what should be done?

[Printing Deals]

Ok here is the thing.. I have nice and professional looking website (I think so). professional portfolio, I have very strong graphic and web design skills, worked for many good names as freelancer,,, but never get a single enquiry from website. what could be the reason? How can I use my website to get business? What needs to be done to make my website my main source of income rather dropping brochures offices to offices to get freelance work? I am open to ideas even partnership proposals. I actually want to quit my fulltime job and do my own stuff but right now there’s not enough revenue that I can support even myself from business only. I have very strong technical skills and expertise but I am zero in marketing. I was thinking if there’s some marketing guru interested to work with me and get some business than we can set-up very good design company. Look forward to your ideas.

Regards

 

[++KATE++]

i'm no expert by any means but i've just looked at your site and was immediately put off by the contact form being on the very first page.
it looks a bit hard sell.

 

[mtw]

You're working in a pretty crowded field. It's hard to stand out from the crowd. You could spend a fortune on advertising, but unless it's really eye-catching, compulsive and highly targeted you could be chucking away the money.

Probably one of the best ways for you to get business is by getting to know people - and that means networking. Get out and get your face seen if you can. Get to shows and talk to people and look at networking events. These are often breakfast meetings so could probably be done and still get to your day job... If you do this you need to invest some time in it and not expect returns straight away. You shouldn't do the hard sell on people, but let them know what you do. If you leave a good impression they might just think of you when they (or a contact of theirs!) needs your services.

Customer testimonials (if you have any) are a great way of building confidence in your business. Always look to get one and get them on your site.

I like your site. I like to see prices, but when I see 'TBA' it gives the impression the site isn't finished. That begs the question in people's minds, if you can't finish your own why should they trust you with theirs...

Personally I don't mind the contact form on the front.

Hope that's of some use.

Cheers
Mark

 

[garyk]

well your site isnt finished, go to prices and all it says is TBA, you need to be telling people everything they need to know otherwise they'll just leave!

 

[manchesterhypnosis]

I like your site, but - there is a huge blank white space on the right, maybe this is just my browser (firefox under Linux) whick is looking funny. The other thing that is not to my taste is the "tools used" - I don't know if people who buy design services care if you use a pad and pencil, or borrow a super-computer from NASA, I bet they just want a leaflet!

 

[Deleted member 3454]

1. I use Flock browser in Win XP SP2 with a screen resolution of 1280 x 768 and the grey copyright bar goes over some of the text - particuarly on the Services page and the Prices page.
2. I also get the massive blank space to the right of the page - it's about a third of the width of my screen .
3. I agree with the comments about the Prices page - it would be better not to have the page at all if you don't want to put your prices on the website.

Hope that helps.

 

[Mark Nagurski]

Simple question, are people going to your site at all or are they getting there and simply not contacting you through it?

 

[directmarketingadvice]

Simple question, are people going to your site at all or are they getting there and simply not contacting you through it?

Good question.

And, if they do come to your site, what do they do?

Do they check out other pages or just bounce off the landing page?

Steve

 

[Mark Pocock]

Firstly , What the heck is that picture of the sky doing there?

Get rid of it!

You've got 6-8 seconds to grab my attention. And you're not doing that. So I've hit the back button.

secondly Get rid of the contact form.

If a visitor fills that in he's gonna think you're going to try and sell to him over the phone. So no one is ever going to fill it in.
People don't like to be sold to. They like to buy instead.

"VERTaGE is your best marketing solution!"

Prove it!! Never say you're the best. If going to say you're good back it up with Facts and Figures.

Apart from that you've got the usual missing. ie. no guarantee. No irresistable offer. No offer. No testimonials, no benefits, etc, etc,etc

apart from this it's fine

cheers mark

 

[lex]

1. Your design isnt that good, your an ok designer but not great.

2. Your TBA prices are a big turnoff, i know if someone has a TBA i wont bother contacting them as they are usually very high and not worth it.

3. I didnt even see the portfolio menu, it needs to be in with the links above it not below.

4. Too much grey.

 

[Mac Yeti]

Hi ahsan,

In addition to all the good advice mentioned above, I'd try putting some original pieces of work in your portfolio - show that you can do something different to the average designer and that you're creative.

I think a good design portfolio needs to be inspirational and show you are passionate and creative when it comes to design.

Perhaps add in some personal projects that can show off your creativity and also the fact that you love to design not just for work but because you enjoy it.

 

[Printing Deals]

Thanks very much all of you for your good advice and constructive criticism. I agree that my site is not very professionally done, it doesn’t look like a designer’s website from anywhere, but looks like some marketing company. I strongly believe what missing is some good case studies, testimonials some flashy offers on main page and like all said a full functional webpage. problem regarding portfolio is that I work for a company as a fulltime graphic designer, and I think I can’t show the stuff I am doing for them in my website portfolio, any idea? If you have sometime and would like to see my portfolio pdf you can download it at w w w.vertage.n e t/portfolio.pdf (please remove spaces). I admit I am not great designer but I am not an average designer either, I count myself above good. Yes I am more reality based corporate designer than creating wired stuff only for art exhibitions.

So do you guys suggest I hire someone to do all this stuff for me? Like adding testimonials, case studies, updating website regularly, search engine optimization etc? Obviously I can’t afford to hire someone fulltime at my premises, either I’ll outsource these services or get some freelancer. Or shall I be more realistic and stick to my fulltime job forever and stop thinking of making my own design agency?

Nice discussion with you guys.

Cheers

 

[Mark Nagurski]

Hi Ashan

Relax. What you need to do is simply spend some time and energy looking at your site and refining it based on some of the suggestions above.

There are a few simple things you can do to make your site more appealing, more user friendly and more marketing savvy. Offline you need to consider a simple marketing plan that you can implement on your budget and with your available time.

With a simple plan in place you can slowly but surely build a nice portfolio of freelance work and, eventually, a client list big enough for you to freelance full-time.

If you did want to outsource anything, look at spending a few quid on consulting with a good marketing team and getting them to help thrash out some ideas and point you in the right direction. Whatever you do, don't resign yourself to the full time job, if freelancing is something you want to do, then do it.

Best of luck and feel free to get in touch for a chat if you like.

 

[Marketingmind]

Hi Ashan ,

Before you do much else it might be a good idea to decide what the purpose of you website is.

Is it to achieve sales, capture contact details, provide good information on your services?

Because of the nature of the Internet the chances are people are not going to buy from you on their first visit and if they leave your site without leaving any contact details then you've lost them forever.

Make sure you know what the purpose of your website is and when it starts to either achieve more sales or capture contact details then thats the time to step up your marketing efforts and really focus on getting more visitors to your site.

Best Wishes

J

"Helping You Grow Your Business"
www.Marketingmind.co.uk

 

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