Apple’s first iPhone released to the public over 15 years ago, on June 29, 2007. The first-of-its-kind product would combine the iPod, a phone and the internet (gasp!) all in one hand-held device. Hopefuls waited in lines for hours on the first day of sales. The atmosphere—if this clip of a fictionalized Elizabeth Homes vying for one in The Dropout gives you any indication—was frenzied, to say the least. In its evolution so far, the iPhone has consistently pushed the limits of what smartphones can do. It is a technological and cultural juggernaut that influences not only its competitors but also the functioning of industries globally. And loyal fans await each new product launch with the kind of fervor usually reserved for pop stars and superhero movies. We’re not getting into the detail of every iPhone model here; consider this article a highlight reel. Here, we’ve rounded up some of the most revolutionary moments in the history of Apple iPhones, with a focus on the large-scale changes each set in motion. Apple's latest iPhone model, the iPhone 15. Image courtesy Apple. 1. Launch The iPhone was the smartphone that changed the world. In January 2007, Steve Jobs unveiled the first-ever Apple iPhone, with a 3.5-inch screen and 2-megapixel camera, calling it “revolutionary,” and a “breakthrough Internet communications device.” It wasn’t the first smartphone, but it was definitely the most groundbreaking—its sleek, multi-touch display and futuristic, intuitively-designed user interface put design firmly at the forefront of Apple’s product ethos, and revolutionized how people would use their devices. Video of the big reveal of the first-ever iPhone in Apple history. 2. App Store For all its technical brilliance, the iPhone as we know it today would be nothing without the Apple App Store, the innovation that arguably redefined the course of personal computing. Launched with the iPhone 3G in 2008, the App Store became a hub where users could download apps from third-party developers to do everything from playing games, scrolling through social media to calling a taxi. In its first weekend, it reached 10 million downloads; the numbers today exceed over 50 billion downloads. This was a major moment in the history of the Apple iPhone: the App Store transformed the way software was designed, used, and distributed. The announcement of the app store. 3. Advanced camera & retina display Apple’s popular “Shot with iPhone” ad campaign owes its roots to the iPhone 4, launched in 2010. This phone came with Apple’s most powerful camera, its first front-facing camera, and its now-signature Retina Display screen with higher pixel density than traditional screens, features that made high-quality yet extremely simple smartphone photography a part of everyday life and turned every iPhone user into a photographer. (Apple just ran a “shot with iPhone” campaign for pop star Olivia Rodrigo’s “Get Him Back!” video, shot with iPhone 15.) Coupled with these innovations in camera technology and screen resolution came FaceTime and HD video recording—and the near-obsoletion of digital cameras. Apple's most recent "Shot on iPhone" ad campaign, for the iPhone 15. 4. Siri Apple introduced Siri, its smartphone voice assistant, in 2011 with the iPhone 4S. With a simple “Hey, Siri,” the voice assistant can be summoned to search the internet, set reminders, identify songs or tell a joke—a manifestation of the fantasy that one day we’d be able to talk to technology. While Siri has been criticized for sometimes being clunky, it was radical at the time of launch—The Verge called it “probably one of the most novel applications Apple has ever produced”—and set the ground for competitors like Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant. Siri enters the chat. 5. Skeuomorphism to flat design Early iPhones featured expressive, three-dimensional textures and designs that mimicked real-life objects (remember the pinewood iBooks shelf?) known in the design world as skeuomorphism. But in 2013, with the launch of iOS 7, Apple introduced a new visual language: flat design. Not only was this a major moment in the history of Apple’s iphone, it was a major moment in design history. This new style was simple, two-dimensional, and evoked the modernity of Swiss design—the primary typeface was Helvetica Neue Ultra Light—and would go on to define the next decade of user interface design. Apple introduced flat design with iOS 7, changing their design style and, soon, everyone else's. 6. Face ID The iPhone X replaced the fingerprint scan-based Touch ID and home button with Face ID, a facial recognition system used to access and unlock the phone, in 2017. Through Apple's TrueDepth camera system, the iPhone creates a three-dimensional map of the user’s face, which is then used to not only unlock the phone but also create animated Animoji and Memoji characters. Apple has also modified its Face ID technology to recognize users while they are wearing face masks, a design relic of the pandemic era. Apple introduced Face ID with iPhone X in 2017. 7. Augmented Reality Apple claims to have the world’s largest AR platform, positioning the company and its newest model, the iPhone 15, as the platform of choice for the slew of AR apps on the market. This capability has led to a spate of AR-enabled iOS apps like AR spaces, and IKEA Place, which lets you virtually place true-to-scale 3D models in visualizations of your spaces. A combination of Apple’s lidar-based 3D scanning, innovations in tools for capturing realistic visuals, and the AirPod Pro’s spatial audio technology could indicate future uses of the iPhone as a world-building powerhouse. AR in Pokémon Go. Image courtesy The Pokémon Company International. 8. Virtual reality Of course the biggest news when it comes to Apple and new tech doesn’t really have to do with the iPhone, it’s the Apple Vision Pro—the company’s splashy, wearable AR/VR device to be released next year. In the history of Apple iPhones, though, this is still major–it shows that the iPhone, as a concept and as the company’s original smart device—could really evolve to be just about anything.

We’re all familiar with the typical industry holiday cards sent out to client lists, which clutter our mantels, offices and inboxes this time of year: script fonts, red and green colorways, glittering snowflakes. As a designer, visuals like these can all feel a bit expected. So, we asked the Wix Studio design team to offer up some holiday card design reinventions that stand out from the clichés. The results are anything but ordinary, featuring unexpected contrasts, rich design dimensionality and entrancing animated features—with the added bonus of web design best practices you can apply all year long. 01. Create unexpected contrasts These two cards are built to stand out. While both cards nod to traditional holiday symbols, colors and motifs, like the Hanukkah dreidel and Christmas tree, they’re reinterpreted as flat design icons—in this case, old school rear view mirror air fresheners. Look closely, and they’re rendered ever so slightly as 3D elements, evoking the soft texture of the real deal. The copy is also traditional and nostalgic, but the all-caps sans letterforms definitely aren’t. This interplay of styles gives the holiday cards a contrasting, modern feel. “The aim was to create visual imagery that relies on playful contrast with a bold and clear typographic message,” says Wix Studio designer Ashger Zamana. “The graphic twist of the holiday symbols adds depth and humor, and creates hints of joy.” In an ever-more mobile-first world, the vertical orientation of these holiday card designs makes the most of a mobile screen’s available real estate, so it catches recipients’ full attention whether they read it in their inbox on their way to holiday festivities, or in a close friend’s Instagram story. (Leaning into vertical orientation is a gold standard for digital assets year-round, btw.) These vivid holiday cards make the case for breaking with expected type choices. 2. Give your design some dimension One clear way to make your e-card design stand out is to lean into digital design techniques that aren’t possible with their snail mail counterparts. This e-card design celebrates the Chinese New Year by doing just that, and adding a sense of dimensionality and contemporary newness to traditional motifs. Here, the dragon illustration honors traditional visuals with a classic style, but uses a translucent effect that gives the illustration a sense of playfulness and newness. “Working with a classic representation of a dragon and more contemporary, eclectic letters creates a sense of depth and 3d illusion,” explains Zamana. You’re an expert after all, so find ways to push your design and impress your client list in ways standard evite services can’t. Here, Zamana heightens the visual interest by making this static illustration more interactive with other design elements in the card: in this case, by using layering to weave the dragon through bold type. Want to push this effect even further? Try animating it, as Zamana does with the next holiday card design. Heighten visual interest by designing elements to interact with each other within a composition. 3. Add eye-catching animated elements If you’re going the e-card design route, why not go all in? This card features a flower as the primary motif, but with a twist: it blooms right before your eyes. “The design approach revolved around the idea of longings, and expressing that in a visual way,” says Zamana. To do that, he used “a soft, grainy animation with minimal colors to create a sense of breath and air.” As for type, Zamana softens a more standard, low-contrast serif Grotesk font with slants and backslants on select letters. Great design visually translates your central idea across composition elements, and this design captures that well, whether for a holiday card design or anything else you create for a client in the future. As a web designer, your tool chest isn’t limited to a static page, so don’t be afraid to keep things festive year-round with thoughtful animated elements, like lottie animations, that draw the eye in your next project. Add animated elements for a fresh take on traditional motifs.

