Writes Jim Schleckser:

The single most important job any CEO of a growing company can perform is identifying the constraints that are keeping the organization from sprinting forward in the right direction and then allocating as much of their time as needed to remove them, thus freeing up space for the organization to perform more effectively. Using the garden hose analogy, our Lazy CEO will notice the dribble of water, find the kink in the hose, untangle it, promptly hand the hose back to someone in the organization, make sure the system won’t allow another kink at that place, and eventually head back to their lounge chair. After all, you can’t harvest the fruits of your labor if your garden dies from a lack of water.

This book — The Lazy CEO — is easily one of the most fascinating I’ve read in a long time.

It’s quick, to the point, no fluff, and digs in deep on the strategies you need to do to leverage your talents as the CEO in the organization and leave “the work” to those who are best at it.

And guess what? He talks about my favorite thing EVER in the book…

Recurring revenue.

And more to the point, he digs into the FIVE different kinds of recurring revenue that any business should tap into.

But no worries, I’ve taken care of spelling those out for you in the latest episode of the Subscription Web Design Podcast.

It’s available on YouTube right now: Click here to watch it.

Go take a watch or a listen and leave a comment to let me know which kind of recurring revenue you are going to build into your business.

Gotta start somewhere.

read more…

There’s a person, we’ll call him Dave to protect the innocent, who will not be getting this email.

He unsubscribed.

And I’m perfectly okay with it!

In fact, if you don’t like getting these emails, I give you permission to unsubscribe as well. This is a judgment-free zone and I know that I only have you for whatever short while the Good Lord has granted me to have with you.

But it still hurts my heart that he was so close to potentially changing his life.

He got a few sales emails, then he quit. He was about to unlock a flurry of FREE, business-building information, encouragement, and (hopefully) entertainment. Alas, he missed the boat.

It’s not as though I’ve never unsubscribed from an email list; totally have—if you think I’m mad at “Dave,” you’ve missed the point.

But I know something Dave doesn’t know. I know the process he was about to go through. I know that everything could have changed for him.

I know that if he had taken the information I was sending every day and applied it to his business, the next 12 months could have been game-changing for him (no matter where he was starting from).

Here’s the “unsexy truth” about business: Patience and commitment is probably 90% of the battle. As I last said last week, the process itself matters—a bunch.

When you lose sight of that, you begin jumping ship and trying to find a new Knight in Shining Armor.

More:

I was having a great conversation last week with a student of mine (they read these emails—you know who you are! ;)). Based on their situation, one thing was clear: There’s no shortage of information out there or gurus to follow (more coming on that this week)… what they needed to do (and what you ALL need to do) is pick something and commit to it.

You don’t need another hack. You don’t need another guru. You don’t need another plan.

You need a firm foundation for your business that you can use to shore up your business to weather storms and grow. You need to execute the basics. You need customers, not strategies. You need leads, not another course on Facebook Ads.

I suspect that so many of you already know what to do. You’re just not doing it.

Whatever that is, I’m giving you permission right now to just do it. If you know what to do, do it. Don’t wait for another savior to come riding along on their white horse.

If what you know you need to do is commit to Subscription Web Design, join us here.

If it’s something else, then do that. I won’t be mad! Seriously!

Again, no judgment.

To be successful takes radical commitment to a plan, and the plan is usually a lot simpler than you think it is.

Don’t stay stuck. Move forward.

If you don’t know where to go or what to do, and you’re feeling lost, I want to help you. I want to be the last “guru” (if I must be relegated to the term) you need—at least for this season of your business.

As my students will tell you, nothing is off-limits. Come to the calls with your questions, your burdens, your struggles, and your successes. It’s pastoral as much as anything else.

I hope to see you soon:

subscriptionwebdesign.com/get-swd

You know how to design a fantastic website.

You’ve got hosting covered, you have full confidence in your abilities to get a result, and you just know the project is going to go off without a hitch.

And then… crickets. Nothing happens.

You wait. And wait. And wait. Despite being able to build a gorgeous website, what on earth are you going to put on it?

After all, you didn’t sign up for this! You’re not a writer, you’re a web designer!

This is an all-too-common problem. I’d like to help you demystify it with a few simple suggestions that have worked in our agency.

1. Create a Content Collection Form

A content collection form helps streamline the process of gathering content from clients.

Develop a form that covers all the necessary information and content needed for the website using a tool like Fluent Forms (affiliate link).

