The Journey to a Full-Time Freelance Web Design Business

The Journey to Being a Full-Time
Freelance Web Designer
By Cory Miller, Founder of iThemes.com

Saturday, November 12, 11

Session 1
Soul Searching Before The Journey


“A journey of a thousand miles begins
with the ﬁrst step.”


My Journey and Story


Entrepreneurship is
the hardest job I’ve ever had.
Wusses need not appy.


But it’s also the best one I’ve ever had.


Goal: To prepare you for the journey
& to be successful on it


It’s all about your compelling vision
Your summit. Your mountaintop. Your pinnacle.


Your Compelling Vision should ...
Inspire you regularly
Move you to action
Stir your soul
Rally your tribe together
Be a cause for you & your family
Be the BHAG to commit your working life to


What is your compelling vision
that your full-time web design biz
makes possible?


What are your life goals & objectives?


How does your signiﬁcant other
answer those?


How does this biz help you achieve
those goals and dreams?


Is it your compelling vision?


What are you willing to do, give up
and sacriﬁce for it?


Session 2
Packing for the Journey


Essentials for the Journey
Low burn
Support
Skills
Clients


Low Burn


Get your ﬁnances in order FIRST


Support


Skills


Money, I mean, Clients


Sidebar: On Cash Flow


The best way to start is part-time.
Build your business on the side with the
safety & security of your day job


Quick advice for starting part-time ...


Sidebar: On Risk


Session 3
Taking Inventory for the Journey


Knowing yourself makes
the climb easier.
And helps you better know
what gaps you need to ﬁll


Let’s explore ....
Personality
Passions
Strengths
Skills / Expertise
Experiences


Personality
Kiersey.com


Passions


Strengths & StandOut
StrengthsFinder.com
& Standout.TMBC.com


Skills, Expertise & Experiences


Session 4
Getting Your First Client


Clients Mean Revenue


The best way to land clients is ...


... a rockin’ portfolio of work


Your portfolio sells your services.
The quality of work in it determines how much
you get paid & how often you land clients


So how do you get your ﬁrst client
And start building that rockin’ portfolio


Getting clients or portfolio work
Start with your own site
Take whatever you can get at ﬁrst
List who you know & who needs help
Nonproﬁts, beginning blogger, small biz you love
Design and promote your own pet projects


The Client Snowball


Start somewhere. Anywhere.
Build on that ﬁrst snowball.
To get more & better work.
To learn more & more.
To be paid more & more.
So you can launch your journey full-time!


On Pricing & Packages
Start somewhere & increase prices with experience, skill & demand
It’s all about expectations on both sides
Aim for $100 an hour
Your choice on hourly or project based pricing
Make sure you are building to full-time & using time & energy wisely
Three packages to offer initially:
Blog, Getting Started Website, and “Custom”


Session 5
Building Your Marketing Pipeline


Your marketing pipeline is about
BUILDING DEMAND FOR YOUR WORK!


Aim at a niche


Everything you do should add
to the marketing pipeline


Your website
The home and hub for all you do
Keep the lawn perfect and green
It’s your showroom
5 areas to start with: About, Contact, Services, Portfolio & Blog


Educational, Guerrilla Marketing,
and Oh yeah, the use of FREE


Educating Guerrillas Like Free Stuff
I used Educational Marketing, Guerrilla Marketing & Free Stuff
FREE is still valuable marketing tool
Show, Tell, Teach, Sell
Educational Marketing - see Content Rules by Ann Handley
Guerrilla Marketing - see Jay Conrad Levinson’s work


On blogging for business


On email newsletters


On ebooks


On video


On webinars and seminars


On SEO


On free themes


On word-of-mouth


On networking


On social media


On time, patience and other crap
you don’t want to hear


It sucks, but it just takes time ...


[ Insert Your Compelling Vision Here ]


Session 6
Leveraging Other’s Skills


You need people.


My experiences with outsourcing
& subcontracting ...


Different kinds of leveraging
other’s time ...
Referral partners
Collaborative partners
Subcontractors
Employees


Advice for Outsourcing
“Don’t outsource your soul.”
“Don’t outsource your core competency.”
Outsource the things you don’t do well
Outsource the thigns you hate or drain your energy & passion
Look for & work with good partners


Attributes of Good Partners
Dependable & Deliver
Good communicators
Experienced & Qualiﬁed
Like-Minded


Nuts and Bolts Q&A
with Nina East, Benjamin Bradley & Cory Miller


The Journey to a Full-Time Freelance Web Design Business

Recomendados

Recomendados

Más contenido relacionado

Destacado

Destacado (19)

Similar a The Journey to a Full-Time Freelance Web Design Business

Similar a The Journey to a Full-Time Freelance Web Design Business (20)

Más de Cory Miller

Más de Cory Miller (20)

Último

Último (20)

The Journey to a Full-Time Freelance Web Design Business