Josh 0:02
Welcome to the Josh Hall Web Design Show Web Design Show helping you build better websites and create a web design business that gives you freedom and the lifestyle you love. Hey everybody, its Josh here. Welcome to Episode deux as my French speaking friends might say, this is Episode Two and it’s an interview with my colleague and friend Tim Strifeler. Those of you in the Divi community probably know him from his site at Divi life, which just so happens to house some of my favorite plugins and child themes and resources for Divi. He’s also a partner in a site called WPGears with David Blackman from Divi space, and they have some incredible courses for web designers. They also have a podcast for WordPress enthusiasts called WP the podcast, which is a nifty little podcast, it has shorter more bite sized episodes, which is unlike what you’re going to hear in this one because this is an in depth interview with Tim, and I am fired up after this interview.

Josh 1:06
I am so inspired after hearing Tim’s story and how he’s remained successful and consistent through the past few years. And I’ve kind of seen him, I’ve watched him grow multiple businesses. And we get an inside peek at what Tim did and what he continues to do in order to have success in web design and everything that he’s got going on. So if you have a web design business, or you’re ready to start one, and you want to know what it takes to be successful, this is your episode, we cover a lot of really, really important methods and strategies that you can apply to your business. No matter where you’re at in your career, no matter what you’re looking to do. We’re going to talk about what it takes to be successful on web design, you’re going to hear some of my experience, and obviously from Tim on what it’s taken to be successful with all of his endeavors.

Josh 1:55
Before we dive into this, this episode is presented by my web design business course. So if you have a web design business, if you’re looking to take it to the next level, or maybe you’re doing it part time and you want to go full time, I have a whole business course that will walk you through all the most important tactics, methods and strategies to build a six figure business and I’ll show you everything that I’ve learned along the way, including a lot of hard lessons learned. So I would love to help guide you to build a successful business, check out the link below in the show notes and you’ll be able to get some more information on that I would love to help guide you to creating a sex successful web design business. And it’s interesting, a lot of the topics that Tim and I cover in this episode are actually pulled from both of our courses. So if you like what you hear in this episode, check out my business course would love to help you take it take it to the next level.

Josh 2:41
Alright guys, without further ado, please enjoy my interview with the one and only Mr. Timothy Strifeler. Tim, welcome to the show, man. Thanks for taking some time to chat with us.

Tim 2:55
Yes, thank you so much for having me, Josh. I know we’ve been talking about this for a while. I know you’ve been planning this podcast for a while. So I am honored that I am one of your first interviews if not your first interview. So yeah, thanks for having me on.

Josh 3:08
It’s great to have you man. Yeah, I’m gonna we’re doing you know, this is my first interview for the podcast. And I think I’m gonna feature you as episode my first interview episode number two. So, really excited to chat with you here. What we’re going to do in this one is talk about, basically, in short, how to be successful with web design. I’ve, you know, not only have you been a colleague and a friend of mine for the past few years, but I followed you before that so I’ve seen you just completely not only the Divi community, but you have really placed yourself as an expert consistently for years. And I’m really excited to talk about you know, in depth how you do that on a regular and consistent basis. And more importantly, you know, what people can take from that and apply to their own businesses. Before we dive into that what’s going on new with you right now because you just move right you just relocated and all kinds of stuff is going on?

Tim 3:59
Yeah, I just relocated back to California where I’m from so born and raised in Southern California my wife and I moved to the Austin Texas area for three and a half years and then we just came back so I’m still kind of getting settled in the new house. We had some work done and so my my office isn’t quite set up yet I had a YouTube video tutorial and someone was complaining about clutter behind me and I’m like I’m still getting moved in and like so yeah, apologies if anyone else is seeing the clutter there’s I’ve tried to hide it a little more for this interview, but there’s definitely some clutter which is the result of moving halfway across the country. So…

Josh 4:39
It does not look too shabby. You know, a lot of you guys right now are listening to this on iTunes or whatever with the podcast but this is video two on my YouTube channel so you can see this conversation and see Tim’s office which is brightly colored and has more lighting. So now it’s looking good man. I know. Yeah, moving is no joke and it takes a while to get going. With that said you’re doing A lot you’re running Divi life and you have products and child themes and resources and plugins with all that and you’re involved with David Blackman with WP gears and your guys’s WP the podcast podcast. I, before we talk about that, and before we talk about how you know you how you maintain all that, and are successful with that, what’s Can you just summarize your story and how you got into web design? I mean, did you set out and say, I’m going to start a web design business? Or like, what did that look like for you?

Tim 5:33
Yeah, no, I definitely not. And some people will say, like, when they’re starting a business, that they kind of back into something or, you know, they started by accident. And that is definitely the case with me, my dad’s a graphic designer. So I always kind of start my story with him. Because I feel like that does play a part being exposed to design and that whole world of like creative graphic arts at a young age I was exposed to and kind of, you know, familiar with it, but I had no plans. Like I didn’t consider myself like an artistic or, you know, super creative person. And then I but I’ve always been a little bit technical, like always good with technology type things. And it kind of started way back when my wife and I got engaged.

Tim 6:20
So this is like 2012, my wife asked me to go and create a wedding website, right? If anyone who’s been married knows that, like, the bride typically does all the planning. And then the husband gets a small list of things to handle while on my list was great a wedding website. And at the time, there was the Do It Yourself kind of all on one platforms. But they weren’t very good. They’ve been improved a lot since then. But they weren’t very good. And so I was like, you know what I can do better. And so I built a wedding website using WordPress. And I basically saw the power in being able to build something yourself. And I got a lot of compliments on it. A lot of people said, hey, that’s awesome. Like, and I had some friends that said, Hey, can you build me a wedding website?

Tim 7:03
So I started building wedding websites for friends. And it’s how I got more and more familiar with building websites. And then from that, I had a couple other people that said, Hey, I know you build websites, can you build a website for my business. And so at this time, it was still very part time very freelance, like, never had the desire to grow it into a business, it but it was just something on the side. I majored in, in business entrepreneurship. So I always wanted someday to own my own business. But having like an agency type thing just wasn’t something that I found interesting at that point. And so my dad, and I actually thought, hey, wedding website seemed to be a cool thing. A lot of people are wanting them What if we create like a do it yourself platform where someone can come and sign up and create a wedding website with really nice design templates. And so I built a multi WordPress multi site powered wedding website platform with my dad as a partner. And the plan was to grow that and have millions of customers and live happily ever after, it didn’t quite work out, trying to compete with the big wedding companies that had tons of services and tons of offerings and all these different areas.

Josh 8:14
Sounds like a nightmare.

Tim 8:15
Yeah, so we realize they, they like improved their offering. And then theirs was free. We’re trying to get people to pay for ours. And so it was just gotten to the point where like, you know, this isn’t a long term thing. But I learned a lot during that process. And so I knew I wanted to someday have my own online business. And so fast forward a couple years, still kind of building the occasional website on the side, working at different companies doing sales and marketing. And I got to the point where I was working a sales job at a really solid company, and love the company love the atmosphere, hated the job. And I was like, you know what I’m, I’m done. Like, I don’t want to do this anymore. But I really also don’t want to start applying at working at other companies. And in doing that whole thing, I’ve been building websites on the side for a long time, I think I can do that full time.

I had nothing like if you talk about like diving in headfirst sink or swim like that was me. – Tim

Tim 9:06
And maybe it’ll grow into an agency to where like, you know, that’s my long term career. Or maybe that will bridge the gap until I find an online business to where you know, something I’m super passionate about. And so that’s kind of how it all happened was I, you know, took this experience that I had kind of built up by accident, and said, Let’s run with it because at least I’ll be able to work for myself, be able to do things away, I want to do them and have some fun kind of in the process. And we’ll kind of just see where it goes. And so I got my wife on board, super supportive. And basically I quit my job and with zero clients experience expect a lot of experience building websites but didn’t have any type of like recurring revenue in place or any leads. I had nothing like if you talk about like diving in headfirst sink or swim like that was me. And I think it kind of goes along with my personality, like I’m kind of an all or nothing type of person.

