Feast or Famine
Patrick MacAdams runs a web design business focused on club sports teams. He helps programs get past the referral barrier through branding and websites. Ironically, he was stuck behind the exact same barrier in his own business.
“You max out your referral base, you reach a plateau, and if the people in your circle don't need any work at that time, you freak out. You're like, is this going to be sustainable long-term?”
His revenue swings in 2024 were brutal. One month could be $20,000. Another could be $4,000. And during the slow months, the anxiety spiral kicked in.
“When you're not busy and you're a freelancer, it's twofold. One, you're not making money. But two, you have nothing to do and nowhere to go. So you start sending out random emails, and that doesn't work, and then you're just bored. And when you're bored, you're constantly thinking, how am I going to pay for my kids' college in 15 years?”
Learning to Build the Machine Himself
Patrick had been ready to invest in growth for a while. He just didn't know if he needed to hire a lead gen agency or a business consultant.
“An all-in-one type of thing that would teach me all the skills to do it myself seemed like a no-brainer. And it has been.”
The most valuable thing he learned wasn't a tactic. It was pricing. The program walked him through exactly how to structure his rates, build in a 20% buffer for his time, and add a monthly operations retainer on top of project fees.
“I never had someone go through and critically think about how much things cost, how much time it costs, what your hourly rate should be. That small monthly incremental thing over a bunch of clients really helps in the long run. I never thought about how to do that previously.”
Confidence to Charge What He's Worth
Beyond the systems and the ads, the biggest shift was internal. Going through the playbooks forced Patrick to get clear on what he actually delivers and why it matters to his clients.
“You really become introspective about what you're actually doing, what you're delivering, and why that's valuable to the people you're delivering it to. So now I'm able to say, yeah, I do these things, and it helps you because of this.”
The result? Better clients who share his values and are happy to pay his rates. Not because he's pushy, but because the positioning makes the value obvious.
“They are aware of what it costs. They are accepting and glad to pay that for me to solve those things for them.”
The Numbers
Here's where Patrick landed since launching ads:
• $1,275 total ad spend
• $6,000 collected in direct revenue from ad-sourced clients
• $58,000 projected from ad-generated business (including a $2,500/month retainer client)
• 5 more prospects actively in his pipeline
• On track to double his business from $100K to $200K
• Turned his ads off because he got too busy with projects to take new meetings
“I turned off my ads because I was getting too busy. I didn't have time for new meetings. I didn't have time to talk to people for them to give me money.”
"You should have zero fear or apprehension about the value or cost [of the program]. Yeah, it's a lot of money, but it is so incredibly worth it in the short term and long term. I've gotten more value out of this than anything in college aside from some of my core design classes. My advice is to take the leap. It's worth it. Do the work. You're going to love it. It's fun, and you make more money, and your life is better overall."— Patrick MacAdams, Annapolis Design Company
See Patrick's work at annapolisdesigncompany.com.
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