Secrets of a Six Figure Webdesigner - Emily tells all

January 2, 2023 Paige Brunton

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EMILY made DOUBLE her corporate salary and surpassed 6 figures in just her 2nd year as a freelance web designer!

I can't wait for you to meet my incredible past Square Secrets Business student Emily!

Hailing from New Zealand she was working as a tax consultant making $43k a year and when she signed her contract she thought "this is the best deal I'm ever going to get, this is killing it in life!"

But a little way into doing the actual job she realized she was absolutely miserable.

She made the decision she was no longer available to work a job she hated but instead she was going to chase her dream, traveling Europe with her boyfriend, living a life of freedom, working on her own terms and doing creative work she legitimately enjoyed!

The cherry on top was when she proved to herself, her family and the world, that you can work a creative job, travel and make 6 figures, even without a relevant degree in web design.

If you have dreams to be a digital nomad and make 6 figures, or even if you have no interest in travel at all but you're just after a creative job you love while making 6 figures, read all the way until the end as Emily explains how she went from no web design experience, to my course, to her 6 figure digital nomad dream!

Q: Can you tell me about what you were doing before you became a website designer and what inspired you to become a website designer?

I feel like I started off similar to you. I studied accounting, business, all the things, and I actually had a corporate job as a tax consultant. And at some point I decided that wasn't giving me joy, so I left it, booked a one way ticket to Europe.

I had also fallen in love with a German boy somewhere around this time. And so I sort of moved to Germany for him and I was a freelance photographer and I was a travel blogger. Because I wanted to do something creative, but also online. And that was my thought of how I could pair the two together.

And basically I would say my website design started when I created my own travel blog website, and I loved creating it so much. It was on Squarespace, and I loved uploading photos. I loved doing the blogs, and I loved finding css snippets to make it look cooler and more special. And so I would say it started from there.

And then at some point where it really was like, okay, this is becoming a thing, I have to do this, it’s now or never, was when the pandemic hit in 2020. In March, I just booked a one-way ticket to Spain and I was moving with my German boyfriend to Spain. And obviously I didn't have a visa, like I didn't have a work permit.

I was stuck inside doing nothing and I had limited funds and just around that time I invested in your course, I think like four weeks prior. And so there was like a test moment, it's like literally now or never. And just with all the factors, I'm really grateful for that push and so I went all in.

And I couldn't speak Spanish at that point so I knew I wasn’t going to get a job. And also no one was working at that point during the pandemic.

Q: So you took the course just as the pandemic hits. Tell me about the timeline from you deciding to do this to you actually making an income from it.

It's not a linear trajectory. Before that, I'd say maybe even a year already before I had a couple family friends reach out to me and be like, can you build me a website. And so I built our neighbours some websites and I charged I think 350 US dollars.

And I thought, holy shit, I am crashing it. This is insane. I was so proud of myself. And those are the first two websites I ever made. This is prior to taking a course. And then when I did take your course, I was also like going into a particular florist shop and she was only selling her flowers in the store.

And I thought, hey, like she could sell her flowers online and also grow her business in that way. And so we just had a conversation about it, and it was about the same time I took your course. And with that, it gave me the confidence to be able to charge 2,000 Australian dollars.

At that time, it was sort of like an e-commerce website. And I could not believe somebody paid me $2,000 to design a website. And I had the most fun doing it and I loved it and I just, I was pinching myself. That was like one of the best moments ever. And so that was before I moved to Spain and then like four weeks later I moved to Spain.

So that really gave me the validation that I needed, the confidence that like, yes, someone will pay you for this. You do good work and that this can work out. I suppose that is what I needed to go into the pandemic.

Q: And did you have any design or tech related experience before you started offering websites?

Just self-taught. I've always been a creative person, but I was always pushed sort of by my parents to do something more logical and dry. But I've always been a really creative person. I just wasn't allowed to express that and so through my photography and through my travel blog, I really cultivated this love for design. So I would say I learned it on my own, but also just the more you do, the more you learn.

Tech-wise, CSS wise, literally Googling, YouTube, copy, paste. This works, this doesn't work. It was a lot of trial and error but that's really like how it starts.

