Profitable Web Designer with Shannon Mattern Shannon Mattern

🌟 Today, I'm sharing something super special—my combined February and March income report. It’s all about the nitty-gritty behind the scenes of my business: what we earned, spent, and the profound lessons learned along the way.
👩‍💻 Why Income Reports?
When I started my journey from a six-figure job to running my own show at the Web Designer Academy, I began sharing my income reports. Inspired by the likes of Pat Flynn, I wanted to offer a transparent view of not just the earnings but the expenses too—something not many do. These reports have become a key tool for reflection and learning, and I’m excited to dive back into sharing these with you!
🎙️ In Today’s Episode, We’ll Explore:
- The motivation behind sharing detailed income and expense reports.
- The significant role these reports played in my entrepreneurial journey and how they continue to influence the Web Designer Academy.
- Insights into the balancing act of revenue versus expenses in the digital entrepreneurship space.
📌 Episode Highlights:
- [00:00] Introduction to the episode and the importance of income reports.
- [02:06] A deep dive into the expenses often not discussed in public earnings reports.
- [04:16] How transitioning from working with clients to focusing on the Web Designer Academy reshaped my business strategy.
- [06:38] Reflections on the challenges of 2023 and the decision to reintroduce income reports.
- [08:58] Why these reports resonate with listeners and the personal benefits of compiling them.
- [11:21] The integration of the Simply Profitable Designer Summit into my business and its impact.
- [15:52] Personal anecdotes and the broader impact of these events on my business and personal life.
🔗 RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE SHOW:
- Web Designer Academy
- Simply Profitable Designer Summit
📢 If you found value in today’s episode and want to connect with more content like this, don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review. Your feedback not only helps us improve but also helps other web designers find this valuable resource.
Get the full show notes at https://webdesigneracademy.com/087
When you're ready, here are 3 ways we can help you with your web design business:​
1) 🎧 Subscribe to Profitable Web Designer Premium: Get behind-the-scenes, insider access to our archive of web design business coaching call replays normally tucked away inside the Web Designer Academy for just $10/month, cancel anytime. Subscribe now!
2) 💧 Find the six sneaky places your web design business might be leaking time and money. If you feel like you’re working 24/7, but not making as much as you want, ​get our free training on how to fix it.
3) 👩‍💻Learn more about the Web Designer Academy: We help ambitious women web designers reclaim their time, book profitable web design projects they love, and make more as a freelance web designer than they ever thought possible

As a web designer, you're a wizard at creating visually stunning websites that resonate with your clients' audiences and turn their visitors into customers. However, the real challenge for your clients kicks in post-launch – getting traffic.
Many web designers get tangled up with how SEO fits into their offerings... sometimes skirting around it or undercharging due to their hesitance to dive into what seems like a murky SEO pond.
If you've ever felt overwhelmed by SEO or unsure about how to integrate it into your web design projects, this episode is a goldmine.
Today, I had the pleasure of chatting with Mariah Liszewski, an award-winning Organic SEO Consultant, who demystifies SEO for web designers, making it not just approachable but genuinely exciting. Mariah shared how web designers can make their creations not only SEO-friendly but also primed for optimization without needing to become SEO experts themselves.
Mariah transforms the complex world of SEO into practical, actionable strategies. With over eight years in the digital marketing space, Mariah has helped more than 100 clients enhance their online presence on Google by adopting SEO strategies that are both effective and aligned with their business needs.
Mariah not only shares insights on making SEO fun but also explains the difference between SEO-friendly and SEO-optimized sites to help web designers get way more clear on how they want to incorporate SEO into their projects.
Key Points We Covered:
1. The common misunderstandings about SEO among web designers.
2. Practical steps to create SEO-friendly websites without becoming an SEO expert.
3. The importance of distinguishing between SEO-friendly and SEO-optimized.
4. How to communicate SEO strategies to clients effectively.
Detailed Episode Breakdown:
[00:35] Mariah's journey from web design to SEO mastery.
[02:48] How to shift your mindset from SEO skeptic to enthusiast.
[06:28] Defining SEO-friendly vs. SEO-optimized with real-world applications.
[14:56] The myth of perfection in SEO and what actually works.
[19:21] Starting with an SEO audit and building a tailored strategy.
Resources Mentioned in the Show:
Mariah's Website: https://www.mariahmagazine.com/
Mariah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariahmagazineco/
Mariah's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/MariahMagazine
Mariah's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariahmagazine/
SEO Roadmap: https://mariahmagazine.com/seo-roadmap/
SEO for Website Designers Workshop: https://www.mariahmagazine.com/seo-for-website-designers-workshop/
If you enjoyed this episode, I invite you to drop a five-star rating + review with your biggest takeaway, so that other women web designers can find this podcast for guidance and support through their introvert entrepreneur journey!
Get the full show notes at https://webdesigneracademy.com/086
When you're ready, here are 3 ways we can help you with your web design business:​
1) 🎧 Subscribe to Profitable Web Designer Premium: Get behind-the-scenes, insider access to our archive of web design business coaching call replays normally tucked away inside the Web Designer Academy for just $10/month, cancel anytime. Subscribe now!
2) 💧 Find the six sneaky places your web design business might be leaking time and money. If you feel like you’re working 24/7, but not making as much as you want, ​get our free training on how to fix it.
3) 👩‍💻Learn more about the Web Designer Academy: We help ambitious women web designers reclaim their time, book profitable web design projects they love, and make more as a freelance web designer than they ever thought possible

