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Holly: In this episode, I am
talking specifically to people

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who have been in web design for,
let's say, less than three years.

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And if you have been in web design for
longer than that, please do stick around

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'cause I do think there's some stuff
that you're going to learn from this.

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It's just I really wanted to reach out and
have a chat with you if you are early in

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your web design journey and just feel like
you could use a little bit more support.

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I really wanted to use this episode to
talk to you about my own journey with

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web design because, as you'll often
hear me say, web design is very often

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a self-taught industry, which means
that when we come into it, we come

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into it for different angles, we come
in with different experience, using

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different tools, and it's really easy
to stop and think, "I'm not doing it

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right," especially when there are more
experienced people in the industry who

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are saying, "You should be doing it this
way," or, "My way is the right way."

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And if you've come across people who
have said that to you or made you

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feel less than, I have an episode of
the podcast called Stop Tech Shaming

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and why there is no space for tech
shaming within the industry, and

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do go and have a listen to that.

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You can hear all about my own
experiences of being tech shamed as

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well, and how usually if someone is
tech shaming you, it is a reflection

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of them feeling uncertain within their
own experience rather than yours.

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But Let's get started on how I can use
this episode to support you in feeling

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more confident and having slightly better
practices in your web design career.

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Ready?

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Let's get started.

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So the very first thing I'm going
to say is if you can invest in your

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web design career, do invest in it.

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And that might sound a bit crazy
because y- most people would

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have to invest in their career.

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If they're a coach, they're going
to have to invest in coach training.

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If they're selling products, they
have to invest in the products

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that they're going to be selling.

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But web design is a little bit
different, and often web designers

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have really scrappy setups.

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And by scrappy, I mean they might
have a theme license, or they might

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be working off a free version of
Elementor, and all they really need

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is a laptop that they have already,
bit of hosting, and off they go.

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And that's great, y- because it
means as well that the profits

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and the margins on web design
projects can be really high as well.

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And brilliant.

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But there is also a lack of

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confidence that can come when you don't
invest because to a certain extent,

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you're not really backing yourself.

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You're just saying, "Oh, I'm just … I'm
making this work, I'm making it work,

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I'm making it work." And it comes
down to how we see the money in our

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business as well, and I've also got an
episode about this, about outsourcing

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within your web design business.

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Now, you might not be in a position
where outsourcing is right for you

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right now, but what the episode does
talk about is how we view money in our

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web design business and how we use that
money in the web design business as well.

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Because we can have this real temptation,
especially in the early days, to hang

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on to every bit of money that we earn
within the business and say, "Right,

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I need to use that for my salary."

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But actually, in the same way that you
need to kind of spend money to make money,

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that's very true in this case as well.

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And I am all about us working
to best practices as well.

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So when you are investing in your web
design business, you want to be investing

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in some really good themes as well.

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And those aren't free themes.

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They might be ones that have
a lifetime license in some

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cases or an annual license.

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You might want to bite the bullet
and go for, like, the agency pricing

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model as well, especially if they're
doing kind of a one-off pricing.

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But do make sure that you are putting
that investment in because you will get

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much better tools, much better results,
and you will be handing over a higher

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quality product to your clients as well.

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And ultimately, the websites that we're
building, they are for our clients.

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You know, once we've finished the
project, we step away from it, but

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they're the ones who's left with it,
and we want to be able to say we've

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left them with a really good product.

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And at the same time as investing in
things like themes, you want to make

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sure that you've invested in things like
your insurance as well, and you want to

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have legally compliant contracts as well.

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And if you don't have a contract
and you don't have terms of service,

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then go along to my website that
accompanies this podcast, which is

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called websitesmadesimple.co.uk, and
you will see that I have the website

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designer's contract pack there.

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It has every type of contract
which is compliant to UK law as

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well that will support you in
running your web design business.

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And that might be the actual contracts
that you use with clients, the terms

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of service that you use with clients,
but it's also hosting contracts,

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hosting maintenance, working with
freelancers, all that sort of thing.

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It's all there, and it's a pay for
once, use it with every single client.

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But I promise you, investing properly
in the setup stuff is really important,

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especially in the early days.

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So the next thing I wanted to advise
you is to focus on an area where

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you can improve or learn every year.

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So every year I choose something
new to focus on with web design, and

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that might be that I want to build
lighter weight, slimmer sites that

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are smaller on the server load, and so
it might mean that I start using new

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tools or new themes for doing that.

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One year I decided to go all in on
focusing on accessibility as well because

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I absolutely believe that everybody
should be able to access websites.

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And not everyone's going to be
sitting there with a keyboard

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and mouse or a mobile phone.

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And it's really important that we know
that our websites can be navigated

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through the, Fuck, what's that word?

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Not keypad.

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Keyboard.

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That's it.

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Okay.

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I'm so sorry.

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That our website can be navigated
using just the keyboard.

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It's also really important that if
someone is partially sighted or having

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a website read to them through a
screen reader, that we've got things

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like our alt tags in place and that
the clickable links tell people where

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they're going to go, all of those things.

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And then there's everyday accessibility
that we don't necessarily think about.

