#91 – April 2024 Income Report

Shannon Mattern (00:09.72)

Hey there and welcome back to the Profitable Web Designer podcast. Today I am bringing you my monthly income report for April 2024. And I'm gonna break down for you exactly what happened behind the scenes at the Web Designer Academy, how much money we made in April of 2024, how much we spent and all of the lessons learned along the way. So if you're new to the show and have never heard...

One of my income reports before a great place to start would be episode 75, which is my December, 2023 year in review. My January, 2024 income report is episode 79. And then February and March combo was episode 87. Or you can just jump in with me right here. I love just being fully transparent about what's going on in the business, what we're seeing with our students.

all of the different things that we're experimenting with and trying and like helping you apply those to growing your business as well. So the first thing that happened in April was our Web Designer Academy open enrollment promotion. It was the first big promotion that we did in 2024 for our program. We did it off of the heels of the Simply Profitable

designer summit and I talked about all of that in that February, March income report episode 87. And I shared with you that at the end of March and through early April, that's when that open enrollment promotion happened and that I would share the results of that at the, in this income report with you. And so just to be really clear, when I say open enrollment, it doesn't mean that like the doors to the web designer academy are closed after that is.

complete. It's simply a like intentional dedicated promotion of our program to our entire email list. So I'm constantly emailing our list with different events that we're doing the weekly podcast episode. I'm like I'm you know summits I'm participating in workshops I'm hosting. But a few times a year we do a very dedicated intentional

Shannon Mattern (02:26.52)

promotion for our core Web Designer Academy business coaching program. And so I just want to be really clear that we're open for enrollment all the time. We're always accepting applications for our business coaching program for women web designers because people find me through this podcast. I have so many people tell me like, hey, I found I was searching for a podcast for web design business owners and I found you.

or from speaking, me speaking at summits or conferences or doing workshops for other businesses or being on other people's podcasts. And they find their way onto my email list for through free trainings or like things that I do, but they haven't taken the next step to fill out our application. And what I truly believe is that when you need help,

I want to be able to help you. I don't want to have to make you wait three months or six months until our program opens again and then you can join within that timeframe. Like when you, a lot of times when people find us, they're searching for us because they are, they have a problem in their web design business that they're trying to solve and that's how they find their way to us. And I don't want to...

say, well, sorry, I'm so glad you found me, but the doors to our program don't open for another three months. Another reason why our doors are always open is because our program is not one size fits all. Like people don't join and then like go through the curriculum in a certain timeframe with everybody else all at the same time doing all the same things because...

not everybody coming in has the same problems, challenges, opportunities. You all run very unique businesses. And so you might be coming into our program with like you're massively overworking and you're super burnt out. And then me having you work on web design packages is not helpful, right? We need to solve that problem first. And so...

Shannon Mattern (04:38.648)

One of the reasons why it makes no sense for us to enroll people all at the same time and start them in the same places, because your businesses aren't the same. So we actually like review your business, make a roadmap for you, talk to you and help you specifically with your business. So I don't need you to come in at the same time as everybody else. I can help you with your unique business when you enroll.

And so that being said, people can enroll and join any time, but that doors always open model does present some challenges to us as a business. Because if you can come work with us anytime whenever you feel ready, more often than not, you're gonna delay getting help. And this goes for your web design clients too, right?

So when you're talking to web design clients, if they can just, if they feel like, okay, they can just come start their project with you anytime, because you're just always there, always available, more often than not, they're gonna wait. It is just human nature. We all do it. The pain, the discomfort, the misery or current results that we know that we're familiar with, it's way more comfortable than the discomfort of uncertainty, of risk.

of potential loss of time, money, or other people's opinions of us, right? And so that's why it's easier to just keep doing what you're doing than to make a change because it's safe and it's familiar to you even if you're miserable or overwhelmed or not creating the results that you really wanna create. And that goes for...

our clients of the Web Designer Academy, web designers who are out there undercharging and overworking and struggling and going it alone, who are like, yeah, that sounds great. But guess what? It feels safer to me to keep doing this than to take the risk of coming to work with you and all of the fears and uncertainties and doubts that come up for me about like, what if it doesn't work out? What if this? What if that? All of the things that you think when,

Shannon Mattern (06:54.456)

you're wanting to make a change. Your clients go through the same thing. It's easier for them to just limp along as they're currently going than to invest time, money, and resources into working with you as a web designer when they logically know that working with you is what will help them get what they want, which is why we give our students lots of different strategies for creating.

comfort and safety for their clients, for getting them thinking about not what they're gonna lose, but what they're gonna gain, for incentivizing their clients to book with them now instead of waiting. So as someone who knows I can help you if you just give me the chance and knowing that you're hardwired to be more comfortable in your current situation, even if it's painful and you're undercharging, over delivering and overworking, I need to do something.

to compel you to move you out of your comfort zone, to incentivize your decision to move forward and make it feel safer for you to do it. And that's why I do open enrollment promotions. So we're open all the time, you can join any time, but during open enrollment promotions, that's my opportunity to incentivize you to get off the fence, the fence that's between your comfort zone and this new thing. And...

to incentivize you to get help now instead of waiting for that perfect time that's never coming. So this time we put together everything we learned from all of the little different experiments we have been testing for like the past six months about making sure our offers meet the three core needs that people need to have met in order to make a buying decision. And I talked about that in episode 87, really in depth. So,

definitely go check that out because that applies to your clients as well. You need to be meeting the three core needs for people who you're making web design offers to, especially when you're making premium offers to them for them to feel safe and trusting to buy. And so we've been doing all these little experiments to be like, okay, what if we did this?

Shannon Mattern (09:14.232)

Would this check the box of this coordinate to make someone feel safe to move forward to buy to, to come and work with us. So to like safe enough to like, let us help them. Right. And so I'm really, really pleased with how putting all of these pieces together worked out during this open enrollment. So I'm going to break it all down for you. So in the past, since we relaunched the program with an application, we've been around since 2016.

