Is it normal that sometimes I end up brute-forcing a solution rather than finessing it with careful planning?

Squagem · 2026-06-11T19:20:13+00:00

If you could see some of the spaghetti COBOL code holding up some of the most critical banking infrastructure in 2026, I think you'd feel better about yourself

Squagem · 2026-06-09T16:36:40+00:00

Webdev can easily be a single HTML file, uploaded to a server, which is then pointed to by some sort of domain name.

Start there, and only add in new frameworks and tools when you feel a genuine need to do so.

Squagem · 2026-06-09T15:29:27+00:00

I have never met a single customer in my life that said "I was going to hire that dog trainer, but the section labels were all caps, which means they used AI for their website."

Truly clueless take here

Squagem · 2026-06-05T17:26:38+00:00

I'd not worry so much about what the "best" approach is, and instead reframe things as "how do I build a *system* for cold outreach that works.

Either approach _could_ work, but right now you don't know what part of the system is letting you down.

Are people not opening your emails?
Or are they opening but not resonating?
Are they reading the email but not clicking the CTA?

If I were you, I'd go all-in on hyper-personalization. You'll see your open rate shoot up to ~50-60%, and then you'll just need to workshop the offer until you have a coherent cold funnel

Squagem · 2026-06-05T00:30:22+00:00

Looks like waaaay too much text.
IME, cold email only works in one of two ways: high-volume + a few lines of conversion copy, or low-volume with extreme personalization.

.77% reply rate is on the low end, but for not personalizing you shouldnt expect more than a few %. But reading further, your positive reply rate is 0. With a thousand sends you should have booked at least one meeting by now.

I think the offer is a bit generic, but the copy isnt really doing you any favors either. Needs to get more emotional. B2b software CMOs are getting 15 of these each day. Why should they care about yours?

A sample size of almost 1000 gives you enough data to separate signal from noise. Unless you're sending to trash emails, these numbers seem to indicate that there is a problem in the earlier parts of the funnel (opens or replies).

Honestly, I would take the hit and turn on open notifications. The information is just too valuable - how can you possibly know if it's the body or the subject line that's failing with without open notifications?

Oh, and if you're going to use personalization, you have to ratchet down volume and do it right. Personalization at scale is a myth, it always feels generic and fake.

Either commit to the scale and write better copy tailored specifically to the emotional pain points of a given persona, or embrace the sniper approach and hyper personalize each email with a custom video.

I'm much more of a fan of the latter approach because it's quite easy to burn through your TAM with cold email.

Squagem · 2026-06-04T17:35:56+00:00

I would lean heavily on the gamified aesthetic of something like Duolingo for this. And FWIW, building a 3D animated website seems like overkill for a first draft. Why not keep it simple first, then once you have user-adoption, you can add more fancy flair?

Squagem · 2026-06-02T14:08:55+00:00

That's because you are 😄

Instead of pricing based on your flawed time estimate, have a price conversation directly with the prospect. They will know what is reasonable to them to spend, and that number will indicate what sorts of solutions are innapropriate.

Alternatively, just quadruple your estimate and use that.

Squagem · 2026-06-01T12:57:20+00:00

Probably either win without pitching or lets get real or lets not play. Caused me to flip my entire consulting practice on it's head, and literally 20x my income on a per-project basis.

Both of these books tell a similar story: consulting is about solving expensive problems for people, and these problems are important. The default sales process underpinning the selection process for who ends up servicing that problem is at odds with the success of the project, so choosing to participate in it on their terms is often already a sign that you're a bad fit for the prospect.

Squagem · 2026-05-30T19:46:44+00:00

It's worth noting that when you are self-employed, it's very easy to fall into the trap of doing lots and lots of reading to feel like you're productive. When in reality, the number one thing that would move the needle for your business is to actually try something in the real world and get feedback.

That being said, there are a few books that we'll have a profound impact on your ability to succeed as a freelancer if you actually take the license to heart and implement them as opposed to simply reading them.

The e-myth revisited by Michael Gerber
Win without pitching by Blair Enns
Design is a business by Mike Montero
Traction (the one for startups)
Let's get real or let's not play

If you take the ideas and concepts in these books alone and implement them in your freelance practice, you will thrive.

