10 Common Mistakes New Web Designers Make, with Paige Brunton
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In this video, we talked about some of the more common mistakes we’ve noticed that keep popping up over the past 12+ months doing monthly coaching calls together for her Square Secrets® and Square Secrets Business® students inside her private FB group.
⏭️ What we talked about in the video:
00:00 - Intro
02:04 - Paige’s Introduction
02:52 - MISTAKE 1: Letting Fear & Imposter Syndrome Rule You
04:45 - Resource: You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero
05:04 - MISTAKE 2: Marketing Crapshoots & Aimless Goals
07:01 - FREE Profitable & Productive Web Designer Bootcamp
07:48 - About Leaning only on Referrals
09:33 - MISTAKE 3: Lack of Systems & Processes
11:11 - Systems & Processes help with boundaries
13:57 - MISTAKE 4: Not Using Contracts
16:38 - MISTAKE 5: Niching to Improve Work Efficiency
19:45 - MISTAKE 6: Using a “Be Everywhere” Marketing Strategy
23:02 - MISTAKE 7: No Idea How To Talk About Your Business
24:03 - MISTAKE 8: Too Generic & Not Understanding Client’s Needs
27:16 - MISTAKE 9: Not Nailing the Copywriting
28:49 - MISTAKE 10: Lacking a Supportive Community
31:11 - FREE Profitable & Productive Web Designer Bootcamp
Web Designers: Avoid These Common Mistakes
Reflecting on my journey from side hustle to full-fledged business owner, I’ve had my fair share of oops moments. Back in 2015, fresh on the scene, I made all the classic mistakes. In fact, I had no idea they were even mistakes. I didn’t know what I didn’t know.
But thanks to a lot of late night Googling (and maybe a little teary-eyed browsing), I discovered Paige Brunton. Paige quickly became a sort of North Star for me, guiding me through the fog of confusion. I took her courses—Square Secrets and Square Secrets Business—and things started to change. Let’s just say, I'm not still floundering.
Let’s dive into everything I’ve learned over these years, plus the wisdom I’ve gathered from Paige about what REALLY (like, really) trips newbie web designers up, and how you can avoid all the cringy pitfalls.
❶ Finding my way from "Hot Mess Express" to now
Here’s where it all began: 2015. With zero experience in web design and bajillion questions, I jumped right in. After lurking around the rabbit hole that is Google and stumbling from one blog to another, I found Paige Brunton. At the time, it was more like stumbling INTO salvation.
Paige, a Squarespace expert, was offering two courses—Square Secrets and Square Secrets Business. Spoiler alert: those courses shook my business to its core. I took the lessons, ran with them, adapted them to match my quirky, I’m-gonna-do-it-my-way vibe, and that's when it all started to click.
Fast forward to 2022: there I am, part of Paige’s world, helping students in her Facebook group and doing monthly coaching calls. Life, I tell ya.
If you're finding yourself stuck, overwhelmed, or just flat out confused (been there, done that), let’s break down the truth behind the most common mistakes holding you back. Don't worry, it's not just you.
❷ Imposter Syndrome is real, and it’s holding you back, HARD
Ah yes, the classic “Am I even good enough?” brain parade. I’m imagining you’ve had those "Oh-No-I’m-A-Total-Fraud" moments, where even THINKING about charging someone for your work feels like a scam. Well, it’s not true.
Imposter syndrome is, without a doubt, one of the biggest mind blocks for web designers starting out (or really, any creative entrepreneur). I’ve been there, Paige’s been there. We’ve all spent WAAAAY too long agonizing over an email draft, fretting our pricing, or dragging our heels on launching our websites because "there's this ONE little sidebar element that just isn’t PERFECT yet..." Sound familiar?
👉 The Answer: Fixing this begins with realizing that it’s OK to learn as you go. Be a student, not the world’s leading authority (yet). You don’t need every answer. Just move forward.
🚨 The Book Rx? You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero will light a fire under your self-doubting rear end. It’s a mindset must. You won’t regret it.
❸ Marketing? More like quietly whimpering in a corner trying #EVERYTHING
Let’s be real—many of us toss spaghetti on the marketing wall, hoping something sticks. We dive into Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn...oh, and don’t forget Pinterest (!) because we’re lead to believe by some random blog that pinning 50 things a day will solve our business woes. (It didn't for me... just saying).
So, why do new web designers often feel like they’re "working SO HARD" but still not getting a single inquiry? It’s simple: You're pouring your energy into everything except an intentional marketing strategy. Been there.
❹ Simplify. Simplify. And then... simplify more!
First off, think about it this way: Are you actually tracking how you spend your time? And if you are, jump into your time log days/weeks/months later: were those “work” activities even connected to getting clients—a.k.a. the heart and soul of why you run a web design business?
In my case? I got REAL cozy with TONS of projects that were essentially fancy procrastination. My email list stalled, but surprise surprise, most of my time wasn’t even focused on growing it.
Let this hit home: you're fooling yourself into being "productive" instead of "strategic."
