Creating web design packages that actually fit with the way you like to work
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MENTioned in the video:
Quiz! Which Client Finding Method Matches Your Personality Type?
$1,000/day as a web designer? How Katelyn started offering VIP days in her business
A unique web design process that works, even if you have a 9-5 job with Becca Wood
Booking out your web design business MONTHS in advance with Mariana Durst
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Here’s what we chatted about in the video...
Hands up if you started your web design business so you could earn money doing something you love, and do something that fits with all the other commitments you currently have in your life?
Awesome…how’s that going for you?
Is your business actually supporting your life the way you want to live it? Or has it been more the other way around, where you’re constantly having to tweak your life to make more room for your business?
What if I told you there are a few simple changes you could make to the way you run your business, to better set it up to support your life and the way you actually enjoy working?
In today’s video, I’ll specifically be chatting about your web design packages, and how you can set them up so that they not only make your clients happy, but also support your goals as a designer!
Psssst! Need help coming up with a client-attracting method that feels more like you too?
Take the 45 second quiz I created just for web designers to help you discover the strategy that will have you attracting your ideal clients with ease ! 👇
how to BUILD web design packages that actually fit with the way you like to work
1. Decide the perfect web design package timeline
So when you first get started as a web designer, there’s this bizarre myth out there that every project you take on should take you about 6-8 weeks to complete, so therefore, in order to make ends meet, you have no choice but to be juggling multiple clients at once.
But when I first started my web design hustle, I thought long and hard about the way I wanted to be working…
…and having projects drag on for months, or having them all overlap, and being at the beck and call of multiple clients at once wasn’t it.
I wanted to be the one controlling how much I earned and worked, and how much time I took off.
I wasn’t going to go to the trouble of starting my own business, only to place myself back some box of what I thought everyone else was doing!
So when creating my packages, I decided that every single website I took on would be wrapped up in exactly two weeks.
Yep, even those giant branding and web design projects with the $9K price tag…
How?
Because for two straight weeks, my focus was 100% on that client and their project.
I wasn’t having to hit pause on one client to go hop on a call with someone else…or work on another client’s about page because they finally got me their copy and branding images.
Projects were never just dragging on for months, continuing to require my time and attention, but without actually bringing in additional revenue.
I loved it, because I could put all my creative energy into serving just one client extremely well. No having tasks slip through the cracks because I was being constantly interrupted or having to shift gears to accommodate other clients.
I was able to knock their socks off with my customer service, and get their site launched while the hype was still high! No more having the excitement of their investment fizzle out because of slow progress, or the client becoming distracted with other projects in their business.
Not only did this mean more 5 star reviews and testimonials, it also made getting client homework back on time a breeze!
My clients were never dragging their feet to get me their content, or taking weeks to review my work and give me the feedback I needed to continue with the next phase of design, because they knew we only had two weeks (not several months) to knock this thing out!
Plus, it meant I could pretty much plan my entire year in advance.
Feel like hitting the beach for 2 weeks? Great, I just wouldn’t fill those two slots on my calendar. I could safely leave my laptop at home, never having to worry about leaving current clients hanging.
So that is how I chose to build my web design packages to support the way I like to work and live…
But the amazing thing about being your own boss and creating your own packages, is that my timeline does not have to be your timeline!
I love hearing stories from past students of my Square Secrets™️ & Square Secrets Business™️ courses who have taken the client design process I teach, and adapted it to fit them!
Here are a few quick examples of past students creating packages that actually fit with their lives:
Student Example #1
Katelyn Deckle | Founder of Launch The Damn Thing
Katelyn is a seriously talented designer who makes creating drop dead gorgeous websites look easy.
But her real superpower? (And the thing that makes her feel the most fulfilled in her business?)
Swooping into save the day!
Katelyn loves to step in and serve bootstrapping business owners who have tried the DIY route, but are missing a few important pieces of the puzzle to get their site up and launched, and could therefore use expert eyes on their site for just a day or two.
