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Hi Reader,
One of THE MOST COMMON threads I see among newer or less experienced web designers is the fear of choosing/picking/doing the wrong thing.
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“It’s better to admit you walked through the wrong door than spend your life in the wrong room.”
Whether it’s the wrong software, the wrong course, the wrong wording on our contact forms or sales pages, ––it doesn’t matter. That fear spreads like wildfire & infects everything we do. 🔥
I get it! We are concerned for the RIGHT reasons: we don’t want to waste time climbing Mount Everest when we need money in the bank so we can stop calling this thing a hobby. 🫣
I was there too! For waaaaaay too long, in fact, so I get it!
But the truth is, the BEST lessons we learn are truly from our “failures”, because it’s often the impact of the failure that provides the lesson –not the failure itself.
FOR EXAMPLE:
- What if I choose a software & then decide I don’t like it? It’s not a failure. It’s a lesson, because next time you choose a software in that category you KNOW more about what you didn’t like or what didn't work before & you’ll make a better choice the second time around with that knowledge.
- What if I pick the ‘wrong’ niche & want to change my mind? It’s not a failure. It’s a lesson, because now you know what you didn’t like about the other one & that means you’ll do things better/differently with the new one, possibly making it even more effective. It's a lot easier to figure out what you DO like when you know what you DON'T like first!
- What if my services page is not converting viewers into clients? It’s not a failure. It’s a lesson, because now you have proof of what isn't working. Make a case-study of what you tweak in the messaging & how you talk about what you’re offering people; when things start to change & you notice an uptick in inquiries, that means you fixed a problem but you won’t know what the problem had been unless you make note of each change beforehand & give it time to work/not work. The new sales page will be much better because now you know what wasn’t working before & you can avoid using/doing that next time!
- What if I set my prices too low/high & people stop reaching out? It’s not a failure. It’s a lesson, because we literally don’t know what’s possible until we have results to measure and analyze. Slowed inquiries could mean your price is too high for your audience, but it could also mean that your sales page’s messaging isn’t working & price has nothing to do with it. Don’t assume the worst! Investigate the problem like a scientist & figure out where the lesson is, because it's always there!
Like I said, the IMPACT of these decisions is what matters, not whether or not you do it "correctly." There’s no such thing as a 'School for Entrepreneurs' that all business owners have to attend or graduate from, and there's no official college/university degrees for How to Become An Online Web Designer. 😂
We’re ALL just out here learning from experiences –& yes, our failures– & making decisions from that.
“Failing up” is absolutely a thing, –and it's not something to be ashamed of, IMO! 🙌
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📣 Help us reach our goal of getting 500-1,000 responses!
For the next few weeks, our Web Design Financial Trends survey is still available to fill out & share with your network or design friends. We're hoping to get responses from ALL designers, no matter what age, gender, platform you use, or experience level you have!
If you're a designer, please take 7 minutes to fill it out & share it on your socials, or wherever you can, as much as you can. The more responses we get, the more accurate reflection of our industry the data will be & the more helpful the report will be for YOU!
🆓 How to build a successful Squarespace Template Shop
I attended Kate Scott's live masterclass yesterday between my meetings/calls, and caught the replay after to finish it up & hear everyone's questions. Kate's class was GREAT and full of golden nuggets, and the Q&A after had some really great questions too.
If you want to catch the replay, register here to get the link! (Make sure to click the CrowdCast link below the button if you have trouble getting in; I know 1 or 2 of you didn't get the link after signing up.)
✅ Template Tutorials Updates
✔️ New Client Portal mini-course:
I finished recording & editing this week's Kitchen tutorials WAY faster than anticipated, which feels good! Which means... Module 3 is available NOW for all current/past students (covering Conversations & how to use the chat features with clients in Kitchen). Log in here to jump in & start binging those now!
✔️ Web Design Starter Kit min-course:
I also just added a bonus lesson for how to change the site-wide animations in the Web Design Starter Kit template here. It's so short, there's not even a video for the 4 steps to change that in your template, if you want to. It's a buried setting that most people don't even know is there!