❺ The (potential) downside of referrals
If you’re brand spanking new, or too reliant on “Word of Mouth” referrals, you may think “Oh cool, I’ll just let people gush about me, and voilà! I’ll have clients pouring in…” But referrals can backfire. Why? You don’t always get your ideal fit. Vetting people who come to you just because “So and so loved working with you” can get you trapped in awkwardness. They’ll come in fired up, but when there’s no alignment? Big Yikes.
So, learn to balance. Referrals are awesome… but as the cherries on the ice cream sundae. Not the sundae itself.
❻ Systems, processes, and why you absolutely need a contract from DAY ONE
Your puzzle piece isn’t just the client funnel. It’s also about what happens AFTER the happy email ("YAY! Let’s Work Together!"). How do you juggle it all?
The answer is systems. A lot of potential chaos magically disappears once you lay down a solid system and stick to it. Systemizing literally IMPROVES EVERYTHING from client deadlines to communication to finances. And while I tweaked Paige's methods to better fit MY day-to-day? The core stuff is still the same.
Let’s talk about one in particular—I didn’t even use a contract my first couple YEARS in business. 🙈 Not. A. Single. One. By the grace of the web-dev gods, nothing imploded. But trust me, I was gambling hard. It's like showing up to work without pants on... but worse.
A professional contract has your back when things go sideways (and they will). Lucky for me, I learned rather quickly post-200 “please clarify this confusing email chain of desperation” moment.
(Systems for managing expectations are YOUR LIABILITY). Don't let something break before you start reading the fine print.
❼ Let’s talk about niching
You’ve probably heard us internet folks shouting it from the rooftops: Find Your Niché. It’s not about picking just one tiny group and never looking at another industry again—no no. It’s more about making your own workload WAY more manageable by specializing along the way.
I initially floundered around, doing sites for schools and wellness coaches and restaurants and travel bloggers and… you get the picture. As a result, all my projects were dragging. Why? No process, baby. I needed to sort out new plugins, different branding styles, new strategies with each one. Not gonna lie—it was torture sometimes.
Once you hone in on who you ACTUALLY want to work with (and whose problems you’re actually stoked to solve), things streamline fast and beautifully. Picking a focus speeds up how fast you set your systems up, and makes things LOADS more profitable because you’re not reinventing the wheel each time.
❽ Community is everything
This entrepreneurship space can get... well, a little lonely. I don’t need to tell you it sucks to deal with website nightmares or manage difficult clients with no one to lean on. When every adviser's just a Google article on your screen, things start to feel robotic. And spoiler alert, none of your non-entrepreneur friends want to help you word-smith your contact form or hash out your pricing.
Find your people, and I don’t mean the forced kind. You need real, human connections with others in the same trenches as you—with the same (frustrating) Squarespace builder bugs, same joyful wins when something clicks, and who UNDERSTAND.
Let me just say: don’t sleep on your opportunity to network and build up your tribe. (Not fake cringe-worthy networking events though, PLEASE). Just find other designers or freelancers where you can jump on chat and yell “HELP! I CAN'T EVEN RIGHT NOW” when needed.
❾ Perfection is overrated. Let’s just be good... consistently
You know what also hurts your web design business? Perfectionism. Waiting months to launch your site because it needs to be absolutely flawless? Please, stop. This pursuit of clinical perfection delays your marketing, your onboarding clients, your everything.
You won’t really know what errors, detours, and praises await... until you GO LIVE. So start messy, fully expect to tune and tweak, and let the marketing unfold organically. Consistency beats perfection anyway. Hands down.
It doesn’t even need to be hard—start with your focus areas and connect your brand messaging from there. Copy and CTA’s work only if they’re customer-centered. But hey, you can riff on those as you go. It’s better to revisit and revise than never to start.
❿ My business fairy-godmother
Now, if all this is feeling heavy, complicated, or like there’s still waaaayyy too much to fix on your own. Breathe easy. There’s help.
Paige (aka my unofficial mentor and biz fairy godmother) and I also put together a free bootcamp for website designers looking to cut through everything—finding clients, making your workflow easier, creating marketing strategies that HELP you, instead of leaving you in the social media SPIRAL OF DOOM. Join like-minded folks in the twice-a-year event and get hype to learn.
Here’s the deal: if this sounds like just what your (web)doctor ordered, sign up today because bootcamp comes only twice a year. Completely free—no hooks, just solid advice and strategic boosts. You’ll leave a better designer, and by extension—business owner.
Final Thoughts?
Build the Business YOU Want
I hope you were able to pull some valuable insights from this chaotic, goofy, but ultimately truthful convo with Paige. Everyone makes mistakes along the way—it’s how you learn. Start out clueless? Yeah, I did too.
With consistency, learning to laugh at your mistakes (because TRUST ME, you'll make them), and leveraging the right guidance—you can totally build the business that works for you... and your clients too.
With the seasons of change come growth. Keep wading deeper into improvement, put fears on mute (turn on books about kicking fear out of your headspace instead), and dive into processes that will make life easier. We’ve been right where you are. Let’s move forward together. ✌️
Full Video Transcript
NOTE: This automated transcript generated from the video by Descript*, is not accurate letter-by-letter or word-for-word and some of the Speaker Labels are not in the right places, but you’ll get the gist of the interview from here if ya refuse to watch it. 😂
[00:00:00] Katelyn: I'm sure you'd never guess it if you've been looking around my YouTube channel here, but actually eight ish years ago when I started my side hustle in 2015, I had no idea what I was doing. I was doing everything wrong, and I had no idea any of it was wrong. I didn't know what I didn't know. And eventually, Through scouring Google and blogs, I landed on Paige Brunton.