And in 2016, it was just like, Hey, we have this program. Anybody can join. Here's how much it costs. Like when you're in, you're in. Then in 2020, we decided to add an application to the program. And because we changed it from like an online course to a group coaching program, we added this robust community component. And we really wanted to make sure that the people in the program.

were at about the same place in their web design business journey. We didn't want people that were super far ahead. We didn't want people that were too early. We wanted to make sure that everybody in the room was like, everybody's questions would benefit everyone else's, like everyone else, right? So if someone comes in and I'm coaching them for 20 minutes on something, whatever I'm coaching them on, whether that's like getting clients or firing a client or...

dealing with a difficult client or all of the things that we coach on inside of our program, as you implement our strategies and they start working and you start booking clients and projects, I wanna make sure that if I'm coaching you for 20 minutes, it's gonna benefit everybody else listening to that. And if you're too new or too advanced, it doesn't benefit everybody else. And that's why...

We added our next level mastermind for the more advanced web designers who aren't struggling with a whole lot of imposter syndrome or things, but they have too many clients. They're overworking, they're overwhelmed and they've like let their life get away with them. We created a separate space for people for those conversations. So in the past, once we added the application piece to our program, the way that it worked is that,

Shannon Mattern (11:34.712)

if you fill out our application and then if I thought that I could help you and that you would be a good fit for the program, I would invite you to a private training, like a private webinar that was only for accepted applicants where I'd teach you our 5P framework strategy that we help you implement inside the program. And then I give you all of the program details, time commitment and investment and invite you to enroll at that point only if your application was accepted.

So for open enrollment, I decided I was gonna flip the script because one of the three core needs to creating enough trust with someone for them to take that step out of their comfort zone is information, right? And so what I realized, and I guess I didn't really think of it this way.

before is that for a lot of people, filling out the application is almost the same as a decision to enroll. Like most people are not filling out the application unless they're a yes to enroll. And so that's where I'm like, okay, but I need to flip the script and give people all of this information ahead of time so that they're a yes to fill out the application.

and they're already a yes if I accept them, right? And so I decided to do that and where I'm like, okay, anyone can come to this open house. I decided to host an open house. I'm like, anybody can come to this, whether they're qualified to work with us or not. I'm gonna talk about our strategies in detail. I'm gonna talk about how our program works, how much it costs, how you can pay as you go or paying full upfront, why we have that application, how to apply, and if you apply,

and are accepted and like decide to go ahead and enroll, how you can use our 30 day trial to opt out at day 30 and only pay for the month that you were in the program. And the open house explained all of that to them. And it also was like, and you must enroll by this date to take advantage of this lower monthly payment option or pay in full option.

Shannon Mattern (13:59.512)

lower than we've ever offered before because I want you in here now. And I know that the sooner you get your butt in here, the sooner we can start helping you make money. So I put together that open enrollment offer, taking all of the pieces of like checking the boxes of the three core needs to be like, here's all of the information you need to know ahead of time before you even fill out the application. Like I'm just going to lay it all out for you on the table.

And by the way, if you're interested in exactly what all those details are right now at the time that you're listening to this podcast, just go to webdesigneracademy .com forward slash apply, A -P -P -L -Y, right there on the application page. Before you fill anything out, all of those details are there for you. So I invited our entire Web Designer Academy email list. Then I also promoted the open house throughout the Simply Profitable Designer Summit.

We had about 240 people register to attend the open house, which is pretty standard for us. And then I sent the replay of the open house video to my entire web designer Academy email list and anyone who registered for that open house. And I did not send it to people who were registered for the Simply Profitable Designer Summit who weren't previously on my email list. Cause I'm like, they don't even know me yet. Like,

I'm just the person hosting the summit and sending emails about the summit. They're here on my list because of the summit, not because they know anything about the web designer academy or are interested in it. So that's why I talked to last month about how we created a separate nurture sequence for those people to be like, Hey, now that the summers summit's over, let's get to know each other better.

I'm Shannon Maddern, I help women web designers stop undercharging and over delivering. Here's who we help, here's how we help them. If that's you, cool, stick around. If you're not into that, cool, you can unsubscribe, no worries. And I honestly was not sure what to expect as far as application goes because when the call to action previously has been, hey, fill out this application and if you're qualified, I'll invite you to this training, I get way more applications because people want the training.

Shannon Mattern (16:16.344)

And the decision to fill out the application is a decision to see if they're qualified to come to the training. Whereas when I flipped the script and I'm like doing the training upfront, the call to action is now, Hey, fill out this application to see if you're qualified to join our program. And even though there's zero obligation to enroll, if I accept your application, most people aren't going to take the time to fill out the application unless they intend to join if accepted.

And so I'm changing something and full disclosure, I have tried to change this in the past, but I not not through this lens and it did not work at all. The last time I tried to change it. but it's because I like met even less of the core needs, right? Like I did it in a way that like did not work at all. And this time I learned so many lessons from all the little tests.

tests that we did. So I have tried this before, but not from this frame of mind and not through with the lens that I'm that I'm looking at it now. So really, really interesting and so important to do experimentation and have a mindset of whether this quote unquote works or not, meaning whether I get the results I want or not. I need to look at this very objectively and see.

what worked, what didn't work, what can I change, why didn't this work, and not just throw the baby out with the bathwater, right? So knowing that I was like kind of changing the intent of filling out the application, I wanted to give people all of the information that they needed upfront and a pretty long runway to make the decision, but also a very clear deadline.

so we ended up having 10 applications from that open house, open enrollment promotion. I said no to three of them because they were way too early in their business journey to work with us. They were like just starting to learn web design. And our program is not for people just starting to learn web design. It's for people who are already web designers who, are undercharging, over delivering and overworking, right?

Shannon Mattern (18:42.552)

So of the remaining seven applications, a few of them ghosted after their application was accepted, which I'll talk more about when I talked about the rejection challenge that we did in the Web Designer Academy in April, because so many of you take being ghosted by potential clients like personally, like you did something wrong or whatever, and you get to decide what you make that mean. And so I'll tell, hello.