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So for example, left-handed users
are going to struggle if all of the

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menus are on the right-hand side.

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So that's all these little
pieces that we learn.

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And there, there's just so much to learn.

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But the more that you nail down and
really specialize in a different area

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each time you go to learn something,
and I'm not saying that you should

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be learning something all the time.

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As I say, every year I just think
I'm gonna go all in on something,

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and that could be your focus as well.

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But we learn on the job, absolutely.

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And in most cases, every time we build a
new website, we build a better website.

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We're learning something new.

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We're stretching ourselves.

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And just having some solid knowledge
to back that up can really help.

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And this doesn't have to come
necessarily from an online

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course or paid-for resources.

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You can go out there, you can read some
blogs, you can look at white papers.

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You can follow people on LinkedIn who
are really well known in the industry.

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You can listen to podcasts.

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For example, someone I work
with, Nikki Pilkington, she has a

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podcast called SEO Fucking What.

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My podcast producer may bleep out
the F-ing in that because, uh, I

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like to not have explicit content.

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But her stuff's amazing for
SEO, and I listen to it.

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It releases every Sunday, and I
often come away really inspired and

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then go and action what she's done.

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But learning about SEO is, like, pretty
much the best thing that you can do

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for your web design career as well,
because having websites which rank

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highly on Google is, well, A, only
a good thing, but B, it's gonna have

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people wanting to come to you as well.

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So When you're in those earlier stages
of your web design career, you are

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still figuring a lot of stuff out
through the client interactions and

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think, "Oh gosh, I don't want to do
it that way that time or next time,"

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or you think, "This really worked.

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I want to make sure I do that again."
And that can happen well with onboarding

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clients, but also with off-boarding them.

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So with onboarding, we want to make
sure that we have all the things that

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we need to get them started and get the
project started and running smoothly.

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And usually, a smooth onboarding is going
to determine how well the project works.

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So for example, I always absolutely
insist with clients that I have all

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of the content for their website up
front before we start the build, and

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that means the website copy, the brand
assets, all the images, any links they

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want to link to, for example, Calendly
or anything like that, before we get

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started because drip-fed content is
a miserable experience for both the

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designer but also for the client.

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Clients often-- You've got to bear in
mind that when they're commissioning

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websites, they have all of their own
work that they're doing at the same time.

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And so often getting the website
content isn't a priority for them.

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And if you get started before you
have this content from them, it's

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this stop-start, disjointed process.

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You're chasing them up.

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They're feeling bad they haven't got it
to you, and nobody wins in this scenario.

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So having a really rigid onboarding
process can really support everyone

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here because it gives the client
the incentive to get things to you.

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But it also, holding that boundary
makes them feel good about the project.

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Because as much as some clients like
to tap, tap in all the time it actually

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when they come out the other side of
it, they often say, "Oh, I just felt

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like I had to be on the designer's case
all the time, and I just couldn't relax

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until it was done." And having that
really good process will help with that.

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And in my Web Designer's
Contract Pack, I talk about the

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onboarding within that as well.

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I've also got some episodes on the podcast

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if you want to go through
the back catalog around this.

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I do also have the Website Designer's
Onboarding pack available on the website.

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If you want something that's downloadable,
that's white label that you can just go

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and use for your own clients, then you are
welcome to go and check it out as well.

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So the next thing I wanted to talk about
really was about your marketing yourself.

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'Cause it's all well and good me
saying, once the clients come in, come

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and do this or use this or do that.

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But if you don't have clients,
then it's all going to feel

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a little bit pie in the sky.

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And when you are looking at
selling websites, you are going

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up against so many other people.

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And how do people choose to
work with you over someone else?

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And there's always going to be the
know, like, and trust factor in sales.

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It happens in everyone's sales, and
it means that people like to work

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with someone they feel that they know,
someone they feel they like, someone

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they feel that they trust as well.

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And getting known for something within the
industry can help build that reputation.

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It can help you stand out a little bit.

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Now, some people would say go all
in on the repelling content, be

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controversial, get known for really
hating something or being this or that.

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And if that's your bag, absolutely
knock yourself out doing it.

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But I would say often people who do
that are a little better known within

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their industry before they start.

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But it could be that you get known
for being all in on accessibility, or

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you get known for being all in for a
particularly popular type of software

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you use, or I got very well known for my
processes being very strong, that people,

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they'd get the website that they were
promised, and they'd love the website

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and all of that, but most importantly,
they would love the experience.

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And I am really proud of having set
that up, and that works for both

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my web design clients and the web
designers who I mentor as well, that my

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processes are really strong, and we've
always got that we've got this kind of

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attitude to it, and it really helps.

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So maybe take some time and just plot
down some ideas of What you think you're

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really good at within your industry.

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It could be that you're really good
at fixing problems, or you're really

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innovative when it comes up with
solutions for, let's say, a booking

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system or this or that, or you love
creating custom plugins, or you love

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the relationship with clients and you
want to build on that or whatever else.

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It- Jot down some ideas and then start
thinking about which ones of those would

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you really like people to know you for.