[00:00:26] She has been a long term mentor of mine since then. I took both of her courses, Square Secrets and Square Secrets Business. I've adapted a lot of her processes. I have tweaked them to fit my personality type and the type of clients that I want to work with. And it has actually helped me form a business that I genuinely love.
[00:00:49] to run. And in 2022, little known fact, they noticed that I was being super helpful in the student group. And so they asked me to join the monthly coaching calls for the students. So every month I get to do those calls with Paige in the private Facebook group. And over the past few months doing those calls with Paige, one thing that we've noticed is that there are a lot of common Errors, mistakes that new business owners make just because they simply do not know what they do not know.
[00:01:14] Since then, I've also started my own coaching group, and oddly enough, I have seen very similar mistakes. Before I dive in and let Paige introduce herself, though, I should reintroduce myself. myself, just in case you're new around here. So if we haven't met before, my name is Katelyn. I run Launch the Damn Thing now.
[00:01:32] No longer KD Designs. There was actually a brand in between that too. Maybe a different story for a different time. But I am now a Squarespace web designer and educator. So we each put together our own list. of mistakes we commonly see new business owners making and we thought we would get together and talk through them with you.
[00:01:52] So without further ado, let's dive into the 11 ish in no particular order most common mistakes that we've been seeing over the past few months. Thanks. Paige, why don't you introduce yourself?
[00:02:04] Paige: Yeah. Hi, I'm Paige. I have taught a lot of lovely humans, Katelyn included, how to build websites and a website business.
[00:02:12] And Katelyn is so fabulous at all the things that she does. That I decided to also bring her on and for like over a year now, she's helped me in our like monthly Q and A calls in our student community and we were just, we just chat and we noticed, okay, there's certain things that people keep doing and it's causing them problems in their business.
[00:02:31] Yeah, often in the context of like, I mean, honestly, any business owner, but like, especially for website designers, um. We noticed some things that were like, Oh, so these are like the main things that we notice are really like stopping business owners or website designers from really thriving in their business, which we would love to see people change.
[00:02:48] Yes,
[00:02:49] Katelyn: exactly. So, tip number one, where would you start with that? Maybe the most important would be, like, fear based. That was where, that was where I got hung up the first.
[00:03:01] Paige: Yep, yeah, I agree. I think we both had this on our list of things that people do that, like, hangs them up. And it's... Imposter syndrome, just stopping yourself.
[00:03:10] Like you feel like you're working so much and everything, but actually when you look at it, it's like you're not, you've been meaning to do something for forever, but it's your mindset and it's you stopping yourself, which is like causing the problem. And so people are often looking for like, Oh, what should I do next?
[00:03:23] My business, what should I do next? My business. But sometimes it is a mindset solution that needs to be worked on and not like a practical, do anything, build anything solution. Cause if you're noticing that you're like, Taking literally forever to put together your welcome package, or absolutely forever to launch your website, or you just can't pick a marketing strategy.
[00:03:40] It could be that you're, like, you don't need a practical solution, it needs to be a mindset solution. Um, and I love some of the stuff that you had actually said, like when students ask about mindset stuff, I feel like you often have really good advice
[00:03:51] Katelyn: on it. I have a lot of practice with doing the thing that I'm telling people not to do.
[00:03:59] So, uh, I learned a lot because I love to learn, but after a point, I was realizing that I was learning just for the sake of learning and not necessarily implementing. And so I always want to stop people when they get to that point. And it's like, no, no, no, you bought this for a reason. Like put it into action, do the damn thing.
[00:04:19] Um, but also the imposter syndrome thing, like just reminding people that it's okay to be a student. You don't have to be the expert. Like, that's not how it works. You have to work up to that. And that's always where I got hung up. Like, I don't know enough yet. Um, so that's my number one, probably the fear based, not letting you move forward.
[00:04:38] Paige: Yes. Totally. For me, I find the biggest solution when I'm stopping myself is reading mindset books. So, like, You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero is fantastic, for example. And then just, like, if you go on Amazon, you see all the other, like, recommended reads from that book, like, probably all those are also fantastic.
[00:04:54] Um, so that's my, like, number one solution to stopping myself, stop stopping myself from getting in my own way.
[00:05:02] Katelyn: Yes, exactly. What would you say would be the second most important? I know what mine is, but. Do you want to go? You give me your answer. Not marketing or choosing too many things to market in both sides of that spectrum.
[00:05:19] Paige: So one thing which I had on my list, kind of similar vein, but it's like, you're, I call it like spending time on the wrong tasks. It's like, you really want clients, but you do everything other than a marketing strategy. And if you like actually sat down and evaluated your time, because people will feel like, Oh, I'm working so hard and I'm not getting anywhere.
[00:05:38] Like I'm not getting clients. And. But if you actually, like, literally I did this myself once, one time in my business. I was like, I wanted to grow my email list, which was also for me, like a client getting strategy and everything. And that was like my main thing, which I decided that was my main priority for the year.
