Web Designers AMA: Client Processes & Boundaries with Katelyn Dekle & Diane Whiddon
Diane Whiddon & I sat down for a LIVE, fun & very informal conversation for web designers.
Topics we discussed:
How we got started
Realities of web design (client boundaries, process tips, etc)
Marketing & getting clients
Design trends & inspiration
Design techniques
Building your own community
Summary:
2 experienced web designers keep clients happy, without losing our sanity!
Ready to peek behind the curtain of the web design world? In this post, I’m summarizing our web designers AMA between myself and Diane Whiddon from Sway Rise Creative. If you’re a web designer—whether you're just starting out or you're a seasoned pro—you’ll want to stick around for insights on managing client relationships, holding client boundaries (while staying sane & keeping the client happy), running your business, and thriving in the ever-evolving world of web design. 🎉
We’ll be sharing our secrets to managing clients, setting processes, and balancing creativity with structure. Our goal is always to keep our clients happy while ensuring we don’t lose our mind in the process. 🙌 😂
Who are Diane & Katelyn?
So, who are we to drop all this knowledge today? Let’s do a quick intro first!
Diane Whiddon from Sway Rise Creative
If you've spent any time in the web design space, there's a good chance you've come across Diane or her work. She’s the founder of Sway Rise Creative, and she's got almost 20 years (as of posting) of experience coaching, and designing for service-based businesses and entrepreneurs. Specializing in WordPress websites for years, she’s now switched over to using Squarespace. Of course, site functionality (especially the kind that turns visitors into clients) is important to her too. Diane knows how to build websites that work. Frankly, she’s been around the block and back again when it comes to creating killer designs that make clients go, ‘Wow! Thank you!!’
Katelyn Dekle from Launch the Damn Thing®
Starting in 2015, my business has been through a few iterations, but since 2020 I’ve been the Designer & Founder of Launch the Damn Thing®. I’m a graphic designer by trade (college & in-house design jobs, etc), turned web designer who's all about creating personality-packed designs for service-based businesses. ⭐ I’ve been using Squarespace since 2016, and since then I’ve been slowly making a name for myself in this niche!
While we both run our businesses differently, we’re completely aligned on the big stuff: creating excellent customer experiences, killer designs, and of course, keeping clients happy without losing our minds.
From 9-to-5 to Web Design: Katelyn’s Journey
My story isn’t far from what many self-starters experience: corporate burnout. After spending time working the 9-to-5 grind, I quickly realized something—I had no interest in building someone else’s dream anymore.
That wake-up call led me to freelance, and when COVID forced a pause, I had the time to develop something new. Drumroll, please… Launch the Damn Thing® was born from what originally started as a template shop, which was separate from my Studio (design services). The name itself is perfect—because after 5-ish years of trial & error, I learned to embody a "just go for it" mentality, which has clearly resonated with my audience.
So why the merge into full-time web design (dropping graphic design services)? I realized I was much more comfortable showing up authentically with Launch the Damn Thing® than I was in my prior freelance studio business/brand. Real talk: the merging of my two businesses (studio + template shop) was mandatory for me; I just couldn’t manage both as separate entities/businesses. And now, I’ve got a thriving business and countless clients to prove the new vibe is a hit!
Running Design Businesses: Two Different Approaches
What makes us so special? We agree on a LOT of things, but we do run our projects & manage client processes a bit differently.
We share similar values when it comes to design, marketing, and creating killer customer experiences, BUT the way we structure projects? Night and day. A difference which I love, because neither approach is wrong/right; they just fit each of us differently!
Let’s dig into these nuances, because they honestly offer serious food for thought on either side!
Managing Clients (Without Losing Your Cool)
If you’re a freelancer or web designer, you know the struggle: how do you keep clients happy ...without giving away your sanity? Both Diane and myself tackle this in our own ways—but with one foundational principle: boundaries are everything. 🛑
Katelyn’s Boundaries
No emails during a project: This one is a hill I plan to die on—and for good reason. For me, ensuring that all project communication remains in a single designated portal/location, it keeps everything in one accessible & easy-to-find place for me & my client. It eliminates the headache of lost emails or important feedback hiding in different email threads.
No phone calls or texts, Slack, WhatsApp, Voxer: Why? Because all those notifications disrupt creativity and my personal time off & my peace outside of my work day. It’s mostly to help focus my energy and keep distractions at bay.
Translation? The main takeaway here is to give clients structured communication options without letting it invade the rest of my time. 💪
Diane’s Approach
While Diane does allow email communication, she doesn’t ever accept feedback via email. Just like me, she knows feedback via email can quickly spiral into 25,000 threads of confusion. Instead, she carefully limits the number of revisions and makes sure she’s crystal clear with clients upfront:
Two revisions. That’s it. And honestly? Most of the time, clients don’t even need both rounds.
Communicate that our client’s happiness with the end result truly depends on the quality and quantity of information they provide upfront. If they give us nothing… well, let’s just say they shouldn’t be surprised if things don't look exactly how they imagined. Diane doesn’t hold back on this and makes it clear every step of the way.
Katelyn’s Two-Week Project Process
Buckle up because my approach to custom website builds is nothing short of impressively fast. The two-week web design process, that I learned from Paige Brunton (more on that in a bit!) is streamlined, efficient, and dare I say… genius? Not only does it keep projects moving, but it also stops me from losing interest or feeling bogged down in endless revisions, AND helps me plan more predictable income.
Here’s how the project timeline works:
Week 1:
Monday: Kickoff call
Wednesday: present Homepage draft & get approval
Friday: present full website draft
Week 2:
Monday - Wednesday: revisions
Thursday: launch prep
Friday: launch!
