Moved to Scottsdale, Growing a Web Design Firm

[DrunkFish]

Do you ever have trouble keeping up with all the work or delivering the SEO results and such? Sounds pretty intense! This is legit my fav thread though. You've been kicking a$$. I think I have trouble focusing moreso than others. Never tried Adderall but I was diagnosed with ADD as a kid and I think its been haunting me lol

 

[MarkusHG]

Not yet, but I'm expecting things to really ramp up over the next few months! That being said, I want to bring in so much business I basically force my hand to have to outsource.

The SEO course and methodology I've been learning is all about how to scale up though so I know I'm in good hands and will be able to figure it out.

Congrats on the great thread, it's fun to read and motivating to go through. I also enjoy looking at your beautiful Tele as profile pic .
Maybe you've answered the question the last time and I just missed it - which SEO course did you take?
If you're willing to share I'd also be curious as to which packages you actually offer?

 

[Mass]

Sounds like your making massive progress. Have you thought about outsourcing some of the work? e.g. Focusing on building the websites and then outsourcing SEO etc.?

 

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[GuitarManDan]

Well, ok today has taken a weird turn...

So that nightmare potential client - I sent them a very respectable email, something like "After reviewing your project requirements, I unfortunately won't think this is a good fit because of my current capacity limits"...

They responded with this (I definitely dodged a bullet here but how do I handle this?):

THEIR RESPONSE: "
Wow...So disappointed in the business person you told us you were..and now we find out you are not ...do not feel you have been professional
In how you handled this.

We will be sure to provide feedback to the business group on how you conducted yourself

Feel free to call me if you need further explanation"

This is fun haha.. trying to think of how to / if I should respond now.

 

[Mass]

Well, ok today has taken a weird turn...

So that nightmare potential client - I sent them a very respectable email, something like "After reviewing your project requirements, I unfortunately won't think this is a good fit because of my current capacity limits"...

They responded with this (I definitely dodged a bullet here but how do I handle this?):

THEIR RESPONSE: "
Wow...So disappointed in the business person you told us you were..and now we find out you are not ...do not feel you have been professional
In how you handled this.

We will be sure to provide feedback to the business group on how you conducted yourself

Feel free to call me if you need further explanation"

This is fun haha.. trying to think of how to / if I should respond now.

Don't get drawn into it. Any response will just fan the flames. If you recognised that they were trouble I'm sure others will and the words will have very little weight. Kind of like that friend you have who's always complaining so you know never to take his word when he says a restaurant was awful.

At least you know your judgement was right.

 

[23Infinity]

Congrats on the progress Dan. I'd be very tempted to fire back something along the lines of "shitty business owners end up with shitty contractors/services". But as he's in some sort of business group that you belong to, wiser remain professional about it I guess...but what a dickhead.

 

[Patrik14]

Hello,

first of all thank you for sharing your story with us.
Second congrats for the progress!

Reading this is more motivation than my friends or family could give me.

All the best for the future and much success!

 

[FreakyThomas]

Enjoy your weekend
Thank you for this highly motivating and fun to read thread. What a process!
Can't wait to see further progress. Your determination is contagious !

 

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[srodrigo]

"if you screw us over, we'll destroy your business and reputation".

Jesus. How did you manage not to tell them to f*ck off? Reading how you handled the situation and the advice you got, I've realised I'd be terrible at dealing with clients like that. Very sad that 2 morons try to get advantage from a guy who just wants to do a great job.

 

[Crazy GG]

Hey Dan, didn't know you had a progress thread here - it's truly an amazing read. I had 2 questions:

1) What has been your prospecting plan? You mentioned cold emails didn't work as well, so you said to stick to cold calls - can you share a bit more how you would approach this if your pipeline dried up again? (# of calls/day, what kind of companies, how you would find them etc.)

I am trying to refine my prospecting strategy - in the past I just did 20 calls/day with not great results, so I am trying to learn what you personally are doing. Also 20 calls doesn't take that much time so I am not sure what do I do for the rest of the day? Did you have a prospecting plan?

2) Do you meet most of your clients in person? I don't live in U.S. and I want to start approaching clients there but I feel like it might be a bit tough to sell huge projects if they never meet me. What has been your experience?

Thanks man!

 

[ChrisGav]

Very inspiring story and interesting time that I found this, currently using codeacademy to get a basic understanding of coding and web design. I am curious though, how did you learn web design to begin all of this? Did you just dive in with no clue what you were doing and learned as you went?

 

[Jeff Noel]

Hey man,
For example like you mentioned, if I'm targeting bigger fish and can show them that in theory, if we move them to the 1st page on Google it will increase their bottom line by $50k a month, it's not crazy for me to charge $5-10k a month.

For now though, I definitely want to avoid any guarantees like that or money back guarantees since it's an algorithm out of my control at the end of the day, but I do agree theoretical value-based pricing will be huge down the road!

Just an idea, but you could offer a money back guarantee on the first month only for those bigger contracts. You could also offer a no-fee contract break during the first two months if they are not satisfied with your service. At 5-10K/mo, you can deliver a 100% customized SEO plan for them with a big ad included within that price, if you feel like jumping into SEM.