We did something called the rejection challenge in April and it's all about reframing what people telling you no, people ghosting you, all of what that means. And then one person told me that she felt like she needed to do it on her own for a while and give it like a real dedicated try by herself before coming to work with us, which I hear from people all the time. And I'm like,

Like I wish I could find the magic words to say to get people to not do that to themselves. Because when they finally do enroll, I hear things like, I stalked you for a year and I wish I would have just done it back then. And I'm like, yeah, I know I tried to tell you, but listen, I'm the same way on a lot of things. I gotta learn on my own sometimes the hard way. So I'm never gonna hold that against anyone. There are a lot of powerful lessons that can be learned that way, but.

there's like a thought error behind that. Like, if I just try, I haven't been trying hard enough. So if I just try hard enough, then like, then things will start working. It's like, no, it's not that. It's like, there's so many things that it doesn't matter how hard you try. You can't see, you cannot see your own blind spots. You need someone to show you them. When you try on your own, you're like, hey, let me take all of my good thinking and all of my faulty thinking.

and everything and just try to move forward with what's in my brain right now. And yes, you can like do research and try to find things, but like one of our students was like, yeah, I didn't even know. I wasn't even asking the right questions. Like, and so that's kind of why I'm just like, it's not about your ability to do it on your own. Of course, you're very, very capable. You just don't know it. You don't know.

Shannon Mattern (21:06.36)

And so that's the, that's the shift that I am like really dedicated to like helping people understand is that like, it's not that you aren't trying hard enough. It's that you don't know what you don't know. We can help you and I can't know what you don't know until I'm actually coaching you. I don't know how you think I can give you as many, tips and tricks and strategies and things on this podcast, but until I hear the words come out of your mouth and I'm like,

that's why you're having this problem and I coach you on it and we shift how you think, and then you do something different. That's where all the magic is. So anyway, so one person was like, Nope, I'm going to do it on my own for a while. and then three other, three of those seven enrolled from the open house and then three previously accepted applicants also decided to enroll during open enrollment and take advantage of that promotion.

promotional pricing. So that means like those three people had applied some time in like the past three, six, nine months, maybe even a year. And this open enrollment promotion came around. They're like, okay, yep, now's the time. Now's the time. Because like I said, people enroll all the time outside of open enrollment. And maybe they're ready, maybe they're not, I don't know. So that was, and then we had,

So that was three people that were previously, previously accepted applicants. And then we had one person who just found me through the podcast and was like, my gosh, everything you're saying is like, you've been reading my diary to me and enrolled completely outside of all of that promotion. Didn't even know that promotion was going on. Of course, I gave them the promotional.

like pricing and bonuses and all of that stuff, but like they didn't come through that door at all. And so that's seven new web designer Academy students in April. And I was delighted for that. And it like, I will be fully transparent is not like the days of your back in 2020, where everyone's stuck at home flush with cash from not being able to go anywhere and thinking, Hey,

Shannon Mattern (23:24.952)

Now's the time to try that web design business, like, and really get serious and get help with it because I've not got nothing better to do. And we get like a whoosh of 20 new students in one fell swoop. It's different, but it's, it's a, it's a shift from even a year ago, six months ago where, you know, I was getting like one, maybe two at a time. And it's not just me seeing people starting to.

move again after kind of going into a freeze mode with like being worried about inflation and experiencing that and being worried about the economy. I'm hearing it from my colleagues and friends. I'm seeing it from our students that whereas people were like, okay, let me go down into like just press pause on projects and plans and spending and wait and see what's gonna happen and make sure I'm okay.

people are pressing play again. And that's why I'm like, I never stopped marketing, right? So if you're like, dang, Shannon, that sounds like a lot of work for just seven new students hosting an open house, hosting a summit, like all of these things and like 240 people come to the summit and you only get seven new students, that's one way to think about it if you wanna think about it that way.

But I personally don't think about it that way because what I know is I planted thousands of seeds to be able to help future students. I also helped a lot of people know that our program isn't right for them right now. And that's okay too. But like I never stop marketing. I never stop trying to connect with web designers. Never, I never stop planting seeds. I don't think of all of the people who,

Attended the open house and didn't fill out the application. I don't think of those people as knows. I think of those people as not yet. And until they stop opening my emails and unsubscribe from my list, I think of those people as potential future clients. And it's my job to plant the seed, to nurture the seed, to like feed it and water it and give it sunshine and take care of it. And I don't get.

Shannon Mattern (25:49.24)

to control if the seed grows, how long it takes to grow, if it grows and something comes along and snatches it or eats it or picks it before it's ready. Like, I don't get to control that part. I only get to control what I can control, which is marketing, planting the seeds, nurturing the seeds. I'm willing to be ghosted. I'm willing to be rejected. I'm willing for people to tell me we're too expensive. And I'm like,

Like, I, those people, like, I, when I say this, I understand that like, financial concerns are absolutely real concerns. And if your decision is between paying your bills and working with us, now is not the time to work with us. But, you know, what I also know is that if you're like, this program to help me,

you know, serve my clients better and stop overworking and help me have more confidence and help me put myself out there to more people is too much. That also tells me that you're probably holding yourself back in your pricing too because of how you think about money. And so like you probably are afraid to charge more with your clients because you're afraid that you're harming them.

and you're not looking at it as like what can they gain by working with me? You're looking at what could they lose by working with me? And that's the shift that I want you to make. If you're like, I don't know about getting help, I don't know about like giving myself support and coaching with my business, I might lose something. I want you to start shifting your thoughts about what you could gain. And I want you to also notice if you are afraid to charge your clients,

for anything ever, or if you're afraid to raise your prices because you're afraid your clients will lose something, you have to start thinking about what they're gonna gain by working with you. Otherwise, you will never escape the undercharging and over -delivering trap. So I'm willing to be ghosted. I'm willing to be rejected. I'm willing for people to tell me I'm too expensive. I actually had someone the other day reply to one of my emails with one sentence.

Shannon Mattern (28:11.864)

This is a scam. Like, I'm like, you can say whatever you want to me. I know I act in integrity and I'm willing for all of that to happen for those seven women to decide to say yes to themselves because I know their life is going to completely change. And because they are seven phenomenal, powerful women, and I cannot wait to see what the next six to 12 months brings to them. Like, and it's just so fun to watch their transformation. Like.

It is just, it's so rewarding. And so that's why in April inside of the Web Designer Academy, we did something called the Rejection Challenge. So one of our students listened to a podcast interview with Chris Doe and he interviewed a woman named Liz Mosley and I'll link this up in the show notes. And I've actually invited Liz to be on the podcast to talk about this. And...