Tim 10:08
And so, you know, I’ve had friends, I’m sure you’ve had friends where they have a full time job, and they slowly build up a company on the side until they have enough clients and enough business to replace your salary at their full time job. And then they quit. Like, that’s the, that’s the responsible way of starting a business. And for a lot of people, that’s the right choice and the smart thing. Luckily, we didn’t have a mortgage, didn’t have any kids to feed. And so it was the right time to take that risk and make that sacrifice. And so I was able to pretty quickly get some clients had a friend who had a design agency, and so he started outsourcing all of his development to me. So I was building sites with Devi based off of his designers designs and started to get my own clients.

Josh 10:54
Sorry, Tim, what year did you officially go full time?

Tim 10:57
That was 2015 about halfway through 20. Okay,

Josh 11:00
Wow yeah, man, you’ve just expedited the entire like he just, he did he went for let me I feel like when I got in the Divi community in 2016, you are already one of the premier guys with Divi life in everything.,

Tim 11:13
Thanks man. Yeah, no, I appreciate that. And that that kind of what you’re saying with the Divi community, also is something that kind of happened by accident. You know, I was focused on building websites and getting clients and stuff like that. And I saw people selling child themes right after Divi came out. And I was like, no one’s gonna buy those, like, that’s stupid like that. There’s no market for that. And you know, and I saw people, you know, happening more and more, okay, well, maybe some people are buying them. And I had a plugin that I had developed for a specific client site. And I thought, Hey, you know what, I own this plugin, what if I put it on one of the Divi product marketplaces and just kind of see what happens. And so I did.

Tim 11:58
And, you know, it was a $5 plugin. It was it’s the Divi logo swap like, and it’s still for sale. don’t have a lot of people buying it these days. But all it does is when you scroll, it changes the logo. And so if you have two variations of your logo, you can have it show both that when the user scrolls super simple, but enough people bought it to show me that, hey, there’s something here. There’s people that are using Divi and wanting to take it further than they can out of the box. And they’re hungry for Devi specific solutions. And so then I created royal commerce child theme, and then it was like holy cow, like this could be a full time business, which started as something where, Hey, I’ll just make a little bit of extra cash here and there. I quickly realized I could make a living from this. And so you know, it all kind of spiraled from there.

Josh 12:45
And you’re still doing your personal brand side, which was the you know, the Tim Strifler.com, which is your client stuff? Was that, like how when you got going with Divi life and the plugin stuff? Did you try to market that at all? Did you just take it as it came with referrals and things like that? Would that project would that site?

Tim 13:06
With my client services side of the business?

Josh 13:09
Yeah,

Tim 13:09
Yeah. I mean, I basically what I was able to do was, because we had moved from Southern California to Texas, in between this story, basically, my client base was in Southern California. And so when I moved to Austin, Texas, it was like, I still had some work going on, you know, just kind of remotely, but it’s hard to get new clients that don’t already know you in the certain area when you’re in a new area. So it’s kind of like I was starting over. And so I started focusing on Divi life more, and then, you know, not going out and trying to get a lot of local business in Austin for web design.

Tim 13:46
But what happened was, as I started doing tutorials on Divi life and selling products, and establishing myself as an expert, I started to get a lot of client service business, from that from all over the world. And so it was like, I kind of, you know, put client services on a break while I was concentrating on products, and then that kind of field, the client services side as well. And so then I was able to do both and all of that. Now, I still do client work to this day, but it’s like, like, I don’t know, five to 10% of my time. And I do it for a couple of reasons. One, just to keep my skills sharp in case I ever need to go back to them in the future if Divi life disappears tomorrow. And then also, it’s hard to come up with product ideas if I’m not in that mindset of actually creating websites. And then additionally, like I want to be doing what I’m teaching. You mentioned me and David, our partnership with WP gears. We have the course I’m teaching people I want to be doing it as well and kind of stay in that mindset for that reason, too.

Josh 14:51
I’ve thought about that too, just to keep my business going. Because Yeah, pardon me. I’m at the point where I’m like I could go full time courses right now but I want to stay Sharp and I’ve also I’m not in a place where I can either sell or turn over my business yet, but just not, you know, in that place. I haven’t at this point, I haven’t designed one of our sites. And over a year and a half thanks to my lead designer, Jonathan, but I still do a lot of work. And I oversee him and we work together. And I’ve, I’m really taking more of the role of project manager and creative director than anything. But I will say, cuz it’s interesting to hear your story, because I’m kind of like, you just about two years behind you something like that, to where what I’m doing right now is sounds like where you were at about two years ago.

Josh 15:35
But I’ll be honest, like, I don’t know how you feel with your, with your Tim Strifler with the client work, but I have found it hard. I mean, it’s hard to balance that. Like, we don’t do any marketing, it’s all referrals, and knock on wood. That’s how we get our clients. And that’s great. But there have been times where I’m like, man, I have so much I want to do with courses and tutorials and stuff. But I just can’t get to all that right now with the client stuff, even with me not designing the site’s like, I mean, I don’t know, we’ll say two, I had my business since 2010. So it’s probably our clients stuff is probably more established than your site stuff. But like, did you ever feel like you didn’t have time to do did you live with managing Tim strife ler? And were you? Have you ever had a team with that? Or do you do all that yourself? Still?

Tim 16:17
Yeah, so I pretty early on, started scaling a team. Mainly the focus was for Divi life. But then I realized, they work for me my LLC, which is both the client services and the products, and so I pretty quickly realized that, hey, I can have them do both. And so I have designers that will design products for Divi Life child themes, layouts, etc. But then if I have a client project, I will also have them, you know, designed for the client project. And when you have a really solid team that you can depend on, you can give them you know, any type of work, and you know, they’re going to be able to get it done for you. And so I know what you’re saying, because even when you’re a project manager, it’s still very time consuming. It’s like you’re not actually doing the work. But like it’s pretty crazy how quickly your day gets eaten up fielding emails and a lot of times kind of being the middleman to Yeah, relying from the client to the designer.

Tim 17:14
But yeah, no, it’s definitely hard to balance for sure. Yeah, I don’t know if I have any advice there. It’s just Yeah, kind of comes into different efficiency. I try to do different days like so for example, one of my main, like, big clients, I should say, on the client service aside, wanted to have a call today, but because we’re doing this interview, and then also, I kind of like to stay in a frame of mind for an entire day. So it’s like, Okay, I’m doing, you know, product stuff all day to day. It’s like, Okay, well I can have this day set aside where I do client stuff, I just find it easier for myself kind of shifting, trying to shift back and forth your brain. Like if I’m going to be actually like doing a tutorial. It’s easier for me to kind of stay in that mindset and do multiple tutorials.

Tim 18:02
And so like for example, last week, I started a series DB live quick tips with Divi 4.0 coming out and doing live tutorials will like I did it all week and I kind of stayed in that mindset of like being in the Divi Builder and the Divi 4.0 theme builder and, and so rather than trying to like jump back and forth, it’s like, my week was eaten that by those tutorials, obviously, I had to have my other stuff going on to that had to deal with but kind of all week long. Like that was the main focus was those tutorials. So I don’t know if that’s helpful at all, but trying to bounce back and forth I find can be counterproductive.

Josh 18:37
Yeah. And that’s a good that’s kind of what I do. I will generally, at some point, check my in transit studios email and get back with with my team and stuff. But I do it in segments similarly like, yeah, I will, you know, like Mondays, I generally have a couple second like big work segments for in transit work for getting projects going, getting things lined up, and all that. And then Tuesdays and Thursdays are more my Josh Hall co content days to where like today we’re recording Well, we’re record on a Wednesday, but normally Tuesdays and Thursdays I have I try to keep openings, and I will moving forward with interviews and all that.