Q: I feel like most people start off charging very low amounts. I mean we all do the same thing and then we realise like, oh, people do really pay two grand or something. But you're doing projects a lot more than two grand now. Can you talk about what clients typically invest with you?

I was proud of the $2000 website and I slowly creeped that up and I think my first milestone that I hit was when I had a project booked in for 5.6K and that was that very year.

So in the same year of 2020 in December I booked in and finished a project for 5.6K and that was my first 10K month ever. And that was also the end of my first year as a designer.

And there wasn't even a full year and I was just beyond stoked. The second year I had a couple more 10K months and I booked in a project for branding, a website, email marketing things and SEO as well and that was 10K. And then a couple weeks ago I booked in a project again, a full one, and that was a 12K project.

And this is an e-commerce one, so super stoked about that. If you told me this like even three years ago, I wouldn't believe you, you know that this is possible. And I just feel really grateful that clients trust me with this amount of money and trust that they're gonna make it back or more obviously.

Q: You do incredible work. Like looking at your website and your portfolio pieces, I'm like, girl, you're commanding those prices for a reason. Can you talk about what is different between when you were charging like $350 to like $12,000?

If someone's sitting there thinking how do I get to $12,000 projects? What would you say were the most important factors in being able to charge that amount?

The biggest thing I have to say is making your client experience a premium one. They're not just coming to you and you are not just creating a website. It’s like when you go and stay at some fancy hotel. You are not just staying there for the room or for the beds or sleeping at night. You're there for the experience, for what it makes it feel super premium. And that could also just be your personality.

It could be that you've been in business and you have business strategies and you come at it from a strategic point of view rather than a design point of view and how seamless is the entire process. Do they have to reach out to you all the time, or do you have a really streamlined, efficient process that makes them feel handheld and that they have to do minimal work.

And then when you deliver the website, is it just a like, or an email and a Loom video and walking them through it and making them really feel like this is so personalised and this is such a premium experience. So making it an experience that people see is super, highly valuable.

Two, I would say is value-based pricing. And so there are two parts to this. One is attracting the sort of clients who have the budget for what you want to charge. If you charge $500 for websites, then there's one group of people. But if you want to charge 10K for a project, there are people out there, but maybe you are not marketing towards them. If you are always talking about money, like, oh, this is super affordable, this is really cheap, and your language is geared towards people who are frugal, then you're gonna attract those people. So it's like, what do those people think and use their language.

And then the second part to that value-based pricing is that if someone comes to you and they're just starting out their business, they haven't made any revenue then obviously it's not as valuable for them to have to invest 10K into a project than it is for somebody who has a functioning business model.

They make millions in revenue, then they can spend a lot more and invest a lot more in this project. So what is the perceived value of this project to them? You are going to really struggle to charge 10K to a mom who's starting out her photography business. But you can charge 10K to somebody who has a functioning business and is selling a lot and has been in business for three years.

So it’s like gearing your project prices accordingly to the value it's actually gonna give to the business.

Q: I already know what people are thinking and they're just like, well, how do you find the clients who pay 10K, 12K per project? Can you talk about what's your marketing strategy and how clients tend to find you? How did it get started and what does it look like now?

I'll preface this by saying trust is the currency of business. If you don't have trust, people aren't going to invest high amounts in you. And trust often comes from somebody else's referral or recommendation as well. So when you're starting out, you're probably not gonna get these clients because you haven't built up that rapport.

You haven't built up a line, a network of people who trust you. But I would say, when you are starting out, keep in mind if you do want those kinds of clients to start networking and building trust through communication and then through good work as well.

And then when you work with a few higher end clients, they start referring you to other people. And so this can be like a negative vicious cycle or a positive one because if you are only ever working with low paying clients who want to squeeze everything out of you, they're gonna recommend you to their friends who are in that, and then you wonder why you keep getting stuck in that.

So it's really important that you know who your ideal clients are and you are always catering to them. You are messaging everything. Your experience is catering towards them, and over time, you will attract more and more of those people.

