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How do I go about promoting my Web Design Services business?

by theultimate1
10 replies
Hello Warriors,

So I have my website ready, but my business is new. My portfolio page currently says COMING SOON (even these two words need to be changed actually). I'm not new to the web design business however. I've worked in a web design firm before, so I know the industry and I know how things work in this space. I'm putting up a team of smart, talented and technically (or technologically??) updated guys; and I'm ready to get down to business in about a week's time.

I have a few contacts I'm hoping to close on deals with, but I'm not currently banking on them. Plus, the contract value isn't likely to be high. I know that shouldn't be my focus right now. However, what I really want to do is generate business online, from the developed nations. What would your advice be to someone running an operation (with decent infrastructure in place) from India and wanting to generate business from the West? Cold-calling? E-mail Marketing? Something else?

If E-mail Marketing, how do I open my offering via e-mail? First cold/unsolicited message intended for commercial purposes would amount to spam.

Please share your thoughts and suggestions.
#business #design #promoting #services #web
  • Profile picture of the author leewiggins
    Hi theultimate1

    To be fair my friend this is a very broad scope there are lots of avenues that would help, but if you wanted to communicate to new leads via email, you could buy email lists and send them to an offer or a free product/service so that they could in turn give you there email address, you would then know which ones were interested or not from your cold list and you could later follow up to them.

    Check out squeeze pages or opt ins and also autoresponders like aweber, hopefully that will lead you on the right track, hope this answer helps and good luck with your future business
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  • Profile picture of the author eXthus
    Hi there,

    I think the first thing you need to do is to work on your portfolio. Most people will want to see examples of your previous work before they even considering using you for a web design job.

    Places like 99designs can be helpful in establishing yourself if you're good and you do some stand out work. I quite often see submitted pieces from users on 99designs that I contact and hire for freelance work.

    Cold calling and email marketing are definitely not the way to go in my opinion. You need to build up a great portfolio, establish your brand on western sites like 99designs and if you're good enough you'll soon start getting job requests in your inbox.

    Good luck
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  • Profile picture of the author abo28
    Originally Posted by theultimate1 View Post

    My portfolio page currently says COMING SOON
    That's pretty bad. You must be able to show your prospects some samples of your work. Otherwise you don't stande a chance in front of your competitors who DO have samples.

    The fastest solution, in my opinion: make 3-4 sites for free, in order to demonstrate your talents and abilities (and also get some testimonials).

    Bogdan
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  • Profile picture of the author bplaza
    Put your business information in directory lists. below site is one of them
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  • Profile picture of the author John Williamson
    There is a wealth of free, readily available knowledge here in the offline section of WF if you use the search feature of the forum.

    Aside from that, you can find threads every single day with different answers about what you're asking.

    Cold calling is never a bad idea if you have a good pitch and closing strategy, along with an attractive price. Emails can be difficult. You can utilize LinkedIn, Craigslist, and referrals (word of mouth) as important mediums as well.
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  • Profile picture of the author Carl Fridsjö
    Actually even though you don't have a portfolio there's a work around for that. Go ahead and offer them a free, no strings attached mockup design of their site before they "decide on anything".

    I'm surprised by how many of my customers who don't seem particularly interested in seeing portfolio/previous work.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    Don't put up a page for any topic that says "Coming Soon".

    Put it up when you've got the content. All it says is "the site owner thinks incomplete work is acceptable" to your prospect.

    Now the truth is that you do not need a portfolio or previous work to sell. I have sold many copywriting projects and I never show previous work. I may share previous results if they want them...but they rarely do.

    Consistently, I've been told it's the quality of my questions that demonstrates I know what I'm talking about--and that I speak to the specifics of the prospect's situation while competitors, if any, talk in generalities and bore the prospect.

    Uncover the urgent, emotional reason why someone wants what you offer, and you'll be 90% or more of the way home.
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    • Profile picture of the author lmooney1028
      Originally Posted by Jason Kanigan View Post

      Don't put up a page for any topic that says "Coming Soon".

      Put it up when you've got the content. All it says is "the site owner thinks incomplete work is acceptable" to your prospect.

      Now the truth is that you do not need a portfolio or previous work to sell. I have sold many copywriting projects and I never show previous work. I may share previous results if they want them...but they rarely do.

      Consistently, I've been told it's the quality of my questions that demonstrates I know what I'm talking about--and that I speak to the specifics of the prospect's situation while competitors, if any, talk in generalities and bore the prospect.

      Uncover the urgent, emotional reason why someone wants what you offer, and you'll be 90% or more of the way home.
      Jasons hit the nail on the head here. I've found (in my short time) that if you show the potential client that you are interested in them and their business by asking them alot of questions related to what they want out of it, etc. then the client will know you have their best interestes at heart and not just looking for some more money.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ninja Ana
    I strongly suggest to work on your website promotion that will not sound spam to web users by building inbound links to your site and do more research on free website promotion.

    Aside from your portfolio and samples of your work, you also need to show to your clients all the needed information (e.i objective, goals, what can you offer and payment method) in your website. Plus remember small contracts are still big contract and numbers really counts.
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  • Profile picture of the author qualityin
    Hello Warrior mate,

    I can help you to start with good portfolio.If you would like to discuss in detail PM me.
    Originally Posted by theultimate1 View Post

    Hello Warriors,

    So I have my website ready, but my business is new. My portfolio page currently says COMING SOON (even these two words need to be changed actually). I'm not new to the web design business however. I've worked in a web design firm before, so I know the industry and I know how things work in this space. I'm putting up a team of smart, talented and technically (or technologically??) updated guys; and I'm ready to get down to business in about a week's time.

    I have a few contacts I'm hoping to close on deals with, but I'm not currently banking on them. Plus, the contract value isn't likely to be high. I know that shouldn't be my focus right now. However, what I really want to do is generate business online, from the developed nations. What would your advice be to someone running an operation (with decent infrastructure in place) from India and wanting to generate business from the West? Cold-calling? E-mail Marketing? Something else?

    If E-mail Marketing, how do I open my offering via e-mail? First cold/unsolicited message intended for commercial purposes would amount to spam.

    Please share your thoughts and suggestions.
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