A craftsman underselling his craft
James produces genuinely excellent, high-value work. He was simply pricing it to keep clients happy rather than to reflect its worth. The fastest win was charging what it is actually worth.
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Everblue Digital: sales up 97% and still growing, by selling what was already built.
A founder-led digital and automation agency built by a genuinely brilliant technical operator. The work was always first-class. With value-based pricing, a real pipeline and a productised product line, sales grew 97% in eight months, and they are still climbing.
+97% Sales growth
2x Core pricing
8 Months
About the client
Everblue Digital
Everblue Digital is a founder-led digital and automation agency run by James Gleeson, serving clients across Ireland, the UK and the US. The work spans web design and development, SEO, social, paid media and email, with a growing specialism in AI, automation and custom web apps.
James is a genuine technical builder, the kind of operator who can migrate, automate and ship almost anything single-handed, including his own software products. The opportunity was never the quality of the work. It was building a business around it that did not depend on him being at the laptop.
Why they came to Move at Pace
I'd built a good business, but a high-stress job for myself. I wanted to get off the laptop, get my pricing right, and work with someone who'd challenge me rather than flatter me.
Already brilliant
Brilliant work, ready to scale.
A builder who can do anything
James can migrate, automate and ship almost anything single-handed. That range is rare and valuable. The opportunity was to free him from doing everything so he could lead and sell.
A portfolio full of unsold gold
Years of strong work, products and proof already existed. The upside was simply a pipeline to put them in front of more people.
The real opportunity
James had already built genuinely valuable things: flagship automation projects, a portfolio of sites, even his own software products. The one piece missing was a business engine to match: selling as well as he builds, and pricing to reflect the value. The talent was all there. We just put a commercial system around it.
The insight
Where the value was waiting.
Price on value
Raising prices on the exact same work was the fastest revenue lever available, with no extra delivery required. The capacity was already there.
Sell what is already built
The products, the portfolio and the case studies all existed. They needed a pipeline and a seller, not more product.
Productise the IP
Turning the best automation work into a recurring-revenue software product, so growth compounds instead of trading hours for money.
The work
What we did, phase by phase.
Months 1-3 Price and diagnose
Set the strategic priorities and went straight at the single biggest lever: pricing. Every new quote reviewed before it went out, and clear floors on margin.
- Standardised web projects at value-based pricing, ending referral discounts
- Roughly doubled pricing on automation work, with a margin floor on anything outsourced
- Put in project systems and per-client structure to replace email and WhatsApp
- Built and vetted a reliable freelance bench
Months 4-6 Systems and assets
Built the marketing engine and the proof, so higher prices were backed by visible credibility, and started turning bespoke work into reusable product.
- Launched the agency's own website and a set of case studies
- Recovered under-monetised hosting and maintenance revenue across the portfolio
- Stood up an outbound pipeline with a daily LinkedIn cadence and target lists
- Began productising the automation IP into a recurring-revenue offer
Months 7-8 From builder to seller
Shifted James out of full-time delivery and into a daily sales rhythm, while modern tooling and a first hire bought back his time.
- Daily sales routine, plus LinkedIn automation and paid ads switched on
- Took the new SaaS product to market: paying customers and a page-one ranking
- Modernised the whole site portfolio from WordPress to a faster Astro stack
- Brought on a first hire to buy back 15 to 20 hours a week
The outcome
What changed, measured.
Beyond the numbers
- Shifted from technician to business owner: 'I kinda feel like a boss now'
- Pricing confidence transformed, with the money side under control and healthy margins
- A reliable freelance bench plus a first full-time hire, freeing the founder from delivery
- A real marketing engine: own website, case studies, LinkedIn outbound and paid ads
- A productised SaaS asset taken from idea to paying customers and a page-one ranking
- The whole site portfolio modernised from WordPress to a faster, leaner Astro stack
Results achieved over the 8 months engagement. Percentage changes verified.
"Since working with Connor, we've seen a 97% increase in sales, but the bigger impact has been on our efficiency. We're getting more done with less stress. Practical and direct, all while being good craic. He focuses on what will actually work for your specific situation rather than generic business coaching."
Key takeaways
What made this work.
Pricing is the fastest lever
Charging properly for work already being done grew revenue with no extra delivery. It was the quickest win on the board.
Sell what you have already built
The assets, products and proof already existed. The change was a pipeline and a seller, not more product.
Productise to compound
Turning one-off brilliance into a recurring product breaks the hours-for-money ceiling and lets growth compound.
The lesson
The fastest growth here did not come from doing more. It came from charging properly for work already being done, selling what was already built, and turning bespoke brilliance into a product that keeps earning. For a technical founder, the hardest and most valuable shift is from builder to seller.
Results shown are from real clients but are not typical. Individual results vary based on your business, experience, effort, and market conditions. We do not guarantee specific outcomes.
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