project_log: 032

Yo.

My strategy for client acquisition is simple: "Make it stupid for people not to work with you."

I know that sounds a little wishy washy, but hear me out.

Most of us focus on being the best at what we do. The cleanest code, the slickest designs, the most efficient processes. But I've learned that being irreplaceable has nothing to do with being the best.

It's about making yourself so valuable to the client's overall success that choosing anyone else feels like a massive risk.

Here's my current strategy, my next play, and the problems in the way:

My Current Strategy

I'm not the best engineer in the world. But I've built a solid freelancing business by focusing on people.

What this looks like in practice:

• I handle motion design without being asked.

• I don't penny-pinch on small stuff that makes the clients life easier

• I generally want the client to win.

• I optimise for the relationship, not just the project.

• Do everything to reduce friction in other peoples lives.

Most importantly, I learned to adapt to different work styles instead of forcing mine. I work with people who are ambitious and driven. Each one has their quirks. But learning to adapt to how they work, and not demanding they adapt to me, became my advantage.

The result? This strategy served me extremely well for the past 2 years. I tripled my income from what I was making as an in-house developer.

My Next Play

Now I want to pour gasoline on the fire and grow. I want to throw myself in the deep end and take more risk so I can learn more.

My next play after doubling down on relationships is to create a flywheel from work to software back to work.

Here's how it works:

I'm building a piece of software called Ballpark that turns website visitors into leads (you can check it out here: ballpark.ing). The primary target is design studios without in-house development teams. Typically smaller headcount doing projects in the $20K-$100K range.

If a design studio becomes a customer of the software, they'll generate more leads for their business. Let's say they generate 5 more leads per month. Let's say they need development for 1 out of 5 of their projects.

Since I was able to provide their business with 5 new leads, I think they'd be confident trusting me with the development of that project.

We go back to my current strategy: do everything we can to make the design studio's life easier. Handle motion, handle the technical complexity, approach everything with the idea that we want them to win.

The cycle repeats. They get leads through our software, they bring me in on some of those leads, we crush it together.

I share this because I believe it's important to think outside the box when it comes to client acquisition. There's so many creative ways you can attract people to your business. This is my way. It might fail. But the point is to try something different.

A quote that sums this up well: "To be an exception, you do something exceptional". Do something different if you want results different to most people.

The Problems in the Way

Before I pour the gas on the fire, I have to fix a problem. Without fixing this, all this additional lead generation would be pretty much worthless. It might even make the business worse.

That issue is capacity.

I mentioned in last week's newsletter that I'm no longer pursuing the independent route. I need to bring people in.

So what does that look like right now?

I think it's important to set standards for how day-to-day shit needs to be done. This serves two purposes: free up mental space to focus on what matters and moves the needle, and speed up the time from bringing help in to them picking up how I run things.

They're going to be rough to start with, and the first people I bring in will help me shape these processes. But having some kind of system set up for things like version control, creating tasks in the project management software, and building sanity schema allows us to keep everything neat and tidy from the beginning.

Once these initial processes are setup, I'm going to push to find developers that are like me. Again, they don't need to be the best in the world. But they need to have some interest in motion/design, be interested in the companies I typically work with, and above all else want their clients to win. If thats you, reply and lets chat!

What I'm Learning

• Technical skills alone don't win. Relationships do. The goal isn't to be the best, it's to be irreplaceable.

• I'm scaling by solving adjacent problems (leads) before asking for the main work (development). Instead of just pitching development services, I'm creating a reason for them to need me first.

• Systems have to come before growth, not after.

My next challenge is to execute this flywheel while bringing in new people.

To finish up, how can you make it stupid for your ideal clients not to work with you?

Maybe it's not about being the best at your craft. Maybe it's about being the person who makes their life easier, who anticipates their needs, who helps them win.

That's what I'm betting on.

Will share more as I learn.

Talk soon.

Will