Solved Puzzle started from an obsession I had with design, marketing, and technology. I’ve always enjoyed connecting the dots between them. In the beginning, it was just me. I developed the concept and designed the first logo myself. Financially, I couldn’t go all in immediately, so I worked a full-time job while building the company on the side. Over the next few years, as the business grew and I recruited people, I was able to dedicate myself to it full-time.

What makes us different is how we bring those disciplines together. We combine marketing, web design, and conversion rate optimization to create experiences that reflect a client’s brand and help turn visitors into customers. That combination lets us move quickly while keeping the business goals in focus.

I got my first customers by giving away the service. I reached out to people in my network, looked at their websites, and said, “I can create something cool for you.” I did that work for free. They loved it, and that opened the door for them to hire me for other services. That’s how I started: by showing people what I could do.

Today, most of our new business comes from organic inbound and referrals. We still experiment with different campaigns and strategies, but after more than a decade, we’ve built a reputation and a steady flow of inquiries. Inbound marketing, including SEO and visibility in AI search, is one of our biggest strengths.

This line of work comes with a lot of pressure: finances, recruiting, and clients’ goals, along with the pressure they’re facing themselves. For me, putting God first was the foundation. It gave me clarity to ask better questions and focus on doing the right things.

From a business standpoint, building our web design department and specializing in conversion rate optimization changed our direction. We could launch campaigns faster, deliver designs that reflected our clients’ brands, and focus our efforts where they could make the biggest difference. We’ve seen that approach produce meaningful improvements within 60 to 90 days and help build long-term relationships.

One mistake was taking on clients because we saw their potential before fully understanding whether our goals and expectations aligned. Some wanted short-term results, while our approach depended on building something over time. In our experience, the first three to six months involve much of the groundwork, and the relationship often becomes more valuable beyond that. I learned to ask more questions upfront about culture, growth goals, and expectations so we can set both the client and our team up for success.

Clients look to us for clear answers, especially about where their customers come from and which campaigns are working. Over the last few years, we’ve changed how we explain those results and set expectations.

We still use attribution, but we treat it as one source of insight. A customer might discover a business through Google and later convert through a Meta ad. Giving all the credit to the final interaction doesn’t tell the whole story.

We now put more emphasis on overall marketing efficiency, seasonality, and customer behavior alongside individual campaign metrics. When performance dips, we investigate rather than immediately assume a campaign has stopped working. When we need to validate an idea, we propose an appropriate test, such as an A/B or incrementality test.

Our commitment is transparency: explain what the data supports, what remains uncertain, and what we’ll do to learn more. Ultimately, our job is to understand what customers want and use that understanding to improve results.

First, define what success looks like for you. Then find the overlap between what you’re good at, what customers need enough to pay for, and what you enjoy doing. Look for a meaningful problem you can solve exceptionally well, and understand the economics of the businesses you want to serve. You need to know whether the juice is worth the squeeze.

I would also focus on the fundamentals: customer research, understanding competitors, the marketing funnel, and measuring results. Learn to use AI, but develop enough knowledge to question its recommendations and recognize when important context is missing.

What I’d ignore is the pressure to chase every shiny new tool or trend. Tools can help you move faster, but you still need to understand the problem you’re solving and why your approach makes sense. Build that foundation first.