😂 Updated Welcome Sequence
I'm on Laura Belgray's email list (on & off) and I just re-ceived (again) her welcome sequence email series after resubscribing recently to get her freebie, 5 Secrets to Non-Sucky Copy (linked in the Worth Sharing section, below!), related to an upcoming post that's scheduled inside the Club. And she did a thing that genuinely made me laugh out loud: she TOLD her subscribers that she sometimes sells things –in the best possible way. 😂
So I decided to use that idea and adapt it, so I just updated the first email in my welcome sequence to include the following & I just really got a kick out of it (anyone else make themselves laugh? 🤓) so I'm sharing the chuckle. 👇🏼
Mostly I share free & affordable resources that have the Katelyn-approved stamp on them. Anything outside of that (it's infrequent, but it happens) will have special opt-out links so you can skip the rest of the series & keep getting the weekly newsletters, ...which have admittedly earned me quite the reputation in the last few years!
But that's not all. ...Wait. –Should I? 😬🤔 **looks around**
I'm not sure I should be telling you this... but, ...ahh––screw it!!
Sometimes... I also sell things. 👀
I mean, this is a business, after all! Sometimes it's (other people's) courses or cool AF digital products from reputable designers or biz owners in my network. Most (99%) of the time it's something I've bought/tried myself, so when I share it here with you, it's because I BELIEVE in its power to HELP YOU more than anything else. I may also get "thank-you money," as my favorite copywriter, Laura Belgray, likes to say. –Because again, this is not (only) a hobby; it's a business –and "thank-you money" sounds a lot less like I'm selling leggings from my living room. 😆
WOW. 😮💨 That felt good, –to just get it out there like that!
Phew. I feel better now. Thank you!
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In last week's LIVE episode, my co-host, Diane Whiddon, & I decided to share WHY we're doing the survey, what triggered our questions, what was going on for us at the time, and wanted to share some preliminary survey results to get ya excited about what the report COULD look like after we get more responses/submissions.
Afterward we did a Q&A & talked about AI a bit, too. So check out this week's episode of the Squarely Speaking Podcast with Diane & I, and share the survey link with everyone you can think of!
Share link 👉🏼 launchthedamnthing.com/survey 👈🏼
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Optimism & financial expectations, Breaking down expenses & client spending, What’s working (and not), Shocking marketing trends, Business expenses breakdown, Tools worth the price (or not), Investing in AI tools, Education budgets, & more!
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Some gems from this past week:
📣
Please help us reach our goal of getting 500 - 1,000 responses and share the survey everywhere you can!
The more we get, the more accurate the report will be.
Already the results are FASCINATING & unexpected!
Share 🔗
LaunchTheDamnThing.com/survey
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3️⃣
(Available EARLY!) One of my favorite features in Kitchen* is that it makes it super easy for us to communicate with clients (& vice versa) from inside OR outside the portal, while keeping the messages conveniently available/organized in the portal.
Module 3 shows you how to use these 'Conversations' pages with your clients –including audio messages, saved replies & how emailed replies work!
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⌚️
Rize: Automatic Timesheets
Wondering where the hell all your time goes? 😂 🙋🏻♀️ Same.
Rize maybe-creepily watches which apps you open & tracks the time you spend in each one, automatically tracking focus sessions & reminding you to stay on task, –and even to take breaks. Giving you a daily & weekly report to show you where your time's going. 🤯
Use code TOOLFINDER for 25% off the 1st 3 months ($9.99/mo)
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⏯️
Dan shared this Reel on Instagram recently, talking about why it can feel hard to create, or why we feel inadequate when watching other creatives produce "stuff" ––bc we're not seeing the whole process of idea to completion. He's absolutely right! Most don't –myself included– have time to document all of that, just the outcome. Good to keep in mind!
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🧩
Kate's template-how-to course is OPEN NOW for enrollment!
It's "the only course you’ll ever need to build your template, launch your shop, and scale" your web design business.
I'm a student too, and in it I learned how to build, deliver, sell, launch and grow my template shop, –which earned $17,965 of truly passive income for me last year. 🤯
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🦐
5 Secrets to Non-Sucky Copy
The "Talking Shrimp" is Laura Belgray's biz name; she's an entrepreneur-famous copywriter with a best-selling book & course with Marie Forleo.
This '5 Secrets' freebie is on her Resources pg, which is actually pretty good. I found it from this Instagram post which was also pretty good. NGL!
If you like anything I write, you'll enjoy her writing too. 😉😁
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That's all for this week!!
If you dive into the new Client Portal modules, let me know what you think so far & what you're most excited about! 🤩
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Katelyn
Web Designer & Educator
Thrivin' on coffee, community, cursing & carefully laid plans!
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