[00:05:53] And then I came to the end of the year and I looked at my email list size and I was like, Oh, it didn't grow the way I wanted it to grow. And then I looked at, okay, well, what projects did you work on this year? Like what work did you actually do this year? And when I looked at it. Pretty much nothing was related to building my email list and getting more clients.
[00:06:09] And so I was like, huh, okay. So like, I say my priority is one thing, but I do something completely different with my actual time. So I totally agree that like not doing a marketing strategy. Even though it kind of feels like, Oh, well, I'm working so hard, but you're not actually doing the thing, which is going to lead you to the thing, which you say you want, which is like getting clients.
[00:06:27] So really being conscious of your time and evaluating that is key.
[00:06:31] Katelyn: Yeah. And it's so, so tough in the beginning when you're the only one, I'm still the only one wearing all the hats. So. All the accounting is me. Not really, but like, the day to day stuff. The CRM stuff, the marketing stuff, the admin tweaks on the website, all of it, and it piles up.
[00:06:49] It's really easy to fall into that trap. But I have to say, from personal experience, I have found myself doing that exact thing. It does not really help you, it just keeps you busy.
[00:07:00] Paige: Totally. I totally agree. It's actually one of the reasons. So I host boot camps every like few months or so. Um, just to help people get started as website designers.
[00:07:08] And one of the things, like it's been an entire day and we just talked about marketing strategies. And then I even bring in like guest experts, like Katelyn has been a guest expert on multiple occasions. Yeah. And we talk about marketing strategies. And it's like, this is one of the things, yeah, totally.
[00:07:22] Absolutely. Cause everyone's always wondering like, how do you get clients? How do you get clients? How do you get clients? Um, and I feel like that's always one of the most popular sessions in bootcamp. And it's. Because, it's like when you're starting out, like, I had the exact same question, and my biggest annoyance was when someone was like, it all comes from referrals, and I was like, that's not helpful information.
[00:07:40] Um, but, yeah, that's why I always like, spend a huge amount of time focusing on that, because I know for people who are starting, that's like, massive question.
[00:07:47] Katelyn: Mm hmm. Yeah, and I never liked the idea of referrals for myself either, because that kind of takes out an element of vetting those people. Because if you're coming from a good client that are like, talking me up, you feel weird telling that person like, actually, I don't think you're a good fit.
[00:08:03] Because that person knows the person you just worked with. So it's a little awkward. Yeah. Yeah, so I don't love the referrals. I mean, I love the referrals, but I don't love them to be my only source for that reason.
[00:08:18] Paige: Totally. Yeah. I also feel like it's one of those marketing strategies. If you can call it a market, I guess it is, um, client finding methods or whatever, but it's one which you don't really have that much control over.
[00:08:28] And so if it's like, yeah, No inquiries today. I mean, there are actually some things you could do. You can reach out to your past clients and be like, hey, I don't know, say something and be like, open to referrals. Um, and then it'll, you know, ring a bell in their mind. Maybe like, oh, yeah, I was just talking to so and so and they actually need a new website.
[00:08:46] Um, But it's one of the ones that you have less control over. Whereas if it's like, oh, okay, I'm doing Instagram or I'm doing pitching or I'm doing blogging or I'm doing YouTubing or whatever it is. I'm doing speaking. Then that's something which you can Effect. Like, you go and do something, and then the result comes, whereas I feel like with referrals, it's like, it's not so much you're doing something.
[00:09:08] So, yeah.
[00:09:10] Katelyn: Yeah. I do actually build that into the final testimonial request that I send my clients, and then when it stops the support period and it says, like, great, it's been fun, now it's over, if you know anybody else that needs a website, like, it's built in, so I don't ever have to actually say that. Mm hmm.
[00:09:25] Which is great. And it helps. But, yeah, I would prefer to vet the people myself, primarily. Mm hmm. Great. So, what would your third be? Mm
[00:09:35] Paige: hmm. Um, okay. So, this is something which I have to say. I don't think my students are guilty of this one. I'm very proud of that. But I think that like, when I talk to other people who are not my student, then this is something which I see is like constantly a problem.
[00:09:49] Um, I feel like for my students, I've like hammered this into them. So I know it, but, um, and it's not nailing down a process. Not using a project management system. The whole business just constantly is like, balls are dropping, things are coming out of left field. You feel like you're always in a rush to do tasks and like, you're always firefighting a problem.
[00:10:09] Um, because you just don't have things, like you don't even know what's supposed to be happening from one day to the next in your business. And so things just, things just happen. Um, whereas there really is like, I feel like when I look at your business, I mean, you've nailed it. Like you have a process. You have, like, you schedule projects at certain dates, and it's just, like, streamlined, and you know what you're doing, and nothing's an emergency, because, like, you've organized the thing and systematized the thing, and so I feel like that's something which I often see.
[00:10:43] Um, is a massive problem for website designers is the world just feels like it's crashing down on them. And it's because they haven't taken the time ahead of time to figure out what is their process? How many clients can they actually manage at a time? When should I schedule this next person? And like, and also if you don't have a project management system, like forgetting to do something and then be like, Oh, I need a, whatever.
