The Entrepreneur Forum | Financial Freedom | Starting a Business | Motivation | Money | Success

Welcome to the only entrepreneur forum dedicated to building life-changing wealth.

Build a Fastlane business. Earn real financial freedom. Join free.

Join over 80,000 entrepreneurs who have rejected the paradigm of mediocrity and said "NO!" to underpaid jobs, ascetic frugality, and suffocating savings rituals— learn how to build a Fastlane business that pays both freedom and lifestyle affluence.

Free registration at the forum removes this block.

Moved to Scottsdale, Growing a Web Design Firm

MJ DeMarco

I followed the science; all I found was money.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
446%
Jul 23, 2007
38,189
170,416
Utah

Matt Sun

Gold Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
253%
Oct 21, 2017
584
1,479
Argentina
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 ?
 

GuitarManDan

Platinum Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
678%
Feb 28, 2017
481
3,262
NYC
$60K/year pace, that's a decent salary in a respectable job. :thumbsup:

It's getting there! Funny enough, if you look from a cashflow perspective, just from the first 3 days of July... this has been my best month so far with the whole business (so far July has brought in $6,345 and there's no reason why this can't be a 5 figure month).

The cashflow situation is so much better with SEO, with web design I had one week where I closed $12k in one week but I'm still waiting to collect on one of those projects... getting paid each month on a recurring basis is such a game changer.

It just has this feeling like I'm so close to bringing this thing to the next level.
 

GuitarManDan

Platinum Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
678%
Feb 28, 2017
481
3,262
NYC
Hey Everyone,

Wanted to share a quick update of what's currently going on, sending out a lot of proposals and have that feeling again like the business is about to have a big breakthrough! Here's an overview of the current pipeline that's notable at the moment:

1. Wealth Mgmt Firm (SEO) - Sent them cold outreach and they really liked it, set up a call with all of the decision makers last week and it went really well, sent them a pitch for SEO services from around $1250 to $2700 per month or so depending which package they want to go with. Expecting to hear back from them this week, if not by later in the week I'll send a friendly chaser.

2. Online Education Platform (Web Design) - Referral from a previous client, this guy seems to have a big budget and is looking to work with someone local as he got burnt by someone abroad who did an awful job and he wants to scrap it and start from scratch. What I'm finding is for these larger projects instead of just offering web design, I want to be more involved with the whole project and use my expertise.

For this specific deal, I ended up pitching him in a breakdown as follows:
a. $2k for one month of strategy work, basically looking at the business idea he wants to start and doing a type of CENTS breakdown, pricing strategy, competition analysis, marketing plan, etc.

b. $14.5k for the actual build out of the platform (seemed to be a fair budget for the amount of work after speaking to some experts in this space from Fox's groups).

c. $500 a month or so for web maintenance + an unspecified budget for anything else he's looking to do after the fact (SEO, PPC, etc) where if it's not something I can handle, I can add to the budget and outsource.

3. Financial Planning Firm (SEO + Web Design) - Cold outreach, I believe I posted about this a month or two ago, but the owner was interested not only in SEO but also completely redoing his site. I pitched $4-7k for the site redo and then around a budget of $1.2k to $2.7k per month for SEO. The owner has been traveling a lot but I've been trying to follow up (in a non spammy way) every week or two.

4. Divorce Law Firm (SEO) - Cold outreach again, the owner called me back and seemed very interested. He's been traveling around a lot for the summer too. Actually spoke with him on the phone today, he even told me that he's glad I've been following up and that he's still very interested but he'll be back in the AZ area soon and then he'll reach out. This was for around $1k per month for SEO.

I'm always hesitant when someone uses the "I'll contact you" line, but he seemed genuine enough. Regardless, things are going well so I'm not going to fret over this one, just will try to put myself in the best possible spot to close it.

