Adam has found an industry he can serve, with a very clear problem he solves. He shares his journey, lessons along the way and shares how he is plans to adopt some methods of marketing to existing and cold leads that are quite surprising.
Print is not dead, it is changing.
Note: This transcript was auto generated. As our team is small, we have done our best to correct any errors. If you spot any issues, we’d sure appreciate it if you let us know and we can resolve! Thank you for being a part of the community.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Welcome to episode number 111 of the Agency Trailblazer podcast. This is your host, Lee. And on today’s show, we’re gonna be talking with Adam Lacey who first started at the young age of 18 with his print business and has evolved his agency over time online. Most recently over the last year, really niching down into a really interesting area. So this is a fascinating journey, and I’m excited to see where he goes over the next twelve months. Now before we start, if you are an agency owner who is stressed out and looking to fall in love with your business again, then be sure to head on over to agencytrailblazer.com where we’ve created a community to support you, which includes the agency reset track, which will help you put your agency back on the right footing and also a support community of peers for networking, for support, for education. And finally, we have a wide range of workshops across a wide range of agency subjects to help and support you. So find that over on agencytrailblazer.com.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
And now, on with the show. You are joining a conversation with me, your host Lee Jackson. And today with mister Adam Lacey. No relation to Paul Lacey.
Adam Lacey:
How are you doing, mate? Yeah. Good, mate. Yourself?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
I’m doing great. And just to double check, there is no relation. Is there between
Adam Lacey:
No. No. Apart from being both, obviously, absolutely handsome chaps, there’s no relation.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
That is a given. Well, you know, that’s where people get confused. Because you are both so equally as handsome as each other, it’s I guess, it’s kind of very confusing for people. So, and and it must be a curse, I I imagine, to to be so handsome.
Adam Lacey:
So Real struggle at times.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Recently got married as well.
Adam Lacey:
Yes. Yes.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Mate, then went honeymoon in in Florida, you lucky guy.
Adam Lacey:
Yeah. It feels like a lifetime ago. It just seems to have flown by, to be totally honest with you.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Yeah. It’s insane, isn’t it?
Adam Lacey:
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And I was fantastic, though. It was a good day. All that stress was worth it in the end.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Yeah. Did you find, like, by the end of the day, you’d spent the whole day smiling and your face felt like it was just aching?
Adam Lacey:
Yeah. It was, like I said, the whole day as a whole, just honestly, like, as you see in the timeline, obviously, the prep and all the organization. And, but on the actual day, honestly, you’re just blinking. It’s the evening, and we’re like, wow. Like, yeah, we we took a couple of minutes out for ourselves to sort of sit by ourselves for a while and sort of take it all in. But, yeah, it’s just, like you say, just all friends and family coming together is the main thing really, and that’s what it’s all about.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
It’s be it’s beautiful. We wanna get I mean, I’ve been married now. You’re right. It goes in a blink. We’ve been married twelve years, thirteen years at the end of this year, it’ll be. And it feels like a blink. And we totally wanna get married again because it was one of the the loveliest days, like, the best memories we’ve got of all of our family being in one place. And, we we watched the video on New Year’s Eve, our wedding video.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
So the whole family were around our house. And we watched we watched our wedding video again on VHS because we’re that old. Yeah. This is before digital cameras were. Well, they were a thing, but they weren’t, like, stuff you could afford. So this is a good old VHS that we watched of our wedding with me looking, young and full of hair. That’s what I was crying about. Everyone else is crying about how beautiful the bride was.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
And I’m just like, look at my hair. It’s beautiful.
Adam Lacey:
Oh, that’s awesome, man. That’s really good.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Yeah. So, what the excuse is gonna be renew the vows, like, every year or something like that just to have a party.
Adam Lacey:
Easter at Disney World.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Yeah. That would be that would be amazing. Just, cost prohibitive. Like, insanely cost prohibitive. That’s ridiculous.
Adam Lacey:
Well, one thing they’re good at over there is, like, getting the money out of you, aren’t they?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
They are. And and I smile whilst they take my money,
Adam Lacey:
which Yes. Yes. Weird, though, isn’t it?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
It’s it’s very odd, you know, because if you look at the stuff you end up buying, it’s not exactly like, oh, wow. This is life changing, earth shattering stuff. It’s like, it is a cup. It’s just got Mickey Mouse on. But I could totally buy the cup of Poundland Yeah. Without Mickey Mouse on. But now I’ve got Mickey Mouse on it. It’s like, yay.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
So, tell us a little bit about your story, mate. People may not know who you are. So, I would love to know just a very quick potted history of, obviously, who you are, things like your favorite color, all that sort of stuff, which country you’re from. I’m sure people have already guessed. And, just a little bit of background about your current business, and then we’ll go back in time.
Adam Lacey:
Yeah. Sure. So my name’s Adam Lacey. I am originally from Essex, but I now live in the Southwest Of England. So I run a digital agency called Lacey Digital where we help wedding professionals book more brides.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
I love that. That is so such a simple phrase to say. Do you do any local networking?
