squarespace

Selling THIS Helped Me Quit My 9-5 & Travel the World

 

Tired of the daily grind of a 9-5 job? Dreaming of a life filled with adventure and flexibility? Or maybe just a slower life filled with freedom and time?

Many of us have been there, longing for a change but unsure of how to make it happen. In today's blog post + podcast, I want to share my personal journey from 9-5 life to the freedom of entrepreneurship (and traveling the world.)

In today’s podcast + article, you’ll learn:

  • How I started my first business (in web & graphic design)

  • How I got my first web design clients & quit my 9-5 jobs in waitressing and retail.

  • Why you DON’T need a degree to start a creative business.

  • Why web design comes with job security, regardless of the increase in website templates and AI.

  • How to know if web design is a good fit for you!

  • Why social media is not the only place to get clients (and alternatives to try!)

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google or Spotify.

ARTICLE

Take a little trip back in time with me to 2012.

I was working as a Pizza Hut waitress and retail worker, paid about £6.59 per hour at the time, and I had a toxic boss who was super nice to my face but talked about me when I wasn’t around.

I’m neurodivergent so I already felt a bit different, despite not being diagnosed yet. I was also a pretty shy teen and I didn’t fit in well with some of the more extroverted staff members. It was at these jobs that I first remember FEELING different and being TREATED differently.

I wanted OUT.

I wanted to be my own boss.

I wanted the freedom to live and work from ANYWHERE in the world.

I wanted to do creative work I loved, NOT mop the floors of the restaurant or straighten coat hangers to pass the time.

I had a blog at the time - it was my side hustle. And one day, someone offered to pay me £150 to design a blog for them. (Very underpriced but at the time it felt like a lot!)

I told my coworker (who was studying graphic design at university) and here’s what she said:

“You can’t charge someone money for that, you’re not qualified.”

And she was right… I didn’t have any kind of degree. I was just a waitress and retail worker. I started thinking… “I’m not experienced enough for this. I don’t have enough money to start a business anyway. How will I even fund this?”

So what did I do?

I accepted the client anyway. I taught myself web and graphic design. I used my savings to buy a better laptop + Adobe programs. I used my credit card for a couple of business tools. I raised my prices over time as I gained more experience.

And guess what?

In time, I was earning enough from web design to quit my 9-5 and get on a flight to Thailand.

(If you want to do the same, sign up for The Profitable & Productive Web Designer Bootcamp before April 15th!)

Web design changed the trajectory of my life.

WHY WEB DESIGN?

I was always a creative - I loved art, drawing, photography, and writing.

I would redesign my blog for fun, just because.

If you’re a creative person and you have a good eye for design, even if it’s not necessarily WEB design, you just really enjoy interior design and choosing color palettes etc… If you haven’t started a business yet, I’d really recommend considering web design.

Even though people can buy website templates nowadays, there are lots of businesses worldwide that:

  • don’t have the technical skills to do that

  • don’t have the desire or time to

  • want a custom designed website that isn’t gonna look the same as 50 others

Because the world is all online now, businesses often lose tens of thousands if they don’t have a website. So web designers are needed and always will be. Did someone say… job security? ;)

HOW I LANDED MY FIRST CLIENTS

  • Don’t be afraid to ask for referrals - my first client came from a fellow designer.

  • I used social media - I ran a limited-time offer on logo designs.

  • My friend Paige didn’t use social media, she used SEO to rank no.1 on google for Squarespace web designer.

There are so many ways to land clients. Choose one, two at most, and give it your all.

COULD WEB DESIGN BE THE THING THAT GIVES YOU THE FREEDOM IT GIVES ME?

You might want to start a web design business so you can be your own boss, work from home (or anywhere in the world), and have full control of your time.

Or maybe you already sell brand design, virtual assistant services, copywriting, etc, and want to add web design to your services. One web project could be about $2500. Imagine if you just take 2 each month? That’s $5K/month. Or one each month is an extra $2.5k. $30k a year in total.

If you’re curious about web design, sign up to my good friend Paige’s FREE Profitable & Productive Web Designer Bootcamp!

 
Schedule of Paige Brunton's Profitable + Productive Web Designer Bootcamp
 
 
Meet Paige Brunton image
 

About Nesha

Hey there! I’m Nesha, 11-year traveling entrepreneur and host of The Simple Business Show. I teach women how to build a $5-10K/month online service business working just 3 days a week, so they can have the financial and time freedom to live the life they dream of.

Looking for more ways I can help you? Here they are:

1:1 Coaching: Work with me on an intimate level to take your business from where it is to where you want it to go.

Group Coaching Program: The Simple Business Builder: Learn to build a $5-10K/month online business working 3 days a week.

Organize & Automate - Join 1200+ students and learn how to organize your entire online service-based business in just two weeks (on the side of your regular routine!) so you can stop stressing and fall back in love with your business.

Simple Sales School - Learn how to get a consistent flow of clients so you can build the income & financial freedom you desire.

Subscribe & Leave A Review! 