Anyone who's ever built a digital agency knows there’s a lot to juggle: the time crunch of short deadlines, working with clients who ghost, trying to win back angry clients, managing a team of designers (without micromanaging a team of designers). Agency life isn’t for the faint of heart, but it’s also rewarding for creatives who want more control over their work. And a blueprint, like the Wix Studio-approved one below, can help you manage the logistics of launching, running and scaling your business. Jump ahead to the section most relevant to you: How to launch an agency How to run an agency How to scale an agency How to launch an agency Take time to think through your plan, and you’ll set yourself up for success (and streamlined operations) later. Address the points below through a detail-oriented lens; the more specificity you sprinkle in, the stronger your foundation will be. Write a business plan Your business plan is basically your GPS as you move forward. Check out this free business plan template for your new agency, and make sure to: Define your business idea Clarify the market and competitive landscape Outline your marketing strategy State your value proposition Identify/anticipate potential risks Seek investments and strike partnerships Set benchmarks, goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) A cohesive business plan is the best way to start your agency. Make these points explicit in a singular document to articulate your vision and provide a framework with which to assess the impact of possible decisions. Above all, a business plan provides clarity and context, answering stakeholders’ most frequent questions. Remember: business plans lay the groundwork for your strategy, but you need to stay flexible should any unexpected moments arise. Write one with intentions to follow through, but pivot when necessary. Determine your niche, audience and services Who do you sell to? It’s a simple question at face value, but the answer changes a lot about your business. For starters, your ideal client might have specific needs that others don’t, which can impact what services you can offer, or how much you charge for them. Begin by identifying what niche your agency fills in the market. In other words, how are you different? You can do this by identifying your USP (Unique Selling Proposition), or what you offer that no one else can replicate. To find your USP, run a SWOT analysis (sometimes called a ‘situational assessment’) to gauge how you differ from other agencies. This includes articulating your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats as they relate to your competitors in order to determine what you alone bring to the table. Note: There should be a natural fit between your USP and your ideal customer. Find yours, and your agency will click with your intended audience, because it speaks to who they are (or want to be). Set your sales and marketing strategy How you reach your audience is as important as who you reach. Start by identifying where your prospects spend most of their time. Is it LinkedIn? A niche community? Maybe they listen to a daily podcast during their commute? Or, perhaps they’re an avid blog reader and would sign up for a newsletter. Enter: why you need to create a marketing plan. This includes defining your marketing channels (social media, SEO, PPC and so on), developing buyer personas, identifying the jobs-to-be-done (JBTD), articulating inbound and outbound strategies, establishing your pricing strategies and planning out your finances and budget. Of course, you’ll also want to build out that initial client pipeline, which you can kick start by asking for leads through your network. Get your tools right Planning is one thing, but taking deliberate action to grow your business is another. To that end, you’ll need the right tools to service your clients, run your team and manage your operations. For example, the Wix Studio workspace is a new end-to-end solution packed with features that help agencies and freelancers manage their projects and teams. You’ll have easy access to all your websites, reusable templates and widgets. You can also manage all your sites in one central hub and manage billing and subscriptions from the same place. Lastly, consider how you’ll integrate the latest AI capabilities into your toolkit. Here’s what the rise of AI means for the future of creativity. How to run an agency Up and running now? Congrats. Here’s what you need to manage it all effectively and efficiently. Build your team If you have a successful solo practice, you might be wondering, “who should be my first hire?” It’s a question every founder wrestles with, and the answer depends on who will help you maintain your business so that you can focus on growth. That could mean hiring a salesperson to close more deals for you, or a creative to do more of the manual labor. You might opt to hire a CMO if that’s a personal weakness. The point is, fill in the gaps (your personal weak points), with a bias towards the particular space that promises the greatest immediate ROI for your agency. From there, implement systems and establish workflows and procedures to make your hires’ lives easier. Use project management tools such as Monday or Trello to centralize task management, and host regular meetings to hold more nuanced conversations and build team chemistry. Ultimately, laying the foundation for a strong agency culture starts with your leadership team. There are certainly ways to motivate creative teams, though you need to embody the vibe and culture you want your company to express. Reflect on how you want to train new employees, and build out collaborative structures (such as the pod model) early, which empower teams to stay agile in order to best service clients and close the feedback loop. Some emerging roles to consider down the road: digital experience managers (responsible for maintaining brand cohesion across a multichannel strategy), AI engineers, influencer marketing managers and a director of client services. Lead with vision Leading an agency requires more than strategic planning and effective management, it demands a visionary approach that goes beyond the day-to-day operations of the business and taps into the essence of what the agency stands for. Leaders should push their crew to challenge the status quo, all the while protecting the larger vision the company aspires to achieve. Do this by: Setting ambitious goals and seeing them through Creating frequent opportunities for brainstorming Creating a promotional ladder for emerging leaders in your company Regularly celebrating (and amplifying) employee achievements Striking exciting partnerships that birth new capabilities at your agency Regularly speaking with clients and prospects to learn which areas of your agency’s operations need improvement Get new clients Getting new clients calls for a formalized process for sourcing leads (see: is doing free work ever ok?), onboarding clients and managing the relationship, starting with a full-on contract or SLA (service-level agreement). Protect yourself down the line and ensure you get paid by putting pen to paper, all while communicating a sense of professionalism. You’ll likely also encounter several clients who, throughout the course of your relationship, begin to expect more than what was previously agreed to. It’s a real (and common) problem that persists if you don’t set boundaries, so it’s important to know how to avoid scope creep. How to scale an agency Scaling an agency means doubling down on what works. Growing an agency means trying new things entirely. Set your growth intentions To scale, put routine work on autopilot with automation and look to secure recurring revenue for your services. Growth looks like adding entirely new service offerings, identifying new customer segments, striking new partnerships and leveraging growth hacking techniques to expand client outreach. That’ll usually come after you’ve scaled up. The difference between scaling and growing is easy to visualize. You scale your operations, whereas you grow your capabilities. Ideally, you do a bit of both at your agency, but the only real way to track it is to set the intentions and the metrics. What are you scaling/growing? And how will you measure success? Are you trying to increase blog traffic through your newsletter? Do you want more followers across your social media channels? Growth doesn’t happen accidentally, so you’ll need to set your targets ahead of time. Treat them as a north star, and weigh all of your decisions against them. Adjust your business plan for your new reality There comes a time when an agency outgrows their previous strategy and must evolve by adapting to a new reality. This may come during massive changes in the market, or perhaps you have more clients than you can handle, and it’s time to upsell and charge more for your services. You might be at the stage of your growth where it’s time to explore new markets, or you might be responding to times of crisis (see: 6 ways to recession-proof your agency). Whatever the root cause is, address the need for change head on. Formalize new standardized procedures to provide your teams with much needed clarity and a well-structured plan. Refer back to the how to write a business plan section above and address each change point by point. Determine where the greatest changes have occurred within the plan and what changes need to be made. Do this as proactively as possible, so you can respond to internal and external pressures instead of reacting to them. Manage your money effectively The unwritten rule of growing/scaling your agency is a strong command of your finances. Cash is oxygen for a business, so make it easier to breathe by handling it well. That means managing expenses properly with a budget you determine on a quarterly basis based on your performance and available balance. Set the minimum sales volume needed to cover your costs, evaluate the profitability of your offerings and create pricing plans, identify opportunities for cost reduction and assess how feasible your business model is. As the leader, you should always have a clear view of all the costs associated with running the business (though it never hurts to hire a CFO when your agency is ready for it). Strong financial management is long-term financial planning. Over the course of running, managing and scaling an agency you’ll come to find that the age old adage rings true: it takes money to make money. Don’t lose your soul as you expand Since culture is often regarded as ‘the glue that holds companies together,’ you’ll want to maintain the positive qualities of your work culture so they don’t get diluted as you scale. Empower teams to fail fast (and fail forward), stay informed about industry trends, set realistic goals and invest in personal development. At the company level, implement continuous improvement strategies such as regular feedback sessions and continuous testing (like A/B testing, user testing and heat maps). A proactive and receptive approach to experimentation will help you make the necessary course corrections to go the distance. Now that your GPS is set, buckle up and fix your mirrors: agency success might be closer than it appears.