 

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[Zcott]

What an amazing thread! Great story. Well done for smashing it in the face.

I looked up Scottsdale online and I can see why people want to live there. I've been to Arizona before and had fond memories.

Can I ask, why did you go into web design? You've done great going from banking to web design, just curious as to why you chose that over everything.

 

[Zcott]

Hey man - I had a few criteria and web design fit it perfectly:

-Freedom/flexibility to work anywhere with Internet connection
-Quick to startup (wouldn't have to wait years to be profitable)
-Overhead is basically non existent, don't have to burn through cash to set up the foundation

It was tough, I think every single new person on this forum has the same question "what do I choose". I read MJ's book, got excited and then it hit me... what the hell do I do now?

At the end of the day, you just have to make an educated decision and stick with it.

Did you know anything about web design beforehand? I can't imagine a banker knowing a great deal on web design on paper, which makes your story all the more impressive.

To be honest, I have a somewhat similar service to yours. I sell web design services but I outsource it to a friend of mine who knows how to do that. I trust him, he's been doing it for years, but I'm not 100% comfortable with it because I don't have the control, I'm losing revenue paying him, and the sites he can do aren't in the high end range.

I've been mulling over learning coding and web design but wasn't sure if I was falling into action faking when I should be focusing on sales or whatever. But after reading your amazing thread, and just listening to The Millionaire Fastlane where MJ says he learnt to code a site because he had to, I have no real excuse not to myself.

Really enjoying your story. Keep up the good work!

 

[GuitarManDan]

This stuff shouldn’t mentally drain you.

1) They’re not a client till the money is in your account. No matter how promising anything is, it can fall through at the last minute. I accept this as normal and label them a prospect until I see the money in my account.

2) Make sure you spend most of your time helping the clients where they see the value in what you do. This will keep your spirits up, it will delight them even more, and it will pay off when (not if) they start singing your praises.

3) “Always be closing” to me means keep on moving. That lawyer who put it on ice? My reply would be: “Great. Just circle back when you’re ready.” There’s someone up the road who will bite your hand off. You job is to find them.

Hey Andy - I completely agree, it was just a long week haha, but I've found obviously stuff like this is to be expected and like you mentioned, you just need to keep on moving forward and finding the people who are in desperate need for the services that I can provide.

You're right though, it's a losing mentality to be in the "chase" mindset where I'm running after these leads instead of just offering value and seeing who is interested.

I want to be really ambitious and really go after this goal of monthly income that's approaching pretty fast, so cancelled some social plans today to work on more outreach and tweaking my approach a little bit from learning from other's feedback and what's worked / what hasn't.

 

[evlttwin]

Hey All,

Just a quick update to the 2019 revenue tracking from some monthly payments... also my smaller SEO client ($500 a month) wants a new landing page for a new service so we agreed for me to add that in at a rate of $100 / hour so that should yield around $500 to 1000 more.

2019 Revenue Tracker: $17,935 Revenue / $100,000 Goal

Monthly Recurring Revenue: $2,000 Per Month / $10,000 Per Month Goal

Nice one. Sweet, sweet recurring revenue.

 

[The Abundant Man]

What do you think about cold approaching businesses? Just walk in and tell what I do?

 

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[BlackMagician]

I ask questions, I want answering, personally i think your answer is a shortsighted, narrow perspective.
seems like you have decided that, good questions from members are questions that YOU deem good.
how short sighted and narrow is that.

In my opinion, to which i am entitled, any question a person has is a good question.
Your reply implies you know why the question was asked, and also the reasoning behind it.
how short sighted and narrow is that. ?

Oh my... MJ got a scolding here

 

[The Abundant Man]

My advice to Dan way back was once he got cash flow from web design to start moving it into his own things and leverage the skills he has built up.

Web design is not a great long term play.

But it’s a fantastic short term play to get hands on training in selling, business skills, marketing, and communication.

Web design is just a half way house for those going from a life they don’t want to a successful Fastlane venture.

LOL

Since the forum update I like how your banner says "EPIC CONTRIBUTOR"

That's awesome!

 

[Matt Sun]

Hello seems like you are very hard working and determined. I admire that.

Some yoga lessons and eating vegetarian might really help you with your health and even benefit your bussiness/hustle.

I will be following, i know i have a lot to learn from you.

Wish you the best.

 

[Wolfman]

Thanks MJ! Of course, more than happy to have this on the outside. I've been a lurker on the inside for a while so I wanted to have this be a kind of introduction as well.

Not going to lie, it's extremely inspiring how much wealth there is in Scottsdale. Other friends I know who lived here said it's intimidating, but it makes me want to hustle my a$$ off.

Good job Dan, I'm on the other side of town. Worked as an atty. for many years in Western Mass. (Berkshires.) We should compare some "F... You" moments ala MJ. I bet you have some great ones from working in finance in NY. Also, I have a rudimentary website so at some point I'll probably need some advice. Greg (Wolfman)

 

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[Wolfman]

Hey man! We met at the lunches that Eskil put together when I first moved out to the AZ area (I believe one was around April or so of last year at Red Robin). I think we went to the same one at Oreganos too a few months later.

