HOW TO: Successfully Launch a Web Design Startup with Social Media and No Budget

Very well written

I love that the main message you get from this is: If you want to be successful be ready to work really really hard. It seems simple, but it’s so good to hear first hand what you can accomplish with a years worth of sleep deprivation

Nice tips for the rest of us. I believe that they are relevant even if you are not in the design niche. And like Brad said, hard work is a must.

That was an easy read! thanks inspired mag.

I agree with Brad, patience and hard work are repeated through out the article.

I particularly like the mention of the “relevant comments on blogs”. Compared to efforts put into online social applications, comments on blog posts are thin.

Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.
Go go Capies!

I have to agree with Brad. Far too many people are looking for a way to skirt the system thinking that hard work is for chumps. In the real World, you have to pay your dues, put in the long hours and even then the expected reward isn’t always given. Well said. Very well said.

Love the dedication that was made to launch the Obox themes, I was checking out these secret videos really good idea to keep people coming back and get interested in what you are about to launch.

Keep up the good work

This is so motivational! Great way to start my morning. Thank you!!

You have got really great points there.
I like the concept of ‘gaining trust from being real’. I think that is the main thing that made obox brothers this successful.

Way to go Obox..

Thanks for these great tips! Your genuineness will aid in your success for sure!

Great direction-my favorite part was making the deadlines almost impossible to meet. That works well.

Man, well said! I liked that you pointed out that success is the result of hard work. Loved it! Thanks!

Fair play the internet loves David Perel & co, great read dudes. Get’s me thinking for sure.

One other thing that is very useful, but requires some time, is to start a blog. Our design firm, C McConnell Design, started a blog recently called Freelance Review and saw our traffic increase by over 900%. Pretty cool. It’s a lot of work thought. We made a post about it which you might find interesting here: http://bit.ly/3qIxvG

Great post. Some of them, i am using it, others is a must-try method as well! Thanks alot for sharing

Thanks for experience!

Very practical and sound advice. Your list of SM properties is on target. In fact I am hearing of more people joining Posterous and Tumblr rather than a traditional blog platform because they are dead simple and look nice.

I am looking for info on how to structure a contest. Purpose is to generate awareness (or even links or Twitter followers). Prize would be the offering of a paid service for free. Any resources that you have seen?

So basically, HUSTLE!

Thanks for being real: it takes time, it takes effort, and it takes significant input of quality content to get noticed and build a following.

One thing I enjoyed: “little tit bits.” I presume you mean “tidbits.”

Hi Everyone,

Thanks so much for taking the time to read the article. The stuff that you say about Obox is incredibly humbling

What you are all saying is 100% correct, hard work and dedication is what get’s you places.

However, there is one thing that I didn’t mention and it is called ‘patience’. If you don’t have patience then the enthusiasm will eventually be replaced by despondency. So make sure that what you are doing is something you truly, madly, deeply believe in

@John K – You are spot on there, I think my SA accent filtered into the article

@everybody Thx for the awesome comments and thanks David for taking some time from building fantastic themes and give us some insights

Great advice here, I like the warning at the start.

A big part of being in the right place at the right time is being in as many places as often as you can.

Keep up the good work!

The hard part is, figuring where to post what content. You don’t just want to cross-link between all your social networks. That’s why I’ve been hesitant to use Facebook for freelance/business, because they are networks of friends and people I know in real life, and I don’t want to come off as spammy. I should probably set up a fan page, but I don’t know how I’d ask “friends” to become “fans”… ahh the fine line.

My version of success is working 4 hours a day, not 18… If you are working 18 hours a day you damn well better be successful because that is a huge investment.

I really like this post. I followed the vlog for awhile. Really great to see you guys are working hard and getting the rewards for your hard effort.

@Amy – Don’t ask your friends to become fans of the page. Ask your blog readers, twitter followers etc. to do so. I draw a line between friends and biz on Facebook.

@Matt – If you love what you are doing then technically it’s not really work. I could say that everyday at Obox is a holiday because I love what I do.

@Phil – Thanks man!

Nice to see you guys doing well. Popped over to the video blog now and again and it’s great to see that turn into something more for you. Great job, and an excellent post.

Very well written and a sort of humility in this post (don’t ask me why, I just find) Ahah. Nice experience.