Black Friday. Cyber Monday. It’s officially shopping season. It’s likely that your clients have already started optimizing their eCommerce website strategies to prepare for higher sales volumes. But there are still some quick creative changes that could make a major sales impact. After all, design isn’t only an art; it’s also a science. And when you combine both you might just get some holiday magic. Start with these 5 eComm design tips that will boost conversion, drive sales and cultivate brand loyalty for your clients’ eCommerce businesses. 1. Spark delight with no-code animations A seamless, intuitive user experience is key to converting website visitors into buyers. In fact, 72% of online shoppers say a poorly designed website affects their opinion of a business, according to Forbes Advisor. This doesn’t mean you can't flex your design flair on product pages. Whether you’re looking to immediately grab attention with a seasonal sale banner or subtly draw the eye to new stock, adding animations and interactions are a great way to create movement and boost engagement. Take this Wix Studio template for an eComm catalog page. At first glance, it looks like a standard clothing brand website. However, a hover effect switches out the stark white background behind individual products with a colorful, surreal photo, creating an unexpected, playful interaction and setting the mood with one swoop of the cursor. This template features the same effect in a more utilitarian way, showing how the flowers would look in a vase, as well as a handheld bunch. Showing images of the product from different angles and in different use cases gives shoppers a strong sense of the item in context, and reduces friction by removing the need to click to a separate product page; most of the information they need is up front. “Adding interactivity is a fun way to direct user attention while also increasing engagement,” says Eliran Vahdi, brand designer at Wix Studio. “It’s about creating an active user experience, rather than a static one.” A custom cursor is another simple but effective way to make your client sites more interactive. Peep this template for a pizzeria. The scroll effect adds sizzle to otherwise standard order buttons by revealing them as the user moves down the page. The pizza cursor also brings its brand kitsch to the kitchen, showing how you can turn UI details into branding opportunities. Can’t you see the snowflake cursors already? 2. Embrace the AI era Whether you’re on deadline or need some creative inspiration, there are a lot of ways you can harness the power of AI to spark ideas and speed up eComm design processes. No one wants to be pushing pixels when they should be wrapping presents. Wix Studio’s Responsive AI is a game changer for designers. This new feature lets you adapt sections to fit all screen sizes with the click of a button. Meaning, less time spent adjusting per breakpoint. A Christmas miracle. Speaking of smart technology, why not add an AI-based Related Products gallery? This quick addition recommends products frequently bought together, viewed together or from the same category. Or, if writer’s block strikes during the holiday craze, the AI Text Creator can help generate product descriptions—and other content—faster than you can say synonyms. 3. Add customer reviews to build brand trust A massive 90% of shoppers say they consider reviews when making a purchase decision, according to a recent survey of 8,000 US consumers by Power Reviews. “Reviews are great for SEO but also for content because people look for reliable information,” as Ayelet Kessel, UX writer at Wix Stores said in a webinar on customizing product pages for conversion-driven design. “No matter how much you provide, the information from other customers is always the most valuable to users.” She also tells clients to respond to negative customer reviews. Users will naturally look for these, and a reply can help mitigate negative sentiment. You can add native reviews to your client sites with the Wix Reviews plug-in and customize how they display, right down to the opacity of the star rating, so you can style the reviews to match your client’s brand look and feel. 4. Automate upsell opportunities Design an easy way for shoppers to complete their purchase and buy more of what they like. Almost 70% of shoppers will abandon their carts, according to the Baymard Institute, which analyzed nearly 50 eComm studies on cart abandonment. Safe to say there’s room for improvement here. Sometimes, people just need a little reminder. Setting up an abandoned cart email to re-engage shoppers is an effective, low-effort strategy to recover some of the $18 billion annual sales revenue that’s lost on people who bounce before buying. Good news: A recent Klaviyo report shows that nearly half of consumers prefer email over other marketing methods. eComm designers can bake upsell opportunities into the user journey, too. Try sending back-in-stock notifications and surfacing related items at checkout using the Reconvert app, found on the Wix Marketplace. 5. Mix and match layouts to create versatile product pages While thumbnail galleries are a clean, simple—and commonly used—way to display items, you don’t need to limit your designs to one layout. In the example below, the designer used one of Wix Studio’s 10 new gallery layouts to give prominence to the hero image while still highlighting the other images and video. No longer seen as a “nice to have,” video plays a fundamental role in communicating a product’s value, creating an emotional pull and converting viewers into buyers. It also gives shoppers a better idea of texture and quality, which is particularly important for premium products. Our eComm design tip: Whichever layout you go with, try to include 3-5 images or video, from various angles and in context. It’s also best practice to divide the page width in half, giving 50% to the gallery, especially on visually-driven products.

You’ve been working with a new client and you’re ready to create stunning work, but what happens if your questions are met with crickets? It seems unlikely that a new or pre-existing client would ghost after the ink dries… until it happens. Though clients and prospective clients ghost for separate reasons, never take their communication for granted. Hopefully you’ve signed a contract, but even (and especially) then, the ball’s in your court to address the problem. (Related: How to create a successful website design proposal.) Whether your deal was sealed with a formal signature or a trusting handshake, you never want to find yourself in a game of cat and mouse. But if you do, we’ve got some tips to help you navigate the situation. First, you need to know why you’ve been ghosted Before you can get ghost-busting, it helps to know why promising prospects disappear on you in the first place. Usually, there are two main reasons people vanish right before you close a deal: The timing isn’t right for your potential client, either strategically or due to some extenuating circumstances. They may even come to this realization on the precipice of signing a contract, in which case it might be best to cut the work short and give them a grace period to return at a later date. Your prospect might be leaning toward one of your competitors, which should raise alarms at your agency if you determine this to be the case. It’s one thing to lose prospects or clients to poor timing, but if a competitor pulled the rug out from under you, then you might want to reassess your unique selling proposition. People you’re already working with ghost for slightly different reasons than prospects do. In this instance, the reasons are more personal: You’ve made a mistake somewhere along the way and they aren’t happy with your services. Your client no longer sees how your solution is fitting their needs. Your client was thrown a major curveball you might be unaware of. How to handle being ghosted by a client There’s no question that being ghosted sucks. But with a level head and clear plan, you can address the problem and prevent it from happening again. Of course, you’ll want to have a transparent conversation with the client in question to learn exactly what’s going on, but these tips should offer some guidance in the meantime. Keep your cool Be the first to reach out and always create a pleasant climate for prospects to return to. Never be snarky, even if you feel like you’re in the right (which you very well might be). Avoid