What did I accomplish today?
Proposal workflow
I had programmed a Claude Code workflow to take:
- Meeting transcripts
- Voice to text notes
- Manual notes
- Website URLs
- Uploaded documents
To craft a proposal within the WordPress infrastructure that I have. The goal is to take the building blocks that I have and create a proposal for me. I did a full test of that today and it was 90% accurate.
Mini-app flow
In conjunction with the proposal workflow, I realized there was a mini app that would need to be created within WordPress. So, I took their concept, did a quick voice-to-text, and asked Claude Code to build a mini version of it as a sample. In 15 minutes I had something. While I did NOT give access to it to the potential client, I did include it in the Loom video I shot them.
This makes me wonder: how are we providing immense value for the money we are charging? There is the thought that we should do zero creative work, but the thing is, if a proof of concept only takes 15 minutes, why not showcase where your mind is heading?
Call with Logan Lyles
Our branding touch point ended up being a working session which was nice. He got to see the creative process, and we made more progress today than we would have asynchronously.
Mickey Mellen is going to NYC!
He called me today and told me that he is planning to join up on the Agency Leaders Field Trip! WooT!
Content Day with Kiera
Did a lot of final prep work for Content Day. Sent out all the reminders today and I feel pretty good about it. Some of her people haven't sent in questions yet, and that is slightly terrifying.
Florida Trip to Hang with Joshua Hayes
Joshua needs another set of hands at a conference in Florida that he is attending. One of the things I've been wanting to do is feel like what it's like to be a PART of another team. The booth he's getting at this event is huge, and he simply needs a smiling face, pouring coffee, and getting people from one end of the booth to the other. That's my role.
Is it a distraction? Yes.
Do I think it's good for professional development? Yes.
Going back to what I wrote yesterday, I think that there is a chance that my business will either be dissolved, or look completely different in the next couple years. Getting an idea of what it feels like to work on a team that I enjoy will be a good experience for me.
I put this on my list today because of two things:
- I bought my flight to Orlando, and
- Joshua texted me about some "big idea" he wants to chat with me about
In regards to number two, I have NO idea what he's talking about. I did text him this today:
What I am learning is that I ❤️ co-hosting things. It’s a win-win for everyone and it costs everyone half. I know I want to do more of that (in general)
His response to that was:
Then I think you'll like the pitch I'm working on for you 😄
Gotta wait three months to figure out what the heck that is gonna be. Daggum it.
Ideas
Agency Owner Blog
I like the idea of writing a blog mainly for myself to keep myself accountable when I'm learning. I also like the idea of putting it behind a login wall so I can vet potential agency owners who would like to read this stuff.
It's my way of staying in touch with folks and educating them on different things, while also using it as a way to process thoughts in a safe space. Most of the agency owners that I know would enjoy something like this, and it would be an easy way to provide value to my agency owner friends at scale.
one of the questions that was prompted last night was a handful of potential blog post topics. They weren't pitched to me like that, but I definitely saw some through lines there.
Questions
1. If your delivery cost drops by 60%, do you charge less, keep more, or give it away?
my thinking is that we have about 12 months that I can charge standard prices before large shifts happen. With those large shifts, I mean that the market catches up to where we're at.
My thinking is: how can I make the offering that I have in building websites extraordinarily robust so we can keep charging the standard prices for 12 months and still offer so much value that it is a no-brainer for the next couple of years?
I go back to the idea of being able to build out a solid agency home page for $5,000. Chris Dubois has a built-in network of thousands of agency owners at his disposal. If I had the ability to spend out a custom WordPress site for $5,000, even if my cost of goods on that were $2,500, it would be an interesting way to allow agencies to see what it takes to work with me.
Give them something tangible, and then be able to use that as a potential way to be like, "Hey, we can do the same types of things for your clients, albeit it's a little bit more costly because your clients' websites are a lot more complex."
2. You wrote that Classic City might be dissolved or look completely different in a couple years. What does "completely different" look like?
let's say you could build out a website using prompts. This is similar to when Wix and Squarespace came onto the scene. You had some predefined templates you could drag and drop into your own website. You could host it yourself. It costs $1520 a month to do it. It's a very solid DIY solution, and it still is.
What's the point of building these? What's to say people are going to want to understand code stuff so when it breaks they want to figure out why and spend their time doing it? I feel like this line of business might become less and less valuable, but I feel like the need for it is still there. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe that's not right
I also feel like we're probably going to hit a wall at some point where we have so much AI-developed crap online that there's going to be a shift away from things that are completely created through automated means.
I built that little mini app for my client today, and while it's not going to live on in that style and structure, it is still a really solid proof of concept. I know there's a million things out there like that that are actually live and being used by multiple users. Eventually they'll break. I'm curious: how do we build a solid enough infrastructure so that Classic City can live on.
what I don't see in the small agency side of things is the ability to have a company with less than 10 people employed full-time. I feel like the medium-sized agency is about to get swallowed up. I feel like you have to be at the super-sized agency size of 50+ employees, with a lot of really strong momentum, to stay afloat over these next few years.
Again, these are all my assumptions, not really basing this off of anything other than my best estimated guess in the future. Part of me is thinking: what would it look like to be a one-man show? To where I basically have me, Andrew (my lead dev), Claude (my lead designer), and that's what we go to market with. Those are the people that I can build a business around and do that. it's a complete leaning into the collective model, where we have our few guns for hire that we pull in on an as-needed basis. If executing is as simple as it's becoming, then the need for those folks would really only be in a creative strategy standpoint
Claude's analysis on the two questions
Your two answers are actually converging on the same thesis, and I don't think you've fully seen it yet.
Answer 1 says: "I have a 12-month window where my delivery speed is an advantage. Use it to offer insane value at standard prices — or use the $5K agency play to build referral relationships at 50% margin."
Answer 2 says: "Execution is getting commoditized. Mid-size agencies are getting squeezed. The only durable value is creative strategy. Go to market with three people: me, Andrew, Claude Ball."
Put those together and you're describing a very specific business:
A three-person creative strategy firm that uses AI-accelerated execution as proof of taste — not as the product itself.
The $5K agency site isn't a website project. It's a calling card. The 15-minute mini-app in the Loom isn't a deliverable. It's a demonstration that you think faster than the other agencies they could hire. The Starter Theme isn't a cost savings — it's what lets three people compete with teams of twelve.
The thing you haven't said out loud yet is this: if execution is commoditized, then Classic City isn't a web development company anymore. It's a creative direction company that happens to ship websites. The WordPress stack, the block library, the Gutenberg patterns — those are delivery mechanisms, not the value. The value is that you sat in a discovery call, understood a client's brand in 45 minutes, and had a working proof of concept in their inbox before dinner.
That reframe changes a lot. It changes who you hire (taste, not hands). It changes how you price (strategy fees, not hourly dev rates). It changes what you say on sales calls.
Your 12-month clock is real. But the question isn't "how do I charge standard prices before the market catches up?" The question is: what are you selling after the market catches up — and can you start selling that now?