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I would also say investing in masterminds or investing in being coached with people who are of that calibre, literally getting around them, making friends with them and then referrals from there. Cause you'll never get there if people don't trust you. Especially people in the higher end who are like really, really successful, they tend to only go with recommendations and don't waste time searching for who might be the cheapest because time is everything to them.

Q: In my mastermind that's exactly what's happening. People will come to me and be like, Hey, I need a website designer. I know you know all of them. So like tell me who's good.

Exactly. And you are the expert on that. So they're gonna come to you and trust you and your recommendation. They're not looking for a deal. They're looking for the best.

Q: They're looking for someone who does fantastic work, gets it done on time, really understands what vision and vibe they want. And that’s exactly what you did.

And what you also did is you surpassed your corporate salary and then hit six figures. Can you tell me about it? How did that happen? How long did that take?

Probably one of my proudest moments!! My corporate salary back in New Zealand as a tax consultant grad salary was 43,000 New Zealand dollars and I thought, this is the best deal I'm ever gonna get. This is like killing it in life. So many people will want this. And when I quit, I was like, am I stupid? Like, am I ever going to get that back? And it was a very real fear.

But I finished my second year in 2021 surpassing six figures in New Zealand dollars.

I think it was like a hundred thousand something. So a little bit over. It was the most amazing feeling, and also like a middle finger to my corporate salary, and also just to everybody who, including some people in my family who just didn't believe that you could do this and make this creative job, digitally online while travelling with no degree within your second year.

Like, no way. If you told me, I would've been like, I don't know if that's possible. And to so many people it seems impossible, but it's not. I can do this and what else is possible? And to think, if I hadn't made that decision, where would I be? Still making what? Half of that, sitting at a corporate job at a desk that I despise.

Q: What would be your advice for someone who's there and they're afraid? What would you have told your old self if you looked at yourself sitting at that desk in the corporate job advising on accounting things?

I would say, ask yourself this question. 10 years from now, even five years from now, say if you're in your early twenties or your mid twenties when you are 30, what would you have regretted?

Would you trade your safety, security for this possibility? And I would also like to dive into your why. Like it always comes back to your why. It's like, why do you want a different life? What does that look like for you? Because if you don't even know what that looks like, you have nothing to hold onto when the going gets tough.

And for me that was freedom. That was being with my boyfriend at the time that was working on my own terms and freedom to me is everything. I really held onto that vision and I made it work because I was determined, because I had the motivation, I had the why to figure it out.

But if you don't have the why and you're like, oh, that looks nice because people do it on Instagram, you're going to fail because then it's so easy to just go back to your corporate job. There were times when I was like, oh my gosh, like this is so hard. Like, maybe I was wrong, like maybe I should go back to that corporate job or something.

And then I remembered how miserable I was and that I am just unavailable for that. We are not available for that. And I think at some point you just have to make that decision for yourself. Like what are you not available to?

Q: So you're from New Zealand, you've been in Europe for a really long time. What is your digital nomad life like, where you are, what you're doing?

Since I've become a web designer in 2020 we lived in Seville for a while. We moved back to Germany for the summer, and then we went back to severe for a full school year and then back to Germany.

In between, I love travelling to Italy and then at the start of this year, I decided to move to Portugal, Lisbon, specifically for the digital nomad community, which is amazing. People are everything. And I think when you are travelling and you have this digital nomad lifestyle, after a while it gets lonely, I would say. You're doing it on your own and you crave people who understand you and this lifestyle that you have. And so Lisbon for me was home. I really found home in the people. And then recently I met a boy who's more nomadic than I am and so I'm now currently in Malta and he is gonna meet me here.

We spent two weeks in Cyprus. Before that we were in Rome. I was in Florence. So at the moment it is all over the place and it is hard to juggle work.

Q: How are you managing projects? Is that possible with so much travelling?

I would say at the beginning of my business no, and I'm actually really glad. At the start, the first two years I would say I was based in one place and I would work seven days a week and I would work basically the whole day.

I was so in the doing there was no way I could have travelled. And I tried a couple times and I just went crazy. You can't enjoy travelling and you also can't really do your work properly. So that was really not fun. So at the start, I would say, if you do want to travel a lot, set systems up in place.

