Episode 237: How to Raise Your Rates By Adding Web Design Services To Your Branding Business with Paige Brunton

As a designer, you’ve likely considered what shifts you’d have to make in your business to add web design as a service. Despite the fears that come with building a new skillset to offer this service, have you considered how this could impact your revenue and allow you to raise your rates? Paige Brunton joins us in today’s episode to explore how different service providers can offer web design, what platforms to consider, and how to get started! Paige Brunton is the premier Squarespace web design expert online; her site is the go-to destination for Squarespace information, having helped over 2 million Squarespace users with her resources. Paige is also a passionate online educator, having helped over 4,000 students in her two popular online courses to build both Squarespace sites and Squarespace web design businesses. Paige is considered a leading online business educator having built a million dollar business by 30, she was mentioned in the New York Times and invited to mastermind with Sir Richard Branson on Necker Island. Hailing from Canada, Paige moved across the pond for love and now lives abroad in London. Overcoming Imposter Syndrome as a Self Taught Designer A lot of designers will feel hesitant to get into web design due to fear. That fear comes from lack of experience, lack of time to learn a new skill, not knowing code, and most frequently from imposter syndrome. The truth is, this is a skillset and an industry where most of the people in it don’t have degrees. For the majority of small businesses, they’re built on platforms that do not require code. There are plenty of platforms out there now that are made for designers to create beautiful websites for small businesses. You Don’t Have to Code to Be a Website Designer One of the biggest obstacles that designers have that holds them back from pursuing website design is not knowing code. Spoiler alert: you don’t have to. Consider designing a custom coded website for a small business who also doesn’t know code. How do they expect to update their website? They couldn’t. That’s why these web based platforms for building websites exist and have become standard. This allows web designers to build a website that their clients can manage and make small updates to. Steps to Overcoming Imposter Syndrome Here are two simple steps to overcoming imposter syndrome for becoming a website designer: * Understand that degrees aren’t required & most web designers are self-taught.* Read mindset books like: Miracle Morning & You Are a Badass How to Find a Platform that Works for You There are a variety of platforms out there that you could learn as a web designer, but it’s important to find the one that works best for you. Here are some of the most common platforms. Shopify: This platform is the most common e-commerce platform. It’s built to serve brands who run an online storefront. WordPress: If you want to serve big, corporate businesses or businesses with really complex website needs, then WordPress is a great option for you. It’s one of the most popular platforms, yet is a little bit harder to use. Squarespace: If you’re working with small businesses, Squarespace is a great platform to use that is easy to navigate and set up for smaller businesses because it is an all-in-one platform. Showit: Similar to Squarespace, Showit is great for small businesses while offering a bit more customization.