Josh 19:13
So it sounds like it’s similar. Yeah, I just kind of ran out into segments because it is tough, like to really do a good tutorial or even to be present at the on this interview. Like we can’t be checking our email and worrying about a widget that went down on a site at the same time. You know, it’s just, you know, which I think people can take away from this. Most people are going to have, you know, their own Divi brand or their own personal endeavor on the side. But you can do this with projects like sometimes you can have the majority of a day fixed on one project instead of bouncing around with eight different projects. And then it’s amazing how much work you can get done. I’m sure you can attest to this. If you block out like a two or three hour segment, where emails off phone is off, you are concentrated. It’s amazing how much you can get done. So that’s that’s kind of what I apply as well to balance Not always endeavours.

Tim 20:01
Definitely and everyone’s different. Sorry, I just turn on Siri backs and

Josh 20:07
Distractions.

Tim 20:10
I think everyone’s brain is a little bit different the way they think. But I think some level of that, you know, kind of staying in that that same mindset. So for example, like, okay, you might not be able to work just on one project for an entire day, but maybe making one day a week, your design day, where you’re in Divi, you’re kind of immersed in the builder. And I think it’s easier if it’s one project, but you can always have that luxury, and then making a certain day, okay, this is my sales day, where I do, you know, my networking group, and where I go out and have coffee with people in my community to try to, you know, build relationships and stuff like that, or a day where it’s like, okay, client calls, like all day long type of thing to review websites and stuff. Again, it’s not always a perfect system, and you have to juggle things and, you know, be flexible, but I just find when you’re going back and forth, at least for me, it takes me a long time to, like from like sales mode into, like, design mode. And so it’s like, you lose a lot of time transitioning that like, frame of mind.

Josh 21:10
Definitely, I’ve found that segregating and protecting creative time periods, and deep work segments is like, the most important thing you can do to actually get stuff done. Particularly with I mean, yeah, cuz it’s just a different, like, it’s a different place in your mind when you’re answering emails and doing strategy stuff versus building and creating, and yeah, it’s stuff. You know, it’s it’s very important to segment that out. One thing I’ve, we’ve talked about before on Divi chat. And I like what we’re talking about here, because I think it all segues into being a successful web designer, because these are really important things to know about right from the get go. I certainly wish I would have had this conversation with you years ago, before driving myself crazy until I finally you know, put an end to all that. But one thing that really helped me was to have an hour or at least a block in my day for what I like to call reactionary work. And generally, it’s later in the afternoon, like before I wrap up my day. So we’re, we started this call at around 230. After this is when I plan on checking email to see if there’s anything I need to attend to or get lined up before tomorrow. And that has literally changed my life because I’m not constantly checking my email to make sure everything is okay. And all that like just that habit of had having every reactionary block of time has just revolutionized every, you know, every week and every day for me. So it sounds like you’re in a similar path.

Tim 22:31
Yeah, definitely. And there’s so many different types of things. Obviously, there’s email, but like, blog comments, you know, social media stuff, like on the product side, I probably have more than, you know, as someone who just has a web design business, but yeah, there’s all different types of emails, like if you have a team slack messages, and you know, it’s sometimes your team needs something kind of have to answer you can’t just answer that the end of the day, they need something now, but you can at least you know, tell them, hey, just say no, I’m going to be doing this from this time this time. Like, don’t message me unless it’s an emergency type of thing.

Josh 23:04
Nice.

Tim 23:05
But But yeah, no, I totally agree. And I it’s, it’s one of those things for me where it’s a constant struggle to force myself to do that, because I’m not like, even though I know that that reactive type of work is can be a time suck. If you do it all day long. It’s like, I still find myself like, middle of the day checking email. I’m like, What am I doing? Like, I need to get back to the task at hand.

Josh 23:29
I know. I know. What I do is generally I’ll check my email somewhat early. I most A lot of people don’t like to check email. First thing I actually like to just to see if there’s anything I need to deal with right away. Because it’s hard for me to be really creative, wondering like, oh, gosh, I hope everything’s all right. Right. Generally, I’ll just, I might need to even read every email or get back to people, but I’ll just scan it just to make sure everything’s cool. Then I’ll turn it off. And I’ll do the same thing around like lunchtime, I’ll do a quick scan, get back to things I need to or that I have scheduled to and my reactionary or my reaction time, that’s when I actually engage with it. That’s when like, if I see an email from a client who says, Hey, we need to update this on a site, chances are I don’t need to do it right that second and nothing’s broken. So we can do it, you know, then or I can let my lead designer know, hey, you know, this, you know, that kind of thing.

Josh 24:14
So, yeah, that really ties into to having, you know, sustainable pace as a successful designer. So I think right now, Tim, it might be good to transition to, you know, some of your ideas on what it takes to be successful, which is kind of what this is all about. So, we talked about your story talked about how you got started talking about how you went all in which I couldn’t agree more with I mean, really, if you if you try to do something in your working just as hard on a plan B, Plan A is never gonna work. It’s just never I mean, within reason, like for me when I got started, I did the same thing. I didn’t have a mortgage or rent so I was like, you know, what, what’s the worst that can happen? Like, maybe I miss a car payment I can get by with that. And then you know, we just kind of went for it and scaled from there. So within reason, but yeah, I think, you know, you really went headfirst you built your, your personal brand with the client stuff. And then you launched you found a niche with with Divi life and everything. And you launch that and for over three years now four years almost right, it’s been very successful. I’ve seen your, your ups Wait, you know, it keeps on going up and up and up as far as your, your brand and just the awareness in the community? What what are some of the factors that you would that you would say are or lead to all that success? Or what would you recommend people need to know about being successful in web design?

Tim 25:35
Yeah, a great, great, excellent question. And really quickly, before I get to that, you mentioned, you know, kind of diving in headfirst sink or swim, I’ve heard it, to me, that’s what I believe is the right choice. Not everyone can make that. make that happen. Because of you know, mortgage family to feed that sort of thing. I’ve heard other people say like, no, if build something on the side, because if you’re busy with a full time job, and family and kids, and then if you want it bad enough to where you’re able to sacrifice all of your free time to then focus on the business, then you know, it’s something you know worth it because you’re able to, you know, make it happen, even when you have all this other stuff going on. So that I feel like that’s kind of the other end of the argument where, okay, if you’re willing to sacrifice a little free time that you have to work work on the business, then it’s, you know, a good idea that you should pursue further. But for me, I feel like my personality, and I feel like a lot of other people, it’s hard to really focus when you have so much other stuff going on and able to kind of dive in headfirst is the right choice. And so that kind of

Josh 26:40
That’s interesting viewpoint. Yeah. That’s interesting to think about. Yeah, cuz I mean, I agree I, I just feel like within reason. I mean, really, I just, you know, most I found that most people who say they’re going to start a business one day or something, they start working on the side, nine times out of 10. It never goes anywhere, because they just they’re not all in like, like you said, they don’t really give it their all. But yeah, it is different depending on life situation, and kids and mortgage and everything. But yeah, that’s an interesting viewpoint. I like that.

I think no matter where you are, no matter what business you’re going into, a certain level of sacrifice is going to be necessary. – Tim

Tim 27:09
Yeah, I heard it on a podcast camera with what the podcast was. But anyways, and that kind of, you know, talking about sacrificing your free time kind of leads me into your question, what do you think it takes to be successful? And I think something that a lot of people don’t talk about is sacrifice, I think no matter where you are, no matter what business you’re going into, a certain level of sacrifice is going to be necessary. So for example, in the scenario we just talked about, if you have to keep a full time job, okay, well, you’re sacrificing your free time. You’re sacrificing maybe some Saturday, Saturday mornings, or, you know, maybe you’re sacrificing sleep, or if you’re like, what, what I did, and what you did, Josh is dive in headfirst quit the job go for, okay, well, we’re sacrificing our financial stability, we’re sacrificing, you know, being able to, you know, go to extra date nights with our wife, you know, we’re sacrificing, you know, the ability to, you know, pay our car payments on time or whatever, there’s always going to be some level of sacrifice.

