I am starting a new Web Design Business - Defining the Focus

In this first episode I am telling you about my process of finding a new focus for my Web Design Business, based on research and insights from books, videos and painful experiences. I hope you guys find it interesting!

Another great video Rino. I can see myself in so many of the points your mentioned. I m gonna buy this book and rethink my business strategy.

So... A website for a restaurant would be classified as.... Listing websitr?

“I work on my terms now” ❤ love that for you. More power to the people

Nobody else will talk about the Elephant in the room so I will. Rino, apparently, you weren't aware of it at the time, but you were in the marketing business and didn't know it. A website is one of many tools used to grow and maintain a business. The problem with web design is CLIENTS think of their website as ART, and that's not the point of a website. The CLIENTS are the problem, they make every one of us do double work for the same money because they have no clue what they want until after we build it, and then suddenly they care! They act like asking for cooperation in the project is like telling them to learn a foreign language. There's only one point to a website, engage a customer and EAT (experience, authority, and trustworthiness on the subject matter). That's it, and how do you do that, provide the information they're looking for immediately, or they bounce. Artsy large displaying headers are pointless without the information they're looking for and you lose them. Look at the websites we all buy products from, are you going to tell me Elementor has an attractive website? You are on the right track Rino because marketing entails more than just a website, although a strong online presence is essential. I worked in sales for Clear Channel Radio in South Florida, I can tell you that all agencies automatically get 15% of the sale, so you can offer your services to mid to large companies for free. 15% of a large advertising budget can support an entire marketing business, the key is larger clients rather than volume works best. Rino, I am much older than you and would like to share one piece of wisdom with you, always "fake it till you make it and never apologize for it". Exude confidence because that's what people pay for "EXPERTISE". We all have our ups and downs but as far as business is concerned it's imperative to believe in yourself. I love your educational videos you have more skills than you're aware of, you're humble and always willing to learn what you don't know. Oh, the requirements for an advertising agency are "declare you are an agency", and the same goes for businesses that buy radio, tv or print, "declare you are working as your own agent and get a 15% discount".

Holy shit Rino. You nailed down the pain that I have since years. 90% of my clients have zero idea how to market themselves and I spent weeks of discovering for free what they need to eventually raise an offer for a website.

how is the business doing

I like this video very much. It touches allot of similar issues that I have myself.

Yes, yes and yes - its the problem of the yes sayer! For me it's the other way round, I work in brand design and have often been asked if I can also create websites, so I'm now working on this skillset. And then you're about to explain to the customer how to get traffic to the website, you're back to marketing social media... And you're absolutely right, that's probably exactly what saves designers from AI. The explanation of the overall context, the positioning and a perfect, structured customer processing + strategy that you market correctly beforehand. And the problem that I haven't solved yet (positioning) is now being carried over to the websites. So I know what I'll be working on next time. Great content, keep it up!

Please teach web design in U Tube

M8, It was like I'm watching myself :))) I had all those difficult situations you've had and have a marketing agency in the UK. and after thinking the same way as you did, asked the similar questions to myself, decided the same thing! adapting to the big change! either we want to or not, it will take us in! if we runaway which we cannot because we lose our job! then I said yes! ideas! marketing ideas ar more important now! of course, an Ai can do that either but, the client does not know what they need most of times so they would not be able to ask the correct questions to the Ai! yes m8, that's where we log in to the business back again with all our experiment, still... at least for few more years :) thx for great video and suggestions. would love to speak more about business with you btw, take care and be creative always!

Smart !

Small services businesses get their clients through referrals because word of mouth is free. All the marketing services you mention here cost thousands of dollars that most small business cannot afford.

Welcome back sir! Your videos inspired me to start my own website freelance journey with learning about elementor. I have always loved designing wireframes but little interest in development so creating websites always seemed daunting, your ability to teach helped me create my first client website and I'm now in the process of launching something bigger than freelancing services. I look forward to having you back on YT 🫡

Amazing, love it, liked, subscribed, bell iconed, everything

This is one of your best videos. Thanks!!!!
P.S: You're 1000% right!!! 🥰

Man, you're so late to this. Website had always been one part of digital marketing. I used to teach that to my clients in 2010.

I think this is my favourite Rino's video. Thank you thank you thank you!!!

Great video, good luck with the project

As a web designer who ditched web design 5 years ago to become a Google ads marketing consultant, I can promise you this you will have more peace, profit and prosperity with this direction. Sometimes the best thing you can do in business is say no to everything and yes to only 1 thing. It's the best way to declutter your mind. All the best.

I really enjoyed your video on defining focus and starting a new business module. It seems like you're at a point where you're thoughtfully evaluating your next steps, which I think is a very healthy exercise for any entrepreneur.
Your success is built on your likeability and honesty, and you've cultivated a strong audience. To take things further, I wanted to offer a different perspective on business development.
Many successful entrepreneurs reach a point where they need to decide how to scale their impact. While staying hands-on with every project can be rewarding, it might limit your ability to reach new heights. Here's where exploring cooperation comes in.
There are various ways to collaborate, depending on your goals. You could consider building a team in-house, outsourcing specific tasks, or even partnering with another agency.
Each approach has its advantages, and the best choice depends on your unique situation.
For example, partnering with an agency allows you to leverage their expertise and resources, freeing up your time to focus on your core strengths.
This can help you take on more projects, expand your reach, and ultimately serve your audience in a bigger way.
Of course, this is just one approach, and the decision ultimately lies with you. If you're ever interested in exploring collaboration further, I'd be happy to chat. My new digital marketing agency in Germany specializes in Digital marketing, coding HTML, CSS, and we might be a good fit for your vision.
We'd be happy to discuss how our expertise could complement your strengths and help you expand your reach. In the meantime, keep up the fantastic work!