being accusatory, but be clear in your messaging that things need to change for work to continue. Reach out across multiple channels It’s important to give people the benefit of the doubt; inconsistency isn’t desirable, but clients are human, after all. Never spam your clients if they aren’t getting back to you, but don’t consider the job done if you’ve only reached out once. Send an email and leave a voicemail. Just be sure your messaging is courteous and not aggressive. If they’re still not getting back to you despite your best efforts, try another person on their team or within their company (assuming you’re not working with a team of one). Make your value super clear Part of any creative work you do for a client involves connecting the work you’re doing to the bigger picture, especially if it’s not immediately obvious. How can better design increase conversions in your client’s site? Why should they trust you to write their newsletters? How will adding custom code snippets change their UX? You may need to better demonstrate value by walking your client through some case studies or offering a small freebie that will re-energize them after you get a hold of them. You don’t want to be in selling mode, though: focus the conversation on the problems they need solved, not the services you provide. Own up to your mistakes If a client’s behavior leads you to suspect that they’re unhappy with your work or process, it’s best to apologize and offer a redeeming one-time service or discount. You can use these win-back strategies to incentivize clients to return, and read more about how to productively manage the client feedback process and why you should know your clients' core values. Send them their bill If you have a contract with your client yet you still haven’t heard back from them despite your best efforts to reach out, invoice them for the month(s) they’ve been absent. This will serve as a more assertive reminder that they’re still under contract and therefore responsible to pay. For future cases, make sure to include a clause in your contracts stating that if you’ve been putting in the work, but the client doesn’t honor the relationship, they still have to pay for your efforts. Become un-ghostable with future clients Once you’ve been ghosted, have a post-mortem with your team about what went wrong, and how you can prevent ghosting from happening with future clients. Here are some ways to get ahead of the problem next time: Tap your network Recommendations by trusted sources reduce the chances of getting ghosted based on the fact that both parties have already been vetted. Since no one wants to look unprofessional in front of their network—clients included—you know that both parties will put their best foot forward to avoid tarnishing the recommender’s reputation, and their own. Make sure your contract protects you Your contract should include a termination notice, and also a contract settlement fee to cover the time you’ve already spent. Once you start seeing some initial ghosting, make sure you have a paper trail of your attempts to connect, which can serve as legal proof that you did your best to honor the relationship. Be more than a service provider If you want to bullet-proof your brand in the eyes of your prospects, get to know their industry on a deeper level by doing your homework: set notifications for news in their sector and share relevant suggestions. This not only conveys professionalism (and an eagerness to work with them), it further cements your services as an invaluable asset—and who would ghost an invaluable asset? Next up: How SEO and web design agency Zoek scores big ticket clients - and retains them

Freelancing is often thought of as a solo adventure, and in some ways, it is. You need to handle the creative and the operations of your business on your own; you interface with clients and produce the work; and you don’t have coworkers to share the workload or bounce ideas off of. That’s why your freelance community is so important. “Communities can teach you things like how to price your services, how to get clients, how to differentiate yourself and how to think about hiring people,” says Kyle Prinsloo, leader of the Freelance Fam community who teaches independent workers how to build a profitable freelancing empire. Plus, “freelancing requires building a brand, doing SEO, cold calling and advertising—things that require constant feedback loops and learning.” Your freelance community can provide just that—and hold you accountable to your goals. “When I started freelancing in 2015, a friend and I would set weekly and monthly goals, then check in with each other when the time was up,” Prinsloo says. “It was helpful in getting us both off the ground.” (Here's more on starting your freelance web design business.) How to build your freelance community So, if you’ve been going at it alone, perhaps it’s time to turn to a supportive community such as Freelance Fam to level up your business-of-one. Some things Prinsloo says to consider as you build your freelance community: Don’t look for work, look for people “Tools and platforms are irrelevant when it comes to community. You could use Slack, Discord, Circle, or it could be offline,” Prinsloo says. “A community isn’t how you meet up. It’s the people.” That means you need to find people who are relevant to your business: just because you’re in a freelancing community, for instance, doesn’t mean it's the right one. Members might also fly solo, but if the nature of their work isn’t agency-related, specific conversations around things like pricing or scope creep might become a moot point. So, how do you know a community has the right people for you? Look to the conversations people are having to see what kind of exchanges and knowledge is being shared. “The more specific and niche, the better,” Prinsloo says. “It's better to have 1,000 members who are really committed and focused on the same goals than 100,000 non-committed members.” Network intentionally Once you’re in, it’s time to introduce yourself. Tell the community who you are, what you do, and what you’re looking to contribute and get out of the community. “It’s always a positive to build your brand by showcasing your expertise,” Prinsloo says. “When you do so alongside professionals in adjacent spaces, it elevates your authority, which only furthers the opportunities that come your way in the long run.” Make it a point to engage early and frequently. “Our community has a weekly video chat where we highlight struggles and offer advice. We also do website reviews, and sometimes participate in competitions,” adds Prinsloo. Post your work strategically When you post examples of your work, people are more likely to think of you for future projects. That said, there’s a fine line between showcasing your work and being a full-blown PR machine. So, make sure you aren’t only talking about yourself. No more than one out of every five posts should be self promotional. The rest should answer questions your audience might have, or introduce them to new concepts that can be of value. “Cement your thought leadership by giving away your knowledge,” says Prinsloo. It may seem counterintuitive, but selflessly giving away some great insights in your content (while still attaching your name to them of course) can help you skyrocket your brand. Keep your friends close, and your competitors even closer On that note, if you see other freelancers and agencies purely as competition, you might be due for a reframe. The truth is, other freelancers (and especially ‘competitors’) are a valuable source of knowledge, both in terms of what you should and shouldn’t do. Prinsloo says: “The thing is, you need direction. You need goals. You need a blueprint, and seeing your competitor’s approaches is a good indicator of how others are already thinking on the same subject.” Cross-check who other freelancers in your community consider their ideal clients to be. Are they similar to your’s? Then, research what they’re selling to this audience, and how they’re framing it. Finally, consider if there’s a better way to frame your offer, in line with the value that you’re providing, your current level of expertise and your competitor research. Ultimately, doing business is a social act, even for those running their own freelance businesses. Use these strategies to organically find clients or referrals, connect with mentors and strike key partnerships that take your freelancing business to the next level.