So rather than busting out back-to-back custom websites, Katelyn has started offering VIP designer day rates where she charges $1,000 per day to help her clients tick off those last few to-do’s on their list.
You can catch Katelyn’s full story of how she started offering VIP day rates here…👇
Suggested reading:
Student Example #2
Becca Wood | Founder of Alto Design
Then you also have past students like Becca Wood who still loves being able to deliver a completely custom website to her clients, but also needs it to fit with her current 9-5.
So she created her One Day Website package where her super clear onboarding process allows clients to do the homework ahead of time, so that by the time she sits down to design, it takes her just one day to complete!
You can read all about Becca’s unique client process here…👇
Suggested reading:
So moral of the story, don’t just assume that in order to be successful, you have to do things the exact same way you see other designers doing it!
Decide which timeline fits best with the way you like to work, including how much time you’ll take off, and any other commitments you currently have that you need to free up time and brain space for, then design your packages around that!
So now that we’ve chatted timelines, let’s look at the actual services your packages will include...
2. Decide which web design services you actually enjoy offering
Just because you are a web designer, does not mean you will automatically love all aspects of web design.
Maybe you honestly can’t stand the task of setting up 100’s of products in an online shop…
Great! Create packages that cater to service-based business who are less likely to need a full-blown e-commerce site, where your focus will be designing them a killer services page. Or, find yourself a trusted designer friend to refer this part of the process to instead.
Or maybe you love the technical part of designing, building out each section and page, but the coming-up-with-ideas part or having to do the work of finding clients in the first place is not exactly your jam.
Perfect! There are other designers out there who excel at marketing, and love taking clients through the planning and idea phase, but find the behind the scenes designing part a bit tedious or too time-consuming.
Why not collaborate and let them do all the client finding and coming up with the ideas, and you do the work of actually building the site.
Or, maybe you are like talented past student Mariana Durst who loves having creating control over the entire process. Not just web design, but the branding and copy too!
So like her, you decide to become a one stop shoppe for the exact type of niche client you truly adore working with.
You can find Mariana’s story, including how she manages to book out her business with premium projects months in advance here... 👇
Suggested reading:
And speaking of becoming a one-stop-shoppe, let’s talk about how your packages can also be designed to attract the exact type of client you dream of working with!
3. Set up your web design packages to attract the exact niche client you love serving
So think about your ideal person you love to serve with your web design skills...
Maybe they exist within a specific industry. Why not think about all the softwares and integrations people in their shoes tend to need to get their business up and running online, and then work those into your packages?
Or maybe your current packages tend to attract clients at a lower price point, or at an earlier stage in their business journey, and therefore they always don’t have the budget for professional brand images just yet.
You might decide that working with less-than-quality images is affecting the overall look and vibe of your portfolio…
so you sit down and figure out how to tweak your packages and offerings to be attracting clients with healthier budgets.
Or, maybe you feel your calling is still to champion these business owners who are just getting started, but you find that they often aren’t able to afford your full-blown custom website package.
So you tailor your offerings to fit a lower price point, something that would take you less time to deliver so that you can still genuinely be of help without needing to discount your time and expertise as a designer!
Whether this is templates, one-off coaching calls or site audits to help them get unstuck, or even some sort of digital product or program that would help them to more easily DIY the thing themselves, but on a baby business budget!
So the way you choose to design your packages is just as much about you as it is about serving your clients!
We tend to do our best work for our clients when we ourselves are feeling fulfilled in our business and aren’t constantly feeling stuck doing tasks we honestly hate.
If you want your business to successful and enjoyable to you in the long-term, it’s important to be intentional and think about whether or not this decision you are making will get you closer to your goals and actually fit with your life and the way you like to work!
And then as your business grows, and your understanding of the way you like to work evolves, don’t be shy about tweaking your process or packages to match!
Need help coming up with a client-attracting method that feels more like you too?
Take the 45 second quiz I created just for web designers to help you discover the strategy that will have you attracting your ideal clients with ease ! 👇