[00:11:03] Use the domain. Today, yesterday, like,
[00:11:07] Katelyn: yeah, yeah, and that severely influences the boundaries and like where you hold lines for how much you allow your clients to drive you nuts because they don't know what they're doing wrong if you're not telling them to not do the thing. So that systemization really does affect like all facets of being a service provider provider in general.
[00:11:31] What was your next one? Um. Call, well, just like call to actions and how that affects like the pricing and how comfortable you are in navigating that space and like bringing people in and saying, this is what I charge and this is how you are asking for the sale is basically the problem they feel like putting the price on the website may or may not scare somebody away and so they're timidly not talking about it or asking about it.
[00:11:56] But I mean, that just creates a barrier that not everybody is willing to push through.
[00:12:01] Paige: Not, not putting the pricing, credits bearer.
[00:12:06] Katelyn: Yeah. Cause I've had a personal experience where I reached out to a service provider that was a copywriter who writes fabulous copy. But when I reached out, I wanted first to know, like, does she charge 10, 000 a sales page?
[00:12:20] Like at my stage of business could not have done that if I wanted to. And. So when they answered me, I said, I need to know, they're like, we'll schedule a call. I was like, I don't want to waste your time. Tell me what, what your budget is. Like what my budget is, where it can fit into your system. They never responded, which made me feel like shit.
[00:12:39] I don't have a high opinion of their customer service. But like, even if it had been 10k, like, just tell me. That's why I asked. Yeah, totally. But I wouldn't have had to waste their time or waste my time in that process or felt like crap for, you know, feeling like I didn't belong there, basically. Yeah. If I hadn't have gone through that.
[00:13:01] So now that's like my biggest thing. Like put some pricing on your website so that people don't go through the same thing with you. Totally agree.
[00:13:08] Paige: I totally agree. Yeah. Like also, it's just an efficiency hack as well. Like putting your pricing on your website means you don't get on call. You don't even have to deal with an email from someone who like can't afford it or whatever and you don't need to get on a consultation call and you, yeah, don't need to send a proposal and all these things.
[00:13:26] So, yeah. Mm
[00:13:28] Katelyn: hmm. You still will get the occasional person that somehow misses every instance where you've thrown the pricing at them. And that's like, that's just good practice to get used to having that conversation. That awkward thing where you say, I just charge 8k for this. And they're like, oops, I can't do that.
[00:13:45] It's going to happen eventually, but that's fine. They're just not your person. So not putting prices on your website, not asking for the sale kind of looped in with that. No contract. That's a good one. So when I first got started as an in house designer, that company did not use contracts at all with their clients.
[00:14:10] Yes. I know it was mind boggling. But because of that, when I started freelancing, that was never a thought that entered my brain. As far as something I could do to prevent weird situations from happening. I was conscious that weird situations happen, but wasn't aware that I could have. With More than I could afford it, I just assumed I'd have to go find an attorney, and then I realized contracts are a thing, like, templated contracts are a thing, and I don't have to pay thousands for those, so that's a big one for, like, part of the process, I suppose.
[00:14:44] That's
[00:14:44] Paige: so surprising that, like, a really big company did not do that, like, that's really mind blowing. I also, when I started, I literally didn't know a contract was a thing. Like I had absolutely, like I was in university, like I'd never signed a contract for anything in my life. So like I had no idea. And then at some point, someone, I don't know, I don't know how I, but at some point the web designer talked about having a contract and I was like, Oh, I should probably do that.
[00:15:09] Like, I just didn't know that that was the thing I was supposed to have. Um, so yeah, it gave me a lot more. Um, peace of mind once I had it for sure and agreed with you, like, I was also nervous about how much would that cost coming straight out of university and doing this. Um, yeah, you can get one for a couple hundred bucks.
[00:15:27] It's like attorney written really great. So, yeah,
[00:15:30] Katelyn: yeah, if I'd known it'd been that easy, I would have researched it earlier, but. It's one of those things I maybe wouldn't go back and change because I learned a lesson from. However, that said, that really can cover you in a lot of situations, so I would not recommend starting the way that I did.
[00:15:52] Learn from my mistake, and from
[00:15:54] Paige: your mistake. I feel like people, I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, whoever's watching the comments, or like, posting the comments, if To correct me, but I feel like now there are enough people talking about like web designer education or other website designers talking about how they do things that like, it's that probably most people know this now, but maybe not.
[00:16:10] I have no idea. Like, maybe it's still like me when I started and it's Wild West and people still have no clue, but I at least, yeah, when, when, like, if someone watches your channel or my channel or whatever, like we do mention it. So hopefully most people know now that that is a thing.
[00:16:24] Katelyn: Yeah, I, I, I mean, I have a family member service provider that it took her years to add one, but they're not as expensive.
[00:16:31] They're not as scary to edit, like the places are highlighted. They make it really easy for you. What would you say is then, uh, what are we on? Four? Six? I don't know. Um,
[00:16:45] Paige: one of the things which I find is So people often think of niching for, like, improving their marketing. I find it useful for improving your processes and your efficiency of completing projects.