Adam Lacey:
To be honest, it’s my goal for 2018 to do a bit more local networking because I must have been in a a shell for a little while. And this was only launched in I wanna say September or the tower August when I come back from the honeymoon. So, yeah, it it’s on my 2018 to do list. Really, I need to get out there a bit more.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Well, that that helping wedding professionals book more brides is one of those really, nice lines to finish off your forty second or sixty second elevator pitch. You know, when you all stand up and you say, hey. I do this, do that, and the other. I love that line helping wedding professionals book more brides. You have totally nailed that. Alright. So you run Lacy Digital. You’ve got an amazing focus that is on people who supply, services to people who are getting married.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Presumably, that would be, like, photographers. I don’t know, wedding car companies on all of that good stuff. However, if we go back into the time machine, you weren’t always doing this. You just said this is kind of a new venture over the last few months. I remember me and you talking about you doing this and also kind of talking about what the problems you solve were and we’ll impact that later. But what was the first what was your first foray into business?
Adam Lacey:
Oh, it depends how far back you wanna go, really. If you wanna go back to selling sweets at school in the program
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Did you totally do that? Yeah.
Adam Lacey:
I’ve never Mate, you are
Lee Matthew Jackson:
a brother from another man.
Adam Lacey:
And, yeah, I’ve been, been a little bit naughty and done the pirate DVDs and stuff my years. Get in, see, I thought it was a a great idea to stand outside the petrol station, offer its people going in, which didn’t seem a great idea officer would come up to me and tell me to run away as fast as possible, which I truly did.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
That was really kind of them. Yes.
Adam Lacey:
So after that, I knocked that on the head. But yeah. And then, I basically started as a graphic designer, self taught
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Mhmm.
Adam Lacey:
And then started going into the print and sign industry, where I ended up getting a job, actually, with the same company my dad was working at
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Mhmm.
Adam Lacey:
At the time. And I ended up heading up their sort of design and print sort of part of the business.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
What does that look like, heading up a design and print business?
Adam Lacey:
Well, at the time, I was only about 17, 18.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Wow.
Adam Lacey:
So yeah. But, basically, I was doing all the graphic design for science, vehicle, graphics, all that kind of stuff. But they were basically because they weren’t printing they print all the signs in house, but when it comes to, like, your leaflets, your business cards, all that kind of stuff, it was all outsourced. So for me, it was finding suppliers, you know, doing
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Oh, the credit print management.
Adam Lacey:
Yeah. Sending it off, getting it into the thingy. And then when the customer turns up, stand there and pretend it looked like it come out from our back office, which does nothing out there.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Oh, really?
Adam Lacey:
Yeah. So I was like, yeah. I’ll print these for you. Be careful. They might be a bit wet still. But
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Oh, really?
Adam Lacey:
Yeah. Yeah. That’s brilliant. The the boss was a bit like that. But, no.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
It was good. Might still be a bit wet, like, twenty twenty four hours ago.
Adam Lacey:
Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. No. But it it was good. It was a good learning experience, but sort of my, I wanna say, entrepreneurial spirit kicked in a little bit. I mean, I saw how much this guy was sort of making off my work as such. Yeah.
Adam Lacey:
And I said, well, technically, I could do the exactly the same this guy, but for myself. So that’s what I did. I I went out, got some of my own leaflets and business cards printed.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Mhmm.
Adam Lacey:
I thought, you know, I’ll just try and drive up my own business and work that way. You know, handing my notice and sort of winged it a little bit. I ended up doing a leaflet drop. I was walking up and down a busy high road in Westcliffe On The Sea in Essex, which is near South End. South End. And it was walking up and down, and I found myself standing outside of shop. And in the shop was, like, shop to rent, private mobile number. And I was like, the shops around there were really expensive.
Adam Lacey:
It was a main busy road. Yeah.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
I was
Adam Lacey:
like, oh, well, I’ll give him a call. Well, you know, what’s there to lose? Give him a call. And within twenty four hours well, within about four hours, I’d, signed the paperwork, handed over the deposit, and, a quick trip trip out with my dad to do some leaflet dropping. I come back and said, mom, I’ve got a shot, which, I think she flew off the handle for a little bit.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
What are you gonna do that for?
Adam Lacey:
Yeah. Exactly. She was like, what do you mean? And I was like, yeah. But, so, yeah, we stayed in the shop for a little while. And, from there, that’s how I got into sort of the digital world after, you know, working, plugging along, sort of paying the rent every month, making a little bit of money, but not much. The margins were slim. I was I wanted a website to go online for the print. And And when I got some quotes and fell off my chair, I was like, it can’t be that hard.
Adam Lacey:
I’ll do it myself. It was hard. Yeah. So I understand why we charge what we charge now. But, yeah. So I I knocked together an open cart website, with a template and sort of got the job going, and that turned out really well. Most of my business moved to online, sort of ninety eight percent online. So there was no point of having the shop, so moved to just doing online work.