I myself is struggling with web development business. Recently I have landed an eCommerce website project. You are right about the thing that the client does not know what they wants and there are lot of people who can build a website cheaper than you. What you can offer is right direction to the client . I liked the idea very much. I dont have much practical experience in branding and marketing can you tell me how to learn this things.

This video is rated 150%. This is my actual problem

Makes sense. But I would like to know more by marketing what did you mean. What part of the marketing are you covering.

Hmmm maybe we should work together @rinodeboer we are now opening to the us market with our agnecy 🏆🇭🇺

Hi Rino - good to follow your journey and thanks for sharing your insights at this exciting inflection point in your working life. one of my mentors helped me understand the importance of charging top dollar for access to you because you have the experience and know-how, which has taken you a long time to build up. AI is great and will change the way we work and tools we use, as well as 'giving power to the people'. Clients that work with you choose to invest in having you 'on their team' and that's worth money as it saves them time and mistakes.

it was awesome. ai’m looking for the next episodes ❤❤

Great video and we share the same issues and concerns. I have a different model to other web designers and it's worked very, very well for me. I want to suggest a book to you too: Built to sell by John Warrilow.

Man this feels so familiar… great video sir.

Welcome! 😄because many web designers and web developers call themselves professionals, but they are still unaware that they are providing free discovery time and consultations 🤭

How do you be ome a traveller in the world as a wedesigner when you dont have a local business address?

I've opted in for you to create a website for me through your site, haven't heard anything yet unfortunately.

I studied Mediamanagement (Bachelor) in Germany and think your Plan hast a Solid Base and could workout Just fine:) for me it Sounds right to Take IT to the next lvl even when this means you have to downscale! So interessting Sharing this Information thanks!!!

Added my email to your waitlist

This is an incredible and educative video. Thank you Rino. This was introspective. I appreciate the work and in depth research and reading that went into making this video. I've been following your channel for more than three years now, and I've enjoyed so many invaluable information and insights that has aided me in my own journey. I wish you all the best. Thank you.

Do you use Bricks?

Very useful content. QUESTION: Are you planning to focus on a niche market, or will you offer your service to any service based business?

in other words ai is replacing us lol

on point 👌🏼

I absolutely love this episode...keep up the good work man, you're an inspiration. Sending love from the Caribbean.

Great video Rino and inspiring. Certainly resonated with me after many years working and becoming the solution to clients problems but not my own (freelancer). My question is - as part of your quest to develop your brand how do you manage the personal branding alongside that of your professional one without blurring the lines? Do you simply create assets for each or combine? so confused on how best to approach this with the limitations of time. Appreciate your insight.

Hello Rino, great video. Actually this is exactly what I am going to do. I have more than 35 years in International Marketing in large organizion and just came recently in deep contact with digital marketing. I strong believe that the work with traditional marketing tools is fundamental for successful online or digital marketing. Therefore i called my company tradidigital. with the fundamentals of traditional marketing I mean in particular USP, Positioning, Market segmentation, Pricing strategy, etc. I will let you know when my site will be online. Thanks for your wonderful and very helpful content. Peter

Rino,
thank you for sharing your experiences so openly and honest with us. I can see myself in many of the things you described - and seeing you progress and building your business further and further - until it suits you and your clients - is just so heartwarming to wacht. Thank you for sharing with us, this is a great inspiration and motivation :)

awesome insight! repositioning is inevitable for web designers. people don't want websites - but what the website can give them to grow their business and bottom line. figure that out, and you are good to go.

Thanks Rino. This was very interesting and well done. I appreciate you sharing your insights and thoughts. Very helpful.

Rino, I am trying to start a Web Design Business thanks to you. But I ran into a problem. I bought the Elementor Pro version with 25 websites, and I'm not completely sure what counts as "1 website". I am sure it counts as a domain, but does 1 website also equal to 1 sub-domain? Meaning if I had a 5 page website my Elementor Pro license would use up 5 websites. If so, should I make one page websites for my clients? Thank you.

I figured out that on December last year, that web development is not enough.

Small business need more of Marketing, and tools to help them reach potential customers. Thus now I offer more consulting services and give the client options to get a service provider for what they need or I invoice them🎉

The position of a digital designer in a nut shell is VISUAL MARKETING

But if you take a saas for example, they’re not a service but he still need a landing page to market their product like a service based business so are you not loosing tons of clients ?

The Nook restaurant in Bali is where you took the thumbnail picture right?

A discovery meeting or call shouldn't be free in general, as this would devalue your time. Additionally, think of the time you have to spend before you even go into a meeting with your client. So it's up to you where you draw a line in the sand and charge even for calls like longer than 10–15 minutes. At the end the client pays not only for your time, also for time together where you figure out their needs, goals, and achievements in the future. Past — Now — Future.