Not getting paid + doing free work - design service update
Last August, I posted about launching DesignFriend—my design service for startups—and getting my first client.
It's been a while since then, and a lot has happened, mostly downs with a few ups:
- I did a ton of work for that initial client, then they refused to pay me the second half of what they owed me
- I hired my first designer
- I offered to do some work for YC companies for free (check out the attached images!) This work came out really good, but didn't lead to other work as I was hoping
- I started cold emailing like crazy, with a few calls and no clients yet
- My wife had our first baby!
After parental leave for a bit, I'm back at it now. I know this is a valuable service that can provide high quality work—we've proved that much at least. Now I have to find some clients!
Each of those points feels like it could be its own lengthy post, so I'd love to get your opinion on what you'd like to hear about more in-depth. Leave me a comment and I'll expand!
I'll echo what @Vansh22 said. I like the flow and overall look of the page but you need more customer testimonials. Maybe some quotes to pop on the top of the page and show up as you scroll? Just quick little stats about how easy it was to work with you, etc.
Nice work though!
Yeah, customer testimonials are tough when we haven't really had many customers 😅 But I'm going reach out and see what I can do to get any type of validation!
For sure!!
Hi Cameron, once I checked the website, I feel like there's no flexibility on pricing. I mean you should have offered at least two pricing plans (Monthly, quarterly). FAQ sections is missing. Potential customers may have a lot of questions that can be answered in FAQs or maybe have a livechat feature.
Your pricing is on the upper bracket, considering the competition. So you should have something that can justify it. e.g. Case studies of the projects you've worked on.
Ask me any questions, I'll help.
P.S. I'm also gonna launch my design services on Strokes Studio.(https://www.indiehackers.com/product/strokes-studio). Let's see how it goes.
You're totally right on that. I've been thinking of playing with the pricing a bit more. Funny enough, I actually had quarterly and yearly pricing as well, but I decided to simplify recently.
Ironically, no one has cited the prices as an issue, which is why I'm not too worried about it right now. My goal is to find the right folks and then hone in on price.
I've had FAQs on the backburner for a while though, but you're right that I should jump on them.
I also gone through your Twitter Profile recently. It has a good following, maybe try utilize that to gain some traction. Like, promoting what's WIP for some clients (even if they are dummy ones), showcase what you can do to businesses with your designs, etc.
I'm sure you'll atleast get some inquiries through it.
Congrats on your first child, that's huge! Do you have a plan to get the DesignFriend name out there? I've recently launched my ux design service https://www.influencelabs.ca and I'm just starting to gain some traction.
I've been doing some research on how to get eyes on your project based on what other IndieHackers have done; so far, heres what I found...
Posting in forums using the hashtag #buildinginpublic on IH, BetaList, Reddit, etc is a great way to get people talking about your product/service. Launch on Product Hunt multiple times. And never forget about good ole fashion cold email.
I hope this helps, if you're also open to potential partnerships shoot me a message and we can have a quick chat!
P.S. I plant trees with every new design project I take on. I'd be happy to plant one specifically for your new born and send you over the certificate if that's something you'd be interested in!
Thanks! I'm still mostly doing cold email right now, just trying to find the right people to reach out to.
Welcome back to the Indie Hacker lifestyle and congrats on the baby! So what are you doing to build awareness for your service as the YC Startups experiment and cold calling didn't go as planned? I don't imagine there'll be much success targeting smaller, scrappy companies as they'll likely want to source everything in-house. Are you doing anything to differentiate from the competition?
Thank you!
Honestly, I have no idea, I'm still trying to figure that out. I haven't fully given up on cold emailing yet, I think I'm going to try to go after companies with higher intent who have job listings for designers.
The main differentiation that I've talked about in calls with leads is that we spend a lot more time and thought on their projects than many other productized services, who are focused on churning out designs as quickly as possible without much expertise behind the "why".
Congrats on your child and starting your business!
I am finding myself in the same boat sort of, and actually am more curious of how you're handling the situation at home of income with your spouse. My wife and I are currently going through ivf and in the last year. She has been the bread winner for a while when I changed careers and have been studying design and web development (her idea and encouragement btw).
