Most of us didn’t start our business with a carefully considered business plan or a playbook of each step in the process. One day, we just woke up and realized we’re running a business.

And while winging it may have gotten us this far, at some point you start to wonder if there’s a better way. You might have started looking at what others in TAB are doing and think to yourself “They got it figured out”.

If your business is just you — even if you have a few contractors — you keep things simple. No overhead, no employees, just you, doing the work you enjoy. There’s a ton of freedom in that.

But if you’ve been in that business long enough, eventually you’ll hit a plateau. There’s only so much one person can do. Capacity is limited, and wearing all the hats can leave you working insane hours, and stuck on the rollercoaster of feast-or-famine where the panic of too much work or not enough never seems to end.

So, maybe building a team is the answer? More hands mean you can scale, take on bigger projects, and maybe — just maybe — take a step back from the day-to-day grid and let the business run itself.

But ask anyone with a team — it’s not all roses. You’re no longer doing the work you love; you’re managing people, dealing with payroll, and stressed out about your overhead. Your margins shrink, the quality slips, and you find yourself longing for the days when things were simpler — back when it was just you.

No matter which side of the fence you’re on, the grass on the other side always looks greener.

Doing it all yourself is hard. Managing a team is hard.

But the beauty of running your own business is that you get to choose your hard.

The solo route offers freedom but caps your growth. Building a team lets you scale, but you trade control for complexity.

There’s no right answer that works for everyone… The grass is an illusion.

When you recognize and accept the challenges that come with whatever you decide, then you can build around them and succeed despite them.

Over the past few weeks, as I’ve been preparing my new full-build series, I’ve been reminded of how just a little extra preparation on the front-end can make everything else so much easier.

It’s like that Lincoln quote “If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend six sharpening my axe”.

Thanks to doing a complete dry-run and making simple step-by-step notes before I recorded, I saved a lot of time editing because there was less having to figure things out on the fly.

But, ever since adopting paid discovery for all my projects, I’ve found the same is true about projects.

When you spend the time up-front to really uncover things and plan out the details, content isn’t as hard because you know exactly who you’re talking to and what you want to communicate.

When you know what you’re your communicating, design is easier because the objective is clear.

When the design is completed, developing the site is a breeze because you know exactly what you’re building and can streamline your process.

And when projects are moving along at this pace and with this clarity, clients seem to have fewer revisions, requests, and feedback.

I’m sure many of you have already figured this out, but it’s been a hard lesson for me, who’s natural tendency is ready, fire, aim.

There’s a balance, of course, and it’s easy to get so deep into thinking that it’s difficult to decide. But it’s not about indecision, it’s about intention.

Taking a few extra minutes to make sure all your ducks are in a row really does reduce the chaos… So I’ve been looking for other ways I can front-load the work to make things run smoother.

Things like… Spending 15 minutes in the morning planning out and prioritizing my day before jumping in head-first, taking 5 minutes before a call jotting down notes of everything I want to make sure I cover, or organizing all my assets before I start building.

In the moment it can feel like “extra work”, but you’re really just reallocating resources — giving yourself a little more time up-front, and saving yourself a lot of time (and frustration) further down the road.

Referrals are awesome. You don’t have to spend time marketing and selling (yuk!), and since they come with a warm introduction, they tend to close at a much higher rate.

Less work and easier to close? No wonder 71% of people in our survey said they get the majority of their leads through referrals.

It’s comfortable, no doubt… But every yin has its yang.

So today, I want to play devil’s advocate a bit to challenge those of you who aren’t marketing yourself because you already have enough referrals…

1. Referrals Are Unpredictable

Like I said, referrals are great — but they’re mostly passive. You don’t control when or how they come in, and even if they’ve kept you busy up to this point, there’s no guarantee they’ll continue.

And if they stop?

Without a proactive marketing strategy in place, you’ll be flat-footed and starting from scratch. Scrambling to figure out what works and what doesn’t while you’re desperate for work is not a fun place to be.

2: You Get What You Get

Referrals tend to reflect your current client base. So, if your current projects are low-budget, guess what? The people they refer are likely to be the same. People run in similar circles, which means relying on referrals makes it difficult to grow.

Marketing, on the other hand, gives you the power to be more surgical. It doesn’t have to mean more work, it can mean better work. Bigger budgets. More interesting projects. And the freedom to choose the types of clients you really want to work with.

3: Referrals Could Undermine Your End Game

Whether you’re just starting out or starting to think about retirement, there will come a day for all of us when we’re no longer running our agency.

If your lead flow is based solely on referrals, potential buyers aren’t going to give you much credit for that since those relationships will likely dry up as soon as you leave.

But a business with a proven, proactive marketing system? Now that’s something a buyer will pay attention to. It takes things from selling a book of business to selling a company that can continue to print money. This could, potentially, double or even triple your buyout.

So, be honest…

I’m not saying referrals aren’t great (they are), and I’m definitely not saying you should turn them away (you shouldn’t) — but ask yourself these three questions:

1. What happens if your referrals slow down or stop?
2. Are you working on nothing but your dream projects making more money than you want?
3. Are you building a business that can thrive without you?

It may be that relying solely on referrals is simply more comfortable than it is the best strategic decision.

People understand that when they hire someone to build a custom home, they’ll need an architect, contractors, plumbers, electricians, painters — you name it.

But when it comes to websites, I’m not sure most clients understand that the same complexity applies.

Like building a house, creating a website requires many different skills and expertise. Before anything else, you need a solid strategy. Then there’s content, design, development. On top of that, you’ve got legal compliance, privacy standards, and in 2025, accessibility isn’t optional — it’s essential.

When you break it all down, it’s obvious that “making a website” isn’t as simple as slapping together a few pages.

I don’t think most clients would disagree if you laid it out for them, but many just don’t realize the sheer amount of work involved. If they’ve never been through the process — or worse, have done it poorly in the past — they simply don’t know what they don’t know.

And that’s the reason so many of them think a $500 or $1,000 budget is reasonable.

But if you break it down into digital marketing strategy, copywriting, design, development, legal compliance, accessibility testing, training, and ongoing support, it’s unrealistic to think all of that can be accomplished at bargain basement prices.

So how do we easily and effectively educate prospects? I like to do it by asking calculated questions in our very first meeting. Things like:

• Can you share your digital marketing strategy and how your new website will help solve your current challenges?
• Do you already have a design ready to go?
• Is your copy finalized, and do you have all the necessary photography and graphics?
• What are your compliance obligations for privacy and accessibility?
• Will you or someone on your team be responsible for maintaining security, licenses, monitoring for vulnerabilities, and creating backups?

These questions are eye-openers for the uninitiated. Suddenly, people start to realize that “getting a website made” involves more than just a few keystrokes and a click of the mouse.

And when they start thinking through their answers, it becomes clear just how much goes into a professional website project… Even the cheapest of people realize that $500 budget that had is totally unrealistic.

Whether or not you itemize all these in your proposal is an interesting discussion (for another day), but making sure clients understand the scope of professional-level work is absolutely critical if we want them to value what we do.

Asking the right questions not only justify our pricing, but it helps position us as the expert who’s thought through everything (and been around the block a time or two). And once they’ve seen just how many pieces need to come together, they’ll question any other proposal that doesn’t address all the details.

I just got back from WordCamp US 2024, and if I had to sum it up in one word, it would be “opportunity”.

At an event like WordCamp, it’s everywhere. In the hotel lobby, over dinner, even on the convention center floor — people are huddled together, chatting, building connections, and opening doors.

In fact, someone from TAB even told me they landed their biggest client in company history at the event.

It’s easy to chalk that up to luck or being at the right place at the right time — and that’s partially true. But there’s a big difference between just being present and making yourself available.

For many of us, “sales” feels like a dirty word. We’ve seen it done so poorly that just the thought makes us sweat. But good sales isn’t about hard pitches or coercing people into forking over cash — it’s about making yourself available for opportunities.

We spend a lot of time sharpening our skills, tweaking our websites, or arguing with strangers about best practices online… Yet, it’s rare that any of that actually brings clients through the door.

You know what does?

Availability.

If you missed WCUS, don’t worry — opportunities are everywhere.

When your phone rings, are you ready to answer, or are you “too busy”? When someone Googles “web designer near me,” is your site visible or buried on page 2? When your neighbor says hi when you’re checking the mail, are you looking at your phone or striking up a conversation?

I’ve often found myself frustrated when a big job gets awarded to a lesser agency — I’m sure you’ve had this happen many times too. The story I like to tell myself is that the client just didn’t realize how good I was or how bad the other agency is — and while that may be true, I don’t think it’s why those jobs didn’t come my way.

If you’re not putting yourself out there, you’re invisible.

The most successful agencies aren’t always the best at websites, they’re the ones who are eager to be available when opportunity comes knocking.

I often find myself in a familiar cycle: working my ass off, feeling busier than ever — but going nowhere. Like running on a treadmill. I’m ticking off all the little things on my to-do list, jumping from one task to the next, and keeping myself in motion — but despite the max effort, it’s not adding up to anything meaningful.

It’s so easy to mistake activity for progress, but sometimes you’ve gotta ask yourself: “Do your actions match your aspirations?”

We all have big dreams for our business, and at least some idea of the next big milestone we want to hit. But instead of tackling the big, scary, challenging stuff, it’s easier to stay busy with the little things…

Replying to emails, tweaking the website, fiddling with social media — it keeps us moving, but are we moving forward? If I’m honest with myself, I know I spend too much time hiding in those small, manageable tasks because it’s easy and feels productive.

Every now and then, we need to take a step back, look at where our time is going, and ask: What do I really want? Are my daily actions moving me closer to that, or am I just spinning my wheels?

In TABLE (our private mastermind groups) we’ve adopted a new system of prioritizing our biggest goals, identifying how to measure progress toward them, and regularly reporting on where we stand. It’s a simple system, but it forces you to focus on what truly matters and not just what keeps you busy.

The act of prioritizing alone is eye-opening, but holding yourself accountable to tracking your progress regularly is such an important piece of making sure you’re not wasting time — you’re spending it wisely. And it’s a lot harder to lie to yourself when the numbers are in black and white, staring you in the face.

You, me, and all of the most successful people on earth all have the same 24 hours in a day. The difference between spinning your wheels and moving forward comes down to how you choose to spend them.

We can be hamsters on a wheel, lost in the repetitive grind, or we can be sculptors, carving out our time with precision and purpose.

So, the next time you catch yourself lost in the whirlwind of busywork, stop and ask yourself: Are you running toward something, or just running in place?

If you’ve struggled to pinpoint what makes your agency different than all the others, you’re not alone. It’s one of those questions that feel like it should have an obvious answer — but thanks to self-doubt, imposter syndrome, or any of the other forces we fight against, many of us tell ourselves were not as talented, experienced, or accomplished as the competition.

Being “just another” agency in our space makes it really hard to get leads, especially good ones.

But standing out doesn’t require you to boast and brag about being the best. In fact, it’s not about screaming louder; it’s about having something meaningful and specific to say.

This week I tried a bit of an experiment inside the community. Instead of asking, “What makes you different?” — a question that often leads to blank stares — I asked something else:

“What are some common behaviors or practices by other agencies and freelancers in our industry that really frustrate you or give us all a bad name?”

Because this question doesn’t require us to be too introspective or boastful, the responses poured in. Not only in large numbers, with with strong conviction — which is exactly what I had hoped for.

When we see something in our industry that bothers us, it’s often because we are doing the opposite ourselves. This has the potential to be the ground you can stake your flag in as what sets your agency apart.

For example, one comment that stood out was: “Lack of knowing anything about what is and isn’t legal.” If that’s something that frustrates you, maybe it’s because you prioritize compliance and are proactive in navigating those legal waters. That’s a powerful differentiator — something your clients won’t even know to look for unless you tell them.

Or the classic frustration: “Disappearing during a project timeline or not taking deadlines seriously.” If you pride yourself on being responsive, reliable, and deadline-driven, why not make that front and center in your messaging? Show your process, make guarantees, and prove to your clients you have a history of delivering on budget and on time.

Here’s another good one: “Overbuilding a brochure site and leaving the client with something they can’t easily update.” If user-friendly builds and empowering clients to manage their own site are your thing, clients need to know about that.

What’s great about this strategy is you are often alerting clients to potential problems they may have not otherwise considered. And there you are, with your flag firmly planted in the ground showing them you are one step ahead.

These responses aren’t just gripes about our industry, they are a mirror showing you what you do best.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I feel like everything I want to do feels impossible. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been staring at a blank screen — overwhelmed by the possibilities and second-guessing every move.

Analysis paralysis — you’ve been there, right?

Let’s say you have a big, big goal for the year: to double your revenue. Sounds amazing, right? But where do you even begin with something like that?

Maybe you should overhaul your services? Ramp up your marketing? Finally hire some help?

When the path forward isn’t clear, it’s easy to stay busy spinning your wheels, but going nowhere.

Figuring out what you should do feels like a big riddle — but what if you flip it on it’s head?

Instead of asking “What do I need to do to double my revenue?” try asking, “What shouldn’t I do?”

The wrong moves are usually painfully obvious…

• Don’t underprice your services just to get more clients
• Don’t overextend yourself (or your team) and get burnt out
• Don’t chase every shiny object that crosses your path
• Don’t neglect your existing clients trying to chase new ones

Seems obvious now, right? The key to moving forward is to do the opposite of all those things you know you have to avoid: value your services, improve your efficiency, pour gasoline on the things that are already working, and be proactive in nurturing the relationships you already have.

I’m almost offended at how easy it is to trick myself — but I’ll be dammed if it doesn’t work.

What shouldn’t you be doing?

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When most of us think about goals, we tend to treat them like goalposts off in the distance. Maybe you’ve written yours down, stuck them to your monitor, or added them to your calendar.

But then what?

I often feel like I’m sitting on Santa’s lap telling him everything I want for Christmas: “I want lots of new clients, I want more money, and I want to work fewer hours!”

We send our goals off and then… we wait.

But goals aren’t gifts. They are very unlikely to be delivered just because we wished for them. I think this is why so many people have given up on setting goals at all.

But instead of giving up on goals, maybe they just need rebranding.

What if, instead of setting goals, you accepted missions?

When you’re on a mission, you’re not peeking under the tree every day to see if it’s here yet, you’re out there making it happen. Missions are proactive. They’re about taking action, getting creative, and pushing through to meet your objective.

Instead of saying “I want more clients,” make it a mission: “I’m going to onboard two new clients this month by reaching out to past contacts, leveraging my network, and running targeted ads”.

Woah. Suddenly, I believe you.

Instead of “I want to launch a new service,” your mission becomes: “I’ll develop a new service by dedicating 5 hours each week to ideate and gather feedback from beta testers, to create a strategic launch plan.”

A mission isn’t a wishlist — it’s a call to action.

What I love most about this reframing is that it’s less binary — not just about checking yes or no. When you’re on a mission, you’re focused on the journey. You’re fluid and agile. Always willing to adapt, pivot, and explore — using creativity to continue making progress.

You’re expected to run into obstacles, and that’s not a discouragement, it’s proof that what you’re doing is pushing boundaries and gaining XP (“experience points” for us dinosaurs).

We still have well over 100 days left in 2024, which is plenty of time to complete a mission or two.

When you first start your business you have a big blank canvas to work with. As you start to pick up new skills, onboard new ideas, and have more experiences, you begin filling up the blank space with colorful brushstrokes.

At some point, you start to feel like it’s all coming into focus — but when you step back what you thought was a realistic portrait of a successful business has ended up looking more like a Jackson Pollock ????

What might have felt like careful consideration at the moment looks like a chaotic explosion of every half-finished idea you ever had.

I don’t know about you, but some days my business feels this kind of abstract.

But what if we didn’t treat our business like a blank canvas begging for paint? What if it was more like a giant chunk of marble?

Instead of constantly feeling pressure to add more, more, and more — what if we approached our business as if it were already there, hidden inside the block just waiting to be revealed?

Then our job wouldn’t be to continuously pile on layers of paint, but to carefully chip away at the excess, the distractions, and the rabbit holes.

A web agency can be a lot of things… You can offer SEO, content creation, design, development, social media, hosting, etc. But instead of starting with nothing and feeling like you need to add all of those things, imagine starting with everything your business could be and deliberately removing what doesn’t align with your strengths, interest, and vision?

What would you reveal?

Maybe it’s not a dozen different services, but just a few — done exceptionally well. Maybe it’s not chasing every shiny new marketing channel (and AppSumo deal!), but doubling-down on the things you’ve already seen produce results.

The sculptor’s approach is one of clarity and focus. It’s about stripping away the non-essentials until only the only thing that’s left is the core of what makes you and your business great.

Last week, during our monthly Happy Hour call, we ended up doing a bit of Q&A. If you’ve ever been in that situation, you know the adrenaline kicks in when you have 30is people staring at you, waiting for answers and you have no way to prepare.

But one of my off-the-cuff answers has stuck with me, and the more I thought about it, the truer it feels.

Have you ever seen a new movie or tried a new restaurant and couldn’t wait to tell everyone you know? When we find something great and know someone who would love it too, it’s our human nature to want to share.

Not because we gain anything, but because we want others to experience that same awesomeness.

So, during Happy Hour, when I explained how I thought confidence was the key to selling project discovery, the explanation feels like an ‘ah-ha’ moment that was hidden inside my brain somewhere.

For most of us, sales isn’t something we look forward to. It feels awkward. You’re uncomfortable. You know there’s a good chance you will be rejected.

But do you feel that way when you recommend your new favorite restaurant to a friend?

Of course not! You have no fear because you’re genuinely excited, enthusiastic, and confident your friend’s going to love it.

What’s the difference?

What I realized is that these are nearly identical situations that, somehow, we have put on the opposite ends of the spectrum in our minds.

I didn’t start selling discovery sessions on day one. And even when I did, I was certainly rejected plenty of times.

But then, something changed.

When I realized I truly believed that a discovery sessions was the best option for my clients, gave the project the best chance of success, and that I should be compensated for my expertise, both my confidence and conversion rates immediately improved.

I stopped “selling” and started recommending what I believe to be the best course of action — with the same enthusiasm and confidence I recommend the new taco joint I found downtown.

This principle doesn’t just apply to selling paid discovery, of course. Are you proud of the services you provided? Do you genuinely believe you can help your clients reach their goals?

If you truly believe hiring you is the best decisions they can make, then you’re not selling — you’re offering your honest recommendation.

Not only is that a whole lot easier to do, I think clients can smell the confidence and are relieved they’re not being pressured or persuaded; they’re being given a genuine opportunity to succeed.

Have you ever been on the verge of throwing in the towel after dealing with the maddening request of your clients?

“Make the logo bigger.” A classic.

Sending over copy that’s either a pathetic few lines or an epic novel.

And let’s not even talk about the accessibility issues that make you wonder if they’re gunning for a WCAG violations high-score.

Sound familiar? I’d laugh if I wasn’t crying.

But have you stopped to ask yourself why it keeps happening to us?

Are our clients out to make our lives miserable? Do they have a secret agenda to sabotage our projects? Or could the real problem be staring back at you in the mirror?

A good example is Laura’s post last week talking about clients dragging their feet when asked for feedback.

It’s something we all do — even encouraging them to send revisions! We want them to be happy, so it makes sense, right?

I’m not so sure.

When we ask for “feedback”, clients feel obligated to contribute — even when they have no experience, expertise or vocabulary to contribute something meaningful. So we get back bizarre suggestions like auto-playing music and flashing text, or worse, like Laura, we get nothing.

Why? Maybe it’s because we’re asking them to do our jobs for us. It’s like walking into a doctor’s office and being asked to diagnose yourself.

If they knew what they wanted and how to do it, they would have done it themselves.

So, what if we asked for approval instead? This simple tweak takes the pressure off them to provide input, and gives them the opportunity to give us a thumbs up instead.

Trust me, if they want changes, they’ll let you know!

Swapping “feedback” for “approval” is just one example, but I think it illustrates the point…

The best way for us to serve our clients isn’t by asking them what they think is right, then reducing the quality and standards of our work to appease their ignorance. It’s by giving them our best; backed by our years of experimentation, expertise, and experience.

That’s why they hired us. Anything else is not only unkind, it’s kind of wrong.

When you’re eager to achieve big results, it’s natural to think you need big ideas.

Finding a silver bullet is an alluring fantasy… but I think it’s one that often gets in people’s way.

Think back to everything that has worked for you in the past. I’m willing to bet that very few of your successes came from revolutionary ideas. Instead, it’s usually the obvious and simple strategies — executed with intention and intensity — that produce the best results.

I’m seeing this play out in real time as we wrap up our Q3 Prospect Pipeline Cohort…

One member sponsored a newsletter and, within a week, gained two new leads.

Another member shortened the gap between meetings and delivering the proposal, which has led to better conversions.