Long story short, Liz Mosley pitched Christo to be a guest on his podcast and he said, no, because your audience is too small. And like she noticed how that rejection made her feel. She was like, that makes me feel bad. I don't, you know, I feel like I'm not good enough. And then she noticed how she was thinking about it and she was like, whoa, I need to completely reframe.

how I think and feel about rejection. And so she challenged herself to get a hundred rejections over a certain period of time and made it like a game, right? And so she started reaching out for bigger and bigger opportunities. And what ended up happening was she couldn't get a hundred rejections because she kept getting yeses. And so,

One of our students inside the Web Designer Academy shared that podcast episode with us. Another one of our students was inspired to do what we teach inside of our program, which is outreach. And one of the biggest reasons people don't do it is because they're worried about what to say or they're afraid of rejection or they're worried about what people are gonna think about them. And so in April, we're like, we're doing the rejection challenge. We want you guys to set a goal for how many rejections you are going to collect.

Shannon Mattern (30:35.352)

and then put yourself out there. Like reach out, follow our very step -by -step strategies and scripts with our, like we tell people like, here's what to say, here's exactly how to end your outreach, here's how to follow up, here's when to follow up. Like we give you steps, scripts, and processes for doing this and the exact words to say. And we're like, we want you to collect rejections and.

rejections as Erica Nash, our client success coordinator said, rejections are treasure. Like someone telling you, no, you have so much opportunity to decide, am I gonna make that about me? Am I gonna make that about them? Is there something that I can learn from this? What are people saying? It's market research. It's also an opportunity for you to notice what you're thinking about yourself and clean that up.

And at the same time, it's an opportunity for you to plant a ton of seeds and, and let them grow and nurture them and water them. We are not entitled to people saying yes to us when we need a client. Okay. Like we are not, it's our job to connect, nurture, build relationships and be willing to be ghosted. Right. It's, it's not like it's as easy as you think it is.

If you think that it's hard, it's gonna be hard. If you think that it's not hard, it won't be hard. And so we did the rejection challenge in April. We created a super fun spreadsheet. We had a pirate flag for if you got rejected because rejections are treasure. We had a ghost if you got ghosted because that's an opportunity for you to decide what you're gonna make that mean.

I'm always like, if you're going to tell stories, tell good stories. Like someone didn't ghost you because they think that you're annoying and hate you. Maybe they do. We don't know unless they tell us. We don't know. So the story I'm going to tell is that they're on a fabulous vacation and they'll get back to me whenever. And I'm going to continue to follow up until they tell me to go away. Right. And so.

Shannon Mattern (32:52.12)

you get to decide the stories you tell yourself and the stories you tell yourself will either have you taking action or have you not taking action. Because what I know is that if you're not reaching out to people, building relationships, letting them know how you can help them, who you help, talking about your business, asking for referrals, asking them how you can help them, supporting them, connecting them with people that you know, giving to the relationship and not just asking.

following up with past clients or consults, connecting with people who serve your ideal client, building relationships with them. You will experience feast and famine in your business if you're not doing those things. And yes, you want to create recurring revenue, but you need clients to do that, right? You don't just like create recurring revenue from all of your existing clients. You always need new people coming in. You don't wanna get complacent, even if you have recurring revenue sources, but people don't do it.

because they're afraid of rejection. They're worried that people are gonna think they're pushy or salesy or annoying. They don't wanna ask for things. They don't wanna bother people. We don't teach marketing that way in the Web Designer Academy, but it's still something that holds us back from taking action. We tell ourselves lots of stories about what people will think of us, but in reality, those stories that we are worried other people are going to think of us, that's what we think about ourselves deep down.

So the next time that you're like, I don't wanna do that, because I'm worried someone will think I'm X, Y, Z, that's what you're thinking about yourself. And do you wanna keep believing that? And do you wanna keep letting that hold you back? Or do you wanna work on believing something different? So we invited our students to take massive action in April to plant seeds for new opportunities, to seek rejection, to celebrate being ghosted, to practice feeling nervous, to ask us for help, and then,

push that send button anyway, even with their heart racing and their palms sweaty, to fill the space between sending the outreach and waiting for a response with good stories, not bad ones, and to just stop trying to control other people's opinions of you. It is not easy. But if you know deep down that you're operating from integrity, it's important.

Shannon Mattern (35:11.512)

And it's work I'm willing to do every day because running this business and working with the women I get to work with is my dream life. And I'm willing for people to be annoyed by me to serve the people who aren't. Because what's happening that I can't see is that there are hundreds of you out there getting ready to say yes to yourself and fill out the application. You are seeds that are growing and my team and I are strategizing all of the ways that we can support you as you grow into the person who is ready.

to leave their comfort zone of the known, trusting that we actually will be able to help you, right? And that's why I'm persistent, because I have faith that what I'm doing is working and that the results are on their way, but I don't just operate on faith, I also operate on data. And I wanted to know why did these seven women decide to say yes now? Are all of the little levers that I've been putting into place, the...

You know, little check the boxes I've been checking on the three core needs. Did they actually work? Did they influence their decision at all? Or am I completely powerless and I just have to wait for people to be ready. And so I asked them, I was like, how important to you was our promotional pricing? What about our 30 day trial period where all you pay for is the month that you're in the program. And if you decide it's not for you, you can opt out. No harm, no foul. Like, what about that?

A couple of them are subscribers to our profitable web designer premium podcast, which I launched in March, just on a whim as like a, how can I help people understand what we really do in here and help them feel like safe? And so that's a, that's replays of our archives of web designer Academy live strategy calls. Like from the beginning of the group coaching program back in 2020 chronologically, we drip them out. You get a drop of 10.

When you subscribe for $10 a month and then every week you get two more. And so you get to like binge listen to coaching calls. And I wanted to know if like getting to know what the coaching is like on the inside. Influence their decision to join. What about hearing directly from our students on all of the student panels and the testimonials that we share? What about knowing every last detail about the program before filling out the application versus after?