This can include text, images, videos, and other relevant media.

If possible, make sure to provide clear instructions and deadlines for submission.

A well-structured form not only makes it easier for clients to share their content but also saves you time and effort in chasing down materials.

The more you can automate this process, the better. This brings me to my next suggestion…

2. Use a Tool like ContentSnare

ContentSnare is a powerful tool that simplifies the content collection process.

It allows you to create custom templates and request content from clients, set deadlines, and send automatic reminders.

By using a dedicated tool, you can manage the entire process in one place and ensure that you receive the required content on time.

There is also a mental trick going on here. I have a saying in my business, “Let the robots take the blame.”

What I mean by that is, sometimes people are annoyed by constant check-ins, and I assume you don’t like doling them out either.

However, people are used to software programmatically reminding them to get stuff done, and it’s often just as effective.

You can effectively “outsource” your content collection to an automated process while working on the design!

It’s like magic, and in our experience, it works.

3. Implement Consequences

Establishing consequences for not providing content in a timely manner can be an effective way to motivate clients.

Consider implementing penalties, such as delayed project timelines or additional fees, for missed content deadlines.

Communicate these consequences clearly from the beginning to ensure that clients understand the importance of providing content on time.

Getting practical, you could craft a policy that a delay of longer than two weeks in receiving content from your client will result in pushing the project to the bottom of your list.

(Necessary) bonus tip: If you’re going to do this, you owe it to the client to make this process as easy as humanly possible. There should be clear instructions on what you want, how you want it, and when and where to provide it.

It’s not cheap, but this is where a tool like ContentSnare becomes invaluable. They provide templates based on common website structures that help clients visually see where content will go, without doing ANY design work.

I’m not an affiliate, but I am a fan and a user. It’s worth your money.

4. Become a Writer (or Hire One!)

While you may not have “signed up to be a writer,” having some basic copywriting skills can be beneficial in times of need.

If your client is struggling to provide content, offer to help them with the writing process.

You can either write the content yourself or collaborate with the client to create something that meets their needs.

This can be a valuable skill to offer clients and may lead to additional revenue opportunities.

I’m also a big fan of using Upwork to grow your business.

Admittedly, they are harder to find, but good writers are absolutely available on platforms like Upwork and would do a great job.

Not interested in onboarding someone? Use a fulfillment partner.

Fulfillment partners (FFPs) are one of the best-kept secrets of web design.

This deserves some attention of its own (which it will receive soon!), but here’s the basic sketch of working with an FFP:

• These are small teams

• No hiring individuals

• Great rates (usually)

• Quality, guaranteed workmanship

• Focus on helping other agencies

These are basically agencies that work on a white-label basis because they had rather work underneath other agencies rather than go after their own clients (though some of them do both).

A couple of examples are Pennington Creative (whom I actively use for certain projects) and Third Marble.

Here’s how to order website content from Pennington.

5. Use ChatGPT

AI tools are rapidly changing the world.

ChatGPT is an AI-powered language model that can help you generate content quickly and efficiently—and it’s absolutely free.

It can be an excellent tool for creating placeholder text or even drafting entire sections of content when your clients are struggling to provide materials.

By using ChatGPT, you can keep your project moving forward while still waiting for your client’s input.

If you’re going to go this route, I definitely recommend considering a premium subscription. It’s affordable, faster, and you get access to new tools before others.

There’s a legitimate question as to how much AI content it makes sense to use within client projects.

While I’ll have much to say on this in the future, my current view involves using it for what I call “starter content.”

For example, you could give the AI a bullet list outline of the client’s information and it would write a pretty great “starter about page” that the client could then mold and tweak to sound like them.

This keeps the robots and the humans in their proper place.

6. Establish Boundaries

This might be the most important piece of advice I ever give you.

Setting boundaries and clear expectations from the beginning of the project is essential.

Clients are fantastic. We need them. But they don’t own you, and they don’t dictate the rules of your business.

You must communicate with your clients about the importance of providing content and the impact it has on the project’s success.

Establish a clear timeline for content submission and make sure that clients understand their role in the process. This helps create a more efficient workflow and prevent unnecessary delays.

The thing about boundaries though… they have to be enforced.

If you set them, enforce them. If you do that, clients will respect you—trust me.

Obtaining content from web design clients can be challenging, but by implementing the strategies discussed, you can streamline the content collection process and ensure your projects stay on track.

