What’s the difference between a zero-figure and a six-figure web design business? Find out here. 

Uncover seven critical steps to set the right foundation for your creative empire. From choosing a name to packaging and pricing – this is your one-stop shop to create your dream brand.

As a budding web designer, every fiber of your soul just wants to create. I *so* get it. Building a business from the ground up? With all the legal stuff? And the onboarding processes? Snooze. It’s enough to suck your creative soul dry. But getting your brand right from the start is an essential move.

While we’re here, let me introduce myself. I’m Becca Luna, the founder of Bold x Boho and Becca Luna Education. I’ve taught over 3,000 students how to step up their web design game and create profitable businesses by channeling their creativity.

You can get a serious leg-up on the competition with my Wealthy Web Designer Course. It includes everything I’ve learned from day 1 to millions in sales. You don’t want to miss out. Orrrrrr, you can start with my complete list of Do’s and Don’ts for Beginner Web Designers!

What We’ll Cover

Setting your foundation right from the start means you can expand worry-free with the systems, automation, and processes to cover yourself and your growth. Here’s what we’ll cover:

1. Name
2. Domain
3. Legals
4. Niche
5. Packages and pricing
6. Brand strategy
7. Website

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Seven Things To Consider When Building a Six-Figure Business

Here are the seven things I wish I had considered when I started my business:

Step 1: Choose a Worthy Name

Picking a brand name. Easy, right? 

You’ve got tons of ideas, and your circle loves them all. The only problem is, you’ve got to decide on JUST one you’ll be happy to remain committed to for years to come. Do you go for your own name? Or establish a super creative company? The longer, the better? Or short and sweet?  

Here’s a quick guide to the right name type for you:

Benefits of Personal Names:

Benefits of Company Names:

1. Detaches you from the brand 
2. Allows you to build a team and business that runs on its own
3. Easier to sell down the track)
4. When your audience prefers to deal with a ‘big brand’ than a personal one

Still unsure? I recommend starting with your name. This allows for massive expansion, with the opportunity to launch additional brands and passive offers from there. 

Above all? Just be sure to make it:

• Short and sharp (two-to-three words is ideal)
• Catchy
• Memorable
• Descriptive

Step 2: Secure Your Business Domain

You’ve finally decided on your dream six-figure web design business name – and it’s every bit as dreamy, bold, and ‘utterly you’ as you’d hoped. But what if someone else has already claimed it? Before you start owning your name, you’ll need to secure the domain and account handles for it first! 

Having the exact domain and consistent account names across ALL social media is a crucial step for both you your clients. I mean, imagine someone else going viral under your brand name.

Hot tip: Secure the name on every platform – even the ones you don’t plan on using just yet! You never know what the future holds for your marketing strategy. 

Go through these platforms to ensure you don’t miss anything:

• Domain (GoDaddy is my domain provider of choice, with easily transferable domains from just $11.99)
• Instagram
• TikTok
• Pinterest
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Youtube
• What’s App

Get those names on lock ASAP. 

Step 3: Business Legals and Financials:

It’s time to have that talk, girl. The admin one. The boring but oh-so-important stuff that financially and legally protects you and your clients. Contracts can make or break for a six-figure web design business, and as the powerful CEO you are, you already know how important it is to cover your butt. Because while you can hope and pray you never encounter a dodgy client or nasty financial dispute, having watertight documents is the only way to protect what you’ve built. 

These are the steps to follow:

1. Register as an LLC in your state: Registering as an LLC detaches you from your business and ensures your personal assets will be protected in the event you have a rough financial year. It’s best to meet with an expert to discuss your state’s process, your individual requirements, and your financial goals.
2. Get an EIN (Employer Identification Number): This is the Tax Identification Number you’ll use when setting up PayPal or Stripe so you can get that pay (legally). Like registering as an LLC, an EIN enables you to create your own entity, so nothing falls under your Social Security Number. 
3. Start a Business Bank Account: Keep your personal and professional financial activity separate by setting up a business account at your bank. This way, you can organize and record income and expenses within the business and keep your personal expenditure to yourself. This way, you’ll be able to pay yourself from that account, write off a lot of purchases, and fall into a lower tax bracket as a result (meaning #lesstaxmoremoney at EOFY). 

Contract-wise, you’ll also need:

1. Privacy policy and terms and conditions for your website
2. A client agreement: To bind your client and ensure you’re both on the same page. The agreement should: outline the scope of work, price, deliverables, and timeline. A digital tool like SignNow is the easiest for electronic signatures.

Hot tip: A Lawyer is $2,500. These plug-and-play, watertight business contract templates from Nicole Cheri Oden are far cheaper. 

Step 4: Choose Your Niche:

How niche is too niche? How broad is too broad? 

It may offend some marketers when I say this, but there’s no real answer. Because like everything in business? You decide.

We know that when you talk to everyone, you talk to no one. But niched down to the same gender or industry? That’s not always necessary. From the outset, my own six-figure online web design business, Bold x Boho, appears to serve an un-niched community from mindset coaches to dog walkers. But there’s a golden thread connecting them all – their values, struggles, and dreams. 

