💰 The Tugboat business model

How broken-website outreach turns into revenue. Simple math, honest numbers.

The funnel

Businesses to reach	32,000
Response rate	?
Clients won	?

We're reaching out to 32,000 businesses with personalized emails about real, verified problems. We'll see what the conversion numbers actually turn out to be.

Denver market analysis

What Denver actually charges for web work:

Denver agency, basic small business site	$2,000 - $5,000
Denver agency, full small business site	$5,000 - $15,000
Freelance designer, per project	$500 - $5,000
Denver developer, hourly	$75 - $150/hr
Thumbtack, basic website	from $500

Sources: Byte Technology Denver guide 2026, 2Marketing pricing guide 2025, Thumbtack Denver, Clutch. But we're not selling a redesign. We're selling a fix.

The offer: a value ladder

$75 the quick fix

15-minute fix. Broken link, dead page, or a bloated page that loads slowly (we shrink the images way down, same look, loads fast). This is the foot in the door, priced to be an instant yes.

$399 one page redesign

After the fix, drip campaign: "We redesigned that page, want to see it?" Put the new page live for $399.

$799 full site redesign

They love the one page? Offer the whole site. Still way under agency prices ($2,000-5,000 in Denver).

The $75 fix buys trust. The real money is in steps 2 and 3.

Ladder math (per client)

Step 1: $75 quick fix (every client pays this)	$75
Step 2: ~1 in 3 takes the $399 page redesign (0.3 × $399)	~$120
Step 3: ~1 in 10 takes the $799 full site (0.1 × $799)	~$80
Expected revenue per client	~$275

Once a business owner says yes, this is what the average client is worth. The $75 is almost a loss leader; steps 2 and 3 are where it pays. The upsell rates are guesses until we have real data.

At scale (32,000 Denver businesses)

Total emails (at ~4% hit rate)	~1,280
Clients at 1% response	~13
Revenue potential	~$3,575

Conservative. Response rate could be 2-3% since we're leading with a real problem, not a cold pitch. At 3% response with the full ladder, that's ~$10,700 from Denver alone.

Getting paid

Lemon Squeezy (recommended)

Already on Dave's radar for Studio payments. Handles invoicing, taxes, and payouts. Clean checkout links we can drop in email. ~5% + 50¢ per transaction.

Square

Good fallback. In-person and online payments, invoicing built in. ~2.9% + 30¢. Better if we ever meet clients face to face.

The drip campaign

After the $75 fix is delivered, automated follow-ups walk them up the ladder. Click each one to read the full email.

Day 0: Fix delivered ▼

Subject: All fixed! Hi [Name], All fixed! Your [page name] is working again. Here's what we did: [one or two sentences describing the fix in plain English]. Take a look and make sure everything looks right on your end. If anything seems off, just reply to this email and we'll sort it out. Thanks for trusting us with it. Dave The Studio https://www.thestudio.io

Goal: deliver the fix, build trust. No pitch yet.

Day 3: The $399 page redesign pitch ▼

Subject: We mocked up a new version of your [page] Hi [Name], While we were in there fixing things, our designer mocked up a redesigned version of your [page name]. Honestly, it looks a lot sharper. I've attached a screenshot so you can see it. If you like it, we can put it live for $399, same fast turnaround as the fix. No pressure at all. Just thought you'd want to see it. Dave The Studio https://www.thestudio.io

Goal: attach a screenshot of the redesigned page. They already paid $75, so $399 feels like a natural next step.

Day 10: The nudge ▼

Subject: Quick check-in Hi [Name], Just checking in, did you get a chance to look at the redesigned [page name] we sent over? Happy to answer any questions, or tweak anything about it. Dave

Goal: short, no pressure. Many people just need a reminder.

Day 21: The $799 full site offer ▼

Subject: What about the whole site? Hi [Name], If you liked what we did with the one page, we can redesign your entire site for $799. For reference, Denver agencies charge $2,000 to $5,000 for the same work. We keep it simple and fast, so we keep it cheap. Want to talk through what that would look like? Just reply and we'll set up a quick call. Dave The Studio https://www.thestudio.io

Goal: final upsell. Reference agency pricing ($2,000-5,000) as contrast.

How we run it

Phase 1 (now): Manual. I draft each follow-up, Dave approves, we send via Gmail. Works fine at our current volume (a handful of clients).

Phase 2 (when we have 10+ clients): Automate with a proper email tool (Instantly, Mailchimp, or ConvertKit). Sequences trigger automatically based on days since fix delivery. Still personalized, just scheduled.

Human callers: Two Fiverr listings are up ($15/hr and $20/hr) for callers to phone prospects who go quiet after Day 10. A quick call beats another email. We'll plug them in between Day 10 and Day 21 once hired.

What we need to decide

1. Price: $75 / $399 / $799 ladder. Does it feel right?
2. Payment: Lemon Squeezy or Square?
3. Scope: What's included in a "fix" vs. what triggers a bigger quote?

How it works, start to finish

1. Find business websites
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2. Check for broken links
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3. Email the owner
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4. Fix the website (if they say yes)
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5. Drip campaign + follow up for 6 to 12 months
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6. Keep watching their website, be a good neighbor

Draft v1. Written Oct 4, 2026. Numbers will get sharper as we send more emails.