Creating a content collection form, using tools like ContentSnare and ChatGPT, implementing consequences, developing writing skills, and establishing clear boundaries are all crucial steps in successfully collaborating with clients.

Remember, communication is key, and setting expectations from the beginning will help create a more efficient workflow and prevent unnecessary delays.

If you implement these ideas, you’ll not only be able to produce outstanding websites that satisfy both your clients and your creative vision, but you’ll have mastered one of the hardest jobs of being a web designer.

If you’re reading this piece, there’s a 100% chance you are here because you have a business and want it to grow.

(If that’s not you…seriously, why are you here? Would love to know.)

So assuming I have the right audience—motivated web design and marketing business owners looking into the subscription model—“growth” of some nature is one of your goals.

In the past 5-10 years, the “Growth” mindset has definitely overtaken modern American business. Especially Silicon Valley, and I’m sure it’s this way for many other areas of the globe as well.

A few voices have been able to rise above the noise during this same period to say there’s a better way. As Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson write in Rework:

Small is not just a stepping-stone. Small is a great destination in itself.

Paul Jarvis’ book, Company of One, is full of similar valuable thinking.

Growth doesn’t have to be your end goal; almost certainly, though, growth will happen. It’s the nature of a good business.

You are building a good business, right?

If you’re serving customers and doing great work, word will spread and things will start happening for you.

I want to give you some advice from the trenches that I have learned in hopes you’ll apply it to your business earlier than I did.

1. Don’t Over Plan — Do Great Work and Make Reasonable Decisions

For me, the entrepreneur life is up and down.

One minute, I’m Walt Disney or Elon Musk creating new worlds and leading humanity writ large in exciting, unknown territory.

The next? I’m wondering how quickly I can build something that runs entirely without me so that I can retire on a beach somewhere.

The truth is, the perfect life for me is somewhere in the middle.

One of the great dangers we face as entrepreneurs is that we pretend we can see the future. But we can’t.

Now—I am not suggesting there’s no merit to vision casting. I recall a great story of how Michael Hyatt turned around his division at Nelson Books by creating a vision of the future, writing it as though it had already happened, and rallying behind his team.

I’m sure that can work.

But I don’t see how you can rely upon it—after all, the only thing that is real is what’s right in front of you. It’s the only thing you have to go on.

In that respect, how can you do anything more than:

1. Doing great work with what’s in front of you; and

2. Making wise decisions with the options that have been presented?

I am always wary of fortunetellers—sometimes those come disguised in suits and ties or fancy lights on a YouTube channel.

But if you’re always doing great work and making the best decision you can with the options you have available, that’s an amazing business in itself.

This path has worked for me—perhaps you should try it too.

A story:

One of the most profitable decisions I’ve ever made for my business was coming up with CREST—an acrostic that stands for:

• C – Conversion-Based Website (the foundation)

• R – Review & Reputation Management (capture word of mouth)

• E – Email Newsletter (retain and create repeat business)

• S – Search Optimized Content (attract new customers)

• T – Tracking and Testing (A/B) (optimize for results)

This is a framework I developed and our business uses to streamline the marketing process and get results for our customers.

This has been more financially profitable than anything we’ve done so far (though not without its downfalls, which we’ll discuss in Point 3).

The thing is, I didn’t plan CREST. It happened one day while sitting on my couch. It wasn’t part of a master plan. It didn’t come during a 3-5 year goal planning session.

It just happened.

Some of the best things “just happen.” I recommend creating an environment that leaves enough space for that kind of serendipity.

2. Find a Reliable Source for Subcontractors

This is an uncomfortable topic for some, but the reality is you either grow by:

1. Becoming an extremely high-ticket consultant, charging outrageous fees, and taking on fewer clients, or

2. You begin outsourcing work or hiring employees so you can do more work in less time while keeping prices reasonable

I don’t see a thing wrong with either one of these options.

Personally, I chose path #2. Again—I think path #1 is perfectly fine.

But even if you charge so much that you could survive weeks or months on the work of just one client, it still does not give you freedom from the computer screen.

Now—obviously—I spend most of my time in front of a computer screen. That isn’t the point.

The point is, I don’t have to be in front of a computer screen in order to make money.

I am going camping later this week. While I am gone, my business will be running.

It seems so simple—but web entrepreneurs usually have to be taught to think this way because the Internet makes things so easy to go it alone.