Another is opening doors — literally — to the businesses she would like to work with by hand-delivering a box of donuts.

These ideas aren’t novel — and that’s a good thing. These things are easy to execute, highly repeatable, and have already proven themselves to be effective.

You can’t hit a home run by sitting on the sidelines waiting for the perfect pitch — it would be gone before you could get to it.

Instead, you have to stand at the plate hitting hundreds of balls every single day so that when the perfect pitch comes, you are dialed-in and ready to take it for a ride.

That’s both literally and metaphorically true. And, I think it actually takes a lot of pressure off.

You don’t need to come up with something no one has ever seen before; you just need to put in the reps to always be ready to capitalize when the opportunity arises.

Besides, those one-in-a-million ideas are rarely complicated… they are usually the most obvious answer amplified to 11.

Legend has it that AWS — the product that’s responsible for over half of Amazon’s annual profits — might have never happened without the two-way door philosophy.

Picture this: you’re standing in a room surrounded by doors — each representing a decision you need to make. Every door is different — ranging from big and intimidating, to small and inviting.

How do you know which one to choose?

Many of us — especially the over-thinkers among us — treat every decision as if it were a life-or-death matter. As if all the doors were a one-way door that, once stepped through, locks behind us forever.

But, in reality, most of them do not lock behind you — they are a two-way doors. You can take a step through, look around, and if things don’t work, simply step back and choose another door.

Which brings us back to Amazon…

The story goes, as they were contemplating the idea of launching AWS, they ultimately recognized it as a two-way door decision. If it failed to get interest from the outside world, they could always use the initial boost in capacity for their own internal growth.

Recognizing that it was a two-way door — not a one-way door — allowed them to be decisive and led to one of the most successful business ventures in history.

This one-way/two-way door philosophy is such a powerful concept, because being a thoughtful and calculated decision-maker is a good thing… But it can become a curse when we fail to consider the weight of our decisions first and treat every decision as if it’s a one-way door.

You’ve probably had no less than a dozen ideas in the last 6 months of ways to improve the business. Have you tried any of them?

Indecision is deciding to do nothing — and as fast as business moves, it’s a surefire-way to get left behind.

Last week, I had a paid discovery session with a client looking to redesign their DIY website from eight years ago. As usual, I asked about his business, clients, goals, etc.

At the end of the call, he complimented the process and mentioned it wasn’t what he expected… Saying he thought I’d be asking him about the fonts and colors he wants to use in the new design.

In fact, I had not asked him anything about fonts or colors… I asked him questions like “What kind of car does your ideal client drive?”.

I explained to him that I think it’s best he tells me about his business, industry, and clientele — and he can let me worry about the fonts and colors. This way, neither of us have to watch the things we’ve spent our lives studying get undermined and bastardized by someone who has no idea what they are talking about.

Admittedly, it was a bold reply — but the more I thought about it, the more I was convinced of its truth.

My client knows more about his industry, his business, and his clients than I ever will. It’s my responsibility to take that information and turn it into something that helps him achieve his goals.

What I liked about my reply — though maybe it could be a bit softer — is that it clearly outlines our roles for the project. Not with one of us in charge and the other along for the ride… But on equal footing, both bringing our expertise to the table.

I think what happens too often is that we, as web developers, come in trying to tell clients what their customers think and need. Our clients clap back by telling us what colors and fonts to use. This all stems from a lack of trust and, of course, serves nothing or no one — especially not the success of the project.

By addressing and clearly defining those roles early in the process, I think both us and the clients can put down our guard and pull in the same direction; in benefit of the project.

What this whole situation taught me is that when I trust my client to know their business, they’ll trust me to know mine. It’s a two-way street.

With seconds left on the clock, you need a three-pointer to win the game.

To your left is the teammate who’s always the first in the gym and the last to leave, practicing tirelessly.

To your right is the teammate who only shows up when it’s game time.

Who are you passing the ball to?

We’re all choosing the person who’s practiced that scenario thousands of times. All those reps mean that when its their turn in a real game, they’re automatic.

Even the best NBA players continue to spend hours a day perfecting their craft — dribbling, shooting, defending, rebounding. If not, they’d be out of the league within a year.

But what about us as web professionals? How often are we practicing our skills?

I’m not talking about the time spent on client projects — I mean dedicated practice time, free from deadlines and clients breathing down your neck?

It might have been days, weeks, months, or even years since you’ve sat down solely to hone your skills.

In a typical day, I might jump from being a salesperson to a designer, developer, customer service rep, and even a janitor. It’s rare to spend an hour straight on one specific task.

Expecting significant progress while juggling all these roles is insanely unrealistic. And, to be honest, it’s probably why many of us stop making huge strides as we did early in our careers.

If the best athletes in the world continue to practice just as hard (if not harder) over the entire length of their career, why do we think we shouldn’t do the same?

Imagine spending just 15 minutes a day over the next year practicing headline variations or recreating your favorite designs to study what makes them great. How much better of a copywriter or designer would you be?

You’d be automatic.

I’ve been spending a lot more time lately thinking about and teaching design. Through that process, I’ve realized how crucial the steps you take are before you ever paint a pixel.

Having designed professionally for decades now (Jesus, I’m old), a lot of this has become instinctual for me. But in conversations with others in our field, I’ve realized that people without a strong background in design could really benefit from a pre-design process.

Today, I’m sharing a quick overview of the three steps I take before starting any design. Spending even an hour on this can save countless hours later by avoiding dead-end rabbit holes, minimizing major revisions, and preventing inconsistencies.

1: Understanding the Brand’s Personality

I start by understanding the brand’s personality. I’ve found that many small businesses don’t have a clear grasp on this when they come to you, so it’s a great opportunity to work with your client to figure it out.

Ask your client how they’d describe their brand’s personality, with questions like:

• Would your brand spend its spare time at a loud club or a quiet movie at home?
• Would it speak in proper language or use slang and curse words?
• Would it wear a suit and tie, or a hoodie and gym shorts?
• Would your brand want people to call it by its first name or surname?

These questions (and ones like it) get the conversation rolling in practical terms that clients can easily understand. But I always try to dig a bit deeper by following up with questions like “What do you mean by that?” or “Why do you feel that way?”

While this may sound a little artsy-fartsy, you would never use Comic Sans and childish illustrations for a brand that describes themselves as a “mature father figure”.

Knowing the brand’s personality informs everything from typography and color to photography choices.

2: User Profiles

This step goes by many names — personas, target users, customer avatars. The goal is to understand who is visiting the website and what they want to achieve.

Build multiple user profiles with my clients using a simple formula: “I am a ____ and I want to ____ so that I can ____.”

For example, for a plumber: “I am a homeowner and I want to find a plumber who handles emergencies so that I can get someone here immediately to stop a leak in my basement.”

Understanding your audience is critical and will influence every design decision, and I’ve found these practical examples something easy for both the client and I to reference as we ask ourselves questions about the layout and review our decisions.

3: Gathering Inspiration

Gathering inspiration is essential for aligning with your client’s vision and getting your creative juices flowing.

I like to collect examples and organize them by specific personality traits or user profiles based on what we identified in steps one and two.

For instance, finding color palettes that give me the feeling of a “mature father figure” personality or header layouts that we could use to highlight emergency plumbing services as soon as a panicked visitors lands on any page.

This approach ensures your first proofs align with client expectations and all but eliminate the risk of completely missing the mark

These three steps have become non-negotiable for me. They improve efficiency and ensure your designs connect with the brand and its audience.

And I promise that investing a little time upfront will pay dividends in the long run.

We’ve all heard about the importance of overdelivering for your clients. But that term is so abstract and all-encompassing that it can be hard to put into practice in a practical way day-in and day-out.

But recently I stumbled on a simple method for consistently overdelivering that I’m calling the “and one” system.

The idea comes from basketball… When a player scores and gets fouled in the process, they get the two points from scoring and one from their free throw. It’s like a bonus point.

Except, in basketball, the phrase “and one” is typically shouted aggressively as you taunt your opponent — here, the idea is to remind me to add a little more value by going one step further.

Let me give you a couple recent examples…

A client wrote me because they were worried their receptionist wasn’t receiving all the inquiries from their website. He requested that I CC him on all the form submissions just to be sure.

So, I fulfilled that request — but, while I was at it, I also exported a spreadsheet of all their form submissions so he could go through and ensure no one was forgotten.

He didn’t ask me to do that, but it was an easy way to fulfill request and make it just a bit better than he asked for.

As you can imagine, he was very appreciative — and it took me almost no additional time.

Or, when I did a video recently showing off the new GeneratePress template I created, I put a link in the video description where people could download the Figma file in case they wanted to play around with that too.

It didn’t take much extra work for me — I already had the Figma file — but it was a nice little bonus that doesn’t usually come with website templates.

What I like about this “and one” system is that it’s so easy to tack-on to just about any request. It’s a way to overdeliver in a practical way.

All I nee to do is ask myself “What would make this just a little bit better?” or “If I was doing this for myself, what else would I want?”.

Often, clients don’t know what’s possible — but, because I do, I can easily impress them by giving them just a little bit more than they asked for.

Because I’ve developed a simple system (and a name, which is strangely helpful in remembering to use it), including these “and one” bonuses has become almost second nature.

And these little acts of kindness can go a long way in strengthening client relationships and demonstrating expertise.

I’d encourage you to give it a try!

If you take a second to look at the date on the top corner of your screen, you’ll see that we’re just weeks away from 2024 being halfway over.

If you can’t predict with some level of certainty what the rest of 2024 looks like for your agency because you rely almost entirely on random referrals, then you likely have no idea if you’re heading into a better half of the year or a worse one.

Relying on chance gives you — at best — a 50/50 shot that you’re headed in the right direction.

But with just a little proactive effort, you can drastically improve those chances.

If you’re determined to make the back half of 2024 better than the first, then I want to invite you to join us for the Prospect Pipeline Challenge Cohort.

You can deep-dive into all the details on this page, but here’s a quick rundown:

• A 3-week challenge that gamifies the lead generation process
• 4 weekly meetings with fellow challenge participants and myself for accountability & support
• Daily tips, tricks, and strategies to proactively improve your pipeline

Hundreds have taken this challenge, but I ran it as a cohort for the first time earlier this year. With an 80% completion rate, participants reported drastic improvements in both their process and pipeline over the 3 weeks.

“It made me take positive action to make things happen and take a good look at behaviors that needed changing or improving to get leads coming in.”

“I’ve begun to prioritize lead generation as a key daily action, something I had overlooked before. This shift has significantly boosted momentum in our sales process.”

“If you’re not consistently bringing in at least 3 new leads per week (and you want to grow your business), join now! No better way to bring in some quick leads while also setting yourself up for long-term success by developing new habits.”

The cohort runs from July 5th through July 26th with live meetings each Friday.

This invitation is going out to over 8,000 people, but we have just a handful of seats available.

I’m happy to answer any questions you might have (just hit reply), but if you’d like to do a little more research on your own, here are a couple of posts about the previous cohort: announcement post and follow-up post.

If you’re read to join us, then you can sign up here.

On the first of each month, as I balance the books and finalize my numbers for the previous month, I take the opportunity to record some extra metrics about my agency’s performance for the month. Things like total revenue, total expenses, profit margin, progress toward financial goals (monthly & annual), number of leads, number of projects in the pipeline, and more…

All of this gets logged into an Airtable base, allowing me to compare them month over month and visualize the trajectories on charts and graphs (???? nerd alert!).

For me, having these numbers and being able to look at my agency from a 10,000-foot view (instead of from down in the trenches, where I usually am) has been invaluable. But, a little over a year ago, a small tweak has taken it to the next level.

The issue I had with the spreadsheet and charts is that while they do a fantastic job of showing me what happened, they do almost nothing to explain why.

This is exaggerated when you look back at data 6 months (or more) in the past. Sure, you can clearly see that July 2022 (for example) was a slow month — but the data lacks the context to remind me that I had to take a week off due to a death in the family.

So, on top of the numbers, I started preparing a small summary of the month that takes the numbers and puts them into context.

Here’s a slightly abbreviated version of one I posted in our Barfly Slack channel if you’re curious (with some information redacted for privacy).

This little exercise has become one of the best 30-minute investments I’ve made into my business. Here’s why:

• Clarity and Focus: By regularly reviewing these metrics, I gain a clear picture of my business’s health. It helps me stay focused on what’s working and what needs attention.
• Early Problem Detection: I can spot issues before they become major problems. Whether it’s a dip in leads or an unexpected spike in expenses, early detection is key.
• Goal Tracking: This process keeps me accountable to my financial goals. I can see progress (or lack thereof) and adjust my strategies accordingly.
• Decision-Making: With data at my fingertips, I make informed decisions rather than guessing. This reduces the stress and uncertainty of entrepreneurship.
• Mental Peace: Finally, this practice brings peace of mind. Knowing where I stand financially and having a plan for the future helps alleviate the constant worry that can come with running a business.

It’s never good to find your business in a bad spot — but it does happen. What’s worse is when you don’t have any kind of warning or a clear explanation as to why you’ve ended up there.

If nothing else, this little appointment with yourself is an excuse to check your pulse, catch your breath, and prepare yourself for your next set of challenges.

If you’re not already doing something similar, I would highly recommend creating a process for these meetings and scheduling them into your calendar as a non-negotiable appointment.

Do you ever cringe looking back on some of the choices you’ve made? I have quite a few of those in my past — but there’s one decision in my business that haunts me, and I wish I could go back in time to change it.

Decision fatigue is a real thing… And the ADHD that is the internet in 2024 makes the whole process overwhelming.

Where you might have had a couple of options in the past, as soon as you Google something today, you’re followed endlessly for weeks with ads from dozens of companies all trying to get you to pick them.

It’s easy to freeze and get worried about making the wrong decision.

Thankfully (or maybe unfortunately?) there’s no way to see an alternate ending to our decisions. No parallel universe or magical window we can peek into to see how things would have turned out if we had gone right instead of left.

Our minds will trick us into believing the other decision might have been easier — but there’s no real way of knowing that for sure. In fact, the other path might have been just as rocky — or even worse.

That rationale is why I don’t have many regrets about the decisions I made. But the worst decision I’ve made? The one that I would go back and change if I could? It’s all the times I sat on the sidelines, so paralyzed by decisions that I chose to do nothing.

By standing still, I robbed myself of lessons learned and progress forward. While I sat still, the rest of the world either caught up or widened their lead.

At the doorstep of decision, there’s no real way to know which path is the right one. I’ve found that more often than not, it’s a coin flip. It’s less about making the right decision, and more about taking action with confidence and trusting that future-you will make the decision right.

You’ve done more with less before, and you’ve always found a way to make it work.

You didn’t get here by making the right move every time — you got here because you kept moving forward.

This week, I’ve been reflecting on the early days of my business (nearly 7 years ago!). Like most people, looking back now, I see how unprepared and unaware I was.

I cringe when I think about some of the presentations and pitches I made… Honestly, I’m not sure how anyone took me seriously — let alone handed me large sums of money ????

It was entirely thanks to blissful ignorance that I did those things. And while that’s embarrassing to admit — I’m starting to realize there was some real power in that ignorance.

Because I didn’t know what I didn’t know, I was willing to try things that the older, wiser me of today wouldn’t risk. It was that same ignorance that allowed me to take some of the biggest leaps — and biggest leaps forward — in my business.

Thankfully my business has continued to grow each year, but not nearly at the same rate as in the first few years. Of course, it’s easier to see significant growth when you’re starting from zero, but I don’t think that’s the whole story…

I’ve learned a lot in seven years… My business is stable… And now I have even more to lose. Because of that, I’m much less likely to take chances, try new things, and put myself out there in the ways I did back in my first few years.

When I was taking bigger risks, I found bigger rewards. That’s not to say I didn’t fall flat on my face at times (oh, I did!)… But those big leaps — successful or not — were what propelled my business forward.

Of course, I don’t want to promote making uninformed, ignorant, thoughtless decisions, but I do wonder if losing that tingling feeling of excitement and nervousness is holding us back from achieving even more?

While our initial decisions might not have been perfectly researched, they were fueled by our entrepreneurial spirit.

When I look around at some of the people and companies I admire most, one thing I’m starting to realize is that they aren’t holding themselves back for the sake of comfort. They’re embracing the same spirit that got their business off the ground to take them to the next level.

When was the last business decision you made that gave you butterflies? How long has it been since you worked through the night because you were so excited about getting a new idea out into the world?

I’m starting to realize it’s been too long.

One of the most difficult things about entrepreneurship is the ups and downs.

Just take a look at my gross monthly revenue over the past two years.

A chart like that has sent many folks back to a “real job” real quick.

While recurring revenue can help stabilize you by giving you a bit of a ‘minimum income’ each month, our income is still unpredictable. Two bad months in a row and you might be wondering if it’s just a bit of a slow period or if the walls are crumbling down.

Planning is hard when things are unpredictable. This week, I’ve been thinking about ways to have better projections in my business. Not only to lessen anxiety but to better plan big purchases, hiring help, and my schedule.

No system will predict things perfectly — and if it’s not easy I know myself well enough to know that I won’t follow through. So what I’ve settled on is doing a review on the number of leads I receive each month.

Based on my data, it takes an average of 32 days from the time a lead comes in to when I close a sale. By measuring my number of leads, I get an ‘early warning’ of what next month’s sales might look like.

Thankfully I’m already collecting this information. Here’s my setup:

• Lead Collection: All new leads come through one of two forms on my website. If a lead comes in through other means (I don’t always make existing clients or in-person connections fill in my forms), I fill in the form on their behalf for record-keeping. This way every project starts at the same place.
• Automation: I have automations that bring this data into my CRM. This captures contacts and records dates (when a lead comes in, when a proposal is sent, when a deposit is made, etc.) This provides a real timeline for projects (which is often longer than my gut suggests) and helps make projections a bit more accurate.

I already review my finances and a few other key metrics on a monthly basis, so I’m just adding my leads to the agenda and I’m done.

My hope is that if I see leads drop one month, I can have a bit of a warning of an upcoming slower month. Of course, one big project can change everything, but this is more proactive than my current reactive approach.

All this is pretty easy to set up on your own, but if you want to get really granular with it, I’d suggest taking a look at Agency X-Ray which will allow you to track everything we talked about here and a whole lot more.

In a mastermind this week, we tackled a question I hadn’t answered before: How much time should you reasonably spend on a single blog post?

She had spent about 8 hours on her latest, which, despite being really great, felt like a hefty investment of her limited time.

As a staunch advocate of content marketing — the thing that’s fueled my business — I was surprised when I began to agree with the voices saying it didn’t seem like the best use of her time.

I struggled to justify the ROI of such a big investment when our schedules are jam-packed with to-dos that promise quicker, more tangible returns.

Yet, I was conflicted knowing what a huge impact content marketing has made on my business:

Content Builds Brand: By showing up and offering value consistently, you build trust and recognition.

Content Fuels SEO: Each well-crafted piece of content creates a new pathway for people to discover your business.

Content Creates Connection: People are able to feel like they know you without ever having spent a minute with you (this is especially true of video content)

I left the meeting a bit confused as to why I believed content marketing is worth the effort while simultaneously feeling like my friend could make better use of her time.

Thankfully Aristotle answered this question about 2,400 years ago when he said “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

Writing one chapter doesn’t complete the story — it’s the collective power of chapters that build a book, and eventually, build a library.

The value of content marketing — at least in my experience — is rarely ever in the ROI of any single piece… It’s in the collection of content as a whole.

And the more I thought about this, I realized it’s universal truth. It’s the same when you reach out to a client “just because”, go the extra mile when you see an opportunity to help someone, or read an extra book to your kid at bedtime… If only measured by their impact in the moment — in isolation — they might not make much of a difference.

But there is a massive ROI in a collection of them.

Ever had one of those days when everything seems to go wrong from the minute you step out of bed? Yesterday was that day for me.

I woke up with my back in a knot, I think all of my clients were conspiring against me to lose their mind at the same time, and just after lunch my internet went out.

Thankfully, the internet came back quickly — but there was a minute there I was in a bit of a panic. What if it hadn’t come back on… not just for a day, but longer?

Let’s face it; shit happens.

That’s why I wanted to spend a little time this week talking about something that’s crucial for your business, but often overlooked — contingency planning.

We regularly see posts in the group asking about people’s “hit by a bus plan”, but there are a lot of things that can go wrong that aren’t quite that catastrophic.

And while we can’t predict the future — I do think it’s worth it to have some sort of plan for when shit hits the fan.

Here are a few things I’m trying to map out (and when I say “map out” — I’m not getting extremely granular with my plans, more like a general overview of next steps and things to remember when I’m in the initial states of panic):

Extended Absence: Imagine tomorrow you, or someone vital to the team, was suddenly unavailable for a month. How would you adjust projects, make sure routines are handled, and clients are notified?

