Uprise growth teardown · made for Distinctive Designs by Lee

He asked for a $300 update. He got an engine.

This sample is different: it's the one that became a client. Lee runs a South Florida landscape design studio with 35 years behind it. He asked us to touch up his old website. We went through it the way we go through every business, and showed him what it was really costing him.

R

Rio · Uprise
May 2026 · went through your website and your social by hand

What's already working

The hard part is done.

Before the leaks: credit where it's due. You built the part of this business that can't be faked.

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35 years of work most designers can't touch

Lee studies the masters at MoMA and The Met and brings it to South Florida yards. Three decades of transformations, a client base built on word of mouth, and a reputation that closes deals in person.

✓

A network that sends him work

His clients refer him without being asked. The demand side of the business was never the problem. The problem was what happened when those referrals looked him up.

The leaks

Where the money is getting lost.

Every one of these is something I actually saw on your website or your social. No generic checklist.

LEAK 01

The website didn't perform at his level

What I saw
An aging site on an old domain, built years ago, showing none of the work at the standard he actually delivers it. He knew it too, that's why he reached out.
What it costs you
Every referral who looked him up before calling met a website that undersold three decades of craft. In a business where one project is worth thousands, that gap costs real jobs to lesser designers with better presentation.
The fix
A full custom rebuild: his transformations shown big, before-and-after sliders, his artist story front and center, built mobile-first and fast.
LEAK 02

Browsers had no path to becoming consultations

What I saw
The work lived offline and in his phone's camera roll. Online, there was no clean way for an interested homeowner to see the portfolio and take the next step in one motion.
What it costs you
Word of mouth was doing all the lifting alone. Every curious homeowner who couldn't self-serve their way to "I want this yard" stayed a stranger.
The fix
A portfolio built to sell, with a working inquiry form wired straight to his inbox, spam-filtered so real leads never drown.
LEAK 03

The reputation lived entirely offline

What I saw
Thirty-five years of trust, invisible to anyone who hadn't already met him. No story, no proof, no search presence carrying his name when people went looking.
What it costs you
Businesses like Lee's don't lose to better competitors. They lose to more visible ones.
The fix
The full foundation: SEO baseline, his real story told properly, and a site that shows up clean when anyone searches his name.

The fix

What the engine looks like.

A website that converts and ads that feed it. Two pieces, one engine. This is what I build and run.

01 · The website

A site that sells while you work

Custom-built, fast, and designed to convert the people who look you up. Every button, number, and form tested. No templates.

02 · The ads

Demand you control

Paid ads pointed at the site, measured in one number: qualified leads per week. You choose who sees you, instead of waiting on referrals.

Want it fixed, or want it run?

We rebuilt it in days. His first referral came 24 hours after launch. His words, not ours: "My jaw literally dropped to the ground." The process starts with a page exactly like this one, made for your business.

Book a free growth call Prefer email? rio@uprisegrowth.io

One more thing. This page isn't a template blast. I went through your website and your social myself, and I run this exact teardown on my own pages before anyone else's. If nothing here lands, no hard feelings. If it does, you know where I am. Rio