Transparent web design
Some transparency to my transparent web design process
Disclaimer: This post will be a soft sales pitch.
If you have no need for my services then I humbly ask you share with someone who just might.
As of late I’ve taken more active steps to talk more about my web design business. My web design journey started in 2020 when my employer shifted all corporate employees to begin working from home.
To me, this is one the greatest pivots in my life as I recognized from day one the massive opportunity that lay in front of me.
I gained back around 90 minutes in my day by not having to commute or take a formal lunch break. I also ensured that just because I was working from home that I became lax at all with my work ethic.
Instead of trading commuting time for Netflix I instead began waking up every morning at 4am to begin learning web design. Those days were long but highly beneficial to me as I began honing a new craft that has continued to broaden my income streams.
I hope to communicate two things with this week’s blog:
Talk about my business and what value I offer to both clients and prospects.
Share my tools and hopefully benefit those who are already web designers.
Let’s get started.
Client partnership
I could probably link out to every other blog post of mine to reference this topic. If you’re a first time reader then please understand the importance I place on partnership.
I’ve been fortunate to have nearly all of my clients be direct referrals to me. It’s truly an honor to provide a service and then have that recipient highly recommend my work to others - a massive thank you to those who’ve done this.
The client partnership philosophy that I have stems from my desire to always return maximum value to whomever I’m working with.
Yes, I consider a website project for a business to be collaborative work. I refuse to simply categorize website development work as just another project. There is a business behind the project that has an immediate need and it’s my job to fill that gap.
My practical approach here is to not just simply learn about the client’s design preferences or simply gain access to their digital assets.
I rather want to learn about the business and understand not only the operation but the mission behind their work.
My very best client - Dano’s Dumpsters - is far more than another dumpster company. Dan pushes himself and his team to provide superior customer service and commits that his business will be run with the upmost integrity.
Dan regularly receives reviews talking about how fast his dumpsters are delivered and the flexibility he has when customers need more time.
Understanding Dan’s business goals and mission was critical in the initial build and ongoing maintenance of his website. It’s a privilege to continually serve him today.
Importance of collaboration
My day-to-day is very busy. I truly do not have time for fruitless meetings and struggle with participating in extensive small-talk.
I recognize this about myself and absolutely make the same assumption with my client. They are busy, possibly overwhelmed, and certainly trying their best to take care of their own customers.
For this, I aim to keep my collaboration very goal focused and value driven.
If you work with me, I’ll certainly request some initial insight about your business. I’ll want to know what makes it tick and why you remain passionately attached to it.
However, after we get over these initial introductory phases you won’t hear an excessive amount of questions from me. I take the time to learn through upfront and intentional listening.
There’s no reason to be bothered by me on every single detail of your website. I have confidence in both my skills and my ability to comprehend your goals.
Sure, if there’s a major pivot that I would like to propose then I will definitely want to discuss this with you. I’m always wanting to be an asset to you and your organization.
But I’m also fully cognizant that you probably do not want to supervise your website developer and have me knocking on your (digital) office door each day.
In order to ensure you have full access when it’s needed then you absolutely have access to my mobile number, email, or even Slack channel. As I’ve said above and will continue to emphasize, I am an asset to you and your business.
Creating flexibility
I’ll admit, when I started pushing for more web design clients I tended to follow a very traditional pricing model.
My original structure was per project pricing and this has certainly worked great for both my clients and myself. Again, many thanks to those who have trust me with their business’s digital footprint.
I did begin to notice that I was struggling to win new business from smaller companies. My pricing was simply too high for some business owners who were simply trying to keep their new businesses afloat.
Instead of posturing myself via the hard salesman that criticizes one’s investment and capital allocation I rather went down a path of reinventing both my offering and my mindset.
I did some extensive learning on the growing trend of productizing either yourself or your service offering. The model is very simple and places the control factor in the client’s lap.
For my own offering, I took time to identify a competitive price point that would both benefit my business while also benefiting the client as well.
My Einstein equation came out to be: $250 per page | per month
What does this offer get you? I’m so happy you asked:
Unlimited Requests
Predictable Pricing
Instant Engagement
Seamless Request Management
Fast Turnaround
Team Collaboration
Tailored WordPress Theme
Mobile Responsive Site
SEO Optimization
Enhanced Site Hosting
There are no catches, contracts, commitments, bait & switches, or squirrelly squirrels.
You are offered everything that is advertised and you use whatever you want.
-- No Contracts --
Pause, Upgrade, Downgrade, or Cancel Anytime
My goal with everything in my life is to make things as simple and streamlined as possible - I should probably do the same for my clients.
If you’re interested in this then please feel free to sign up here!
My weapons of website warfare
Such a stupid section header - but I like it so I’ll continue onward.
You can find some of my core website tools in my free e-book but I figured you probably read all this way to see them so here we go:
Hosting: Siteground
I love Siteground - truly everything about it fantastic. The service is more expensive than its competitors but you’re truly getting what you paid for. Stability, uptime, and support are just some of the great offerings here.
Site design: Elementor
I was just advising another client on Elementor and writing that recommendation only increased my passion for the plugin. The ease of website design with Elementor is so amazing. Mobile design is so critical for our mobile-first world and Elementor makes this so easy.
WordPress theme: Astra
Definitely some debate here around what themes are best but I’ve yet to have a website project go sideways while using Astra. The speed and customization options (especially when combined with Elementor) is a beautiful combination. Yes, there are other great themes but Astra offers the very best experience.
Design yourself or pay somebody to do it?
Decisions, decisions… what to do?!
Of course, you would expect me to say, “I’d be happy to work with you on your website!” And yes, this is is true! I am genuinely interested in learning more about your business to see where I can best serve you.
But if you’re anything like me then you probably want a few of convincing reasons why you shouldn’t embark on this road yourself:
“Free” website builders (Wix, Square, Squarespace etc) are never truly free: Sure, you can stand up a very generic website on Wix for free or bare minimal cost. But good luck trying to even remotely modify the look and feel of your site. These services are okay but trap you on a very small web-design playing field.
Short-term time commitment: Websites can take a bit of time upfront to get rolled out. Yes, there are a ton of site and page templates online that you can simply copy & paste into your site but none of that guarantees a high-performing website.
Long-term time commitment: You’ve got your site stood up and visible to the public… great! Now what is your plan when a plug-in stops working? Did you take into account ongoing mobile optimization - those iPhones keep getting bigger. What about new pages to build your own content library?
Google, Google, Google: SEO management can be a painstaking exercise. Google’s search algorithm updates around 5,000 time per year - some of those changes can have a chaotic effect on your website. This will only get worse with the consistent use of AI generated content.
Shifting priorities: Running your business is difficult enough so unless your web developer then I’m assuming your core business driving goals aren’t to build your own website. Yes, getting your initial website stood up is exciting but it’s only natural to assume managing your own site will fall further down the to-do list as your own business challenges continue to manifest.
I could go on but I figure the five reasons alone may be enough to at least generate a conversation with me.
A beautifully designed and high-functioning website is an incredible asset. Ensuring that this asset is designed, deployed, and maintained by an expert only assets its value.
Maximum return of value is always my primary goal for you - the client. Working with me removes the golden handcuffs and moves us directly into the value creating discussion.
I’d be happy to begin this discussion on how we can begin expanding your business’s digital footprint - let’s start this journey together!
Visit my site to learn more today!
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