Technology Failure: Our businesses rely on technology — and most of it is out of our control. From data breaches to servers literally catching on fire, our digital world has to endure risks from a lot of angles. What steps do you take if any of the mission-critical technology in your stack goes off grid?

Financial Loss: While it might be great to avoid “whale clients” in theory, many businesses find themselves in a place where one client makes up a significant proportion of income. What happens if that client leaves? Or, let’s say a entire income stream dries up — what then?

Legal/Compliance Issues: Our industry has been relatively free from oversight, but that is changing. Who do you call if you get a non-compliance letter in the mail — or worse, notice of a lawsuit?

I know — Kyle’s a total bummer today ???? I’m sorry!

But this isn’t about being all doom and gloom — it’s about preparing so your business can continue to thrive no matter what. And, to be honest, thinking some of these things through has given me some sense of peace of mind knowing I’m prepared to pivot.

It doesn’t mean I have all the answers — I certainly don’t — but I won’t have to start from ground-zero.

If it all feels a bit overwhelming, you can start small. Identify the most probable risk to your business and devise a simple “pivot plan”. Leave yourself a list of next steps and things to consider. Should one of these situations every arise, having any kind of plan is going to make a significant difference in how you persevere.

I woke up with one of those uneasy feelings in the pit of my stomach. The kind anxious energy of forgetting something important, but not clues as to what it could be.

Despite feeling uneasy all morning, around lunchtime, the universe seemed to lend me a hand when John — one of my newest care plan clients — emailed me out of the blue.

That was it! Did I ever set up John’s recurring billing?

Sure enough — I had sent him an email outlining his billing schedule and confirming the accounts receivable address, but I never actually scheduled the invoices.

It’s honestly surprising this doesn’t happen more often, given the daily distraction we face while trying to keep all the plates spinning that keep our agency operational.

I was fortunate this time — John’s site is only a couple months old and I hadn’t lost much — but what if the universe hadn’t been on my side?

Maybe it’s Spring in the air — but this situation has got me thinking about what else might be falling through the cracks in the midst of the ongoing chaos of agency life?

So, I’ve decided to make May my “Agency Spring Cleaning” month where I’ll be dedicating 4 hours each week throughout the month to tidying up and dusting off the items that only seem to get attention when something’s gone wrong.

My hope is that I can prevent a few of those anxious mornings (and stomach ulcers).

I’ve been brainstorming what that might look like — for me and other agencies — and I thought I’d share what I’ve come up with:

• Audit Billing: Ensure all clients are being billed correctly and no invoices are slipping through the cracks.
• Update Client Records: Verify that all client records have the latest information and statuses.
• Review Service Contracts: Review your service agreements for changes to terms, policies, etc.
• Refresh Website Content: Update agency website with up-to-date information, new testimonials, etc.
• Assess Tools & Subscriptions: Cancel unused subscriptions and audit utilization of tools.
• Organize Internal Files: Declutter & organize local and cloud storage systems.
• Compliance Audit: Review updates to applicable laws to ensure compliance.
• Review Insurance Policies: Ensure your business insurance it’s still in alignment with your revenue, risks, and operational changes.
• Performance Reviews: Conduct annual performance reviews to discuss achievements, areas for improvement, future goals.
• Financial Health Check: Review financial statements, savings/retirement, budget allocation, tax plans.
• Physical Workspace Cleanup: Organize and declutter office space for a more productive working environment.
• Backup Data: Ensure all critical data is backed up and systems are functioning properly.

Having gone through this though exercise, it feels like one of those things I should be ashamed I haven’t been doing all along. Or, perhaps my business is landing in place where I can be more proactive and less reactionary (putting it that way makes me feel better about myself at least).

Do you schedule in time for business development? Or do you just put out the fires as you happen upon them?

This week I went from being hopelessly on the fence about a purchase to confidently swiping my credit card in a matter of seconds… And I think we could easily incorporate this simple tactic to improve our sales and help guide our customers to the best decisions.

I’m often most inspired about ways to improve my business not when I’m thinking as the business owner, but when I’m someone else’s customer. Being on the other side is a powerful reminder of how our clients might feel during interactions with us.

This lightbulb moment happened during a conversation I was having with a salesperson this week… It wasn’t hard for him to spot my hesitation as I mulled over my options. And just when I was about to tell him I was going to go home and think on it and come back, he interrupted my thought to say “Most people go with ___”.

That was all it took. Without hesitation, I agreed, handed over my credit card, and walked out of the store excited about my purchase (the same one I was about to walk away from moments before).

What I realized on the drive home was that my struggle wasn’t about picking the best option — it was the fear of making a mistake.

Had the salesperson went on to overwhelm me with more details and specifications, it wouldn’t have moved me any closer to a purchase. Instead, he used social proof to guide me to a confident, safe decision.

I have to imagine our clients feel just like I did when they talk to us… The things we talk about must sound like a foreign language to them!

More details (which is what most of us tend to provide) might be less helpful (and more time consuming) than simply offering a suggestion based on your experience.

By offering a suggestion and backing it up with evidence (like social proof of what others have successfully chosen), we not only simplify their decision-making process, but build authority and trust. It tells clients we’ve been here before, and we can help guide them towards their goal.

It’s important, of course, to use this strategy ethically. It should be used to guide clients to decisions that they could genuinely benefit from — not manipulate them into making choices that only serve our own interests. That sort of thing will burn bridges and erode all credibility as soon as clients realize you we’re only interested in making a buck.

I see this as a perfect fit anytime you’re offering choices (like care plan packages) — but also fits nicely into upsells (like suggesting on ongoing SEO retainer or paid ads after their site goes live).

Do you see yourself using this tactic? I love the idea of being able to be genuinely helpful while reducing friction and helping simplify the decision making process for my clients.

Running your agency can feel like you’re stranded out on your own little island — wondering how others are surviving and what secrets they know that you don’t.

Three years ago, our curiosity prompted us to start what’s now one of the cornerstones of our community: the annual WordPress Professionals Survey.

The idea of the survey was to peel back the curtain on the secrets of our industry; pricing strategies, favorite tools, marketing magic, and where people’s leads were coming from.

Fast forward from our 300 participants in the first year to this year’s record-breaking engagement of over 1,100 freelancers and agency owners from every corner of the globe.

While I’ve tried to maintain continuity by tracking some of the same questions every year to see how answers and trends change over time, there are some really interesting new data points for the 2024 results.

Want to know how many agencies are already replacing people with AI, or what challenges are keeping people up at night? We’ve got all that and more!

I’ve laid out the surface level results for all the questions on our 2024 results page, but where this data gets really juicy is when you dive into the full database and drill-down… Filter by region, sift through by team size, or sort by experience level to find the insights that are most relevant to you.

Curious how charging for discovery affects website pricing?

Want to know how expanding your team might influence your salary?

Could creating video content boost your bottom line?

All of those answers — and literally thousands more — are waiting for you!

Check out the 2024 survey results.

If you’re curious, you can check out the 2023 and 2022 results as well.

And don’t miss our highly anticipated panel discussion, where Josh Hall, Julia Taylor, Paul Charlton, Miriam Schwab, and I dissect the findings, share our insights, and debate the data’s implications on our businesses!

If you find any of this information helpful or interesting, I would love if you’d consider sharing the survey with your network. Although this survey requires well over 40 hours of preparation, execution, and organization, I’ve tried to ensure its integrity by keeping it free from sponsorships or any monetization to avoid skepticism about the motivation.

Sharing the survey is a fantastic way to help more people discover our work at The Admin Bar and contribute to even better results in 2025!

It’s baseball season in America — which is one of the hallmarks that ushers in spring.

If you’re a baseball fan, then you’ve probably heard of the statistic “Wins Above Replacement” (or “WAR” for short). If not, WAR is a statistical metric used to quantify a player’s contribution to the team compared to that of a replacement-level player.

Essentially it helps measure the value that player adds above and beyond what an average player would provide.

A phenomenal player might have a WAR of 8 for the season — meaning that the team would win 8 more games with them than they would with someone else filling their spot.

It’s a fascinating statistic — not for its complex calculations, but for its ability to capture the essence of value in a single figure… and I think we could borrow this concept for our agencies.

Like baseball players — where there are over 5,000 minor league players looking to get on a major league roster — there are plenty of agencies and freelancers to go around. Not only do our clients have plenty of choices, they are bombarded with solicitations and ads aiming to persuade them to leave us for greener pastures and lower prices.

If you think about it, it’s our WAR that brings clients in and keeps them around. It’s the things we’re doing that the average agency wouldn’t that make us the more attractive option. The higher our WAR, the more clients we’ll attract, the longer they’ll stick around, and the more we can charge.

While we may not be stepping up to the plate to face a 100mph fastball, our clients have a knack for throwing us some curveballs that keep us on our toes.

So how do we ensure a positive WAR for our agency?

It looks different for every agency, but here are 3 things I’m prioritizing in Q2 to make myself less replaceable:

1. Embracing my role as a coach. Assuming the role of a teacher is an extremely effective way to build authority and trust. You don’t even need to be the world’s foremost expert on a given subject, just one step ahead of where your clients are.
2. Narrowing down my playbook. Instead of trying to compete at every position, I’m going to hone in on the things I do best. By specializing there are naturally less “replacement-level” options.
3. Illuminating the scoreboard. Do our clients even realize half of what we do for them? If not, it’s like leaving some of our best statistics out of our WAR score.

If you’ve made it to the point where you have a reliable business that pays the bills (and maybe even has a little left over), you don’t have to take big swings every time you’re up to bat. In baseball — and in business — the best players are the ones who are consistent, smart, and are focused on contributing to the team’s success.

Which parts of your game do you think are contributing best to your WAR, and where do you think you have the most room for improvement?

Have you ever had someone ask you why you doing something a certain way and found no good answer other than “it’s how we’ve always done it”? It’s amazing how the most inexperienced people can often pose the toughest questions since they haven’t been conditioned to the routine.

The autonomy I have as a business owner is a major draw to why I work for myself. I don’t have to ask anyone permission or explain my thinking. But with no one there to challenge me, it’s easy to get caught in a trap where I do things out of habit instead of intention.

Lately I’ve recognized this cycle in how I structure my day and I’ve started to question whether I’m using my time most effectively or if I’m just operating on autopilot.

When I took a step back and mapped things out, the traps I had unknowingly set for myself became crystal clear. Not only were my days unoptimized, some of the things I was doing were self-sabotaging.

This lead me to make a few small changes to my routine that immediately made a significant impact:

1. I moved my meetings to the afternoon. As you know, stopping down for a meeting is a huge momentum killer (and, for me, a drain on my mental energy). It can sometimes take an hour (or more!) to get back in the groove. Instead of scheduling calls in the middle of the day, I moved them to the end so I didn’t have to worry about getting back on task afterward — I could just call it a day.
2. I started tackling little to-dos first. Starting my day with a series of quick wins has been huge for not only getting those items that tend to linger off my plate, but it helps me build momentum and feel productive.
3. I started batching wherever possible. Although I feel like a great multitasker, I know there are too many tabs open in my brain ????. By batching similar tasks, I spend less time context-switching. This requires a little bit of planning up-front, but it’s made a noticeable difference on the back end.

It’s a shame to realize I had been setting myself up for failure this entire time, and all it took was 10 minutes of honest self-reflection to see a few obvious opportunities. And a tad embarrassing that all of the changes I made are pretty obvious once you see them.

But in hindsight, I think that’s why they’ve worked so well. I didn’t need to overhaul my entire life — I just had to make a few intentional tweaks. The tweaks themselves are easy — it’s recognizing where you might be setting traps for yourself that’s the hard part.

When was the last time you took a few minutes for a self-assessment?

One thing I’ve found interesting the last 3 years we’ve done our annual WordPress Professionals Survey is the huge percentage of people that list referrals as their number one lead source. Looking at the preliminary results from this year, it looks like it will end up around 75% — just like it has in the past.

I get it… Referrals come with some built-in trust, they’re easier to convert, and let’s be honest — they’re lower effort on our part. Why go out and hunt for you next meal when Door Dash is just a click away, amiright?!

Thanks to creating a sizable amount of content over the years, my agency operates in the 25% minority — and has for a few years now. So today, I thought I’d share why I never want to go back.

Easier to scale, or, in my case, be pickier — Thanks to the volume of leads that come in, which peaked at an average of 9 inquiry form submissions per week when I was pushing it, I’ve had two really good options to choose from. I could scale my agency up or be pickier about what projects I take on. Both options lead to more money — but I went the lower-headache route with fewer, but better projects. Increasing your number of leads affords you to be a lot pickier about what work you say yes to. We’ve never asked in the survey how many referrals people get, but I can’t imagine it’s anywhere close to 30+ a month.

Less feast and famine — It always seems like referrals come in waves. I might get a few in one week, and then none for a month or two. Perhaps that’s just my experience, but I’ve heard a lot of people complain about the feast and famine cycle and with 75% of us relying on referrals, I’m just making an assumption. With content marketing and organic leads, the flow of inquiries is a lot more consistent. Even though I’ve never been reliant on a large number of projects, it lowers my blood pressure to know another opportunity will be in my inbox shortly.

More control over the type of work — When your clients refer you, they likely refer you to people like them. Now, if you have a well-established business in your perfect niche, that can be great. But as you’re starting out, this can feel like a ball and chain strapped to your ankle making it impossible to find bigger, better clients. Because I can control what I make content about, I can control the kinds of people (and projects) that find me. Having created tons of content on GenerateBlocks and being focused on performance, 90%+ of my leads come to me for those specific things.

It’s true that 75% of all agencies surveyed list referrals as their number one lead source — but if you dig in deeper, you’ll find that percentage drops down into the 40s for agencies making $750K+ in annual revenue.

I’m not here to tell you that relying on referrals is a bad thing — many businesses go their entire existence living off referrals. But, I do think there are major benefits other — more proactive — approaches to filling your pipeline.

If you’re getting tired of the feast and famine of it all, I’m going to be running a live cohort version of the Prospect Pipeline Challenge in April. The goal with this challenge is to take a more proactive approach to nurturing your pipeline with the gamified system I use in my agency. 

While that has been around for a while, now we’re doing it together with a group of people for built-in accountability. You can find out more in this post (spots are limited).

Moving your family across the country means starting over fresh with everything. From finding a place for oil changes to choosing schools and doctors — it’s a total reset.

As part of that process, I needed to find a new CPA this year to help me with my taxes. And while we were at it, we hired a financial advisor too.

That little combo ended up saving us over $5,000 this year while simultaneously giving our retirement funds a huge boost.

I’m not a financial guru, and I’m not qualified to give financial advice… But after sharing this story and talking openly with one of my TABLE groups recently, I realized the power of having open financial discussions.

The truth is, I’m behind on retirement. Or, as my new advisor puts it, “significantly behind”.

When I was in my 20s (…and 30s ????) it felt like one of those things I’d eventually get around to. Retirement didn’t even seem real when I was slinging pizzas and playing in bands out of high school. But, in what felt like only a few blinks, here I am about to turn 40 and things are looking a lot clearer in the windshield than they are in the rearview.

I wasted a lot of time — the best years for compound growth in my investments — putting these things off, and now I have to work twice or three times as hard to make up for it.

Looking back, it all seems obvious now… but think about the business owner who think they can build their website and run their marketing themselves. I mean, technically they’re right — it’s not that hard to spin up a website and boost some Facebook posts. But you and I — the professionals — know their un-targeted ads and empty shell of a website are unlikely to do them any real good.

We love to poke fun at their ignorance on these things… but are we doing the same thing when it comes to our finances?

I’d like to think I’m higher than average in financial literacy skills — we’ve been debt free for over a decade, own a home, and pay cash for our vehicles — but the wizardry real professionals pulled off made me realize I’m the client trying to push toys around in Wix.

That’s a bit embarrassing to admit here… but are you where you want to be when it comes to your finances?

I don’t think most of us are. But, it’s especially important to consider when you work for yourself.

Discussing finances is tough… It dredges up concerns about the future, family dynamics, and personal insecurities. Yet, avoiding these conversations is only delaying the inevitable and making the matter worse.

I’m not going to say the half-a-dozen meetings I’ve had between my advisor and CPA this year have been fun, but they’ve been extremely fruitful.

Sure, addressing this in our 20s would have been the best option — the next best thing is starting now. If you don’t, you’ll look back in a few years and regret not starting the moment you read this email.

I recently shared my move to a paid discovery model and got responses from people who do discovery after the project starts (or not at all) and are interested in a paid discovery model, but afraid they’ll get pushback trying to charge for it up-front.

Here’s how I see it….

The first thing a client wants is a price.

You cannot accurately quote a project without knowing the full scope of work.

To have a proper scope of work you need to know the following:

• Overall project goals and objectives.
• Key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure success.
• Understanding of the target audience and user personas.
• Competitive analysis, including what the competition is doing and how to differentiate.
• Legal requirements, compliance standards, and data protection considerations.
• Integration with other marketing efforts and how the website fits into the broader marketing strategy.
• Ongoing digital strategy post-launch, including content, SEO, and social media plans.
• Required technology stack and software tools.
• Website functionalities needed to meet objectives.
• Content management system (CMS) preferences.
• Third-party integrations (e.g., CRM, e-commerce platforms, social media feeds).
• Accessibility standards and inclusivity considerations.
• Security measures and protocols to be implemented.
• Inventory of existing digital assets and their quality assessment.
• Content that needs to be tweaked or updated.
• New assets to be created from scratch and responsibility for creation (e.g., text content, images, videos, infographics).
• Content strategy, including voice, tone, and messaging guidelines.
• Site structure, navigation, and user flow planning.
• Design and User Experience (UX)
• Brand guidelines and visual identity (colors, fonts, logos).
• Wireframes and design mockups to visualize the site layout.
• User experience (UX) design considerations and principles.
• User interface (UI) design specifics for interactive elements.
• Front-end and back-end development requirements.
• Database architecture and management.
• Performance optimization and loading speed targets.
• SEO best practices and strategies for implementation.
• Quality assurance and testing phases (e.g., functional, compatibility, performance tests).
• Feedback and revision cycles planned.
• Hosting requirements and deployment plans.
• Training for clients or team members on CMS or website management.
• Maintenance, support, and update strategy.
• Post-launch analytics and performance monitoring.
• Project timeline, milestones, and delivery deadlines.
• Budget constraints and billing arrangements.
• Communication plan and project management tools.
• Risk management and contingency planning.

I’ve yet to have a client walk in my door with all of that information already completely mapped out and organized on a silver platter.

So — someone’s gotta figure it out.

On a simple site you may be able to do that in 4 hours. On a big project it could take 40+ hours.

No reasonable prospect would expect you to do 4 to 40 hours of work for free for them before they ever hire you. Some irrational ones might, but that’s a great way to filter out the people you’d never want to work with.

Of course, we don’t have to do discovery… A lot of agencies send a quote after a simple sales call.

With your experience you’ll be able to assume some things correctly, but thinking you’ll guess right on everything is a gamble that’s either arrogant or ignorant.

The consequences are both all too common and catastrophic for projects (and relationships):

1. Scope Creep & Cost Overruns: Discovering mid-project that you made an incorrect assumption means that you need to go back to your client asking for more money. Think the pushback on discovery is bad? How about when they’re already thousands in and you need more money now — they’ll feel like you’re holding them at ransom.
   
   That’s really uncomfortable, so many agencies will just eat the costs of the overruns, which isn’t a great way to build your business.
   
   The result is that either your client spends more and resents you or you lose money on the project and resent your client.
   
   
2. Delays & Revisions: Ever had a project where you were in a cycle of endless revisions or waiting weeks (or months!) on content? That’s what happens when a detailed, clear, and agreed-upon plan wasn’t put in place before the project ever begins.
   
   The result is an extended timeline that frustrates both you and your client (which costs both of you more money).
   
   
3. Fail to Meet Needs: In an effort of self-preservation, you may choose to just build the site you originally quoted (the “guess”) and ignore any of the incorrect assumptions you made — even when they’re evident. The result will be a website facade that is unlikely to achieve the goals your client came to you with.
   
   If you’ve been doing this job for any length of time, you’ve had a client come to you with a relatively new site that needs to be completely redone — this is how that happens.

Sure, clients don’t want to pay for discovery when their options are pay or don’t pay — but that’s not the choice they are making. What they are deciding is whether they want to roll the dice or stack the deck.

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” 

Abraham Lincoln

Explaining the necessity and value of the discovery phase in these terms usually resonates well with prospects — especially those who are serious about their business. Discovery isn’t some ‘thing’ we do to try and upsell the client, it’s literally the foundation of every project.

As people have been submitting their survey results, I’ve been poking around to see how the new questions are being answered and how the trends from last year are changing.

