IRL = Your 2026 Web Designer Superpower

We're in a trust recession. 

Anything in real life and in person (networking events, meetups, workshops, etc) have become a web designer's edge.

In this special solo episode, I share how important this is in 2026 with getting clients and building relationships that last for years, especially in the age of AI, social influencers, and scattered online overwhelm.

Links mentioned:

• See the latest posts from our PRO CON 2026 this past weekend on my Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook
• Sign up for my free newsletter
• Join my community Web Designer Pro®

Transcript

Why A Solo Episode Today

Josh Hall 0:00

Hello, my friend. We're not going to have a normal interview this week for the podcast because at the time of releasing this, I am recovering from what was no doubt one of the best weekends ever because we just had our second annual Web Designer Pro Con in-person event. So, what I wanted to do here was just share a few things about why IRL in real life is a total superpower in 2026 and beyond. Now, I'm recording this a couple days before our conference. So I will be following up with a lot about ProCon 2026. Make sure you are following me on the social media as you prefer. I'm mostly active on Instagram and LinkedIn and a little bit still on Facebook. My handle is Josh Hall Co. on all of those. And the reason I mentioned that is a perfect complement to this episode, which is just a solo chat with you here, is going to be seeing this and how it's playing out in real life because, again, we just had our ProCon 2026 event. The first event we put on last year in 2025 was literally transformational for so many people. It was certainly transformational for me. And I think a lot of that is because there is a need now, as a part of I think our human desire to have a different connection than what we get online. And I love having an online community. Web Designer Pro, I've been running it for five and a half years now. It's incredible, but there's absolutely nothing that replaces in-person vibes and in-person connection. And this is beneficial for you as a web designer because I'm going to talk about a few things that I learned in having an in-person first web design business. Now, I'm not going to sit here and say that you need to run your entire business in person and do every marketing strategy that I data recommend, but I do want to challenge you to get in real life as much as possible, or at least at the very least, for a season. And those of you who are maybe more rural or you live in an area where your ideal clients are not near you, the next best option is to be present in a vibrant online community or do things live, or at the very least, go to, for example, WordCamps maybe once or twice a year, at least something once a year to get with your crew, to get with your people. So I don't have any um, like I'm not looking at a list or a bullet list. I don't have any notes on this. I just wanted to share some things on this because again, we're just coming off of our um second annual Web Center Pro Con event. And I'm gonna be, I'm gonna need a couple days of recovery because it is as much as I am an extrovert and I get energy and thrive off of being in person. I remember the feeling last year uh coming down from such a high of several days of so many interactions and so many conversations. It definitely, even as an extrovert, it did drain me. I needed a couple days to bounce back and recover. Um, I actually last year sent every attendee a personalized video, and many of you probably remember um I was I was wiped, but I wanted to get to you why the the iron was still hot. So I'm recovering right now. That's actually a little micro note that's worth of note, which is you do, I think, need to, when you're when you're doing things in person, you need to number one plan for it, whether it is joining a networking group or a referral group or going to a workshop or maybe going to a chamber of commerce event or like a library event or going to a WordCamp or coming to ProCon or another conference. You need to plan around it, like with your schedule. You need to plan for travel time, you need to plan for prep time and planning time, and then you also need to plan for kind of like recovery time. And even outside of your schedule, you also need to think about your energy. So just a heads up if you're new to doing anything in person, don't stack things right right away. Like, don't plan on doing a discovery call with a client right when you get home from a networking group or a referral event or like a referral group event that's two hours. Like you really do need to plan around that. I made the mistake early on of packing too much around live events and networking meetings. And I was just, I did not have enough time to switch gears. And that's actually really, really important. So I guess again, I'm not looking at any notes on this, but this may prompt maybe a future newsletter or video or something, which is you kind of need to ideally stack and make sure you give yourself bigger gaps between things you're doing online versus things you're doing in person. Um, so something to consider as you think about events. Now, let's turn this to you as a web designer. If you are somebody who is not aware of what type of in-person networking there are, what I recommend are referral groups. Now, and the reason is is because a referral group, which is something like BI, which is the most popular organization, I was in a group called Am Spirit, which is kind of like a knockoff version of BI. These are not just networking groups, these are not just groups that you show up at and just meet people and hand out business cards. These are groups that you invest in. They are going to be an investment, but it's gonna be so worth your time and your money because you will get referrals. Literally everybody I know on WebCenter Pro who are who's in BI or AM Spirit, they're getting referrals. They're getting clients. And that's because these are microgroups that are part of a larger organization. And as I say all the time on this podcast and in my business course and other places, when