|
|
|
Five Pieces of Information You Must Include on Your Website to Generate Sales
One of the first things online entrepreneurs have to recognize about the Internet is that it's a very impersonal medium. When you're selling something to someone in direct conversation, you have the opportunity to create rapport and inspire trust in...
How To Create A Website In Less Than A Week
Here's a really simple way... any novice can create a fully functional website in less than a week.
Websites are the wave of the future. Although many companies are using an online presence to drive business to their brick and mortar stores,...
Web Source Web Design Tips - Open A New Window With A Button or Link
Button: ('yourfile.htm')"> Link: function openwindowlink(){ newwin = window.open("yourdomain.htm","windowname"," height=320,width=320,scrollbars,resizable") } // end hiding --> openwindowlink()">Open Window About the Author
Shelley...
Website Development: Become Your Own Expert
Starting and maintaining a business is challenging enough without the additional financial burden of hiring a web site expert to put your vision on paper. If you are starting your business on a “shoe string budget,” hiring someone to take your...
What Color is Your Website?
During site creation, it is very easy to fall into the trap of "if I can, I will" thinking. This method of thinking is very dangerous. The premise is if I can create a site with 256 differently colored words, backgrounds and graphics, I will. ...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Top 10 Ways For Web Designers To Find New Clients"
Given the "dotcom" bust and the global recession of the past
18 months it can be difficult for Independent Web Designers
to put food on the table these days. However, the business
is out there -- you just have to be a little more aggressive
in finding it. Based on our own experience and that of hundreds
of Web Designers who have used our Web Hosting services over
the past five years, here are ten of the best ways to find
new clients for your web design shop this year:
1. Contact Local ISP's. Most Internet Service Providers offer
a few MB of webspace or hosting accounts to their customers.
However, most don't offer website design services. Contact
local ISP's and offer a generous referral fee if they send
business your way. This tactic has worked very well for some
of our Resellers. Note: It's important to help the ISP's
promote your service by providing them with some marketing
materials they can send out by email and snail mail to their
customers.
2. Local Networking. Time and time again, web developers
have cited this as one of their primary sources of new
business. You can't do business sitting on your behind in
front of your computer all day! You need to devote some time
to getting out and meeting local business people. This is
most easily accomplished by joining local business
organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce and the
Rotary. If you keep active in these groups over time you
will establish yourself as the person to go to for any
web-related services. Always be sure to carry business
cards, or better yet, full-color postcards to handout with
a screen-shot of your website or web design portfolio.
See http://www.web-cards.com for some great business card
and postcards ideas.
3. Online freelance sites. There are number of sites now,
such as http://elance.com, where you can find listings of
web projects open for bid. It is true that you will be
competing with many bidders for these projects but don't
let that stop you these are businesses that are ready to
buy now. A good strategy is too bid as low as you can
initially in order to get your foot in the door with a
given company. If you do a good job and delivery it quick
the company will naturally go back to you for additional
work.
4. Create a community business directory. This is a great
strategy that is often used but rarely done well by local
web design firms. By creating a community business
directory you accomplish three things. First, you now have
a database of all the businesses in your local area your
primary target market! Secondly, you have now created a
legitimate reason to get in touch with them. And finally,
when you do contact them they will not perceive it as a
sales call; rather, they will thank you for providing such
a valuable service!
5. Ask for referrals. As soon as you land a client and
sign the contract, you should immediately ask them for 3
other businesses they know of that may be in need of your
services. Right when you've made the sale is the best time
to ask for referrals, don't wait until the end of the
project. Remember, you need to keep filling up your sales
pipeline with pending projects to keep the cash coming in.
When you call your client's referrals be sure to mention
the person that referred them and offer something additional
such as a small discount or
free consultation for the
referral.
6. Write articles and free reports. Writing short articles
on Internet Business and Web Development is a great way to
get your name out and generate new clients. You can submit
articles to your local print media, Chamber of Commerce,
and business publications. You can also syndicate this
content online for online publications and websites. One
short article can go a long way in generating new business.
7. Focus on a niche. By narrowing your focus it will be
much easier for you to find new web design clients. It's
tough to be everything to everybody. Look at your existing
client base and think about the industries your best
clients come from. Pinpoint the best two or three and then
focus your effort to only those types of businesses. It's
easy to get leads for specific industries from list brokers
such as Info USA (http://infousa.com) and others. You can
then contact similar businesses and let them know you
specialize in creating websites just for their type of
business. Tell them about the specific tools you can install
to help their business increase profits, save money, and
gain an advantage over their competitors.
8. Smile and dial. Telemarketing can be a great way to
find new business clients when done properly. The best way
to do it is to start with a free offer that will help you
qualify the lead. For example, if you create a community
directory, you can then simply call the businesses in the
directory and let them know they are entitled to a free
listing. This will give you an opportunity to chat with
them and see what their needs are. You can then email or
fax them a brief form asking for a description of their
business to post on the community website. Let them know
when it's up and then send them full details on your web
development services. From there it will be easy to set an
appointment.