Adam Lacey:
And then more people were asking about websites, so I started doing more and more of that and got to the point I just knocked on the head of doing the print, and Penguin Media was born.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Wow. So you’re actually taking a lot of the print orders online as well. Like, because when you said it moved online, I thought you meant you started doing online products. But you mean, instead of people walking in at the shop at four, people were actually going to your website that you put together an open cart self taught. That’s pretty cool, mate. And, we’re ordering online through your cart that you built.
Adam Lacey:
Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. It was, a case of getting myself now. I sort of got myself a foothold in in the hair and beauty salon niche.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Alright.
Adam Lacey:
And, is it just a I think it was a mixture of coincidence. You know, it’s the right sort of contacts and spending a lot of time on an online forum. And through there, just sort my name built up and, you know, they all talk to each other. And, yeah, I just ended up getting a lot of work that way. And a lot of them relationships I still have today, which I still do your printing for. Mhmm. But, yeah, they’re they’re really nice people with the general. And, yeah, so
Lee Matthew Jackson:
So that was your first accidental niche?
Adam Lacey:
Yes. It was. Yeah. And it still, chases me around. Like I said, they were my first bulk of websites as well, because it was a simple transition from how can you do a website as well? I was like, yeah. Okay. So I ended up doing loads in that niche.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
That’s so cool. My niche, accidental niche, I didn’t realize I was niching was antique shops. Oh, really? Where what yeah. Where I am in Findon, there well, they used to be back in February, still a lot of antique shops. And, I ended up building the websites for most of them and putting stuff on eBay for them and, you know, doing all sorts of digital services for them. So it was an accidental niche. I don’t work with any of any anymore because most of them have, long since closed up. It’s no longer the center of antiques anymore, which is a shame.
Adam Lacey:
Yeah. I think times move on. Don’t ask the thing.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
True. But it’s funny how we fall into these accidental niches. Yeah. You you getting into hair and beauty. You know, that’s something I don’t think I’d be able to get into with the lack of hair.
Adam Lacey:
Well, to be honest, I feel I’m joining you now, mate. I’m not far off.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Really? Well, you’re married now, mate. It’s gonna go faster.
Adam Lacey:
Yeah. Yeah. You’re absolutely right.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Oh, dear. Well, thankfully, my wife doesn’t listen to this podcast. So, at what point you’ve got the print work coming in that’s being ordered through your OpenCart website that you built because you’re a freaking legend. At what point did you realize, you know what? The, the the web side of the business is actually overtaking, I’m gonna stop doing print altogether, or did that happen? Have you do you still do some sort of print? Is that worth a percentage of your revenue, or are you predominantly now just digital?
Adam Lacey:
Predominantly predominantly now just
Lee Matthew Jackson:
digital. Word.
Adam Lacey:
Yeah. Sorry. Yeah. And I predominantly, manages digital now. I say I still have a few service just first of all time sake, more than anything really. Like I say, percentage wise, it’s probably no point something. You know? It’s really nothing at all. So
Lee Matthew Jackson:
you could say a % of your not point, not not not not 1% of clients who do print are a % happy? Yes. That’s awesome.
Adam Lacey:
So, yeah, it basically transitioned that it was just it got to the point the margins in print to be competitive. You’d be lucky to make anywhere sort of from two to 10 on an order. Yeah. So you gotta shift a lot of volume to, you know, actually have an income from that. And, it’s higher. I was doing okay. I was getting buy. But, obviously, as it did, it started to be like, okay.
Adam Lacey:
Well, I’ll do websites for, say, £200. And all of a sudden, this doing this work a lot the the money I was getting from the input was a lot higher, and the profit margins were obviously a lot higher. So it just made sense. I was like, wow. Well, instead of doing all these orders and making not much money, I can do a couple of websites and make a lot more money. And it’s sort of grown from there, really. Like, so I started out charging £80, then a hundred and 20, and then sort of working my way up from there.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Yeah. I think that’s a necessary journey as well. A lot of us I started at a hundred and £50, only a few years ago, just starting to build build a I’ve I’ve built websites for years and then went into and get a got a job. So because I used to charge, like, £200 back in ’99. But then when I got back into the industry ten years ago, kind of actually building websites for people, I remember the first site I I did was a hundred and £50, and I was still charging that for a long time. It take I think it’s a necessary journey, isn’t it, to under number one, it builds up your portfolio. But number two, it actually helps you learn what not to charge. I think sometimes we need to make
Adam Lacey:
that Yeah.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Yeah. Make that journey in our lives to realize, oh, actually, I don’t think I can create enough £200 websites to live, so I’m gonna need to change my pricing. Was there a point where you went from, kind of that £200 to a significant jump in price, like, overnight, or was it a very gradual step to where you were?
Adam Lacey:
I’d say, to be honest, the the it’s fairly recent in sort of terms. I’d say the last year, sort of 2017 was when I really stepped up from the 5 to 800 mark to over 4 figures consistently because I don’t wanna charge less than that. And then this year, it’s been a big step up from that. But, obviously, it’s early days to say how that’s going, but I’m sure it’ll be fine. So, yeah, I’d I’d say it just got to the point of, again, like, when I had £200 websites and that sort of stuff, I was literally booked for four months in advance solidly, like, all the time. And people willing to wake because, obviously, they were getting a good deal for the work I’ve done. But to be honest with you, I was working too many hours. Like, it was, put straight on my relationship.