Shannon Mattern (37:34.552)

filling it out, like what about knowing the price, the payment options, the time investment, the modules, like the support, all of that stuff before filling out the app versus after. All of the little experiments that I've tried over the past several months, I stacked them all together in this open enrollment period and I wanted to know if anything I did compelled them to join or if they were just ready regardless of anything I did and I discovered.

that all of the little changes I'd made to check the three boxes of the three core needs of resources. So resources means people need time, information, money, and energy to make a decision to leave the unknown of their comfort zone. Even if their comfort zone is causing them pain, they need the resources, time, information, money, and energy. They need psychological safety. So they need to feel like they will belong, be safe, be

protected and be accepted and they need autonomy or choice. So making sure that they know that they have an option, they have autonomy so that their decision's not a permanent one, that there's an out at the 30 day mark. And so I did a survey and all of those changes that we made impacted their decision. I asked how important to your decision,

was this factor, very neutral, like not at all, or didn't even know that was a thing, right? All of those changes impacted the yes. And I was like, my gosh, that is so awesome, right? I was like, we have put so much into like trying to figure out why people who we know we can help are saying no, and.

how we can, or saying not right now and saying like, what can we do to make it feel safe for them to say yes? And I think we have come across a really great set of things that we know that are helping people take the step towards helping themselves. And so when it comes to your clients, one of the things that I see people,

Shannon Mattern (39:55.64)

shy away from is they're like, my gosh, my proposals take so much time. And then people say no, or the way we teach in the web designer academy is like, we have you do an in -depth consultation. And then you go away and you put together your irresistible package matrix, and you present that package matrix in like a video. And people will come back to me and say like, this video like took me.

way too long to record it so long, nobody's gonna watch it. And it's like, you're asking somebody to spend thousands of dollars with you, five figures if you're doing it the way that we're teaching. And they just met you likely, maybe they were referred by someone else, so you've got a little tick in the trust box there, if they were a referral, right? They're just getting to know you.

You are, if you're doing your consultation the way that we teach it, you're building trust, you're building rapport, you're showing them that you understand what they do and why it's so valuable to them and why they care so much about getting it right. And you're going away and putting together a thoughtful plan for how you can, how you can.

build their website and do their project, right? And so these are all things that check the box of the three core needs people need in order to work with you. And we also teach our students how to create autonomy for their clients in terms of choice and giving them decisions that aren't just like yes or no and setting boundaries that create psychological safety and autonomy for their clients.

And so you have to be willing to do that for your clients. Like I understand it's frustrating when you go through all of that and someone says no, but like what parts of the process are you missing? Right? And so it's like, but is it not worth putting the time into that to build that relationship with the client and like have a not only,

Shannon Mattern (42:18.072)

not only like the project that you book with them, but now their future projects and their future referrals because you put the time in upfront to check the boxes of resources, psychological safety and autonomy. And you're not just like, work with me or don't like that's, that's what we do in our program. So we want to make sure that you're developing.

long -term relationships with clients because we do want them to be sources of recurring revenue for you. But they're people. They're people with fears about their decisions working out for them or not. It's a big deal for them to come and invest with you on their website, especially so many people have been burned before because people are just building websites, quote unquote, and not really learning about their business or whatever.

And so these things are important and these can be the difference between being a high earning web designer or just a pixel pusher. Right. And so I was so, it's like, I was so happy to see that all of the, the, the different ways we were thinking about why we're doing what we're doing and the different things that we put into our offer, impacted people's decisions to say yes. And so now I have all the, all of that data. I'm like, okay.

Positioning the offer this way is creating not necessarily more applications, but more yeses for people that are applying. So that's awesome. And so now I'm like, I just need to get in front of new eyes and new ears and keep making offers to the ones that I'm currently in front of who are watching and listening, knowing that one day they will finally be ready to leave their comfort zone of undercharging and overworking and let us hold their hand through making these big.

not scary, but some risky feeling changes in their businesses and their lives. So with all of the data that I gathered from the open enrollment and the survey in April, we also looked at the customer journey for all of our new students over the past several months. And we noticed this pattern where some, where people would like sign up for a free training and then another one, and then take our archetypes quiz and then sign up for a challenge and then come to the open house. And meanwhile, they're like consuming.

Shannon Mattern (44:43.16)

all of our content, which is amazing, but they're also getting an email sequence for every single one of these things. Because I've like created all these different funnels over time, each with their own email sequence. And then we'd like do a new training and like, do all that. So anyway, I'm like, if they're signing up for all this free stuff anyway, some people are getting like three emails a day for me. Like that's crazy.

So why don't I just consolidate all of these free trainings into one free course and one email sequence and incorporate everything we just learned about which parts of the offer help people to say yes to themselves now instead of waiting. And when I have an idea like that, like where all these separate pieces come together, I just can't stop myself from doing it. Like it comes together fast. And so I took...

our six sneaky places, web design businesses, leak time and money training, the archetypes quiz that goes with it, our profitable pricing framework for high earning web designers training, and our full -time income framework training that I used to only show to accepted applicants and the open house that I just did. And I edited out anything like redundant or unnecessary between the four videos and I turned it into a four video free course.

And some people would say that that's like too much content, too much information, it's too long. But what we're seeing is that for people who join our program, they're consuming seven to 10 hours that we can tell of our content before they're making the decision to work with us. And I'm like, okay, well, that's, that's, you know, each video is like 45 minutes or whatever. but.

yeah, I'm like, okay, I'm just gonna put it all in one place and let people learn our strategies, our philosophy and everything that you would do when you come to work with us in one place. And not worry that it's gonna be, too long because listen, like, it takes time to learn new concepts and implement them. And like, that just is what it is. And so I wanna make sure that like,

Shannon Mattern (47:00.632)

The people who are filling out our application are also demonstrating that they're like willing to listen to this. And of course we put everything in like a private podcast feed anyway, because if y 'all are anything like me, I'm never sitting at my desk learning ever. Like I'm doing it while I'm doing other things, you know, out walking the dog, driving, cleaning my house. Like I'm not sitting down. If I'm in a coaching program, I am not sitting at my desk learning.