Tim 28:19
And so the reason I bring that up is a lot of people, especially if you’re on Facebook, and seeing all the ads, all the coaches and gurus trying to teach you and, and sell things to show you, you know, and they’re selling the dream, and people want to be at that place down the road. But they don’t realize all the sacrifice that has to come before that. And so I think that’s something that is important. Because, yeah, no matter what you’re doing, no matter what phase of your business is going to take sacrifice. And so for me, and you were we are more established, but we want to get to the next level, okay, well, we’re gonna have to sacrifice some things and work really hard to make it happen. And so. So that’s something that I think I did a podcast episode on this a while back. And I just think it’s one of those concepts that’s just so important that people just don’t realize when they’re starting a business that starting a business is a huge sacrifice, and it’s going to look different for every person, no matter you know, where they are in life, no matter where they are in their business, what business they’re in, there’s going to be some level of sacrifice that takes place and so it’s just kind of the reality of it.

Josh 29:26
Do you remember that episode number? Tim, I’ll link to that in the show notes.

Tim 29:30
I don’t but I can find it. Super, super quick.

Josh 29:33
That’s fine. Yeah, you can always send it to me I, you know, I totally agree, man. It’s, it’s one of those things too, while you’re finding that I found where a lot of people, they just want the end, they want the reward, and it probably is due to all these ads and stuff like that. And then as soon as somebody gets into the thick of it and sees what’s really involved to get some success, particularly just in regards to web design, I mean, this is true in everything. But in web design in particular, as soon As things get tough, that’s when most people jettison and most people fail. And I feel like if you can just get past those first few sacrifices, it really opens up the doors to something amazing.

Tim 30:12
Yeah, definitely. So it’s Episode 606. on

Josh 30:15
I’ll link that for you.

Tim 30:17
Awesome, thank you. And the things we talked about already are kind of the most obvious things like you know, financial stability, free time and stuff, but there’s also layers of sacrifice that you don’t realize, until you get there, like your comfort. So for example, in web design, like in order to be successful, we all want referrals coming in from day one, but that’s not typically what happens you have to kind of get out there, put yourself out there and so you’re sacrificing your comfort getting out of your comfort zone, you know, and grinding away trying to make it happen and, and so, yeah, that’s so that’s a big thing, too, you could kind of make the argument that you know, sacrificing your comfort, but then also sacrificing your pride because getting rejected by a business or you know, doing a cold call or something like that. I know, we all hate cold calling, but sometimes it’s necessary when you’re starting out. Getting hung up on is a terrible thing.

Tim 31:09
I worked several sales jobs and you know, having to do cold calling, it sucks and getting hung up on and getting that rejection it like destroys your pride and you’ll be like having a little bit of confidence from like having a teeny bit of success. And then like right after you get hung up on and then it just like slams you down. So yeah, there’s so many different things like that, like in the roller coaster of entrepreneurship, business ownership, that people just don’t expect. And they kind of go in with you know, a little bit of, you know, being naive, but I don’t know. So I hope that’s helpful, too. I think that’s great. It’s something that I wish I would have known and kind of be able to prepare for early on kind of looking back and looking at Wow, like I have sacrificed a lot to get to where I am and it’s it’s great to be here but I can’t forget you know, everything that I sacrificed along the way to make it happen.

Josh 32:07
That’s a really good point and sacrifice just with I feel like all hardships and everything that you have to go through in order to get just some semblance of success or you land a website job or you know you make a client for life or things go well, it really builds like a muscle in you that just gets stronger over time and often I found I’m sure you can back me up on this, the more failures you have early on, like those are the best learning experiences and lessons and it’s just you know, the trick is is you just have to get through that and you can’t let that discourage you enough to just let it go I mean I have failed I continue to fail on stuff all the time. Just yesterday we we there was a big project that I had met with a medical group and I was really hoping it was going to go forward and they didn’t move forward. And I was I was bummed about that and I’m kind of looking at that like okay, because you know a lot of our leads I’m alright if we don’t move forward that’s fine but this one I actually really wanted so now I’m kind of thinking okay, how can I learn from this How How can I you know figure out what I did what I could have done better for the next time I’m in that position. I think that’s the attitude you have to have in regards to sacrifice because yeah, I guess it’s what rejection failure that’s what a lot of people are not willing to get into or sacrifice to do

Tim 33:24
Yeah, definitely. And I think getting back to you know, focusing on your business full time when you’re starting out rather than making a side gig. I feel like the failure is more real. When it when it’s your full focus when it’s a side gig you don’t care you have the safety net the comfort of your full time job so when things don’t pan out like you don’t feel that failure as much at least that’s kind of the way I felt it you know when I had it as a side gig post and when I you know later jumped in full time it was like oh wow, like I gotta make it happen like like this is it like I don’t have this other job over here that’s gonna provide.

Josh 34:02
I’ll back you up on that? Yeah, cuz I so I didn’t have the first episode, I talked about my story, my experience with how I went from working as a cabinet maker and then doing design on the side and stuff and being in the band world and everything. So I didn’t have a full time job when I started my business, but it was on the side it was basically i was i was doing community college classes and I was working part time jobs. And yeah, I totally agree that the times that I didn’t get a job or something failed, it didn’t really it didn’t really hit me as hard as when it was full time and it seems like once that endeavor is full time. I don’t want to say it consumes you but you do kind of become like it’s your it’s your baby. It’s like it’s you, you know it’s an extension of yourself so you do feel it harder.

Josh 34:45
On the same token when things go well, it’s freaking awesome. Like when you land a job that is really good or you have a great client experience. Or you can have some freedom to actually you know, not have to work nine to five through Monday and Friday. That, like you feel even more as far as the satisfaction and the Yeah, just that feeling like you’ve not made it but you know, you’ve conquered you sacrifice you conquered a lot of those hurdles. And yeah, just it’s just awesome. So, so yeah, I think that’s great sacrifice in every area, obviously is huge in any business, but particularly the web design. I think what you’re talking about with stability, with a lot of the things that are most you know, but you could probably imagine you’re going to be sacrificing the freedom that comes with web design I find outweighs all that

Tim 35:33
100% agree. Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, the other thing, when you asked me prepare for this episode, you know, were one or two things that you’d like to talk about. So sacrifice being one. The second one being consistency, which I think kind of goes along with dedication. being consistent is is huge. And I think consistency beats intensity. It’s something I kind of tell myself quite often, and not just business, but all areas of life, being consistent is way more valuable than, you know, coming out of the gate and like, you know, giving it 180% because you can’t sustain 180% very long. Yeah. And so, and I’m not saying you know, like, half assed,

Josh 36:14
Hustle, go, go go, yeah,

Tim 36:17
Yeah. And on the flip side, I’m not saying like, be lazy, but be consistently lazy. Like, that’s obviously not it at all. But like, for example, now, this isn’t business related. But I’m proud to say, since I’ve been back in California, I’ve lost 20 pounds in like five months without changing what I eat and without going to the gym. And it’s because consistently, every single day, literally every single day, I’ve gone on a three mile hike with my dog. And so I wasn’t like, you know, unhealthily obese or anything like that. But now I’m healthier. And I didn’t really set out to go and lose a bunch of weight or anything like that. But I just wanted to kind of overall be healthier,

Josh 36:57
Just web design Pudge. Yeah, yeah,

Tim 37:00
Web design Pudge. That’s actually, yeah, that’s, that’s a real thing.

Josh 37:03
Working some of that off right now.

