It was 2 a.m.

Matt was sitting on the couch. With one hand on his laptop, he was designing a website for his first client. With his other hand, he was cradling our swaddled newborn, who would only stay asleep while being held.

At this time, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we had no options for family or community support. Joehey was on unpaid parental leave from her nursing job and would likely not be able to return—her unit was the main COVID unit at the hospital. Matt was determined to find a way to work from home so he could be with our child. Enter: web design.

Learning the ropes

Prior to the pandemic, Matt had some web design experience, but hadn't really done it for paid clients. He absorbed as much education as he could about building a web design business—pricing packages, proposals, quotes, invoices, contracts, estimating project budgets, phone calls, video meetings, and on and on.

We invested time and money for Matt to become a Wix Partner, which meant he could start to receive leads (i.e., potential clients) directly from Wix, a popular website builder. The leads started coming in.

He made countless calls, wrote hundreds of emails, and created custom proposals and project quotes. Each time, he evaluated and interated to get better results and make the process more efficient.

It worked.

Matt was recognized as a Top 20 Wix Designer, worked with over 150 clients, and built his web design business enough to financially support our family.

But, it came at a cost. Enter: burnout.

Making it work

Matt was working a lot. Finding new clients was time consuming. Getting on calls, making proposals, and answering client questions often ended in doing many hours of work for free. This made it less motivating.

At times, it felt His schedule was dependent on strangers showing up to scheduled calls (we didn't know "no shows" were as common as they are 😳). Even educating others, which Matt thoroughly enjoys, wasn't very effective because people expected live coaching calls, but they rarely learn best that way.

A few reasons he started his own business—to have control over his work and flexibility with his time—weren't happening. He wasn't able to spend the amount time with our kid or together as a family that we intended.

It wasn't sustainable.

So far, we mostly tried the standard for how web design services are done, with small modifications. We knew we needed a bigger change. Enter: Joy.

Challenging the norm

Matt started using a new model for his web design services, called 🎉 Joy.

With Joy, there are no more unpaid proposals, custom quotes, recurring phone calls, messy email threads, or hour-long meetings that could have been an email update.

Matt can work when it fits best in our family's schedule, without being dependent on clients' schedules. His client communications all happen in one organized place, and he gets paid up front for his work.

Clients seem to like it, too. They can take breaks when they're busy without being charged more. They can ask questions as they come up. All their project details are organized in one convenient location. Plus, they can get expert support right when they need it without waiting for a proposal to be made and approved before getting started.

Here's an example of how Joy works:

We think of this new model, the Joy model, as our way of challenging the status quo within web design. Or at least, choosing a model that agrees with our values and preferred lifestyle.

We can work from anywhere (with internet access, of course).

We can work at times that are more convenient for us.

We can respect our time and the time of others.

We can keep the process simple and organized.

We can do quality work without hussle culture or false urgency.

We can teach people efficiently and effectively.

This is not to say that the Joy model is without flaws. It's challenging to communicate the value of this model when the traditional methods are the common expectation. Our work culture is very accustomed to live meetings, so communicating asychronously can be uncomfortable at first for some folks. The slower seasons for web design (summer and holidays) still have an impact on revenue.

Now that we've used Joy for a few years, we've found a rhythm that can support us financially. We've proven to ourselves that challenging the traditional model of web design can be successful. Next, we want to do the same thing for film. Enter: filmmaking.

Thinking outside the box

Just like in web design, there are many norms within the filmmaking industry that don't fit with our values and preferred lifestyle. Here are some examples of norms, especially in low-budget independent filmmaking, that we would like the film industry to reconsider.

• 15+ hour work days
• Relying on film festivals to distribute your film
• Giving "copy, credit, meals" as compensation for working on a film
  • This means you get a copy of the movie, you get your name in the credits, and you're provided with meals on set, even if that meal is an over-cooked cold baked potato with nothing else (speaking from personal experience 😬).
• Expecting free work to gain experience before getting paid
• Marketing a film mainly starts after production is complete
• Harassment on set without accountability or consequence
• Hiring cast and crew from a limited pool of people who are already established in the industry (which is predominantly white men)
• Telling stories that are generated from that same limited pool of people

Why are these the norm? Do they need to be done this way?

We don't think so. Which is why we're trying to change it. Maybe we can create our own filmmaking model that challenges the status quo.

In the spirit of questioning norms, what is one thing you do often that you only do because "that's the way it is"? Does it need to be done that way? Or, does it need to be done at all?

Give yourself permission to think outside the box. Question things you do regularly just because they're expected of you. Think about how the behavior serves (or doesn't serve) your values and lifestyle. You might be surprised what you find.

Take care,
A Creative Duo