This Week's Questions
Summary + Transcript
- Start of the call. 0:55
- Welcome to the live strategy call for Tuesday, September 5.
- The first 5-10 minutes of the call will be dedicated to celebrating wins. Tracy is the newest web designer academy member and will answer questions from those who didn't pre-submit their questions.
- No one is too small to win. 4:18
- The third guest coaching session is going to be September 19 instead of September 12. There will be no live strategy call that week.
- The revenue reset challenge is coming soon.
- Tracy is thrilled to have Erica on the podcast, and Erica is excited about her tiny wins.
- Janet is creating tutorials for a one page site post launch, and Caitlin has a consultation next week. Caitlin created her consultation through email outreach, which is huge.
- It’s all about the client and their needs. 8:29
- Angela asks for a pep talk to get her out of her holding back mindset and out of the fear of not being perfect.
- The first question is about outreach.
- Putting focus fully on service and other person instead of how you feel like you need to present yourself for them to take you seriously, is a whole different vibe in which you approach that outreach.
- The outreach could feel like a pep talk to notice all the things that are coming up.
- How to refer people to your website? 13:36
- How to refer people to you and what to say to them if you know anyone who wants to connect with you.
- If instagram is a roadblock that's going to slow you down, it's not necessary. Have people connect through email.
- Aamba has a landing page on instagram. Erica wants to get to that, but is afraid to make it perfect.
- How to outreach to a dream e-commerce website client.
- Every client is unique and every customer journey is unique. It is okay to be okay with that and not make it a deal breaker for the client.
- The client wants to see examples of e-commerce sites that you would like to model your business after.
- How to get your client to take action. 20:59
- Using a mock e-commerce site for a friend as a starting point is more effective than showing them something you've built for someone else.
- Having a process to meet the client's needs.
- Mary shares her process for implementing the right solutions for her clients.
- Shannon shares her advice on white labeling for a designer whose client is ghosting them.
- Do what feels good to you. 25:10
- There is a variable here in his personal situation. If this were his situation, he would personally take this into consideration.
- At the end of the day, you have to think about what feels good to you and what feels ethical to you.
- When the client has stopped ghosting, it's okay to let them know that you don't feel like you have to drop everything for just because they're ready.
- If the client is ready to pay attention to their project again, you can also set some boundaries around that.
- How to ask when can I expect payment? 31:05
- Work with an agency that is very late on their bills, and payments are very delayed.
- Send an email saying below is a list of overdue invoices.
- Asking direct questions that invite a response instead of asking when the client will pay.
- If you are going to continue to work with the client, you will have to be proactive in terms of letting them know that you sent an invoice.
- What are you willing to do if they don’t pay on time? 35:39
- You may need to get a contract in place that states your expectations and what you are willing to do if they don't want to pay on time.
- Client management issue.
- Erica wants to talk about this again on a live strategy call. She wants to put together a choice for the client.
- Erica has a similar situation with a client.
- A year later, she heard from him a year later ready to pick back up, but she didn't know when the appropriate time to reach back out was.
- Being specific about a specific timeline on the next email is important, especially if you don't know the nature of the project.
- Do you have any questions about the call? 43:16
- Erica asks if anyone who is here live has any questions about the call and why there were only 15 people on the call.
- There is no such thing as a call hub.
- How to create momentum towards starting a project before it starts, and how to create a sense of trust and professionalism.
- No such thing as a call hog or asking too many questions.
- Question/topic Discussion. 48:35
- Every question is a gift to fellow fam members. Shannon and Erica are excited to welcome kayla to the family.
- kayla is starting to feel like she has to add more design elements to things, which is taking longer and is helping her to justify something.
- How to decide if adding design elements to a website is necessary to the client or if it is to justify the client's needs.
- Erica shares her thoughts on the question.
- The challenges of working with a successful designer. 53:59
- Working with someone who is also a designer has been more challenging because there are a lot of opinions.
- All of the design decisions that you make should have nothing to do with you earning the money that they paid you.
- The self-concept issue of feeling like not qualified to help people who are working 80 hours a week and super maxed out and miserable.
