Before They Find You: What Your Next Client Looks Like Right Now

Framing: Where Agencies Are Currently Competing

Lambiase opened by describing where most agency pipelines begin: referrals, warm introductions, and clients who have already recognised they need help. These are people who have hit a pain point, articulated a need, and are actively shopping. They may have issued a request for proposal or are searching openly for agencies.

This is, he noted, a highly competitive space. Everyone is competing for the same pool of ready-to-buy clients. The noise is enormous, the differentiation is difficult, and the cost of acquisition is high. Lambiase's central argument is that this is not where the real opportunity lies. The opportunity is in beginning the conversation much earlier, well before the client has decided they need an agency, and building trust over time so that by the time they are ready, the choice is obvious.

The Market: Data Points Every Agency Should Know

Lambiase walked through a set of statistics he described as inflection points and conversation starters. He explicitly encouraged agencies to treat each one as a potential article, email campaign, or content piece.

Website Ownership and the DIY Market 73% of US small businesses have a website. This figure is up from 64% in 2020, meaning the DIY market is growing quickly, not stagnating.

32% of those websites were built using a DIY builder such as Wix, Squarespace, or Shopify. In the current moment, many are also being built using AI-assisted or vibe-coding tools.

The DIY market is projected to reach $3.9 to $4.4 billion by 2032, up from approximately $2.6 billion at the time of the talk.

The correct reading of the 73% figure, Lambiase argued, is not that the market is flooded.

The correct reading is: are those websites any good? Do they convert? Are they found online? Those questions immediately generate a content strategy.

Performance and Visibility 53% of visitors abandon a site if it takes longer than three seconds to load.

The average DIY website on a mobile device loads in 8.6 seconds.

60-70% of e-commerce transactions now happen on mobile devices.

90% of web pages get zero organic traffic.

42% of small business owners do not invest in SEO, making them effectively invisible on Google.

These numbers represent immediate, concrete problems that agencies can speak to directly.

Lambiase framed them not as criticism of the small business owner but as genuine opportunities for conversation: "Let's take a look at your website and see how quickly it loads on desktop and mobile. Did you know this?"

The Hidden Cost of DIY The annual cost of DIY website maintenance, when measured in the business owner's own billable time, is estimated at $5,200 per year on the low end and up to $40,000 per year on the high end.

The calculation is straightforward: a business owner who bills at $50 per hour and spends two hours per week on their website is effectively spending $5,200 annually on something that is not their core business.

This framing, Lambiase noted, is a strong selling point that is rarely used. Agencies should be able to show a prospective client that the cost of hiring professional help is less than the cost of continuing to do it themselves.

Agency Effectiveness 85% of SMBs rely on a referral when choosing an agency. This means indirect reach, community presence, and consistently good work all contribute to the pipeline in ways that are easy to underestimate.

Businesses that use an agency are 2.5 times more likely to succeed with their key goals than those that go it alone.

Nurturing clients through their journey results in 50% more sales-ready leads and significantly lowers the cost of acquisition.

The Customer Journey: Stages an SMB Goes Through Before Hiring

Lambiase described the typical journey a small business owner takes before they are ready to hire an agency. He was careful to note that these stages do not always happen in strict sequence. A business owner might start with a patchwork stack of tools and then go back to register a domain. The stages can overlap and cycle.

Stage 1: Domain Registration

The business owner registers a domain. This is, Lambiase said, a much bigger deal for them than it might appear. They chose a name, found it available (or worked around it not being available), and made their first concrete commitment to being online. This moment deserves to be celebrated by anyone trying to build a relationship with this person.

The industry tendency, he noted, is to use pain as a motivating lever. Agencies and providers often push people toward the next step by highlighting what is wrong or what they are missing. What rarely happens is celebrating what they have already done.

Content that acknowledges this milestone and gently introduces what comes next, such as brand protection through registering multiple TLDs, is an excellent way to get a foot in the door without selling anything. It demonstrates expertise and positions the agency as a knowledgeable guide.

Stage 2: First Site Is Built

The business owner builds their first site. They used a drag-and-drop builder, a template, or a vibe-coded tool. They put in work and they are proud of it. But quietly, Lambiase said, they are also frustrated. The platform is not doing everything they want it to do.

Content aimed at this stage should address the limitations of DIY builders, what to watch for, and how to get the most out of the tool they are on. If someone searches "how do I add bookings to my Wix site" and an agency has written a thorough, useful piece on exactly that question, they are now part of the conversation.

