The Secret To Building A Million Dollar Web Agency

Welcome to The Web Designers Cookbook, my name is Robert Williams, the founder of RS Web Design Agency & RS Web Academy. This weekly series was created to share insightful tips, advice, and strategies to help start, build, and scale your web design business. Get ready to launch your web design career to new heights with RS Web Academy & The Web Designers Cookbook. 

Let’s be honest, we all want a life of freedom, and some level of control over our time and how we spend it. Building a successful web agency is something that has taken me years to accomplish. But during my journey, I’ve learned what I’ll call secrets. These secrets are the things that you won’t find on a YouTube channel, google, or podcast. Take this journey with me as I share what others won’t on what it takes to build a successful web design agency. 

The Investment

Understand that the single best investment you’ll make is truly in yourself. When it comes to web design, choosing a design platform and making it your business to become an expert in it will provide you with ROI that only increases with the more clients you or your agency serves.

When starting out I became proficient in Wix & Squarespace. But the more I used these platforms, the more I realized they didn’t give me the expansive creative freedom I was looking for. So I paused, taking on new clients and make Webflow my agency’s platform of choice.

Webflow

If you're new to web design or have been using platforms like Wix, square space, and WordPress, I’d say it’s time to transition to Webflow. To be honest, learning Webflow was a pain in the ass. Coming from a simple drag-and-drop platform to one as advanced as Webflow was a bit intimidating, not to mention the steep learning curve associated with it. But once I clearly understood the platform, the ROI was immense. 

Deciding to exclusively use Webflow as my agency’s platform of choice allowed us to increase our prices simply because of the endless amount of creative freedom Webflow provides. We closed on our first 10k project 6 months after switching from wix to Webflow. Because we decided to only use Webflow, this was also another area that set us apart when it came to clients comparing us with competitors. Our immersive and innovative work begins to speak volumes, which ideally is what clients want. 

Who do you want to work with?

Initially, I wanted to work exclusively with eCommerce companies. My thinking behind this was due to the fact that there are hundreds of eCommerce companies being created every day. Even though this was true many of these startups couldn’t afford our prices. This also put my agency in direct competition with do-it-yourself website builders. During the time we decided to implement and learn Webflow I decided to take a step back and refocus our niche. I choose for our agency to work solely with newly funded SaaS companies.

I chose this niche for a few reasons. I knew that the SaaS industry still is far away from being overly saturated. I also knew that a SaaS company’s MRR is in direct relation to how well their website engages and provides the site visitor with the right information at the right time. This niche was our golden goose. 

How to get consistent work

Keeping a full pipeline can be what makes or breaks your agency or freelance business. Is it just me or does it seem like this is the secret that no Youtuber, podcaster or google will give the answer to. Well, I hope you're ready because here's the answer to getting consistent work and a full pipeline: a substantial offer. 

The key to creating a substantial offer is making an offer that simply can’t be refused. The offer we created for our agency is a free in-depth website audit. In order to get the results of this audit, you have to book a 15 minute call with us to discuss not only our findings but also how we’re able to increase their MRR through our proprietary formula.

Note: make sure your offer is unique, different, and provides the prospect with value. Providing value is the key to making this work. 

How will people find you

I’ll be honest, marketing was never my strongest area. With so many social media platforms available, choosing the right one takes a bit of understanding. Understanding in the sense you know who you're targeting and what social media platform they’re most likely to engage on. 

We chose to exclusively engage on the LinkedIn platform. We chose LinkedIn for its vast database of SaaS companies and business owners. LinkedIn also provides us with direct contact with the key decision makers in the company, which assures us that our message is getting to the right people. Using LinkedIn has allowed us to bypass the whole idea of cold emailing completely. Most cold emails have low response rates because the recipient does not know who you are. 

Prospecting on LinkedIn eliminates this. If your LinkedIn profile is set up correctly it should showcase your knowledge and expertise in your niche, and how you or your agency can solve the pain points your prospect may be facing. In other words, a strong profile creates authority. 

Recap

Building a successful web design agency doesn’t have to be difficult. It comes down to this; become an expert in a dedicated design platform, know who you want to work with, have an offer that is hard to refuse, and choose a dedicated social media platform for outreach. 

Learn more using our step-by-step guide to building a successful web design agency with RS Web Academy. 

Ultimately, LinkedIn can turn anyone into a successful self-made entrepreneur with a little knowledge of sales and understanding of the LinkedIn Platform itself.

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