Adam Lacey:
You know? And it was just constant. Honestly, I couldn’t even count the amount of hours I was working. I was working seven days a week, getting up at 6AM, and going to bed at, like, 3AM. It was
Lee Matthew Jackson:
So now imagine that robs you of the joy of building websites.
Adam Lacey:
Yes. Yeah. So, yeah, I had found the work with life balance a little bit more. And so, obviously, to do that, it needed to adjust the pricing. So, like I said, jump to more sensible prices and then sort of jump in again, really. I, you know, ideally, I only wanna take on 12 jobs this year. So I’ll do, you know, take on a job a month.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Makes sense.
Adam Lacey:
And, yeah, that that’s that’s the plan for 2018, really.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Well, if you’re listening, guys, and you’re you’re kind of struggling with pricing, then, hopefully, you’re listening to this. And please take from it permission to put your prices up because you actually owe it to yourself, you owe it to your family, and you also owe it to your clients to be running a business where it is successful, it is profitable, but also the person, I e you, is well looked after, is not stressed out, is not overtired, is not overworked because you’re gonna give the best output to your client as well. So it’s in your interest, the client’s interest, your family’s interest to actually put those prices up so that you have a much better work life balance. I’m glad you went on that journey, mate, to, you know, to be able to get beyond the pricing. And I love what you’re doing now where you’re pairing it right back. You’ve got a very specific vision for this year, 12 websites, and a very specific market. And like I said, I remember about six to seven months ago, me and you having this conversation, you’d already picked your niche, but you were then trying to work out what your messaging should be to the niche. How did you get to, you’ve gone from print, you’ve got hair and beauty, and with Penguin, I think it’s Penguin Media.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Yeah. You your kind of web development branch of your original business. How did you decide on wedding suppliers? How did you come to that conclusion that that was gonna be your niche for 2018 and 2017?
Adam Lacey:
Yeah. With picking a niche, it’s always a little bit scary because it feels like you’re starting again.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Mhmm.
Adam Lacey:
So I sort of the thing is I could have easily further down the issue of hair and beauty. Yeah. But the problem was they weren’t really the clients I wanted to work with. They a lot of them with no due disrespect. Obviously, a lot of them are sort of part time. You know? They’re mobile. They don’t bring in the sort of revenue, and I don’t think I can help them, you know, enough to where they’re gonna see a significant difference in their business. You know, and, also, the competition was sky high.
Adam Lacey:
And, I mean, the wedding industry competition sky high as well, but as you probably still remember from your wedding, they’re not the cheapest of things. And, generally, the return on investment that I can offer just makes it a sort of no brainer deal normally. Yeah.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
And had you serviced the wedding industry before then, or was it just you wanted to shift into that kind of fresh?
Adam Lacey:
Yeah. I think I’ve done one site off the top of my head shortly beforehand. But, yeah, it was mainly planning my own wedding as well, seeing many other websites out there, and, obviously, a lot of people lacking good websites. And the difference seemed to be of sort of DIY website builders as you know, and then people have spent good money and got a good website. And as a couple ourselves, we sort of we know who we lent towards. And I was like, I really wanna help these people get to that stage and stand out from the crowd and grow their own businesses.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
There’s your way, mate.
Adam Lacey:
My life. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. So it it really, yeah, it was a bit of a jump and a bit of a couple. So it took a little bit of thinking about, you know, my kind of concept was, well, these supplies charge on average a thousand pound for their services on a day. Most of the booked at least two, three days a week. You know, there’s some sort of work.
Adam Lacey:
You know, if I can provide this much return, you know, that that was a or a back of a sort of notepad working out. But,
Lee Matthew Jackson:
yeah, it was kind of a pack it down there or
Adam Lacey:
something like that. Yeah.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Or back of a napkin. I I I can’t remember the old phrases my dad used to come out with. So Yeah.
Adam Lacey:
That’s it. So, yeah, I literally done that. And then a little bit was jumping blind. And in the back of my head, I said, well, what’s the worst that can happen? You know? Again, you try it, and if it doesn’t work out in six months to a year, then you pivot, don’t you?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Whenever you say what’s the worst that can happen, just do not drink any Doctor Pepper. Okay? I’m just saying. Excuse me. What I’m hearing though is is you’ve gone through a very important part of your life, which is the wedding. There’s the whole wedding planning, and as they’re interacting with all of these wedding professionals as you are trying to work out who you are going to use, what services you are gonna use from those people, how everything was gonna get together, etcetera. And I found I remember organizing my wedding. I found it, obviously, stressful, but also, one of the most exciting things we ever arranged. And, obviously, like we said earlier, it’s one of the most memorable times in our lives, the best times of our lives with our family and that.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
So I think from that story, from that history you’ve got now, that, you know, the the joy, the pleasure, and the emotion that you’ve kind of invested in all of that, and realizing that you can help all of these wedding professionals. So I think that’s that’s that important story that has inspired your mission. Your mission now is to help those wedding professionals. Now, I love what you’re you’re saying about helping wedding professionals book more brides. But share with everybody, what their main problem is with regards to bookings. Because I remember you explaining it to me about six or seven months ago and it it I I hadn’t realized and I just what their problem was, obviously, so I’m trying not to give it away. But also, it’s such a a big issue and it’s such a great place to market yourself from. I just want people to kind of hear it from you and understand it from you so that they can also look at their own industries and their own niches and see what big problems they can highlight to their potential clients or existing clients to close a sale.