Stage 3: The Patchwork Stack

The business owner begins assembling peripheral tools: Canva for design, MailChimp for email, Google Sheets as a makeshift CRM. The website is the centrepiece but the surrounding apparatus is fragile and improvised.

Lambiase suggested that agencies can engage with content around questions like "what is the best free tech stack for a small business" or "what tools should you be using alongside your website." This is not a pitch. It is meeting the prospect where they are and demonstrating that the agency understands the full picture of running a small business online.

Stage 4: The Growing Pains

The business owner now has a website and some tools in place. They are trying to figure out how to get found on Google, how to show up in AI search results, and how to keep the site updated. They do not necessarily call this a digital strategy, but they are beginning to feel the weight of questions they cannot answer.

Content here should focus on what a digital strategy actually looks like, why consistent content updates matter, and what it means to have a functioning workflow around their online presence. The tone should be: you are online, that is great, here are some things you should watch for as you grow.

Stage 5: The Hidden Self-Doubt

This is where provider switching happens. The business owner looks at a competitor's website and feels embarrassed by their own. They see a feature they cannot replicate. They want to move from Wix to WordPress because they have heard it is more flexible. They want to completely redo the site.

Lambiase noted that this is a rich stage for agency content: what are competitors in your niche doing that you are not? What are the new features that businesses in your space are using? "Customers just like you are building this" is a content format that works well here because aspiration is high.

Stage 6: The Math Turns

The business owner finally does the calculation and realises that the time they are spending on the website is costing them more than it is worth. They are tweaking, adjusting, and maintaining constantly. They begin to wonder if they should get help.

Lambiase described this as the inflection point where most agencies and most hosting providers make their move. His argument is that by waiting until this moment, you are showing up when the client is frustrated rather than when they trust you. If you have been present throughout the earlier stages, by the time the math turns, you are already the obvious choice.

If you have been present throughout the earlier stages, by the time the math turns, you are already the obvious choice.

Signals That DIY Is Becoming "I Need Help"

Lambiase identified six specific signals that indicate a client is approaching readiness to hire an agency. He framed each as an entry point for an agency conversation.

Speed Is Costing Sales The client says their website is slow. The agency's job is not simply to confirm this and offer a speed fix. The better move is to reframe the problem: the real issue is not a slow website, it is abandoned carts, lost conversions, customers who leave. Addressing the root business problem rather than the surface-level symptom demonstrates genuine understanding and builds trust immediately.

A Rush Order Broke Everything The client's first viral moment, or an unexpected spike in traffic, overwhelmed their setup.

Their site went down. Lambiase noted that this signal can scale beyond SMBs into mid-

market and enterprise conversations. Understanding what caused the failure, whether it is a single-server setup, an on-premises server that cannot handle load, or a hosting tier that was never designed for scale, and being able to speak to it confidently signals a level of expertise that makes the client feel they are in good hands.

The Feature They Cannot Build The client has watched every YouTube tutorial and read every knowledge base article. They cannot add bookings, memberships, or some other specific functionality to their site. This is where agency content around specific use cases and specific limitations becomes directly useful. It also naturally positions the agency as the people who know how to solve this.

The Math The client has run their own numbers and realised that professional help is cheaper than continuing to do it themselves. Lambiase recommended that agencies always arrive at this conversation with a simple calculation ready: here is what this project costs from us, and here is what it is currently costing you to do it yourself. That framing closes deals.

Embarrassed by Competitor The client's own customers are shopping around and returning with feedback about how much better a competitor's site looks or functions. Lambiase recommended that agencies develop a working knowledge of what successful websites in their niche look like: what conversion rate optimisation practices are common, what the hero section typically contains, whether video is standard, and so on. This allows the agency to frame the conversation in terms of what the niche expects, rather than simply what the client is doing wrong.

Outgrown Introductory Hosting The hosting provider sends an upgrade email. Resources have run out, performance has degraded, or features are hitting hard limits. Lambiase noted that this is where most providers and many agencies make their move. His point was that if you are only entering the conversation at this stage, you have missed five or six earlier opportunities to build a relationship. You are now talking to a frustrated client instead of a trusting one.

Where These Clients Actually Are

Lambiase covered the platforms and communities where pre-agency clients spend their time, and how agencies should show up in each.

Facebook Groups There are niche business communities on Facebook for virtually every industry. Lambiase recommended that agencies be active in at least five relevant groups. The rule is to answer

questions and be helpful without pitching. Mentioning that you run an agency is fine, but the engagement should be genuinely useful rather than a thinly veiled sales effort.