Tim 37:06
And you know, yeah, I didn’t lose, you know, five pounds in a week, you know, it was little by little, you know, very slowly and gradually, but like, I actually, this is fresh, in my mind that just weighed myself yesterday, for the first time in a very long time. I was like, Oh, wow. Like, I know, I’ve been, you know, my pants are a lot looser, and I’m seeing the difference, but actually, like, being able to quantify it was pretty exciting. And so I bring that out, because I think, everyone, when they’re starting a business, they want to, you know, come out of the gate, like I said, 180%, and, you know, go to every networking thing possible, and, you know, cold call and do everything, which is good. Sometimes that can be good. But that’s also how you get burnt out. And so I think, being consistent and finding things that are proven to work, and doing them consistently, even if you don’t see immediate results.

Tim 38:01
And so I know, Josh, you’re big on this, because you are super consistent with your David tutorials. And you’re super consistent with, you know, the quick tips and stuff like that. And I think, you know, yeah, you didn’t see huge results right away, but you stuck with it, and you were consistent with it. And another example is is David Blackman and Corey Jenkins with Davey space and Aspen Grove studios with their content marketing strategy, content, marketing is not a overnight success, you have to be consistent with it. And over time you see results. And so that’s something I wish I would have done is content marketing with the heavy stuff a lot earlier on and a lot more consistently. But I think the lesson there with web design is find something that you know, works and do it consistently. So if that means being consistent with a networking group, or setting up referral partners, you know, be consistent with it, stick with it, you might not see results overnight, but over time, you will or if you know you need to consistently get coffee with business owners in your community just to build relationships, and instead of referral partners and be consistent with it, you know, one coffee, you know, per week, or you know, every two weeks or whatever. So, yeah,

Josh 39:16
It’s Yeah, I just, I can’t back up what you’re saying more because I, I fully agree. I’ve seen it in my life in a lot of different areas. And it’s interesting, because when it comes to consistency, to your point, it’s not going to happen overnight. When you think about building websites and setting your schedule and stuff. Like there’s practical things like if you’re consistently working on a site, you’ll get it done faster, things like that. But there’s also something very powerful and this is my quick tip last week actually so perfect timing. Every Tuesday. I’m still doing my Tuesday quick tips on my Facebook campaign. It was yes it was that there is power in consistency and it’s interesting because it will filter through every aspect of your life practically I have found that so I’m in a networking group we meet every Friday morning at 730.

Josh 40:04
When I first joined the group, I actually helped found it. I was very apprehensive about doing something weekly. I was like, there’s no way I’m gonna have time to do something for an hour every week. And that early in the morning, that sounds awful. This was before I had kids, and I was gonna be up that anyway. And I was just thinking, like, there’s no way I’m going to be able to commit to that. But I like the group, I started getting referrals immediately. So I, you know, helped found it. And this month, we’ve been in that group for seven years, we started back in 2012, I have been in a networking group, every Friday morning, unless I’m sick or less or on vacation or something every Friday morning, you’ll find me at IHop in Grove City at 7:30am. Because that’s my networking group.

Josh 40:47
And that has not only translated to leads and referrals from people, but that has helped instill in me like a I don’t even know what to call it. There’s like there’s something in me now that I feel like I can start a project and finish it. Like there has not been one project that I’ve started that I haven’t finished really since then. I mean, maybe it’ll be years ago, I I have that gumption now to get something done. And I think a lot of that stems from having something consistently every week, like it just builds a muscle. And I found that most people I because I because you’re not like this, and I think a lot of other people who do stuff consistently or they exception, most people are dabblers, meaning they’ll do something for about three or six months that can be in every area of life that could be starting their webs, their web design stuff, or we have people come to our networking group all the time, I can tell almost within two minutes of talking to them, whether they’re going to be a three month or or a six month, and then they’re gone. And it’s so funny, because like it happens every time.

Josh 41:50
And I know with my networking group, the people who have been in there since day one, we all have thriving businesses. And it’s no coincidence.

Tim 41:59
Right.

Josh 41:59
Even if it’s not directly from that group, the power of doing something consistently, every week is just so powerful. So yeah, we see it in our daily webinars, Facebook group, your admin with me there, how many people do we see are really amped up and going ham and commenting on everything, and then they’re really active for about three or four weeks, and then they just either slowly drop off, or they’re just completely gone like, right, there’s no consistency there, you know? So, yeah, I totally agree, man, there’s power in that, and it will show itself if not directly, really quickly, it will show itself eventually in all areas of life. And I think it’s a big contributor success to success in any business, but particularly web design.

Josh 42:38
I think, consistency wise, like the two things I’ve done this year on my networking group, and then my Tuesday, quick tips, I decided to do a quick tip every Tuesday for this for this year. And there has been some times I’m like, crap, it’s Tuesday, I gotta do a quick tip, or, you know, I’m not, I’m gonna have to think of something. I’m not really feeling it right now. But just that act of doing it and being consistently has helped me tremendously. I think, practically, for people doing web design, it’s really important to be to look at like a sustainable pace and having a schedule to where you can actually build consistency. Like if you say yes to everything and you commit to too much, then you have, you have to put yourself in a position to win and to actually follow through with consistency.

Josh 43:23
Which is why sometimes when I recommend to clients about blogging, because a lot of my clients would be like, Oh, yeah, I need to start a blog, I need to start a blog. I’m like, you know what, set yourself a deadline, give yourself like, like, say you’re going to do a blog, once a week for two months, that’s eight blogs, you can do eight blogs in two months, you know, something like that, where it gives you a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel. That’s what I’m doing with my quick tips after 2019. I’m taking a break on my quick tips, and maybe I’ll start them back up again. But giving yourself like a healthy window, because that’s how I launched my tutorials I did, I built my tutorial catalog up very quickly because I did one tutorial every week for 12 weeks, and then I gave myself a break. That way, it wasn’t overwhelming. So there’s just a little idea for folks who are looking for a practical way to add consistency. You know, give yourself like some light at the end of the tunnel with something. So

Tim 44:12
I know I like that a lot. And I remember you, you said that up front. You committed to one a week for 12 weeks. And so people knew what to expect. And so doing that kind of also helped keep you accountable because you’re like, if I stopped now, like I’m you know, I’m not gonna look very good. He never told people this is what’s going to happen. But yeah, and I think when it comes to like consistency, or I guess, you know, getting business as web designers, you mentioned like the dabblers the people. So I feel like there’s there’s two reasons that people will stop and they won’t be consistent. One is they don’t see results right away. And that’s like, okay, yeah, you got to be consistent and you got to stick with it.

Tim 44:56
But I think the second reason, which I feel like isn’t out obvious to people until later down the road when they’re experiencing the downs is they stopped being consistent because they are seeing results and they get busy. And they, you know, they think, okay, I don’t need to go and go to this networking group anymore, I don’t need to, you know, go and do my, you know, outreach emails to business owners or whatever, because, you know, now I’m getting some referrals, and I’m having success, and so they stop. And they think that they don’t need to be consistent with it anymore.

Tim 45:27
But what happens is, they’re busy working on all those jobs. And then they have the down part of the roller coaster. And so, you know, not just with web design, but really any type of service business, you hear about, you know, the roller coaster, the ups and downs, the feast or famine, when it’s good when it rains, it pours. And then you go through the slow spells. And I think what can help eliminate those slow spells is having consistency, doing things that you know are going to bring in more business down the road, and sticking with it so that you don’t have those loads? You’re constantly filling your pipeline, you’re constantly, you know, you mentioned, Josh, your networking group, every single one of the people that were the founding members are still in it today and have the sliding businesses. Well, any one of you guys could have stopped me like, Okay, well, I’m good. Now I have business like, I don’t need to keep doing this. But you didn’t.

Josh 46:17
Happens all the time, people get too busy. And you’re like, I just can’t keep up with it. Sorry. And then what happens three to six months later, they’re back in the group, or they’re like, Hey, you know, can you help me out? We’re getting some referrals that happens every time. And you’re totally right.