5. Wealth Mgmt Firm (Former Web Design Client) - Former web design client was looking for some SEO edits (basic on-page SEO work and a few other touch ups). I pitched him for $1,150 for a month of work for a fixed # of hours. This client is a great guy but he's very slow to respond back so I may have to chase him in the middle of this week / later this week.


That's where I stand at the moment, I have a good feeling that a few of these are going to start coming through sometime soon! Will keep everyone posted.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

GuitarManDan

Platinum Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
678%
Feb 28, 2017
481
3,262
NYC
Hey All,

Just a quick update to update the numbers (first SEO client paid her $500 monthly bill). Still hustling to bring in more deals for the business. Have some really exciting ones at the moment that Fox has been helping out with.

Basically like 6 months ago I was doing Facebook outreach and one huge construction company must've saved my info... they messaged me saying their owner wants to move forward with updating the site and they are collecting quotes and proposals.

@Fox helped me put together a solid response (we ended up pitching them at a total cost of $25k-$40k after speaking) and provided a detailed plan to really stand out and this was their response below. I'm sure I'm definitely competing with huge companies with 20-100+ people so need to keep putting myself in the best possible spot to close this one!

Hi Dan,

Thanks for this information. I will review it with our IT person and get back with you on timing for a potential meet. I like that you have some ideas about the purpose of our website, which may be what gives you an edge when we’re reviewing interested parties.

Will be in touch


2019 Revenue Tracker: $27,630 Revenue / $100,000 Goal

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

GuitarManDan

Platinum Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
678%
Feb 28, 2017
481
3,262
NYC
Hey Everyone,

It's been a while since I posted so I wanted to provide a quick update of what's been going on with the business lately. As mentioned in some previous posts, my main goal is to be as transparent as possible and not just highlight the wins and the successful sales.

Here are a few notable updates from the past few weeks including both some challenges I ran into and some great opportunities:

Financial Services Firm Went With Another Company - This one was surprising but you never really know what's going to happen. Back in March I got in touch with the Owner of a financial services firm and he kept telling me that he's "super busy so even if he doesn't reply to keep pushing because he's interested". We had a call and he asked me to pitch him on SEO and a site redesign.

I quoted $4k-$7k for the site and then SEO plans ranging from around $950 to $2.5k per month after that. I would receive replies here and there but I tried to reach out in non spammy ways (calling or emailing maybe once every 10-20 days or so). He finally replied this week that they decided to go with another firm. I sent over a follow up email basically asking if there was any feedback he could give for what I could improve upon or could work on next time as I want to continue to learn and grow but he hasn't responded.

In the spirit of being completely transparent, what really really bothers me with this one is that the business owner specifically said he wanted to speak after I sent out the quote on a specific date in May (and I added it to my calendar). It was like a month out and I didn't know my best friend's bachelor party was that weekend (I believe the date was a Friday that I was flying) and I completely forgot about it.

Whether in my old corporate jobs world or in this new business now, those are just mistakes I never make so it really bothers me that I could've left a decent project on the table because I missed a meeting like that. Regardless, all I can do is look forward and make sure it doesn't happen again (updated my calendar system and added reminders and such) so that it won't be an issue again.

Old Web Design Client Still Pushing Off Work: One of my favorite clients that I worked with super early in my business wanted me to help out with some follow up work in the SEO space so I pitched him around $1,150 per month and he seemed ok with it but he kept pushing it back. His business has been really growing so he hired a few more people so he mentioned he'd have to push the project back even more since he wants to focus his efforts and investments into the new hires.

A Few New Proposals Out There:

Pitched a few new proposals for what would be my largest web design contract yet and for an ongoing SEO campaign for a few other potential clients:

1. From a referral from a past client, this guy who is semi retired is looking to create a pretty complex website, I quoted him approximately $17.5k for the whole thing (I'd be working with someone else who I know can handle the functionality side of things while I would do the design) so realistically if that one went through I'd probably make $9k-$10k after paying the other party.