Start hiring people as soon as you can. The only reason now I'm able to enjoy it is I've set up systems in place. I have a small team of people who help me with a few bits and pieces here and there and because I have the process set up and I've also automated a lot of processes through CRM systems like Dubsado.

So I have to do less and now I have more time. And also when you start booking in more higher end clients. You are not doing three, four different projects at one time, you're maybe doing max two.

Q: I feel like that's really honest and realistic about what it takes to start. It does take like mad dedication and really committing like a ton of hours. Like I was definitely working, well, I've never worked a corporate job, but like , if I had, I was working more than nine to five when I started. I'm not now, but I was then.

And I think that's important for people to realise that. A realistic situation of starting a business. I never track my hours, but like, even when you're on holiday, when you're walking down the street, you are thinking that's working, you really never switch off. And that is the hard thing.

Q: I agree though I do switch off on vacation. Even if it comes to my mind, I'm like, nope, on vacation, you're not allowed in my brain right now.

When I'm on vacation, I get the most creative thoughts because it's super spacious and so it's not work, but like I do allow the thoughts to come and I write them down.

Q: I will write those thoughts down, exactly. If I'm stressing about a problem though, I'm like, nope, that's not allowed.

But yes, the ideas thing - a hundred percent. You get so many good ideas on vacation. Love that.

Q: So you literally said you don't track your hours. Could you give us a rough estimate on how much you work now?

I could say it does vary from week to week, depending on how many projects I have in one go. But I would say it could vary between 25, maybe even 20 to like 30 hours per week. So much better than it used to be. I swear I was working like 70 hours a week. The amount of time I spent in my co-working space, like 9:00 AM till 9:00 PM like Monday to Saturday. I had no life.

I also don't wanna scare people. You know, if you start a business, you don’t really have to hustle and grind it, but it does take a lot of hard work. But I also think if you do it smartly and you do invest in, say, good mentors or coaches who show you the way to get to success without having to burn out and hustle so hard.

Q: Speaking of that, what would you say to someone who's on the fence right now about taking Square Secrets Business™? What would you say to someone who's thinking about it, not quite sure, what would you say to them?

First, if you're gonna take a go, think how badly do you want to make this work? And if you really want badly to make this work, do it. Just download everything and really work through it.

I would say it gave me the confidence to be able to charge around 3K when I first started because I had systems in place, because I had already set up a templated experience, and it took years off.

Like I think if I had to learn everything that Paige taught in that course, that would've taken me a year, if not more.

So it gave me confidence, it gave me the templates, the systems. And systems by the way are everything. Like you need a system. Paige really gives you a system and I think that was worth its weight in gold.

And also some of the guest experts that share different marketing strategies and being able to like, have all of the expert knowledge passed down to you because when you start off, you don't know who to ask and where to seek advice and why not seek it from people who've been there and done it. I felt like I concentrated maybe a couple years worth of learning by myself into binge watching your course in like two weeks.

Q: Can you talk about how your life is different now? If you compare yourself to sitting in the corporate office and your life now. Is this more in line with what you were hoping or dreaming?

Ooh, yeah. A hundred percent. Hands down. Like this was life that an early 20 year old me could only ever have dreamed of. And I think a lot of the people that I had around me, it wasn't that they weren't supportive, but they weren't in this world.

And so they said it from a place of love when they said this isn't possible, that you're dreaming too hard. And I think a lot of people go through that depending on your circle. So that was really difficult to not have people around you who believed in you or believed in this path of success. I wouldn’t say that you have to cut them out of your life, but rather start finding people circles.

It could also be within a community, say like when you're in Paige's course, she's got a Facebook group and whatnot. Surround yourself with people who are on that same trajectory, wanting that similar lifestyle and really cheering each other on.

That made a world of difference because you have each other believing in each other and supporting each other, and I think that's what ultimately gave me the confidence and the belief that it works.

And having mentors. So now I am where I am - sure I got here by myself, but I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the people around me and the mentors.