[00:16:58] So, I mean, it's useful for all the things, but it's especially useful for that. But I think that's one thing which people don't realize that that is actually helpful. So, for example, I did not niche at the beginning of my business at all. Um, anyone who wanted a website, I was here for it. At, like, e commerce, with branding, without branding, whatever, I would do it.
[00:17:14] And so, um, I got, like, The first one client was a school and they needed like a portal for their parents And then another client was a yoga studio and they needed some like super complicated like booking system for all their classes and their gift certificates and there are all these different bits and pieces and then I don't know.
[00:17:30] I just had everything wedding venues and bloggers who needed Pinterest rich pins and Pinterest recipes and stuff. And so for every one of those projects, it took me so much time because I wasn't just building the website, there was also another piece, which was kind of my job, which I had to figure out.
[00:17:46] I had to figure out like the solution or the software or whatever and do a lot of research. And so I found that like, let me put it this way, the faster you niche, the more efficient your project is going to be, but you don't need to niche from the beginning because I do know that that yeah. Like, if you had told me to niche at the beginning, I would have just been like, never mind, I won't even do this.
[00:18:02] Um, so I don't want to force people into saying like, you need to niche from day one in order to be successful because you don't. But if you want your business to become more efficient over time, I do think that that is actually like an unexpected way to make your business. More efficient and to for you just take less time per project which therefore
[00:18:18] Katelyn: means more profit.
[00:18:19] Yeah, I agree I was just discussing that with some students yesterday and they said basically they are trying to Open their niche just a little bit so that they can incorporate slightly more personalities within the same industry um, and I thought that was interesting because it took me a long time to figure out what my niche was because I didn't want to do just an industry.
[00:18:44] Um, because I've done websites for salons, for breweries, for musicians, like all over the map too, same thing. But because of that, it took me a really long time to get. Some, like, upward trajectory. Nope. So, I, I definitely agree. Like, doing that sooner than later would be good if you can figure out
[00:19:06] Paige: what you want that to be.
[00:19:07] I do think, though, that there is also something to finding joy in the day to day of your business. And if you're like, no, sticking to one industry would absolutely destroy this for me, and I wouldn't enjoy running it if I just had to work with musicians or just had to work with breweries. Then it's also fine to be like, I'm just going to accept that that's slightly less efficient.
[00:19:23] But it's worth it to me anyways because it brings me more joy to work with these variety of business owners and that's just like something I'm willing to accept and I think that's totally valid as
[00:19:30] Katelyn: well. Yeah, that's what I ended up figuring out for myself and I just dealt with it but I found ways to deal with it and the inefficiencies became eventually efficient with time and practice.
[00:19:42] What would you say is the next most important thing that people miss?
[00:19:48] Paige: We kind of talked about it, but I feel like we did trying to do every marketing strategy under the sun, like just picking all 53, which you've ever heard of, which I fully did fully. Um, I was the queen of every marketing strategy at the beginning.
[00:20:02] So I literally Googled. How do web designers find clients or how do freelancers find clients or something? And then there was some blog post which is like 57 ways anyone has ever gotten a client as website designer. I was like perfect I'm just gonna write down these 57 ways and do all 57 and so every day I was like, okay I'm gonna like work at this I'm going to every day do one of the marketing, like one of these strategies.
[00:20:25] And so for 57 days straight or whatever it was, 53, I don't remember. It was like for 53 days straight, I did a different, one of those things. And then I started at the top of the list and then went back down the list again. And then I just kept doing that. And then I realized like some of these, I absolutely hate.
[00:20:38] And some of these I'm really not good at. And some of them also like didn't even fix. It was like, Oh, go to like business events. And I was like, no, that's not my job. Five. And like, I'm in Europe, so that's not really going to work. Um, so anyway, so some things. What I'm trying to say is this, is that when I picked one marketing strategy, I gained momentum, the snowball, like it really is a momentum type experience.
[00:21:03] And so if you're doing 57 things, you don't gain momentum in any one of those things. You don't get better at any one of those things. You don't really, like when I just pick one thing, for example, now I'm really, Excited about YouTube. I just spend my free time like listening to podcasts and watching YouTube videos and people who run channels and just learning about it.
[00:21:20] And I just find so much joy in doing that. And it means that I can gain momentum and start growing on my YouTube channel. Whereas if YouTube was one of 57 things I did, then that just wouldn't be happening. So picking one marketing strategy, um, as opposed to trying to do everything. I feel like that's very much so.
[00:21:36] Like it's a thing, which when people start a business, they try to do everything. And then the longer people are in business, the more they're like, and these are the one to two to maybe three things, which I do like products, marketing, ideal clients. Like it's all very like. streamlined, the further along people get in business.
[00:21:54] Yeah,
[00:21:55] Katelyn: I agree. Cause I started some, I wouldn't say I had 50 something on my list at the beginning, but I was definitely doing like very regular Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest. I was pinning like 50 ish pins a week, 80, 20 roll, mostly my stuff. Our 20 percent there's I don't remember what it was.
[00:22:18] But anyway, yeah, I went all in had like board booster when that was a thing. So I just a tailwind. And that I spent all my time posting in places where I felt like nobody was seeing it. Nobody was like engaging at the rate that I thought I did get my Pinterest account up to 100, 000 plus views per month.