If you enjoyed this episode, you can show your support by leaving a review, subscribing, or sharing your biggest takeaways on your Instagram story! Just remember to tag me @neshawoolery so I can see it.

Here’s how to subscribe and review the show:

Subscribe on your favourite podcast platform: Apple Podcasts, Google or Spotify.

To leave a review on Spotify: Open my podcast and click the “rating” button under my podcast name.

To leave a review on Apple Podcasts: Open my podcast, scroll to the bottom of the page and you’ll find the rating/review button.

More Episodes

 

How to Start a Successful Web Design Business & Scale It to $10K Months with Paige Brunton

 

Pre-PS: Paige is kicking off the FREE Profitable + Productive Web Designer Bootcamp on April 15 @ 3pm ET! If you want to hear from real and very successful web designers about how to find clients, be productive, or start the business… sign up now before you forget. 

If you clicked on this article, I’m guessing you’re either:

  1. Interested in learning about how to start a successful web design business.

  2. Already a web designer. You’re booking some clients, but ready to scale!

  3. Not a web designer at all! You’re a VA, photographer, copywriter etc… but you want those elusive $10K months too.

In today's competitive online market, building a successful web design business requires more than just technical skills—it requires strategy, determination, and a solid plan for growth.

And there’s no one more qualified to provide you with that plan than my amazing friend, Paige Brunton. 

 
 

Paige went from teaching kindergarten, to starting a Squarespace web design business and ranking #1 on Google for “Squarespace web designer” within 6 months. She went from struggling, to getting a client inquiry every single day.

Now, Paige teaches aspiring web designers about the two most essential ingredients to create a life of their own design:

✓ The skills to build fabulous Squarespace websites 

✓ The knowledge to build a successful web design business

She and I both believe that everyone deserves to have the skills necessary to be self-reliant and live the freedom-filled lifestyle they desire. And running a web design business can give you that.

So hit “play” on the podcast player below to listen to the interview! The value Paige drops is INVALUABLE! Oh, and her whole thing is “how to get clients WITHOUT Instagram” so if you’re not into social media, you need to give this one a listen. 

You’ll learn:

  • How to start a successful web design business & scale it to $10K months (even without a degree) (10:50)

  • How to get clients WITHOUT Instagram or social media (15:30)

  • The No. 1 reason you’re not succeeding as a web designer (+ How to fix it!) (16:00)

  • 5 tips to grow your web design business to $10k/month (21:19)

  • How to overcome imposter syndrome, especially if you’re self-taught (24:15)

  • Why you should consider adding web design to your list of services (32:23)

  • SO much more!

FREE Web Designer Bootcamp - April 15th

 
 

Because Paige believes in helping aspiring female entrepreneurs learn how to build life-giving, profit generating businesses, she is kicking off the FREE Profitable + Productive Web Designer Bootcamp on April 15 @ 3pm ET!

I don’t normally recommend other people’s free stuff or courses but I 1000% recommend Paige’s so make sure you sign up. I’ve seen the value she’s gonna drop and it’s honestly worth charging $ for but she isn’t. Even if you don’t join the course she’ll pitch at the end, you’ll walk away with a LOT of actionable tips for building a profitable web design business.

About Paige

 
 
 
 

Whether you’re a web designer, an aspiring web designer, or you have another business (VA, copywriter, photographer etc) and you’re looking to expand your list of services… this bootcamp is for you.

Paige went from starting 2 failed businesses and teaching kindergarten, to starting a Squarespace web design business and ranking #1 on Google for “Squarespace web designer” within 6 months.

Now, she’s the no.1 teacher of all things Squarespace and web design business, and in the bootcamp her most successful students are sharing their top tips so you can run a successful web design biz too!

Click here to sign up. Bootcamp is live and running April 15th-17th. 

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google or Spotify.

About Nesha

Hey there! I’m Nesha, 11-year traveling entrepreneur and host of The Simple Business Show. I teach women how to build a $5-10K/month online service business working just 3 days a week, so they can have the financial and time freedom to live the life they dream of.

Looking for more ways I can help you? Here they are:

1:1 Coaching: Work with me on an intimate level to take your business from where it is to where you want it to go.

Group Coaching Program: The Simple Business Builder: Learn to build a $5-10K/month online business working 3 days a week.

Organize & Automate - Join 1200+ students and learn how to organize your entire online service-based business in just two weeks (on the side of your regular routine!) so you can stop stressing and fall back in love with your business.

Simple Sales School - Learn how to get a consistent flow of clients so you can build the income & financial freedom you desire.

Subscribe & Leave A Review! 

If you enjoyed this episode, you can show your support by leaving a review, subscribing, or sharing your biggest takeaways on your Instagram story! Just remember to tag me @neshawoolery so I can see it.

Here’s how to subscribe and review the show:

Subscribe on your favourite podcast platform: Apple Podcasts, Google or Spotify.

To leave a review on Spotify: Open my podcast and click the “rating” button under my podcast name.

To leave a review on Apple Podcasts: Open my podcast, scroll to the bottom of the page and you’ll find the rating/review button.