Best tips for finding your niche audience:

• Consider values, needs, and interests over demographic and geographic characteristics
• Reflect on the type of people (and businesses) you like, and their characteristics
• Hone in on your special skills to understand who they would best suit
• Stalk similar brands on Instagram and see what their followers are saying, how they talk, and who they interact with – could you integrate into their life? 

Step 5: Online Offerings and Pricing

When I first started Bold x Boho, I had no idea what to charge! I was making around $12 an hour. Because I was spending so long underpromising, overdelivering, and working myself to the bone, I didn’t profit the way I could have. Don’t let that be you. 

Instead, do this to work out your pricing strategy:

1. Choose a web design platform (or two) you love to use. For me, that’s Showit.
2. Decide your hourly rate by taking into account your overheads, knowledge, client experience, and talent. This could be anywhere from $75 to $300 per hour. 
3. Refine your design process and calculate how many hours a site takes you to design from strategy through to publication (beta programs are helpful for this).
4. Record that process and create templates that support you in the design process efficiently. 
5. Add on a 20% cushion to account for taxes and unexpected hiccups

Hot tip: Never mention how many hours your work takes to the client – simply tell them the total price. 

Next, develop three packages to keep it simple for you and your clients. The ‘center stage effect’ says that when given three options, most leads will go for the middle choice. So ensure this one is your favorite, most profitable offering!

Make your offers and packages unique from everyone else! What’s that extra bit of value you can provide over another web designer? From saving them time (eg. a VIP day) to a bonus strategy call, be flexible, dynamic, and competitive when tending to your clients’ needs. 

Here are Four More Tips to Level Up Your Web Design!

Step 6: Find Your Unique Brand Strategy

As a potential client, there’s nothing like seeing a six-figure web design business walk the walk.  And as a designer, there’s nothing like proving the importance of quality branding and a show-stopping website. 

Your brand strategy encompasses everything from your mission and values to your brand voice. And while it will continue to evolve over time, having these identified from the beginning ensures every marketing and business move you make from here on out is aligned with your bigger picture.

A rock-solid brand strategy for a six-figure web design business includes:

1. Brand Vision: What are your short and long-term goals for this brand? Do you want to expand your personal brand or sell as a company five years on? Get specific about the numbers, results, projections, and achievements you want to make happen. 
2. Values: What do you, your clients, and your future team stand for? Center in on what beliefs, mindsets, and working styles light your fire AND the ones that don’t. A vision board is perfect for this!
3. Dream Clients: Return to your niche. Who do you want to serve and why? Map them out as a persona with interests, values, and needs so you can visualize them every day. 
4. Brand Experience: What does it feel like to work with you? If your brand was a person, how would they talk and move? Do you want an intimate feel or an agency vibe? A playful tone of voice or more professional? 

Let this brand strategy grow with you, but above all, keep it clear, consistent, and always recognizable. 

Want a few hot tips on creating a bulletproof marketing strategy? Click here! Want four of my most recommended content marketing tips? Click here!

Step 7: Build Your Website

You can’t be a great web designer if you don’t have one yourself! Treat yourself as your first dream client and nail your design so it speaks to you and your future clients. Use this as your opportunity to showcase your skills and leave leads saying, “I want a website like yours.” 

Read more about How To Become a Showit Web Designer – I’ve included a few hot tips of my own!

At a minimum, a six-figure website includes the following elements:

Home page:

• Hero banner that screams what you do and who you help 
• Bio introducing you as the face behind the brand
• Overview of your three offers (as determined in Part Five)
• Call to action to contact you or fill in an application
• Social media footer
• Images of you (and/or your team) throughout

  About:

• Humanizer with your expertise and background
• Values and mission
• Portfolio and/or testimonials
• Call to action to work together

Services 

• Who each service is for (to pre-qualify your leads)
• What is included
• Investment
• How to apply/book

Contact

• An application to further qualify leads
• Call to action to get in touch with questions

In addition to these most-haves, you could add extra value (and boost SEO) via a template shop, affiliate or resource directory, Podcast page, or blog. You can structure your site any way you like, but above all? Make it easy to navigate, transparent, and so jaw-dropping you leave your dream clients screaming, “I HAVE to work with you.”

Here are three more things EVERY web design business should include! 

In Final

Once you’ve got this list on lock I promise you can achieve anything: 

From the name that’ll be plastered on everything you do to the snore-worthy legal stuff, this has been your go-to guide to creating a brand you love, babe. And when I tell you this is so integral for you and your clients, I mean it. So don’t just devour, but do. Take action, and start implementing. 

Further your learning and bring that six-figure web design business to life with the Wealthy Web Designer course. Discover your step-by-step guide to achieving an impeccable brand and nail every element of your new empire. 

Don’t forget, you can get a serious headstart on the competition. Enroll in the Wealthy Web Designer Course here.