[00:22:38] But it never returned any, like I never got clients from that. And so once I realized there was a pattern in spreading myself too thin across all these places, I was like, okay, I'm going to double back down on just my blog and quit doing all these other things. Cause they are not at the return on investment for me.
[00:22:55] And I didn't like doing most of them anyway.
[00:22:58] Paige: Exactly. What was your next mistake?
[00:23:02] Katelyn: I see a lot of people putting too much information. It's almost like both sides of the spectrum, actually, not enough information, or too much information, which I realize is kind of a hard, like, thing to weigh, um, but typically I feel like people are talking about the process of their, like, they're, they're using that as a selling tool, like, this is how I will get you to, but they're not talking about the end result, they're just giving you a whole bunch of details that nobody gives a shit about.
[00:23:33] So I'm often telling people, like, make the paragraphs shorter, like, your headers more concise, or like, clean it up, for love of God, like, do not give people novels to read before they get to make a decision. So that's a popular one that I see a lot, too. Popular mistake. I don't know if popular like by trade or by winning, but it's definitely something I
[00:23:58] Paige: see a lot.
[00:24:01] Yeah. Actually thought of another one while you were saying that one. Yeah. And that one is people being way too generic and not empathizing with their ideal clients on their services pages. So for example, Yeah. So when I was in London, I. I saw this gym in Notting Hill, so cute. And I went to the website and it was just like aligned with my like health and fitness philosophy, let's say.
[00:24:30] So it was like, love yourself. Like you can't hate yourself healthy. And like this, I forget even the name of the business was something like, I don't know, love yourself or something. And it was like a, it had like, they don't do these like hardcore scary workouts. It's like they do. I don't know. Workouts in a more relaxed environment, but still like, you know, you got your workout and everything, but it's not like, it's not bootcamp.
[00:24:51] You're not like being yelled at or anything in the workout. And I'm like, so on the website, they were describing like their sort of philosophy on health and their philosophy on how they like to run their classes and everything. Versus if someone was like, we're a gym. We have classes. Like, it doesn't identify, like, that doesn't identify with me at all.
[00:25:11] I'm just like, the only reason I would choose them then is because they're maybe close by and have cheap prices. Whereas I would go, I lived in Chelsea, and then Notting Hill was like a 30 minute drive. 25. Depends on traffic. Um, and so, like, I would actually go across town to go to that place because I just felt, also, I like the vibe.
[00:25:32] So, but then I, even still, like, that's, like, the opposite of generic. Like, even their vibe was clear in the studio, but it was also clear on their website and everything. I was like, ooh, this is, like, this, like, beautiful, feminine, lovely space. Um, and so I just really like the design style of the space and I like the philosophy of the space and everything.
[00:25:46] And so that made me want to go to that gym. And I feel like with. Website designers, businesses, everything. It's like often when I go to web, new website designers, websites. They're so generic. Like it's just, even I realized this actually myself, my own brand photos at one point, so like I had done a few brand photo shoots and I did what every single female entrepreneur ever did.
[00:26:05] And I just sat there with a coffee mug and was like, I don't know what else to do. And like, and then at one point I was like, okay, what's different or like, what's unique about you and your business? And I'm like, Oh, you know, well, I live in Europe and like, I'm very like European style and everything. So, you know, that's unique.
[00:26:18] And so I went and did a brand photo shoot, which was like super. European and I don't know lovely and just really my vibe and there was there was champagne There was a picnic basket, but there was no more coffee cup. And so I was like, it just felt more Me and I was really Yeah, I really think that that was a good thing to do.
[00:26:40] It took me a few years of doing photoshoots to actually, like, get that bright idea. But yeah, I feel like being less generic and leaning more into whatever it is that it makes you you or whatever your philosophy on business or fitness or whatever it is that you're running, like, lean into that, whatever your design style is, really lean into that on your website as opposed to just going
[00:26:59] Katelyn: generic.
[00:27:00] Be writing for Ashlyn always says. Your onlyness factor. Lean into your onlyness factor. Like be your weird self because it will resonate with people more authentically than if you don't. Yeah. And kind of adjacent to that, one of the things that I wrote down was, um, that your best copy on your sales pages actually does not come from our brain, it comes from our clients brains, which requires market research, and most people don't do much of that.
[00:27:29] Paige: Yep. Totally. Yep. Yep. I feel like you might even need to explain that more, because I feel like some people don't even, they might be like, what? How does it come from them and not me? Like, aren't I the one writing it?
[00:27:39] Katelyn: Yes. Um, but ideally, it's copy and pasted from something your ideal client told you, either in a video where you can transcribe it or something they wrote you in a testimonial.
[00:27:51] So they think about the problem in a different way than we think about what we think their problem is. And we need to talk about it from their perspective because they're the ones with the problem. We are the ones with the solution, which is not the same thing. So if you talk about it from the perspective of this is the problem that I have, and this is how I talk about it, how I look for it on Google, you're going to be much more likely to resonate with the people that show up on your website, thinking the same thing and being like, holy cow, how are they in my head right now?