2. Old web design client wants to start driving more traffic to the new site we built and he's in a super competitive market so I pitched helping with SEO for $1k per month and am waiting to see his feedback. He seems kinda hesitant to spend a decent amount of this so I mentioned we could simply start with a 3 month contract.

Still Waiting to Hear Back from a Few High-Value Contracts:

Here are a few contracts that I'm still waiting to hear back on as well and working to consistently follow up with:

1. Financial Services Business SEO Contract - Spoke with the Owner and all of the executives so I had all of the decision makers on the phone and answered all of their questions and then sent them over a quote and just waiting to hear back. This would be a decent-sized SEO project as the cheapest package I quoted was around $1,250 per month and the one I recommended was around $2,500 per month.

2. Divorce Lawyer SEO Contract - Owner responded to my cold outreach, had a great call and finally caught up with him after waiting a few weeks where he said he was still very interested but he was traveling. Going to work to follow up on that sometime soon but he gave me the "I'll reach out to you" line which makes me wary about it.

3. Wealth Mgmt Firm Marketing Contract - This was from earlier this year but this firm was really interested in hiring me as a marketing consultant to help with the creation of their new site, SEO, overall digital marketing strategy, etc and I quoted them $5k per month for a 3 month starting contract. I've been following up periodically and the Owner recently said they were still interested but the timing wasn't great so I've just been working to continue high-value follow ups and not be spammy.
 

GuitarManDan

Platinum Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
678%
Feb 28, 2017
481
3,262
NYC
Hey All,

Good news! Just had a call with a lawyer that I've been speaking with for the last few months and he finally pulled the trigger. He agreed to do a basic SEO package for $1k per month for the next few months. Just sent him over the contract and invoice. I'll add this to the monthly recurring income once he signs the paperwork and pays, but I'm definitely getting much better at closing sales over the phone.

Wanted to also update the numbers below as two of my clients paid on the first of the month (one for $3,000 and one for $1,500):

2019 Revenue Tracker: $31,630 Revenue / $100,000 Goal

Monthly Recurring Revenue: $5,000 Per Month / $10,000 Per Month Goal
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

MattR82

Gold Contributor
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
178%
Oct 4, 2015
1,402
2,494
41
Brisbane
Awesome man. When do you think you start hitting capacity of what you can do yourself with the monthly jobs?
 

Mazzolini

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
84%
Feb 13, 2017
25
21
28
Detroit
Not to be a downer or anything, but i feel that this entire thread is just a plot to sell Fox’s webschool and membership.
 

Fox

Legendary Contributor
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
Forum Sponsor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
690%
Aug 19, 2015
3,898
26,886
Europe
Not to be a downer or anything, but i feel that this entire thread is just a plot to sell Fox’s webschool and membership.

LOL

It's like people who invest in proper training and then go and use it get results or something.
:oops::oops::oops:
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

GuitarManDan

Platinum Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
678%
Feb 28, 2017
481
3,262
NYC
Not to be a downer or anything, but i feel that this entire thread is just a plot to sell Fox’s webschool and membership.

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?
 

spreng

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
138%
Jul 1, 2019
105
145
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?
 

GuitarManDan

Platinum Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
678%
Feb 28, 2017
481
3,262
NYC
Hey All,

Had a meeting with a former web design client today - super nice guy who's really great to work with and he said he wants to invest a little bit more into the site to drive some traffic in.

We agreed to move forward for a pretty small deal ($300 / month for 3 months) for some PPC work but I'm only going to be doing a few hours of work per month we decided on for that budget.

It's going to be more about testing the market / analyzing the data then really going all out with a full-blown PPC campaign.

Excited to learn some new things with this service that I haven't offered yet! I'll update the numbers below once the invoice is paid.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

GuitarManDan

Platinum Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
678%
Feb 28, 2017
481
3,262
NYC
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?

Currently $5,000 a month in recurring - revenue adjustments are expected month to month. For example, I just closed the $300/month PPC deal and a $1,000/month SEO deal (still waiting on first payment before counting that).