eCommerce puts the world at our fingertips. Consumers can purchase products from across the globe without leaving their homes, and merchants can meet those customers with efficient websites and effective marketing. Yet, for all its glory, many eCommerce websites still fall flat when it comes to conversions: it’s estimated that roughly 7 out of 10 shopping carts get abandoned today. Worse, it’s not always clear why. It could be because users discovered a better price elsewhere, they were put off by too many steps in the checkout process or they were just browsing. To diagnose the problem and offer scalable solutions, businesses turn to freelancers and agencies for eCommerce conversion hacks and creative strategies that convert site visitors into paying customers. eCommerce conversion optimization tips for agencies Check out some ways to make more eComm cash for your clients. Display recent customer activity Invest in traffic that converts Use a sales countdown timer to create urgency Tap into product reviews and ratings Offer incentives Decrease load times Consider your mobile strategy Simplify the checkout process Follow up on abandoned carts 01. Display recent customer activity People don’t like missing out (see: why FOMO is a thing), and this rule of life applies to trendy products as much as it does to parties and concerts. That’s why showing recent customer activity—like the number of people who have an item in their cart or the latest purchase a customer made—drives sales. It’s the eCommerce equivalent of two thumbs up. Indeed, social proof, or demonstrating that other people are interested in the products sold, boosts conversions by as much as 15%, according to OptinMonster. Social proof influences shoppers because it contributes to that fear of missing out and makes customers move fast so they don’t miss their chance. 02. Invest in traffic that converts The 80/20 rule (a.k.a the Pareto principle) can help you invest your marketing resources more efficiently and effectively. While not always an exact 80/20 split, the idea is to allocate more of your time and marketing budget to the larger portion of traffic that accounts for the majority of your conversions. Do this by analyzing the data you have about shoppers who visit your store. Focus on the average demographics that buy from you, and hone in on their particular motivations. You can use this information to create an ideal-buyer persona, then create campaigns and messaging focused on those personas. 03. Use a sales countdown timer to create urgency As the name implies, countdown timers display a running countdown to the end of a specific event. They're the eCommerce version of the New Year's Eve countdown clock, except they apply to sales, offers or retail events. They’re powerful motivators to incentivize visitors to act quickly, particularly during high-demand shopping periods. Timers create a sense of urgency, a "while supplies last" environment that fuels a scarcity mindset. They’re a simple tool that can increase sales and help push an online visitor from consideration to purchase. Use Wix Blocks to create your own and use it on multiple client sites. Even better, you can later sell in the Wix App Market for others to use as well (with an audience of 245 million+ potential customers). 04. Tap into product reviews and ratings Reviews and ratings build trust with shoppers. Of over 6,000 consumers recently surveyed by PowerReviews, nearly all of them said they read reviews. While 43% of respondents in the PowerReviews survey said that products should have 100+ reviews, even a single review can boost conversions by as much as 77%. Adding reviews to your Wix Store is an easy way to provide value to the online shopping experience. 05. Offer incentives Everyone likes a discount. Incentives like free shipping, samples and coupons can give people a push to purchase. Even better if it’s specific and time-sensitive. Research shows that people are more likely to purchase when a coupon is tied to a specific holiday than when it’s generic, as we reported in the story, Are internet holidays marketing genius or just social media noise? 06. Decrease load times Slow-loading web pages are obvious conversion killers. One study found that each second of delay reduces conversions by 4.4%. A slow website can cause some shoppers to switch to a competitor and others to shake their fist at the sky and walk away from the computer completely. Fast load speeds are, again, so obviously essential for a positive user experience. Luckily, there's a lot you can do to improve your website's loading speed. This includes compressing and optimizing images, reducing redirects and using Wix Studio (just sayin’). 07. Consider your mobile strategy Optimize your eCommerce website for mobile to reach shoppers where they spend a huge chunk of their day. Mobile is rapidly becoming the preferred way for consumers—particularly younger generations—to shop online. Mobile eCommerce (or "mCommerce") will comprise 43.4% of total retail eCommerce sales this year, up from 42.8% in 2022. Your strategy should include responsive website design, optimized images (again, compressing images makes pages load faster), use of QR codes, and simplified navigation with mobile devices in mind. Wix Studio’s Responsive AI lets you create responsive designs quickly. 08. Simplify the checkout process User experience is everything when it comes to the final stage of the online shopping journey: the checkout process. Simplifying online checkout reduces cart abandonment rates and increases sales. To create a streamlined checkout experience, remove unnecessary steps and keep the user flow concise. For example, allow users to check out as a guest, without creating an account, and avoid bombarding them with lots of offers during the checkout process. Also consider giving customers as many payment options as possible. 09. Follow up on abandoned carts Almost 70% of all shoppers abandon their carts according to the Baymard Institute. Cart recovery emails and remarketing can help you "save the sale" by reminding shoppers that they left something in their cart. Cart recovery emails, on average, have an open rate of between 40 and 47% and conversion rates ranging from 8 and 10%. Wix Studio lets you set up retargeted Google ads that show the products in someone's cart after they leave your website have click-through rates (CTR) 10X higher than other display ads and can boost website conversion rates by as much as 26%.

One of the most stressful things you can do as an agency owner is raise your prices, especially for your most loyal clients. What if your new price pisses them off after all you’ve done to win them over? And yet charging more for your services is also one of the best ways to grow your business—when done right. “Agency owners think, ‘if I raise my rates, clients are going to leave,’” says Griffin Roer, founder of Uproer, a search marketing agency for SaaS and eCommerce brands. Now, brace yourself for this next part: “maybe some will,” he says, “but there’s a lot you can do to mitigate that.” More importantly, “if this decision is in the best interest of your company, then you’ve got to trust your instincts to know that there may be some short-term pain for some long-term gain,” Roer says. Done right, charging more for your services can mean bringing in the same revenue for less work, or better yet, retaining your clients at higher rates so you boost your bottom line. Ka-ching. (Related reading: 11 agency experts share how to surpass your business goals) How to charge more for your services Here’s how to do exactly that, with Wix Studio's step-by-step guide to raising your prices without compromising your hard-won clients. Do your research Reconsider your pricing model Time the price change right Feel out your pricing with new clients Give a heads up, then schedule a chat Shift the conversation from price to value Step 1: Do your research First, make sure your services are competitively priced in the market. “You should have a pretty good feel where you stack up among competitors,” Roer says. “If you're talking to a prospect and they seem to see you as the cheap option, that’s one signal to start charging more.” Of course, what you charge depends on what you’re offering. You never want clients to feel like they can get more bang for their buck elsewhere, so you may want to change your offer to better match industry standards. Get a sense of the market by asking in online forums. The Wix Studio community is perfect for these kinds of conversations. Step 2: Reconsider your pricing model There are different ways to charge your clients: hourly, monthly retainers or long-term contracts. Nat Miletic, founder of Clio Websites, an SEO and web design agency based out of Calgary, Canada likes to charge month-to-month because of the perceived flexibility on the client side. “It doesn't lock the clients in, so there’s an interhent comfort level from their perspective because they're not trapped,” he says. “But it's also fine for us, honestly, because the cost of switching from one provider to another is kind of high for those types of services anyway, so it’s unlikely.” Plus, “our pricing mode communicates that we’re confident in what we provide.” This could be a great reason to consider a monthly model as you raise your prices—many clients can wrap their heads (and budgets) around trying it out since the commitment feels low. One exception Miletic makes at Clio is for SEO services, where clients will need more time to see results. “In cases where projects need a longer runway, we don’t want clients abandoning our agency if they expect immediate results, so we communicate that and write up a six month to year-long contract instead.” (See also: How to get more recurring revenue) Step 3: Time the price change right Before you raise your prices, first determine whether the timing makes sense. “The right time is when you have enough work and a steady stream of new clients coming in,” says Miletic. A caveat: “The timing of any rate changes must make fiscal sense for your clients,” says Roer. “Most clients like to budget out their fiscal year ahead of time based on their costs of services in their contracts, so your changes should align with your clients’ contract renewals.” The worst thing you can do, he says, is raise prices mid-year. “This would upset your points of contact and create strain on your client's businesses.” Step 4: Feel out your pricing with new clients Miletic says the best way to approach sensitivity around price increases and fiscal calendars is to test your pricing with new clients first and keep your existing clients at the former rates (for now). You want to treat your pricing like a test: raise your prices until you start seeing drop offs in conversions. “Once you have enough new clients to sustain you, then you can start raising your prices with your long-standing clients,” says Miletic. “This way, you honor both your business growth and your long-term relationships.” Step 5: Give a heads up, then schedule a chat When you’re ready, Roer says to give existing clients a heads up that changes are coming, typically one or two months in advance. You’ll also want confirmation that your clients’ key decision makers know about your rate increase. Just keep in mind: emails can feel cold, Roer says. “We've always had these conversations in client meetings, face to face or virtually face to face, and I think that goes a long way in demonstrating respect for the relationship, as well as being immediately available to answer any questions or concerns.” (More expert advice: Leading an agency in the age of AI, with Ogilvy Paris’ David Raichman and Mathieu Plassard) Step 6: Shift the conversation from price to value Of course, with much ado about dollar signs it's important to shift the conversion from what clients need to pay to what they get in return. Discussions around value always beat price when convincing clients to pay more. “So much of the conversation about raising prices revolves around cost, but cost is only relevant to what you're getting in return,” Roer says. “Come to those conversations with evidence of past success that demonstrates your value.” Miletic agrees.“Your price increases should always be justified,” he says. “It could be because of the growth and experience obtained by hiring new people, or because you’re growing your agency’s toolkit, but you need to make it clear that it’s in the name of better serving your clients and that you’re not just offloading your costs to your customers.” Ultimately, the price of a service is what agencies get, whereas value is what the client gets. Steer the conversation towards the latter topic to help clients understand why your new costs are worth it. You know they are, and with these strategies, they will too.

