I am not one to sugarcoat the truth so I will be the first to say: I was straight up struggling when I started my business in 2014. I was recovering after multiple injuries, one needing surgery. Also, I was fresh out of a coma and filing bankruptcy after receiving multiple 5-figure medical bills (even when I had TWO insurances!) so things were looking rough. I wasn’t earning an income from my business. But I kept pushing.
Unfortunately, 2015-2016 was still hard. I still wasn’t making any income from my business, definitely no profit. I was figuring myself out, like what my process looked liked, where to find clients, and what website platform I wanted to use. After trying quite a few, everything never aligned. I would love it but it was so hard for my clients to use. Or it held me back creatively but clients felt comfortable using their own sites. It was making my pull my hair out.
Then in 2017, things started to change. I got a mentor and figured out my processes and systems, found consistent clients, and was booked out for the first time! But I wasn’t booking many custom website clients, my favorite type to do and I felt burnt out. Then, Showit5 came out. It was a web app and instead of Flash-based like Showit’s previous version, it was all built with HTML5 and CSS3. I was hooked! I made my first profit that year and paid myself!
Everything changed in 2018…
I started working with amazing coaches that encouraged me to leave branding behind and focus on websites. So now, I was exclusively building websites on Showit. My confidence grew so much and improved my marketing because I was able to balance creativity and strategy while also creating extremely valuable websites for my dream clients. They were making more income and so was I! There were 3 key reasons as to why my income tripled in 2018, not only in money paid but in value of my booked projects all while booking less projects that year. Here’s my HoneyBook report!
So, what are the 3 keys to tripling my income?
1. Bigger results, bigger investments
One of the biggest changes I was able to make to boost my income was by charging more. I already had 20 years of experience but I was now getting my clients big results when we launched. I had clients booking 6 months out 4 weeks from their launch. Other clients were getting new inquiries every 1-2 days and they were all dream clients. So I knew I could make bigger transformations for them and that brings them more value.
I also was able to make more complex websites much faster. We could have a super strategic design that had unique details and interaction. It was a win win for everyone! It allows me to charge much more up front because I’m able to do intricate designs and it is as easy as double clicking for clients to change images, copy, etc. They aren’t paying me for maintenance throughout the year so they are also more likely to rebook with me when they need larger updates and changes.
2. Confidence
While I had almost 20 years of experience at the time, I felt my work wasn’t matching up to my potential. My clients weren’t able to invest in truly custom solutions because the platforms I was using would need a lot more time to fully flesh out the strategy we created. I didn’t even like my own website! When you aren’t proud of your own site and know your client sites could be so much more, it’s draining and you don’t feel confident when you’re marketing your services. And gosh my income felt the hit.
Once I used Showit, my sites were really impressing my audience and others! It was easier to market myself, communicate my value, and showcase what I can really do without spending a ton of time coding. I booked so many more people just when I launch client sites. It’s been so much more seamless with the other parts of my business.
3. Focused My Messaging
I niche in a few ways but once I exclusively offered Showit, it was so much easier to not only market that but my pricing and packages were easier to figure out as well! Since then, I’ve begun to offer more platforms and switched to value based pricing, but I understand my strengths so much more and I’m known for being a Showit Design Partner now! I know Showit inside and out and it allows me to do what is truly best for my clients now.
If you couldn’t tell, I love Showit! Interested in learning Showit? Want to incorporate it into your business to start offering strategic website design? Our course is launching soon! Get more info here!