One of the new things I asked this year was how much agency owners are paying themselves (this replaced the “profit margin” question last year).

Personally, I’m not that interesting in knowing exactly what everyone pays themselves, but I am interested in seeing what other metrics in our survey correlate with high or low salaries.

The first one I noticed, and what I wanted to talk about today is paid discovery.

From the preliminary data, it’s clear there’s a divide: 19% of respondents always charge for discovery, in contrast to 81% who never do.

Interestingly, among those not charging for discovery, 43% earn less than $20,000 annually. Meanwhile, only 16% of those who always charge fall into this lower income bracket.

That means you’re nearly 3 times as likely to earn less than $20,000 a year if you’re not charging for discovery than if you are.

Of course, discovery alone isn’t 100% responsible for these numbers, but there’s a big enough gap here that I think it would be a mistake to ignore it. Especially considering how easy it is to start charging for discovery if you’re not doing it now.

I was a late adopter of the paid discovery process myself… Mostly because I didn’t have a formalized process that felt worthy of charging for. Not only did this mean I was leaving money on the table, but my projects were a lot less organized than they could have been.

Since moving to a paid discovery model, my average invoice has increased, my clients have become more invested & willing to listen to my advice, and I’ve spent less time going back-and-froth because we have a clear picture on how we’re moving forward.

Like you, I was nervous to make this switch — worried that clients would push back and I would lose what business I had… But in reality it’s helped me more quickly identify which prospects are serious about doing things right, and which ones are just looking for something quick and pretty.

There’s no way in hell I would go back now.

I’ve found most of my clients “get it” when I put it like this:

Without proper planning, most projects go through multiple rounds of scope changes — which increases costs. We end up redoing work (sometimes multiple times) due to misunderstandings — which extends the timeline. And we end up with a less cohesive result — which is less likely to help you achieve your goals.

You probably have more questions, so feel free to hit reply or toss them in the group — and here are a few of my favorite resources on the topic:

• The Agency Guide to Executing Discovery by Clifford Almeida
• Charging for Discovery S.O.P. by Hans Skillrud
• How to Explain Paid Sales Discovery to Your Web Design Clients by UGurus

It’s that time of year again! Our 3rd Annual WordPress Professionals Survey is now open, and your submission is crucial.

This year, I’ve added new questions about A.I, hiring, challenges you face, and the future of your agency. Plus, we’re keeping track of evolving trends with familiar questions from past surveys.

I was able to complete the survey in under 2 minutes… Though I had a bit of a head start knowing all the questions, I’m confident you can complete yours no more than 5 minutes.

Your voice matters.

The more diverse voices we gather — the clearer the picture becomes. Your participation is key in making sure you (and others like you) are represented. I know for a fact business are looking at this and tailoring their services to meet your needs.

Remember, this survey is 100% anonymous, and the results will be share with everyone in our community (late March or early April).

My hope is that the results will give you a unique chance to see how you compare to your peers and uncover what top-performing agencies and freelancers are doing differently.

Last year we had over 600 agencies and freelancers participate — will you help us to get to 1,000 this go around?

Click here to take the survey: https://theadminbar.com/2024-survey/

Thanks so much for participating in the survey and for being a valuable member of The Admin Bar Community!

It’s only natural for us to gravitate towards the tasks we excel at (and enjoy!), and push aside any of the things we find challenging.

And, yes, “playing to our strengths” is a great way to leverage our skills — but everything else doesn’t magically disappear if we run away from it.

As business owners, we have to juggle dozens of roles — from visionary to vacuum technician — and it’s unrealistic to think every hat we wear is going to fit us perfectly.

But that doesn’t mean each hat isn’t important.

Ignoring your weaknesses is like ignoring a leak in your home… even a small one will do significant damage if it’s left unaddressed long enough.

But the opposite is true too; addressing these weaknesses — and solving for them — can feel like shedding a 100 pound weight that makes everything you do that much easier.

From what I’ve found, there are three ways we can do this:

1. Hire out. Maybe your yin just needs a yang. If you’re a “big picture” person, maybe what you need is a right hand who loves logistics, todo lists, and spreadsheets. Whatever your proclivity, the exact opposite is out there.
2. Build processes. I really hate doing sales, so I’ve meticulously mapped out the sales process so all I need to do is “follow the steps”. The process itself can act as your failsafe.
3. Pivot. One of the great things about owning your own business is that you get to set the terms. If you, for example, hate dealing with clients, you could focus on white-label work or freelance for a handful of agencies.

Closing the cabinet door to hide the dripping pipe might be easier today — but letting it go long enough will lead to structural damage that will be difficult to repair and impossible to ignore.

What small drip in your business can you start fixing today before it becomes a flood?

If I asked you to tell me where the delays happened in your last few projects, I bet I could guess with near perfect accuracy:

Waiting on the client for copy…

Waiting on the client to provide feedback…

Waiting on the client to send me x, y, or z…

Notice the common denominator here? Obviously, that’s not a shock — we’ve been blaming our clients for delays as long as we’ve been debating the best hosting company.

But if this problem is nearly universal — affecting a good 90%+ of our projects — could it be that the problem isn’t the client, but, perhaps, us?

This week we were talking about our onboarding processes in a TABLE call and I realized what I’ve been doing to help avoid these delays & roadblocks…

I’ve been asking a lot less of my clients.

Surprisingly enough, when I ask less of them, I experience fewer delays, I get less frustrated, and the project turns out better.

If you think about it, our clients probably aren’t the best people to provide copy, give design feedback, or track down a bunch of technical credentials.

But here we are asking them for all of that (and more) and getting frustrated when it doesn’t go as planned.

Our clients hate it too. They’re not dragging their feet because they want to drive us crazy (though I have often wondered if I’m being punked), they’re stuck because they don’t have the experience (or knowledge, or time, or desire) to do what we’re asking of them.

If it’s not working for either of us, maybe it’s time to do something different…

Imagine how a 5-star luxury resort might handle a website project…

What would it look like if your goal was to ask as little of your clients as possible while we take care of everything for them?

The ultimate white-glove experience.

Sure, you might need to adjust your pricing… But weigh that against all you’d save in time and frustration you’d save and what you’d gain in reputation and client satisfaction.

Budget and luxury hotels attract completely different clients… We’ll never attract Four Seasons clients operating like a Motel 6.

It’s in the early days, but I think this new addition to my proposal is already making a huge difference. It’s only been in my last handful, but its resulted in better feedback and closed deals.

All of us start with the basics… Asking clients about their challenges and goals. And we’ve been taught to make sure we use our clients language as we echo those things in our proposals (which is why I try to get them in writing).

But lately I’ve been try to go beyond that and leverage what they don’t know they don’t know. The hidden gotchas, the unforeseen hurdles, the common pitfalls.

Clients are walking in the dark here, but this is all familiar territory to us. So in the proposal, I’m just trying to shine a little light.

Not as a scare tactic, but as solutions to future problems that I can help them completely avoid if we take the right steps now. Things like:

• A custom library of pre-designed patterns: To ensure your brand’s consistent and save you future headaches (and costs) when expanding your website.
• Submitting your sitemap to Google: A small but critical step to introduce your website to Google and speed up your rankings and visibility.
• 30-Day post-launch warranty: A safety net, ensuring any overlooked details or last-minute tweaks are covered without extra costs.

These are things that I already do (you probably do too), but the difference is in highlighting them as solutions to problems they’ll never have to face… The things they don’t know they don’t know.

By helping our clients see into the future, we show them we’ve done this before, we’ve got their back, and we’re doing some critical thinking (not just regurgitating their inquiry).

This immediately adds value, instills confidence, and can differentiate your proposal from all the rest who are just giving the client exactly what they asked form

I just finished up a project and now that the client and I are pretty close, I asked him why he chose me (knowing he had multiple quotes). He told me that despite my proposal being “significantly higher” than the rest, everyone felt more confident in mine. He went on to cite two of the “hidden problem solutions” as the things that pushed them over the edge.

Of course, delivering on your client’s expectations in the proposal is non-negotiable, but including solutions to the problems they haven’t even thought of yet could be the difference.

I had a great call with a long-time client this week. Towards the end they told me all about how I was their favorite vendor and then asked me “What else do you do that you might be able to help us with?”.

Here I was riding a bit of a high from all the compliments when I realized the utter failure I’ve had if one of my best clients doesn’t know what services I offer.

It’s like having a bag of money with your name on it, but no one knows where to deliver it.

Like most of you, I didn’t get into this business with a passion for sales. In fact, sales is one of my least favorite parts about this business… The thought of it always conjures up a mental image of a used car salesman running you down across the parking lot.

No one wants to be like that, so we hold back. We put something on our website (and maybe post about it once on socials) and just assume everyone will know.

We’ve convinced ourselves any more would just be pushy and we don’t want to be sleazy.

But what we sometimes forget is our clients are business owners just like us. Every day, they wake up looking for solutions and opportunities to improve their business.

If we have a solution that could help them turn a buck into a buck-fifty or automate something that wastes 30 minutes of their day and we’re not beating down their door to tell them, then we’re not polite — we’re jerks.

Offering ways to help our clients achieve their goals is not a nuisance — it’s being proactive… It’s literally what they keep us around for.

We’ve already done the hard work of gaining our clients trust, we at risk of breaking that trust by holding out on them.

When was the last time you proactively reached out to a client with a solution you think could them?

If we genuinely want to be helpful, then we need to make sure our clients have every opportunity to benefit from the value we bring to the table.

Do you record your sales calls?

I know, I know… No one wants to hear themselves (and yes, it’s cringy for all of us!). But, like it or not, there is untapped gold in those recordings.

This week I put myself through the torture of listening to my last 10 sales calls — but this time I was on a mission to uncover the specific questions my prospects were asking.

This year I’m working on rebranding my agency and completely redoing my website. If I’m going to go to all that trouble, I figure I ought to try to do it right.

Guided by the book ‘They Ask, You Answer’, I went through all the calls and wrote down every question my prospects asked. My purpose in this was to see if my website was already addressing all these questions.

Despite being a champion of this book for years, my site is completely falling short.

Embarrassing? Absolutely. But, I’m not alone. I went on to go through a couple dozen agency websites and realized that we’re all burying crucial answers in blog posts, footnotes, and gated behind lead magnets.

Do we seriously expect our prospects to go on a digital scavenger hunt?

Here’s my working hypothesis: The agency that straightforwardly answers the most common questions will win the job 9 times out of 10. Why? Because clients hate surprises — especially when their hard-earned money is involved.

By making this information clear up-front, we set a foundation of trust and comfort.

So, what are these top 5 questions, you wonder?

1. What is it, and what’s included? A clear winner. Prospects want to know exactly what they’re signing up for.
2. Who’s it for, and is it right for me? They may not phrase it like this, but they’re essentially trying to gauge if they fit the bill.
3. How much does it cost? The age-old question that’s tricky but not impossible to answer transparently.
4. How long will it take? Expectations vary wildly here – from a week to a year!
5. Can you show me examples? Portfolio items, case studies, and testimonials are your best friends here.

Nothing revolutionary, right? Yet, most of us are missing the mark.

While we’ve been busy trying to outdo each other with witty copy and intricate designs, our potential clients are still searching for straightforward answers to the most basic of questions.

Take a few minutes today and glance over your service pages — are the answers to these 5 questions obvious?

I recently shared some screenshots of a project I’ve been working on for the past few months, and one of the comments I got threw me for a loop. Someone asked what software I used to manage the project.

I chuckled at first knowing the project management tool I used had little to do with the designs I was showing off.

Now, I’ll assume they just had project management on the brain and weren’t thinking my PM tool gave me the ability to create the design — but that thinking actually does happen pretty often.

A lot of us believe that if we just had the right tool, everything else would click into place.

For me, this didn’t start with web design… I remember being the kid who begged for $200 shoes, convinced they’d somehow make me a better basketball player. Spoiler alert: they didn’t. And as an adult, I still catch myself wondering what tools others use to achieve the results I’m after.

Whether it’s project management software, design tools, or coding environments, we’re often chasing this idea that the “perfect tool” is our golden ticket to success.

But let’s be real — it’s almost never about the tool.

Imagine thinking that if you could write with Shakespeare’s quill, you could pen the next Hamlet. It sounds absurd, right? Yet, that’s the kind of logic that has turned AppSumo into a multi-million-dollar success story.

Most of the time we’re shopping their aisles, we’re just looking for Shakespeare’s quill.

But to be better at basketball, I should have been out there every night practicing shot after shot. To write a compelling story, it starts with writing dozens of not-so-good ones first.

The same goes for design, project management, sales — you name it. There’s no substitute for experience and repetition.

Give me someone with tons of hands-on experience and basic tools over a novice with the fanciest gear any day of the week.

There are very few tools that could ever outperform what you gain from putting in the reps.

In 2023, TABLE mastermind members accomplished an astonishing 157 long-term goals — which averages out to about 4 each. And that’s not even counting our weekly goals, which outnumber long-term goals by a factor of 10:1.

But from my unique perspective leading these groups, I’ve been trying to understand a key question: Why do some goals (no matter how difficult) get met, while others (no matter how simple) keep getting pushed down the calendar?

Sure, S.M.A.R.T. goals (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time-bound) are a big help. They provide clarity and measurability.

Accountability plays a big role too — ensuring nothing slips through the cracks.

And oftentimes you get the sense if a goal is going to be met by how quickly someone takes the first step towards it (which is always the hardest).

But there’s one crucial aspect that eclipses all others: purpose.

Consider this: A common goal among agency owners is to rebuild their website. Yet, this often gets perpetually postponed. Why is that?

When I ask why they want to rebuild their website, the usually response is some variation of “I’m just sick of it.” Compare this to a member who set the goal to “totally detach from project management in the business.” You can feel the weighty purpose behind this goal — even without context — can’t you?

Goals embedded in deep, meaningful purpose attract our attention, effort, and resources more than those that just sound good.

Compare these and ask yourself which one you would bet money on getting done:

Person A: “I want to rebuild my website because I’m sick of it.”

Person B: “I want to rebuild my website so that it truly reflects the value I provide.”

The difference is all in the why that transforms a mundane task into a mission.

If your why doesn’t sound like something you’d run through a brick wall to get, is it even worth your attention?

Since starting the TABLE mastermind groups back in May of 2021, I’ve conducted over 600 meetings. And while that’s not quite the 10,000 hours Malcom Gladwell says it takes to have true expertise — one truth has made itself glaringly evident:

Regardless of size or experience, the biggest difference between the companies who flourish and those who falter is those who take action — even when it’s imperfect (and almost always is).

Think of it like this… You could do all your research picking out the perfect gym, hiring the best personal trainer, and planning out every step that will help you achieve all your fitness goals — but unless you leave your sweat on that gym floor, none of that is going to do you any good.

The same applies to your business.

Sure, buying the latest course, trying out new software, or brainstorming new offers feels productive… But I think if we’re honest with ourselves, those things offer us more comfort than progress.

Too often they are just procrastination and self-preservation from the exposure of putting ourselves out there and seeing if we can make it happen.

The agencies who are finding the most success aren’t necessarily the ones with the most talent, the best offer, who’ve taken the most courses, or have the shiniest tools; they’re the ones that are taking consistent action to put all they have and know into practice.

Chances are you already have and know everything you need to have all the success you’re after… and the difference will be whether you have a year of intention or a year of action.

Have you been meaning to create more content for your agency?

If so, then you know that feeling when you’re staring at a blank screen — the cursor blinking mockingly back at you? Yep. Writer’s block.

It’s a real pain, and something even loud-mouths like me face (can you believe it?).

Today I want to share my favorite trick I use to start churning out dozens of ideas, no matter the context.

The problem is, it’s so simple, you’ll probably just roll your eyes. But trust me, it works.

Instead of starting out with a completely blank screen — where any idea is a possibility — you need to narrow your focus.

I like to do this with “categories” (these can be just like the categories in your blog posts that organize articles by similar topics).

For your agency it could be things like “Getting Started”, Website Myths”, “Performance Optimization” — you get the gist.

Having these categories gives your brain a starting place and a set of boundaries to work within.

Instead of having zero ideas when anything was a possibility, you’ll find yourself with dozens of them by giving yourself a space to operate within…

For “Getting Started”, you could create a guide on best practices for buying a domain, share ways to save money on domains, or explain what a domain registrar is and how to choose one.

Under “Performance Optimization” you could write about image optimization, share your favorite performance testing tools, or connect the dots between performance and SEO.

See what I mean? The ideas just start snowballing once you have a direction.

It’s why designers start by gathering inspiration or chefs start a recipe with a key ingredient… Giving yourself structure to operate within isn’t a limitation — it’s what gives your brain the jumpstart it needs to be creative.

If it’s helpful, here are the categories of content I like to create for my agency: Case Studies, Continued Success, Getting Started, Marketing, Optimizations, Our Philosophy, & Tutorials.

As we close out another whirlwind year, it’s a great opportunity for a little introspection and reflection on how the year went for your agency.

And I’ve got just the thing to help you with that — and don’t worry, it’s 100% free!

I’m calling it “The Agency Report Card”, and it’s a unique self-assessment tool I’ve developed. It’s designed to give you a comprehensive look at your agency’s performance across key areas (more on that in a moment). Think of it as your end-of-year-checkup — without the cold stethoscope!

Why a report card?

Just like in school, a report card gives you a clear picture of where you excel and where there’s room for improvement. But now you get to grade yourself (boy, that would have come in handy when I was in school).

So, what’s covered?

The report card covers 9 critical areas (or ‘subjects’) for running a successful agency:

1. Client Satisfaction
2. Financial Health
3. Innovation
4. Work-Life Balance
5. Team Management (if applicable)
6. Marketing & Outreach
7. Professional Development
8. Customer Support
9. Strategic Planning

Each subject has 4 unique questions that will help you think deeper about how you’re performing.

What do you get?

Once you’ve taken your assessment, you’ll receive:

• Your agency’s Overall Grade: This gives you an overall snapshot of your performance.
• Individual ‘Subject’ Grades: Dive into each area to see where you excel and what needs attention.
• Personalized Feedback: Depending on your scores, you’ll get personalized advice. Scored high? Awesome, let’s see how you can leverage that success! Need improvement? No worries, I’ve got tips and resources to help you level up.

You’ll be able to see your full results immediately, without any opt-in, when you submit the form.

Ready to get started?

Click here to start your assessment and get your report card!

Remember, this isn’t just about patting yourself on the back or dwelling on what went wrong… It’s about taking a clear-eyed look at your business — celebrating wins, learning from mistakes, and setting the stage to make huge strides in 2024!

Case studies have been pound-for-pound the most valuable content I’ve created for my agency. They’re not just fancy posts on my website; they’re assets I lean on in sales calls, highlight in proposals, and make for some of the better social posts. One case study can get you a lot of milage.

But, if I’m honest — they’re usually an afterthought.

You know the drill: project wraps up and there you are, scrambling to gather assets, scratching your head to recall specifics, and chasing the client down for a few good quotes.

It’s a hustle — but not the good kind.

This week I just-so-happened to be starting a project right at the time I was publishing a case study for my last project, and I had an ‘aha’ (or ‘duh’) moment: Why not build the case study as I’m working on the project?

So, with my latest build, I’ve been doing things like:

• Gathering up all the initial inquiries, meeting notes, and other assets and communication in one central location.
• Saving those little nuggets of client feedback as they come in (simple things, like these, that may come in handy).
• Taking ‘before’ screenshots of their old site (did you know Screaming Frog can automate this? Huge time-saver!), along with Lighthouse and GTMetrix reports.
• Keeping a timeline so I’m not guessing how long things took or how many meetings we had.
• Jotting down challenges and their solutions as I find them.

Sure, it adds a little extra work now — but I’m banking on it being a huge time-saver later. Plus, my case study has got to be better with all these contemporaneous notes.

But that’s not the best part…

This intentional approach is making me more intentional about everything. I’m not taking shortcuts, I’m not deviating from my processes, and I’m ensuring that the client is thrilled at every turn.

Why? Knowing that today’s work is going to be showcased in a future case study has added a layer of accountability that’s pushing me to deliver my absolute best work.

I’m eager to see how this first case study turns out and figure out ways to incorporate this “case-study-as-I-go” approach into my processes.

The goal is to make every project “case study ready” right at launch.

What do you think? Would you give this method a shot? I’m just getting started, but I’m pretty excited about the potential!

And just like that, welcome to December 2023 ????

It’s that time of year when most of us start pulling out spreadsheets and calculators to crunch the year’s numbers. If you think there’s room for improvement (there always is!), then you first knee-jerk reaction might be to grab ahold of your expenses and start slashing.

It’s a natural place to start, right? It’s easy to do, and the math seems simple: cut costs, boost profit.

But is that really going to make the biggest difference for your business going in 2024?

