Web Design marketing

[Donniesnake]

Hey guys I recently started my own web design company and the whole start up has been going great. Been making flyers, business cards, commercials from fiverr. However I need help advertising or getting my foot in the door. It's been a month and I've only gotten 5 or 6 leads but that didn't go anywhere. So right now I'm 0/6. I screwed up I'll admit doing sales. All of my leads have been from craigslist. All my other online ads haven't gotten anything which has led me to wanting to do more offline. I haven't had time to do offline but now I do and I want to go 100%. Do you guys have any ideas to market myself offline and help me out? Sorry if this has been posted before I'm really a total noob here just found this awesome site by chance and just now reading through everything.

 

[dragon123]

Try cold calling local businesses, give an offer of say 20% discount on your next 5 orders. Web design is very competitive so i now branch out and do Google Places SEO as well as other things. Never have all your eggs in one basket.

 

[poweronics]

I would recommend to start offering mobile websites to businesses by meeting them personally in addition to using text marketing.

 

[PauloPT]

Maybe this will help.

Elite Freelancer Method: Killer Strategies for Freelance Web Designers.

http://www.mediafire.com/?4aiu9jcshe6hbvp

 

[hamptonpq]

Try and get referrals. Even if you have to do a couple free sites for people you know, do it with the understanding they'll bring you a paying client in return. But one of the best things about referrals is that they're not completely cold.

 

[PabloEscobar]

Free sites would be a good idea to local charity organisations. If possible get them on a affiliate hosting package so you at least get paid something for your work
Also local IT firms that have a old looking website, offer them a revamp for referrals

 

[Donniesnake]

Thanks for replying guys some real good ideas here. I'm going to try looking for non-profit organizations and see if i can get refferals from there. Maybe do some cold calls here and there too and thanks for the book it helped alot.

 

[iiaok]

The best advice...stay off of CL Services to get leads, unless you want to work for $5 / hour.

While it's super awesome to get referrals and warm leads, you need to understand that sales is a numbers game. At the end of the day, you're either going to have to cold call to get those numbers up, or hire someone to sell for you. But 0/6 is such a tiny sampling of where you need to be.

Quick guideline, if you're 60/100, your prices are WAY to low. Understand you won't close everyone, and you don't NEED to close everyone, and your stress will go down fast.

And if you're going the free site route, offer a REALLY basic Weebly site or something that has like 1-3 pages tops. Then for $250 more, they can get a higher quality Weebly with more options. Even if offering to friends. Your time = money.

 

[Donniesnake]

For cold calling do I just look up people who don't have a website and use my script?

 

[dragon123]

Yes, or even businesses with crappy websites, just say you can do a much better design job etc.
Please don't under-price yourself, you are the expert and that is what they are paying for, your knowledge.
If a client wants something at low cost, then move on, these type of clients are normally more trouble than they are worth.
Good luck.

 

[zacamore]

If a client wants something at low cost, then move on, these type of clients are normally more trouble than they are worth.
Good luck.

Couldn't agree more - stay away from these types of clients as they end up bringing more pain than profit (I had my fingers burnt with a good few of these)

 

[webso]

You need to achieve reputation first and this can be happened by making free websites to NGO's , firms and other govt. organizations and political parties... This makes you grab attention , then go for referrals of those to whom you donated websites... This will make a drastic change in leads

 

[RoscoeT]

You need to achieve reputation first and this can be happened by making free websites to NGO's , firms and other govt. organizations and political parties... This makes you grab attention , then go for referrals of those to whom you donated websites... This will make a drastic change in leads

If you did this correctly you should get a nice tax receipt.

 

[webso]

If you did this correctly you should get a nice tax receipt.

That's pretty obvious, running an offline business is just about hitting the market at its best referalls. Govt and party organizations play a heavy duty role in getting leads. Its all about trust and reputation in OM.

 

[ComputerEngineer]

use deviantart . i am using there to find artists / designers

 

[mpulse]

Only use craigslist if you need to. Try to get it from elsewhere.