Adam Lacey:
Sure. So with the wedding industry, it’s not unusual for a supplier to be booked even up to sort of two and a half years in advance.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Mhmm.
Adam Lacey:
And also the market is super competitive, as I said before. So, really, my main goal and the problem I’m solving is helping them get that booked that far in advance. So instead of them booking for the next six months or the next twelve months, the I I can get them enough inquiries and hopefully revenue booking through that to help them grow and book for that two years in advance period. And, really, that just helps structure their business more. You know? The what I found from most wedding suppliers already is that a bit like us do what we just said. We’d love like, our day was so special to us. Mhmm. And the supplies feel that way about everywhere than they do.
Adam Lacey:
Like, they can’t wait to be part of someone’s big day. So what I wanna do is help them be part of more people’s big day, essentially, you know. And you get these supplies that are so in love with their work. It just it’s a no brainer for them to get in front of more people and show that passion and get the bookings and, you know, make more people’s day special.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
And there’s quite a lot of suppliers out there who do have that problem, don’t they, where they’ve only got, say, six months or maybe even six weeks worth of bookings, and they’re already stressing out Yeah. About the future. They don’t know how to generate leads because they are passionate about what they do. They’re a photographer. They’re they drive a car, whatever it is, whatever the services, they make amazing cakes. But, they don’t necessarily have those skills. So what you’re doing is helping people get booked up for a year, two years ahead that gives them this, you know, ongoing pipeline of essentially guaranteed sales. And you’re giving them more than just a website.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
You’re giving them leads. You’re giving them consultancy. You’re giving them, you know, a business, a business model, and a strategy. And I just I find find that so inspiring. And I wanna commend you for it, mate. I I think it’s a really, really good angle, and you’re really very focused. And, again, anyone listening, I would encourage you to take inspiration for what Adam’s doing to see if you can really super focus in on a problem and a mission that you can have for your industry or for your clients. So you’re gonna say something?
Adam Lacey:
I I mean, I might even be touch wood. I’m not a % sure yet. I’m in the planning stage. I might even niche down further. Mhmm. I mean, my theory is you could never niche down too much. The benefit of niche down
Lee Matthew Jackson:
too much. Service, aliens from Mars, and then I think that’s a bit too far.
Adam Lacey:
Yeah. But it just makes everything easier, like, from delivering your message to the sort of sales process for yourself, but also how you can help and, obviously, your portfolio as well as showcase. I mean, the route I’m sort of looking at going down perhaps again in sort of twelve months’ time, take the next step, would be to niche down to just, for example, say, just bridal shops. And then that way, you can say, look. I’ve helped all these bridal shops help their brides find the perfect dress. Mhmm. You know? Let’s do the same for yourself. Because when you do your marketing and everything like that, your ads and everything else, it just becomes so laser focused really and targeted that it just makes everything a lot easier.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
That’s so true. I like it. If you imagine, listeners creating a a product. So say you’ve created a product, and we’re gonna do this from an example in my life. I created a product about four years ago, which had the ability to be a buffer clone, essentially, a social media posting automation, etcetera. So I tried to market that in, in a non niched area. So, essentially, I’m marketing a product that, does the same as everyone else’s does, and there’s no target audience. So I am a tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny fish in a very big ocean.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
The minute I take that product and find a particular industry and, you know, right down to, for example, design agencies, what I now do with that product is I have licenses direct with design agencies where I’ve evolved that product to support the in house processes of design agencies so they can automate some of their social media. So by doing that, I’ve become a very big fish as it was, or a very attractive fish. I don’t know what the right wording is here in a puddle. If you know what I mean, in a very small area, it’s easier to stand out when you are in a very specific niche like Adam is doing. He is, you know, he’s putting his stake in the ground and he is now standing out to wedding professionals in his area and around The UK because he’s saying, I know your industry. I know your problem. And I am here to serve you. I am here to help you.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
So, I’m just giving you another fist bump. Adam, this is, a Love on Adam day today. I hope you’re feeling edified.
Adam Lacey:
Yeah. Absolutely. It was Friday. I I think it’s a bit I had to start drinking. But, yes, good day. Good day, Friday.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Good day, Friday. Yeah. Don’t you worry. 04:00, I think is my, that that that’s my time. I’ll probably crack open a beer and and reward myself for a week of of of hard work.
