Finding businesses who need webdesign?

[bitesoftwarecom]

Hi all,

I've set up a webdesign and IT training company last year and it's going quite well; I've got low overheads and have already got a few customers.

I'd like to develop my brand and get more customers however - so I wonder if any of you out there have any ideas/thoughts on webdesign and IT training work.

I'm interested in getting feedback from those who aren't in my field, what your perception of webdesign/IT training is, and whether I could do something to help people in your situation and improve my services.

Thanks,

 

[MJ Britton]

I'd say that the world has enough IT training and web design companies.

My advice is to find something about your service that's different from your competitors that will be valued by your customers. A great place to figure out what's special about your service is to ask your customers.

If you're unable to figure out this crucial step then you'll become a commodity. And then the only way new prospects can judge you on is price.

I've written about practical small business branding on my site that might help you think about how you 'position' your business. If you Google 'Mark Britton Marketing' you'll be able to find more advice on this.

Good luck!

 

[Kwackers]

I'd say there is enough of most things, but that doesn't mean that you can't succeed.

I need three banners doing so if you want to quote me and include me in your portfolio feel free

 

[Business News]

Telesales is without a doubt the most hated kind of direct marketing but is also the best way of quickly identifying potential new customers.

We regularly receive calls (all to often really) from web design and placement companies and the first question I pose back is 'what do you consider is wrong with or that can be improved upon with our current site?'. This quickly identifies the individuals who are just trawling through a phone book and who know nothing about what you do or even that you have a web site already. They quickly get told to sod off, in a polite way of course. The watch word is do your research before calling which is a pretty easy thing to do with a quick look at someone site and source code and then you'll be able to offer constructive advice to the poor person having to put up with an uninvited call. At least then you will sound like you know what you are talking about and you want to help them which is always a good start in any form or guise of new customer contact.

 

[bitesoftwarecom]

Thanks for that comment - absolutely agree. I have to be honest, my current sales pitch isn't the most polished, almost offending potential clients. And I do understand telesales is a highly irritating form of sales contact - especially cold calling. But then again if you don't try or ask you don't get...

 

[PIngels]

Hi all,
I'd like to develop my brand and get more customers however - so I wonder if any of you out there have any ideas/thoughts on webdesign and IT training work.

You could consider creating high quality, online IT Training courses and selling online subscriptions to those. Just a thought.

 

[S-Marketing]

Thanks for that comment - absolutely agree. I have to be honest, my current sales pitch isn't the most polished, almost offending potential clients. And I do understand telesales is a highly irritating form of sales contact - especially cold calling. But then again if you don't try or ask you don't get...

As i seem to say quite a lot, web design is just about the easiest business type to market, just as long as you know what you are doing. Get your marketing sorted by someone who knows what they are doing and you certainly won't need to resort to cold calling or telesales.

 

[bitesoftwarecom]

As i seem to say quite a lot, web design is just about the easiest business type to market...

What do you base that on?

 

[S-Marketing]

What do you base that on?

I base it on the fact that marketing service based businesses, and teaching people who own service based businesses to market their businesses, is what I do for a living. Its also what I studied at University, what I have spent years doing and 1000's of hours researching.

I wasn't trolling, its my honest opinion.

95 % (if not more) of web designers haven't got a clue when it comes to business, and more specifically marketing. Get your marketing sorted and you instantly have a massive advantage.

 

[Deleted member 61074]

Join some local networking groups, you'll be surprised what you can pick up just by chatting with fellow small business owners.

After your first meeting go and look at the websites of the people you met to see if you could improve them. Lots of businesses might be receptive to help with social media if you could show them how they'd benefit from it

 

[bitesoftwarecom]

I wasn't trolling, its my honest opinion.

I'm not disputing what you say, I just wanted to ask the question - whether you have examples, tips, advice and so on. I wouldn't say I know nothing about business, but marketing is not my forte and it's a skill I would like to develop. Your comment is encouraging, webdesign does have low overheads and benefits a whole range of businesses and groups. But marketing is key.

