Notes

[3/1/16, 12:46:01 PM] Max Joles: I’m doing great. Just sitting out home knocking out a little work

[3/1/16, 12:46:22 PM] Brian McCoy: Awesome! So why don't you tell me a little about yourself in terms of what you do for work right now?

[3/1/16, 12:46:50 PM] Max Joles: For sure. Feel free to do a little stalking if you want https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxjoles

[3/1/16, 12:47:14 PM] Max Joles: but basically, I run several online adventure travel marketplaces

[3/1/16, 12:48:39 PM] Max Joles: I handled (or handled) the majority of marketing. We’ve pivoted in the last few months and are now launching an entirely new brand. My role has evolved from marketing to co-founder, meaning I’ve been involved with biz dev, branding, strategy, UX/UI design, partnerships. Just wearing a lot of hats really

[3/1/16, 12:49:30 PM] Max Joles: we’ve raised a small advisory round, but I’m looking to pick up some part time to provide for the company and also for myself

[3/1/16, 12:52:29 PM] Max Joles: on a personal level. I’m 23, a graduate of CU Boulder, athlete, world traveler, and outdoor enthusiast

[3/1/16, 12:54:55 PM] Max Joles: Our supplier network for both https://www.motoguides.com/ and http://www.advlo.com/ was a mix of organic and and direct recruiting. As a peer to peer/ small business platform. I have experience in both B2B and B2C sales

[3/1/16, 1:00:46 PM] Brian McCoy: Awesome! Sounds like you've had some really good exposure to different aspects of marketing and sales. To give you a little background on myself I've been working with web design agencies since 2012. I've been doing freelance web design and development since 2008 and building websites long before that. I've really in the past year or two been working on ramping up my work and the frequency of it.

[3/1/16, 1:02:03 PM] Brian McCoy: I currently work full time for a web design agency in Chicago in addition to this freelance work. Recently another designer from there has started helping me out - he's super talented with the design / visual aspects and I'm really good at making it functional. Together we make a fantastic team and we're just looking for one (possibly two) more people to join us to help push us over the top in terms of work we are getting.

[3/1/16, 1:02:42 PM] Brian McCoy: Right now we are doing well to bring in 1 project a month we'd like to push that to 2-3 projects at a time. The major issue we've had thus far in finding someone to work with us from a sales perspective has been 1) it's hard to find someone good at it and 2) We can't afford to pay that person a salary.

[3/1/16, 1:04:10 PM] Max Joles: Cool. Definitely a good time to branch out and start a business.. Couple questions:

[3/1/16, 1:05:29 PM] Max Joles: 1. With the accessibility of easy/clean CMS’s like Squarspace, Strikingly, Wix…. what separates your services? Do you provide continued support? Or is it a one time set up fee?

[3/1/16, 1:06:21 PM] Max Joles: 2. What is the average time required for you to build a site? Are you capping it at 2-3 projects a month because of time or just personal preference?

[3/1/16, 1:07:25 PM] Max Joles: 3. Do you have a “typical client”? Who is your target demographic?

[3/1/16, 1:42:46 PM] Brian McCoy: Hey Max - sorry about that!

[3/1/16, 1:42:50 PM] Brian McCoy: To answer your questions...

[3/1/16, 1:42:57 PM] Brian McCoy: 1. Anyone today can go to Squarespace and set up a website. But how are they going to know if it's producing results to the best of its capabilities? What we aim to provide is a comprehensive solution to create a website that is an extension of their business. Our ultimate goal is that they will see a return on their investment now and over time. Typically we charge a one time project fee for the design and development of their new website. We would definitely like to offer a monthly service where we make sure their CMS is up to date and study their analytics and such as well to ensure they are getting the most out of their website.

[3/1/16, 1:43:02 PM] Brian McCoy: 2. I would say a good benchmark for timelines in terms of a basic website would be 1-2 weeks for design and then 4 weeks for development. Often times development can work hand in hand with design so a full website may only take 3-4 weeks to turn around. It’s my personal goal to have very fast turn around time. Not only does that please the client but it also allows us to bring more on quickly. The 2-3 number is what I believe we could handle for a given month. 3 might be a stretch - ultimately if we get more than that though we’d have to bring more people in. Which wouldn’t be an issue.

[3/1/16, 1:43:10 PM] Brian McCoy: 3. We try to stay open minded (obviously if a major company wanted to give us work we wouldn’t turn our nose up to it) but that being said our niche really is small businesses. We feel like we can really provide a lot of value to them in a short amount of time and see immediate results.

[3/1/16, 2:16:58 PM] Max Joles: Cool. You answer to #1 is what I was looking for. I don’t really think it’s enough to set someone up with a website and hand it off to them. Especially with small businesses, they need ongoing support to keep it working properly. Sounds like you have a plan in place for that.