Reddit and YouTube Lambiase spent extra time on these two because of a specific dynamic that is changing how community presence works. Reddit and YouTube comments are increasingly being scraped and cited by AI search engines. When someone asks Google or ChatGPT how to fix a specific WordPress problem, the AI summary may pull from a Reddit comment thread or a YouTube video comment. If your answer is there, it becomes a cited source in that summary.

This changes the calculus of community presence. Being consistently present in the right subreddits or YouTube comment sections is no longer just about the individual humans who read those answers. It is also about training AI on your expertise. Lambiase put it directly: presence is now important for the AI. Being interesting is still important for the human. Both matter, but for different reasons.

For YouTube specifically, he encouraged agencies to create free educational content. Not just "why you need an agency" videos, but genuinely instructional material with a clear point of view. He stressed the importance of having a personality and a stance. Facts are good, but facts delivered with a voice and conviction are what keep people coming back and what build the kind of trust that results in a phone call.

Events and Business Networking Lambiase treated business networking events as part of the same strategy: show up with something of value to offer. A free 20-minute site audit, a helpful conversation, a resource you can share. The goal in every setting is to demonstrate value before asking for anything in return.

Non-Web Spaces Lambiase highlighted some overlooked channels: Nextdoor, industry trade forums, and Slack groups. Small business owners, especially those running local or e-commerce businesses, are active on Nextdoor and in industry-specific Slack communities. These are places most agencies do not think to look, which means there is less competition and more opportunity to stand out.

Watching Their Own Content Business owners who are building publicly, posting about their journey on Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook, are another source of early relationships. Lambiase recommended engaging with these creators authentically and helpfully rather than with a pitch. When you find a creator who is growing, that is a perfect moment to show up with a useful observation or question, not a sales approach.

How to Engage at Each Stage

Lambiase moved from where clients are to how agencies should approach them at different points in the journey.

Lead with Empathy When a client is still in the early stages and proud of what they have built, the worst thing an agency can do is show up and immediately point out everything that is wrong. He was direct about this. The client has done real work and they feel good about it. The opening move should acknowledge that: you have built something real, something to be proud of.

From there, the conversation can shift to what it would look like to build something that grows with them.

Write Content at Inflection Points Agencies should have content ready for each stage of the journey. Blog posts like "Five signs you've outgrown your DIY website" or "Five ways your website can work harder for your business" are not pitches. They are useful pieces that will be found organically by people who are at exactly the right moment in their journey to be receptive. The goal is not to drive conversions directly. The goal is to be present, helpful, and recognisable.

Offer the Zero-Risk First Step The free site audit is Lambiase's most consistently recommended tactic. He framed it deliberately: not "let me tell you what's wrong" but "let's take a look at this together." The audit should feel like a collaborative exploration. Questions like "what are you trying to achieve with this?" and "have you thought about it this way?" are far more productive than a list of criticisms.

Clients who go through a free audit without being pitched to are, in his experience, much more likely to engage long term. The mutual respect that is established in that first low-stakes interaction carries significant weight.

The Roadmap Pitch When the time does come to make a proposal, Lambiase recommended framing it as a roadmap rather than a price quote. Here is where you are now, here is what step two could look like, here are the possibilities as your business grows. The agency positions itself not as a vendor but as a digital guide, someone who has seen this journey before and can navigate it with them.

Timing and the Long Game

Lambiase spent the final section of the structured presentation on the mechanics of staying top of mind over time.

Being Memorable Before They Are Ready to Buy His central statement on timing: most clients hire the agency they remembered when the moment came, not the best one they found on a Google search that day. The implication is that visibility at the moment of need is less important than memorability over the long period before need arises.

The way to create that memorability is to appear in their communities, answer questions without selling, and publish content that addresses what they are already searching for.

The 3 to 12 Month Window Lambiase identified the 3 to 12 month window as the nurturing phase. This is where regular presence matters: newsletters that are genuinely useful rather than cross-sell vehicles, showing up in the same communities consistently, running the occasional audit. He was specific about what kills email nurturing: sequences that go straight into cross-selling do not work. The value has to be real.

Before and After Case Studies Every completed project should be documented as a before and after story. This is, Lambiase argued, the most powerful portfolio format an agency can maintain. Pre-agency buyers look at these and look for themselves in the before picture. They are searching for a mirror. When they find it and can see what the after looks like, engagement follows naturally.

You Will Become the Person They Call When the long nurturing period pays off, the benefits compound. The sales cycle is shorter.