[00:28:20] That is the exact problem I am having. And then that person is going to be like, Show me where the money is. I'm going to drop all of my money in this drop box. So that's how I try to think about it. Um, I can't take credit for that though. That's all Ashlyn Carter. The next couple that I have are related to community.
[00:28:43] So how do those fit in with what you have left on your list?
[00:28:47] Paige: I feel like, let me talk about community. Oftentimes our friends and family, they're not running businesses, or if they're running businesses, their business isn't anything like our business. And so just finding someone who you can literally like.
[00:28:58] It's not even strategic. Like, I feel like when people talk about like, Oh, I'm going to go to this event and do some networking. I'm like, Oh God, that sounds awful. Whereas I'm like, I just want to make friends, like just friends who have businesses. And the value to my life is literally unparalleled. It's like so exceptionally helpful to just be able to like voice message Katelyn and be like, Katelyn, this is happening.
[00:29:20] Have you ever had that? What would you do? Like, that is so important. So if there's some sort of way that you can find people who. Like I try to get as niche as possible, but granted, if all you can find is like a women in business group, then perfect. That's I mean, that's something like if you can find even still then like, okay, cool.
[00:29:39] Like a web designer community or something. Which I will talk about a bit more in a second, um, but like if you can find a community of people who all want to do that thing and then go like make genuine friendships. I know that sounds weird for that to be like a like goal of yours in business, but I actually think that like the amount of help that that will give you is really incredible when you are having some sort of a problem, you have someone to talk about that with is massive.
[00:30:01] Katelyn: So, yeah, I completely agree, especially as solopreneurs, if we're sitting here and we are running our business by ourselves and we have no one to talk about any of the stressful stuff, the ups and downs, the highs, the lows, we have no one to share these wins with, or if we feel weird by saying like, I just got an 8k project, like.
[00:30:20] I mean, and I'm gonna make that money in two weeks, like, that's hard to share with people that don't understand the work that's involved. So if you have a community, even if they're not in your niche, I almost feel like getting a two niched group where you're all, like, in it, you can't see the forest for the trees.
[00:30:39] So sometimes it's really good to have, like, a little bit of wiggle room around your niche so that you can have outside perspective. That's so, so valuable. People in different stages where they can say like, Oh yeah, I did that. And this is how I got myself out of that problem. Or just being able to talk and realize that you're not experiencing the things that you're experiencing, like the only one in the universe experiencing those things, which is usually not the case.
[00:31:05] Paige:
[00:31:07] Yep. Yeah, totally. Yeah. Brings me to actually, should I tell them about bouquet? Yeah, go ahead. Yeah. All right. So to solve exactly this problem, and a lot of the problems which we've been discussing today, I like to host bootcamps every few months, which actually I just discussed about how in fitness bootcamp is not my bod, but anyways, this is called the Profitable and Productive Web Designer Bootcamp.
[00:31:30] In business, I like a good, like, it's a kind community. Don't worry. No one will yell at you. Yeah, exactly. No one's yelling at this group. Don't worry. It's just, it's a nice bootcamp. Um, the Profitable and Productive Web Designer Bootcamp, we, I host it like once or twice a year. And basically it's a free event, runs for three days.
[00:31:47] It's live. And it's all really about like, How can you get set up, if you want to be a website designer, what are the things that you need to know to like, get your business running, to find clients, to manage your projects, all of these things, and then also a community of people who are trying to do the same thing, which hopefully you can make friends in that community, so you have some people to like, relate to your problems, and you know, like, hopefully long term, keep those connections, like outside of bootcamp as well, so that you really, you know, have a, You can build that community of people who you really want.
[00:32:17] So, anyways, it's happening live October 18th. We will put a link down below where you can actually register. You do need to register for it, but it is completely free. Um, and again, it's happening live, and it only happens once or twice a year. So we would love to see you there. Kate Willen will be there too.
[00:32:32] Yes,
[00:32:33] Katelyn: I will, and you'll have plenty of opportunities to ask all the questions about all the things that Paige is teaching, which is invaluable and Like almost unprecedented access, if I might say.
[00:32:48] Yeah. So definitely need to show up and bring all the notebooks. Cause you're going to be taking lots of notes.
[00:32:58] Awesome. Well, I really appreciate this whole conversation. I hope that's been helpful for everybody. So I hope you really enjoyed that interview with Paige. I'm so thankful she was able to take the time to sit with me and talk through those things with me. I had a blast talking with her about all of the screw ups that I've made over the years.
[00:33:18] And if you are looking to hone your processes a little bit, like Paige said, she runs that Profitable and Productive Web Designer Bootcamp twice a year. Once in spring, once in fall, give or take. And if that sounds like something that you would love to jump into, I'm going to be there, she's going to be there, we're all going to be there.
[00:33:38] Don't miss out. It's totally free. You just have to register so that you can actually find the secret group when the group actually opens. And if you want those details, you can grab them in the link below. In the meantime, while you wait, after you've registered to join the free group when it opens, check out this video next where I go through some of the processes so you can kind of get a peek at what I have learned from Page and how I've adapted it to fit my own business and my own personal style.
[00:34:07] That's it for this video. I hope that was helpful for you. I will see you in the next one. Bye!
