AI-Powered Web Design Agency for Local Businesses
Plenty of great neighborhood businesses have no website, or one that doesn't work on a phone. I started an agency to fix that, and built an AI pipeline to do the hardest part of the job: finding them and starting the conversation.
01The pipeline
Cold outreach only works if it's specific. A generic "need a website?" email gets ignored. So every business gets audited first, and the pitch is built from what's actually wrong with its current site.
- FindSearches Google Maps by category and neighborhood (coffee shops, barbers, med spas, landscapers) and de-duplicates the results into a lead database.
- Find a contactCrawls each business's site for a real email, decodes obfuscated addresses, and falls back to search when the homepage comes up empty.
- AuditScreenshots the site and checks the fundamentals: HTTPS, mobile layout, load speed, SEO, and accessibility.
- ScoreCombines those checks into a single opportunity score (higher means the site needs more help), with an optional AI visual review of the screenshot.
- DraftWrites a short, personal pitch that names the specific problems and offers a free homepage mockup up front.
- SendPushes approved emails to Instantly campaigns, with opt-out and do-not-contact lists checked at three separate stages.
02The work
The pipeline opens the door, and the site has to close the deal. I design every site around the business's own personality instead of a template, and use AI tools heavily to move from mockup to finished build quickly.
Ben Wilson Pictures
A portfolio for a unit-still photographer working between Los Angeles, Cincinnati, and Colorado. The homepage is a slowly drifting collage of his work. From there, ten galleries (unit stills, key art, set portraits, editorial, events, and more) open into clean grids with a full-screen lightbox, all kept quiet so the photography does the talking.
Luisa Monâ Code ↗
A Los Angeles fashion brand that wanted something closer to an art piece than a storefront. The landing page is a looping ASCII-art film. Clicking sends a wave across the character grid that reveals the store underneath: men's, women's, collections, scents, furniture, and exhibitions.
Both sites are embedded below. Click in and browse them right here.
03What I learned
Automation can handle the volume, but trust still has to be earned one business at a time. That's why every pitch leads with a specific problem and a free mockup rather than a sales line. Running the business end to end (prospecting, pitching, pricing, design, and delivery) taught me as much about sales as about software.
04Skills applied
- Python
- Claude API
- Claude Code
- Google Maps Places API
- Instantly
- Web scraping
- Lighthouse auditing
- Lead scoring
- Web & brand design
- Cold outreach
- Sales & pricing
- Entrepreneurship