How to get clients for web design? | Potential Journey In The Making.

Hey, I'm new to BlackHatWorld and seeking expert advice on getting clients for web design. I have an agency that offers logo design, SEO, website development, and content marketing. We've been in business for about three years, with an average revenue of $130,000 USD (not net). However, the sales process has been exhausting as I've been personally handling all the sales through in-person meetings, cold calling, and manual messaging. Initially, a good portion of leads came from my existing personal network, and word-of-mouth referrals were also successful.

I refuse to believe that this is the only way to acquire clients. There has to be an automated process for all of this, and I'm willing to pay for information if required. I have a solid team of developers, designers, and content writers with 35+ years of combined experience. However, I do not have a dedicated sales team or representatives. It has been myself managing clients from start to end with 24/7 communication through my direct line. Clients can message me for help at any given time of the day. Along the way, I've learned many lessons and realized that even though I was running an "agency," I was treating it more like a freelance career. It's a first-time experience for me.

The brand has a reputable presence in the local market, with 140+ reviews and a 5-star rating. However, I admit that the majority of these reviews are fake, and around 65 of them are from real clients. Our marketing efforts were on point, but I stopped investing in marketing due to the comfort of a large contract. Unfortunately, that contract was terminated, which put us in a challenging position. Overall, growing up in poverty and taking the monthly profits for granted without educating myself on finances and organization was probably the biggest mistake. I haven't yet used a CRM for sales. In sharing my mistakes, I hope to help other agency owners avoid similar pitfalls.

Currently, I'm facing financial constraints and low marketing budgets. We are receiving very few monthly contracts, and I didn't prioritize referral programs in the past. Most of our clients came through word-of-mouth when they saw our work for their friends, family, or celebrities we worked with. At this point, my only option is to start posting content on social platforms again, and continue messaging, calling, and emailing every day until we generate enough revenue to regain stability then focus on paid ads. I believe I've made almost every possible mistake in my career, and I anticipate there will be many more lessons along the way. However, I truly believe that we are now ready to thrive. The only department currently lacking is sales (lead generation). The brand has a solid presence, social proof, a 5-star reputation, and an impressive portfolio featuring known brands and celebrities.

Here are some things I haven't done in my career yet:

1. I haven't tapped into LinkedIn for leads.
2. I haven't tried anything related to Facebook.
3. Instagram and Google ads are excellent platforms, but the cost of Google ads is high for competing in the local market. The average cost per click for web design is around $7-8 USD minimum to $24-29 USD maximum in most states/cities when combined with "web design agency." With a daily budget of $50, we would only receive 7-16 clicks per day, which is insufficient compared to larger web design agencies spending $5k-10k per month on Google ads. Therefore, Google Ads is not currently an option for me, even though I consider it the best platform for paid ads.
4. I started SEO late in our agency's journey due to being too cheap to invest in resources for labor and backlinks. We are currently ranking on page 2-3 for almost all the keywords we want to target, but it's still a long-term process.
5. I haven't hired any sales representatives or business executives, this is what im looking to learn from this thread mainly and other advice. I'm unsure of what I can offer them in terms of a commission-based role since I haven't yet developed a proven sales system for them to use. I have a sales process that works for me to acquire 1-2 clients per month, but it's something I'm currently doing myself and limited to a maximum of 50 messages per day (approximately 1 hour of work).

I want to approach this journey differently from what you typically read, making it interactive where everyone can learn. I assure you that I will test out every single idea given in this thread (as long as it's logical or makes sense) and provide results after 1-2 weeks or earlier if results come sooner. This will give other readers valuable insights into which advice worked and can be tested by them as well. I'll wait for the replies and once I have a handful of requests and advice, I'll list which methods I'll be testing. I want to emphasize again that I have built a reputable brand, so testing these tips and advice will be beneficial, and I appreciate your attention if you've read this far.