Thank you very much for this post! it helped me with what we are trying to achieve now with our company!

Nice story! Good luck!

I think this article is smart and well planned. I also think there is a huge difference between acting hard and acting smart. The truly successful ones do it by acting smart. Don’t kid yourself either, the internet is here because the creators wanted to act smart. Acting smart means getting more out results with less work, the definition of productivity.

Keep that in mind with everything you do.

Obox guys,
You guys have been an awesome story to watch. You spoke of some great points, especially the comments on the posts. I try to comment so “the writer knows I am reading”. I am not saying I am the king of the hill but, he/she is then relating to their readers and then the other readers see that and again, you just “left a business card”. Thanks for the post and I am anxious to see what you guys crank out next.

This is a very good article that actually shows stone cold proof of what so many people talk about, ie. that social media can help you create a viable business that costs no money, only time and effort.

I’m going to re-read this and write something about it–with a link back of course! Thanks for taking the time to write this.

I love this theme by the way. Very nice looking and functional.

well,you are late for me, my friend but anyway it is still useful for freshers and this all are amazing tips I wish I could have this post few years back

I agree on your view on working hard and persist. But in this perspective the calculation of 8$ per month spent in marketing is, to me, not realistic. You say the only cost is time. Time is the most valuable resource you and everyone of us have and needs to be quantified. You need to think of how much work on your products you could have done in that time (i.e. designing 2 new themes or whatever), and understand if you could actually be “losing” money by only marketing for the products you now have or potentially marketing less but for more products. Just my opinion. I agree on your views on target platforms, I like your stuff. only thought that point needed a different perspective! Keep up the good work guys!

@Palmamod – Part of creating a product is the marketing. The time that I spend marketing is done at the same time that I design themes etc. That is the beauty of the tools we use today. It takes 1 second to reply to someone on Tweetdeck while still working on a design.

It’s all about spreading the focus. To me the marketing is just as important as the product. Pumping out 100 themes won’t matter if no one knows about them.

David, thanks for getting back. As I said, I do agree with what you said in your post and your reply confirms the fact that we share this view. I was only pointing out that time has a cost and that should be considered. It seems that in your case we’re talking about time well spent, although it’s not always the case!

What a great post! I started up 2 years ago and had lots of ideas about how to get traction quickly. But earning a living overtook me and I didn’t do any of them. It was a struggle. Well done on ‘doing it right’.

I’d add that I found this article via delicious ‘most popular’. Social bookmarking could maybe be on your list too?

I’m an Branding & Interactive Design consultant. I’ve recently rebranded myself with the idea of “Making Your Story Come Alive.” This has my mind flooding with ideas about how to communicate the idea. Thank you so much for the article.

Well written article!

Great advice! I agree what you said that Rome wasn’t built in a day, this apply to Social Media as well. It will take some time and effort to see the results.

Thanks one again for your valuable information and I look forward to your next article!

Maybe it’s a good idea to try getting into some more niche-specific social networks like Behance (http://behance.net/pieterbeulque).

Another tip I like is: ‘be a human, not a company’. For example, take Twitter. If you profile yourself as a company, you only post links to new blogposts. If you profile yourself as a human, you post Twitpics of you and your wife having a beer outside, you start conversations with replies, you retweet other people. It sure takes more time, but it’s better in the end.

It was quite inspiring reading. I would call it even exceptional and useful because in the last months I see bloggers repeating themselves and posting like in factory style.

To get back to the topic, there is said: “faith can even change lines on our hands”. And that’s true.

Ya this article is agreat inspiration to me bookmarked this page

I am in this situation right now so thank you for the tips! I have been doing what you said for only a few days and it seems to be working…then I came across this article which confirms it (glad to hear I am doing something right). The thing that i have learned the most so far…who is going to hear you if you have nothing to say? Get involved and socialize!

What’s really awesome is that big business, for the most part, really has no idea how to leverage social media without giving up control. This leaves an excellent window of opportunity for agile small businesses to skyrocket through this medium.

I enjoyed this. It was nothing new, but very well written and with great enthusiasm. Thanks!

We are going to start selling some plugins for another application. Right now majority of the vendors don’t look very credible; we are shooting videos of our developers and team as well as how the plugins work. I think that is going to help buyers be more comfortable with us then the competition.

really good suggestions. thanks

If you work 15 – 18 hours a day and your web designs look great, the success will always come.

