How Does a Non-Tech Founder Build a Successful Tech Company?

ATX Web Designs — From Our CEO
Yea, so the title pretty much sums it up. I’m not a coder. I don’t talk PHP, MySQL, Javascript, or any of that stuff.
I didn’t go to college to do anything regarding computers either. I went to school for business. Specifically, marketing.
So why did I get into the web design industry?
Being in Austin, Texas there are lots of small businesses and tons of startups. What I noticed is lack of effective connection with the owner’s customers and clients online.
But it’s not their fault. They’re doctors, lawyers, actual tech guys and girls themselves. Most of them specialize in a skill that’s specifically for the business they own, or manage the company etc.
What I seen was a lack of effective marketing tactics. The reason I chose websites is because most people understand the importance of a website.
Beginning with web design helped open the door for me to really express to these business owners and startups, how gaining more customers and clients takes more than just the norm.
By the norm I mean a “simple and basic website” (I have heard that thousands of times). Most small business owners, or even other web design agencies, don’t take the time to really research and study the target audience for that industry or business.
It’s all about the details.
For example, let’s take age range or we’ll say millennials vs baby boomers. The average person that’s around 45 and older or 45 and younger are engaged completely different online. Especially when it comes to mobile.
Here’s one of the reason’s why. Most men & women 45 and above will typically have to pull out a pair of reading glasses to view anything on a mobile device. They’ll also hold the phone away from them as they view it.
Therefore, when they scroll up and down it’s a lot slower. They pay a lot more attention to detail in reference to content. That’s what catches their eyes. So you’d want a website that’s not so flashy but has straightforward content, with strong bold titles.
On the flip side the average person between the ages of upper 20’s up to lower 40’s will be engaged online in a different way.
They’ll want a little bit more flavor to what they’re viewing and that’s what will draw them to the content. Completely opposite from 45 +, they’ll have the phone right in their face. Neck long and out and chin tucked down because their eyes are so fixated on the device.
Colors, certain banner images, and not your typical fonts are a few features that’ll really engage with them.
Don’t believe me on this? Go to a Starbucks or your local coffee shop and observe others on their phone. Guess their age range. You’ll see what I’m saying then.
To get back to my point, I got into web design because while everyone is competing on how creative they can be with website design, I’m focused on how we can create marketing strategies to grow our clients’ business and make them more money.
I understand business. How to grow a startup from ground up, as well as how to take a well established corporation and drive sales even more.I don’t want our team to be viewed as only web designers or IT people. We’re your marketing team.
When our clients tell us “Hey ATX, we want to bring in more of these type of customers.” We study that audience. Figure out the best platform to reach them on. Create a strategy for it. Then execute.
Web design, SEO, social media, PPC, and any other forms of internet marketing are nothing more than tools.
Like a chef with a set of knives. Or a mechanic with a toolbox. Nothing is a one size fits all. You assess the situation, then you use the best tool for that circumstance.
I like to highlight how our team has driven the revenue for a local lawn care & landscaping company by 500% in one year. Not how great of a website we built for them.
Now with that being said, I give lots of credit to our designer and developers because they take the strategies that our marketing team creates and bring it to life. Definitely don’t want to overlook them.
We use a couple different terms regarding our services, but one of them is “We’re changing the standard in the web design industry.”
Here are a few reasons why we’ve adapted this saying:
1) At least 85% of all our clients have been, for lack of better words, screwed over by some web design agency. Didn’t get what they were expecting. Project took 6 months and was only suppose to take 2. And many more horrid stories. I bring a trustworthy environment to our potential clients. We’re very upfront with our processes, our estimates, and exactly what they’ll be receiving.
2) You have a website better than your previous one. Now what? Or “Yay! We’re ranked on the first page of google!” But you’re not getting as many leads as you expected. We like to make sure that our clients are getting something that will help make their company more money. Not just give them a better look. If you think you need SEO, cool. We’ll research those keywords and let you know if it’ll be worth you marketing dollars. It may not be the best bang for your buck. Maybe you’re doing the right marketing but your website isn’t creating the conversions for those leads. Or maybe you have a badass website, but your marketing tactics suck. In other words, we make sure that what you spend makes sense. And if it doesn’t make dollars. It doesn’t make sense.
3) We’re your marketing team. Yea, sure. You contact us to create new pages or update content. But we’re the tight-knit agency that you bring your goals and ideas to. We take them and create strategies to incorporate online to bring those ideas to life and accomplish those goals.
The reason I’m a non-tech guy, in a tech industry is because businesses need more than just technology. You need marketing, strategy, and effective business tactics to take your company from A to B, then all the way to Z. Tech alone won’t do that for you.