So I am a bit biased, but I think #2 is the way that most should consider. Given that, where do you find good people?

Your mileage may vary in this area. I recommend Upwork.

What I like about Upwork is that I’ve developed a consistent, repeatable process for finding new talent and adding them to my company when the need arises.

I don’t take the traditional path of placing a job description on the Internet and hoping someone applies. I seek people out.

Will I change my tune there in the future? Maybe.

Maybe you want to go that route from the beginning—totally cool with that! Just have a plan so that you’re not going back to the drawing board when you need to scale.

Often, the need to scale happens fast. I hired one subcontractor…and then within a couple months, the work scaled so quickly that I needed to add more people right away.

That’s a heck of a lot easier to manage with a plan and a process for making it happen.

3. Tread Lightly in “Whale Territory”

This might be one of the most important pieces of advice I give you.

I also need to caveat that it might be perceived contradictory to another piece of advice I gave about building your financial runway.

It isn’t. But allow me to explain.

“Going after whales” is marketing speak for landing big accounts.

These are higher ticket relationships that can end up being very profitable and great clients.

When you’re just starting out and trying to build a runway to go full-time into subscription web design, it might be a good idea to find a client (or a few) that could be higher ticket.

Maybe they need a higher level of service or just a lot of work done (think working for them as a subcontractor).

Because it can take a while to scale with lower monthly rates, this could be a good way to get started.

However—I would caution against making “whale hunting” a long-term part of your strategy.

Some agencies choose to go this route, and that’s fine.

But there is a point in time where you must do a balancing act between finding clients that are profitable for you and those clients making up a significant piece of your income.

In full transparency, CREST started as an exercise in whale hunting. My idea was to find high ticket clients that could bring in a significant amount of revenue.

And, I did. The plan worked. However, I didn’t have a great strategy for converting these clients and to be honest, the conversation rate of the program is far, far lower than I had hoped.

One way I have combated this is by breaking down each element into its own standalone product.

In this way, every customer is a CREST customer! It’s just a matter of which stage they are in and how many services they have going concurrently.

Part of my customer education now is to let them know that they are a part of this process, and as they grow, we want to be there to support their efforts in these areas.

There is plenty of merit to the idea of “low ticket + scale” as an alternative to “high ticket + exclusivity.”

For example, I am considering adding a tier of service that falls below my custom website rates and offering template packages. I don’t have any details worked out yet, but I am considering it.

Why? Because:

1. The onboarding is easy

2. I can charge less and scale it easier

3. If someone leaves, it’s not a huge hit to the bottom line

They can always upgrade into a full custom site, and/or they can still ascend up the ladder of CREST. This just makes it easier to get in the door.

You should be thinking about these things. About how to manage growth in your business.

Maybe you’re not there yet, and I get it. But you’ll be much better off if you’ve already thought through some of these ideas and have a plan for dealing with growth.

Deciding to choose the path of Subscription Web Design is easily one of—if not the best—business decisions I’ve ever made.

Still, I wish I could say that it’s all gone perfectly. I made my share of mistakes that I would like to go back and change.

I admit, some of these things I’m not sure I would have been able to change. Even if that’s the case, it’s instructive to reflect on what could have happened differently.

An Important Warning

I am a firm believer that everything that happens is either allowed or ordained by God. This also means that the decisions I’ve made have helped shape everything about the way my life is today.

So I don’t have “regrets” in that sense.

These mistakes don’t cause me to lose any sleep at night and your mistakes shouldn’t cause you to lose any either.

It’s a skill to learn from your past. And when you can do that without beating yourself up, you will begin paving the way toward an ever-brighter future.

Mistake #1: Waiting to make the leap into full-time.

January 2021 was a magical time.

I finally got to “fire my boss” (even though I love and appreciate him and my old coworkers very much!) and go out on my own.

I am forever grateful for the safety net they provided me and my family during the time I worked for them…I’m also grateful for my early clients who made it possible for me to jump into full-time work when I did.

And, still I can’t help but wonder…

What if I had left sooner? What if I hade made the jump before I thought I was ready? What if I could have had two or three more years of the self-employed lifestyle?

You see, it would be easy to blame circumstances as what kept me employed. Too easy. Because I know the truth.

It was not circumstances that kept me there—it was fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of how to support my family. Fear of the famine.

It was also a lack of the boldness to sell, which we’ll discuss in a moment.