Tim 46:30
Yeah, exactly. And so I think if people realize that consistency isn’t just important, you know, when you’re trying to get business in the beginning, but it should be done all the time. Because that’s how you build a successful sustainable business long term is, you know, you don’t just focus on the short term, you focus on the long term.

Josh 46:49
So in new, it’s interesting, I had had a fear of starting a podcast because I didn’t want to over commit myself. And it’s why it’s taken me almost a year I’ve been talking about doing a podcast for a long time. And I announced it earlier this year. To your point keeping accountable I said that I was gonna launch a podcast in 2019. The year was just crazy. I didn’t know when I was going to I planned it in the summer, but we just had a lot going on in summer, fall, I lost my business course, business is booming. But I was like, you know what, I’m at a place now where I can dedicate a certain amount of time each week or cool thing about podcasts and content marketing is you can bulk record stuff and schedule it out for I know, with WP gears, you talked about how you do that to where you might record several episodes, and then just set them up for the next day.

Tim 47:34
Usually record minimum of five, usually five to seven to even 10 Yeah,

Josh 47:38
Yeah, yeah, that’s great. That’s kind of that’s something that inspired me to get going with the podcast. Cuz I know now particularly, I mean, because I’m used to having consistency and doing things and seeing them through. I know, this is not going to be a one and done thing. And I’m not going to release five episodes and disappear. Like people can expect some consistency with this. And it’s going to build long term. So yeah, no, that’s awesome, man. Yeah. So sacrifice, consistency, anything else that you think are kind of the big things with being successful in web design?

Tim 48:08
I mean, those are the two things that I think are important that don’t get talked about a lot. So yeah, I mean, that’s kind of Yeah, the main stuff I brought to the table. I think people are always looking for ideas on how to get business when it comes to web design, especially new people. So I thought, Hey, why don’t we share a couple ideas if you’re cool with that, Josh? Like practical ideas, people can go and do now one thing that I think people don’t realize is, or maybe you don’t realize how important it is. businesses want to hire someone that they know and trust already, or someone that gets referred to them.

Tim 48:46
So someone that they know, and trust knows and trust. It’s a mouthful to say that. And so it’s funny, because when you see I, all the time, I’ll see these random ads that’ll come up from like web designers or agencies on Facebook. But I’ll see the ad maybe once, maybe twice, and then it goes away. Because you can’t just throw a Facebook ad and expect to get a ton of business. Because people want to hire someone that they already know. Or someone that’s recommended, not some random business that’s showing up in their newsfeed. At least that’s my opinion, I’m sure there’s people that have gotten business from running Facebook ads.

Tim 49:20
And so with that said, I think if you are new to web design, and you aren’t getting into it, and you’re listening to this podcast, because you’re like, give me tips, I need business. Reach out to your existing network, especially if you have people that you already know, that are business owners, even if they don’t want to hire you, we don’t need to hire you. They’re going to chances are they’re going to know someone that will and they can refer you and so that’s one thing that I did early on was I reached out to everyone I knew, and that’s how I got my first like several months worth of business was from a friend who had a design agency and so he started giving me all this all these referrals and all this recurring work, and yeah, so that’s like the little low hanging fruit that, to me seems like such a obvious thing. But some people just don’t think to do that. And they don’t want to be spammy or annoying,

Josh 50:09
Right? Same here. Yeah, I so we both have a business course you have the Devi business experts course with David. And I just recently launched my web design business course, which is not Divi specific. But I mean, I say that to say I echo exactly what you said, because that’s how I started, I started getting clients, with people in mind. My current networks, people I knew, whether it was church or friends or whatever, I didn’t come across salesy or spammy. But I just made it very clear that I was doing websites now. And I’d love to help businesses out. And that is an amazing way to build your portfolio it very quickly. I mean, there’s different thoughts as to whether you should do stuff pro bono or cheap. I’m not opposed to when you just get started out doing a couple websites, just to build a portfolio for free, you just want to make sure you don’t let people know it was free, and you want to get testimonials or something in exchange for that.

Josh 50:57
But you get to that point where Yeah, you really like a lot of people ask me like, how do you get clients? How do you get clients, I’m like, people I know and referrals that my networking group that has literally where it started, and then I grew it from there. And now I’m in the same boat. I’m getting people all over the country and across the globe, with my Josh Hall co stuff, and people are now finding our sites. Like we just landed a barber shop in Philadelphia, we’re in Columbus, Ohio, and they found one of our sites, they were googling sites. And it said site designed by in transit studios, and that’s how we landed them.

Josh 51:27
So it’s, you know that, but that’s not the place to start. Yeah, start close start with your personal network. Even if you have to start small. It’s amazing how little you know how you go from there. One thing I’ll say too, on that, while we’re on that topic is, I know that a lot of people, when it comes to being successful in web design are so concerned with new clients leads traffic, new people, but new projects and stuff, what I am astounded at how many people neglect their current clients, it is, I would venture to say, well, more than 10 times cheaper to work with your current clients again, or to have them you know, get referrals through them, then getting new leads.

Josh 51:27
So I just can’t encourage people enough that even if you have three to five clients, do what you can to make them client for life, the clients for life, have maintenance plans have recurring income strategies, to where you can help grow their business, and it will add much more sustainability than that feast or famine where your new project done new project done new project done, you know, yeah, I don’t know, I and I found that my my clients have really appreciated me, you know, and my team now being in their corner ongoing as opposed to just constantly trying to find new clients, I’m really not nearly as worried about new clients as much as I am taking care of our current clients.

Tim 52:41
Yeah, no, I love that focus. Because Yeah, not only recurring revenue, future product projects from them, when they need, you know, something else done. But also you take care of them, they’re going to be your biggest fan and refer you to every company, Oh, you got to go check out Tim strife, we got to go check out Josh Hall. He’s my web guy, right? Like you become their web guy, where like, they think of you as part of their team, they’re the, you’re the person that they can turn to, in order to, you know, get stuff done. And so they’re gonna happily refer you to, because here’s the thing, business owners hang out with a lot of other business owners, either from direct partnerships, you know, businesses working with other businesses, and you know, doing stuff like that, or they just have other friends that own other different types of businesses. And so, yeah, I couldn’t agree more, the best thing you can do is, do really great work, take really great care of them. Let them know that you do care, and you do want them to succeed online. And yeah, they’ll be your biggest fan for sure.

Josh 53:41
It’s what I call a hot lead when one of your best clients refer somebody because that person is already in the frame of mind. They want your service they feel like they probably trust you at this point. Because you know, you want to do really good work and you’re seeing results with their friend or whatever. All you have to do is get them to I say you say no and trust I say know like and trust just through like, likability is a big one, too. People don’t want to work with someone they don’t like so yeah, you know that you’ve already got what you

Tim 54:09
I may trust you but I hate you.

Josh 54:11
Yeah I hate that guy. Yeah, but no, if you can just get those other to get them to like you first and then to know you and then you know that gas is such a such a better way to close. I mean, the the closing rate on those deals are going to be much higher than having to cold call somebody hoping they’re interested in a website or they’re, you know, like, I know, some people have referred people to me in the past, and they just give me their phone number. And I hate that because I don’t want to call them if they’re on the way dropping their kids off on soccer practice or something. I’d much rather an email intro or something. Yeah, but yeah, great points, man. Great points when it comes to.

Tim 54:45
Yeah, and something else. I think that someone can do you want practical advice, okay. like doing great work into your clients. Okay, that’s good. But how do you get to the point where you have the opportunity to do that if you don’t have any work and So, another thing you can do, especially If you’re new to an area, and this is something that Looking back, I wish I would have done when I moved to Austin was reach out to other business owners, I’m not saying cold call and say, Hey, can I build you a website? Like, obviously, that’s not going to get you anywhere. But instead, reach out to business owners in the area, send them an email and say, Hey, I’m a local business owner, I’m looking to connect with successful professionals like you, you know, the, the feed their ego a little bit, get them to like you and say, Hey, I’d love to buy you lunch. I want to learn how you know, anything I can from you about being successful in this area, because I’m new here, like, Can I take you out to lunch?

