Looking for help from fellow Warriors.
Hi all,
Ive been a member of these forums for a while and ive spent most of the time just reading the great wealth of information on here - its a great place to hang out.
In the meantime, and in between IM etc, ive been trying to get my new business off the ground, which is web design. At the moment its just myself and ive been running now for about 8 months or so, with some degree of success - at the moment i have 16 websites in total.
Although this may not seem like a large number, this is all done part time as i hold a full time job as well as an IT manager - but i look at the web design a bit like IM and s im trying to develop this too.
My problem at the moment that i hope you guys can help me with is this:
Where/What can i do to help build web design sales in the US?
The reason i ask is this, ive done a few sites for an american security firm, and have built a greet relationship through this. Now he informs me that the web sites i design, for the cost are fantastic - his words not mine by the way! He assures me that if more people knew about my service then i would have no problem in getting work.
First let me say, this is not a post to promote anything, but rather a genuine request to se how i can market my services in the states. If anyone would like my services then by all means thats fine but this post is rather about how to build up clients but also maybe how to set up an affiliate system for my sites.
Some more info about what i provide:
Basically i provide web sites to small business, not IM'ers as such as these are generally one page landing type sites, affiliate pages etc - but my services are aimed more at the actual small business ie, plumbers, builders, instructors, shops, kids entertainers etc etc basically anyone who provides a service to the public and is looking for an actual website.
The cost for my service is £399 (approx $630), and this is for a web site, unlimited pages, unlimited changes - a fixed fee for a small business website for just $630, with a monthly fee of £9.99 (approx $15.99) and thats it.
Now ive been told that this is very cheap for web design in the states and designers tend to charge much more. For example i did an upgrade on a current US site for $630 - the original website cost $1400, which was a total shock to me!
Another one of my strong points is that ill create a mock up of your web site layout for free! So really the customer has nothing to lose, if they dont like what they see they can walk away and not pay a penny - oh and theres no minimum contract also!
To give you an example of the websites i provide, here are a few recent examples:
Taylorgroup (an American security firm!)
Green Room Ales
Farmer James
A Fitting Company
Foster Estates
Chesterfield Leaflet Deliveries
jmcowan
You can see they are actual websites and not any IM types as such, again im not trying to gain any work through this post (but its welcomed) but more of how i can effectively promote my services in the states, and is it really cheap compared to what charges web designers are charging in the states - im sure you guys would know this.
I was also thinking, how would i go about setting up an affiliate network if i wanted to do this using my web design as a product? I have no idea on this at all.
I hope you guys will be able to point me in the right direction and give me more info on web design in your areas.
So to recap, here are my questions:
1 - Are my charges cheap as ive been told by other american clients?
2 - Is there a need for what i can provide in the states? (see examples of sites above)
3 - Would i be able to start an affiliate system using my web design as a product and pay a fixed fee as commission upon the sale of a website?
I would appreciate any thoughts/suggestions you guys can come up with.
kind regards,
Simon
Ive been a member of these forums for a while and ive spent most of the time just reading the great wealth of information on here - its a great place to hang out.
In the meantime, and in between IM etc, ive been trying to get my new business off the ground, which is web design. At the moment its just myself and ive been running now for about 8 months or so, with some degree of success - at the moment i have 16 websites in total.
Although this may not seem like a large number, this is all done part time as i hold a full time job as well as an IT manager - but i look at the web design a bit like IM and s im trying to develop this too.
My problem at the moment that i hope you guys can help me with is this:
Where/What can i do to help build web design sales in the US?
The reason i ask is this, ive done a few sites for an american security firm, and have built a greet relationship through this. Now he informs me that the web sites i design, for the cost are fantastic - his words not mine by the way! He assures me that if more people knew about my service then i would have no problem in getting work.
First let me say, this is not a post to promote anything, but rather a genuine request to se how i can market my services in the states. If anyone would like my services then by all means thats fine but this post is rather about how to build up clients but also maybe how to set up an affiliate system for my sites.
Some more info about what i provide:
Basically i provide web sites to small business, not IM'ers as such as these are generally one page landing type sites, affiliate pages etc - but my services are aimed more at the actual small business ie, plumbers, builders, instructors, shops, kids entertainers etc etc basically anyone who provides a service to the public and is looking for an actual website.
The cost for my service is £399 (approx $630), and this is for a web site, unlimited pages, unlimited changes - a fixed fee for a small business website for just $630, with a monthly fee of £9.99 (approx $15.99) and thats it.
Now ive been told that this is very cheap for web design in the states and designers tend to charge much more. For example i did an upgrade on a current US site for $630 - the original website cost $1400, which was a total shock to me!
Another one of my strong points is that ill create a mock up of your web site layout for free! So really the customer has nothing to lose, if they dont like what they see they can walk away and not pay a penny - oh and theres no minimum contract also!
To give you an example of the websites i provide, here are a few recent examples:
Taylorgroup (an American security firm!)
Green Room Ales
Farmer James
A Fitting Company
Foster Estates
Chesterfield Leaflet Deliveries
jmcowan
You can see they are actual websites and not any IM types as such, again im not trying to gain any work through this post (but its welcomed) but more of how i can effectively promote my services in the states, and is it really cheap compared to what charges web designers are charging in the states - im sure you guys would know this.
I was also thinking, how would i go about setting up an affiliate network if i wanted to do this using my web design as a product? I have no idea on this at all.
I hope you guys will be able to point me in the right direction and give me more info on web design in your areas.
So to recap, here are my questions:
1 - Are my charges cheap as ive been told by other american clients?
2 - Is there a need for what i can provide in the states? (see examples of sites above)
3 - Would i be able to start an affiliate system using my web design as a product and pay a fixed fee as commission upon the sale of a website?
I would appreciate any thoughts/suggestions you guys can come up with.
kind regards,
Simon