That's just from SEO and one PPC client, the web design work one offs are still happening as well. I'm expecting to get paid the remaining 50% for a few web design projects that will be wrapped up this month.
 

GuitarManDan

Platinum Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
678%
Feb 28, 2017
481
3,262
NYC
Hey All,

Had a new client come in via a referral from a friend. I'm doing an in-depth SEO audit for his ecommerce business site for $325 and he went ahead and paid this morning. Really excited to provide some helpful insights and share ways he can improve his web presence.

Updated numbers below to account for this:

2019 Revenue Tracker: $31,955 Revenue / $100,000 Goal

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

Mazzolini

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
84%
Feb 13, 2017
25
21
28
Detroit
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!
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.
Last edited:

GuitarManDan

Platinum Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
678%
Feb 28, 2017
481
3,262
NYC
Hey Everyone,

Just updating the numbers as the $300 per month PPC previous client just paid:

Updated numbers below to account for this:

2019 Revenue Tracker: $32,255 Revenue / $100,000 Goal

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

Chip01

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
106%
Aug 4, 2019
81
86
27
Scotland, UK
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

want to get paid while learning ;-)
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
100%
Oct 1, 2018
13
13
Germany
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 ;-)
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

GuitarManDan

Platinum Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
678%
Feb 28, 2017
481
3,262
NYC
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 :)

Hey man, thanks so much for the kind words here. The thing that really opened my eyes to knowing I had to leave the Corporate world was honestly reading MJ's books and finding some of the better gold threads on here to see the successes of the members here.

In terms of the practical help with the skills I've been using to run my business - web design, sales, marketing, etc I can't thank @Fox enough. People have posted feedback that they think I have some affiliate link or some dishonest motive when I praise the courses/groups that he runs but I can say I'm in no way associated with the courses/products except that I'm a really happy user of them.

I'm currently in Rob's new group the content/community has been solid so far. Since you mentioned specific threads I'll include the thread below:


The biggest challenge this year has been picking and choosing strategic clients. The first year I was just grasping at anyone who would pay me money. This year it's been more strategic for what type of work I want to do, what type of clients I want to bring on, who seems like a pain to work on, who will help grow my business vs. waste my time, etc.
 

GuitarManDan

Platinum Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
678%
Feb 28, 2017
481
3,262
NYC
Hey All,

Quick update as my $500 and a $200 monthly client just paid for SEO services.

2019 Revenue Tracker: $32,955 Revenue / $100,000 Goal

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

Fox

Legendary Contributor
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
Forum Sponsor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
690%
Aug 19, 2015
3,898
26,886
Europe
Pretty cool that you already have enough MRR to hit 2/3 of the 100k goal next year.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

GuitarManDan

Platinum Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
678%
Feb 28, 2017
481
3,262
NYC
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
 

GuitarManDan

Platinum Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
678%
Feb 28, 2017
481
3,262
NYC
Hey All,

Ok as promised I know I haven't provided a more detailed update in a while so I wanted to shed some light into what's been going on in my world and what's going well and what I need to work on:

August and July were both solid months, I know I can and will do better but they both ended up bringing in around $7k in cash flow each of the last two months so that was encouraging. I've had a few really promising SEO leads fall through but that's just part of the game, looking at how to improve upon that and I know from my experience that each no is just one step closer to the next yes.

Here are the notable updates in terms of the current pipeline and what's going on with the business:

1. (Most Importantly) SEO Clients Are Seeing Great Results

All of the regular SEO clients that I've been working with have been really happy and I've seen steady progress getting them to the first page of Google results. It was intimidating at first as I was learning a new skill, but it's great to see that I'm delivering for the clients so far.

2. Huge Deal With Lots of Complexities and Back and Forth:

This came in from a referral months ago, I've met with the owner 5-6 times in person, had multiple phone calls, created a customized contract just for this deal, found a partner to work with on this one (who would handle the technical aspect as it isn't just a simple site), agreed to terms with the partner (simple split of who would get how much revenue), but it's losing some momentum.