Would be great to catch up sometime! In terms of the site, feel free to private message it over if you'd like and I could provide some feedback to help out anyway I can.

Hey Man, What can I say? I'm a space-cadet (forgot we met.) We definitely need to get together. Thanks for the offer to help/provide feedback. I'll keep you posted. Greg (Wolfman)

 

[Wolfman]

I think it's definitely a glass half empty kind of mentality to look at this whole thread and think that this is just another job. Honestly, maybe I'm working longer hours than in my old job, but the experience is 100% different. I have a lot of thoughts about this that I want to share to anyone viewing this thread so I'm just going to ramble them out here.

First off, the MAIN goal of all of this was to get my freedom back. It always seemed like a pipe dream to me and something that would never happen to be able to make the leap and move somewhere completely different where I didn't know anyone/anything and make it work. This business has allowed me to move across the country, meet new friends, experience new things and just learn so much it's incredible.

When I was working at the most recent investment bank, I was getting to the point where I almost didn't recognize myself. I was so stressed out and wound up that I was legitimately developing health issues that were 100% stress induced. Maybe 1 month after moving here and having the freedom/flexibility to be on my own schedule, and all of those health issues have almost completely gone away.

What I see as the most valuable thing out of all of this is what I've learned from this business so far. Every day I wake up and feel like my clients are paying me to learn how to run a business, how to close sales, how to effectively market my business, etc. I've learned so much from this experience and amazing members on this community, special shoutouts to @Fox and @Eskil with their support.

My long term plan is not to run this business until it falls apart, but instead to use this as an opportunity to learn how to successfully run a business, and have this fund a different business venture down the road (maybe a 2-4 years away) where if I hit a homerun, it's life-changing money instead of just good SEO/web design money.

There have been so many amazing stories on here of forum members who had to really grind and hustle in the beginning or else it wouldn't have worked. I think trivializing the beginning stages of ANY business to "just another job" gives an excuse to never try.

Stories that come to mind is Likwid taking 2-3 years from idea to ending up on Shark Tank, Vick taking a few years to make his first sale with his sunglass business and absolutely killing it after that.

Working for me feels SO much different when it's your own business. At my old job, I'd stay late because a coworker messed something up or my boss wanted to look good to the higher ups... now when I work late hours it's to grow my business and to invest in my future and my freedom from ever going back to another soul-sucking job again.

This was a very well-stated post. Be proud of your communication skills.

 

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[Matt Sun]

Hey Dan, I wonder if for you SEO recurring income you have to put some hours to work or is it almost entirely pasive ? I say almost because i read you send monthly analisis, could it be totally pasive ?

 

[spreng]

it's cool to see you puncture through a saturated market like web design and SEO. What is your monthly profit at currently if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Mazzolini]

I'm not looking to have this thread get derailed for a super negative comment like this because that's not the purpose of me posting on here. It's to help myself out to jot down how everything is going and to track my progress, to learn from the amazing people on this forum, and to give some value back and hopefully provide insights for others looking to start up their own business or continue to grow it.

What I really don't understand is that looking at your account, funny enough we both joined around the same time (Feb 2017) but you haven't been too active except coming on here to post a negative comment on someone taking action to work on improving their life?

Take it from someone who used to be EXTREMELY negative all the time, it's no way to live. Why not try going through some of the amazing Gold threads from some of the amazing members of the forum and learn instead of just hating on threads?

First off, i want to apologize for the way the question was asked, i did not mean to degrade you in anyway and we all appreciate the time and detail you’ve put into this thread. However, this is the internet and it is good to be on your toes and not believe everything you see.

I would like to say that i do firmly believe you are making the amounts that you have stated and that people are willing to pay $3,000+ a month for SEO and other web services. I spoke with the owner of a law firm and they pay $3k for their website and website advertising. Very awesome!

Looking forward to reading more and best of luck!

 

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[Chip01]

Absolutely brilliant stuff, love this thread!!

Are there any books/resources you feel really helped you? Maybe any specific threads on this forum etc?

What do you think has been your biggest challenge so far?

Half way to your MRR goal and over quarter way to your revenue goal, keep it up!!! All the best

 

[Torsten]

Hey Dan,

love reading your thread. Incredible, by taking the right massive actions this can move one around!
Inspiring and a good motivation to read about the ups and also downs.
And if you realize some people are jealous about your journey and success, you know you are on the right road! First people are jealous then the might become your fan ;-)

 

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[GuitarManDan]

Hey All,

Quick update, I'll make a longer post shortly about some leads in the pipeline and some updates on some other larger projects - for now though just updating the numbers below:

2019 Revenue Tracker: $34,455 Revenue / $100,000 Goal

Monthly Recurring Revenue: $5,300 Per Month / $10,000 Per Month Goal

 

[steelandchrome]

Congrats on the big contract!