If you're jumping from course to course, searching for the magic solution to make your design business easier, or more profitable or more sustainable, then you are not gonna want to miss this week's episode!
I'm talking to Lauren Paige, a business and mindset coach who helps entrepreneurs become aware of the thoughts that are keeping them stuck, and get them taking powerful action.
Mindset is a HUGE component of the work we do in the Web Designer Academy, listen in on this interview to find out WHY it's so important!
Get the full show notes at https://webdesigneracademy.com/085
When you're ready, here are 3 ways we can help you with your web design business:​
1) 🎧 Subscribe to Profitable Web Designer Premium: Get behind-the-scenes, insider access to our archive of web design business coaching call replays normally tucked away inside the Web Designer Academy for just $10/month, cancel anytime. Subscribe now!
2) 💧 Find the six sneaky places your web design business might be leaking time and money. If you feel like you’re working 24/7, but not making as much as you want, ​get our free training on how to fix it.
3) 👩‍💻Learn more about the Web Designer Academy: We help ambitious women web designers reclaim their time, book profitable web design projects they love, and make more as a freelance web designer than they ever thought possible. ​

If you are like most web designers, SEO is overwhelming and, as a result, not part of your core offering. And yet, you may be looking to increase your recurring revenue. In this session, you'll learn how to package, price, market, sell, and deliver SEO services so you can grow your recurring revenue without overwhelm.
Today I'm speaking with Lindsay Halsey, co-founder of Pathfinder SEO. She has over 10 years of experience working in SEO with small to large businesses. Lindsay focuses on teaching freelancers and agencies how to start, grow, and scale an SEO services offering so they can grow their recurring revenue.
Get the full show notes at https://webdesigneracademy.com/084
When you're ready, here are 3 ways we can help you with your web design business:​
1) 🎧 Subscribe to Profitable Web Designer Premium: Get behind-the-scenes, insider access to our archive of web design business coaching call replays normally tucked away inside the Web Designer Academy for just $10/month, cancel anytime. Subscribe now!
2) 💧 Find the six sneaky places your web design business might be leaking time and money. If you feel like you’re working 24/7, but not making as much as you want, ​get our free training on how to fix it.
3) 👩‍💻Learn more about the Web Designer Academy: We help ambitious women web designers reclaim their time, book profitable web design projects they love, and make more as a freelance web designer than they ever thought possible. ​

In this episode I’m gonna break down the 3 pillars of a profitable design business, because after working with hundreds of women inside our programs and having the unique opportunity to have audited and taken a behind-the-scenes look at over a thousand web design businesses… I’ve developed a unique insight into what it TRULY takes to create a profitable, sustainable web design business.
Get the full show notes at https://webdesigneracademy.com/083
When you're ready, here are 3 ways we can help you with your web design business:​
1) 🎧 Subscribe to Profitable Web Designer Premium: Get behind-the-scenes, insider access to our archive of web design business coaching call replays normally tucked away inside the Web Designer Academy for just $10/month, cancel anytime. Subscribe now!
2) 💧 Find the six sneaky places your web design business might be leaking time and money. If you feel like you’re working 24/7, but not making as much as you want, ​get our free training on how to fix it.
3) 👩‍💻Learn more about the Web Designer Academy: We help ambitious women web designers reclaim their time, book profitable web design projects they love, and make more as a freelance web designer than they ever thought possible. ​

This week I'm talking to Tim Noetzel of Freelance GPS all about how to price your services for profit, how to find clients, and how to create freelance freedom without the grind.
Get the full show notes at https://webdesigneracademy.com/082
When you're ready, here are 3 ways we can help you with your web design business:​
1) 🎧 Subscribe to Profitable Web Designer Premium: Get behind-the-scenes, insider access to our archive of web design business coaching call replays normally tucked away inside the Web Designer Academy for just $10/month, cancel anytime. Subscribe now!
2) 💧 Find the six sneaky places your web design business might be leaking time and money. If you feel like you’re working 24/7, but not making as much as you want, ​get our free training on how to fix it.
3) 👩‍💻Learn more about the Web Designer Academy: We help ambitious women web designers reclaim their time, book profitable web design projects they love, and make more as a freelance web designer than they ever thought possible. ​