have to learn, but your reply felt like a cold shower. Thank you!

 

[Fox]

I just got schooled, and I am grateful for it. Thank you Rob. I already knew how much more I have to learn, but your reply felt like a cold shower. Thank you!

Ha! Don't worry - I spent months when I first started pitching web design all wrong.
It will click fast if you can understand the above example.