- Taking out the trash and creating more work for the client, and not only creating work for yourself, but also creating more for the clients.
- The importance of noticing when one is compelled to add something or change something or do something designing because it makes them feel better, rather than serving the client.
- Kate is always willing to sweep up the trash and take out the trash to keep going.
Chat
00:03:17 Tracy Trathen • e design studio, LLC: 👋🏻
00:03:18 Erica Nash: Hi tracy!
00:03:25 Kaila – HeyKaila Media: Welcome Tracy!! 👋🏼
00:03:49 Tracy Trathen • e design studio, LLC: Thanks!
00:04:41 Tracy Trathen • e design studio, LLC: Wins: 1- Signed up! 2- Did a tiny bit of module 1 yesterday and this morning. Tiny things but you have to start somewhere!
00:05:16 Kaila – HeyKaila Media: Reacted to “Wins: 1- Signed up! …” with 👏🏼
00:06:10 Erica Nash: Reacted to “Wins: 1- Signed up! …” with 🙌
00:06:56 Kaitlyn | KTU Designs LLC: I have a consultation next week!
00:07:24 Janet Hoover: My wins are creating my tutorials for a 1-page site (post-launch/wrap up) so it’s ready when I have my next 1-pager client and not stressing of taking time off for family/self when needed these past couple of weeks and I”m here lol!
00:07:32 Erica Nash: Reacted to “I have a consultatio…” with 🙌
00:07:36 Janet Hoover: Reacted to “Wins: 1- Signed up! …” with 🙌
00:07:37 Janet Hoover: Reacted to “I have a consultatio…” with 🙌
00:07:38 Kaitlyn | KTU Designs LLC: Email outreach 🙂
00:07:51 Kaila – HeyKaila Media: Reacted to “I have a consultatio…” with 🙌
00:07:53 Erica Nash: Reacted to “Email outreach :-)” with 🥳
00:07:57 Erica Nash: Reacted to “My wins are creating…” with 🙌
00:07:59 Kaila – HeyKaila Media: Reacted to “My wins are creating…” with ❤️
00:08:02 Kaila – HeyKaila Media: Reacted to “Email outreach :-)” with 🥳
00:08:05 Kaitlyn | KTU Designs LLC: Reacted to “Wins: 1- Signed up! …” with 👏🏼
00:08:09 Kaitlyn | KTU Designs LLC: Reacted to “My wins are creating…” with ❤️
00:08:14 Erica Nash: Replying to “My wins are creating…”
Hugs!! So glad you’re here.
00:08:21 Janet Hoover: Reacted to “Hugs!! So glad you’r…” with ❤️
00:08:28 Janet Hoover: Replying to “My wins are creating…”
Thank you SO happy to be here!
00:08:31 Erica Nash: Reacted to “Thank you SO happy t…” with ❤️
00:09:40 Kaitlyn | KTU Designs LLC: I'm in the same spot, Angelica! I've been reaching out and making those small (yet big-feeling) steps can be difficult mentally!
00:10:04 Erica Nash: Reacted to “I'm in the same spot…” with ❤️
00:10:09 Janet Hoover: Reacted to “I'm in the same spot…” with 🙌
00:24:06 Angelica Hidalgo: Reacted to “I'm in the same spot…” with ❤️
00:26:37 Angelica Hidalgo: Replying to “I'm in the same spot…”
Absolutely! I feel much better after talking about it, now it take action 😂
00:26:51 Kaitlyn | KTU Designs LLC: Reacted to “Absolutely! I feel m…” with 🤗
00:39:17 Tracy Trathen • e design studio, LLC: It’s like what I used to tell my son when he was little. I’d give him three choices… one that I wanted him to do, and two others that were slightly worse than the one I wanted him to do… he ALWAYS picked the one I wanted him to do when faced with those three options. Worked EVERY time.