My clients love it. The reason? They get results fast and know what to expect every single step of the way. There's never any pushback on that timeline, but they also know upfront what the process is BEFORE they book, so they're not 'shocked' at the fast pace.
And side note: If a client’s grandma, friends, aunts & uncles all want to weigh in with collective feedback? #SorryNotSorry! They won’t have time during a tight two-week turnaround with just 3 days for revisions. 😏
Diane’s Project Timeline is More Traditional
On the other hand, Diane avoids the cookie-cutter, rinse-and-repeat hyper-focused approach that I prefer to use. She prefers to mix things up, focusing on project & task variety to keep her creative energy high. She offers design days—where clients pay her to focus solely on their site for a day, or two, max. Custom builds don't have a standard timeline.
The takeaway:
This structure allows Diane to juggle multiple projects at once and offers her the creative flexibility she wants on a day-to-day basis (not forcing her to work on just one type of task or just one project at a time). Unlike my back-to-back, single-project immersion, Diane thrives on variety, balance and flexibility.
How Do You Get Those Clients?
SEO & Social Media Strategies
Katelyn’s Secret Weapon: SEO
If you’re wondering—yes, my business marketing is based almost exclusively on the power of SEO, via content marketing. In case you thought maybe social media was "a must", here’s the scoop: I've tried it all—LinkedIn, TikTok, Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter/X, —but none of those platforms ever brought me clients as often as blogging did.
Instead? Weekly blogging. And when I say weekly, that's what I do now that I've been blogging for nearly 10 years. I started by posting 2x month or every other week, and did that for a couple years before I felt comfortable posting a new topic every week. I've been creating SEO-friendly posts every week now since 2019 I think? And that’s brought me a steady flow of new clients who land on my website, build trust with me as an authority on Squarespace, and then reach out. 💼
My most popular types of blog posts? Partially inspired by client questions—solving real problems like “What’s the Difference Between Vector and Raster Files?” If you’re DIY-ing your SEO, build content around common questions your clients ask you, or topics you need them to understand before you work together, —it works!
Diane’s Approach: Social Media Love
On the flip side, Diane embraces social media as her main marketing strategy. Though she dabbles in SEO, her sweet spot is social engagement. Diane blogs sporadically (when she can), but she’s more social by nature, and that’s what works best for her flow.
The takeaway:
Whether you love or hate social media, it’s all about finding what YOU enjoy doing the most, so you'll actually have fun with –and even enjoy– your marketing.
What Happens When Clients See Their Website… and Hate It?
The nightmare scenario we're all 'afraid' of on some level: you hand over a completed website, and the client hates it. What do you do?
Diane & I both prepare for everything upfront. Whether it’s my super-clear structure for collecting feedback and reminding the client of what to expect & when, ––or Diane’s strict “two revisions only” rule, we both agree—clarity dictates success. Keep clients informed about what they’ll get and when, and most importantly, remind them that the design we give them is only as good as the prep work they provided us with in the first place.
Interestingly, neither of us have ever had a client hate their site—not once. 😲🤯 The design process we've each developed is so collaborative and clear that things rarely even have a chance to go sideways.
Design Inspiration: Where Do We Find It?
Every designer’s inspiration source is different. Here’s how it shakes out for us two pros:
I rely heavily on the Pinterest boards my clients create during their pre-project homework. I take visual cues and look for stylistic patterns from these boards—their color preferences, textures or design patterns they save, and general design style preferences. My secret is to NOT directly ask my clients to describe what they want, just get them to show you, then read between the lines. They don't know the right words to use, so even if they do describe their style to you, it's most likely not an accurate depiction anyway.
Diane focuses more on requesting a few sample websites from clients. Instead of mood boards, she asks them to provide three example websites they love and articulate why (what they love about them, specifically). This is a game-changer for her. It’s a fast way to get into your client’s headspace without having a million revisions down the line.
DIY & AI Site Builders: Should We Be Worried?
There’s always chatter around DIY web builders and AI tools these days, and whether they’ll take over the need for professional designers (or professional anything, as long as it may be possible to replace that service with a robot). Diane and I have some thoughts on this, and the takeaway is simple: No, we're not worried.
DIY builders & their built-in AI tools, like those on Wix and Squarespace are great for a LOT of people with no time or budget, ––but business owners who truly want to uplevel their brand know when to call in professional help.
In fact, the ease of use offered by Squarespace can actually be a selling point—it means your client can easily maintain their gorgeous website without having to call you every five seconds. So the fact that it's typically marketed as a DIY-focused platform does not prevent us from getting high-ticket clients that want to be on the platform.
Choose the Approach That Works for You
The biggest takeaway from all this? Whether you're building a web design business or improving your client processes, it’s all about finding what works for you and your specific setup. While some designers prefer to double down on shorter project timelines & love content marketing, ––others thrive on long-term, flexible timelines & social media. You do you! There's truly not a right/wrong way to do these things, just a right/wrong way FOR YOU.
At the end of the day, both Diane and I are living proof that success in web design doesn't come in just one shape or form. Design a business process that works for your client—but more importantly, make sure you're also designing a business that fits you too.
Want to keep learning?
Don’t miss Paige Brunton’s Bootcamp!
Before we wrap up, one last tip: Diane & I both recommend Paige Brunton’s free 3-day bootcamp (seriously, it’s gold for designers). You’ll learn about setting up your design business, processes, and more straight from the pros.
October 21 - 23rd with 3 LIVE trainings + Q&As after each one.
The group is ONLY OPEN for a little over a week!
