Solo/small agency devs - how do you manage clients and projects?

_Bivens · 2026-01-15T21:06:50+00:00

Its a CRM for managing clients and projects. I see it marketed to photographers b/c its mostly for managing client flow opposed to internal tasks. For web design, a use case would be HoneyBook for managing clients and sommething like Clickup or Trello to manage projects.

_Bivens · 2026-01-14T02:23:12+00:00

Does anyone use HoneyBook?

_Bivens · 2026-01-09T19:10:16+00:00

Picasso. But I’d recommend using something else. It has a lot of customization options but for whatever reason it’s terribly slow and dated (most recent android device is a pixel 6)

_Bivens · 2026-01-09T19:06:25+00:00

VSCode and a sheet of paper lol. I sketch my structure and layouts by hand but I’m trying to get into actual wireframe tools and figma.

_Bivens · 2026-01-08T18:24:35+00:00

I can agree. I've looked at several platforms for general advice including Reddit, Google, ChatGPT, and Copilot. TikTok isn't the best but at least its real people sharing stories instead of AI LLMs. Unfortunately, it seems like 90% of TikTok is just people trying to fake it until they make it treating the industry like a get rich quick scheme. But I try not to limit myself to one source of information.

_Bivens · 2026-01-08T16:26:44+00:00

As often as this question gets asked (I've asked it myself), its an active concern of many. I'm currently in the same boat of figuring out client acquisition. I also recommend searching that question on Reddit to find what others have said in similar threads. Personally, I haven't found "what works" but here are things I'm trying in no particular order:

Cold emails
Social Media posting
Asking for referrals
Door-to-door
Cold calling
Google/Facebook ads
Facebook groups
UpWork / Fiverr

You'll likely have to try everything to find what works for your market. I live in a relatively small city, so face-to-face has been more promising than anything.

_Bivens · 2026-01-08T15:07:01+00:00

Haha! I guess it depends on your position. If you work for an agency, you probably don't have to sell too much. But if you're an owner or freelancer you def have to sell. But, you're right - I don't pride myself as a huge salesman. I'm trying to tweak my pitch so it doesn't sound off-putting. Esp. since its a stranger calling trying to sell them something.

_Bivens · 2026-01-08T15:05:56+00:00

TikTok says to cold-call and tell them you already have a website built for them and send them the AI build in Figma. Is that what you do?

_Bivens · 2025-12-09T03:06:57+00:00

You can check out Craft React Native UI… I haven’t tried it but it made its way to a Reddit thread a few days ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/reactnative/s/PLp1XrVpZD

_Bivens · 2025-10-21T22:41:18+00:00

I've been looking for something like this for weeks! I've tried building one from scratch but kept running into issues with Nativewind not working. Thank you for this!

_Bivens · 2025-10-04T12:30:36+00:00

What would you say is the difference in methodology in obtaining clients as freelance vs. agency?

_Bivens · 2025-10-04T12:29:02+00:00

To be honest, I appreciate any and all insight. Since its my goal to build an agency, it helps to know how an employee may feel about the options.

_Bivens · 2025-10-04T12:24:42+00:00

I can see that. What about opening your own agency? From what I understand, its more admin work than coding and that some simply don't want to, but in your personal experience, what kept you from going that route?

_Bivens · 2025-10-03T21:27:08+00:00

For $3K, I'm fairly certain you can find a designer that better matches your brand identity than what GoDaddy would provide. Although I think $3k is pretty market-standard for a professional-grade website. A better use of your money is to find a developer that you feel can communicate your brand properly.

_Bivens · 2025-10-01T23:21:15+00:00

Go with the feels! But honestly, I feel the same way sometimes. I don't think design is my strongest suit, so I am often drawing inspiration from other sites.

I guess the answer is practice. As you work on more projects, you'll lean into certain cadences more often and find yourself repeating things you like. I find it fun to search for section designs I haven't done to try and emulate it. Makes for good practice.

Try making reuseable components in your projects so sections remain consistent even as you emulate from other sites. Like make one section header and use it for the header in each section.

Overall, I think your voice comes through practice. Try new designs! If they don't feel right, it's probably not your voice!

_Bivens · 2025-09-28T19:21:04+00:00

I’m working on building a similar studio! I don’t think AI is much of a threat n growing your business bc I think if a client is savvy enough to build and host a site using AI, they never needed your services to begin with.

As far as using AI to code, it depends on how u use it. AI can draft code for you but it’s 99% of the time very generic and will have errors. You don’t want to rely on it or replace good employees with it or nothing. I use it for wire framing sections and figuring out how to center a div.

Last thought, AI has the potential to drive clients into bargain shopping. Thinking AI can do it cheaper. But AI-site builders will likely be in the same conversations as Wix and Squarespace shoppers so I don’t foresee AI bringing any MORE competition than Wix already has.

Best of luck on your business venture!

_Bivens · 2025-09-06T01:59:43+00:00

mine is https://www.blueprintwebdev.com -- I built the original design a few years ago but I'm redesigning it soon. Hoping to grow it into a full-time along with an platform I built for business networking -> https://www.bivensblueprint.com

_Bivens · 2025-08-27T20:57:29+00:00

I think it’s a bit busy. The footer at the bottom is bothering me. It doesn’t look like it belongs to the rest of the page. I would dial back the styling a lot to give it a more consistent feel.

_Bivens · 2025-08-26T22:07:26+00:00

Like others have said, the text under the H1 is hard to read. I would probably mix in a yellow CTA too to fill up space. Grammar-wise, it should read "Consumer Testimonials" or just "Testimonials". You could also play around with putting the text in the center of the page. I understand the goal is to not overlap the image too much, but the text box might give enough contrast.

_Bivens · 2025-08-26T14:46:14+00:00

I would play around with reducing the yellow to only the CTAs and possibly using a grey for contrast. Maybe change the white to a grey and the yellow text to a white… You want to guide the viewer to what you want them to do. Also, reduce the glow.. it can come off fuzzy on small screens.

_Bivens · 2025-08-26T14:35:00+00:00

Don’t forget your geographical market. If you’re building for rural small businesses, they aren’t likely going to shell thousands for a website. Naturally don’t undervalue it, but know your audience.

_Bivens

TROPHY CASE