Young Entrepreneur Looking for Marketing Advice

[webdesigngeek]

I am a young entrepreneur looking for some marketing advice. I am starting a web design company that will provide services to local businesses. Does anybody have any advice on how I should market to local business owners? What have you done that has worked in the past?

[David Hunter]

Whelp, first off you want to get noticed! Be different from the crowd.

What makes you different from all the other web design companies out there?

Direct mail is a great way to go. If you're low on funds, then you could always cold call too. That'll never go out of style.

[Ryan26]

Cold calls mostly never work for us. We do email and after e-mail we call them. At this moment, we have stopped calling or emailing, cause we don't look for more clients. Actually we are small and we have specifically called and tried to get only a few clients. Other came to use from other jobs we did.
So I would suggest you to get some first ones and do it really good. Then others should come.

[Kumar Palani]

All the very best for your startup. Your best bet is local directories and classified ad posting sites. Concentrate on creating crafty and simple contents that will attract your potential audience. Social media might work, but it will take some time (you need some clients or potential clients following you) to work.

Also be precise about your pricing, most start-ups and even established business firms prefer choosing from a set of prefixed prices and than negotiations. (but yet be open to negotiations of prices). Prepare a set of packages and focus on promoting them on classifieds as ads, "Get a website at this May at 10% less price" (or something like this), would make a good title. (adding your city or target group will be beneficial).

[Ryan26]

Yes, local directories work as well. Recently I launched one, so you could take a look and post your business there. FOXME.COMPANY | Online Business Directory (http://foxme.company/)

About discounts, yes, it's really good idea to do that, what we did ( by we I mean I have business that makes WordPress websites for other small businesses ) from time to time use discount as 50% off for a week. Only from this we got around 3 clients. Yes, you will not get so much money as you would but you will get clients that will suggest you. Cause these things to tend sell more from mouth-to-mouth.

[KristenMozian]

"a web design company that will provide services to local businesses"

That's incredibly broad. Retail businesses? Coffee shops? Mechanics? Accounting firms? Lawyers? Narrow it. Become great at web design in that industry. You'll build credibility as the go-to when you dive deep into a niche.

From narrowing that niche, you can focus your marketing efforts and better leverage your time and budget.

[Harold Mansfield]

I started off just doing websites and 5+ years ago what was enough. These days people are looking for more services than just web design. They need help with everything web related so just doing web design and no other support services is a hard hustle. Everyone and their Mother is a web designer today and there are far more options for DIY'ers.

The thing about services like web design is that you can't solicit much business to people who aren't ready, you have to be there when they're looking. That means having a dialed in web presence. For you that means a good local profile. You also may want to think about specializing in a particular industry to get the ball rolling. Restaurants, Real Estate agents..whatever. People are more likely to call if they can (a) find you when they need you, and (b) see that you understand their particular industry.

Reviews help a lot. Not so much on your website (anyone can fake those), but on credible sites like Google, Yelp and so on. People read reviews.
But how do you get them when you're just starting out? Do sites for friends, and other acquaintances for cheaper to start building a portfolio.
Troll the freelance and jobs boards..every now and then you'll see a listing with a realistic budget that's worth bidding on.

In this day and age just putting up a website and saying "I do web design" won't cut it. You have to actively market your business. If you're only doing local, direct mail isn't a bad idea if you do it correctly. Don't cheap out.

You're going to have to try a few things to see which is going to work for you, or you can just cut to the chase and advertise.

[HostColor]

@webdesigngeek I would suggest you to do some research and find out who are your competitors on the local market and what they do. This will help you to analyze the market and consider how to position your business. I guess that it is a good idea to go visit any local business associations, chambers or any other similar organizations and to find out how would you reach out to their members. Then you'd definitely need to attract attention and to by offerings some products or services that they'd need. My advise is not to spend a lot of time online, doing marketing. Find and go communicate directly with your prospective clients and you'd have a better chance to sign them up.

[SellingZeroesAndOnes]

Definitely narrow down your focus so you know what type of local company you want as a customer. From there you can cold call, email or even go in person, depending on business.

When I lived in Vancouver a friend of a friend was a solopreneur doing web design. He wanted to streamline things as much as possible so he created 3 website templates priced at $3000, $5000 and $7000. He would then visit local stores that had no web presence and sell them on the need to have a site, even if it was just the $3000 one. I believe there was a maintenance fee option for updates if the owners were not tech savvy to change content themselves later. Anyway it worked out for him, he'd land one project during the first week of the month then take the other 3 weeks off and travel, then repeat again the next month.

Here is a final thought. Would it be possible to create a free website for 1 or 2 businesses, then ask them to refer you to their business associates that might need a similar site?

[Paul]

For local service businesses I always suggest live networking through local organizations. Merchants organizations, chamber of commerce etc. For me, it is difficult to and time consuming to research services that I need, so I almost always simply go with the person I know or met, especially when I know they are local and involved in local functions.

I know it’s preferred to simply market online BUT being in their face is a way to differentiate yourself from more passive competition.

[SmallbizGuy]

I am a young entrepreneur looking for some marketing advice. I am starting a web design company that will provide services to local businesses. Does anybody have any advice on how I should market to local business owners? What have you done that has worked in the past?

There are many web design companies available so you want to be able to differentiate yourself from other businesses. You obviously want to make yourself and perhaps market your business in a new way. Since you are targeting local businesses why not start with a digital business card? It's easy for people to share and a pretty inventive way to give people a glimpse of how you are creative with technology.

[farluhan]

See, as you are new, the best idea is to narrow your focus to a small niche. Digital marketing using social engines will help you to save budget but at the same time, i am sure that your direct competitors are using that same tactic. Use digital marketing but at the same time, try to use PR skills and direct marketing techniques. this will definitely bring you customers.

[shawn.griggs]

Public Relations. Work into the community, get involved in the local Chamber of Commerce, and look for Networking Groups around town. Referrals is the name of the game, find your friends, work for that outward bound. Lastly, BE SOMEBODY. What you do so different from everybody else? Find that differentiation and what makes you so special and branch out from there.

[Mari Bacon]

First of all, congrats on taking the leap to start your own business! I agree with previous posts suggesting finding a niche and networking locally. Your Chamber of Commerce should hold periodic networking events - you usually don't have to be a member (in our area it's $300-500/year) to attend events, you can pay a fee (about $20) to attend. Also, get involved in your local Small Business Administration chapter - another great way to network with other small business owners. Many have no-cost or low-cost seminars and networking opportunities.

I don't think direct mail is really going to give you a high return on investment (ROI), and since the nature of your business is website design, the web is where you want to be. Make sure YOUR website is top-notch and includes a portfolio of your work. Potential clients will want to see this. If you already have clients lined up, great! Encourage them to review your work on Yelp, Google+ and local pages. (Gratis work on a simple website for a non-profit is a great way to spend a little time for a positive referral). Get listed online and as you network, build a contact list of email addresses (get permission to email them) so you can engage in email marketing.

[jamesray50]

I participate in other forums specific to my industry and one of the questions asked alot is "how do I get customers", "how do I get my business noticed", etc. The most popular reply to these type of questions is to network. It may be by joining networking grouos like The Chamber of Commerce or other similar groups, or Meetup groups. Or join forums and answer questions. Leave business cards ever where you go. Ask for referrals from customers. It's hard to drum up business and what works for one may not work for another.

Good luck!

[webfanatic]

Online, use a professional social platform like LinkedIn to connect with professional businesses. Offline, do what some have suggested - Chamber of Commerce, etc...