00:39:33 Kate Newnham | UpDesignsLA.com: Reacted to “It’s like what I use…” with 🤣
00:40:04 Tracy Trathen • e design studio, LLC: A little like anyway
00:40:07 Shannon Mattern: Reacted to “It’s like what I use…” with ❤️
00:40:23 Ruby Javaid: Reacted to “It’s like what I use…” with 😂
00:43:42 Janet Hoover: No, I didn’t get it lol
00:43:47 Kate Newnham | UpDesignsLA.com: Didn’t get it
00:43:54 Ruby Javaid: nope didn't get it
00:44:20 Erica Nash: Well glad you all made it anyway haha
00:45:04 Janet Hoover: Reacted to “Well glad you all ma…” with 👍
00:45:23 Angelica Hidalgo: If no one else has questions I have one!
00:45:25 Janet Hoover: Where’s Caitlin lol?
00:45:33 Kaila – HeyKaila Media: Reacted to “Where’s Caitlin lol?” with 👆
00:45:46 Leigh Scott: Replying to “Where’s Caitlin lol?”
Waiting on the email 😉
00:45:52 Erica Nash: Reacted to “Waiting on the email…” with 😅
00:45:55 Shannon Mattern: Replying to “Where’s Caitlin lol?”
LOL
00:46:04 Kaila – HeyKaila Media: Reacted to “Waiting on the email…” with 😅
00:46:50 Janet Hoover: Reacted to “Waiting on the email…” with 😅
00:48:54 Kaila – HeyKaila Media: Mine is like “hey, let’s chat for 15 minutes and I can answer any questions you have from the welcome guide and schedule any calls that will happen during the project”. It’s usually not a long call at all but as Shannon and Erica said, it gets the client even more excited!
00:48:54 Erica Nash: We are too!!
00:48:57 Janet Hoover: Yay!!
00:49:30 Erica Nash: Reacted to “Mine is like “hey, l…” with ❤️
00:49:32 Janet Hoover: Reacted to “Mine is like “hey, l…” with 🙌
00:49:36 Ruby Javaid: Reacted to “Mine is like “hey, l…” with ❤️
00:49:37 Angelica Hidalgo: Reacted to “Mine is like “hey, l…” with ❤️
00:49:53 Kaila – HeyKaila Media: Kate or cait – our question queens! 💕💕💕
00:50:05 Erica Nash: Reacted to “Kate or cait – our q…” with 👑
00:50:10 Kaila – HeyKaila Media: Reacted to “Kate or cait – our q…” with 👑
00:50:27 Janet Hoover: Reacted to “Kate or cait – our q…” with ❤️
00:51:31 Kaila – HeyKaila Media: Really wanted you to say “let’s talk about the critters” there 😂
00:51:40 Janet Hoover: Reacted to “Really wanted you to…” with 🤣
00:51:47 Ruby Javaid: Reacted to “Really wanted you to…” with 😂
00:52:22 Erica Nash: Reacted to “Really wanted you to…” with 😂
00:53:39 Tracy Trathen • e design studio, LLC: How are those “design-y” things going to serve the client? What is the client trying to do with them?
00:54:52 Janet Hoover: You are and you do lol!
00:55:14 Leigh Scott: I like ‘yummy thoughts’
00:55:23 Janet Hoover: Reacted to “I like ‘yummy though…” with 🙌
00:58:26 Erica Nash: Growth!! 🙌
00:59:13 Janet Hoover: 🥾 take out the trash!
01:01:30 Tracy Trathen • e design studio, LLC: Trash SO gets in the way of things.
01:01:48 Erica Nash: So much respect for your ability to articulate and be vulnerable with your trash, Kate!
01:01:59 Tracy Trathen • e design studio, LLC: Reacted to “So much respect for …” with 💞
01:02:00 Angelica Hidalgo: He’s chosen you because he trusts you and knows you’ll do a great job. If he’s design-y and successful and he’s chosen you that says a lot!
01:02:07 Erica Nash: Reacted to “He’s chosen you beca…” with 🙌
01:02:21 Janet Hoover: Bye!
01:02:22 Kate Newnham | UpDesignsLA.com: Reacted to “He’s chosen you beca…” with ❤️