There’s no reason to be out there wasting money — and keeping expenses in check is important — but it’s really not the biggest lever you can pull to increase profitability. You can only cut so far before you start hitting bone — and then what?

Your time might be better spent looking at the other side of the equation — generating more revenue. Sure, it’s a little more daunting than canceling a few subscriptions, but it’s more likely to make a much bigger difference in the long run.

Here are 3 things to chew on…

1. Raise your prices. Yeah, it’s scary, but why? You’ve gained new skills, improved your services, and had to deal with inflation hitting your business too, right? Not raising your prices might actually mean you’re taking a pay cut.
2. Find upsell opportunities. You probably have more than a handful of clients that absolutely love you — and it’s a whole lot easier to sell to them than it would be to try and convince someone new who doesn’t know you. Are you leaving opportunities on the table?
3. Narrow your focus. Increasing profits doesn’t have to mean doing more or working harder — sometimes it could be a matter of trimming the fat. Don’t just analyze your profitability company wide — take time to see which services best suit your business.

If I had to place a bet on the agency that will be most successful next year, my money would be on the agency focusing on any of the 3 strategies above over the one that’s focused pinching pennies.

Imagine you sign up to run in a race and you really want to beat your time from last year. But, instead of getting out and putting in the miles to get yourself in better shape, you decide you’ll just wear less clothes.

Sure, being a little lighter could improve your time — but it’s not going to take you from worst to first.

Cutting your expenses to make yourself more profitable is similar… It may save you a fraction here or there — but it’s not going to transform your business.

With a little bit of focus, I promise you can outsell more than you could ever save.

It starts out innocently enough… A straightforward objective in need of a solution. But before you know it, you’re knee-deep in articles and debates about “best practice” and the “ultimate solutions”.

Whether it’s the underlying code from your page builder of choice, setting up an internal process, or choosing the right project management tool, it feels like we always end up in this same dilemma.

Social media makes it even harder — as we feel pressure to conform to other people’s standards, letting others convince us that the “best” solution is the most thorough and complex.

But is that always practical?

Yes, I could spend 4 days hand-coding a solution that makes a page unbreakable, perfectly accessible to anyones unique needs, and uses the fewest lines of code humanly possible… But is that necessary to archive your objective? Or might a quick template give you the same results?

The temptation to over-engineer solutions is an easy one to give into — but are you measuring its cost?

I’ve found that too often it’s not any more effective, efficient, or cost-effective.

So how do we avoid this trap that draws us in by the nature of our nerdom?

Here are a few questions I like to ask myself…

• What’s the simplest solution? Often the simplest answer is the best, but be sure to consider its drawbacks too (everything is a compromise!)
• What are the benefits of adding complexity? And, are they worth the cost?
• Am I addressing a real need or a perceived one? There’s often requirements and “nice-to-haves” — but make sure you know which are which.
• What is the appropriate budget to solve this problem? Think not only in terms of money, but in time and energy.

Quality isn’t a binary thing. Just because you’re not willing to go to any length to solve a problem doesn’t mean you’re not offering something of quality and value. By asking yourself these questions, you can determine where on that spectrum each challenge falls and develop an appropriate solution.

Sometimes the “best” solution is the practical one that gets the job done efficiently and effectively.

I don’t know if this is something my kids made up, or standard practice across all cars with kids in America — but my 3 play a game called “Pickle”.

The objective is simple: When you see a green car, you need to be the first one to point at it and scream “pickle!” to earn a pickle point.

Now, if you’ve not had the pleasure of 3 kids playing this game in your tightly enclosed vehicle, you might be surprised at just how many green cars are out there. It’s shockingly evident when three kids and screaming and arguing about who saw it first (or if it’s really green) about every 2.3 seconds as your drive down the road.

At this point I’m convinced all green car owners are just following me around town to help drive me insane ????

They’re not, of course. It’s simple a result of the ‘frequency bias’. The frequency bias is a cognitive bias that makes us notice something more often once it’s on our radar.

Call me crazy, but I think this phenomenon can be a superpower.

Every day we’re swimming through a sea of opportunity. But, if we’re not looking for it, it might pass us by without notice.

But just like green cars, if you’re actively looking for opportunities, you’d be surprised at how you can spot them everywhere.

The secret is getting specific about what you’re looking for…

• What kinds of opportunities are you looking for? Maybe it’s new networking avenues, potential partnerships, or digital product ideas.
• What will they look like? They can manifest as a complaint, a cry for help, or even as a funny joke.
• Where are opportunities most likely to occur? Online communities, local business meetups, or even within your existing client base.
• Who can help you identify these opportunities? Mentors, colleagues, or even friends & family and help offer fresh perspectives.
• How can you be prepared to seize these opportunities? Be ready to take action, don’t hesitate to jump in and ask questions, or keep a pen and pad next to your shower (which we all know is where most of our brilliant thoughts happen!).

On its own, the frequency bias as just a boring explanation of how my kids are determined to turn my hair gray. But by actively looking for specific opportunities — and using it to your advantage — your brain is much more likely to spot them when they pass by.

Next time you spot an opportunity, don’t hesitate to say “Pickle!” (yes, out loud!). It might sound silly, and it is. In fact, it’s so strange that it will stick out in your mind and help you tune your senses to new possibilities. The more you practice, the more ‘pickles’ you’ll find even in mundane, uneventful situations.

Are you the kind of person who thrives on goals?

For me, goal setting has always been really helpful. They provide with a game to win and a high score to beat. As a competitive person, goals work great for me.

But goals don’t click for everyone and they’re not without their issues…

Goals, especially annual ones, ask you to predict the future. As business owners we often don’t know where the day will take us when we wake up, let alone 365 of them. Too often these goals end up irrelevant by the time we hit June.

And the pass/fail nature of goals doesn’t always tell the whole story. Coming up a hair short means you’ve ‘failed’, even if you’ve made tremendous progress — which can be discouraging.

I don’t think this means we should go into the new year directionless — so let me share an alternative if goals aren’t your thing…

Instead of setting goals for 2024, what if you set a theme?

Let’s imagine your theme for the new year is “Connection”. Every week you carve out time for meaningful conversations with past clients, you immerse yourself in community events, and you revamp your social media strategy to focus on building community.

Each decision, from choosing new tools to revamping old processes, is filtered through the question “How can I change this to deepen my connections?”.

A theme isn’t a rigid goal; it’s a lens to see your business through. It’s a compass — not a map — that allows you to pivot and adjust as you make your way forward. It’s doesn’t just transform what you do, but how you do it.

A year from now, instead of measuring whether you made or missed your goal, you can reflect on how your theme shaped your business.

Of course, you’re not limited to the “connection” theme… there are all kinds of ideas, like simplicity, growth, innovation, balance, organization, creativity, or education that might resonate better with you.

Whether you go with goals or set a theme (I may do both!), remember, that’s just the start. They’re not self-fulfilling prophecies; both need your commitment, attention, focus, and — most importantly — actions to actually move your business forward.

As of now we got more than a month to decide how we want to tackle 2024, but the new year will be here before you know it, so let’s get started!

We’re closing in on two years now since I got more serious and consistent about posting on YouTube.

When I decided to do that, the goal was simple; help people in the community by sharing the things I’ve learned, and (hopefully) attract new, amazing people to the community.

It didn’t take long for me to start hitting those goals. I knew because I was getting wonderful comments on every video and people asking to join the group saying they found it on YouTube.

Beyond that, unintentionally, YouTube became my biggest source of leads for my agency even though I never — not once — solicited my agency on the channel (that goes to show you how much of a cheat code content marketing is for building recognition and trust — but I digress).

With it being successful beyond my expectations, I’ve continued a 1-ish video per week pace for nearly two years now. But recently something shifted…

Over the past few months I’ve noticed myself checking my YouTube Studio dashboard more frequently… carefully counting the number of views, the watch time, the likes, and the subscribers. Sadly those numbers haven’t grown as fast as I would have liked and it’s bothered me enough its started to discourage me from even posting.

But here’s the thing… Those metrics — the ones YouTube cares about — were never really part of my mission. YouTube might care about likes and watch time, but those things aren’t what motivated me to create videos, nor are they what gives me fulfillment.

This realization — measuring what matters — has hit me hard. It’s made me start looking around at other areas of my business and questioning why I’m measuring what I’m measuring.

Social media makes it easy to get caught up in playing someone else’s game. Sometimes that’s comparing ourselves and our success to others — but too often, it’s measuring ourselves against an algorithm purpose-built to keep us creating free content to feed their machine.

But are those the things that actually fulfill us?

As we wind down 2023 and gear up for 2024, will we measure our success by keeping up with the algorithms and Joneses? Or will we hone in on the metrics that really matter? The things that make a real, tangible difference in our lives and the lives of our family…

I’d be willing to bet that our success is somewhere down the path we carve for ourselves, not in the footsteps we’re told to follow.

Picture yourself walking down the halls of an art gallery, walking by countless pieces of abstract art. It’s beautiful, of course, but some of it is shockingly simple. Naturally, your inner monologue says “I could have painted that” (that is, of course, if your kids don’t scream it out first ???? They have zero filter).

And, yes, while that might be true… The reality is, you didn’t. The artist did.

The artist made a critical move that most of us rarely seem to muster the nerve to do… They moved from “I can” to “I will”. It was this move that, crucially, got them to “I did”.

I think this is where too many people fail to reach their potential…

The “I can” zone is seductive. It’s comfortable. It’s one-size-fits-all.

But while it’s bursting with potential, it’s free from responsibility.

“I can” asks nothing of us but to dream. No commitment, no risks — just the illusions of success.

“I will” Is different. “I will” turns potential into promise, dreams begin to demand action, and it holds us accountable to our commitments.

Don’t believe me? Compare these two sentences:

• I can close 2 new projects before the end of the year
• I will close 2 new projects before the end of the year

This one word completely transforms the spirit of the sentence — and very likely the results that follow. “I will” is the bridge from “I can” to “I did”.

It’s easy to see things and assure ourselves “I can do that”…

But will you?

How many opportunities have you let slip? How many projects have you left half-finished? How many goals remain just out of reach?

They’re all just waiting for your will.

So here’s my challenge: For the next week, be hyper-aware of every “I can” thought. Stop and ask yourself if you can or if you will.

This past weekend we decided to chase the changing leaves west and spend a weekend in the mountains. The drive was a few hours, and if you too have 3 kids you know that can’t possibly done without stopping (several times).

Before we got to our first destination, we decided to make one final pit stop to get some food. The only question was whether we’d play it safe and go for the chain place we were familiar with or roll the dice on a mom-and-pop joint.

My wife found a little independent sandwich shop just outside the park gates and we pulled in.

The menu was lacking, and despite ordering sandwiches, they took an eternity to arrive. Even then, they came out one by one with 5 minutes between each delivery. And the food itself? Unremarkable.

Yet, before we pulled out of their parking lot, I left them a glowing 5-star Google review.

Why?

From the moment we walked in until they held the door open for us wishing us safe travels we were treated like family. When I got back to the car, I had already forgotten about the food — but here we are days later and I’m writing an email to 7,000+ people about the experience.

This, of course, has me thinking about my own business. I spend a lot of time obsessing over things like code quality and color theory. Yet, most of my clients couldn’t tell the difference between what’s taken me years to master and what their nephew could do in an hour with a template in Wix.

We should strive to provide a great product, but that might not be the most important thing. Just as the restaurant turned a mediocre BLT into a 5-star experience with great service — poor service can destroy your reputation and relationships no matter how great you are at building websites.

Imagine what our businesses could become if we dedicated as much energy to the client experience and relationships as we did to hunting down the latest deals or newest trends…

At the end of the day, most people won’t remember all the specifics of what you did for them — but they will never forget how you made them feel.

Be honest… how many subscriptions do you have that you haven’t touched in the last 6 months? Most of us will wildly underestimate this number — from both forgetfulness and to avoid the shame.

That, of course, is why subscriptions are so popular. It’s really easy to sign up — after all, it’s just $8/mo! — and even easier to forget about.

Now, I’m not one to pinch pennies when it comes to running my business. It takes money to make money, and I’m not going to trip over dollars to pick up dimes.

But there’s a difference between being cheap and spending wisely.

Thankfully, I’ve pretty much avoided spending money on any unused subscriptions through a simple database and about an hour of work over the course of a year.

In this database I add anything I sign up for (plugins, SaaS, etc.), the cost, whether it’s revenue generating or not, and if it’s a necessity or luxury.

It takes a bit to get in the habit of adding (and removing!) items from the database — but I have a reminder setup every quarter to do a full audit (this sounds intimidating, but it’s just a quick scan through my bank statements and takes less than 15 minutes).

They say what gets measured gets managed and since the database shows me all the tools I’m paying for — and how much I’m spending monthly and annually for them — I’m a lot more conscious about where my money is going.

It’s hard to know what this has saved me over the years, but when I say “thousands”, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration. It’s not uncommon for my quarterly reviews to end in cutting $50 – $100 a month in expenses. It doesn’t take long to add up.

It’s nothing extravagant — simple is best if you ask me — but if you’d like a copy of my database (Airtable) then you can grab one here (click “copy base” at the top left of the database).

I’d be willing to bet that this could put a few hundred dollars back into your pocket instantly if you spent an hour setting this up.

Have you ever caught yourself sinking hours into something and wondered “Why am I doing this?!?!”?

I have… more times than I’m comfortable admitting. In fact, just the other day I spent about 4 hours trying to find the perfect font for a project. When I noticed it had gotten dark outside, I narrowed it down to my final two; Roboto and Inter. Yep, the same two fonts I use on just about every project.

Talk about a waste of time.

This got me thinking about the 80/20 rule; roughly 80% of results come from 20% of actions. In essence, a massive chunk of our time ends up going into tasks that don’t profoundly affect the results.

Sometimes it’s because the distraction is just more fun (like browsing through fonts)… But oftentimes, if I’m honest, I’m just avoiding the difficult stuff (probably, also the fonts).

Distractions are everywhere, aren’t they?

We just turned our calendars over to October last weekend. Not only does that mean the best season of the year (at least here where I live), NFL football, and my favorite holiday (Thanksgiving) are all here, or just around the corner — it means that 2023 will be over in a blink.

We’ve got just one quarter left to help us determine whether this year was a success or a failure.

So — here’s my question to you…

What’s the one thing you could focus on in Q4 that will make the biggest impact on how you measure your business’ success in 2023?

What you do over the next 3 months could very well determine whether 2023 was a step forward for your business, or a step backwards. But here you are — now — with the decision on your doorstep… Do float through the end of the year? Or do you buckle down and focus on what will really move the needle?

Maybe it’s getting your care plan prices raised… Maybe it’s finally launching that product that was on your goals list back in 2022… Or maybe, like me, you’re going to spend the rest of this year trimming all the fat to make your business more lean going into 2024.

Wasting away in the 80% of things that won’t make a difference is an easy trap to fall into — and the default position if you’re not intentional.

Let’s finish 2023 with intention!

Have you ever tried baking bread from scratch? I love to cook — so I figured it couldn’t be that difficult. Unfortunately, what I produced didn’t fit the legal definition of “bread”. The kids — my biggest critics — called it “a brick” ????.

Yet, for someone who’s baked hundreds of loaves, they could produce perfection with their eyes closed and their hands tied behind their back.

Same ingredients, same kitchen, same recipe; completely different outcomes.

The gap between my results and theirs? Knowledge.

Gaining expertise is an expensive venture, no matter how you slice it.

Some spend money on a formal education. Others might spend years in apprenticeship. And many, like I’m sure you have, know the cost of learning things the hard way through trial and error.

The things you know might feel like common knowledge to you. But to others without your experience? It’s practically witchcraft.

But are you accounting for that when you price your services?

You have the receipts in the form of every mistake you’ve made, every course you’ve taken, and every challenge you’ve overcome. These things have made you valuable far beyond the hours of labor you provide on any given project.

You’re not just selling a service; you’re lending out all of the knowledge you’ve earned along the way — and your prices are a reflection of that.

It’s great to get out a calculator and draw up numbers based on time, materials, and expenses… but that calculator doesn’t factor in the scars — many of them costly — your clients will avoid by having you lead the way.

Think back to the baker… the true value isn’t just in the ingredients they use or the oven it’s baked in — it’s in the hands that crafted it.

Same goes for you.

Nothing will start my day off on the wrong foot like opening up my calendar to realize I’ve got a day full of back-to-back-to-back meetings.

It’s like PTSD from the dozens of times I’ve gotten sucked into a meeting when everything could have been handled without a call. Or sessions that drag on endlessly, eating up more and more of the little time I have in the day. And who can forget the meetings that dart from one subject to another without any resolutions or concrete steps to move forward.

Feeling anxious yet? ????

Just like invasive weeds in your garden, meetings — though essential for sealing deals and keeping clients content — can overrun your work day if you don’t put boundaries in place and constantly keep them in check.

Over time I’ve developed (and stolen) a few strategies to combat the worst offenders, and I though I’d share those you today in hopes you can claim back a little of your time…

1. Does this need to be a meeting? It’s frustrating to realize you’re in a “meeting that should have been an email” — but some people just like to hear themselves talk ????. To deter unnecessary calls, I’ve limited my meeting slots to no more than 2 per day (and some days have 0), and every call (save for emergencies) have a two-day booking notice. Not only does this provide me with the space I need in my schedule, but it nudges clients towards asynchronous communication (which will typically solve their issues quicker). If it really needs to be a meeting, then it’s worth waiting for.
2. “I have another call after this”. I can’t remember who I picked this one up from, but it’s been a lifesaver. At the beginning of each call, I’ll let attendees know I have another call scheduled a the conclusion of our meeting. It’s a subtle nudge but it reminds guests that we’ll have to end on time and gives me the perfect segue to wrap things up when we’re approaching the end of the call (without coming off like a jerk).
3. Ask to take control. I’ll admit, the first time I did this felt really awkward… but it worked so well, I fought through it and it’s become my secret weapon for keeping meetings on track. After we exchange pleasantries, I’ll say “Do you mind if I set the agenda for the meeting?”. No one has ever objected, and it gives me the freedom to steer the conversation and keep us on track. By asking to lead (rather than jockeying for position) it becomes more about stewardship than control, which I’ve found to be a great provider-client dynamic.

Now, I won’t pretend those three strategies have magically cured all my meeting woes — but they’ve most certainly helped. And I’ve noticed when meetings go wrong, it’s usually because I’ve let one of those things slip.

Time is such a valuable resource (especially as a business owner, husband, and father) that I’ve decided it’s worth fighting for every second you can get.

What about you? What kind of meeting-hacks or insights have helped you? Hit reply — I’d love to hear them!

When you see a post in the group about burnout, does it feel like a familiar stab? Like someone is narrating a page from your life story? Happens to me every single time — and we had another one of those posts this week.

It got me to thinking… Why is it that burnout almost feels like a rite of passage for entrepreneurs? It’s as if burnout is the price we have to pay for the freedom owning your own business affords you.

And burnout isn’t something to easily dismiss… It’s not just a case of “feeling a little tired”; it can be just as serious (and lead to) chronic depression. I’m not a therapist — so I do my best to avoid telling people how to work their way through burnout (other than I would highly encourage you to seek professional help (you’re worth it!)). However, I do think there is power in recognizing what causes burnout in the first place so we can build our defenses.

1. Boundary Buster. Ever notice how “office hours” tend to creep further into dinner time? Or how the first thing you do when you open your eyes is brace yourself as you open your email on your phone? If you’re nodding along, you get it. Over time, work stops being something we do and starts being something we are. It’s a terrible plot twist you didn’t expect when you opened shop.
2. The Pressure Cooker. While the pressure of needing to compete exists across all professions, the web industry is flooded with talented people which can make it feel like an uphill battle to carve out your own niche. That will often compel people to push themselves to be *the ***best. But that’s an unrealistic expectation that can often leave you feeling like you’re coming up short. But striving to be your best? Now that’s a goal worth chasing.
3. Running on Empty. We’ve all done it… Skipping a meal to take a call. Trading an hour of sleep for an hour of email. Forgetting how our standing desk even works. But trading self-care for work isn’t just bad for our health; it tanks our productivity too. We’re most productive when we’re at our best, and to get there we have to take care of ourselves (physically and mentally).
4. Lone Wolf Syndrome. Even if you work around other people, being “the boss” puts you on an island — but humans are pack animals. We thrive on connection and community — which is something we can lose moving from coworkers to subordinates. Isolation can be a symptom that’s hard to diagnose (because you can be both around people and feel alone at the same time) — but it can have devastating effects.

If you’re someone who knows me well, then I can just hear you screaming “LOOK WHO’S TALKING!”. Yep, I’m either guilty or have been guilty of every damn thing on this list. This isn’t just an email — it’s a confession of sorts.

But here’s the thing… Identifying the pitfalls is the first step in building guardrails around them.