I'll sit at my desk when it's time to implement, but not when it's time to learn. So we put all of that in a private podcast feed as well. And so I tested that email sequence. Like I tested it like crazy. Like I pretty much never do this and I should, but I'm also like move fast, break things, fix them later. But I'm like, no, build out this email sequence. Look at every single email, how it looks on your phone, edit down the subject lines, make the preview text compelling.

tweak subject lines, make like click every single link, make sure it's going to the right place. Of course, that's all obvious, but like sometimes when I'm the only one doing something, I make a lot of mistakes and I just move fast and then I fix it later. But I'm like, no, take the time to be intentional upfront because this is, yes, it's another test, but it's also like the culmination of everything you learned. So it's not the final product, but it's pretty dang close, right?

So when people sign up for that free course, they get instant access to all four videos right away. Because one of the things we also, because that's that's that whole autonomy thing, right? It's like, stop trying to control how people consume information. We don't need to drip it out over four days, like anything like that. You get everything now you have autonomy to consume how you want to consume. We do the same thing when you enroll in our program.

You get everything right away. We're going to give you a roadmap and a guide based on you and your business, but you have full autonomy to consume what you want to consume, however you want to do it. And so, you know, when people sign up for the free course, we gave them instant access to all four videos, and then they get a daily email sequence talking about the concepts in the video, sharing more about our program and inviting them to fill out the application.

Shannon Mattern (49:25.464)

and also giving them the chance to get that same promotional pricing that we offered people during open enrollment if their application, if they apply within this two week timeframe and their application is accepted. And cool, if not, if they don't take me up on that incentive to make a decision sooner, they can still join at the regular price anytime that they want. They can still fill out the application anytime and join at the regular price and there's still payment plan.

option, like a pay as you go option. So I'm like, if this is what they're doing anyway before joining, going and getting their hands on all of this stuff and consuming it, how about I just make it easier for them by putting it all in one place? So that came together in like a week, if 10 days, maybe. But then I was like, okay, who do I send this to? Like my whole email list just went through open enrollment. They just saw several of these emails, not all of them, but a lot of them.

They were just given the chance to enroll, but all my new summit subscribers haven't seen this stuff yet. And I'm like, I was just overthinking it. I'm like, should it just be for new people? I could not figure it out. And so then I talked to my mastermind buddies, Jason Gracia and Josh Hall. They've both been on the podcast and they are just such good friends of mine. And they're like, Shannon, just send it to everybody. Like no one's going to be mad that you're giving them another chance.

to get in at promotional pricing and if they are, they were never gonna enroll anyway, so don't worry about it. And if it annoys people and they unsubscribe, don't worry about it. They were never gonna enroll anyway. And I'm like, my gosh, yes, like it's so funny. Like that's why I have support you guys, like I'm in business coaching, I have masterminds, I have friends. If you came to me with that same problem, I would tell you the exact same thing, but when it comes to me, I can't see my own.

stuff. I need outside support. I bring my own baggage to those decisions. I worry about what people think of me. That's why I have coaches. I have mentors. I have peers. I do not do all of this on my own. I get stuck in my own head. I overthink things. I need others to help me get unstuck and move forward. So I added my entire email list to the new free course sequence. I dropped them all in on April 30th, the very last day of the month.

Shannon Mattern (51:49.336)

And I'll let you know in May how, how that went. But what I, the expectation that I did set for that was a, almost everyone already saw it. And if they hadn't seen it, they didn't, their intention was not web designer Academy. Their intention was simply profitable designer summit. And so I would consider this, test, a test to a lukewarm audience.

And so what will really tell me if the needle is moving on, putting together all of the levers to create trust in our open enrollment offer, if that works on Evergreen, is what happens when new people come through it too. So if you want to check it out, if you didn't get it, because you're not on my email list, go to webdesigneracademy .com forward slash free course to sign up.

And I also wanted to get that free course done in advance of the Page Builder Summit because I was invited to speak at that. It's in May. I wanted to promote it in my presentation. And then for the Page Builder Summit, I created a totally new training about 15 different marketing strategies to use at different stages of your web design business. And I made that training because of two reasons. One, at my summit, the Simply Profitable Designer Summit, one of the biggest questions and hottest topics was about marketing.

and there were tons of great strategies talked about at the summit, but what was missing is what strategies are the most effective for you at what stage of business you're in. Because if you're just starting or in the first couple years, what's gonna create clients for you is way, way different than if you've been in business several years. And I see people implementing complicated,

advanced and completely unnecessary marketing strategies that delay their results too early on in their journey. And I also see people who are farther along in their journey implementing complicated, advanced and completely unnecessary marketing strategies that delay their results when they could just implement some of the simple foundational strategies. And where that comes into play is like your time, right? Like,

Shannon Mattern (54:12.984)

Your time is very important. If your marketing tastes take less time, why don't we make it take less time? And the other reason I wanted to do that presentation because Kyle Van Dusen over at the admin bar, who I had the pleasure of meeting on a panel that Josh Hall did for his 300th podcast episode. Kyle did a survey of over a thousand WordPress professionals, WordPress specifically. And the results were stunning and fascinating.

So many web designers are undercharging. The stat that shocked me, and I talk about it on Josh Hall's podcast with Josh, is that with an average of 11 years in web design, across the board of this over a thousand survey respondents, 72 % of them are charging $5 ,000 or less.

for a website and also saying that they are struggling to get clients and, but they're not doing any marketing, like any outbound or inbound marketing, meaning they're not going after clients and connecting with people. And I'm like, there's so much opportunity. If you've been in business for 11 years and you're charging less than 5 ,000,

we need to talk, truly. Even if you've been in business three years, four years, five years, sometimes even two, please let me help you because you are leaving so much money on the table and making this so much harder than it needs to be. So after seeing the survey results, I was like, so many web designers are undercharging.

overworking because the other thing that they said was work -life balance was a challenge. They're struggling to get clients, but they're also like, yeah, but I'm not really doing any marketing. And I'm like, I am on a mission to make marketing as simple as possible for web designers. I give away all of our marketing strategies for free on this podcast. I tell you exactly what to do to get clients. It is no secret.