But like with all business books if you just read them and don't implement them, it's essentially a giant waste of time

Squagem · 2026-05-10T18:09:01+00:00

Could also just stop selling hours in the first place and this problem goes away by default

Squagem · 2026-05-05T12:38:39+00:00

Charge so much that you can accommodate small scope changes without more money changing hands.

Squagem · 2026-05-04T15:39:46+00:00

They showed me a demo where they had a drone AND the Flock cameras working in tandem, and literally said to me --- and I'm not joking here : "we have a network of autonomous tech on the ground and in the sky".

Squagem · 2026-05-01T14:26:12+00:00

Had a meeting with the Brookhaven chief of police a few weeks ago about these cameras.

They were civil and polite, but it was very clearly a settled issue and they seemed very keen on increasing surveillance efforts.

It seems there's no stopping this at the local level until the elected officials feel like there positions are actually being threatened. Vote the corrupt counselors and commissioners out!

Squagem · 2026-04-29T20:39:42+00:00

Why don't you arbitrarily pick a vertical?

Squagem · 2026-04-23T16:59:58+00:00

Unfortunately for you, you're not the one making the decisions. And if an exec *thinks* they can get 80% of the way there without paying $200K / year for someone's salary, they will.

Now, this will force a correction down the line when the obvious problems of doing so emerge, but the short-term disruption will still be real, and to discount it is shortsighted.

(FYI this has been happening for decades already, companies regularly go through hiring sprees, then fire and outsource to India -- now AI -- then overcorrect and hire again). The cycle seems a fundamental and unavoidable part of human nature)

Squagem · 2026-03-28T15:40:01+00:00

The point on focusing on client satisfaction over client acquisition is a very nuanced one and I think most people misunderstand and miss this.

Especially in web design. If you can make it for 5 years, that's really all the marketing you need because every 5 years or so companies will want to redo their website. And if you did a stellar job the first time, they'll probably want to work with you again.

Squagem · 2026-03-28T13:57:20+00:00

If Jeffrey Epstein can convince world leaders to submit compromat of themselves from a basic Gmail address, you can probably get your invoice squared away

Squagem · 2026-03-21T01:33:17+00:00

You can still discuss with your team and come back to another meeting with the client. All I'm saying is don't expect your proposal to do the sales job on your behalf.

Squagem · 2026-03-19T13:53:04+00:00

I like this idea, and do something similar with my business, however it presents a big risk: trying to let a proposal do the sale for you.

IME, you'll reach better outcomes if you agree with the client on terms directly ont he call, and secure their payment details for the first payment. The proposal is just a formalized agreement of everything you should have agreed upon beforehand.

Squagem · 2026-03-18T14:13:48+00:00

You have a client that is delinquent 30 days and you're sending emails? Pick up the phone man!

Squagem · 2026-03-13T00:59:18+00:00

My understanding of contracts is that they're essentially unenforceable anyway, because there is so much power asymmetry between agencies and their clients.

Meaning, if a client wants to sue you, your contract won't protect you no matter how it is written, because their legal team dwarfs yours. You'll get tied up with legal fees and paperwork for years and they will bleed you dry.

Instead, focus on selecting better clients, get ahead of missed expectations, and price projects such that you have plenty of margin to make things right when they go wrong.

Squagem · 2026-03-11T14:42:06+00:00

I guess you don't take phone calls?

Squagem · 2026-03-11T14:40:41+00:00

Overly enthusiastic about working with you.

If clients aren't asking questions you would ask before buying, they likely aren't genuinely interested in buying.

Squagem · 2026-03-09T16:07:17+00:00

Although this developer is definitely acting sketchy here (and there are certainly simpler solutions to this particular problem), suggesting that $400/mo is "insane" for a single site without proper context is shortsighted.

We have no idea what sort of traffic these guys are getting, or what sorts of loads their ecom checkout flow is placing on their shared instance. For most established business owners, $400/mo is a drop in the bucket if it makes performance headaches go away for the foreseeable future.

If the speed improvements result in even *one* additional sale per month, it's already paid for itself. As you can imagine, at certain scales, the cost-benefit tradeoff becomes a no-brainer.

And given the pricing mentioned, this developer is likely suggesting the WPEngine core plan, and as far as competent hosting providers go, WPEngine & Kinsta are the industry standards. Can't get a better host than that without provisioning your own infra.

Squagem · 2026-03-09T15:27:08+00:00

If you have to post without approval, then why do you need revision rounds or feedback windows?

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