Tim 55:39
Not everyone’s gonna say yes, but a few people will. And that’s how you get your foot in the door, you get people to know you, trust you like you. And then maybe if they need a website, they’ll hire you, or they’ll at least be able to put you in touch with other people. And so I think the bottom line is, you can’t expect to get business if you’re not out in the community, talking to people, and, you know, meeting people and connecting with them. You know, Josh gets a lot of business I imagine you get a lot of business, like from your Josh Hall stuff.

Josh 56:17
So people 50/50 now

Tim 56:20
Yeah, same here. You know, when I started my debut stuff I started getting leads from all over the world. Well, most people unless you have, you know, an online platform where you’re, you know, doing tutorials and stuff like that, like, that’s probably not gonna happen. So your core local area, is going to be your bread and butter. And that’s the way it is, you know, for most most professionals. And so, you know, you can’t expect to get a lot of work unless you’re out there meeting people and people know you. Because, again, people want to hire people that they know, like, and trust, you got to get out there and let people get to know you.

Josh 56:51
We’re gonna have to do another episode on on probably just getting clients because yeah, this is, this could definitely be a grab. So which I mean, both of our courses, were basically probably just going to dish out everything we talked about in our courses. But now I think it’s great, man. I mean, hopefully this is helpful to folks listening who are you know, are either locally or you know, remote, it’s theirs, we will cover some strategies for remote work as well.

Tim 57:13
Yeah.

Josh 57:14
So I meant to ask you, you mentioned sacrifice and consistency. You mentioned you mentioned discipline, too. Would you kind of loop that in with those two? Or do you like this? Because I agree, I think discipline is something that is extremely important, especially when it comes to staying focused and being disciplined about what you will or will not do. I mean, that can apply to a lot of areas in business. Would you kind of say that’s a third?

Tim 57:37
Absolutely. And I think it discipline goes hand in hand with the consistency and the sacrifice, you have to be disciplined and have, you know, the mindset in order to be able to sacrifice because if you’re not disciplined enough, you’re gonna be like, wait, why am I giving this up? Like, do I really want this business that bad? You know, I like my, you know, my cushy lifestyle right now with my salary I’m getting from this company. And so, yeah, you have to be really disciplined with the consistency stuff, too. Because if not, you know, you’re, you’ll think of a million reasons why to not go and do that. One thing that, you know, you should be doing, like, Josh, with your quick tips, you could think of a million other things you could be working on, and you’re tired, you know, you have one, one daughter and another one on the way, like you could think of a million things to do instead of taking the time and effort to do that quick tip, but you have the discipline to be consistent with it.

Success is a decision and basically, when you decide to succeed in whatever your business is, whatever your goals are, and you make that decision, and nothing is going to stop you from achieving that.  – Tim

Tim 58:33
And I think what that comes from release, in my opinion, is the decision to be successful. And I think it’s actually in high school, one of my really good friends, his dad, like, had a talk with us. And he’s like a really successful business owner. And he basically told us that success is a decision. And I don’t remember a whole lot of that conversation, you know, I was 15 or 16 at the time. But that was something that stuck with me all these years later, that success is a decision and basically, when you decide to succeed in whatever it is, you know, whatever your business is, whatever your goals are, and and you make that decision, and nothing is going to stop you from, you know, achieving that and you make that decision to succeed, then you will succeed if you’re consistent, you know, and willing to make the sacrifices and put in the hard work and be disciplined. And so I think that’s kind of where the discipline factor comes in. is, you know, comes from that, you know, kind of deep down feeling of I’m not letting anything, you know, get in my way of, of succeeding at this business. And so

Josh 59:42
That’s great, man, it. I was just gonna say, I mean, I’m just thinking like, I jotted that down because that’s such a great quote. I think I’ve heard that before, but I don’t think I heard it in this context. So it’s kind of resonating more right now. Success is addition decision and I feel like that has held true for me and not only doing something consistence consistently because like, when I said I was gonna do a quick tip every Tuesday this year, it I basically said like, that was my decision that was I was gonna be successful in doing that. I know that’s gonna translate to core sales and that kind of thing. But financial success, but more practically, that’s, you know, a little thing that was like I committed to doing that. I’ve had to sacrifice to do it, I’ve had to stay consistent, and I’ve had to be disciplined to have the time to do it. And yeah, kind of all it seems like success is a decision is kind of all encompassing with that. And I think practically, that’s huge for web design, in general, because if a client wants to go live with a site, and two or three months or whatever, you kind of have to decide, and you’re going to have to both keep each other accountable, like we are going to launch this thing by this date. This, you know, our success of that has to be our decision and all the things we talked about the sacrifice, consistency, and discipline, are all going to come into play in that entire process with getting that site done. So Wow. Yeah, that’s great, man.

Tim 1:00:58
Yeah, and I think, you know, somebody mentioned before, like, it’s kind of all like a muscle, and you know, it’s gonna take, you know, a lot more work on the front end to get to the point where being consistent is easy. And sacrifice does come easy. And, but once you are the type of person that you’ve built up that muscle to where when you decide something, you do it, it’ll get easier and easier. And there’s something my wife actually said the other day, she was saying, like, I need to go do like, sign up for like this workout program. And, you know, it’s a monthly subscription. She’s like, I need to, like, be consistent with it, like, Can you help me keep me accountable, like, make me do it and stuff. And she’s like, when you want to do something, you just decide to do what you do. And you do it every day. And like, She’s like, I can’t do that. And it’s and it kind of like sunk in and it’s like, well, that has, like, I definitely have not always been that way.

Tim 1:01:48
Like, that’s not something that come came natural. But I grew that muscle, to where when I would make a decision that, hey, I’m going to do this, and I’m going to succeed, and I’m going to be consistent and blah, blah, blah, then I followed through. And so I think it’s something that it does take practice, you’d have to build up that muscle to where I’m not going to, like you said with the podcast, like you knew you didn’t want to commit to until you know, you’re able to be consistent, and it was going to, you know, be successful. And so but now that you have, like, there’s nothing that’s gonna stop you from doing it. And so, you know, you’re you built up to the point where you’re, you’re not going to commit and decide something unless, like, it’s 110% and get make it happen type of thing.

Josh 1:02:29
Yeah, and I think that’s big for getting you through those downtimes, too, because when you get through, you know, sacrificial periods, those can be very trying, like, if you’re committed to doing something, it will help you kind of pull you through or help you push through some of those downtimes whether it’s a lien month, or whether it’s, you know, personal stuff going on, or have you ever had like, because it seems like on the outside, it looks like things have been growing so well with Divi life. You started WP gears, you have a podcast, it seems like you’re just like the pinnacle of success with web design. There have been some periods where it’s stuff has just been really tough. You’ve you know, yeah, stuff has helped you get through,

Tim 1:03:09
There’s definitely times where like, I’m like, you know what, I’m giving up on Divi life, like, I can’t handle you know, like, where there’s like, any type of business you’re in. When you’re dealing with people, there’s gonna be like negative people, you’re gonna have irate customers, no matter what you do, like, you can’t please everyone. And so we’ve definitely had our fair share of irate customers that are freaking out and saying nasty things. And we’re like, Whoa, we definitely did not deserve that. Like, we’re not perfect, but you know, we try really hard. And so like, you get too many of those customers and too close of a timeframe it like wears on you. It’s like, you know, what, like, is this worth it? Like I you know, and you kind of question all of that.