9. Send postcards. Direct mail using postcards can be a
very effective and cheap way to get the word out about
your services. If you use full color postcards you can
even showcase screen-shots of some of the sites you've
designed. Always offer some type of free offer on the
postcard, such as a "FREE Website Analysis," "FREE Search
Engine Readiness Review," etc. in order the increase
response.
10. Follow up. Follow up. Follow up. There is an old adage
in marketing that says it takes at least seven contacts
before a prospect will purchase. This is as true in selling
web design services as it is with anything else. No matter
what marketing tactics you use, remember that you must
relentlessly follow up with people that have expressed the
need for your services. If you keep in touch, a good
percentage will eventually become clients.
There you have it, ten of the best ways to find new clients
and increase your Web Development business this year. But
remember, none of them will work unless you use them. So stop
fiddling with your computer and get marketing!
About the Author
Tom Mulkern
OnNet Web Hosting (http://onnethosting.com) provides high-speed
web hosting services, featuring 50% discounts for Web Designers
and Resellers. They also publish the email newsletter, "Marketing
For Web Developers." For a FREE subscription, send an email
message to: mwd-request@onnethosting.com, or visit
http://onnethosting.com/mwd.html.
|
|
|
|
|
| Web Development |
| This web summarizes the complete life cycle methodology for web development: planning, analysis, design, implementation, promotion, and innovation. |
| www.december.com |
|
| Web Development |
| Professional Web site design, graphic design, and Internet development services. |
| webdevelopment.com |
|
| Web Developer's Virtual Library: Web Development Tutorials and ... |
| News, tutorials, and reference material focusing on technical web development topics. |
| www.wdvl.com |
|
| Open Source Web Development Tutorials - Dev Shed |
| Open Source web development tutorials, forums, and tools. Topics covered include PHP, Apache, mySQL, Zope, Roxen, Jserv, Zend, XML, DHTML, and Javascript. |
| www.devshed.com |
|
| WebDeveloper.com |
| Hello all, I am new to web development. I have an understanding of website development, but no scripting experience. I have heard of JavaScript, PHP, ... |
| www.webdeveloper.com |
|
| LevelTen Web Design | Professional Website, Flash & Graphic ... |
| Offers logos, web sites, multimedia presentations, and custom media. Quote form. Based in Dallas, Texas. [Requires Flash] |
| www.leveltendesign.com |
|
| Web development - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| For larger businesses and organizations, Web development teams can consist of ... Since the mid-1990's, Web development has been one of the fastest growing ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| Web Design - HTML XML - Web Development - Web Site Design |
| Web Design and HTML are all about creating a great Web site. Use Web development and Web site design to build Web sites that customers return to over and ... |
| webdesign.about.com |
|
| Agile Web Development with Rails—Second Edition |
| Dave Thomas, Mike Clark, David Heinemeier Hansson, Leon Breedt, Thomas Fuchs, Andrea Schwarz; Pragmatic Bookshelf, 2006, ISBN 0977616630. |
| www.pragmaticprogrammer.com |
|
| CYGAD's WebDevelopment - Welcome to CYGAD’s WebDevelopment! - The ... |
| CYGAD's WebDevelopment - The finest Resources for WEB-Design, WEB-Master and WEB-Developer! |
| www.webdev.cygad.net |
|
| Web Development Bookmarklets |
| Includes tools for viewing and testing CSS styles, viewing scripts and variables, and showing the structure of a document. |
| www.squarefree.com |
|
| SGI - Freeware - Web Development |
| Links to freeware web development tools, browsers, software, etc. |
| www.sgi.com |
|
| Webmonkey: The Web Developer's Resource |
| Resources for web site developers including how-to guides, code libararies, server technologies and authoring resources. |
| www.webmonkey.com |
|
| Web Development Tools - Web Developer's Journal |
| Tips on Web page design and development, HTML, graphics, scripting, favicon, development tools, Java, sql basics, building web sites, and much more for ... |
| www.webdevelopersjournal.com |
|
| Web Developer's Handbook | CSS, Web Development, Color Tools, SEO ... |
| Web Developer's Handbook is a list of essential web-sites, which make the life of web developers easier. Compiled and updated by Vitaly Friedman. |
| www.alvit.de |
|
| Ceonex Web Development & Web Design - Full Service Digital ... |
| Web design, web development, online branding, application development and other full service business solutions focused on prospect conversion and customer ... |
| www.ceonex.com |
|
| Cayenne Web Development - web design agency, Oxfordshire, UK |
| Specialist web design agency based nr Banbury, Oxfordshire, offering a complete website design and development service. |
| www.cayenne.co.uk |
|
| Web development mistakes | 456 Berea Street |
| When I visit a website, especially if it’s the site of a competitor or a prospective client, I like viewing… |
| www.456bereastreet.com |
|
| Web development mistakes | 456 Berea Street |
| Articles and news on web standards, accessibility, usability, and other things related to web development and web design. |
| www.456bereastreet.com |
|
| Anil Dash: Web Development Trends for 2006 |
| Here, then, is a random assortment of new web development trends to be ready ... Web Development trends 2006: Überblogger Anil Dash maakte (een paar weken ... |
| www.dashes.com |
|
|