Starting A Web Design Business

Hey all. The title says it all pretty much. Effectively, I'll be offering web design services to clients.

Tools Used

Hosting (Siteground package that offers subdomains)
Domain Name
Wordpress
Elementor (visual builder)
Phone Book (taking it old school to scout clients)
Knowledge of how to build and sell websites and other digital marketing services

Method

Step 1: Browse local yellow pages (and yellow pages website) looking for a business in a given niche. I then quickly research said company to see if they have a website and the quality of the website. No cold leads, so if they don't have a website, I cross them out. I'm looking for outdated or poorly built sites that I can contact business owners about regarding a redesign. Chances are, if they meet these qualifications, a website redesign has likely been on their minds for some time. They simply don't know what channel to pursue getting said work done.

Step 2: I usually design my templates, so I'll reconfigure one under a subdomain using the business's name as said subdomain to reflect the business I'm reaching out to which I can then present as a free homepage mockup to hook clients when cold-calling.

Step 3: Call the business and say something along the lines of "Hey I'm so and so, a web designer from blah blah blah and I stumbled across your website while looking for services in your niche. I took some time out and put together a homepage mockup to show what I could do to improve your website and make it more fluid for users boosting its effectiveness. Is there an email I can send the link to or a number I can text the link to so you can see said homepage mockup?"

Step 4: Send the link and wait or be rejected and repeat steps 2 and 3.

Step 5: If the client accepts, then I'll build out the full website and collect my money then rinse and repeat steps 1 - 5.

Good Luck in your journey!

Good plan. Good luck!

Good luck.

are you building out the new site before you approach the business owner or afterwards?

Trouble market.
You'll need lots of luck, which I wish you indeed.

Heavily saturated market depending or your local.

But it is definable worth a shot, if you can make sense of time management and client acquisition.

Prospecting takes time, especially when done yourself.

Best of luck to ya'

Nice plan, good wishes for your journey.

David AffForce said:

good explanation

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Thanks.

Roboxit said:

Good Luck in your journey!

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Thanks

Myst3ry said:

Good plan. Good luck!

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Thanks

Gutierdazzle said:

Good luck.

are you building out the new site before you approach the business owner or afterwards?

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I build a homepage mockup first (tweak a niche theme I already built) then a full website once the deposit has been received.

Lilith55 said:

Trouble market.
You'll need lots of luck, which I wish you indeed.

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I don't think so based on my experience so far but I'll soon find out.

underachieved said:

Heavily saturated market depending or your local.

But it is definable worth a shot, if you can make sense of time management and client acquisition.

Prospecting takes time, especially when done yourself.

Best of luck to ya'

Click to expand...

Thanks, much appreciated. I understand your concerns but would rather not toss a black cloud over things upon inception. So far, my experience doing web design in my area has been contrary to what most could probably expect. In the past 4 months, I've landed four jobs without marketing whatsoever, just going places I usually go and knowing people in my area. 1st job was $200 for a gym, next was $800 for a doughnut shop I used to work at, then $1900 for a staffing company and $2100 for a cpa office (referral from the staffing company).

JackFruit said:

Nice plan, good wishes for your journey.

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Thanks.

Kidmars19 said:

Thanks.

I build a homepage mockup first (tweak a niche theme I already built) then a full website once the deposit has been received.

Thanks, much appreciated. I understand your concerns but would rather not toss a black cloud over things upon inception. So far, my experience doing web design in my area has been contrary to what most could probably expect. In the past 4 months, I've landed four jobs without marketing whatsoever, just going places I usually go and knowing people in my area. 1st job was $200 for a gym, next was $800 for a doughnut shop I used to work at, then $1900 for a staffing company and $2100 for a cpa office (referral from the staffing company).

Thanks.

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How do you determine your price for each site?

Gutierdazzle said:

How do you determine your price for each site?

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In between the 2nd and 3rd job I asked the same question. I read a post on reddit where this question was posed and learned about someone who made bank flipping wordpress themes. Figured if he could pull down $2000 flipping templates why not me. Asked for and received it twice over since so it's my go to going forward for standard web design projects.

Wish you good luck. Never lose hope

Day 1: Switched it up a bit. Spending Day 1 building five niche based sites. Will be offering a free website mockup that includes written content versus just a homepage with latin.

Update:

Sold a client on hosting/maintenance services for a year at $200/month (paid annually at $2400). Was referred to a Chamber of Commerce meeting by the same client as a means to generate more business.

great plan. best of luck for your journey .

Kidmars19 said:

Update:

Sold a client on hosting/maintenance services for a year at $200/month (paid annually at $2400). Was referred to a Chamber of Commerce meeting by the same client as a means to generate more business.

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Congrats for getting a new client.
What does your maintenance plan include?

Kidmars19 said:

Update:

Sold a client on hosting/maintenance services for a year at $200/month (paid annually at $2400). Was referred to a Chamber of Commerce meeting by the same client as a means to generate more business.

Click to expand...

Amazing result mate. Wish you good luck

Is it only front end?
Good luck!

Following.
Planning on doing something similar.
Could you DM me a link to the "theme flipping" subreddit/thread?

Good plan i wish you a best of luck