As promised, here are the mistakes I've experienced as an agency owner so far:

1. Get a different phone number if you plan to take calls for your agency. It's important to have a different tone when someone calls you for your services compared to when it's a friend or family member. An early mistake I made was mixing my personal number with the agency number, so when unknown numbers called, I would answer with "Hello, who is this?" This was unprofessional, especially when it turned out to be a client calling instead of emailing. I would then make excuses, apologizing and saying we were waiting for Google to verify our new phone number as I switched it to my personal one. I would say, "My apologies for answering the phone in that tone. Thank you for calling ____. How may I assist you?" It's essential to maintain a professional agency image, even if you're working from home. Fake it till you make it, but remember that you can't fool anyone by avoiding small details. As an example, I'm seeking help and advice on how to get leads and create a sales team while locally fooling people into thinking we are a top and busy rated agency, im the issue with the lack of knowledge to scale the agency. The branding and attention to detail were necessary to cover up for my initial mistakes and lack of work experience before opening the agency.
   
   
2. Get a professional email. While this is subjective, having a business email creates the impression that you're on top of your digital game compared to using Gmail. This is just my personal preference.
   
   
3. Never get too comfortable, no matter how many contracts you have in a month. Always assume that anything could go wrong in an instant. Scale your operations as much as possible and connect with experts who are better than you in certain areas. We often complain when we're not busy, but then complain when we're overwhelmed. Be grateful for being busy and always strive for more; otherwise, you'll fall back into the cycle of not being busy again.
   
   
4. Create contracts for almost everything you do and include invoices. One common mistake I made was not insisting on contracts and invoices once a client paid a deposit. To be honest, nothing major has happened to date by skipping this step, and I've been fortunate that clients were satisfied with our service. However, I've learned that contracts are important to address future concerns. For example, a client might come back and request additional pages. To avoid this recurring headache, I now ensure that everything is clearly mentioned within the project scope, including monthly maintenance fees, hosting fees, and a price list for additional optional fees, such as extra web pages. I also make sure to include invoices so that clients can't claim they've already paid for a page or service.
   
   
5. Focus on SEO as early as possible. Starting three years into your agency puts you at a competitive disadvantage (depending on your ability to rank). I only began prioritizing SEO last year because I didn't see its value for ourselves while we were busy working on SEO for clients who were making money. It was a foolish way of thinking. If you see the value of SEO services you can provide for your clients, apply it to your own agency as soon as possible. If you lack the skill, start with a test website for your agency and learn from BlackHatWorld threads. If you can afford it, don't skimp on SEO because lead generation process is faster. I'm also exploring other channels that are still in progress.
   
   
6. Be smart with your finances. When I received payments, everything went into one bank account mixed with my personal banking. It was challenging to track our monthly income because I had to manually go through statements to determine which transactions were related to the business. Therefore, I recommend opening a separate bank account exclusively for your business. Connect that account to Stripe or any other alternative and charge your clients through that account. This way, you can easily track your business's monthly growth. Pay yourself in an organized manner, such as a monthly salary or based on your situation. Avoid taking everything you make personally. For example, if you make $6,000 from a website project, don't transfer the full amount from the business to your personal account. Instead, try to keep funds in your business account to use for marketing expenses, labor costs, emergency funds, or whatever else your business requires. Build a financial portfolio for your business and let it grow. Recently, I've started paying myself a salary and separating personal and business finances. This approach will also benefit you when handling taxes if you have a good accountant. Consider incorporating your business if it makes sense for your scenario.
   
   
7. Keep up with your social media platforms for brand awareness. This was a significant mistake I made as I lost track of maintaining an active presence. Despite offering content marketing services, we weren't keeping up with our own content. As I mentioned before, you won't fool anyone if you neglect small details.
   
   
8. Lastly, set a schedule work life balance or you will not achieve your goals. I made a mistake working 18 hour days and skipping 2 days of sleep, sometimes sleeping 5 days out of 7. (I developed websites early on before getting the team now while doing the sales process). Have a set schedule and make sure you indirectly make your clients understand you are not available after a certain time and also on weekends (if needed). Focus on health, fuel and network so all these elements could help you be a better business owner. My network has played a huge role I'm lucky to have, so network as much as you can when your off work.

If I think of any more tips, I'll share them. I hope this helps, and I look forward to your tips and advice to improve my current situation. I will test them out and provide results as a way of showing appreciation and conducting an experiment to demonstrate the credibility of each piece of advice. It will be a valuable test for a reputable agency.

Thank you for sharing your experience. Do you have any effective strategies for utilizing LinkedIn advertising to find high-quality leads for your business?

Is your agency in a tier 1 country?
I'm considering going full time on the same journey too. Currently working part time as a freelancer getting clients through cold calling and DM's, but can make a full time income yet, because of lack of time from my job

Good luck with the journey.