Case Studies is MOST visited page on our agency site @5FourDigital.

Less than a year ago, we had ROBUST case studies with specifics on each project, but after researching the analytics (Clarity provides cool heat maps and interactive videos of folks using the site) we realized folks were viewing the intro and going straight into the images.

So, we made a few updates to our showcase.

Breakdown below...
1. We categorized our projects for easy access.

When we pivoted to UI/UX, Web Design and Dev as our primary services 5 years ago, we focused on Startups.

We've been lucky enough to collab with companies raising on a family round, to SaaS products that secured millions in Series A funding.

About 6 months ago, we received an amazing lead that said "we're not a startup, but saw your work with ____ and would love to collab."

That moment, I sat with the team and we discussed moving away from ONLY Startups.

So, the categories reflect forward-thinking companies at ANY stage in their lifecycle.

Systems are EVERYTHING.

Standard operating procedures allow me to run a 7-figure branding and web design agency with a small team.

Here's the template you can snatch up for your team if you want to scale.

You can actually leverage ChatGPT for the setup.

Here's how: 1. The Setup

First, you've got to prompt ChatGPT the right way. A lot of folks might complain how BAD the tool is, but it all comes down to how you ask questions.

Here's the exact template:

Fun fact: you can build micro companies and sell them.

If you can achieve a pretty decent MRR ($5-$15k), there are plenty of people and businesses willing to acquire you.

Here’s how I’ve had 4 micro acquisitions in the past 5 years.

A thread // 🧵 1. Have an intent to sell

When you launch a digital business, have the intent to sell.

In other words, your entire business structure should revolve around being profitable with the goal to sell.

One EPIC FAIL I made in my agency:

Too many service offers.

Now, this is a story all about how
My life got flipped-turned upside down
And I liked to take a minute
Just sit right there

I'll tell you how I made successful agency out of thin air...A THREAD When I launched @5FourDigital 7 years ago, it was just me. I was a Digital Marketing Strategist who built websites, so I had HTML and CSS skills, but provided every service you could think of...

After building 75+ websites in @webflow and dozens of redesigns without losing major traffic, I wanted to share some quick tactics!

In under 4 days, we were able to get a website indexed and prominent sitelink extensions like THIS live on the search engines w/o losing traffic. Here's how it's done, fam:

1. Prior to launching a site redesign, scrape the entire sitemap and drop it into a Google Sheet.

Label one column OLD URLs and add ALL of the site URLs there. You can also use @screamingfrog (a free software to pull the URLs)

If you’re not creating systems in your business you will always be a slave to your workload.

Here are some quick tips on developing operating procedures to scale your efforts.

A thread 🚀👇🏾 1. Your USP (unique selling proposition) is you.

Your skills, your proprietary way of doing things and the quality of your work.

The best way to quantify that is to document everything you do.

Start with your primary service offerings and make a list of your biggest tasks.

Here’s how @webflow changed
my entire web design business.

A THREAD // About 2.5 years ago, I’d found out about @webflow from a video by @ransegall on YouTube.

Now, at first I was skeptical.

“Meh, just another site builder without full control, this looks ok. Let me stick to Wordpress and be on my way.

Inbox 0.

Infamous.
Mysterious.
Unobtainable...

Until now!

Here's how I achieve inbox zero on the daily.

A THREEEAAAAD! // 1. Segment Your Email Accounts

I like Google Workplace. It's easy to setup and super cheap. About $5.99 per email. Setup your accounts with Google and segment your accounts accordingly.

Passive income is possible, but it takes a lot of upfront work. For anyone looking to diversify and create additional revenue streams, I have a few tips (pic is from today for reference). 1. Develop revenue streams based on your main product.

We create websites and brand identities for clients, so other income streams are based on that including:

- website templates
- illustrations
- hosting management

I get questions from other #webdesigners on how to diversify their income without having to start a new business.

Here's my advice:

/ A THREAD 1. Develop Your Processes

I know, I know I talk about this a lot, but it's crucial.