[3/1/16, 2:18:25 PM] Max Joles: If it’s on a commission basis, what do you estimate the minimum and maximum potential monthly earnings are? Assuming the 2-3 projects a month baseline

[3/1/16, 2:20:04 PM] Max Joles: and finally… sorry for all the questions! Within small business, is there a subcategory you’re more interested in working with? restaurants? wellness providers?

[3/1/16, 2:20:23 PM] Brian McCoy: My floor for projects is $3-5k. $3k is really the lowest we can possibly take and at that point my partner Jordan probably can't even be involved or vice versa. So if you figure each project at $5,000 and if we got say 2 of them then that'd be $10,000 and $1,500 would go to you.

[3/1/16, 2:21:13 PM] Max Joles: ahhh okay. that’s good to know. I’m just trying to figure out what pricing tier you’re targeting within small business

[3/1/16, 2:21:49 PM] Brian McCoy: If you were getting us 2-3 projects a month consistently we'd definitely make it a salaried position. Our hands are tied right now in terms of money since it's basically been "complete a project then find a project" for awhile.

[3/1/16, 2:22:34 PM] Max Joles: Yeah that’s fine. I’m totally cool with a commission situation. It’s actually preferred on my end. I’m already sorting a strategy together in my head

[3/1/16, 2:22:37 PM] Brian McCoy: No problem on all of the questions. It shows you're interested and engaged. We've had some people that are just like "Okay I can start today." and it's like woah there!

[3/1/16, 2:23:22 PM] Max Joles: hahahah this is new to me, the whole freelance thing (especially on craigslist). So maybe I’m coming at it from a different perspective..more professional maybe hahah

[3/1/16, 2:23:59 PM] Brian McCoy: To answer your question about the niche within small businesses I don't really have a preference. I would lean more towards industrial types like manufacturing, logistics, transportation but that is just a personal preference. I'd love to have customers that range from dentists to lawyers to accountants.

[3/1/16, 2:24:12 PM] Brian McCoy: That's exactly what we need is someone who takes this serious and professional.

[3/1/16, 2:25:04 PM] Brian McCoy: To give you more insight our current "sales process" is basically myself scouring Craigslist for one off projects (something not very fruitful). I also work with another web design agency (not my full time one) that gives me overflow work. That's been the most profitable. But ideally I'd like to be able to start going and getting our own clients.

[3/1/16, 2:26:44 PM] Max Joles: for sure. There have to be more scalable and less time intensive ways to get clients. I consider myself a problem solver, so my brain is already cranking out ideas. I do however have to devote the afternoon to staying on task with my other venture.

[3/1/16, 2:27:31 PM] Max Joles: Here is what I would say: If you wouldn’t mind sending or forwarding me a “sales pitch” you’ve sent to potential clients, that would be great

[3/1/16, 2:28:03 PM] Max Joles: I wanna get an idea for how you sell your services, and what value props you’re pitching customers. That way I can align how I’m think with how you’re thinking

[3/1/16, 2:29:02 PM] Max Joles: Then when I’m done working this afternoon, I’ll get started brainstorming some strategies and setting up the framework. We can check back in later this week (even tomorrow) and go from there

[3/1/16, 2:29:36 PM] Brian McCoy: Sure. My pitches aren't anything special. I have a book (PDF) that I purchased I think you'd like.

[3/1/16, 2:29:48 PM] Max Joles: Yeah that would be great

[3/1/16, 2:30:07 PM] Max Joles: just wanna get a better vibe of what and how you talk to clients

[3/1/16, 2:30:38 PM] Brian McCoy: Absolutely. I can get that over to you. Did you want to set up a time to chat more tomorrow? How much time would you be able to contribute a week to this?

[3/1/16, 2:31:14 PM] Max Joles: sure. why don’t we talk sometime in the afternoon. Let me know and I’ll clear a space

[3/1/16, 2:31:32 PM] Max Joles: realistically. 10-12 hrs a week, maybe up to 20

[3/1/16, 2:31:48 PM] Brian McCoy: I'm available pretty much anytime. Would you be free at 2pm CST?

[3/1/16, 2:32:09 PM] Max Joles: I’m banking on my knowledge of marketing tech to hopefully do it in less time

[3/1/16, 2:32:18 PM] Max Joles: yeah 2 pm works for me

[3/1/16, 2:33:55 PM] Brian McCoy: Great! I will talk to you then. In the meantime I'm going to send over a sample pitch and that PDF.

[3/1/16, 2:34:17 PM] Max Joles: Awesome. I’ll take a look when I get a chance

[3/1/16, 2:34:30 PM] Max Joles: you can send everything to [email protected]

[3/1/16, 2:34:37 PM] Max Joles: *advlo.com