Is it too late to become a Squarespace web designer in 2024?

December 13, 2023 Paige Brunton

Prefer to watch?

Here’s that video!

Mentioned in the video:

Finding Clients As A New Designer: 7 Costly Mistakes To Avoid

Rather read about it instead?

Here it is written down!

So you’ve been dreaming about starting a web design business, living that laptop lifestyle, and being able to work from wherever you have wifi. 🏝 👩‍💻

But you’re wondering...with so many established designers already killing it in the industry, is it possible you’ve missed the boat?

Is there really room for yet another new designer just getting started, when the market already feels so oversaturated?

In this post, I’ll be speaking to those exact fears and sharing why I believe now is the perfect time to take the leap and get started building your dream business!

Is it too late to become a web designer?

One thing I constantly hear when it comes to why people have yet to get started on their dream of becoming a designer. And it usually goes a little something like this...

“You are so lucky you started when you did, Paige.”

“You’re like the original Squarespace person. So it was so much easier back then when you were the only person doing it.”

“It’s wayyyy harder to break into the industry now that there is so much competition.”

“Everybody and their mom is trying to be a designer these days, so I feel like I’ve missed the boat.”

Sound familiar?

Let me tell you a little secret about what it was like to start MY business….

I felt exactly the same way. I felt like I was late to the party too.

And I for sure wasn't the only one doing it.

There were already all these crazy talented designers out there. The ones that EVERYBODY wanted to work with.

They had page after page of gorgeous past projects in their portfolio, and had been crushing it with their content marketing for so many years now that I felt like it would be impossible to catch up.

But I started anyway.

And I was able to be pretty darn successful.

And today I want to share how that is 100% possible for you, maybe even more possible.

Wanna helping hand? Grab this!

See this gallery in the original post

3 reasons now is the perfect time to start a Squarespace web design business

Reason #1:

Every last business out there needs a website

Fun fact: 46% of small businesses in the US do not have a website.

At all.

That’s over 12.6 million small businesses in the US alone.

These people are relying on platforms like Facebook and Instagram to try to get eyeballs on their business. But they’re basically building castles in the sand because unfortunately, they do not own those websites!

That means that if something happens, and Facebook goes away tomorrow, they’d have no way of getting in touch with any of those people.

You also have millions of creators and makers selling their products and services on Platforms like Etsy which again, they don’t own.

They have no way to customize their online shop to be on brand, and on Etsy or other marketplaces like it, their product listings are competing with millionssss of other products.

They are also subject to whatever fees and policies Etsy decides is going to be a thing, and so once again, their revenue relies on a site that someone else owns and makes the decisions for.

So why is this good news for you as a newbie designer?

These people are desperately aware they need a website.

The only reason they haven’t done anything about it is that they: A) are too busy serving the clients they do have or B) have zero interest in learning the tech that goes into building a site.

So they just keep putting it off hoping referrals, word of mouth, and a little bit of social exposure will get them through. 🤞

Reason #2:

There are a lot of embarrassing websites out there

Sure, lot’s a businesses already have websites…but if we’re being honest, a lot of them could use a little help!

You’ve seen the ones I’m talking about.

How many times have you visited a site and legit cringed when you saw how outdated, poorly designed, and obviously DIY’d the site was?

These sites are hard to navigate, they are full of buttons and links that accidentally lead to nowhere, and are just plain bad.

Another thing you see all the time is that there is no way to book or buy their thing on their website.

So say, as a client, I remember at 10:00 PM at night that I need to schedule a haircut. Obviously the salon is already closed.

The chances of me remembering to call them in the morning are slim, and I kinda just want to check it off my list, so I’ll probably just go to the website I know has a way to book online.

These people know deep down their website is not serving their business.

They even avoid sending people there whenever possible, using their DM’s, text, or making the customer call in to give you their business.

This is where you come to the rescue with your stress-free website solution, and your seamless start to finish client process! 💪

They are just dying for someone to take the reins and transform their site into the one their business has been begging them for.

