Website Design

[Lucrorsoft]

My friend and I just started up our own website design company called Lucrorsoft. Our team is very talented and can make great websites and graphic designs, but we are finding it hard to find clients since we are so new and do not have portfolios like other established web design companies. Does anyone have any ideas on how to find clients in need of a web designer?

Thanks in advance!

[kamilagornia]

I would suggest do some projects for testimonials first. Ask your immediate circle if they know of anyone who needs web design and do not position yourself as new. Just matter of factly, state that you do web design. You should have a portfolio regardless, especially for sch a visual project - do some projects for yourself or some in exchange for testimonials so you can add to the portfolio. It's the samae with any visual entrepreneur, you can't really get work unless you show your style and how you are at your craft. Hope that helps.

[David Hunter]

Find businesses with crappy websites and sell them on your services!

[Wozcreative]

Talented designers but no one knows how to get clients. :confused:
How can your client trust you will design and build a website that will sell their product/service?

You mentioned you don't have any portfolio pieces.. since you are a group of designers/developers with experience.. you should each have a good handful of projects to contribute to the portfolio.

[KyleSzives]

You mentioned you don't have any portfolio pieces.. since you are a group of designers/developers with experience.. you should each have a good handful of projects to contribute to the portfolio.

I've done a bunch of projects that required my company to sign an NDA which didn't allow us to show off the work that was done for the client. It can get tricky sometimes.

[benfranklinlabs]

Read these:
- Get Clients Now! by CJ Hayden
- Book Yourself Solid by Michael Port
- The Ultimate Marketing Plan by Dan Kennedy

I would also recommend joining your local Chamber of Commerce and in general going out and getting to know as many people as you possibly can.

[Harold Mansfield]

My friend and I just started up our own website design company called Lucrorsoft. Our team is very talented and can make great websites and graphic designs, but we are finding it hard to find clients since we are so new and do not have portfolios like other established web design companies. Does anyone have any ideas on how to find clients in need of a web designer?

Thanks in advance!
The first step would be your own website. Put it in your signature. After all, this is a Small Business Forum.

After that, you are really asking how to market and do sales. Something every business has to figure out. Being website designers you should have a better than average grasp of the web itself and at least know how to use the basic tools available to you...SEO, Social Media, and Blogging.

Other than that, I'd ask who are you targeting? Any and everyone in the world? Of a specific demographic?
Personally, I target a specific demographic as do many other web designers here. You can't be everything to everybody. You have to get in where you fit in.

[Brian Altenhofel]

What he said. ^^

One of the most important skills you need is sales. As a natural introvert, sales terrified me. But the better I got at socializing, the better I got at sales, and sales is what closes deals. Without sales, you have no revenue stream.

And definitely pick a specific demographic and stick to it. For me personally, I work in SMB e-commerce (mostly) with businesses who need their website to be built to conform to their business processes instead of the other way around. I have certain criteria that must be met that basically boils down to them using their website as a primary revenue stream and not some side-channel. It keeps life interesting, but it also has a side effect of the vast majority of my work being under NDA. All those NDAs make it fun when a prospect asks for references or examples, and that's where skills in sales really come into play. I often have to "sell" my relevant experience without actually having examples that I can legally show them. (More often than not, though, this is made easier through word-of-mouth referrals from NDA clients. Those are interesting because I technically still can't give a confirmation.)

Learn how to sell, build a great website for yourself, and worry about the portfolio pieces later. Are they handy? Sure. But they're not absolutely necessary.

Oh, and be willing to turn down work that is not a good fit for you. Best thing I ever learned is how to say "no".

[cathyc100]

I am in the same industry and situation. I have done a few things. Made sure everyone I know is helping to promote me. Attending networking events, cold calling, emailing and canvasing. Most important being honest. I did an emailing back in March and got a response from a Plastic Surgeon for a mobile app. He said if I could show him an app I had done for another doctor he would do it. I hadn't done one and I told him that, but we would build the app to his specifications and provide excellent service. He did it and he is a great client.
We have been focused on doing mobile apps as opposed to website design. I would be open to talking and seeing if we could help each other. I am a first year business trying to grow and maybe we can help each other.

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[Blessed]

What he said. ^^

I'm seconding that "what he said" part...


...Learn how to sell, build a great website for yourself, and worry about the portfolio pieces later. Are they handy? Sure. But they're not absolutely necessary.

Oh, and be willing to turn down work that is not a good fit for you. Best thing I ever learned is how to say "no".

And this too!
I have lots of work that I can't put in a portfolio, but there are other pieces out there that I can - and within the niche I've found myself in, word-of-mouth from existing clients is huge.

Learn how to say "no" and learn how to sell your services - it's tough, but necessary if you plan to succeed in business.