Every time you decide to enforce a work boundary, take a genuine break, practice self-care or reach out to a friend, you’re not just avoiding burnout — you’re doing things to proactively make your business stronger and more resilient.

It’s harder to burn out when you’re keeping your batteries charged.

This week I was faced with a challenge: create a list of 27 things that have helped my business get to where it is today.

If you’re anything like me, you’re immediately asking “why 27?”. It does seem like an odd number (literally) but it’s enough to dig deep without overthinking.

The first handful — let’s say 5 or 10 — are obvious. After that? You gotta start digging into the nooks and crannies of your past experiences. And let me tell you… That’s where the gold is buried.

Now, my original idea was to share my list of 27 things with you this week — in hopes that it could help. But the whole reason I got any value from this exercise wasn’t because I copied someone else’s list — it was because I had to make my own.

So, instead, I’m going to extend this challenge to you:

Step 1: Grab a notepad and head somewhere quiet.

Away from the notifications, glowing light, and comfort of your keyboard — find a place where you can have some quiet thoughts.

Step 2: Start with the easy wins.

What are the first 5 or 10 things that jump out at you? Imagine if someone new to this business was casually asking for advice.

Step 3: Dig deep

Here’s where the fun begins! What are the more subtle, less-obvious things that have impacted you? Think about the hardships, the late nights, and the “aha!” moments.

Step 4: Reflect and re-read

Once you get to 27, go through your list again. Anything surprising? Start putting a star next to the ones that really stand out.

Step 5: Take action

In a world where we’re always searching for the ‘next big thing’, what about what’s already working? How can you double down on the things that you’ve already proven to be successful?

I know there will only be a small percentage of you who will find this an interesting challenge… And only a fraction of those who will actually put pen to paper.

But I’m telling you, this was like giving my business an MRI. It helped me see more than the obvious strong points or glaring omissions — it shined a light on the more subtle aspects that are easy to overlook.

And, I’ll admit, when I was hit with this I questioned whether or not I’ve done enough to qualify as an accomplishment. And, even if it were, was it anything more than luck that got me there?

Impostor syndrome is omnipresent — but just trust me and fight through it.

Sometimes you gotta really dig deep to find out what’s driving you — or, in some cases, holding you back.

This could be your reality check, revealing the underutilized strategies and missed opportunities right under your nose.

I dare double-dog dare you to try and find out for yourself.

If you do, hit reply and share with with me, and I’ll send you mine. 

Picture this… You’ve just landed your best client ever — the unicorn of clients. Their projects are interesting, they’re easy to work with, and let’s not kid ourselves; they pay well. Very well.

Months roll on, and you’re moving into a bigger office and getting ready for the vacation of a lifetime when a notification pops up on your screen…

“We’ve decided to go another direction”.

It’s not only a gut punch — it immediately sends your reality crumbling. That big office and bucket-list vacation? Forget about it. You’re in instant survival mode wondering how you can even pay your bills.

You’ve been so complacent, you’ve stopped filling a pipeline and the rest of your clients have been left mostly ignored.

While this story is fictitious, it’s so rooted in reality that it could be the biography for many agencies. I’ve watched it happen — and to some degree, had it happen myself.

It’s what we call the “whale client” — the huge account that your agency is entirely dependent on. It’s an easy trap to fall in — because who doesn’t want a giant account?

Listen, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with landing a whale client. They can be the thing that gets your business off the ground. But — and this is a big but — you’ve got to be smart about it. Recognize it for what it is: both an opportunity and a risk.

If you feel like you might have a whale on the line, here are a few of my suggestions:

1. Always Continue Building Relationships. No matter how good you have it, or how busy you are, you have to keep the pipeline flowing. You have to keep fishing.
2. Set Boundaries. Your business isn’t an all-you-can-eat buffet — no matter how much your client pays you. You’re not anyone’s employee, so you can’t act like one.
3. Rainy Day Fund. It’s easy to inflate your lifestyle alongside your income… But instead of cashing all of the checks, set up a percentage from your whale to set aside for a rainy day.

And while there’s no hard and fast rules (that I’ve seen), here’s some ranges you can use to measure your reliance on a client:

0-5%: Healthy diversification.
5-15%: On the radar, but not alarming.
15-20%: You might have a whale — proceed with caution! 
20-50%: Dangerous condition, implement contingencies.
50%+: Red alert, immediate action required.

Do yourself a favor: run the numbers. Risk likes to hide in the shadow of opportunity.

I’ll admit it… I’m a sucker for those nail-biting, overly-dramatized sports movies and documentaries. With the NFL season rolling in, it’s given me an excuse to binge on the marathons they are running (and eat my bodyweight in nachos).

Picture this one: A team is down by 28 points. The kind of lead that makes you wonder if there’s any coming back. In the midst of what seemed like a foregone conclusion, the quarterback yells at his teammates on the sidelines: “You can’t score 28 points in one play”.

It seems pretty basic, right? But with the pressure of the game, his teammates were all trying to make that ‘Hail Mary’ moment every snap.

I never was much of a football player — but I definitely related to this in my business.

When faced with a big challenge or lofty goal, I’ll catch myself scouting for that one thing — the Hail Mary — that will get me from where I am across the chasm.

It’s that one new piece of software, that one new offer, or that one big sale… That’s what I think I need…

But, in reality, that’s a bit like trying to score 28 points in one play.

In my experience, rarely is it a single thing that makes all the difference. The biggest successes I’ve had in my business have come from prolonged, consistent effort.

It’s the same in football as in business; persistence is the unsung hero behind nearly every success story.

But, unlike elite athletes, many people in our industry don’t have the stomach for the fight.

They write a couple blog posts, publish a handful of videos, and fire off a half-a-dozen emails before declaring “none of it works”.

The truth is, all of those things can work; but only if you’re willing to do them consistently.

Most scoring drives aren’t the results of some miracle… but small and moderate gains — even losses — before marching across the goal line.

The lesson here is simple: Just keep putting points on the board. With consistency and enough time, you’ll be surprised at how you can change the game.

Have you ever imagined what the internet would be like if it were a physical space? Imagine walking down its streets being constantly bombarded with bells, whistles, shouting, lights, explosions, and total chaos.

Everywhere you turn is a street performer doing everything their power to grab the world’s most valuable resource; your attention.

It sounds like a hellscape — but that’s what we open our laptop to find each and every day.

I’m guessing, like me, you constantly find it hard to focus, don’t you? And without focus, that to-do list just keeps growing longer.

The reality is, if we’re not explicitly intentional with where we put our focus, then there are plenty of people who would will gladly do it for us.

For me, I feel like this just continued to get worse over the years — at some points thinking I couldn’t wrestle control back in my own hands. And while it’s still a daily battle (there are so many shiny objects out there!), there have been a few little tricks I’ve picked up along the way that have really helped.

1. Embrace routine. As ‘creative’ people, most of us don’t even like the thought of a routine — but having these guardrails keeps the chaos out. For me this starts with a “day start” routine, and a “day end” routine that, if nothing else, bookends my day with some intentionality.
2. Daily top 3. A big hat tip to Noah Britton for this one, as part of my routine I list out the 3 things that are most important to accomplish for the day. Sure, the ideal list is 10 times as long — but 3 is a manageable number that strikes a balance between progress and practicality while helping me build momentum. We’ve started doing this as a group inside the Barfly Slack, and the public accountability makes it even better.
3. Time Blocking. Just like we wouldn’t drop every element into a web page without the structure and grouping of sections, containers, and divs, going through the day without a schedule leads to a lot of waisted energy and invites in the distractions.

It’s not about silencing the noise emanating from the streets of the internet — the chaos is part of the appeal — it’s about tuning into the right frequencies.

All of us have the same amount of time and attention to spend in a day. We can invest it, or we can squander it.

Charles Darwin said “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent; it is the one most adaptable to change.”.

Of course he was talking about evolution — but I think the same thing is true in business. Maybe even more so in a technology-focused industry like ours.

I don’t know about you, but the last 6 or 12 months have felt like being strapped to a rocket ship with how much technology has changed.

If Darwin’s quote holds true in business — then being stagnant is the fastest path to irrelevancy.

It’s, of course, a balancing act. As much as you can’t be stagnant, we know what happens when you just jump from trend to trend chasing the “next big thing”.

Today I thought I’d share my notes on 4 ways I plan on adapting intentionally…

1. Be a Curious Learner

It might not feel like you’re being productive if you stop doing client work to attend a webinar, sit back and read a chapter of a book, or even browse some of the latests post in the group… But those things can be opportunities to learn something new that can help you and your clients be even more successful. Keep looking for opportunities to expand your knowledge.

2. Lean In

It’s human nature to feel threatened or scared of something new. But as you look throughout history, you find that the most successful people are the ones that leaned in to new technologies or opportunities to take advantage of how they could help them succeed. It doesn’t mean everything is worth pursuing (we’ll touch on that next), but look for opportunities instead of shying away from threats.

3. Experiment, Evaluate, and Iterate

Not every new idea is going to be a home run — but while we’re on the sports analogy, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. As you experiment with new ideas, tools, and concepts, it’s important to measure and evaluate their impact so you can continue it iterate to find the gems and discard the waste.

4. Don’t Fear Failure

Some of the best lessons to learn are the ones that teach us what not to do. When we don’t take action out of fear of failure, then we rob ourselves of some of our best learning experiences. Despite what your brain might trick you into thinking, no one is standing around waiting to laugh at you. In fact, most people are envious of the courage you had to go out on our own and are actively rooting for you.

Times of rapid change, like these, are challenging, but they also present us with the most opportunity. It’s our responsibility — to our business, ourselves, and those we support — to find the opportunities and embrace them.

I shared the 4 strategies I’m using to take a proactive approach — but what about you?

Hit reply and let me know.

Have you ever found yourself torn between a reluctant ‘yes’ standing our ground with a potential relationship-straining ‘no’?

Who said running a business was easy?

Thankfully, I’ve found a two-word phrase that has gotten me out of more pickles than I can count;

Company Policy.

Now, you may be thinking, “Policies? Isn’t that for some corporation?”. But hear me out… Company policies — no matter the size of your agency — have two huge advantages you might not be considering:

1. They establish boundaries. Telling a client ‘no’ is hard — especially for people-pleasers. But policies? They act as your buffer, prevent you from becoming a ‘Yes Man’ and easing the sting of a denied request. They allow you to professionally and tactfully decline requests without it being personal.
2. They eliminate decision fatigue. As business owners, our days are filled with countless decisions. Each ‘yes’ or ‘no’ we wrestle with chips away at our focus, energy, and productivity. Policies streamline these decisions, and save your mental energy for things that really matter.

If I’ve convinced you that policies are important, then your next question is probably “How?”. Like with most things, I’ve found the simple approach the best:

1. Identify the situations that cause you stress. List the situations that cause you the most stress. Late payments, last-minute changes, clients texting you on the weekend — all of these great starting points.
2. Envision the idea outcome. For each situation, visualize the ideal outcome. What process would make things smoother? What outcome would instantly relieve your anxiety?
3. Turn those outcomes into your policies. Convert these ideal scenarios into your company policies. Keep them clear, concise, and leave no room for imagination.

Here’s an example of how I convey a policy to my client:

“My company policy prevents me from purchasing domains for clients. This ensures you always remain the rightful owner of your online presence. If you’d like, I can provide you with a list of our recommended vendors along with instructions on how to purchase the domain on your own”.

Notice the shift? No disappointment, no added responsibility. Just a professional response that honors both your time and your client’s request.

You don’t have to write the entire company policy manual in a day, either. Just take the extra few minutes to tackle your next decision by crafting a policy instead of a one-off response.

Future-you is gonna love it.

In a recent TABLE call, a question was tossed into the discussion that really caught my attention. It wasn’t about the usual suspects — client acquisition, pricing & profitability, or juggling work-life balance — it was more introspective:

“What’s the biggest challenge for you to overcome in your business?”

It went on to evolve to, ‘What’s the biggest hurdle you’ve created for yourself?’

The question struck a chord with me because it didn’t point fingers at external factors (like we often do), but instead turned the spotlight on ourselves.

That might sound intimidating — and it is — but if we’re the problem, we can also be the solution.

For me, the biggest hurdle hasn’t been mastering new technologies, finding enough work, or even handling nightmare clients… It’s been wresting with comparing myself (and my progress and status) to others.

I suppose it’s a type of impostor syndrome — but one that manifests with jealousy that doesn’t just say “You’re not good”, but “You’re not as good as them”.

It’s not surprising, to be honest… Thanks to social media we see the highlight reel of everyone else’s success and stack it against our blooper reel of challenges and setbacks.

Does that resonate with you?

Here’s the truth though… There will always be someone more successful, knowledgeable, more ‘something’ than we perceive ourselves to be. And that’s okay. The only comparison that really matters is the one with our past selves.

I try to remind myself of this when those feelings creep in… Have I grown since last year, last month, or last week? Am I continually learning, improving, and pushing my boundaries?

If the answer is ‘yes’, then it’s cased closed.

We don’t need to be the best, we need to be our best.

Now, it’s your turn.

I’ve shared my struggles and how I’ve been trying to tackle it — but what about you?

What are you struggling to overcome in your business? And, more importantly, what are you going to do to beat it?

The saying goes “What gets measured gets managed”, and I know I’ve seen the most significant changes/growth in my agency when I was actively measuring the success of my efforts.

Not only does it help us understand what is working (and what isn’t), but measuring can help uncover all kinds of opportunities we might not have otherwise seen if we weren’t looking so closely.

Of course, when you first read this question you might go right to revenue and profits — and while that’s important, we’re probably all keeping an eye on that, so I think we can explore a little bit deeper…

Here are a few more things you might consider measuring in your agency:

• Client Satisfaction Surveys
• Net Promoter Score (NPS)
• Task Completion Rate
• Billable Hours
• Client Acquisition Cost (CAC)
• Project ROI (Return on Investment)
• Gross Profit Margin
• Lead to Client Conversion Rate
• Retention Rate
• Churn Rate
• Resource Utilization Rate
• Process Efficiency Ratio (PER)
• Lifetime Value of a Client (LTV)
• Referral Rate
• Employee Turnover Rate

Of course, it would be totally overwhelming to try to do all of these things, all the time, all at once — but there’s probably something from this list that speaks to you.

What are of your agency is struggling the most? Maybe simply measuring it could be the key to figuring out how to improve it.

Hit reply and let me know something you’re measuring (besides money) that’s made a difference in your business.

I’ve often thought of a website designer/developer as a type of craftsman. It’s part art and part science, where aesthetics and utility come together in some sort of balance.

But where that balance lies can be really difficult to find.

A website is never perfect… It could always be faster, better optimized for conversions, more accessible, prettier, or well written (don’t believe me? Post some of your work online and let the piranhas point out everywhere you’ve fallen short). You could spend the rest of your life on just one website and never truly “finish”.

But, of course, we can’t sink that much time and attention into every client project that comes our way. We have to be practical.

And at the end of the day, we are also doing this to run a profitable business.

So, how do we strike that balance? How do we ensure that we provide the best possible product while keeping an eye on our bottom line?

It’s a question I struggle with personally — and have gone above and beyond more time than I could count (even when the client had no idea) — but I’ve come up with a few things to remind myself of that seems to help.

1. Define the scope clearly. The more precise and granular you can be about the scope of the project, the easier it will be to know when your job is done.
2. Prioritize the essentials. Ever heard the saying “the juice isn’t worth the squeeze”? I use this one a lot… There are just some things that, even though they may help, wouldn’t probably be worth the time and resources to pursue.
3. Break Projects into Phases. Tackling an entire project at once can be overwhelming and sometimes impractical. Instead, consider breaking the project into phases. This phased approach not only makes the project more manageable but also ensures that you meet the client’s immediate needs quickly, while leaving room for creativity and continuous improvement.
4. Set a time budget. None of us like to trade our money for time, but in the end we are trading our time (time we could otherwise be spending with our loved ones or doing something that gives us fulfillment). Having some sort of time budget can help from going overboard.
5. Don’t reinvent the wheel.Though the artisan side of us would love for everything we do to be unique, the truth is a lot of things we do we’ve already done hundreds of times. Make use of templates, process, systems, and past work to get results quicker. There’s a reason there are “standards”.

If you’re recognizing yourself and some of your own struggles in today’s email, then I want to remind you that you’re not alone.

As creators, we are naturally inclined to lose ourselves in the possibilities of what could be done… The dedication we have to our craft is what makes us exceptional at what we do. But we have to marry that dedication with a pragmatic approach that ensures we’re around for the long haul.

The balance is about finding ways to produce incredible work and nurture a business that supports you and your family.

The key, I think, is acknowledging the natural tension between these two things and being intentional about how we navigate it.

How about you? How have you tried to strike the balance between perfection, practicality, and profitability in your own projects?

Hit reply and let me know — I’d love to hear about it!

With all the extra headaches that come with owning my own business, the last thing I want to be is miserable working in it.

A big part of that, for me at least, is working on projects I enjoy.

When a project (and customer) is a great fit — it doesn’t even feel like work.

Over the years I’ve gotten a lot better at spotting good projects (and the bad ones too!), but I’m still not batting 1.000.

One way to accelerate the process is to get really clear about what a “good project” is to you. And I don’t mean having an “idea” of what a good project looks like — I mean a detailed spec of exactly what you’re looking for.

It doesn’t mean that a project has to meet every bit of the criteria, but the more, the better.

So how do you get that granularly clear about your ideal projects? One way is to go through a questionnaire — like this one I made for you (with a little help from AI).

By answering all of these questions, you’ll have a highly detailed outline of the types of projects that are best suited for your needs.

I’ve found that not only does this give you the clarity that necessary, but knowing exactly what you’re looking for seems to make more of those opportunities appear out of thin air.

Maybe you don’t think that’s true — but what’s it going to hurt to try?

 I used to get really frustrated by the other agencies in my town…

They built inferior websites, charged twice as much as me, and still had 10 times more customers than I did.

For years I just couldn’t understand it. Why would people be paying these guys more for a worse product?

But I read a quote the other day that finally explained it:

“It’s not the best product that wins, but the best-known one that wins”

— Jaiden Vu

These other agencies were on the board at the Chamber of Commerce, they attended every event, they held functions, they sponsored little league teams, they ran ads on Facebook, and one even had giant billboards all over town.

They weren’t successful because they were the best — they were successful because they were the best-known.

While it’s great to hone your skills — and we should all be getting better and better at our job — it’s not the nuances of semantic HTML, or the best CSS class naming conventions that will put your business in the black… It’s getting your business in front of people that will.

We have to do both.

How many hours have you spent in the last year enrolled in courses or watching YouTube videos to sharpen your skills? And how many have you spent making sure everyone knows who your business is and what it can do?

If we’re looking for the best ROI possible, then most of us (myself included) are spending our time the wrong way.

In the website industry we’ve always had a pretty poor reputation for customer service. Many of us entered this field because of a passion for technology, not necessarily for human connection or business acumen.

And because of the demand for our services, that’s been good enough. We didn’t have to have the social or customer relationship skills, because our technical skills were out of reach for most people.

But as AI creeps into every corner, we’re faced with a new reality. Automated systems can now replicate and even surpass most of our technical skills — and they’re only getting better.

So, you’ve probably gone on defense and been asking yourself “How do I compete?”

When this question hits right, it’s kind of intimidating. How do we compete with something that can spit out in seconds what it took us years to master?

Businesses are handing over their customer service to machines to maximize efficiency in the name of “convenience”. But, let’s be honest — as a consumer, how often do these interactions leave us satisfied and feeling genuinely heard?

Over the past few weeks I’ve had to deal with a half-a-dozen service providers, and the one that answered the phone, showed up on time, answered my questions, and delivered what he said he would stood out like a peacock in a group of pigeons.

In honesty, what he did has been considered the bare minimum for businesses for decades — but as automation has taken over, what’s old is new again.

And it was genuinely refreshing.

We’re never going to out-computer the computer, so I think the answer lies in embracing our humanity…

Our inherent qualities like emotion, empathy, creativity, intuition, ethics, adaptability, humor, self-awareness, and social intelligence are often taken for granted — but are noticeably lacking from our increasingly automated world.

We have the opportunity to go on offense here… How can we infuse human qualities into every aspect of our business? It’s likely that these could be the cornerstone of our competitive advantage going forward.

In a TABLE meeting this week we got on the subject of pricing and profitability. I asked the question “do you know how much it costs you to operate on an hourly basis?”.

This was something that was obsessed over in my former life. The boss would always be like “It costs us $XXX every hour to just to have the lights on!”.

While, as an employee, I found this annoying — I took this lesson into my own business and it’s been invaluable.

Even if you don’t charge hourly, understanding your hourly operating costs is crucial for making informed decisions, managing resources, and ensuring the financial health of your business.