Write down EVERY SINGLE DAMN STEP of each task your perform or delegate in your business and create screencaps. It's your blueprint and the best way to scale your efforts.

Multiple revenue streams is key, but it's always easier when you build out one business first, and you're other streams leverage the original. Let me explain... We're a web design agency, that's where our focus lies. However, we also create other resources including:

- Premium Website Templates
- Online Courses

Now, both of those additional revenue streams leverage the web design agency.

My online course just got $100k, so I wanted to provide the keys to creating a quality online course. 🔑

A thread💯

1. Never ASSUME what your potential students want.

Create a google doc with each module and curriculum written out, it doesn’t have to be super detailed. Here’s a brief breakdown.

Send this doc to potential students with a link to a google form and ask basic questions like:

🔑 would you take this course?
🔑 what’s missing?

Record your responses in a google sheet for later use.

Thinking about starting up another e-com biz.

Here are some my favorite resources
for research:

1. ExplodingTopics.com - this tool scours the internet to find exploding trends before they take off.

It even organizes by category & searches, convos & mentions online. 2. Google Search + Keywords Everywhere

#KeywordsEverywhere is a chrome extension.

Via search it will tell you how many monthly searches keywords gets & if it’s competitive. You want to find the perfect combo:

High Search Volume + Low Competition.

Uncertainty.

It’s got a lot of us worried, fearful and I indecisive.

Many of us are working remotely, some of us have lost our jobs and many people are fearful.

I want to talk about an additional way to make money w upfront work, and passive income on the back end.

A THREAD 1. Online Courses

I believe anyone with talent can turn that talent into an online education program.

With so many folks working remotely & leveraging a bit of time on their hands, it’s a good time for them to learn a skill they can execute quickly.

You can fill that void.

Hey, everyone.

As we navigate this unfamiliar terrain, I want to help the best way I can.

So, I’ve put together a list.

As a business owner, I’m a big proponent of standard operating procedures...

A THREAD // A strategy for creating systems in your business to scale your efforts.

This is an opportune time to spend with family, all the while, bulletproofing your business to run efficiently.

So, I’ve included a few links below that you can add to your business structure to make it..

As many of us begin work as remote superstars, I wanted to create a thread on how I’ve been able to do it consistently for 6 years. 👨🏾‍💻

Here are my tips for optimizing remote work and crushing the workday. 💯

LET’S GO! 1. Wake Up Early

I wake up (most days) at 4:45a. Now, you don’t have to get up THAT early. Start with one hour before your current time.

Use that time to:

🏆exercise
🙌🏾 meditate
📚 read

By the time your family or clients wake up, the bulk of hard work is done!

My tech stack 👨🏾‍💻

I use a few tools every day to run a remote business of 6 team members.

Here’s how we keep from fumbling the bag with MOSTLY free TOOLS that help us CRUSH productivity. 🔑🔑🔑

K, LET’S GO! / A THREAD 1. Task Mgmt. - @asana
💰 - FREE & PAID

It’s the first place I visit during the wk, day.

I leverage this tool to view upcoming jobs, due dates & specifics to jobs to make it simple for the team to execute.

Team members can see jobs due, what they need to work on & include SOPs

Let's talk about one of my favorite social media tactics.

BATCHING CONTENT.

This is the concept of taking a few hours a month to generate the majority of your social media content and scheduling it throughout the month.

Here's how...[A THREAD] 1. Lock in a Time On Your Calendar

Choose a time on your calendar for the next three months.

I usually dedicate 2-3 hours to this, once a month.

This is non-negotiable and MUST be set up in advance! Once locked in, choose your main social concept...

Value ALL DAY.💯💯

It’s important to build value...always.

Here are a few reasons to build value-based content for your audience and the tangible and intangible benefits that come with it. [A THREAD] 1. Makes you better at what you do ✊🏾

When you give people valuable content in the form of a blog, video or social post you’re framing content so it’s easy to execute.

By giving a look at your process, you can repair imperfections and fix the services you provide.