How to get more website design clients - with industry expert Paige Brunton
This week, we had a little chat with web design business guru and teacher-extraordinaire Paige Brunton.
After years of scouring the internet for answers to build a successful website design business from her laptop, Paige now shares her hard-earned knowledge with the world through her super successful online course. We’re talking over 4000 happy students, some achieving $30k months with their very own successful web design businesses as a result!
Paige teaches ALL the skills you need to not only build fabulous Squarespace websites, but also hands you a complete biz blueprint filled with juicy strategies, systems, and processes that will put you on the successful web designer map once and for all.
No more months of research and costly trial-and-error, no more random low-paying custom design jobs, and no more feeling nervous and flustered because your workflow is well… not flowing. Sounding like something you might need to get your hands on? Register here for Paige’s upcoming Profitable + Productive Web Designer Bootcamp and for more info on her brilliant, brilliant courses!
One of Paige’s specialties (and a jam-packed module in her course) is finding clients. And that’s just what we’re discussing today.
Ready to fill up your calendar with dream client projects? Read on for Paige’s best tips and ready-to-implement strategies 👇
Your Ideal Client
While you can definitely start a web design biz without defining your ideal client really specifically, picking a niche does help speed things along! Not only will it help you target your marketing, it will also help you find clients by knowing where to look for them.
Defining your niche is not an easy step (we know!) and it’s important to keep in mind that your ideal client will likely shift as you grow as a web designer. To put you on the right track, Paige recommends looking back at your life and interests. One of the keys to success is that you should really enjoy the people or topics that you’re working with!
Picking an area in which you have some past experience means that you will understand that particular industry, you’ll know how to talk to those people, you’ll know where they are, how to approach them, and which of their needs you need to meet. This will save you a ton of time and effort, while also making your work so much more enjoyable and your dream clients happy. Win-win!
Where to find your very first clients
If you don’t have a niche (yet)
An amazing and totally undervalued place to start is your own Friends and Family.
Get the word out, post it on socials, or just casually bring it up in your next conversation: you’ve got your web designer hat on and you’re ready to smash out any site that comes your way!
Build up confidence and put yourself out there and you might just be surprised. Everyone and anyone is starting businesses these days, and more likely than not, they’ll be looking for a new website, and likely a good deal, which is great if you’re just starting out and need a few more examples in your portfolio.
The massive advantage with Friends and Family is that you already have built-in trust, something that as small businesses, we spend essentially ALL of our time trying to achieve.
If you have a niche picked and ready to go
It’s as simple as finding an ideal client within your niche and literally offering them your services! You won’t loose anything by trying, and who knows, something pretty great might come out of it.
If you’re a newbie, building up your portfolio with pieces that are well aligned with your niche is key. If you dream of building websites for law firms, showing them websites that you built for influencers isn’t going to convince them that you’re the perfect fit for their biz. Get out there and do a few free or discounted law-related websites first, and then show them your portfolio and they’ll be a whole lot more likely to fall head over heels for your designs 😍
How to build a design portfolio when you haven’t had any clients
Landing clients consistently
So you’ve landed your first few clients, it’s all going well, now you’re ready to ramp it up.
The good news here is there are sooo many strategies that you could choose from to attract your dream clients. Whether it be content creation like blogging, youtubing, or podcasting, social media, giveaways, in-person networking, service trading, or Facebook groups, the hardest part is choosing which one you should be doing!
The key here is choosing a method that you genuinely enjoy, or if they all seem a little daunting to you, just ask yourself which of the above would you not totally hate.
If you are feeling a little stuck or just looking for some extra pointers, Paige has put together an amazing quiz that will give you answers and a tailored marketing strategy in 60 seconds flat 🙌
Another thing to keep in mind here is that some of these methods are fast marketing strategies that will land you clients right away (eg. Partnerships, in-person networking, or pitching your services), while others play the slow game, like blogging, youtubing, or podcasting which are still bringing in clients for us years later!
If you want to get strategic, one of Paige’s top tips is to choose one of each! While a fast marketing strategy will give you work right away, slow marketing strategies will be setting you up for the future.
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Attracting clients with your site
Website optimization is a big part of web design and making sure your website actually appeals to your dream client is a super easy way to make them want to work with you!
Make sure your language, specific images, and portfolio embody your dream client to a tee. When they visit your site, they should immediately get that “Yes! This is for me! This person totally gets me and will do an amazing job” feel ✨
Another great tip from Paige is to make it as easy as you can for people to book your services: give them packages, give them pricing, give them all the details, and when you’re next available. Rather than going through a contact form, get them to book in for a consultation call directly on your site. The easier the process, the more clients you’ll be converting. Cha-ching!
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Referrals
If you give someone a referral, it’s obviously because the web designer did an amazing job! Maybe their processes are super smooth, maybe they made you feel like the queen you truly are 👸 They most likely got everything done on time, and possibly beat all your expectations.
Great project-management is crucial, you want your customers to be taken on a smooth ride into the world of website design.
Even if you totally nailed the project, referrals doesn’t always happen naturally, so make sure to ask! Politely suggest a referral, or even offer a little incentive in the form of some free edits, updates, another page build, or even a gift card. And don’t just do it right at the end of your project, ask again in a couple of months to better your chances!
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