We all agreed to a $16,000 budget for a complete website redesign and platform buildout and then a monthly maintenance plan of $500 per month after that.

The decision maker is super hyper critical of every little detail because he got burned by the last web guy. He sent us back 30-40 different comments of feedback on the contract we sent over and we addressed them all in a timely manner. It seems like he's getting cold feet at the last second though he's getting hung up on super minor details.

Ran it by @Fox and we both agreed the best thing to do is not to push and to really work on continuing to build trust. This is my first deal I've dealt with in this ballpark and it's been a roller coaster - at times I was almost sure it would never go through and at other times it seemed like a done deal. Who knows what'll happen but I'm putting myself in the best possible position.

3. Larger Recurring Revenue Client Update

As included in the original post, the fashion designer client who was paying $3k per month for SEO was only for a few months, now that all of the on-page SEO has been completed, they want me just to provided monthly reporting for $200 a month so I will update the recurring revenue below to reflect that.

4. First Time Someone Hasn't Come Through With a Verbal Commitment (Yet)

Almost exactly one month ago, I had a call with a lawyer biz owner who agreed to do 4 months at $1,000 per month for SEO and then take it month to month after that. It was a really firm yes, he told me to send him over the contract, invoice, etc and he would take care of it and was excited to work together.

I haven't updated my numbers yet on this one because he still hasn't paid, but I've spoken with him twice now. He said it was on his to do list but he was preparing for a big trip and he hasn't sent any additional correspondence yet so I sent him a quick chaser email today.

5. Promising Referral Came In for SEO Services

A friend was asked if he knew anyone who did great SEO and he referred them to me. This person just does website design and he has a potential client who wants a new site + SEO.

We had a quick call and then he told me this client said he has a $1600 budget per month for SEO work. I told the web designer I would give him a monthly 10% commission for any deal that gets worked out here and he was happy to hear that.

Funny enough, this business owner is located on the east coast right by where I grew up so I'm sure that'll help by adding in another trust factor since we never met. I'll keep everyone posted but I have a good feeling about this one.

6. Successful Phoenix HVAC Company Decides Not to Move Forward with SEO

I've really gotten great at looking for opportunities everywhere since starting this business and when a networking business owner I've known for 1+ year just told me he paid to have someone work on Google Ads campaigns for him, I saw a huge green light.

I did an SEO audit for him and he really could've used my services if he wanted to bring in clients this way. He is running a very successful HVAC company here in the valley and he wanted to meet with me to discuss this further.

This is the first time I've ever heard this before, but he basically told me that his business is expanding crazy fast and that he stays up at night losing sleep because he's terrified he's going to lose the same quality he provided when the company was smaller and that he has so many leads that he doesn't know what to do with them. He basically told me that he was afraid of switching on another marketing channel when he doesn't have to.

I know there's opportunity there just trying to figure out how to approach that but I'm not trying to push SEO on anyone who doesn't need it so I completely understood.

7. Time to Bring in More Leads

I redid my pipeline tracking today and it was a good wake up call.. there aren't nearly enough leads in the pipeline at the moment. I need to keep pushing myself to get more in there.

I want to be as efficient with my time as possible and I know I did around 100 free SEO audits for cold outreach, since I've already done the work for those, why not send follow up emails or calls instead of redoing more work from scratch?

Big things are coming.. just need to keep focusing and make it happen! Updated recurring rev below ($3k per month client updated to $200 per month now):

2019 Revenue Tracker: $34,655 Revenue / $100,000 Goal

*Edit*: Did some quick hourly work at my usual rate of $100 per hour for a new client with some simple stuff for 2 hours ($200 added to the overall revenue #s)

Monthly Recurring Revenue: $2,500 Per Month / $10,000 Per Month Goal
 
Last edited:

GuitarManDan

Platinum Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
678%
Feb 28, 2017
481
3,262
NYC
Hey Everyone,

Quick update from my end - lots of referrals are coming in from happy clients and that's really great to see. It seems like I've been able to get solid web design work all year with basically doing 0 outreach for that (been focusing all active outreach on SEO leads).