you join a referral group, you are there to give and get referrals. It's not the people in the group who are always gonna be your clients. Yes, some of them will. Most of your money is gonna come from who they know. And that's the benefit of joining a referral group. And do not let a price tag of$500 to$1,000 plus for an annual membership deter you. Because just think if you have a starting website package of$2,000, then it's only gonna take one client out of everyone you'll meet, it's only gonna take one client to not only pay for that membership, but double your investment in that membership, and then you're gonna, you know, 100x that probably. So I just really want to encourage you, if you're not yet in a referral group, get into a referral group. And the reason is is because in real life is so much more powerful than ever before. We are in a trust recession right now, and that's because of AI, that's because of the amount of clutter and overwhelm online. Most web design clients just don't know who to turn to or where to turn to. Yes, people can make stuff easier than ever, but are they really doing it? Unless they are tech savvy, they need a person, they need a web partner, they need somebody who knows this stuff and can help them and is an actual human who's staying up to date on things by being a member of Web Designer Pro, for example. And they need somebody to trust with an industry that's moving so fast. So in real life, it's just more important and powerful than ever. And outside of like a networking group or a referral group, I'd also really recommend, even if you just do it for a season, commit to doing like meeting some of your clients in person. And for those of you who are more established, consider doing a coffee shop meetup or maybe hosting a workshop for their clients, or maybe doing something in person where you can get people together at the very least. Like, what if you were to do this? A little challenge for you. Take two weeks, block your calendar off so you don't take any discovery calls for two weeks, and you just take a two or three days a week and align a bunch of coffee shop meetups with your current clients. Check in with them. It's gonna be an amazing opportunity for you to build more trust, build more rapport, and yes, sell because it's not a sales call, it's just a meetup. Inevitably, they're gonna be asking you, hey, tell me about this chat jibadepa. What is this thing? And then I heard about this thing called Clade or Claude. What are what are these? How can I get found in them? Boom. You have just set yourself up for an opportunity, low pressure, no, no, you know, big hard sale on it or sales call on it to be able to talk about your services and your web design services and copy and messaging and SEO. So it's a little challenge for you. Again, I'm I'm obviously at the the tail end of our event here. Um, I'm practicing this. It's one reason last year I why I put so much time and effort into hosting our first web designer pro con. And this year, why we even upped the ante and did more for our attendees and made our actual workshop day even more engaging. And I'm gonna be doing even more for our members. We're gonna be following up with a member, like attendee-only call together. I'm gonna be following up with everyone personally. I'm really, really taking this seriously, and I really hope you do too, because again, we are in a trust recession, understandably so. It's not only hard to find things online with who to trust, but there's just so much stuff in every industry. If you want to know how to build a website nowadays, or if you're a DIYer trying to figure it out, my God, can you imagine being a DIYer? I feel for the folks who are like, I'm starting a coffee shop, I want a website. Oh, good lord he had mercy. I don't even know where to start. More so now than a decade ago for sure. A decade ago, you were just getting started with a Wix builder or a GoDaddy builder. Now, every hosting provider, every platform, every everything, Canva, whatever, host your web, build your website. It's easy peasy. It's gonna take two minutes. It and then they get going and then they're like overly overwhelmed. So there's so much opportunity for web designers now more than ever. Um, we haven't even talked about AI tools and vibe coding and how that's already leading to a complete cluster of just crap websites and stuff that you know is breaking and not maintainable. And yeah, so there's just so much need for a trusted web designer partner for all businesses. And I want that for you. And one of the best ways to become that person and to fast track your success and growth in your business is to do things in real life. Again, as much as I recommend joining a BI group and committing to it, it doesn't mean you need to do this forever. I know a lot of web designer pro members right now who are very established, who are not doing much marketing or in-person marketing at all, but it's because they've earned that right. They've got to a point where they have a client list. They can email somebody and there's already a trust and a built relationship there. So they didn't need to market near as hard as they did in their early days. So you do need to hustle a little bit and grind a little bit, but don't let that scare you off. It's a season, and also you can turn it on and turn it off, like my challenge that I just recommended. Even for those of you who are listening who are 10 years into your business, maybe now is the time where you need to see somebody in person again and meet up with them, or host a little clients-only dinner, or a workshop, or a little micro mastermind meeting for all your clients or people you know, or have them invite their colleagues. Have some fun with it too. Like, what a what a cool opportunity to share, get some real life feedback and hear like you don't have to use ChatGP to think about marketing strategies or offers. You can literally just invite people, small business owners, talk to them in a really low-key setting and say, hey guys, what's confusing to you right now? What do you need help with online? If my agency could help you in any ways, awesome. If not, I