Q: Can you speak about the digital nomad scene in terms of encouragement and possibilities and the people you were around before and the people you are around now. How is that different as well?

It's like day and night, day and night. I definitely would say growing up, going to high school and to a university, I had a lot of like traditional minded people. So the things you talk about and what they see is possible for them. They all wanted to just climb the corporate ladder basically. It's the types of conversations, the values are very different. And if you do something that's different, they kind of want to like snatch you and, and bring you back to like the norm sort of thing.

And if you say, “hey, I wanna start a web design business, I have never done it before, but I wanna hit six figures within two years”, they'd be like, yeah… I'd say you'd be hard pressed to find a single person who says I really believe you and genuinely mean it. They'd probably go, yeah, we believe in you, but they're kind of expecting you to fail. Do you know what I mean?

And I think that was really hard because I did have people who were fake supporting me but I didn't really genuinely feel it. And then now in my kind of world of digital nomad entrepreneurs, a lot of people who work for themselves have their own businesses.

And you say you wanna do something, they're like, cool, why not, you can do it. “You wanna build a seven figure business? Done. You are a seven figure business owner in my eyes.” There's just this belief like you can do what you want and we will be here to support you genuinely.

And they'll think of connections and be like, oh, I'll put you in touch with this person who will help you. And they're just so supportive. So find yourself a group of people like that.

Q: I also found the same thing when I started travelling and just meeting people and it was like, whatever crazy idea you came up with, people were like, sweet, go for it!

If someone is not in the digital nomad world, do you have any suggestions of how they might start?

It depends where you are in the world. For example, when I was living in Germany, we were in a small village and I always thought, I love the countryside life, but actually the community wasn’t as open and international as I would've liked, because I really thrive in that kind of environment.

So one is what kind of environment do you thrive in? If you do really want and thrive in a digital nomad scene, then do your research. Places like Lisbon, Barcelona or like Buenos Aires in Argentina, just to name a few. And they have communities and events set in place. And one of the things I loved about Lisbon is every day you can find things to do, groups of people to be with and hang out with.

And it's not just a party but also deep soulful spiritual experiences as well. Dinner parties or going out for runs with people. Whatever your passions are, you can find a group of people and do that with that group of people. If not, make your own group.

Q: I feel like your podcast is also a great inspiring place. Can you tell us what it's?

During this year I felt a little bit burnt out and, and I wanted to do something and I kind of came back to like, what am I passionate about? And I love telling stories and it's like, what do I want to share? And I just feel like there's so much wisdom and access from people who have done this alternative path and succeeded, and then there are so many people who are wanting to get started and then there was no bridge. I mean, there are some bridges that exist, but like I wanted to make more of a bridge between the two. And so I thought I had this idea to start a podcast called Free Wild Souls because I really love living a free wild and soulful life, and I think a lot of people do too.

And it's a series between solo episodes, sharing things that helped me or just my musings and then guest episodes, for example, like you, Paige. So people who have done something a little bit differently, a little bit creatively, whether it is starting their own business or working remotely, just like this digital nomad lifestyle.

But not everybody is a digital nomad either. Let's call it non-traditional life . So just bringing about a different way of thinking, refreshing perspective to people who perhaps are in a circle or a bubble of very traditional, conventional lifestyle. It's just the bridge for that. So if you're interested, go check it out. It's freewildsouls.com/podcast. Or you can just find it on Spotify!

Q: I understand for people it sounds like a really cool thing to get involved with this digital nomading, but like what if I am in this tiny town in Germany or something and can't find anything?

Then finding it online is like a really good place to start. Sharing stories from people who came from a small village in Germany as well and went to New Zealand and started a widely successful six figure photography business. So I try to really be diverse in the guests that I choose.

You'll find people across the field doing lots of different things. So if you're thinking web design, I don't really want to be a web designer, that's cool. Like, there are people who've done different things. And so it's like opening yourself up to that.

I mean, I still meet people and I'm like, “How do you make money? Like, I'm sorry, what?” There are so many creative ways to make money out there.

Q: At some point you decided you needed help in your business. What was happening in the business at the point in which you were like, I need to hire a team member?