 

[smartee]

Hi

I'm interested to find out how your business is going?

In such a saturated market it must be difficult to get into. I'm lucky that I set my company up i 2005 and I've been in the design industry since 1989 so have a very broad knowledge.

If you're still looking to grow your client base my advice would be to not try and do everything, pick a few areas you are most familiar with and build up a few great case studies, even if it means doing a few jobs on the cheap (or even free) in order to build up some good examples. Realise what your strong points are and work to them. Don't get into the habit of doing thing cheaply though - this is only to build a strong portfolio if you don't already have one. Also, don't be afraid of outsourcing, for example if you're a good coder but lack the design skills, outsource the design to someone who is good at it (use peopleperhour.com or odesk)

Finally (and probably the most important in my opinion) is customer relations - businesses buy into people - it's the person more than the services that person / company provides. If you're a nice guy, flexible, can build a rapport with your client and the deliver the goods there's every chance that person will not only use you again but recommend you to others.

My business has grown because of recommendations and because of my relationship with my customers, it's the number one thing. I believe this is true for freelancers as well as large companies / agencies.

 

[DannyApps]

I base it on the fact that marketing service based businesses, and teaching people who own service based businesses to market their businesses, is what I do for a living. Its also what I studied at University, what I have spent years doing and 1000's of hours researching.

I wasn't trolling, its my honest opinion.

95 % (if not more) of web designers haven't got a clue when it comes to business, and more specifically marketing. Get your marketing sorted and you instantly have a massive advantage.

This guy knows what he's talking about. Design is so easily available, you need to mark yourself stand out to grab clients. If you're marketing knowledge with design to make business work is great, then you will have opportunities to be kept on a retainer for analytics/optimization work. Moreover, help people make money and word will get around that you're great!

Try local.

 

[cmcp]

I can't believe I'm the first person to suggest this but here are the two secrets you need for a successful career in web design:

1) recommendations
2) portfolio

Simple as that.

Be an expert in your field, get recommendations, have a solid portfolio and the work will come.

 

[yourmajesty]

Im now picky at what work I take on these days and even when started out never did any sites for free that is just me. Yes I did them cheap but never free. I always charged around 10 pounds an hour. How did I do it after Uni? Well I created a community site holmewood.org about 100 pages while I worked for a firm did it in my spare time when my baby son went to bed. Then I went round all the local businesses and picked up 4 web design sites in 2 days just by popping into see people and say hey my name is paul would you like to advertise on myu community site. Only charged 40 pounds a time those that did not want to advertise said no but we would like a website. It has never been the hard sell. Yes I can do telesales but interacting on a human level is the best. Now it is just a bit of networking and referrals. I never do telesales. Me or my team just do not need to.

 

[Roj]

I agree with cmcp. Most of my business comes from people viewing my portfolio on my website or recommendations. But when you are just starting out you need to generate some extra leads. I did try buying leads but these are normally sold to 3 or 5 other companies and not knowing your competition make it a bit difficult.
When starting a new web design company you need to make people an offer they can't refuse. Look for local businesses that need a website, (they all do), a good way to d this is to look at small ads and find companies that advertise with a email address but no website. They already use the Internet so they are not technophobic. Offer to build them a website and say they only need to pay for it if they like it. Worst case is you have a website for your portfolio, best case is you have a new client.
An alternative to looking at the local market is if you have knowledge of a specialist sector. I know a web design who specialises in building websites for Dentists and he does really well because he has knowledge of dentistry and can talk to his clients about their business.

There are hundreds of ways to get new clients and once you have build a reputation they will be coming to you.

All the best
Roger Weavers

 

[shelleyleek]

MJ Britton, thanks for the advice, I'm just coming into the business of Web Design and your post was rather helpful

 

[benjaminedwards]

Thanks for this thread!