Price sensitivity is lower because a relationship already exists. Referrals flow naturally because the client is already sold on your credibility before money ever changed hands. And because 85% of SMBs find agencies through referrals, every client who trusts you becomes a node in a referral network.

Referrals flow naturally because the client is already sold on your credibility before money ever changed hands.

Five Things Agencies Can Do This Week

Lambiase closed the main body of the presentation with five specific, actionable steps.

1. Launch a Free Site Audit Funnel Build a simple entry point for free site reviews. He recommended capping this at around four per month so the process stays manageable and the scarcity creates a natural waiting list. Atarim was mentioned as a tool for running these audits. The frame for the conversation

should always be: here are the top five things we think would benefit your website, not a hard close. The audit's job is to build trust and open the door to a roadmap conversation through a follow-up email sequence.

2. Start Blog Posting Consistently Blog posts serve two audiences now: the humans who occasionally find and read them, and the AI systems that index and cite them. Agencies should write content that addresses where their target clients are in their journey, topics like "seven signs your website is ready to do more for your business." The goal is not to go viral. It is to be present and indexed across the range of questions their prospective clients are asking.

3. Build a Before and After Case Study Series Document every project as a story with a clear before and after. Make these publicly available. Pre-agency buyers look for themselves in these stories, and the best case studies do the selling before any sales conversation takes place.

4. Pick One Community and Become the Anchor Choose one community, Reddit, Facebook, a Slack group, anywhere the target client congregates, and show up every week to answer questions. Lambiase's benchmark: within 90 days of consistent presence, you become the person other community members tag when someone asks who they should call for web help. This is compounding relationship capital. It is not a splashy ad. It is thoughtful, consistent participation.

5. Build an Email Sequence for Audit Recipients For everyone who goes through the free site audit, there should be a follow-up email sequence. The sequence should reference what was covered in the audit, show examples of what their website could look like, and demonstrate what clients similar to them have achieved. The final step in the sequence is a gentle, open-ended invitation to continue the conversation. The sequence should not feel like a sales funnel. It should feel like a continuation of the helpful conversation that began in the audit.

The Broader Reframe: Pipelines and Long-Term Thinking

Lambiase closed by explicitly challenging how agencies think about their pipelines. Five years ago, he noted, agencies were heavily focused on bottom-funnel tactics: pay-per-click advertising, high-competition search terms, anything that could produce a ready-to-buy lead immediately. The problem with that approach is that it is expensive and crowded.

The reframe he proposed has three parts.

First: stop thinking exclusively about clients who are ready right now. Your next client does not yet know they need an agency. Your job is to be present and consistent enough that when they reach that realisation, you are the name they think of.

Second: content and community presence are not marketing expenses with fuzzy ROI. They are early-funnel pipeline builders. The return shows up later, in faster closes and lower cost of acquisition, but it is real and measurable.

Third: free audits, done well and offered selectively, are one of the highest-leverage sales tools an agency has. The trust built in that first collaborative conversation front-loads the relationship in a way that makes every subsequent interaction easier.

His final line: by being engaged in the community early on, by being present and interesting, the client is more likely to reach out to you than to anyone else. You will find them before they find you.

Q&A and Post-Presentation Notes

After the presentation, host Stephanie Hudson noted that the talk had generated significant interest in the chat, including requests for the slides. Lambiase offered to share them via LinkedIn (his profile is under Krys Lambiase) for anyone who reaches out.

One question from the chat asked which tool he recommended for site audits. He mentioned Atarim by name, noting he uses it personally and finds it genuinely useful, while acknowledging it might sound self-serving given the context of the summit.

A follow-up question from Hudson touched on the time investment required for community presence and whether small shops or solo practitioners could realistically sustain it.

Lambiase acknowledged this tension and noted that AI automation tools can help, but offered an important caveat: he strongly recommended doing the community engagement manually first, before automating it. The reason is that authenticity is the core of why this strategy works. Getting in there yourself, fingers on keyboard, builds genuine understanding of how to speak to your audience. When you eventually automate, you will be able to configure the AI agent properly because you have done the work. Offloading it from day one risks producing generic, inauthentic responses that undermine the entire trust-building exercise.

Hudson also drew a connection to the earlier session by Kenn Kelly on the Connection Advantage and the value of human-led, authentic agency relationships in the AI era.

Lambiase agreed that authenticity is foundational: being genuinely invested in the success of the client's business is what makes the whole model work.

About the speaker Krys Lambiase Bluehost

Krys Lambiase works on the agency partnerships side of Bluehost, helping web professionals understand how prospective clients find and vet agencies today.