Here's what's been going on the last few days:

  1. Been focusing heavily on outreach to build out my pipeline more while I wait for some of those larger deals to come through. I have a list of 100+ businesses that I sent customized SEO audits to, so I'm following up with those that I haven't heard back from yet. Called 10 yesterday and planning on calling 20 more today.
  2. Got 3 referrals in the last two days! One is from a travel company in Canada that loved the site I did (literally found my info by clicking my "site designed by" in the footer of the site), another is looking for an e-commerce site for a new pet food/toys business she's starting and her husband needs a site for the general contracting work he does. Since two of these would be e-commerce sites they could be very good budgets. Have a sales call this afternoon with the travel company and going to pitch the other two sites in a few days when I figure out price, specifics, etc.
It's been pretty cool, I purchased a white board a while back to track my pipeline (also have it in a CRM too) but I saw how relatively empty it looked and my goal for this week was to fill this out with much more leads and so far just from the past few days it's been great progress.

Need to just keep taking smart action and big things will happen!
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

GuitarManDan

Platinum Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
678%
Feb 28, 2017
481
3,262
NYC
Hey Everyone,

Another quick update, worked like crazy last week to really build out my pipeline again and I have some solid leads already. It also was really nice that 3 different referrals called me about web design projects that they needed help with.

I need to update the monthly figures below, as my first SEO client (paying $500 per month) sent me an email out of the blue basically saying that she was happy with how things have been but she wanted to scale back to me just doing monthly reporting and she was willing to pay me $100 per month for those services.

She has been a pleasure to work with and has given me a lot of referrals so I wrote back saying I completely understood but did mention that there's a good chance her SEO rankings could drop back down which could lead to less leads in the door.

Updated numbers below... not going to lie, seeing the monthly recurring revenue drop like this is providing a good kick in the a$$. I know I can do better and need to put my head down and just get this done.

If I just sit around right now I'm only looking at making over $2k this month or so and that's not acceptable. Going to keep pushing and working to make this another great month.

What's been amazing though is that I've spent 0 hours on any outreach for web design all year - it's been growing completely organically through referrals which is an excellent sign. Instead of just doing the usual stuff, I'm working on adapting and instead of just settling for charging small amounts of websites, I've been actively learning and taking action to get much higher-paying jobs for web design.

This video here from The Futur is amazingly helpful for anyone who works in a digital services business where the price isn't fixed - I've been implementing what I've learned here to work on pitching 5 figure contracts instead of the usual stuff!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivKnj9ffcmE


2019 Revenue Tracker: $34,655 Revenue / $100,000 Goal

Monthly Recurring Revenue: $2,100 Per Month / $10,000 Per Month Goal
 
Last edited:

GuitarManDan

Platinum Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
678%
Feb 28, 2017
481
3,262
NYC
Big day! Just closed a $16k website project. I've always been good in in-person meetings but I was definitely trying to not act too off when I was excited seeing him cut me a check for the 50% deposit.

This has been months in the works with lots of back and forth - this client came to me as a referral from a much smaller site project that I did for the travel company.

From a cashflow perspective, this is now my best month yet (previously I'd beaten my record this July and August).. really exciting stuff!

He also agreed to a $500 per month maintenance plan (which will kick off once the project is done). I'd imagine this project shouldn't take more than 1-2 months.

Updating the numbers below to add in the $8k deposit (and I also got a payment for my PPC client paying me $300 per month):

2019 Revenue Tracker: $42,955 Revenue / $100,000 Goal

Monthly Recurring Revenue: $2,100 Per Month / $10,000 Per Month Goal
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

View the forum AD FREE.
Private, unindexed content
Detailed process/execution threads
Ideas needing execution, more!

Join Fastlane Insiders.

Top