Brilliant post, thanks

How could I not leave a comment after reading that. Great advice and It has changed the way I will be interacting online. Thanks

Congrats guys! Your message of hard work and patience is so true. It seems that most people think they can jump online and make an overnight fortune! While I’m sure it happens on occasion, it doesn’t happen that way for most of us. If you want a new career in the Internet Marketing Arena be prepared to set some obtainable goals, work hard and express some creativity.

Well done!

u guys truly are “Tribe builders”

fantastic! We’ve been doing very similar things for the past few months and know we’re on the right track.

So many broadcasters but not much quality or worthwhile info. Building up a relevant social media strategy is key. Just because you can have a free Facebook page doesn’t’ mean you should have one, unless as you say, there is a relevant reason for it. Perfect.

Great interview for those who wish to start web design company with little or no money. The successful of Obox design inspired me that we certainly have chance of getting sucess in the online business.

It took 10 months of pumping out content every single day, interacting on Twitter, Facebook and email in order to give us a base on which we could launch an online product.”

This is so revealing. Many thanks for this insightful article.

You know what, I’m in a band and 90% of this applies to that too!

Great ideas and I totally agree that SMM is NOT a golden ticket, but is a huge help if done correctly.

Great post mate, totally agree..

Very refreshing to see someone give a realistic overview on Social Media. A lot people think that simply by creating a twitter account their SM work is done and the clients will roll in.
I think it also shows you can really do well online when you have the right plan and the focus to follow it through day in day out.

Lofty interview on behalf of folks who hope for to start a tangled web design company with not very or else rebuff money. The booming of Obox design inspired me with the aim of we certainly retain ability of getting sucess in the sphere of the online topic.

Thanks so much for a great post!

I’ve been freelancing from home for the last 12 years (along side working an office job for another company).

Recently, I’ve decided to make a go of making my freelance a full-time business. I live in a small town here in California (Santa Maria on the Central Coast). The biggest hurdle I’m trying to overcome is how to find clients when I don’t live in a big city.

Thanks again for this great and relevant post!

I have always liked those 2 guys and loved their simple tutorials on hand drawn websites.

I started freelancing about a year ago and it’s a rough business but I believe if you keep at it like David Peril, you can be successful.

Nice information, many thanks to the author.

Totally agree. The same goes for How To Successfully Launch a Web App Startup with Social Media and almost No Budget. Hard work & long nights. Can’t even remember when I got some proper sleep lately. When we tend to go to bed here in Europe our aussie users are getting up and vice versa – but that’s part of the deal right! But we can take it because we love what we do.

Great article, very well written and so inspiring. But the thing that crossed my mind while reading the first part and the first tip “Hype” was this:
Sure, it’s great to post new content every day and hype is a very effective way of getting to sell the product in the end. And if you have a fanbase to start with, it will grow and flourish as time passes by and as long as you keep creating new and interesting content. But how do you get that fanbase?
Let’s say I want to start a new webdesign business but nobody knows me (apart from my friends that is but as you said – friends and biz are two different things). Nobody knows my site/blog/vlog/twitter account, etc.. I could post videos all day long, if nobody knows about it, nobody will watch it, nothing will get spread etc.

For me it’s always the same: Got a lot of money? Easy to make even more money. Got a lot of fans and a good and widespread reputation? Easy to get even more of it.
Maybe replace “easy” with “easier” but you guys know what I mean.

Apart from that: Still very inspiring, I especially like the hard work and post relevant post part. Good Good Good

This is a great post, you guys are doing all the right stuff, kudos!

Good article. I personally got it done with http://www.web-artis.com Its cheap and fast!

A good basic and simple advice for me, nice. I’ll try it. Thank you.

Decision makers in new businesses need to recognise the importance of internet marketing as part of their overall marketing strategy.

Agree with the concept of sowing seeds first to reap benefits later. We got friends all through our life like this. We met people, talked to them, understood each other and probably later became friends. Getting a new client is no less than this friend building process.

Definitely applies to me, but keeping every post and contribution to the desired standard is tough when you’re adding posts all over, every day. That’s the hardest part in my mind, consistently writing interesting content rather than spam.