Thanks to Square Secrets Business™ I already had this idea of outsourcing implanted in my head and a process for how to find team members.

I would say the first thing I hired out was actually social media because I was super emotionally attached to social media. We are, it's our work, it's our creation. It's our baby that we are putting out there, and to write something about it, to put it out there for critique or to start with zero followers and have nobody see it, nobody like it, it's like a bit of a wounded ego, you know?

And so I decided I wanted to be emotionally detached from that. I hired a social media person to come help me create some of the graphics and actually get the en engagement going and actually built up a following, I think, to about 750 and that was amazing. And then I kind of had a flirtatious period with Pinterest where I thought Pinterest would be great because it's visual and I'm in the visual creative industry. But honestly, I didn't see the returns on it that I wanted to, and I was spending probably like $200, $300 a month and it was money that was better invested in other parts of my business, I would say, or even in courses.

So I decided to stop Pinterest and kept Instagram going. However, I will say, I mean, look at you, Paige, building an entire business without actually having to be super active on Instagram.

If I had to do it again, I probably wouldn't invest so much time on Instagram or invest so much money into social strategy. I would've preferred to have hired a copywriter to blog for me every single week, that would've been much better spent. And so now I have a team, I have a copywriter who helps me write some content, some blogging, sometimes newsletters, and my podcast show notes. It's amazing when you just outsource something and it gets done so well. It comes back to you and you're just like, approved. No more edits. Done. I can't even tell you the feeling.

And then I have a VA as well who does a lot of other little things, like anything else in my business from tracking some business expenses to, helping me put testimonials or blog posts, importing blog posts into client websites, things that are quite repetitive and sort of just day to day general tasks that need to be done. So we're like a really small team. My VA's part-time, my copywriter's part-time. They've got other clients as well. And so that's it for now.

Q: So many people when they start a web design business think they have to be on Instagram. And it can be a super, super successful marketing strategy if you enjoy being on it. And I'm just not one of those people.

You basically have this perspective - you’ve built a web design business, used Instagram, didn't use Instagram, like kind of on and off. Can you talk about what you learned from this experience?

I would say that if you don't have a good social media feed and you don't wanna put effort into it, don't do it. Because it looks worse. It does more harm than if you were to do it well. Put more effort into engagement, not the post itself. Because sometimes we can put four hours into our post and nobody sees it, and then it's gone after 24 hours. It doesn't make sense and it’s not a good use of your time.

I think engagement is what really matters on social media. Not always the content of the post. And then also using your social media as almost an extension to your website. Before people go onto your website, they want to be convinced that it's worth going to your website and to have almost everything laid out in stories and in little bubble highlights that people can just read through.

It’s about being strategic about your social media, and not just have it as a pretty place to share a pretty thing. What is it doing for you? Why are you doing it? Is there a strategy? If there's not a strategy, it's a waste of time. And so there are months where I've got a strategy and I will spend a lot of time creating the content and I really feel like we see traction because there's a strategy. And then other months where I'm just super tired and I don't have any strategy for social media I actually stop and I pause those months because otherwise you're throwing your time away.

Q: That's amazing. I think it's a beautiful thing to see, like for people who are reading this, to see people super successfully use Instagram or build a six figure design business without social media.

You don't need it. A lot of people think you should, because you’re in the creative industry and everybody cares about it. But you'd be surprised what people actually care about.

Q: Amazing. Emily, your takeaways are beautiful, and I'm so proud of you. I mean, six figures in two years is like hell of success. I'm so impressed and thrilled for you that you get to live your dream digital nomad life around Europe.

Aw, thank you. Yeah, it was all worth it, you know, when you look back.

Isn't she so inspiring?

I also find it hilarious that our stories are so similar and that we both moved to Europe for a guy and built a business to support that!

Now if you’re also dreaming of becoming a web designer, then there's one skill you really need to get right!

And that's coming up with tons of ideas for building creative, jaw-dropping websites which clients are falling over themselves to book in for!

Feeling all out of creative ideas or like all the websites you build look kinda cookie cutter? Then watch the video below for heaps of incredibly gorgeous example websites for inspiration!