Shannon Mattern (56:32.184)

just go look at any of our past episodes and I'll put the replay of that presentation on this podcast after that summit is over because what I know is that for web designers who have clients, marketing is the least of their problems, right? For web designers who are, you know, have cracked the code on marketing, their problem becomes how to manage and navigate all of the success that they're having and that's where we help so many web designers.

but I want every single one of you listening to this podcast to have the skill of getting clients. I want you, that is the most freeing thing that you could ever learn is that if you know, I always know how to go get a client. No matter what is happening with your business, you always know how to get a client, that is freedom. You don't have to deal with, you can fire a bad client.

when you know, hey, I don't feel like I have to keep them because I need money because I have the skill to go get a new client. That's why I want you to always be planting seeds, always connecting with new people, adding value to people, building relationships, even in the quote unquote, like winter time, like when nobody's buying, nobody's booking new projects, especially then, especially then is when you need to be doing marketing.

Because when you know you can always go get a client, that is true freedom.

When you crack the code on getting clients, then it's undercharging, over delivering and overworking that really gets in the way of freedom once they figured out how to get clients. So there's like two pieces to that. Always knowing you can go get one, but also knowing how to not undercharge, over deliver, overwork, hold boundaries, run the projects, run the show, run the business and not let the clients run it, right? And so I have been seeing that.

Shannon Mattern (58:34.936)

anecdotally for years from the thousands of Web Designer Academy applications I've gotten that web designers in the mid to high five figures and six figures are overwhelmed and overworking even if their website makes it look like their business is perfect. And the admin bars survey like put the data behind that where it's like, yeah, here I am making good money as a web designer for those who are who are not undercharging.

or they're making good money, but they're still charging less than 5 ,000. And they're like, my biggest challenges were work -life balance. Like, I wonder why, like, please let us help you fix that. And so the final thing that I wanted to share with you before I dive into April's numbers that happened in April is that I started making reels. And I don't, if you know me, if you listen to this podcast, if you've even followed me on social media for a while, I'm not really on social media.

Like I'm 44 years old. I didn't grow up in the age of social media. Like Facebook was a thing when I was like in my first corporate job. I wasn't really like, I did not really embrace it in my mid twenties. Was it the mid twenties? How old I was like 35 when Facebook came out, maybe, maybe a little bit younger, but so it wasn't like a part of my day to day. And it wasn't how,

I was getting clients, like it just wasn't even like a part of my, it's not a natural extension of how I communicate, I guess I should say. And so I don't teach social media marketing in the web designer academy because I don't do it to get clients. I never did it. And I don't think that you need to create content on social media to get clients as a web designer, especially how competitive the space is for attention.

But I'm like, if you like doing that, awesome, go for it. You do you, you can learn it from the experts. But I started doing reels personally because I was being interviewed by Gigi Davarashvili from One Sixth Creative on her podcast. And I will share that episode as soon as it comes out, because it was such a good conversation. I'm going to have her on the show. And she spoke at the Simply Profitable Designer Summit all about marketing. And she told me that she uses social media.

Shannon Mattern (01:00:56.952)

like a video and real specifically as just another way to connect with her existing, existing audience, not necessarily to grow her audience. Although if that's a by -product of what she's doing there, great. And I'm like, okay, no one has ever given me a compelling reason to put any time or attention into social media until this conversation. If Gigi is saying like, Hey, this is just one more, way for you to connect with.

the people who are gonna potentially become your clients and influence them and help them and support them. That sounds awesome to me. And if I can create reels with helpful content that helps people that follow me, if I can help them make that one shift in their thoughts that will have them hold a boundary with a client or send that outreach email or charge for those extras or start valuing themselves differently, awesome. I...

would be happy to show up there.

And I can make it easy. And if you think I'm cringy, I don't really care. Like if you, if me being cringy on social media makes you not work with me, that's cool, but I'll be cringy. Like we don't need to work together, but I'll be cringy if it helps someone. Like I have hundreds, if not thousands of hours of video and audio content that I've created and AI makes it super easy to find good soundbites and turn them into reels. So I'm experimenting with that.

and I'm experimenting with being more accessible and social than I ever have before and paying attention to it and being deliberate about checking it. So if you want, you can follow me at profitable web designer on Instagram and see what I'm up to, DM me and say hi, share some of my content with other web designers that you know need it and we'll just see what happens. I think it's kind of one of those things. Like I started this podcast.

Shannon Mattern (01:02:52.312)

back in September of 2022. And I didn't really hear, start hearing people say, I found you through your podcast until I was about six months in to producing content for the show. And I'm like, it never occurred to me to not keep doing the podcast, to not be consistent because I like doing the podcast. And so if I change how I think and feel about social media and what my expectations are,

And if I'm just consistent in my creating and scheduling content for it, I don't need instant results. I can let the, let the wave build behind and, and see what happens. And so I'm experimenting with that. And I think that's everything that happened in April. So yeah.

Like the only other thing that happened in April was I went camping for the eclipse and it was amazing. And I did feel a little bit of smug satisfaction. I'm not gonna lie when I was, it was a Monday that the eclipse happened and like my sister and my husband and our friends had to like take off work to do it. We like.

We went on a Saturday and we camped the whole weekend. And so not only were they like fielding calls all day and like working and texting and everything all up until the time, like we had to like leave right after so that they could get home. And I'm just like, I have total freedom. Like I have nowhere to be. I get to like just slow down and enjoy this. And so that was, it's just one of those reminders that like everything you like.

every challenge I've been through has been like worth it for those, for the big moments and the little ones. So, okay. That's everything for April. I'm sure more happened. I'm sure I read a ton of books in the mornings. I'll do, I love sharing with you the books that really like stand out with me. So I'll do that in the future, but let's dive into April's numbers.

Shannon Mattern (01:05:04.536)

And just to give you a frame of reference, our minimum baseline revenue for running the Web Designer Academy is $15 ,000 a month. That is how much the business needs to generate to cover all of our business expenses, 10 ,000 of which is payroll. That includes my salary and my client success coordinator, Erica's salary, and state and federal taxes and payroll taxes and all of that. So that's what we...

what we do for salary. And then the other 5K is really split between operations, right? So it's, and taxes. So it's tools, tech, banking credit card processing fees, marketing, operations, repaying the business line of credit that I dipped into, into 2023, so as not to like touch our cash and help us weather the year that was 2023.