I am currently taking on my first few clients for my portfolio but with us getting closer to the reality of having our first child she's now not okay with our current financial situation and pressing me to quit and get a regular job for stable income now that I have begun to get my wheels rolling on business, she just doesn't want to risk struggling with a new baby and is even tabling having a child altogether if I don't.
So, my question to you is how you stay motivated, and talk to your partner about keeping positive, hanging in there when things seem like they could be taking off but just need time to cook.
What is a realistic time frame to give yourself for income to begin rolling in?
-3 to 6 months? a year? 2 years? Should I concede and go back to my old profession and throw away all the time and money investments made into this career path? It's a tough decision and really hard on my self-esteem to think my possibility of having a kid is going to be determined if I can be successful in this or not, or hang it up and be unfulfilled in my old job.
Thanks for any advice.
as for your website and work it looks really great, but I will echo what others have said about your pricing page - it says, "choose your plan", but there is only one offering. Second is your work showcase - I really want to click on each of your works for my detail and images of that project. So maybe expand on that and add a brief description of the scope of that project, maybe a case study.
Otherwise, great work and I hope that you gain some traction and success going forward, it looks like your very talented and worth the price.
cheers!
Thank you for the feedback and thoughts! I'll make some updates and see how it goes :)
The money and career worry is very real, especially once kids come into the picture. I've been stuck in a software engineering job that I don't love for the past 3 years, but it's allowed me plenty of time to work on my side projects, not to mention the financial stability for me and my wife, which is invaluable.
I'm struggling with the timeframe question myself, I have days where I want to jump ship and just get a more exciting job, and there are days where I'm okay just waiting and working for as long as it takes.
Having done both (trying to work on a startup full time and job + side projects), this is definitely the way to go. I would absolutely not give up on your new career and goals, but finding a solid job in that direction where you both have peace of mind makes everything better.
So long as you stay motivated to do what you really love, like you said. Despite all the stories of startups taking off like rocket ships, the reality is that most take a lot of time before gaining any meaningful traction.
Congrats on your first child!
Maybe start with a lower price to build reputation and then increase the price once you start getting paid. I believe it's more sustainable to begin at a lower rate and raise it once companies become familiar with your service.
Most clients will come through referrals from other clients, and this may help in the long run.
I think this is exactly the way I'm going to go! Right now I care most about just getting clients and iterating
I think this is the most expensive one of these I've seen. Even surpassing the OG DesignJoy.
You could try a lower pricepoint. Get several clients, then double the prices every 6 months. If you lose half your clients, you're still making the same amount of money; but now with more trust and social proof under your belt.
You're absolutely right, this is the way I'm going to go. I'll report back with how I do!
Hi Cameron - congrats on the new family member :)
I work with a lot of service based entrepreneurs and here’s my 2 cents - service at this level ($7.5k) are sold more like a service and not a product in the beginning(even though it’s a productized service offering).
My thought this early on (in terms of # of sales) would be to focus on relationships and network like you would as a freelancer then when you find an angle, worry about the productization aspect/cold selling. I’d like to hear more about why you choose bullet #3 vs a “warmer” approach.
Cheers!
That's exactly how I'm feeling. I think cold email is just too cold for this, especially at this pricepoint. I'll work on those warm relationships (or at least higher intent customers), and see if that works out better!
This is more of a general question... but I'm wondering: how do you relate your sales and marketing efforts to the market segment you're after?
At $7,500/month, I'm thinking this would be edging towards an enterprise play which may call for a different sales approach than your usual Product Hunt / Social media postings and doing free work for scrappy pre-VC startups.
Please note that I'm not questioning your pricing. I'm just wondering: why would a scrappy pre-VC YC startup use your service instead of an established (and highly reputed) player like DesignPickle that charges a fraction of your fee?
But then what do I know: I'm merely a keyboard founder 😂
I think you're exactly right. I'm getting the feeling I either need to go for the value play (lower price for single projects that startups might need) or the enterprise play (higher price, alternative to hiring full-time with lower overhead and longer time horizons for ongoing support).
That's a totally fair question, and one that I need to make an obvious answer for!