David Raichman, creative director at Ogilvy Paris and AI street photographer, seems to know the secret to making the most of both AI and human creativity. “Generative AI has shifted the value away from execution and back to the idea itself,” he says. “It’s easy to fine tune a prompt a million times; what’s more interesting is your strategic thinking, the creativity behind the prompt and how you might layer multiple generative AIs to achieve your desired effect.” (Read about Wix Studio's AI capabilities here.) Exhibit A: Ogilvy Paris’s latest AI marketing campaign for Nestle, which features an extended view of Vermeer’s The Milkmaid to promote La Laitière yogurt. (FYI: The brand name translates to “the milk girl” in English.) The campaign zooms out on the original painting, revealing a room full of people watching the milkmaid as she works, and transforming the painting from a depiction of quiet solo labor to a spectacle with an audience. It was created in the brand’s AI.Lab, which houses cutting edge technology as well as a trained team of art directors, copywriters, creative technologists and legal to imagine new activations for Ogilvy Paris’s clients. By zooming out, Ogilvy Paris uses AI to think outside the frame. It also depicts the growth of the brand from a lone craftswoman to a widely recognized French icon. The extended scene captures a sense of awe missing in the original, which La Laitière intends as an invocation for its new brand slogan, “C'est si bon de prendre le temps.” (It’s so pleasurable to take the time.) The campaign received a Bronze Lion award at the Cannes Lion festival. “Every week, there's something new about AI, so you have to ask yourself ‘am I going fast enough to stay relevant?’” adds Mathieu Plassard, President of Advertising at Ogilvy Paris. “At the same time, you need to make sure you’re not pivoting too soon, so it’s important to find a cadence that lets you stay experimental yet strategic.” With so many agencies feeling that struggle, we asked Plassard and Raichman to share their most important learnings about leading a global creative agency in the age of AI. How do you quickly mobilize an agency around a new strategy? Mathieu Plassard: I have four recommendations for leading during times of change. The first is to try to overcome being a hostage of the quarter. You have financial considerations, as do all your clients, so you need to find a way to keep the long term mission and vision without falling victim to the numbers. The second is to get everybody on board with that. It's great to define a mission or vision, but you need to communicate it to your employees, and do it clearly and regularly. The third is something I think we're still not good enough at as an industry, which is to encourage experimentation and accept failure. People very rarely accept failure, but innovation often straddles that line between failure and breakthroughs. The fourth is to invest in the future. That one’s especially difficult because you need to identify what makes for a strong signal that ‘this is a good trend to follow up on.’ Listen to your talent, and try to be the best at research and development. (Related: How to surpass your business goals and charge more for your services) How do you find a unique angle for AI campaigns? David Raichman: More often than not, making unique work starts with the idea itself, not the technology, and in that sense inspiration can come from anywhere. You need to have a double minded vision about what is good for society, as well as how your brand can have a relevant role in it. Then, consider how technology can help you realize your vision. For instance, our Red Cross France Not Generated by AI campaign featured a collection of horrifying, real (non-computer generated) images that remind us how fake images distract from real-world emergencies. We needed good photography to bring this to life, but it was more of a commentary on AI than an application of it. In this case, we didn’t actually have to use it to produce something extraordinary. How do you encourage innovation and risk-taking as president? Mathieu Plassard: You need to have a vision, and you need to be confident that it's going to work. If I look back to the ‘70s, David Ogilvy was the first to start a direct marketing agency. It’s since evolved, but there's always a risk in trying new things. Failing forward is just a part of what we do at Ogilvy—it’s baked into our DNA. Sometimes you’ve got consumer tests that help you come to informed decisions, but sometimes it's a leap of faith. So, how do we create a mindset of testing, failing and being bold enough to try something new? I’d argue it’s really about leading by example, which always starts from the top. Accept that you're not always right. By encouraging that mentality, we’re able to pivot and do something very different, very quickly. From a technical perspective, that’s exactly what we’ve done with AI. We really believe that it’s about giving our employees a new superpower, so we’ve invested in what we call the ‘AI Academy.’ It's a resource that provides the tools and education to play around with AI. The academy acts as a soft bed for failure to learn from, grow from and ultimately cultivate that superpower. When you train your people, it’s a guarantee that you’ll have better ideas. What does it mean to be a creative director in the age of AI? David Raichman: For me, a creative director isn’t the person that’s ‘making the stuff,’ it’s somebody that operates at the vision level of the project without touching the stuff. AI is great for giving you exactly what you want, but your team can provide a hurricane of nonlinear ideas that spur creativity better than ChatGPT ever will. So, when you ask for a red triangle, you’ll get variations of it from your AI, whereas your team might deliver a blue circle, which may not initially be what you wanted but can inspire breakthrough thinking in your project. The key is to combine both capabilities, that’s how you arrive at ‘purple triangle with rounded edges’ level ideas.

It seems as though every week brings a new headline about a retailer going under. Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Party City, and Revlon have all filed for bankruptcy. It’s enough to make retailers of any size shake. But with a savvy, digital-first strategy, retailers can quickly turn their fortunes around, find new momentum and thrive. Just as the past year brought store closures, century-old brands notched record sales after going viral on TikTok. Who’d have guessed? Well, perhaps you could’ve. Digital agencies can—and do—provide creative solutions and an outside perspective to execute a quick turnaround for struggling clients everyday. And even if your client isn’t falling on hard times, there’s a lot you and your team can do to take their success into another stratosphere. The proof is in these well-known brands that pulled off next-to-iconic turnarounds. Ahead, you’ll find their success stories, plus the marketing strategies that can help your clients thrive in a similarly competitive landscape and challenging economy. 01. Lego At the turn of the millennium, the toy maker was in trouble. Kids were spending time on screens, not constructing physical worlds. In search of new revenue, Lego developed video games, theme parks and even a line of clothing—with mixed results. To turn things around, they re-centered on their customers. They closely observed families’ play habits and spending preferences, which inspired such hits as Ninjago and Lego Friends, the Guardian reported. They also pursued savvy partnerships with Star Wars and Harry Potter to enhance their core product lines, and partnerships with Adidas and Balenciaga appealed to adults who grew up playing with Legos. The payoff has been substantial: in 2021, consumer sales grew 36%, helping operating profits double to $1.2 billion, according to License Global. The lesson for agencies: build strategies on data, not desperation Lego uncovered new opportunities by getting back in touch with its original customers. These interactions prompted a renewed focus on popular product themes, such as outer space, that led to partnership deals with Star Wars and other hit franchises (and could have marketing holiday tie-ins). Start a brand revamp with market research and customer surveys to understand what buyers want, and build organically from there. 02. Stanley The rise of eCommerce posed an existential threat to the 175-year-old manufacturer. Most of Stanley’s revenue came from small items such as tape measures and hinges, and its supply chain was ill-equipped to handle direct-to-consumer demand. A massive investment in online selling was in order. Recognizing that “eCommerce is the number one growth opportunity,” Stanley hired more than 150 dedicated staff to pilot digital initiatives globally, Digital Commerce 360 reported. This specialized expertise helped rejuvenate the brand’s image. In 2019, feedback from influential bloggers prompted the brand to capitalize on the rising popularity of reusable water bottles and drink containers, according to NPR. New colors and designs for the cup-holder-friendly Quencher tumbler resulted in a viral sensation on TikTok and Instagram. Product sales rocketed 275% year over year, and the company’s net income has more than doubled since 2013. The lesson for agencies: digital-first is more than a buzzword Trusting bloggers to guide product and marketing strategy is a leap of faith Stanley was prepared to make thanks to its organization-wide focus on digital initiatives. To maximize success, develop responsive online strategies that build on feedback from existing customers and leverage new marketing channels. 03. Claire’s After decades as a shopping mall staple, in 2018 Claire’s filed for bankruptcy and shuttered nearly 200 stores. Changing shopping habits and a middling digital presence had nearly killed the brand. To reboot, Claire’s rethought their approach to in-person shopping. Through “concession” partnerships, Claire’s offers aisles and kiosks within popular retailers like CVS and Walmart in the U.S. and Galeries Lafayette in France, according to Glossy. The company repurposed its own locations as omnichannel hubs with the debut of same-day store pickup for online orders. Online, a collaboration with Roblox connected the brand with its core audience in a new way. Tween and teen shoppers can earn loyalty club points as they play ShimmerVille, according to Modern Retail. Overall, the brand reboot helped lift sales 53% year-over-year in 2021, Marketplace said. The lesson for agencies: go where buyers gather Claire’s proactively established a presence where tweens and teens already preferred to go—both online and in the physical world. Prioritize digital investments by catering to your audience’s specific omnichannel preferences. 