And so to give you a frame of reference in the heydays of the early 2020s, we were humming along at like 30 to 40 ,000 a month. And then 2023, and I also was doing like the free five day website challenge and a lot of affiliate marketing for like the other side of my business. and then 2023 came along and that was a no good, very bad year for business, not just for me, but for a lot of people. But at the time it felt like it was only happening to me.

because I wasn't doing my income reports and I wasn't talking to people about it. We laid off one employee at the end of like in the fall of 2023. And then we really leaned on our reserves from the good times to continue to run the business and serve our clients as we've been rebuilding our monthly recurring revenue back.

So in April, our revenue was $15 ,066 .36. And that all came from Web Designer Academy enrollments and recurring payments from previous students. So I was just like, every time we hit that minimum baseline, I'm just like so thrilled because it just shows that what we're doing is working and that our persistence is paying off. And our expenses in...

Shannon Mattern (01:07:20.632)

or our investments, I should say, because I truly believe that every dollar we spend in the business is for a reason, and it's going to be coming back to us, was $15 ,461. And that includes my salary and client success coordinator's salary and all of our marketing and operations for a net profit of negative $394 .64, which was covered by our reserves. And...

You know, if you've listened to past podcast episodes, you've kind of seen that some months we have a negative 5 ,000 profit. Some months we have a $30 ,000 profit. Like the month to month numbers jump around quite a bit right now. We're trying to like, we're doing everything we can to like get back to predictable recurring revenue. So that's, that's like our minimum baseline just is like guaranteed.

We're not quite there yet, but we're getting creative in how we're making offers and what we're doing and trying a lot of different things. Those figures don't include the over $16 ,000 that I paid out to affiliates and the co -owners of the Simply Profitable Designer Summit that I mentioned in last month's income report. And I didn't count that as revenue either. Like I never counted that money as mine. I mean, like, yes, I collected it. It'll go on my taxes.

as income and it'll also go right back out the doors and expense. I never looked at it as part of our operations because I always knew it was going to leave after I collected it, like we just passed it through. So, but I did just want to acknowledge that, you know, I didn't count it in my revenue in my income report either. So, like I said, my first goal is to just like create that 15 ,000 in revenue every month, build our...

build our recurring revenue backup to that. And right now in this season, I'm just willing to do whatever we need to do to make that happen before looking at cutting expenses again. And how we do that is simply by like creating value for our customers, by getting creative with our offers, by thinking about what those of you who aren't ready for...

Shannon Mattern (01:09:34.104)

the full blown web designer Academy coaching experience and, and year long program by thinking about what you might need and how we can serve you in a way that's sustainable for us, because we always talk about profitable and sustainable and we've got, we've got a lot of really great ideas and the works that we're going to be testing out over the next few months, for how we can serve you and meet you where you are. For those of you who aren't ready to make a year long commitment to our program.

So the other way we do that is we continue to meet new women web designers. You know, we do our own outreach. We build relationships with people who serve our ideal audience. You know, we put ourselves out there and, you know, get a lot of rejection, right? Like, that's okay. Create opportunities to meet new women web designers, invite them to take our free course, let them know how we can help them identify their...

I incentivize their decision to say yes to themselves. The exact same advice I give you to help you reach your revenue goals. Everything that I tell you to do to market your business is stuff that I do. It's stuff that we do here at the Web Designer Academy. So first goal is 15K in revenue every month. And then the next goal is 15K of future recurring revenue. It's a slight difference, but an important one. It means that we have enough

students enrolled paying as they go on the payment plan that next month's 15 K is already a done deal. And that the work that I'm doing is to grow to that next goal, which is 20 K recurring monthly revenue all the way back up to 40 K and beyond like in 2021. So why do I share all this with you? You know, I, I always question like, is, is an income report like,

the best use of both of our times. And every time I do one, I hear from you all that, like, you're so glad that I do. And you tell me you need to know that you're not alone. Because, you know, everyone experiences challenges when they're growing their own business. And I know when you're out.

Shannon Mattern (01:11:54.456)

when you're out there listening to this podcast before you have made the decision to come and work with us, it might feel very lonely. It feels way less lonely when you do come to work with us, but everyone experiences challenges when growing their business. There's nothing wrong with you. You are normal. It is the price of the freedom that comes with owning your own business to...

have to figure this stuff out, you know? And like I said, I just got to take off for three days in my camper and go watch the eclipse with my friends and family and not have to ask anyone for permission or have my phone ringing off the hook. And every time I drop an income report on the podcast, I get DMs and emails like one from this person who said, hey, I thought I'd take a minute to send a note. I just listened to your podcast episode, the monthly income report and wanted to say thank you so much for your honesty and open.

openly sharing about your journey in business. I love tuning in because you're so real and motivating and listening helps me to stay focused on my biz and know that I'm not alone. Congrats on what sounded like a great summit and thanks for always keeping it real on the pod. So it's helpful for me to keep keep it real on the pod. I want you guys to know I'm learning. I'm just a few steps ahead of a lot of you learning along the way. And one of our web designer Academy students, Amy,

Amy Ogden, super brilliant. We were in our next level mastermind. And you know, I was, I was talking about like, my goal is to get back to the days of your, or to get to again, I guess you could say the days of your, when we were making 30 to 40 ,000 a month, every single month, like no big deal. Right. And she.

she shared this analogy of like building a business is like going up a flight of stairs in like the stairwell of an office building of a multi -floor office building. And it's like you climb all the way up to the top and maybe something happens that you fall back down, but you know how to get back to where you were. And that's kind of where I'm at. Like right now it's like, we climbed to the

Shannon Mattern (01:14:13.88)

to the level that we were at and we fell back down and now we're gonna climb back up there and climb higher next time. And so, yeah, I just thought that was a really great analogy for the experience that every single business owner I have ever talked to has experienced is that like, just because you have arrived at a certain place doesn't mean you'll always stay there or always grow from there. You could...

fall back down from there too. And it's worth learning the lessons that you need to learn to grow past that level next time. So I will leave you with this before we wrap up. If it's what you really want, it's worth pursuing. And it's worth troubleshooting every challenge that comes your way. And you do not have to do it alone. And we would absolutely love to help you.

You can go to webdesigneracademy .com forward slash apply and just learn all of the current details about what that looks like today. So you can decide if, if that's something that you're interested in, or not. So that's all I got for you this week. I will be back in your ears next week with another episode and I'll talk to you then. Bye.