I started out using clist. Now I get referrals alot. My tag is at the bottom of every site. So if somebody likes the site. They will call. Clist leads are the most cheap of the cheap.. Want everything for nothing.. I would run some ads on clit i mean clist and when I would get calls. Most of the business is crappy clients alot of the time. Dont get me wrong.. Some are perfectly fine... But others are just so picky and cheap.. Wanthing Youtube for $400 and shit.

Quick story: I met a guy at a nice office building 35th floor. Guy ran a liquor distributor business a male enhancement line, florescent lights business and a few other things.. I got to his office (when I was a fresh in the biz, mind you) and we start to chat over this $500 web store special. yes store. Was there for like 2hrs literally talking about nothing. Just his business and a little on the store he wanted to make. When Im about to leave and I say we need to collect this measly $250 the man whips out a knot.. Of like $10k and breaks me off 2 out of it... Didnt have a fifty only hundreds. SO he needed to "OWE ME". Meanwhile I know that he should be paying like about $1500+. I went home with my tail between my legs....
To top it off...
He never finished the site.. And I had to go back to his office again for picture content.. Then still never finished it...
Thats craigslist clients for ya..

Now I got my game so tight I can close just about anyone.. I (you) Just need more QUALITY clients!

 

[m0nster]

always get half up front and the rest before you turn the site over to you.
don't undersell yourself...you'll kill your business not making enough and such. if they are stingy they will be difficult to deal with most likely. if they ask why they should pay you 1k instead of paying a company and doing it themselves, one thing to mention that i forgot sometimes in the beginning is your sites are SEO optimized - theirs are not
referrals are your best bet early on. set up a list of your services and message all your friends on fb or create a group and invite them all into it. mention that you started a business doing web design that its only you not some MLM and you'll pay em cash for any leads they send you that you close. talk to your family, your friends, your local businesses that know you - doesn't matter if they already have a awesome website and all, they most likely know other small business's and might want to help you start your business, ask them who they know, NOT who can use your services - find out who they know and then analyze their website/marketing yourself and decide if you can offer them something. don't expect the person your asking, be it a family member/friend/business owner, to know - JUST ASK WHO THEY KNOW thennn you be the judge - if they can use some of your services, tell your family member/friend/business owner what and why and then have them talk. they will be more informative and more likely to close too

 

[cloakme]

Market to all your FB and Twitter followers. Tell them you will give a 30% commission for every contract you get. Do a few free designs for charities etc. Make sure they get the media involved. I used to do this for a construction company I had. I would do some work for a local post office for free and the TV news and newspaper would be there to take a snapshot. Basically free/cheap advertising. You wil have to put your own twist on it but anything is possible.

 

[derfall]

Here's the easy way "in". Soon 50% of all searches will be done on a mobile device.
98% of websites are unreadable on a smartphone. Forget the two-finger spread. They
mainly want the phone number, address, directions, and some text and photos.

You can convert a site to mobile in 15 seconds. The call button will be there, but check to
see if the number is correct. Add a button (just type the address where indicated), and you
have a button for address and directions. Send the email to yourself that will give you an
unbranded link to a simulator with their converted site. I usually take a screen capture of their
site before in a phone on screen and one after. Print on 4x6 at CVS.

So...2 minutes total to convert. Try dudamobile dot com and sign up as an affiliate. It's free.
They charge you $6/month after activation when the client buys it from you. Charge $177 to $199/year
with no charge for the conversion. Experiment from there.

Basically, you can guarantee them a 20% boost in phone calls within 3 weeks or so. Guarantee it. They won't
cancel, but if they did, you're out $6. You need to have them add a redirect script to their site. If they have
Wordpress, you can find or buy a reusable plug-in that they can activate.

This is quicker by an email campaign, but you can do it in advance before stepping into a business. Easier on a iPad
or laptop than my Android. Really wow them with a QR code to the link. Try qrhacker dot com to fancy it up (1 minute and
free). Some of the URL shorteners will add back an ad for dudamobile, so test it first.

 

[webso]

First of all look around you. What type of peoples/business needs websites? Then make a strategy , go for referals even freebies if needed. Offer free website for NGO's , target the bureaucrats .and IT firms even big named people , Linked in works like a charm , use local newspaper and local online ads. Go for highlighting your names for the unemployed section of teenagers. You need to hit the market at its hotspot , make business partner of some shop or stall owners where your target can be achieved