After the conversation, it dawned on me that there might not be a lot of people doing this in their business, so I thought I’d share how I go about this.

Before we dive into the math, I just want to encourage you not to get hung-up on things if you don’t know the exact figures down to the penny. This is more “scientific estimating” than it is exact figures — and that’s okay. An estimate is going to be a lot better than having no clue!

So… Here’s what you need:

• Your monthly fixed costs: These are things like rent, insurance, salaries (including your own!), software, etc. The things that have the same cost every month. Don’t forget about annual costs, which you can divide by 12 to get the monthly cost.
• Your monthly variable costs: This could include things like cost of goods, utilities, hourly wages, commissions, etc. Because these change from month-to-month, it’s good to look over longer periods and get a decent “average” to work off of.
• Working hours per month: Estimate how many hours you business is operation per month. For example, if you work 9-5 M-F, then you should be at 160 hours.

With these numbers, you’re ready to go.

Add together all you fixed and variable costs per month and then divide it by the number of total operating hours.

For example: If you’re fixed costs are $4,100, your variable costs average out to $500, and you operate 160 hours per month, here’s what you’d do:

1. Add $4,100 + $500 (which totals $4,600)
2. Divide the total ($4,600) by 160.

In this example, the hourly overhead costs would be $28.75.

Keep in mind, that number does not account for your business actually making a profit — that’s just your break-even costs. You’ll want to make a profit, account for taxes, etc.

When you do this math, you might realize your hourly rate needs a bit of a bump (at least, that’s the realization I always come to)!

If you’re not paying yourself a regular salary, then there are some ways to tweak this to help set some goals on what you should charge in order to make your desired income. If that’s something you’d like to learn more about, hit reply and let me know.

There are a lot of web agencies out there. A lot.

Thankfully, there’s also enough work to go around that most of us can stay busy (I’m very much of the “abundance mindset”). But with clients having that many options to choose from, it can be hard to figure out how to stand out from everyone else.

I noticed this while house-hunting recently. All of them had bedrooms, bathrooms, a kitchen, and a yard. But there were little unique things about each of the homes that helped me remember them specifically.

I’d say to my wife “the one with the big tree in the front yard” or “the one with the half-bath off the kitchen” — and she’d know which one I was talking about. There needed to be something unique about each house in order for it to burn into my memory.

Besides looking at houses (which, thankfully, I’m done with!), I look at a lot of agency websites (as part of running TAB and just out of personal interest) and I’ve noticed how many (including my own) are very “me too”.

Replace the colors and logo — and it would be almost impossible to tell many of them apart and know who is who.

And clients probably aren’t going to remember your exact shade of purple or be able to draw your logo from memory — so as they are browsing through agency websites there has to be something more to help them remember you.

Do you know what that is for you and your agency?

I’m the worst at looking introspectively, and I often feel like there’s nothing special about me. But the truth is, we all have a unique combination of characteristics and traits that make our agencies different… We’re just lousy at calling them out.

Here’s a list of questions I’ve come up with to try and pinpoint the things that make me different:

• What tools & technology am I best with?
• What kind of industries am I knowledgable about?
• What other jobs/fields have I worked in previously?
• What are my personal interests?
• What are some of my past projects that have been successful?
• What kind of soft skills do I excel at (communication, leadership, problem solving)?
• What are my own personal values/principles?
• Who is in my personal network? Professional network?
• What is my style?

If you were to write out answers to all these questions, sure, each one on its own might be really similar to a thousand other agencies…

But as you combine all these questions you end up with something that is uniquely you.

By identifying and genuinely celebrating our unique traits, we can be more memorable and more easily attract the types of clients who recognize and appreciate what sets us apart.

The longer I’ve been in this business the more I realize that having a process for something is really the key to succeeding (I know I’ve talked about this a million times before — but I don’t know about you, I keep needing a refresher).

There are a couple reasons for this:

1. It makes it repeatable. Anything that is repeatable can be optimized and improved with each use.
2. It relieves decision fatigue. I don’t want to know how many hours I’ve spent just trying to figure out what to do without making any progress.
3. It makes things less daunting. Having bite-sized steps to take makes undertaking a big project more manageable.
4. It gives you the ability to outsource. Every time I’ve failed to outsource something, it’s because I had no map of how it should be done.

One of my goals for this quarter is to create more case studies, and rework the ones I’ve done in the past (they are a bit… messy).

This week I decided to get started on my first one and after writing and deleting everything I came up with for about an hour, I was just about ready to cross this off my list of goals and give up on he whole idea.

Later that night it dawned on me… I just needed some kind of process for creating the case study. This way I would have a formula to follow, I wouldn’t be wasting time making decisions, and, if need-be, I could send this over to Abby to write for me if I could at least give her the details.

So, instead of writing a case study, I decided to write a process for a case study.

I thought I’d share it with you today, as it’s not a step-by-step process, really… It’s more of a framework of what needs to go in every case study. This structure allows me to answer simple questions about the project, and turn those answers into a more cohesive story (with a beginning, middle, and end).

Inside this framework are a list of the questions I want to answer along with notes on the strategy behind answering that question and tips on what will make my answers most impactful.

After that, there is a list of elements that I can incorporate into the story to make it more engaging and impactful (screenshots, images, testimonials, etc.).

All of this was made even easier with a little help from ChatGPT who supplemented my ideas with some examples, and descriptions based on what I was trying to achieve (I’ve found CGPT much more useful for these sort of things than publish-ready content).

Here’s what I came up with — I hope it’s helpful.

How do you get your clients?

According to the data we collected in this year’s survey, most of us are getting the bulk of our new work from referrals.

Getting referrals is great — and generally a sign that you’re doing something right… but because it’s mostly passive, it makes controlling the flow of new business difficult. 

But every client acquisition strategy has it’s pros and cons… It’s costs, difficulties, and skills required to be successful.

And not all of them will yield results in the same amount of time, either. 

Like with anything, there’s always some kind of tradeoff to make. 

This week I went down the rabbit hole of different client acquisition strategies trying to map out their cost, difficulty, lead time for results, pros, cons, and the skills required in order to be successful.

Here are the results of that effort.

Keep in mind, these are not hard facts, but more general assessments of each of these tactics. 

My hope is that seeing them mapped out this way helps you identify which strategies might suit you best.

Got plenty of time, but not much cash? Content marketing might be the way to go.

Got plenty of cash and need to see results immediately? PPC might be your best option.

In my experience, keeping the pipeline full requires at least 2-3 of these methods working in unison and there are some that are just a better “fit” for you than others.

Last Friday I ended up getting my entire day’s to-do list done in just under two hours.

While I don’t enjoy being wrong (though I should be used to it by now ????), I’ll gladly admit that thinking this idea was going to be a waste of time turned out to be a severely misguided assumption.

This idea came up in a TABLE meeting a while back when a member mentioned attending some “virtual co-working” sessions.

If you’ve not done this before, essentially, everyone gets on a Zoom call and works silently on their own projects.

I honestly couldn’t see how this would be anything other than a distraction. To say I was skeptical would be putting it mildly.

But there were enough people in the group interested in the idea, that I scheduled a session for last Friday.

We ended up doing two 1-hour sessions (with a small break in-between), and by the end of it, I had knocked out everything on my to-do list for the entire day in just two hours!

And I’m pretty sure this wasn’t a fluke, or something that only worked for me… because after it was over, I got some great feedback from the other people who participated…

“I know I would have allowed all kinds of distractions derail me and this would have taken the better part of the day but I’m so relieved to be on the end of it all and it’s still morning.”

“I’m sure it’s all mindset but setting aside that time to work on my goals really helped me to get them done. Could I set aside that time by myself? Sure. But there’s something about the accountability that was super-helpful and it forced me to keep the appointment with myself.”

“I will use these in the future to do the things I don’t like to do, or have been putting off.”

It’s not like anyone could see what everyone else was actually working on (so we could have just been goofing off), but there was something about being “around” other people that kept us on-task, focused, and working diligently.

And now that I’ve experienced it — it makes a lot of sense. In a “traditional” work environment, you have a little bit of social pressure to work hard because co-workers (and the boss!) could pop by at any minute.

But for those of us working alone — we’re left completely to our own devices.

Had you asked me before, I would have told you that I do a great job of staying on task… but this co-working session proved to me that I probably don’t do as good of a job as I think I do.

If the opportunity presents itself, I would highly recommend giving this a shot — especially if you’re as skeptical as I was. I don’t think you need a big group… Just grab a couple friends (maybe some folks from the group) and schedule an hour.

There’s not a lot of risk in that, and if your experience is anything like ours, you’ll be glad you were wrong too!

This will be the last week in the series where I’m taking you through my current sales process and sharing what’s been working for me.

The last two bits I want to cover are my proposal and my all-time favorite resource for getting comfortable with sales…

I’ve gone through a lot of different proposals over time, but no matter what I used I always hated writing proposals. I just want to get started with the fun project!

So a year or so back, I decided to make a “fill in the blank” style template I could use for my proposals that did all the heavy lifting for me.

Instead of staring at a blank screen and a blinking cursor, I could just go in and answer a few questions about the project and be done.

This template has not only made me hate the process less (yeah, I still don’t love it), but I can now get proposals done in 15-30 minutes consistently.

If you’re looking for a template like that, mine is for sale — but I think this is something you could easily create on your own. 

It drastically cuts down on all the time you spend “thinking” when writing proposals and immediately puts you into action mode. For me, that’s been super helpful.

And, lastly, for my all-time favorite sales resource…

Doing “sales” has always felt a bit gross to me.

I’ve never considered myself terrible at it — but I was rarely confident going into a situation where I needed to “sell” someone on anything.

When I think about selling, I think about sitting across from someone at a table, trying to convince them that they should open up their wallet and give me money.

But Nick Gulic’s course, Sell by Helping, completely flipped that notion on its head. 

As it says on the tin, Sell by Helping teaches you how to sell something — not by becoming a used car salesman, but simply by helping your prospects with advice and guidance.

I’ve found taking this position a lot more conducive to not only making sales, but building better relationships with clients. 

That mindset shift has made all the difference for me —  especially when it comes to confidence going into sales meetings. Honestly, I’ve found ii’s the confidence that really helped me turn the corner.

Over the past couple weeks I’ve been breaking down my sales process. So far, we’ve got the prospect through the project inquiry form, logged all the data in our CRM, and evaluated if the lead is a good fit or not. 

If they are, then the next step is to jump on a Zoom call with them and get to know them a bit.

These calls, for me, are pretty free-flowing. I don’t have an exact script to follow, I don’t typically take too many notes, and I try to keep things as informal as possible.

More than anything, this is a “vibe check” to see if this feels like someone I could work with, if the project is interesting, if they are ready to get started, and if they are serious about moving forward. 

I want to do as little talking during this meeting as possible. 

In order to achieve that, I tend to ask really open ended questions, like:

• Why are you looking for a new website?
• What problems are you trying to over come?
• What opportunities are you currently missing out on?
• What functionality is important for the website?
• What’s your experience working with developers in the past?
• What does the perfect outcome look like?

I’m not directly asking the questions I’m looking for answers to (like “how serious are you about getting started?”), but you can get a good feeling for those things by how they answer some of these other questions.

Meetings are typically light-hearted, casual, and always 30-minutes or less.

Tip: One way I ensure these meetings don’t go over is by telling them right when we start the call that I have another call directly after theirs. This helps me wrap things up without offending them.

While the call is taking place I’m doing a little bit of mental calculations, because before the call is over I want to give them a rough ballpark of what I’d expect this project’s invoice to be.

It doesn’t have to be exact, and I leave myself some wiggle room by saying “based on what I understand and my experience with similar projects, I’d expect a project like this to cost between $10,000 – $15,000. Is that within your budget?”

And after that question, I shut up and wait.

You can tell a lot about how likely this project is to close between the next few second of awkward silence and their response. 

If they say yes, then I just let them know I’ll be emailing them with some more details and the next steps (but I don’t tell them exactly what they are).

If they throw out a lower budget, and it’s within reason, I let them know that they may not be able to get everything they want, but we might be able to break the project up into phases.

If they have total sticker shock (and you can tell they thought a website would be $500), then I let them know that I wouldn’t be able to help, but I can send them some recommendations (which is often Upwork, Fivver, etc.).

If I can tell from my “vibe check” that this just isn’t a project I want to take on or someone I want to work with, then I let them know I’ll email them with my recommendations (which ends up being a referral elsewhere).

Next week we’ll discuss how I follow up with prospects after this initial call and pitch paid discovery (when necessary).

Last week I shared my project inquiry form, which is the first step in the process anyone has to take to work with me.

But between that and our first call (which I’ll discuss next week) there are quite a few little things I think are extremely important.

Now, I’m not someone who’s all-in on automating the bejesus out of everything — but of any of the parts of my business, the sales process has the most automations.

This is mostly due to the fact that I want to track every lead I get, where it came from, and how many of them close. This helps me focus on the strategies that work, and tweak (or dump) the rest.

Thanks to a modified version of Noah’s Agency X-Ray, the tracking systems are all in place — but I found I am just terrible at manually entering any of this data, and if that’s the only option, I fall off the wagon pretty quickly.

People who fill in my form get added into my Airtable base (with every bit of information they submit), and I get a task in my todo list to fill in the bits that need to be done manually.

On top of that, my modifications have implemented the gamification / points system from my Prospect Pipeline Challenge so I can easily see how my pipeline is being maintained.

While all that happens in the background, I do need to manually assess the lead and figure out if it’s someone I want to pursue or not.

If the project seems interesting, they have good answers to my questions, and I could see myself working on this project, then I’ll send them my “Get to Know You Invite” email (which I have saved inside a TextExpander snippet.

This email, essentially, thanks the prospect for reaching out and invites them to book a time in my calendar so we can discuss their project in a little more detail and get to know each other.

But if the project doesn’t look like a good fit for me, then I send them one of two additional scrips I have prepared.

The first is an email that lets them know I’m not a good fit, but gives them a list of people they might reach out to instead. Inside our TABLE groups, we have a directory of all the members, their skills, tech stack, and ideal clients — and I can quickly grab the details of a few members from that list to send as a referral. Having a short list of folks to refer out to is super handy!

The other is just a kind “thanks, but no thanks” email that lets them know I won’t be able to help with this project. This is the email I send out if the client seems like a nightmare or the project looks like a mess (the kind of thing I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy).

Here’s a copy of all three of the emails.

The key with this process, to me anyway, is having all of these emails already written and ready to go. I’m not agonizing over the decision for hours — I’m taking a quick look, making a decision and rapidly firing off a pre-written reply.

Not only does this help me get through the process faster (cause writing those emails from scratch each time is a total pain in the arse!), but it provides a consistent process that I can track and measure in my Airtable base.

I’ve found the sooner you can get this email out, the better. I’ve heard from a lot of business owners that they have been waiting days or even weeks to hear anything back — and being quick to respond can go a long way in building some trust immediately.

Next week I’ll run you through how I conduct the get to know you meeting, including the agenda, questions I ask, and what I say to end the call that helps me insure I don’t waste one more second on a prospect that isn’t all but guaranteed to close. And, this is all done in less than 30 minutes.

In last week’s newsletter I talked about how my sales process has really been clicking lately, and asked if anyone was interested in a breakdown. I got quite a few responses, so here we go.

For me, it all starts with a Project Inquiry form.

Although my first point of contact may be an email, a DM on Twitter, a ping on Messenger, or (God forbid) a phone call — I try to keep those interactions as short as possible and get people to my inquiry form right away.

The inquiry form sets a standard baseline for how all my projects start and kicks off some automation work — so, for me, the inquiry form is non-negotiable.

Besides, if someone can’t be bothered to fill out a quick form — imagine what it’s going to be like trying to get content from them ????

I’ve toyed with my inquiry form a dozen times over the years, but I’ve been running this current one consistently since sometime in 2021 (I only know that because the form’s name is “intake 2021” in the back-end of my site ????).

It’s simple, but I’ve created some conditional logic in the form so I can get more information when I need it, but keep the questions to a minimum.

You can see a visual flow of how the form is structured here.

You might be wondering “what about asking them their budget?” — and that, along with a lot of other questions I’ve tried, I’ve found clients are really bad at answering.

Either they honestly don’t know, or they pretend its something its not to play some kind of little negotiation game that just ends up wasting time. Besides, I’ve had people with no budget end up spending $10K+ and people with a healthy budget waste my time being cheapskates.

I’ve put my minimum price, as well as my average project price on my website and I’m just assuming if they are really interested in hiring me that they’ve seen it.

Most of these questions are pretty basic and don’t require any explanation, but there are a couple that I skip to read immediately — they tend to tell me most of what I need to know…

In all fairness, I’m sure that I’ve picked all these questions up from other places, but I don’t remember where so I’m not sure who to credit.

• “Why is now the right time to get started” – This question produces some great answers about their urgency and seriousness. People will knowingly go years with a busted website… So having an idea of what’s motivating them now makes for some great insight. This question also produces a lot of indication as to what’s important to them.
• “Is there any reason you reached out to me/us specifically?” – This one is my favorite question of all time. If they don’t have a good reason to reach out to me (specifically), then there’s a good chance they’re price shopping or likely to base their decision on dollars. Here is where prospects will tell you how they found you, and their answers can give you a pretty good indication on how warm they are. If they don’t have any specific reason on why they chose my form to fill in (over the thousands of other web agencies), then I’ve found the chance of he inquiry turning into a project drops dramatically.

Next week we’ll dive further into how I process these leads to make determinations on who to move forward with, what I do with the leads that aren’t a great fit, and the automations I run off of this form.

My last 3 proposals have gone really smoothly — suspiciously smoothly.

In fact, in my latest one, I met with the client for the first time yesterday and by noon today I had a 50% deposit in hand.

Maybe it’s a fluke, and just me saying this aloud will will be enough to jinx me into filling in an application at McDonald’s by the end of the year… But I’ve been putting a ton into my sales process lately (probably my weakest role as a business owner), and I’m starting to feel like it just might be starting to work the way I had hoped it would.

I actually sat down to write down everything that happened with these last three proposals so I could try to pinpoint what was making things work so well… but I figured that while I’m writing it down anyway, I might as well share my experience in case it’s helpful to anyone else.

Here’s the big things I think have lead to such an uptick in conversions.

A clear offer – All three of these projects have came in with a very specific problem — one that I’m advertising I can solve in all facets of my marketing. Because I know exactly what their problem was, and how I’ve solved it dozens of times in the past — it allowed me to be very confident in my communication. Not only about the service, but the fee as well.

Giving a ballpark face-to-face (on Zoom) – The last thing I want to do is write a proposal for no good reason… And one good way to know how likely they are to sign on the dotted line is to see their reaction when you give them a range. I think I picked up this tip from Mike Killen, but my approach has been to say the range and then STFU. Body language alone seem like enough to know if it’s worth moving forward or not.

A touch of scarcity – Now I didn’t do this as a sales tactic — it just so happens my plate has been pretty full — but I’ve told all these prospects that I’m booked out for a few weeks and I couldn’t get them on my schedule until I have a deposit. I wouldn’t want to lie about this… but I can’t help but feel like that has helped motivate them to move things along quickly.

Less is more proposal – I’m still using my Easy-Peasy Proposal template — but I’ve cut down my typical word count by about 50% (not including the “contract” portion). A few short sentences in each section that explains what I’m doing in as few words as possible. I’m not saying that a well-crafted marketing message in a proposal won’t work… but I do think there is something to keeping things simple and easy to digest.

A guarantee & warranty – Ryan Golgosky posted about guarantees in the group a while back, and while I don’t feel like mine is quite compelling enough yet, I think having something guaranteed and a warranty on my work help put some of the fears clients have about hiring us to rest.

Now, I’m not trying to say I’ve “uncovered the secret” or “found the magic formula” — chances are I’ll run into a string of bad luck in the future — and my process is authentic to me, and may not be a good fit to anyone else…

But it’s been super helpful to go back and analyze these interactions to try to see what’s working and what could still be improved.

As a business owner we’re often in a constant state of “moving on to the next thing” or “putting out fires”. The universe has probably tried to teach us 1,000 lessons we were to busy to receive. For me, it’s been worth the time to just sit back and reflect.

—

If you’d like me to break down my sales process and show you what I’m doing — hit reply and let me know. Maybe I can do that over the next couple of newsletters. 

We all have things we’d like to improve on our website… but that long list of things feels so daunting that we keep putting it off because we never have the time to do all of it.

One way to overcome this is instead of trying to tackle the whole thing, find the thing you like the very least about your website (It could be a certain section, an image, your form styling, etc.) and just improve that. 

Once you’ve made the changes, that part is no longer the worst part — and now something else takes that distinction (which you can tackle next time). 

This small, incremental approach is a way you can continually improve your website without feeling overwhelmed by everything you need to update.