Adam Lacey:
Yes.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
So now one thing you did do which intrigued me, maybe three or four months ago, is you did a a print run, which now makes sense because of your print background. But, did did you generate any leads from that?
Adam Lacey:
Refresh when we’re going, I do quite a few things.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Oh, you did quite a few things. So I remember you because you sent me a picture of it and I believe you did a print run or something, or maybe it was an email campaign. But I seem to remember you did do a print run out to, wedding professionals, and I wondered, how that might have performed versus the email campaigns that you sent.
Adam Lacey:
Yeah. To be honest, I haven’t done any physical stuff yet. It’s sort of in the pipeline. I sort of put things on hold, and then, like I said, yeah, I’ve done the email campaign, which I did get a few leads from. And I’m in the process of having a meeting in a couple of weeks with one of those.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Nice.
Adam Lacey:
So yeah. I mean but I really wanna do things a little bit different and come away from, you know, emails, go to junk. You know? Mhmm. I’ll I wanna be a bit different. So, yeah, you’re right. I’ve been looking at all sorts of things to that’s just a little bit different. So when you receive it in the post, it’s a bit like, oh, I wanna remember that because it’s so unusual. I mean, when’s the last time, you know, you received saying marketed in the post that was sort of different? It doesn’t happen that often these
Lee Matthew Jackson:
days, is it? That was it. Wasn’t it like a love letter to them?
Adam Lacey:
Yeah. Yeah. I also looked at maybe like a story book. Yeah. And it’s like the ending is their business as such. Yeah. So, yeah, done done a few different things that are in the works, really. But, also, like, as you know, you’ve got one of my printed umbrellas that
Lee Matthew Jackson:
I use it practically every day because we live in England. Yes. Thank you.
Adam Lacey:
So, yeah, you know, for a few of the higher value clients considered just literally cold sending them an umbrella, and I think that’d be quite a heavy peak of interest from them, I would have thought.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Well, I’m really interested to see how it goes because I I didn’t realize you hadn’t sent the print run out. I think what’s happened is you sent me it to say, hey, this is what I’m gonna send out, but it sounds like you’ve not sent it out yet. So what I’d be super interested to do is if in the agency trailblazer community, in the progress report section, if you don’t mind just keeping a track and letting us know when you do those, how well they perform. Because I have a sneaking suspicion, and I think you may prove me right, that print is not dead and does still have its day because we have email campaigns and we’ve got retargeting social media ads and all of that sort of stuff. People are becoming totally desensitized to it. And I know how ridiculously excited I get when I hear the letterbox downstairs. And I run downstairs, and even if it is flat out spam, I know it’s an absolute rubbish letter, trying to sell me a credit card or something. I still open it, and I still look at it because it’s the only damn piece of mail I’ve had for that that whole entire day, maybe that whole entire week because I hardly get anything.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
So if you are then to send them that love letter, you know, or that storybook, that unusual standout print piece that captures their attention, then that’s gonna put you front of center of mind. And I’m really interested to see, how that goes and to see whether or not in this digital age, whether Lacy Digital and all of the agencies listening, who especially who are web based agencies, maybe we’re all missing out on that area, of of print. And you’re in a great position as well, having come from that background.
Adam Lacey:
Yeah. What I’d say about print is, like you said, it’s it’s not dead. I think it’s not dead, but it’s changed. So
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Yeah. Yeah.
Adam Lacey:
I think this the old days of sort of getting tempers and flyers and putting them through doors is sort of a bit null and void, but there’s some great sort of, services out there, and I’ll put a link in the Trailblazer community, where even if you don’t wanna worry about printing it yourself, if you’re literally, like, you don’t wanna see it at your desk and stuff, envelopes, and all that, you can literally have the documents. Say you create a really funny letter, for example. Mhmm. You upload that to the portal, give them a spreadsheet of addresses, and they take care of everything for you.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Nice.
Adam Lacey:
And it’s just nice and simple then. You know? I do it for I send when a client signs up to Lisa Digital or Penguin Media, they get a postcard, that I custom design. I’ve sent it through to this company because they they accept as little as one. So I can send one offs without worrying.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Oh, who’s that?
Adam Lacey:
I’ll have to grab the names in my bookmarks, but I’ll definitely If you
Lee Matthew Jackson:
find it, I’ll put it in the show notes as well. Sounds cool.
Adam Lacey:
And, yeah, so I send my customers so, basically, it’s a picture. I changed the picture in NAND GAM, but the one I’m using at the moment is a picture of a cat relaxing.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Mhmm.
Adam Lacey:
And it says and it goes on a six postcard. They get through the door and says, don’t worry. You found your perfect designer. Oh, no. And then and then on the back, it’s just like, hey. Thanks for signing up, blah blah blah kind
Lee Matthew Jackson:
of thing.