At the end of the day, I didn’t really think I had what it takes to be successful. It was a mindset problem.

And with a growing family to support, I think some of that fear was justified. Once again, I don’t regret the decision.

But knowing what I know now, might I have handled things differently? Sure.

Mistake #2: Failing to outsource soon enough.

This one was not for lack of trying. I think I actually outsourced a lot sooner than most, and probably do to the advice I’d received from others who said to do so.

Even still, I think I could have started outsourcing sooner. The mistake I made was thinking that I had to do all the work.

I had a full-time job! I didn’t need to work all hours of the day and night doing web projects. I should have focused my time on selling projects and building my team while living off of my full-time income alone.

Then I would have been able to make the leap even more confidently because I would not equate my time sitting in front of a computer screen with my income.

It’s a big shift—do I spend most of my time in front of a computer screen now? Of course. But it has exactly zero correlation to my income.

That’s where you want to be.

Mistake #3. Failing to charge enough.

Very, very few people avoid this mistake. Learning how to quote jobs accurately is a valuable skill that, itself, takes time and development to learn.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that you should probably triple your quotes for the first few years of business.

If you think it should be $750, it should be $2250. Bottom line. If you THINK it should be $2250, it should be $6750.

That may sound crazy to you.

And that’s why you should do it.

Even today, using the subscription model, I still get some jobs wrong. Some jobs really need to be quoted at higher subscription prices than others, and when I fail to do that, I lose money.

Here’s something you will learn, too: You are the price-sensitive one, not your client.

Now of course I’m not saying there are no price-sensitive clients. But the more you do business, the less you will end up working for them.

Why? Because, in many cases, you’ll just naturally begin to price out of their range.

The mistake comes with carrying their price sensitivity into your new business relationships. You will start work with clients who don’t shop on price or even consider it when it comes to the relationship.

One way to illustrate it might be this:

Old clients: ((Money + Relationship = Business))

New clients: ((Relationship)) + ((Money)) = Business

Do you see the difference?

Price-sensitive clients view money and the relationship as part of the same thing. Which is where squabbles over price come from.

Eventually you’ll start working with clients who see the business relationship as the biggest contributing factor and the money as just the “transaction” that signifies a level of economical agreement and seals the contract.

If you carry the old mindset into new relationships, you’ll charge way less than you should, have much more awkward encounters, and ultimately lose a lot of business.

Mistake #4. Being too timid to sell.

“Sales” is not unethical. “Unethical Sales” is unethical.

The sooner you get that straight, the better.

I would even say it’s difficult to differentiate this on tactics alone, although I am sure we could hash some things out.

My mistake was thinking that I was bothering people when I was trying to sell them. The kicker? I was. But not because of WHAT I DID—rather, because of HOW I THOUGHT.

When you truly have the other party’s best interests at heart, selling becomes a walk in the park. The metric changes.

It goes from, “How many deals did I close?” to “How many people did I serve?”

Now sure, you’ve probably worked for people in the past who would’ve called that mindset pie-in-the-sky thinking. Service doesn’t equal sales.

Or does it?

Zig Ziglar, arguably one of the most well-known and widely respected sales trainers of all time, said this about it:

You will get all you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want.

In full disclosure, I am still working on this in my own life. When your family and team members’ well-being is on the line, it’s hard to divorce yourself from the mindset of “I need to close THIS deal RIGHT now.”

But the more you can free yourself from that desperation, the more content you will be, the more space you’ll have to serve people, and the more people will like you and trust you.

And guess who people do business with?

Those who know, like, and trust. It’s really that simple. Don’t make it harder than that. (Preaching to myself, now.)

Mistake #5. Not being in community.

Just before I struck out on my own, I joined Josh Hall’s web design club. It’s now called Web Designer Pro.

I owe much of my success to Josh and the fantastic community he built!

I had been in other membership communities, but something was different about his. Aside from just being a great place with great people, I eventually came to understand what made the difference.

The other communities I’d been a part of were for entrepreneurs or people just trying to build an audience online. All well and good.

But I needed to do life with people who understood me, which is what his community offers.

BTW, years later, it’s still a fantastic place, and I would recommend you join ASAP.

Two of my current teammates are members and we’re doing fantastic work together!

I hope you can learn from some of these mistakes!

Truly, there are many mistakes I didn’t make because I learned from others and avoided them. I hope just a few of you will avoid a mistake or two as a result of reading this piece as well.