04. Polaroid A “juggernaut of innovation,” the original Polaroid Corporation pioneered instant-photography cameras, earning more than 500 patents, according to the Boston Globe. But faster film processing from regular cameras and the rise of digital photography put the iconic brand out of business. It went bankrupt twice and churned through six CEOs in the early 2000s. A relaunch in 2009 focused on blending retro appeal with modern functionality. New Polaroid cameras offer users the old-is-new experience of instant-print physical photos that can also be saved as digital files. Drones and mini-printers that generate photos on sticky-back paper are extending Polaroid’s offerings to adjacent product categories. Brand nostalgia has played a role in its rise in popularity, boosted by collaborations and tie-ins to pop-culture hits like “The Mandalorian,” PetaPixel reported. Promotions on thoroughly modern platforms like Snapchat introduce the Polaroid brand to the next generation. The lesson for agencies: balance legacy with innovation Polaroid maintains its iconic brand identity through retro design and functionality that blends old and new. The company has extended key features such as instant printing while relegating to history ideas that flopped, such as a filmstrip recorder with a built-in viewer. A brand relaunch should spotlight classic elements with staying power, then build on them. 05. Lancôme The well-known French skincare and makeup brand launched in 1935, then joined L’Oréal’s luxury portfolio in 1964. But in recent years, independent and celebrity-driven beauty brands flourished, challenging Lancôme to remain a mainstay. In response, the brand put a fresh spin on its tradition of featuring iconic celebrities as brand ambassadors. To appeal to its audience in China, Lancôme named singer and actor Kris Wu as a brand ambassador in 2019, according to Daxue Consulting. And in 2023, Emma Chamberlain became a Lancôme ambassador, introducing the brand to her millions of social media followers, Cosmetics Business reports. (Related: Are internet holidays marketing genius or just social media noise?) Lancôme further appeals to Millennial and Gen Z shoppers with mobile-first experiences such as facial-recognition and augmented-reality shopping tools, according to Launchmetrics. The company has doubled down on experiential retail since the pandemic, launching an AR experience at its flagship Paris outlet and immersive pop-up displays globally. The lesson for agencies: engage the next generation on their own terms Lancôme is connecting with Gen Z luxury beauty buyers through influencer marketing tailored to diverse audiences, coupled with a commitment to innovation that’s more than skin deep. When relaunching a brand, research and engage with influencers relevant to the category and follow through with shopping tools designed to appeal to digital natives. Bring fresh eyes to your clients’ eCommerce strategy In the digital era, survival—or shall we say thrival—as a retail brand requires unprecedented agility and creativity. Companies can leverage the perspective and expertise of agencies to rethink their offerings, connect with new audiences and forge new partnerships. Armed with fresh insights and a focused strategy, there’s no limit to where your clients can go. Next up: Check out these eCommerce conversion optimization tips for agencies

You’ve built websites you’re proud of, debugged countless lines of code and took coding classes in order to polish your programming chops. But there’s no finish line when it comes to developing your dev skills. “No matter how experienced you are, there's always something new to learn,” says Emmy Cao, developer advocate at Wix Studio. “As you grow in your developer journey, you start to take on more ambitious projects that require you to level up your knowledge.” Plus, the industry changes fast. “It helps to stay ahead of these changes,” Cao adds. While embarking on your journey to becoming a better programmer, it’s imperative you get comfortable asking for help when you need it. As software engineer and YouTube course creator Ania Kubow puts it: “don't be intimidated by others,” she says. “If you think someone is better than you at something, ask them questions.” Even if you’re a senior dev working on your agency’s biggest projects, there’s always something to learn to collaborate more closely with the design team and improve your overall website development. Below, 7 ways to write the best code you’ve ever typed. Use goal projects as your guide Embrace failure Join the club Take on pair programming Tap a robot Try new frameworks Build cool stuff 01. Use goal projects as your guide “The most important thing a programmer can do to improve is to figure out their learning style,” says Thomas Jimenez, a developer advocate at Wix. “Some folks learn better from direct experience, so they prefer to follow along with tutorials, whereas others are more comfortable dissecting documentation.” So, how do you discover what your learning style is? It helps to have a goal in place to anchor your efforts. “If you say, ‘okay I want to build a Reddit clone, or I want to build a timer for my eCommerce website, then everything you learn can be geared towards that end-result,” says Cassidy Williams, CTO at Contenda. Plus, having a goal forces you to stick with a problem long enough to solve it. As an example, a solid goal project for agency developers looks like committing to learning a new programming language or framework within a set period of time to expand your capabilities (and what you’re then able to offer your clients as a service). 02. Embrace failure “A lot of today’s leadership expect you to know everything right off the bat, which is obviously impossible,” says Cao. She adds that one of the most important things a programmer can do is work where there’s psychological safety. Making mistakes (and fixing them) is an inherent part of being a programmer, so it’s critical to find projects, teams and organizations that reward trying new things as opposed to reprimanding failed attempts. “Every developer should find spaces where asking questions and getting constructive feedback is the norm,” she says. “If there isn’t an implicit sense of psychological safety, you won’t be able to stretch beyond your comfort zone because you’ll be afraid of messing up or losing your job.” Of course, it takes two. The best way to create a sense of safety is to take ownership of mistakes and lead by example. When you do this, you set the tone for failing forward and overcoming errors together as a collective (which only serves to strengthen team chemistry and your own learnings as a result). When clients are involved, there’s likely additional pressure to get things right. It’s always better to over communicate than assume you understand their needs and problems. Challenge your team’s assumptions by encouraging team members to frequently ask your clients clarifying questions. Moreover, clue your clients into your work by sending out a weekly email of updates and takeaways. Clients appreciate transparency. 03. Join the club “Joining communities should be an imperative for every programmer. Whether it’s going to college or joining a bootcamp or forum, learning is multiplied in social settings and struggling is multiplied when you go at it alone” says Jimenez. Being part of a community can offer a behind-the-scenes look at how products are made and introduce you to unknowns you otherwise wouldn’t have been aware of. Most of all, though, communities provide feedback loops, which help you pick up new programming skills. Some solid places to start: The Wix Studio Community The Devs on Wix Discord Code with Ania Kubow 04. Take on pair programming A quick refresher: Pair programming is a software development technique in which two programmers work together at a single workstation. One programmer is the driver, meaning they’re the one that writes the code, and the other programmer is the navigator, who reviews the code and offers feedback as it's being written. The two often swap places to give each developer a chance to code and reflect. AI can also step in here. “I use Chat GPT all the time when I’m unsure if the code I’ve written is the best way to structure what I’m trying to do,” says Jimenez. “Pair programming is scary for people at first because there's literally someone watching what you're doing,” says Cao. “Getting over that fear of messing up and looking dumb is its own challenge, but it’s the closest you can get to stepping into someone's head.” 05. Tap a robot Speaking of artificial intelligence, Wix Studio features an AI assistant that helps devs ship code faster and learn in the process. You can get custom tailored scripts and troubleshoot at lightning speeds to make sure your code works the way it was intended. And for those especially eager to learn how to be a better programmer, Wix Studio’s AI explains its code suggestions so you can put it to use in the future. On that note, Kubow says AI is best used as a tool, not a crutch. “Don’t rely on it too heavily because half the battle is solving it yourself,” she says. Related: Accelerate your developer velocity and unlock your team’s creative potential 06. Try new frameworks “Since there isn’t any one-size-fits-all technology out there, the framework wars have become quite contentious,” says Jimenez. “Every use case has a lot of different platforms, so don’t be afraid to try new tools and frameworks when the recipe calls for it.” At the end of the day, the best framework to use comes down to the problem that you're trying to solve, and the best tool for you to do it. “We've been seeing a lot of framework-driven development where people build very specifically towards React, Next.js, Laravel or Vue, and they get so comfortable in one framework that they forget the fundamentals and start living in a bubble,” says Williams. She adds that you want to be able to build things without relying on a singular framework so that if, for whatever reason, your preferred framework falls by the wayside, you’re still employable. Before your next project, take a step back and ask yourself—and your team or community—to consider the best framework for the job. It might help you avoid racking up technical debt in the process. 07. Build cool stuff “It's important to build things you’re passionate about because it encourages continual learning,” says Jiminez. Look for additional ways to get involved in your agency and work on side projects that help you learn. “Not only will you feel good building things you genuinely want to see in the world, but you can also document your journey to help others within your agency or in the communities you joined,” says Jimenez. Cao recommends finding cool projects, cloning them and then trying to change a little bit to see how it impacts the whole product. For Cao, those changes become micro-learnings, which help her decide what else she needs to learn. The endless journey is worth it, not just in terms of the awesome stuff you can create, but in terms of your growth as a professional in a close-knit community. “When I was starting out, I literally didn't know a single developer. I just decided I wanted to get into coding, even though I didn’t know anything,” says Kubow. “I’m so glad I did. Learning to code changed the trajectory of my life.”