Adam Lacey:
But, yeah, it’s just a nice little touch. It costs 50 p. Like, you know, it’s not
Lee Matthew Jackson:
can sound really cheap. Yeah. There is something about gifts, isn’t there? And two years ago, we sent a holiday Christmas gifts out to people. We sent pictures of me and Larissa and Karthick and Kate all printed on marshmallows, which was unusual. And, we sent that out to, I think, about 15 clients. And I I I didn’t really know whether it was a good idea or not. We spent quite a bit of money doing it, a couple of hundred quid. It felt like a lot of money a couple of years ago.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
And, it it led to reminding some clients that we existed still. And it actually led to well, it converted. It converted three clients. So out of that £200, we made several thousand pounds worth of business because No
Adam Lacey:
brainer, isn’t it?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Exactly. These clients had kind of forgotten about us or not forgotten about us, but didn’t feel close or attached to us anymore because we hadn’t really invested in reminding them that they are important and special to us. And then just by doing that, by sending a gift of printed marshmallows with our mugs on them, our faces Yeah. That just it it kind of it it made them laugh and and it kind of helped us reconnect with some people that we’d lost touch with. And you know what I’ve gone ahead and done? I have totally gone ahead and done the same thing. You know, two two years later, I’m now, you know, I’m at a position where I’ve let some relationships go stale because I’ve been busy, etcetera. And I’m thinking, oh, man, I I really should be more consistent with, my existing clients. We’re always focusing out on on our new clients a lot of the time and generating new leads.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
But actually, one of the biggest sources of income, for business can actually be our existing clients, repeat business, etcetera. So I’m I’m kind of putting myself out there and and being accountable to the community saying, I’ve actually done a bit of a bad job over the last especially the last year in remembering to continue to develop those relationships with existing clients.
Adam Lacey:
Like you say, it’s difficult, isn’t it? I think, like, the clients get busy. We get busy. You know? Things move along. And, like, so you do forget about it. I mean, talks with a a lady who makes wedding cakes and stuff like that, and she’s managed to just we’re just sorting out the packaging. But, again, when a project is complete, it looks like I’ll be able to send out six cupcakes with my logo on, which would be pretty cool.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Oh, that’s awesome, mate.
Adam Lacey:
So it’s little things like that. Just little touches. You know? Yes. It does eat into, obviously, your bottom line to a degree, But as long as you get into a cost of like, affordable level or you’re charging what you should be for the job anyway, it doesn’t really matter too much. And, you know, like you were saying about working with current clients, it’s, you know, that that whole trust and everything is already built up. So it’s the easiest sell you’ll ever make if you speak to a current client and go, you know, you we’ve owned your website two, three years ago. You know, I just fancy a bit of a refresh. You know, time’s moved on.
Adam Lacey:
Technology’s gone better. You know? The rest of it. You know? Like you say, as you found yourself, it’s so much easier. So I would just go, yeah. Alright. Because they already know you and they know your work. So
Lee Matthew Jackson:
And they also just received a cupcake off you, so you’ve totally sweetened them. Exactly. Just, you know, if you do get those cupcakes, you know my address. Yeah.
Adam Lacey:
Yeah. Yeah. No worries.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
I mean, obviously, the umbrella, I’m very grateful for. But a cupcake, that would just be that would be the icing on the cake. You see what I did there? That’s ridiculous.
Adam Lacey:
Oh, man.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
So over the hundred years that you’ve now been in business, because you clearly are very old, having achieved everything you’ve just told us, Is there any kind of one thing that you’ve learned or that you would advise people in business to, to maybe follow?
Adam Lacey:
Follow?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Do one action, one mindset, something that you’ve kind of discovered that’s really helped change your mind about your business or or change things in your life?
Adam Lacey:
Yeah. I’d say don’t be afraid to sort of go against the grain and going out and working for yourself. It is a skill prospect. Mhmm. But I’ve worked for myself since I was 18 now. Mhmm. I’m 26 today. You’re a whippersnapper.
Adam Lacey:
And, yeah, I’m doing okay for myself. So, yeah, I would say just don’t be afraid to go out there. You know, set your goals, make sure you know a plan of action, and just getting out there and doing it. There’s only so much planning, you know, strategizing you can do. Sometimes you just gotta try it. You know? I’m sure we’ve all done marketing campaigns that have failed at some point. You know? You just pivot. Try something else.
Adam Lacey:
Don’t be afraid to go against the the grain, and like you say, try cold market, different bits and pieces. I always say there’s enough clients out there for everyone. Yep. So that’s how I don’t be don’t be afraid to go out there and grab your part of the market, really.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Absolutely. Dare to be different, I think, is a is a good way of summing that up. And that’s something you’ve you’ve kind of demonstrated throughout your story, daring to be different. You’re, you know, you’re targeting specific people. You are with your campaigns that you’re designing, you’re doing something very different to stand out. So dare dare to be different. Dare to stand out and go after your share of the market. Don’t be scared as well.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
I would add to this with regards to pricing because Yes. In that massive market, there are people that can afford the higher price as well. And there are people that can afford the lower, and those are not your target customer. Your target customer are the people that can afford the higher so that you can look after yourself and your client at the same time. Such good stuff, buddy. Nice. You’re a legend.