More Episodes

 

How to offer web design when you don't know how to code

How to offer web design when you don't know how to code

Nesha here! I'm so excited that I finally get to share this blog post with you guys because it's soooooo good! Krista Rae, a strategic Wordpress developer, is here today to show you how to offer web design services when you don't know how to code.

I would have died for a blog post like this when I first started my design business. (Okay, I probably wouldn't have died. But I would have paid a shed load for this kind of information, for sure.)

When I decided I wanted to be a freelance designer, I knew a bit about HTML and CSS, but not enough to start offering web design services. The thought of screwing up someone's website because I couldn't code properly put me off from actually offering web design for a long time. But there are things you can do if you don't know how to code and still want to design websites for a living. Read on to hear Krista's awesome tips!

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Web design is a great complement to a branding or graphic design business. With that combination, you can find the perfect clients and keep them, rather than offering branding and then referring them elsewhere for a website.

Luckily, if web design is something you’re looking to add to your business there are several options for how you can do it, both with and without coding on your end. In this post, we’ll cover 3 of the best options for doing just that, the pros and cons of each option, and the details of the option that will give you the most freedom. Let’s dive in!

3 silly myths about Squarespace SEO

3 silly myths about Squarespace SEO

Lately, I've been getting a lot of questions about Squarespace and SEO. Bloggers and small business owners are loving how simple and fun it is to create beautiful websites using Squarespace, but they're not sure if switching to Squarespace will jeopardize their SEO.  

I get it. There are lots of Squarespace myths out there that would put me off too if I didn't know they were false. 

Many people badmouth Squarespace SEO before researching it, which a total recipe for disaster. I see myths floating around Facebook groups and other blogs that make me cringe because I know from research and experience that they aren't true. 

Why I switched from Wordpress to Squarespace (after being such a Squarespace hater!)

 
Click on this pin to find out why I made the decision to switch from Wordpress to Squarespace and no it's not because it's better but something much more. Find out what that 'much more' is now! #Business #Design #Sqaurespace #Wordpress, #Web Design

OK, so I didn't hate Squarespace... That's a little dramatic of me. But I didn't understand the hype around it, or why why dozens of my friends were switching from Wordpress to Squarespace.

I tried it for a day and decided that it was OK, but not as good as Wordpress. I even wrote a blog post outlining the pros and cons of both and favoring Wordpress. (That post has since been updated with a fair amount of pros for both.)

However, a conversation with a friend totally changed my opinion of Squarespace. 

As we sat drinking frappucinos one afternoon, we began talking about work. I told her everything was going well and I was still enjoying my business. But I wished things were a little more simple. 

I explained that one of my goals this year is to achieve a simple business. I thrive most when things are simple, easy and clean. I've noticed this spans into my personal life too, not just my business. I like simple interior decor, simple outfits, and I much prefer a simple and quiet life over a busy city life.

I've slowly realized that when my business systems and strategies are simple, I feel happier and more relaxed. And my business blooms a lot more when I feel that way!

I told my friend that I'd simplified a lot of my systems, but things still didn't feel 'easy' enough. I'm a big believer that business should be easy, or else it isn't fun. 

"You wrote a blog post on Wordpress vs. Squarespace, right?"

I nodded. 

"I know Wordpress is awesome and offers everything you could ever need in a website, and I know that you love it. But maybe what you need is a simpler platform, with less updates and plugins and themes. Like Squarespace."

She'd been raving about Squarespace all year and I'd just rolled my eyes. But it was when she said that (or something to that effect, anyway) that I decided to give Squarespace one last try.

I signed up for another trial of Squarespace and set myself a little excercise: see how long it takes to rebuild my website on Squarespace, getting as close as I could to my Wordpress design.

And here's the amazing thing: it took just two days, and that was in between doing client work. 

Here the other amazing thing: I think my Squarespace sites looks better than my Wordpress site. 
It's amazing how much better my second Squarespace trial was. Maybe it's because I actually gave myself an assignment instead of fiddling with a theme I wasn't interested in. Either way, I've found myself jumping on the Squarespace bandwagon. Not because it's better than Wordpress but because it has something Wordpress doesn't: severe simplicity. Anyone could learn Squarespace in a day, and that really appeals to me. 

A few more reasons why I switched from Wordpress to Squarespace (after being such a Squarespace hater):

  • I knew my clients would love it. I design brands and websites for small business owners, and they usually like to maintain and update their website themselves when our project is over. Squarespace is the perfect platform for them to maintain their site easily without getting confused or stressed out.
  • I love the drag and drop feature. I barely have to touch any code!
  • I love that it's limited, which is ironic because that's one of the aspects I disliked to begin with. But I love that my clients and I can only choose from a certain amount of themes. It stops us from overthinking things.

I'm very happy with my decision to switch from Wordpress to Squarespace. In fact, I'm thinking of creating a mini-series on it for you very soon!

In case anyone is wondering, I'm using the Galapagos theme. It's a very popular theme for bloggers because of how simple and clean it is, so I highly recommend you try it if you're a Squarespace user!

I'd love to know- are you thinking about switching to Squarespace? Do you have any questions or concerns?

 
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