There’s no better feeling than delivering a sparkling new website for your clients that doesn’t just check all the boxes, but far exceeds what they ever imagined for their business. To get there, you need tools that make you more efficient, creative and collaborative. That’s why we’re thrilled to announce the Wix Studio workspace, a new end-to-end solution packed with features for agencies and freelancers to manage their projects and teams. (You can read about more Wix Studio's features here.) We believe there’s nothing like it on the market, so we spoke to product manager Ronli Shacham and UX designer Adi Schur for a peek into the team’s vision and process. Ahead, they’ll share exactly how they built the new workspace, plus how your agency can use it for streamlined project management and exceptional work, deadlines be damned. (Related: Wix Studio's AI capabilities will change the way you work) First, we learned everything we could about how Partners used our previous dashboard. Ronli Shacham: Though we’ve been in constant dialogue with our Partners, we knew we’d have to undergo additional user research when dialing in on freelancers and agencies. Through hundreds of Zoom calls and in-person meetings, we concluded our previous product wasn’t meeting every need and that there was an opportunity to do something special. It became clear that our new efforts couldn’t include only a new editor. In order to provide professionals with an end-to-end solution, we also had to provide them with everything related to managing their projects, clients, teams and growth. We had to help them be successful in virtually every aspect of their business. That’s how the concept of the workspace was born. Adi Schur: Every person on the product and UX teams, at every level, devoted time to chatting with Partners so we could learn about their businesses, their pain points within the Wix platform, and their dreams and desires for their agency. Specifically, we learned that Partners: Manage many sites at a time Spend hours a day building websites for their clients Look for ways to be more efficient with their time in order to meet strict deadlines Know the platform very well Need to find solutions quickly to keep their clients’ businesses running Outsource and collaborate with other Partners and team members in their agency We did a ton of competitive research, too. Shacham: We also conducted an extensive competitor analysis where we learned about the industry standard and got inspiration from professional platforms in other industries. Based on this work, we knew we wanted to offer: Educational resources in both the workspace and the editor A strong Partner community Re-usable (and sellable) assets like custom templates and apps One place to view all product updates and upcoming features A seamless client handover experience Schur: Since we've built such a strong rapport with Partners, we really came to understand their biggest pain points. For example, competitors don't necessarily have things like client kits and handovers, so we thought, ok, this is a great opportunity. There isn't any competitor that we thought had everything, so we feel our solution is the most robust. Then, we started creating. Schur: To truly honor the rich conversations we’ve had with our Partners, we returned to their pain points in everything we did: efficiency, team collaboration and fostering strong client relationships. We collaborated with many teams in Wix to give the full solution. We’ve simplified multi-site management to help our Partners be more efficient. We added functionality such as new filters and the ability to create custom views to make navigating between client sites effortless. We've also enhanced the premium plans management page to easily view many plans and get highlights of the most important information, like soon-to-expire plans and payment problems. And we created the Customer Care Tickets page where Partners can view and manage all the tickets opened by their team in one place, easily find past resolutions and open new support tickets with Wix. They can also create and manage reusable assets as custom templates and apps that’ll help them work at scale and save them and their team valuable time. It also offers a monetization opportunity: Partners can submit their apps to the Wix App Market and start selling them. In the future, we plan to add the ability to share and sell custom templates. Plus, with Wix Studio, Partners can be a part of multiple workspaces from a single Wix account (one email address). For example, if they’re a freelancer working with multiple agencies regularly, or they’re a founder with several businesses, then they can switch between workspaces as needed. This eliminates the complexities of managing multiple accounts. Shacham: In our research process, we discovered that when handing a project over to the client, Partners would normally send them a screen recording or tutorial to show them how to manage and customize their site. Typically, they would send this via email, and the client would sometimes lose it in their inbox. That’s why we created the Client Kit, which allows Partners to upload their screen recordings—or any other resource they've created for the client—when they hand the site over to their client. They can also select from the Wix Studio tutorials collection. It makes explaining to clients how to use or update their websites hassle-free. Another cool tool we’ve added is the Client Report, which allows Partners to share key insights with their clients by sending them monthly analytics reports for their premium sites; they just set it up once, and it will be sent automatically every month with updated stats. And since we know how important it is for Partners to be in the know and up to date with everything that is new in the platform, we've created the News Center, where they can learn about all the new releases and new beta features. We've also included educational tools and resources (like sandboxes and inspiring examples of Studio sites) in the discover page and as part of the resources menu in the header. Don’t worry, we kept the features Partners loved. Schur: The workspace has the same core features that our Partners had before but with much more functionality and better UX & data hierarchy. The main features they had in the Partner dashboard moved to the new workspace including all sites, team member management, Partner program points and benefits including Rev Share and Marketplace, CRM and billing tools. We’re super proud of the final product. Shacham: We’re most excited about putting Wix Partners front and center by answering everything they’ve been asking for. It’s a company-wide effort to give them the best platform, tools and experience to create robust and beautiful websites for their clients. When you think about it, Wix Studio is the first end-to-end solution we created for Partners' needs in particular. Up until today, Partners used either the Wix Editor, which was aimed for the DIY users, or Editor X, which was more complex to learn and use. Professionals used them both, but neither were tailored specifically to their needs. Also, the previous Partner dashboard was lacking capabilities to manage projects at scale, and didn't offer enough efficiency and client handover tools. So, this is the first time we built a concept specifically to address this audience’s needs. But the process is on-going. Shacham: We’ve gotten some really great feedback about the new workspace—that it feels much more professional and easy to use—and the customer-care tickets blew our Partners’ minds. They’re thrilled with the client handover tools, and have some great ideas on how we can continue to improve and extend their abilities. They were also really excited about being able to sell apps, and in the future, templates. All of this is really just the tip of the iceberg. For full transparency in our strategic vision, check out our roadmap, which holds plans to create additional revenue streams for partners and more tools to grow their business. In the meantime, if there’s any additional feedback you’d like to share with us, please don’t hesitate to contribute to this Partners feedback forum. Stay tuned for more. Next up: 11 agency experts share ways to surpass your business goals in the final quarter