Adam Lacey:
I won’t class yourself as a legend, but, yeah.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Well well, I would. But I call a lot of people a legend. And I have to kind of, like, start to pick who I call a legend because otherwise, it’s going to just devalue my phrase, you’re a legend. But for some reason, there is just so many people on Facebook right now in the WP Innovator group, on the Beaver Builder group, etcetera, who I’ve met like you. I believe I met through I think it was the Beaver Builder group. And I’ve just made such good friends. There is such an amazing community online of people. And, you know, I feel like, you know, you, Paul Lacey, Dave Toomey, Dave Foy, etcetera, Kim Doyle, everybody feels like family now.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Ashley as well. Ashley Ann Longmire. I’m gonna forget names. You know who you are, especially in our mastermind group as well that we’ve got. You know, it’s it’s just such a it’s it’s like a feeling of family of support. And, like, you’ll know, I’ve sent you messages sometimes when I’m down, and and you’ve supported me, etcetera. It’s it’s just so great.
Adam Lacey:
Again, I think that’s another thing to touch on. You know? Yeah. It happens. It’s normal. I think we’ve all had moments of the epiphany of what am I doing with my life. Mhmm. This is all going wrong. And, you know, don’t like I say, days when you do feel down and, you know, just touch on mental health a little bit.
Adam Lacey:
I’d say super important for anyone just to reach out and talk to someone. You know? We’ve all been there. Honestly, hand on heart, I can say I haven’t met one single person in the digital space that hasn’t suffered with mental health or some problem Yeah. At some point. You know?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
And that’s what I’ve been amazed about with the community. And, again, I mean, you’ve been very supportive. We’ve had a a few conversations, haven’t we? Especially when I’m kind of, stressed out or down about something you’ve been you and Paul Lacey. Seems to be the Lacey’s. It might be a Lacey thing.
Adam Lacey:
Lacey Power.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Yeah. Lacey Power, but you’ve both been really, really encouraging. So if you are an agency owner or web developer, solo, or in business, be sure to connect with community as well, especially via places like Facebook. There are some vibrant communities. If you wanna at least get started, join ours. That’s wpinnovative.com/group. It’s a free Facebook community that you can be a part of, me and Paul. Sorry, me and Adam.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Sorry. I got the laces confused. Me and Adam and Paul, hang out in there, and, we’re all good for great conversations and support in agency life. So do head on over there. And from within there, we’ll all recommend great groups that you can be a part of just to give you that extra support because it’s not good to be alone in business and it’s great to be friends because we’re all peers. We’re all in theory competition with each other, I kinda guess. But like Adam said, with this abundance mindset, there is enough business for everybody. And let’s all support each other and grow our businesses together.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
So, Adam, you are a true genius, a true legend. How can people connect with you? And then we will bid you adieu.
Adam Lacey:
Yeah. No problem. Like I say, I’m in the WP Innovator Facebook group. You can catch me in there most of the time. If there’s anything particularly you want me to read, just tag me. And, also, I’m in the new Trailblazer Cool. System as well, which is very fancy, and it looks fantastic. Excellent.
Adam Lacey:
So, yeah, again, you can reach me in there as well if there’s something particularly you want me to have a look at and critique or just pick my brains about something I’ve done, you know, anything like that, feel free.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
And also don’t forget to check out lacydigital.co.uk. You’ll see that this guy may be a self taught designer, but he’s a really good designer. I like it a lot very much. I like this site.
Adam Lacey:
Get the butterflies.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
You’re what? Sorry?
Adam Lacey:
Forget the butterflies
Lee Matthew Jackson:
now. People think we’re flirting. But I like the font as well, especially on the there’s the about page and it says where the magic happens and the font is just perfect for that. I just love it. And you’ve got your wedding pictures so if you want to go ahead and see Adam, getting married there’s a really nice, wedding picture. Well a few nice wedding pictures in there as well including of them all getting plastered at the bottom. I presume you’re all getting plastered.
Adam Lacey:
Yeah. It was my best man thought it’d be a great idea to order everyone a shot.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
So Brilliant. So that’s lacydigital.co.uk. Adam, you’re awesome. Thanks so much for your time.
Adam Lacey:
No problem.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
And have a good Take care.
Adam Lacey:
Cheers, mate. Bye.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Well, that wraps up number one one one. And remember, we talked about community. If you are not part of a community, then head on over to WPInnovator.com/group. That is our free Facebook group, which is filled with web designers, web developers, agency owners, freelancers, awesome people all supporting and helping each other out. So that’s a free Facebook group, wpinnovator.com/group. If you are an agency owner and you are looking to take your agency to the next level, or perhaps you’re really stressed out and you wanna get control of your business again and start to enjoy what you’re doing, then head on over to agencytrailblazer.com where you can learn from our agency reset track, our workshops, our masterminds, and, of course, the community that we have in there as well. That’s over on agencytrailblazer.com. Hopefully, we will see you in one of those communities.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Have a fantastic week, and we will see you on next week’s episode.