know somebody. Or I'm in Web Descenter Pro and there's somebody in there who we can direct you to. So get in real life, my friends. IRL, it's your superpower for 2026, and I think a long time from now, uh, it's just the value of human connection in person is clutch. It's key. And again, the next best step is doing something live in some case online, or at the very least, being in a community of folks who are like-minded, because you know as well as I do, especially Web Designer Pro members. The feeling is very different being in Web Designer Pro versus a huge Facebook group where there's just a lot of uh anonymity and there's a lot of people you don't know because there may be thousands of people. Thousands of people is not a community, thousands of people is a group, at least not in this context. You need to be around a smaller group of people who you trust. And there's of course different levels of this. There's like a core group, which are gonna be maybe a few people who are super close to you. There's gonna be an extended group, and then there's gonna be like Web Designer Pro size, which is more like 200-ish. So you may recognize a name. So you're gonna know people better than others. And then there is like a larger, again, I don't even know if I would call it a community, a tribe. I don't know. It's you know, 500 to 1,000 people feels different. It's very different. And honestly, you can think about this in real life because if you go to an event and there's a thousand people, you're gonna meet a few people, but it's gonna be very surfacey small relationships. You're probably not gonna remember many names. You go to an event with 500 people, it's not gonna be much better. You go to an event with 200 people, you may walk away with a few closer contacts. You go to an event with 30 people, you're definitely gonna meet some people on a deeper level. You go to an event with three people or five people, whole different vibe. So, whatever it looks like for you, I just want to challenge you to get in real life, both to get clients, but also for yourself, for self-care as a web designer. It's why we're hosting our annual Web Designer ProCon event every year for Web Designer Pro members. So, again, we just held it over this past weekend. So uh keep active with me on the social media and via email. Make sure you sign up for my newsletter, joshhall.co slash newsletter. I will be sharing a ton about procon 2026 moving forward. So if you were not able to come this year, but you're interested in getting in real life and meeting me in real life and having an absolute blast with other Web Designer Pro members, now is an incredible time to join Web Designer Pro to get coaching with me and to find your tribe. You don't even need to find them, you just need to join them. There it is. You don't need to find your web designer tribe. It's there for you, WebdesignerPro.com. I'm there for you. I will guide you through who's gonna be a good connection for you, who you need to meet. You will be welcomed in with open arms. Webdesigner Pro is the most welcoming web designer community you will find online. Just try me. Join Web Designer Pro, post an introduction, and then go to a Facebook group and post an introduction and see the difference, feel the difference. I guarantee you it's gonna feel very, very different because Web Designer Pro is small by design and we're here for each other. We support each other. We're all learning, we're all evolving. I've seen web designers come into Web Designer Pro who are brand spanking new, making$10,000. Some of those members are making several hundred thousand dollars. I've got some members in Pro right now who are running four,$500,000,$600,000 businesses, all levels, but with one key like-minded trait. We all love the industry of web design. We all see the potential and we all love and support each other. And that's what I want for you. So join Web Designer Pro. And again, whatever you do in your business, try some IRL. Get in real life. Referral groups, networking groups, chamber events, go to meetup.com. You can look up all sorts of smaller meetups. Find some friends in your area if you don't have them already. Find some partners in your area, like referral partners, get in real life with them, invite your clients out for coffee. Do host a little, it could be as little as a you guys meetup Panera, three or four of you, and you just talk shop. Whatever works for you, get in real life. Side note, if you're introverted, the extra good news for you is it's actually way easier to build a business in real life as an introvert than it is online because you don't need to be dancing on Instagram to get clients and have a wave of DMs with people that are just gonna drain you. You can actually just meet a few people and build a referral partner network and grow from there. So, so many good things ahead, my friends. All right, well, that's all I got for you right now. Again, um this week is just me, just one episode this week. Wanted to share some thoughts about the power of in real life. I do strongly believe it's a superpower. There are plenty of episodes to get caught up on, I'm sure, unless you are a wild one and have gone through every episode. But just go back through the catalog, check out some recent episodes, see what tickles your fancy. Also, if you have not checked out the playlists page, go to joshhall.co slash playlist. And there is there's there's playlists based off of categories for all the podcast episodes here. So if you want to know about getting clients, about scaling, about AI, about SEO, we have a playlist for everything. And there's gonna be dedicated, excuse me, episodes per category. So head over there after this if you have yet to check out the podcast playlist page. All right, my friends. Well, keep active with me, all my social media and my newsletter, and I will be posting some recaps from and highlights from our ProCon 2026 event, which just happened. I can say in full confidence, I guarantee I am just on cloud nine still, and I will certainly make that known moving forward here. So, all right, friends, maybe I'll see you in real life next year at ProCon 2027.