Tim 1:03:55
So there’s definitely been some some times and seasons like that, but I think for the most part, it’s been pretty smooth. And I attribute that to just, you know, the the Divi community is amazing. And there’s, you know, 99% of our customers are incredible. And you know, with Divi growing at a rapid pace, you know, it’s feeding customers and to Divi life. And then also, I had a lot of failures, like pre Divi life, like, you know, I mentioned, like, always wanted to have an online business. Well, I mentioned the wedding website, you know, that me my dad started to, you know, be a do it yourself platform. Well, that was definitely a failure. Well, there’s like four more other stories similar to that. That was kind of the main one that kind of got the furthest but like, so many other ones that like that failed before they even started and so I think we could do a whole nother episode on why failure is so important, but

Josh 1:04:50
No, that’s that’s good, though, just because yeah, I mean, I can only imagine with a product business. I mean, I had my fair share of stuff with courses, but it’s way different than a product business. And I know like, for me recently, actually, just this week, I kind of started out this week with today’s Wednesday, I started out, just not with a great couple first days of the week, like, we just had some stuff going on, with a couple projects that kind of wore me down a little bit. I feel like I just haven’t even just sold as many courses as I have the past couple weeks as normal. And I kind of seem like everything kind of fed in together. And then we had one issue with a client where I had a miscommunication with my designer on the amount of hours we were working, and he wasn’t really, you know, appreciative of that. And I’m gonna end up paying for that project. And I just was really at the point where I’m like, Man, I’m not I just feel bummed out. I was like, I don’t know if this is going to be a great time to start my podcast. And it’s been a mind. I was like, You know what, it’s all good. Like, I slept on it. And then today was much better. And then yeah, there’s still some stuff working out. But I feel much better just talking with you. And yeah, starting this podcast now. So I think that just goes back to you know, how that this that success is a decision. Like we decided we’re doing this. And by golly, I feel a lot better. I’m in a much better frame of mind. And I know I’ll wake up tomorrow ready to to hit it.

Tim 1:06:06
Yeah, I can totally relate to that, like so many things going wrong. And But yeah, I think I can relate to there’s a huge value in a good night’s sleep, waking up for fresh, but then also, like being a business owner and entrepreneur can be like the loneliest job in the world. And so having people that you can talk to like Josh and I talking now, obviously, we’re recording for the podcast episode, but having a network of people that you can, you know, relate to, that do know what’s going on, and you can, you know, kind of get through the week with how important that is, you know, other web designers that understand, you know, like how frustrating you know, WordPress can be sometimes or you know how, oh, this last Vivi update just broke my sight. You know, like, I think people to kind of share that load with you have professional friends, I guess you could call them I think is really important.

Josh 1:06:56
Yeah, it’s good to have a healthy network of people to vent to in a healthy way without trashing Divi or trashing. Yeah, but that way, it doesn’t build up. And then when your customers asking you questions, you’re not just like, shut off. Just Yeah, you just lose it on a customer, you know?

Tim 1:07:11
Yeah, by the way, that example, I hear that someone often a Devi update has never broke one of my site besides minor, like CSS stuff that was saying

Josh 1:07:20
Here, right? Yeah. Same here. Like, I don’t know. Just, I guess it’s easy to say. But yeah, like, I know, I, I’ve had the same experience. I’m not not worried about it.

Tim 1:07:30
Yeah, exactly.

Josh 1:07:32
Well, Tim, this has been great. Man, this has been some some really good thought provoking stuff. I mean, like I said, I think we could probably have about 10 offshoots of episodes in this stuff, which are things that we both cover, and both of our businesses course, I would definitely encourage people, you know, to not only check out our courses, but really think about learning from other people who have been in your shoes just in general, whether it’s through tutorials, or blogs or courses, I’m a big fan of courses, I still take courses, I just went through a podcast course before I launched this. And I’m very happy I did, like I learned from people who have been there, because you’ll just save a lot of time. I don’t want to say it’s the fast track to success, but you’ll definitely feel like you will avoid years you’re gonna you’re gonna have hardships and challenges, but I feel like you’ll I think, Tim, you’ll probably back me up, you will avoid a lot of the really detrimental things that you and I probably went through by learning people. I mean, even just listen to this podcast, you’ll probably avoid some things that we went through.

Tim 1:08:25
Yeah, learning from other people’s mistakes. I think it’s it’s easy for people to share their successes and trying to learn from that, but I feel like most people can learn from other people’s failures, more than their successes, things to avoid in talking about courses. Because I know, you know, our courses have been successful. Just because you’ve taken my course doesn’t mean you can’t take doshas, and vice versa, because I think learning from multiple people is huge. There’s things that I covered that he doesn’t and vice versa, and just different outlooks and perspectives. And we actually have overlap of students that are in both our courses, but I think it’s amazing.

Josh 1:09:02
Yep, yep. I have a couple who Yeah, I had a couple who mentioned that they were like, I love Dave in Tim’s I want to do yours too, because you just have a different perspective. And let’s be honest, the cost points, the price points of our courses. Like if you built a business, and you did it for five years, your timing the amount of time and lessons learned that would be wasted the amount of 1000s maybe hundreds of 1000s of dollars would be you know spent and your time and lessons learned where you know, both of our courses, you really you’ll just learn so I mean, yeah, I totally agree. Like it’s worth having different viewpoints even on the same sub subject. Same with courses same but tutorials and web posts and different stuff, too. I mean, I think that applies to all areas of life.

Tim 1:09:46
Yeah, and I experienced that this week. You mentioned tutorials, Divi 4.0 I think there’s probably like four or five tutorials out there in mind being one of them on how to make the Divi 4.0 header fixed or sticky that was like a major question. Everyone’s like, oh, how can my header is not sticky like it was before? And so there’s like five different tutorials are all a little bit different. I don’t think there’s one that’s necessarily better than the other. It’s just slightly different way of doing things. You know, there’s infinite ways to you know, do something in divvy And so getting different people’s perspective is always a good thing.

Josh 1:10:19
Yep. Yep, totally agree. Awesome, Tim. Well, this has been great, man. Where would you like people to to head to after checking out this show? I mean, you’ve got Divi life. WP Gears, we’ll link to that episode. You mentioned is there anything you want to mention or plug right now that people can check out at?

Tim 1:10:36
Yeah, I’d say products DiviLife.com. That’s where my Divi plugins, child themes layouts are can be found, including our membership gets you access to everything. And then WP gears. COMM is the home of WP the podcast, which is a daily podcast, we’re on break right now, but we’re gonna be coming back soon. And then also,

Josh 1:11:00
Much quick, much quicker, much quicker episodes than Yeah, doing here.

Tim 1:11:05
Yeah, exactly. So daily, like five to seven, sometimes 10 minutes long, you know, more like a quick little bite sized chunk of here’s how you do this, or here’s five things to do this, whatever. So,

Josh 1:11:17
Yeah, and you mentioned your course, Adobe business expert course, which is very highly rated. And like I said, it is interesting that we have students who have gone through both, you know, both and are finding a lot of success with the different strategies and different you know, our experiences are different experiences.

Tim 1:11:33
Yeah, exactly. Absolutely. And then my client services, Tim, strife, calm hasn’t been updated in like four years. So don’t I get people to be like, Hey, your maps not working their contact page. I’m like, oh, but like the time to fix that when it’s not like my main focus? Yeah, it’s hard to find right?

Josh 1:11:51
Low, low end task now. Yeah. Not worth worrying about ever courses or something. Yeah, exactly. Awesome. Tim. Well, thank you for your time today, man. We’ll link all this these links and everything in the show notes. Do you have a parting thought for anybody?

Tim 1:12:05
No, I was just gonna say thanks so much for having me on. I appreciate it’s an honor. And I know. Yeah, I’m going to be having you on some of my stuff on the other end. So yeah, definitely won’t be our last conversation with the two of us.

Josh 1:12:20
No doubt sounds great, man. Alright, Tim, well, thanks for the time and we’ll catch you on the next episode, man.

Tim 1:12:26
Awesome. Take care. Bye.