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So if someone was recommending you, people
recommend me and they say, "Oh, Holly's

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the one you want to work with for this
because you are gonna have a great time.

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If you've been left feeling nervous or let
down by a previous developer, you need to

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work with Holly." And so insert your name
here, what you want to be known for, and

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start creating some content around that.

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And I know in the early days that we
can think, "Who am I to say that?"

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It all feels a bit aspirational.

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But back yourself.

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No one else is going to.

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You need to back yourself.

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So, get confident and get doing it So
the next thing I would say is do not

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worry about what everybody else is doing.

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And I think if there's anything I would
ever be known for, written down for,

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is that for the last 10 years I've
been advising small business owners

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who I work with, and more recently
website designers and developers

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who I mentor stay in your lane.

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Do not worry about what
other people are doing.

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You know, people come to me
and they say, "Who's your

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competition?" Said, "I don't know.

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I have no idea who my competitors
are." All I know is that I am

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doing my work in the way that
I want to do it with integrity.

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I am backing myself, and I am
not getting distracted by what

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the competition are doing.

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I am making sure my focus is fully
on achieving the business goals

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and supporting web designers in
achieving their goals as well.

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And so often people compare
themselves to others, they get

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absolute imposter syndrome, or
they go into a freeze response.

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They think, "I can't do it like
that." And often the only difference

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between you and the other person is
confidence, is the other person is just

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confidently putting themselves out there.

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So get known for something,
ignore the competition, stay in

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your lane, and just keep putting
a foot in front of each other.

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With it as well collect reviews.

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There's so many times we don't do this.

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If you think like I have built hundreds
of websites, and if you look at my Google,

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it's got like 42 reviews or something.

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So I remind myself of this at the same
time that I remind you, ask for the

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review when you hand over the website.

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And I do this, but I often
just don't follow it up.

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And so I'm gonna use this as a
note to myself to actually follow

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up some more recent website builds
and ask them to leave me a review.

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Because leaving a review for someone lets
other people know what the experience

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has been like, what they can expect, and
obviously it goes towards credibility.

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On slow days on LinkedIn, you can
post a nice photo of your review.

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It is only good things as well.

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So do have-- I have a line at the end when
I hand over the website stuff, say, y- "If

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you've enjoyed working together, please
would you consider leaving me a review.

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Here's the link to do that." So I make it
super easy for people to do it as well.

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what I should do is follow
up a few days later.

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So, get reviews.

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Because also it's really good when
you're having a day where it just

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feels a little bit overwhelming or,
you know, it's not coming together,

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you can look back through those
reviews and think, "No, I do know this.

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I have got this." And the final
thing I'd like to leave you with

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today is consider getting a mentor.

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Often we think that we will go for
mentorship when we can afford it,

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when we've made enough money, and
often we're never in the early days

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gonna feel like we've made enough
money or that we can afford it.

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You know, we, as I said earlier, uh,
in one of my previous episodes, that

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we look at, at the income that comes
in and think, "Oh gosh, I've gotta save

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that for a rainy day," or, "I've gotta
put this over this many sessions,"

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or, we allocate it in our mind.

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But actually, there is a real
thing with mentorship with,

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pays dividends on doing it.

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And every time I have leveled up in
my business, I have worked with a

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coach or with mentors because there
are blind spots that I can't see for

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myself, that's why they're called
blind spots, and there's stuff that

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I don't necessarily know how to do.

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And, you know, mentorship and coaching
can come at all different levels with

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all different levels of experience
in the coaches and the mentors,

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and at all different price points.

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So I think when I first went for
coaching a few years ago, I think

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it was 2,000 pounds for three
months or four months coaching.

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When I wanted to set up my web design
community, I went to work with different

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mentors, and it was a six-month program,
and it was over 1,000 pounds a month.

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But what I learnt on that and
the support I had on that, I have

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gone on to make a lot more money
in my business because of it.

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So it can feel really nail-biting you
need to work at price point that works

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for you as well But it's really important
that you do make that investment, that

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you do learn from someone who's been
there, who's done it, and who can guide

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you in how to do it because it can help
you shortcut the areas that you might

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really be struggling with or areas which
would really knock your confidence.

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I mean, there's all times where we've
thought about leaving the business

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because we've had a client who's just
been too difficult or whatever else,

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and having someone in your corner can
really support you with that as well.

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And getting a mentor, getting
coaching can absolutely pay dividends.

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Needless to say, I do mentor and coach
new website designers and developers.

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So if that's something you
think you might like to have

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a chat about, do get in touch.

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I would love to hear from you.

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If there is anything you would like to
add to the list of what we've covered

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today or anything you would like me to
cover on the podcast, do get in touch.

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I would love to hear from you.

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I answer and reply personally to
everyone who comes in, and that might

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be that you have emailed me through
hello@websitesmadesimple.co.uk.

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It could be that you've dropped me a
DM on LinkedIn where I'm there as Holly

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C Christie, or you can even go onto
the website and you can fill out the

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contact form, or you can even drop me
a voice note through there as well.

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So that's it for today, and
until next time, take a breath,

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you've got this, and have a great
time in your web design career.