How I build long-term partnerships vs. maximizing profit

ezsmith397 on September 26, 2023

Do great work.
Communicate often.
Deliver high value, for fair rates.
Repeat.
 
I look at clients as partners here at 397… It might sound cliche. But it’s true.
 
I’m not aiming to squeeze every ounce of profit from every project.
 
Instead, I’m aiming to be fair and let everyone make enough to WIN together.
 
I’m sure I could have made MORE money, faster on certain projects and with certain clients.
 
Hell, I CONTINUALLY have people in the industry and people here even tell me that we’re charging too little, and won’t be able to grow, etc.
 
There is some truth to pricing and refining service delivery enough to be able to scale, I won’t deny that.
 
BUT, by operating the way I’ve always operated I have clients and PARTNERS that have worked with me for many, many years.
 
I’d rather KEEP doing great work, for long-term partners rather than be constantly chasing down new leads to try and squeeze every drop of profit from.

Building long-term partnerships for WordPress development services

ezsmith397 on September 19, 2023

I’m not a fan of one-and-done project work.
 
With our clients here at 397digital I’ve focused for YEARS on building long-term relationships instead of trying to maximize profit on every single project.
 
Often when I talk to some people about our business model (like other devs or entrepreneurs) they get confused or suggest doing things differently than what we’re doing currently.
 
While our exact pricing model and structure have evolved a few times, the general concept has remained solid for the past 5 to 6 years:
 
Do great work, at fair prices, to build long-term partnerships with everyone that we work with.
 
We’re not aiming to do massive projects and then disappear.
 
By building what started as just my own consulting career (and now the business like this), we have clients who learn to lean on us for the long haul.
 
This has led to us keeping clients around for many years.
 
We’re currently building WordPress sites and performing support and maintenance requests for 3 accounts that go back to 2018, before we were even officially operating at a company like we are now.

Invest in your toolkit

ezsmith397 on September 6, 2023

Invest in your toolkit.
 
I spend thousands every year on premium WordPress plugins including:
 
Gravity Forms
Elementor Pro
KadenceWP
Bricks Builders
ACF Pro
SEOPress Pro
Perfmatters
WP Rocket
and many more
 
These have all been chosen after many years of building and testing.
 
But now? My toolkit is WELL stocked and ready to go for nearly any project that comes my way.
 
Having these tools handy and ready to go allows me to get projects done quickly and provide excellent services to our clients.
 
The value we receive is FAR above the cost of the investment in the yearly licenses and renewals.

Enjoying the process

ezsmith397 on September 6, 2023

Major hack to “making it”? Enjoying the process.
Sounds so cliche, I get it.
But I genuinely enjoy the hell out of building this business.

397digital growth

ezsmith397 on August 30, 2023

TIME TO GROW

You’re gonna see me talk about “we” in relation to my business, 397digital from here on out.

This season of “solopreneurship” is coming to an end for me.

My wife has been a co-owner of the business on paper from the start and will be more actively involved going forward.

We’re also working on building out a small but mighty team of developers & webmasters to better support our growing client base.

It’s time to build and grow a strong and sustainable business.

We’re strapped in, let’s go.

Accepting the path of doing things that “aren’t scalable” to build my business.

ezsmith397 on August 24, 2023

I’ve accepted the path of doing things that “aren’t scalable” to build my business.
 
I wrestled with this idea for years…
 
Always wanting to find some way to grow a bigger, more profitable company without just grinding it out.
 
These days I’m actually excited about doing the work in ways that many others simply won’t.
 
That’s how I plan to grow and build a strong lasting company that’s far past myself.
 
Right now I’m hovering between $17,000-$20,000/mo.
 
That’s honestly just after a solid year of focusing back on my core areas.
 
The next year is exciting for me, to just lock-in and do the work needed to break through and build the team properly.

Being accessible to clients to build strong relationships

ezsmith397 on August 23, 2023

Hot take for this new Productized Services wave: you’re hurting yourself by not being accessible to your clients for phone calls & meetings.
 
I get it, having tons of meetings & calls all day is hard if you also have to be the one producing the work.
 
But without that personal & real interaction, you’re gonna struggle to build a long-term relationship with them.
 
To be real… Some days I get swarmed with meetings, calls, or consulting through issues…
 
And have to work late or extra hours for the regular “production” work that I had planned. (This part will be resolved this year as I grow my team)
 
But all of my clients know, like & trust me BECAUSE of the efforts and attention invested into our relationship.
 
While the concept of being able to make a shit-ton of money WITHOUT doing the hard part of client-service work sounds alluring… It’s not very realistic for most of us in my opinion.
 
Digging in, accepting the type of business I’m actually in (and finding ways to streamline it and make it operate more efficiently where I can) is the way I’ve built my career… And the way I plan to continue building my business for years to come.

397digital relaunch updates

ezsmith397 on August 2, 2023

Talked with a previous long-term client yesterday, we’ve done lots of project-based work together in the past (fixed-scope, fixed price).

Pitched him my new service offerings which are more productized and streamlined in how I sell them and deliver them.

He provided great feedback, overall loved the concept, and purchased a block of our new “Use Anytime Hours” to get started ASAP.

I’m spending time this week where I can (with a busy schedule) to work on 397digital website and messaging so I can officially relaunch and start more marketing efforts within the coming weeks.

Excited about this new approach. 

Will share more soon.