In fact, you could just set this up as a recurring task in your project management tool of choice to do once a week (or once a month if that feels overwhelming). 

It won’t be long and all your “least favorite” parts about your website will be gone.

We actually did this an exercise in TABLE recently (as part of a week-long challenge), and I thought it might be fun to share the challenge here and see if people would post their results in the group…

INSTRUCTIONS

Quickly scan your website and identify the section (not an entire page) you feel is the weakest on the page.

Next, come up with a new design (or new copy if you’re not a designer) for that section to improve on the things you don’t like about it.

As an example, this could be a call-to-action section, a related posts section, a sidebar, etc. Keep it limited to something small.

Take a screenshot before you make the changes, and another screenshot after they’re complete and post them here in the group.

As professionals that tend to eat, sleep, and breathe websites, it’s easy for us to get inflicted with the “curse of knowledge”.

If you’re unfamiliar with that term, is a cognitive bias when you unknowingly assume that others will have the knowledge to understand something like you do (when they probably don’t).

I think this is reflected in a lot of our marketing and copy (including mine).

But most of our clients don’t understand the first thing about websites, which is why they are hiring us in the first place.

A conversation in one of our TABLE meetings had us talking about this and how the big DIY type website builders combat this by using simple language anyone can understand.

Here’s a few of the headings from the likes of SquareSpace, Wix, Shopify, and GoDaddy:

• Sell to every buyer, everywhere
• The best-converting checkout on the planet
• Grow your business here
• Create a website without limits
• One platform, infinite possibilities
• Build more than a website
• Create it your way
• A website foundation engineered for growth
• Take your business where it needs to go
• Grow your business online
• eCommerce made easy
• Sell anything online
• Everything you need to thrive online
• Grow your brand with key marketing tools

Now, we know this is all marketing B.S. — but that just might be our curse of knowledge talking.

Chances are these multi-million dollar companies have done the market research, A/B testing, and focus groups that lead them to these more “simple” headlines.

There’s a fine line between educating your clients and overwhelming them — and if you confuse, you lose.

Some of the most successful people I know in this industry are the ones that also happen to have the most simple offer… And I don’t think that’s a coincidence.

Have you spent any time mapping out any of your processes? 

I’m a visual person, and using Figma’s “FigJam” files to create process flow diagrams has been a huge enlightenment for me.

I don’t think there’s any way to avoid having to write out detailed instructions — but having a companion visual aid has really helped me get more comprehensive plans in place.

Here are a few reasons why I think this kind of visual is so helpful:

1. It’s easier to think of alternate scenarios. When mapped out visually, it’s easier to follow along the path and consider different decisions at each stage. When I was just using text, all of my choices were binary (yes or no), but with visualization, I can see other, alternative paths.

2. It’s so much easier to explain to someone else. I don’t know if you’ve ever had someone hand you their process, but that giant wall of text can be intimidating. But the visual process makes it easier to give someone a high-level overview before they have to get into the details.

3. Easier to reference. Processes are something I find myself referring back to over and over again — and a visual makes it easier to jump right to the spot you’re looking for (especially when things are color-coded).

I tried a few different tools for this (spending a lot of time with Miro), but, honestly, Figma’s FigJam files do everything you need in a completely intuitive interface.

Drop in shapes, drag arrows from one box to the next, add in your text, and link to your detailed documents or resources.

Plus, it’s free — so you can’t beat the price. If you haven’t, give it a try.  

Bonus: If you use Notion, you can embed read-only FigJam files right in your Notion docs ???? 

My family and I are planning on moving this summer, and because of that we’ve had to interview and hire a lot of different people… Realtors, contractors, movers, etc.

It’s not often I do this, so it’s easy for me to forget what that process is like — but I’m trying to take this as on opportunity to see things from the other side, because this is how clients probably feel when they are looking for a web agency like us.

Here are a few things I’ve noticed about how I’m feeling…

• Overwhelmed by the number of choices of companies/people to hire
• Unsure of how the process works, how things are priced, when I should get started
• Weighing the pros and cons of just doing some of this myself

Some of these are big decisions, that have real consequences — and every bit of it feels expensive to me. So what I think I’m really looking for is the vendor that will put my mind at ease.

But, to be honest a lot of them are failing at that.

They’ve made me question if their a good choice or not when they:

• Don’t send me info or call when they say they will
• Leave out some of the details I specifically asked about
• Seem to be making things up as they go or on the fly

Like most people, I’m not just looking for the cheapest option. I’m honestly willing to pay a premium if:

1. I know exactly what to expect
2. The vendor is reliable (even by just following up when they say they will)
3. I have a clear understanding of how things will work from start to finish
4. I feel like my concerns are being addressed

I’ve found these things to be really interesting observations. Even though they are in completely different industries than ours, I can imagine our customers feeling the same way.

So, how to we put our clients minds at ease and make ourselves the best choice?

I have a few initial ideas:

1. I need to finally get a “welcome/intro packet” together. This is something a lot of folks in TABLE have done and had success with. I think if any of these vendors would have sent me over a little PDF that gave me a broad overview of how the process works, I would have felt a lot more comfortable.
2. I need to take notes or record conversations. It’s impossible to remember every little detail a client mentions on a call, but you never know which one of those little things is really important to them. I think vendors can easily forget to address these things as they seem obvious to us — but they are key to showing your client you’re listening.
3. Being over communicative is better than the alternative. I feel like I’ve been reasonable, and as a business owner I know that things “come up” and throw schedules out of wack. But if I’m not going to be able to provide something when I said I would, then I need to communicate that and provide a new timeline.
4. Show them I’ve been there before. One vendor used a story of a client they worked with that was in a similar situation to me, and explained how things turned out. This was super powerful. I know we all have these kinds of stories we can share (and this makes a great argument for case studies!).

I don’t think it really comes down to who has the best product or price — it’s who can identify what’s important to a person, communicate clearly, and prove that you’re reliable.

I think if I paid half as much attention to these things as I do playing with tech & tools, I’d have twice the business I have now.

You’ve heard this before, but how you price something tells people a lot about it — even if it’s subconscious. 

I’ve seen this for myself…

When we first launched The Website Owner’s Manual, it was just a free opt-in. Matt and I were super excited about it, as we had been testing it in our own agencies and seeing success. 

But the response was pretty weak… After a month we had gotten less than a hundred downloads.

A couple of months later, we decided to try out making it a “product” by slapping a price on it. At the time it was just $15, but just 30 days after making it a paid product we had sold over 1,000 copies. 

I honestly believe the only difference was the perceived value. 

When it was free, it seemed like it was worth less than when it was $15.

Whether we realize it or not, clients are making the same kinds of judgments about our services. 

I’m not suggesting you should start artificially inflating your prices — but I do think it’s worth considering what end of the market you want to serve.

There are people who will always buy “whatever is cheapest” — usually the people who don’t place much value on something or are new to the market and don’t know the difference between cheap and quality.

And others who would never buy the cheapest option — usually people who have been burnt before, or place more importance on the product/service.

Are you set up for volume, like Walmart? Where you can have smaller margins but serve more customers to make up the difference?

Or are you focused on giving a smaller number of people a premium service that the deep-discount alternatives could never compete with?

Neither way is wrong — but I do think knowing where you are in the spectrum can help answer a lot of the questions you have about your strategy moving forward. 

It’s that time of year again — when we all look at the big number in the date flipping over and consider it a fresh start.

I wasn’t always much of a goal setter, but since I’ve started my business I’ve become one — and it really has helped.

Throwing out goals isn’t hard… but where most people get stuck is coming up with an action plan to achieve those goals (which is actually the important bit).

So, in today’s newsletter, I thought I’d share how I ideate to help turn my goals into actionable steps. Of course, I’m not saying this is the only way to do it (or the right way!), but it’s what’s worked for me — hopefully, it helps you.

Just to have an example, let’s say my goal is to get to 10,000 YouTube subscribers this year (coincidentally, that is one of my goals — so consider subscribing ????)

First, let’s assess the gap between where we are now, and where our goal is…

Currently, we set at 3,461 — which means we’ll need to gain 6,539.

Next, let’s break that down into some milestones (because measuring over a year is too broad)…

To achieve that goal, I’ll need to gain 1,635 new subscribers each quarter (or 545 per month).

After that, let’s brainstorm ideas and things we’ve done in the past…

• Post a new video every week (consistency has not only helped the algorithm, but it’s also make the process easier and helped me improve)
• Interview “bigger name” guests (the video this year that brought in the most subscribers was interviewing Kevin Powell)
• Promote the channel across different platforms (I can look back and see when I share the video it gets more views than when I don’t (pretty simple!))
• Spend more time on the thumbnail and title (I don’t always spend time on these, but when I do the video always end up performing better)
• Being a guest on someone else’s channel (this helps introduce me to someone else’s audience)

Finally, let’s take some of those ideas and put them into plans to move forward…

1. I need to be posting videos weekly, at minimum.
2. I need to book a “big name” guest once per quarter, at minimum.
3. I need to promote each video across 4 different platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Email, Website).
4. For each video I need to come up with at least 3 different title and thumbnail combinations and get feedback.
5. I need to make a guest appearance on at least 5 different channels.

With these action steps in place, I can start setting up some systems to help me stay on track, like: recurring tasks to produce a video each week, writing down a post-publish process for sharing content, create a spreadsheet to track subscription growth each month (what gets measured, gets managed!), start a list of potential guests and try to book one per quarter, etc.

All of this, of course, doesn’t guarantee I will hit my goal — but having each of these action items makes it a lot more likely that I will than if I just said “10K YouTube subs” with no plan on how to take steps towards it.

I was listening to one of the latest episodes of Trailblazer.fm, where Lee and his guest were talking about “Pricing in a weak economy”.

Aside: I’m still on the fence of this whole “we’re on the verge of a global recession” thing — but I’m no economist and a glass-half-full kinda guy in general.

The podcast was a great listen nonetheless — and it got me to thinking about my business savings account and how much peace of mind it affords me.

It’s something I didn’t start until year 3 or 4 of my business (which I fully regret) — especially with how simple it’s been and how quickly its grown.

Do you have a business savings account?

If not, here’s what I’ve done — maybe it helps…

Open yourself up a separate savings account, and at the end of each month toss 5% of your sales in it.

It doesn’t have to be 5% (mine is 8.5%), but a figure that’s low enough that the chances are you’ll never notice it’s gone. But if your profits are too slim to even handle 5%, consider adding 5% to your prices and have your customers fund it for you.

The deposit each month probably won’t be a lot — but in a couple of years time, it can add up to a pretty significant chunk of change.

I’ve only had to dip into it twice (when my monthly profit wasn’t quite what I needed to pay my salary), and now I’m sitting on a pile of cash that could carry me several months if every one of my clients conspired and decided to quit paying me.

Or, in the more likely scenario; an economic downturn.

A nice little nest egg makes you a lot less fearful of what could go wrong and gives you the ability to operate at full force while others might be cutting back.

Each year, Spotify does their year-in-review “wrapped” promotion where they push out personalized lists of your most listened to songs and artists for the year.

They’ve, of course, made all of this really easy to share on social media — making each year’s wrapped event an instant viral success where their customers do all their marketing for them.

It’s pretty genius — so it got me thinking… could we “borrow” this idea?

Essentially all they’ve done is take analytics data they have on their customers and presented it in an exciting, visual, & sharable way.

With minimal effort, and a free Figma or Canva account, I bet you could come up with a simple template that shows your customers all their website stats for the year…

• Number of visitors
• Form completions
• Most popular page(s)
• A map with all the countries their website got visits from
• etc.

You could size the template appropriately to share on social media and even drop your company’s branding tastefully in the bottom corner.

Sure, we probably all already make analytics data available to our clients, but making it into a fun event coinciding with the end of the year just might be the thing that actually gets them to pay attention!

Perhaps you could even send it to them with a booking link to hop on a call and make plans to improve their stats in the coming new year (Cliff at My Web Audit has a great tutorial on how to turn calls like this into new paying projects).

We all have big dreams of where we’d like our agencies to be…

Maybe it’s to hit $100,000 (or $1,000,000) in revenue… Or hire your first employee… Or hire enough employees that you don’t have to work “in” the business at all…

These things can feel like daunting, monumental tasks — too much to take on all at once. Because of that, they collect dust until the next new year rolls around.

As we’re approaching the end of the year, I was reviewing some of our TABLE records for a bit of a “year in review”.

Each week everyone puts down goals of things they want to accomplish in the next week. Most of these are focused around “on the business” type things rather than “in the business”.

Taking one of the groups as an example, they have 335 accomplished goals since January 1st.

Based on the group roster, they’re sitting right at 1 goal accomplished per week, per member.

That might not sound like much — but think about it… How much further along would your business be if you made 52 steps toward your dream over the next 12 months?

We’ve had members launch products, build a following on YouTube, create courses, double their team, buy houses, double profits, and win awards — not because of one thing they did, but because they broke things down into small, bite-sized, weekly tasks that they can actually manage to accomplish amidst the chaos of working with clients.

It would be great if we could sit down for long stretches of time working on our business — but that’s rarely the reality.

We can, however, carve out an hour or two here and there to take small (but deliberate) action.

As you start to peer into 2023, I’d encourage you to keep that in mind. Think about one small thing you can do each week to help you get one step closer to your goals. I think you’ll be pretty shocked at how far you can get with small, consistent, deliberate action.

“A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence” — Jim Watkins

Back when I was in a death metal band (yes, really), we went into the studio and cut a small demo.

Thinking we needed something to get attention from the record labels, we decided to send our demo in with a note that looked like we had coughed blood all over it and then filled in the inside of the envelope with fart spray.

It was absolutely disgusting — and we were sure whoever opened it would have to put the CD in and find out just how brutal we were!

Surprisingly enough, even though we sent out a couple dozen of these packages, we never heard anything back.

We (obviously) didn’t understand our audience.

Sure, as death metal fans, we love the gory, disgusting, & brutal things (think of it like the horror movie genre of music)… But the people opening these packages weren’t fans moshing at a concert, they were people in suits in a corporate high-rise.

And although you’ve probably never tried covering your product in fart spray (????‍♂️) — we’re all guilty of this same marketing mistake.

We’re consumed in the world of websites… thinking about the tech, tools, and gadgets that made us fall in love with this industry and forgetting that our clients (most of them, anyway) don’t care about (or understand) those things.

Our websites mention things like SEO, PPC, ROI, CPC, and Core Web Vitals — all of which mean little or nothing to most of our clients.

Simplifying our messaging so that anyone (picture your grandma) could understand and appreciate isn’t an easy thing to do — especially for technology-loving geeks like us.

But littering your website with all this jargon is not much different than covering it in fart spray — and it has a similar effect; it pushes people away.

For $20 I bet you could find someone outside of our industry to take a quick glance at one of your pages to share their takeaways and explain (in their own words) what it is you do.

In fact, that might be the best $20 you could invest in your marketing.

When my buddy Matt and I connected (not long after I started my business and while it was still a side hustle), both of our agencies took on a new trajectory.

Within months we were both charging higher prices, rapidly building our recurring revenue, and closing more deals.

After we started The Admin Bar, there was another boost in our growth.

And every week in our TABLE meetings, I see agency owners help one another see opportunities (and risks!) that we are blind to.

A lot of industries look at others in the same line of work as “competition” and everything they do as top-secret. Thankfully, in our WordPress circles — it doesn’t seem to be like that.

It makes a lot of sense why WordPress dominates the market share.

If left to yourself, you’d have to figure out every little question, challenge, and struggle the hard way; through trial and error.

Yes, of course, you’d progress… but it would be one project at a time.

Instead, we have a group of people all trying to achieve, relatively, the same thing.

Each member of the group shares what works and what failed, helping others avoid the traps and get on a successful path much quicker.

It’s impossible to measure what the trajectory of our businesses would be without community, but I can’t imagine any of us would be anywhere near where we are today (though we might have less shelfware ????).

I can’t tell you how grateful I am to all the people in the community, like you, who have shared their experiences, advice, feedback, and struggles. You might not realize it, but all those posts and comments are helping elevate our entire industry… Pushing all of us to do better, get paid what we’re worth, and not have to make the same mistakes.

I hope that TAB means as much to you as it does to me, and if we’ve earned your vote for The Best WordPress Community, then when all the votes are tallied — we’ll hoist the trophy together. 

If you poll people in our industry, you’re almost certain to find that “referrals” are the number one lead source for most agencies.

But I don’t think that’s because we’re all really good at referrals.

Most of us just kinda sit back while referrals happen to us.

It’s an unpredictable and stressful rollercoaster to be on — wondering when the next opportunity will fall into our lap.

The reason referrals are so great is that we have instant credibility and trust with the prospect thanks to our mutual connection.

But our network only stretches so far — and often it’s not with the right people (like me, I’m sure you’ve had well-intentioned friends or relatives give you the worst of leads!)

So, if you dig a little deeper, the problem isn’t needing more referrals or a bigger network — the problem is building credibility and trust.

If you could do that another way, outside of referrals, you wouldn’t have to be reliant on someone feeding you prospects.

Outside of one-on-one interaction, there’s no better way to get to know someone than by seeing them on video.

We’ve all experienced this our entire lives with celebrities we feel like we know, even though they are total strangers.

I’ve seen enough Jon Stewart shows, interviews, and clips to know that he and I would be good friends — but I’ve never met him!

Video gives people the opportunity to get to know you, your personality, your mannerisms, and your character in a way that the copy on your website could never compete with.

And the algorithms in YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Google are programmed to refer you at a scale no human network could ever match.

I’m becoming convinced that the best marketing for folks in our industry is video — and I’ve seen it work for myself.

With one recording you can:

• Target specific people who are interested in what you have to say
• Reach people across the globe instantly (they literally carry you around in their pocket)
• Be available on-demand anytime someone wants to watch
• Let people get to know you, your character, skills, approach, and systems
• Have people feel like they “know you” without ever speaking with them directly

Not that you have to become some kind of internet celebrity — but by publishing videos you’re able to build the same type of relationship we’ve built with celebrities for decades.

When it comes down to it, people trust someone they’ve seen more than someone they haven’t.

No matter which fast food burger joint you go to, about 90% of their operations are the same across the industry.

Which one you choose comes down to just your personal preference.

But the web design industry is a lot different. 

When we poll folks in the group, we typically find that 90% of people are all doing things differently with very little overlap from one agency to the next.

Some are one-person shows that just focus on builds, others are large teams that offer full-service digital marketing.

Some use tools to get the most performance out of a website, while others choose tools that make it the easiest for a client to manage.

Some make complex sites with tons of custom functionality, while others stick to simple brochure-style setups.

Every agency is different.

But, from a buyer’s perspective — that might be difficult to discover… 

Despite our businesses being so different, a lot of our websites and marketing aren’t.

We tend to focus on the more generic things: “we build websites”, “we offer care plans”, and “we provide SEO”.

We talk a lot about the 10% overlap and little about the 90% of what makes us unique.

My guess is that we do this to try and cover our bases and make sure we attract as many people as possible. 

Unfortunately, I don’t think it works this way. Being generic doesn’t make us more attractive, it makes us more forgettable.

The uniqueness is what makes you stand out. The uniqueness is what makes you memorable. The uniqueness is what helps people decide to pick you over any of your competitors. 

Sure, your quirks might turn some people off — but that’s okay, they wouldn’t be a good fit anyway.

What makes you different? What’s important to you when building websites? What are the types of problems you love tackling? Who are the people you get a thrill out of helping?

And more importantly — is that obvious to anyone who visits your website? 

It’s incredible how easy it is to catch shiny object syndrome.

We’re always on the lookout for the next best thing, and it’s hard to resist some fantastic new piece of technology.

I’ve purchased and completely forgotten about software only to be reminded when I attempt to purchase it again and they tell me I already have an account ????

I’m ashamed when I think about how many hours, days, and weeks I’ve wasted down the rabbit hole.

It’s not hard to come up with 100 great ideas — whether it’s a new tool, a new service, or a new side hustle — but it’s impossible to execute on all of those things (especially if you want to see them through).

The real challenge is recognizing the small handful of things that are really going to move the needle and focusing on them like a laser beam.

If you’re unsure of exactly what it is that you’re trying to accomplish — then any old sparkly thing feels like it could be the answer.

But when you have a north star, it gives you something to weigh each decision against.

For example, if your goal is to sign 10 new care plan clients in the next 12 weeks, then that design course (no matter how good it may be) isn’t going to help get you there — it only serves as a distraction.

The next time you’re feeling the temptation, ask yourself this: “Will X get me closer to Y?” (“X” being the shiny object, “Y” being your goal).

If the answer is yes, then feel free to proceed. But if the answer is no (or you’re unsure) then it’s your sign to walk away.

I think we could all get a lot more done by attempting less.