Meet the Web Design Wizard, Luis Urbina

Luis is a web designer based in Guatemala, he has helped 20+ entrepreneurs, coaches, and influencers increase their website and landing page conversions through conversion-focused design and copywriting.

For more information about Luis, visit his Twitter here.

Here we sit down with Luis to learn more about his entrepreneurial experience. Here’s what he told us.

Q. Tell us a little more about your journey as an entrepreneur — how did you get to where you are today?

Luis: I was in college and I won a Computer Science scholarship, but when I got my first job, I realized it wasn’t for me. The pay was good, but I didn’t like the idea of working for someone else.

Then, I found the entrepreneurial side of Twitter thanks to my friend JK Molina and I started reading. It was very inspiring and I was invested in learning how to make money on my own. In that process, I came across Danko, an entrepreneur who was making websites and landing pages for people.

He charged 3K per website which, in my country Guatemala, is life-changing money. So, I bought his course and started studying website design and copywriting. 6 months later, I made my first dollar and I started pitching websites to people. I got a few clients who left testimonials for me.

Then, I created a landing page for JK, which ended up selling $80,000 in a week. That was my first big project. I made a Twitter thread about it, JK retweeted it, and it became super popular. I got a lot of messages from people who wanted to hire me to improve their landing pages and I’ve been perfecting my craft ever since.

Today, I’m working with someone who handles the copy so I can just focus on design, which is what I like most. I’m at this stage where more and more clients are coming in and it has been great. In many aspects, this is tougher than working for someone else, but it’s a lot more rewarding, especially for someone living in a third-world country.

Q. Being in Guatemala, how did making money online changed your life?

Luis: It has been amazing. Here in Guatemala, you can expect to earn around $1,000 a month when you finish college. So, when you make more than that, people look up to you. I have a big family and in our culture, it’s very important to help them once you’re out of the house. This allows me to provide for them and help them live a more comfortable life.

Moreover, this has changed the way I see the money. I can decide how much time I invest in my work and I still make 10 times what I used to make back when 8 hours of my time were worth $20. So, it has just been amazing and I’m very grateful to have discovered the entrepreneurial side of Twitter and connect with people who wanted to improve themselves and make money.

Q. Do you think it’s easier to start a business in a third-world country? Given that things are cheaper than in other countries.

Luis: Well, most people do think that you don’t have to worry much about the initial cost of starting a business because things are cheaper. However, if you don’t have any money to start a business, you have to sacrifice a few things to save up.

As a website builder, I needed $200 to get started. $100 for the course and $100 to buy domains, email software, etc. To get there, I had to cut down on my living expenses. I didn’t go out for a couple of months and always ate at home. I went into “monk” mode so I could save the money I needed to get started. So, in a sense, it’s a bit more difficult because saving is more difficult.

Q. What would you say is the best investment you’ve made so far?

Luis: To be honest, the best investment has been dedicating time to absorb free knowledge. I started on YouTube, so I watched a ton of videos and I also read a lot of blog posts, Twitter threads, etc., which helped me get started. Some of the other best investments I’ve made include copywriting courses, classic copywriting books, and software.

Q. Why do you think you were able to make all these YouTube videos and free resources work for you?

Luis: Well, I think it comes down to taking action. I don’t think of myself as someone who has achieved a lot in life, but I think that the people who have access to the same resources and haven’t been able to accomplish anything with them are just not doing enough.

There are many reasons for that, of course. Maybe they’re tired from work or something and when they have some spare time, they watch a movie or something. I took my spare time and consumed as much content as possible, and I stayed up late practicing website building and all that. So, I think the people who do more and put in more effort are the ones who get the rewards.

Also, I think some people do think they’re unable to do what they need to do to succeed. They lack confidence. There are people out there who know less or have less capacity than them and they still succeed. But that’s because they don’t give up, they keep going, and I think it truly does come down to effort.

Q. Do you remember your first sale online?

Luis: Yes, I do! It was amazing. My first client was named Robbie and he was selling a sales call course where he taught people how to do that effectively. His landing page was horrible, but he was a great salesman, he had made a million dollars or something like that, so he was very successful.

I reached out to him on Twitter with a landing page. Mind you, I had never done one before. I said that I wanted to sell it to him and if he didn’t see any improvement, I would give him a full refund, no questions asked. I didn’t think he would answer or even consider the offer, but I know I gave him a good incentive and a guarantee that he wouldn’t lose anything if it didn’t work.

I was shocked when he replied and asked for my PayPal email. Then I got a notification and it was $500. It was crazy! I was making $250 a month at that point. I earned what I made in two months in just a few hours. That opened my eyes to what was possible. I thought “if he paid for this landing page that only took me 4 hours to make and it wasn’t a big deal to him, how many more people would do the same?”

So, I wanted to test that. If I sent a similar message to X amount of people, I would make a few sales. Say I sent a message to 1000 people and 100 would answer but only 5 would buy. That would still be 2.5K, which was crazy money. There’s always someone who needs a copywriter and a landing page, that’s what that first client taught me and it changed my perception of things. As long as you know your stuff and you sell something that works, people will buy it.

Q. Based on your experience, what’s a one-sentence piece of advice you would like to share?

Luis: Do more. Just do more every time and continue to do more. If you already have clients, do more for them to retain them.

If you don’t have clients, do more outreach. If you send 100 outreach messages, send 1000 more. Change whatever’s not working and keep going, don’t give up.

If you still don’t know what you want to do or sell, keep researching, keep learning, keep talking to people in business, and keep trying new things. So, yeah, that’s my advice. Just do more of what you’re doing right now.

To keep up with Luis and his journey, follow him on Twitter.