We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Yael Reinhardt-Matsliah. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Yael below.

Yael, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of the toughest things about entrepreneurship is that there is almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?

Scope creep nearly killed my business. Here’s how I turned it into my biggest advantage.

The first 8 years as a web designer were really hard. Low pricing and endless client revisions were draining my passion, and I was ready to quit.

Then, I joined Nathan Ingram’s coaching program (link in comments). It changed everything, but one piece of advice stood out:

“You like to give. It’s who you are. Embrace it, but set clear boundaries. Build ‘extras’ into your business model, separate from what the client has agreed to pay for.”

And so I did. I started clearly defining each project while naming my ‘extras’ as a Lagniappe line item – separate from the project scope.

Which eliminated scope creep and satisfied my innate desire to give.

This small change transformed my mindset and my bottom line.

Struggling with scope creep? Redefining how you ‘give’ could transform your business AND your mindset.

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴, ‘𝘓𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦’ 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢, 𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘺 😊

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’ve been a web designer now for over 20 years. I help service-based professionals craft websites that embody their vision, values, and goals, attracting their dream clients through a holistic approach.

How I came to this work is a story in itself, more an “accident” than an intentional goal. I’ve always been passionate about my work and deeply committed to living an authentic, inspired life.

Whether in the mountains of Central America working as a humanitarian worker, or shut up in isolation doing research on some historical or present injustice, I was always driven by some deep inner need to make sense of things, to make order. But to be in business? No, not me…

Or so I thought! But life has a way of helping us find the things we need to grow, to stretch, to rise above our self-imposed limitations, and life certainly helped move me from the non-profit/activist role into the self-employed web designer role. It was a natural progression really.

As a writer and someone who loves to find the essence, the root of things — I love helping clients create a web site that truly reflects who they are and what they do.

Websites that ignite deep connections with ideal clients and generate meaningful leads. I do that using a strategic process that starts not with fonts and colors but with the client’s vision, values, and goals.

My process starts with brand strategy, clarifying the client’s message and values, which is then fleshed out in optimized copy for the web. I then bring it all together in a beautiful and engaging website. Every design element, image, and word carefully chosen to reflect the client’s brand, values, and message.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I’m a very private person and while I’ve always encouraged and helped my clients use social media for their business, I’ve only recently followed suite.

I chose LinkedIn, because it’s most aligned with the types of people I work with; it’s also the preferred method of communication for me. Primarily written with additional assets (video, carousels, etc) that support the message.

Which brings me to my biggest piece of advice for those just starting to build a social media presence:

Choose a platform that most aligns with who you are first (are you visual, perhaps Instagram rather than LinkedIn).

Then narrow your platforms down to where your most beloved type of client would hang out.

Try to merge those two interests into one platform (something you enjoy and where potential clients are)…. because if you hate the platform — even if potential clients are there — it’s not sustainable long term.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Without a doubt it’s been the work ethic I bring to every project.

Any long term business requires first and foremost that you honor those who trust you and invest in your service. If your clients see that you care about their success as much as you care about your own, referrals come naturally.

Invest deeply in your clients and your clientele will grow naturally.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://pixelhappy.co/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yael-reinhardt-matsliah/
• Other: Medium: https://medium.com/@pixelhappystudio