That person is you! 💁‍♀️

Reason #3:

New business are being started every. single. day.

Wondering if there enough clients out there for you to start TODAY and build a fully booked out business that actually supports your life?

Yes! More than enough!!

Seriously, how many people in your community alone have an idea for a new business they plan to start or have already started?

Every single one of them needs a website (see reason #1!)

And as more and more businesses are going online, it’s not just your community that you have access to when it comes to finding clients.

You can now serve anyone, from anywhere in the world, working from wherever you please. 🌎

So just know that although there seem to be more designers out there then when I got started, there are also more clients now than ever before!

There are actually designers out there turning ideal clients away on the daily because no matter how many times they raise their prices, the clients keep on coming, and they simply don’t have enough hours in the day to help them all!

And this, my friend, is where you come in!

Reason #4:

Squarespace is now a household name

When I first started designing websites, nobody had ever really heard of Squarespace.

Nobody in their circle was using it, and so nobody trusted it.

Everybody just knew WordPress, and thought that was the only option for getting their biz online.

If they HAD heard about Squarespace, they had probably also heard some pretty scary myths. 😬

Myths like:

it sucked for SEO
you didn’t have all these fancy plugins you could use like with Wordpress so the functionality was limited
You didn’t own your content
Every website looked exactly like the template

...all things that have since been proven to be not the case.

But they didn’t know that!

So back when I was first getting started, on top of having to sell my skills as a newbie designer, I now had to sell them on the platform as well.

It took a tonnn of convincing and educating on my part to get my clients to believe it was even a legit option for their small business.

But not today!

Millions of people are using Squarespace for their website, and they are now internationally known and adored!

They even run SuperBowl ads! 🏈

People cannot get enough of how easy it is to use the platform to maintain their site, so these days it takes almost 0 convincing on your part as a designer that Squaresapce is the right platform for your client’s project!

So you have the benefit that the platform is now not only established but also quickly growing in popularity which means it’s the perfect time to start specializing in offering sites built on this platform.

reason #5:

You have access to endless resources for getting started

When I was first building my business, I would have killed to have someone hold my hand and tell me what to do.

But there simply weren’t any resources out there, paid or free.

I was not allergic to hard work, but I honestly had no clue what the heck I should even be doing to grow my business. 🤔

I would sit down to work because “hey its 9AM and the world is working so I should be too.”

But since I didn’t really have any projects on the books yet, it wasn’t obvious to me what tasks I should be focusing on.

So to convince myself I was actually being productive, I’d sit down and redesign my website for the bajillianth time, or rework my pricing and packages thinking maybe that was the reason I had yet to find any clients. 🙈

But the problem wasn’t my website.

And it wasn’t my packages and pricing.

It was that nobody knew I existed.

I needed to be doing more marketing and less stressing over what color to make my inquiry button and whether my services were priced just right.

I knew what I wanted my business to look like, but I didn’t know any of the steps between where I was and where I wanted to be.

I failed so hard the first time that I tried to go full-time with my design hustle that I actually ended up quitting for a short time until I finally worked up the courage to give it another shot.

But you friend, have a leg up!

Now, you have thousands of free blogs, free trainings, and free guides for getting started on the right track!

Wondering where to start?

If you haven’t already watched my free training: Finding clients as a New Squarespace Designer: 7 costly mistakes to avoid! I highly recommend starting there!

I cover:

What most designers do which leaves them on a hamster wheel, constantly and desperately looking for clients every week
The marketing strategies to avoid that will kill your passion and motivation for your business 🙅‍♀️
What really happens when you niche down as a designer
The #1 mistake that’ll keep you small and struggling
The keys to increase your inquiry > paying client conversion and put an end to clients ghosting on you!

It’s a 60 minute in-depth, on-demand webinar that I’m sharing with you for free so be sure to bring a pen and paper because you are going to want to take notes!

See this content in the original post