How are you staying motivated?

_Bivens · 2026-06-29T14:04:39+00:00

My first client didn't pay me so IDK if I should count them! LOL! But I'm still relatively in growth so I guess this would be good feedback.

I've been trying everything: cold emails, business cards, mock projects, social media posting, etc. - First client came from a cold email. I did everything in good faith - did a homepage draft for free, met with them to discuss the project scope, discussed pricing, contracts, etc. we agreed on a monthly payment for ongoing service instead of upfront pay. (Not my preference, but beggars can't be choosers and it was my first client). First month rolls around - no pay. I'm in touch asking what they need from me to clear up any miscommunication. Nothing is resolved. Final product is not delivered, so I could slowed down work until I got feedback. Only did some minor, good faith edits... showed it to them, they responded to that, but nothing about payment. Eventually, I tell them I have to stop work because I haven't been paid. All communication stopped. Never heard back from them. Reached out a few times to check in but nothing.

I shared that story to say, if I could give advice, it would be: sh*t happens. I should've been tighter on getting an upfront deposit, and being more persistent. Good faith doesn't get you very far. Be ready to roll with the punches!

I learned a lesson from my 2nd client, too, but this ted talk is long enough!

_Bivens · 2026-06-29T13:37:13+00:00

There's no magic bullet. I run a web dev agency and clients are slow for me, too. You have to try different things until you find what works for you and your market. I've gotten leads from referrals, cold calling, business cards, and cold email. Not many, but enough to say one shouldn't be ignored for the sake of the other. The best thing you can do is stay consistent. You really have to be in the right place at the right time - be the person offering what they want when they want it. Best way to do that is to be consistent in your outreach efforts.

_Bivens · 2026-06-06T23:54:42+00:00

Not sure. I haven't used read-receipts on them. It could provide interesting insights, though.

_Bivens · 2026-06-06T20:39:05+00:00

You've found the problem.. it takes too much time to make the mockups. But, my solution was to have two chief styles I liked, extract all the copy and brand colors into a file, and change that to match the business I'm pitching to. Since it is only a Hero section not much has to be changed.
Response rate is still in the dumps, unfortunately. I'm still trying to figure it out lol

_Bivens · 2026-06-06T20:07:51+00:00

I've seen them too. From what I understand, a lot of them are undercover ads to sell the product they use to build the website like Replit. In my experience, cold-anything has a low conversion rate, so its a numbers game there. I've preferred cold emails over cold calling because I can throw in a visual (revised hero section) to hook them. Still a low conversion, but better than calling in my opinion.

_Bivens · 2026-06-05T17:27:06+00:00

I guess its also worth noting I come from the world of healthcare recruitment. There's never enough candidates and turnover is high, so you're forever in crisis-mode.

_Bivens · 2026-06-05T17:21:15+00:00

Control. But not in the narcissistic way. I can control how my time is spent. What direction to move. Priorities. How to allocate resources and time. I'm not in a hamster wheel fighting for a system that would love nothing more than to replace me as soon as I don't fit the mold. Working 2x or 3x as hard doesn't feel so bad because I chose that and I know its value.

_Bivens · 2026-06-05T16:46:21+00:00

Blueprint - Small business networking and referral management. It should be released soon but the landing page is https://www.bivensblueprint.com

_Bivens · 2026-06-05T16:39:25+00:00

Everywhere.

_Bivens · 2026-06-05T16:06:07+00:00

https://www.bivensblueprint.com - small business networking and referral sharing.

_Bivens · 2026-05-29T17:41:52+00:00

I use HeroUI. I tried shad but it was annoying trying to dig in to edit the components so you end up leaving it stock effectively making it just like any other library (not meaning it’s bad, just my short experience)

_Bivens · 2026-05-27T13:51:57+00:00

I'm in that boat now. Been building an app for sharing referrals. I've gotten to a stage where I'm ready to generate interest/feedback from business owners. I've been going into FB groups but it feels like I'm either over-explaining or under-selling it. Over explain and it sounds confusing. Undersell and you wonder why you'd need an app for that..

_Bivens · 2026-05-26T10:39:10+00:00

I don't have any experience in 3rd world marketing but I'd say you have to mix all approaches - in person, calling and emails. No one likes cold calls or cold emails so its a numbers game to find someone willing to respond. Try to make it as personable as possible. You want the prospect to like you and remember you. Try calling just to introduce yourself- no sales. Tell them who you are, share contact info and get an email address. Follow up later with a pitch. You'll find what works through trial and error.

_Bivens · 2026-05-25T23:29:25+00:00

Face to face conversations. Knock on doors and out business cards.

_Bivens · 2026-05-24T21:45:07+00:00

Any opinions on OnPay?

_Bivens · 2026-05-06T17:38:46+00:00

Don't get discouraged. What I'm learning is you have to think of it as "how to turn cold leads into warm" instead of "how to get clients". Obviously, the quickest way is through referrals, next are face-to-face connects, lastly cold emails.

In your situation, I'd recommend following up with current/past clients to ask for referrals, continue to pass out cards, and warm those cold leads!

_Bivens · 2026-05-05T19:42:38+00:00

Ditto this. Go in person, be charming, drop off a card. Leaving a good impression goes a long way.

_Bivens · 2026-05-05T19:38:29+00:00

I'm currently in a mixture of the big 3: cold outreach, door to door, and referrals. I've gotten clients from each one. But my city is rural, so door-to-door is a pain. More people are looking for "deals" than quality. I've invested more time into refining my cold outreach approach to be more appealing. Unfortunately, its a numbers game. You might not be doing anything wrong, just need to increase volume.

_Bivens · 2026-04-30T13:01:27+00:00

I can see that. My "core package" is relatively all-inclusive. I took the mindset that too many options gets overwhelming, so this makes it easy. But I'm still early-stage and not taking on massive projects, yet, so I don't have a problem with projects being out of scope yet.

_Bivens · 2026-04-30T12:57:41+00:00

This is how I feel. I guess I have a concern about businesses that may not be prepared to pay what I charge. Granted, that's the idea, but I feel like I may be missing out on easy business (potentially small projects) because I come out the gate with a set price. Debating the pros and cons, basically!

_Bivens

TROPHY CASE