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Brainstorming Ideas For Getting Web Design Clients

by SoCal Digital
12 replies
Hey,

Lately I decided to put SEO services on the backburner and focus more on marketing the website design services of my company. I have been receiving steady referrals 1-2 each month for website design projects. I want to ramp up this number to about 4 website design projects a month and have researched the following ways to get clients.

1. Join a local chamber of commerce
2. Networking Events like BNI (business networking international - all over the U.S.)
3. Advertise online (most people say this doesn't work that well and can get costly)
4. Create free or discounted websites to popular websites/sports teams in the area and ask for referrals
5. Cold calling businesses in your area that don't have a website.

These ideas do work over time but I am looking forward to hearing your recommendations as well.

I thought of creating a nice looking postcard/flyer offering discounted website design/a free month of SEO services and putting it on cars.

This tactic could cause problems with littering issues though
#brainstorming #clients #design #ideas #web
  • Profile picture of the author x11joex11
    The funny part is I'm getting web design jobs right now and I DON'T want them lol. How much do you charge for web design jobs?

    I got my clients by just going to mixers. At first I thought I failed, I spent a good month and only got 1 client. But that 1 client is all it takes if they refer you right and left for what you do. I now have so many jobs I don't know what to do with them.
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  • Profile picture of the author taffie
    Originally Posted by SoCal Digital View Post

    Hey,

    Lately I decided to put SEO services on the backburner and focus more on marketing the website design services of my company. I have been receiving steady referrals 1-2 each month for website design projects. I want to ramp up this number to about 4 website design projects a month and have researched the following ways to get clients.

    1. Join a local chamber of commerce
    2. Networking Events like BNI (business networking international - all over the U.S.)
    3. Advertise online (most people say this doesn't work that well and can get costly)
    4. Create free or discounted websites to popular websites/sports teams in the area and ask for referrals
    5. Cold calling businesses in your area that don't have a website.

    These ideas do work over time but I am looking forward to hearing your recommendations as well.

    I thought of creating a nice looking postcard/flyer offering discounted website design/a free month of SEO services and putting it on cars.

    This tactic could cause problems with littering issues though
    All these are good strategies.
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    • Profile picture of the author 4DayWeekend
      A few more ideas...

      - Cold calling people that do have a website. But a bad one. Or no mobile version.
      - Contact local design agencies and offer your company as an option for overflow work.
      - Visit small brick and mortar stores with no Ecommerce website and show them a brochure of sites you've made (better on IPad or tablet).
      - Advertise on local classified sites for sales people to work on a commission only basis.

      Best wishes,

      Nick
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  • Profile picture of the author Kung Fu Backlinks
    Web development / design is how I got my start. I found the following ways to be the most effective to get clients quick:

    - I trolled the Kijiji ads for folks selling their services - house cleaners, contractors, etc. then I emailed them through their ads (guaranteed 100% open rate) and asked if I could hook them up with an affordable website. The best part about this is, I could message people all over Canada.

    I was selling them fairly cheap - $200ish, but had already created a bunch of example sites for different niches, so it was easy for me to drop a clone down for them, change out some pictures, contact info, etc. and boom, it was theirs in a matter of a week. I would purposefully take my time so they thought I was spending days on it.

    I got some nice business this way, even a cleaning lady that paid me $200 / month for several months of SEO until she got all the business she wanted.

    - I also highly recommend you put together a fairly large portfolio. Make it easy to find. Having a full profile of about 10 websites made it infinitely easier for me to land clients.

    That's about all I did. It was fun and easy, and I made some folks pretty happy with it all.
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    • Profile picture of the author AussieT
      Originally Posted by Kung Fu Backlinks View Post

      Web development / design is how I got my start. I found the following ways to be the most effective to get clients quick:

      - I trolled the Kijiji ads for folks selling their services - house cleaners, contractors, etc. then I emailed them through their ads (guaranteed 100% open rate) and asked if I could hook them up with an affordable website. The best part about this is, I could message people all over Canada.

      I was selling them fairly cheap - $200ish, but had already created a bunch of example sites for different niches, so it was easy for me to drop a clone down for them, change out some pictures, contact info, etc. and boom, it was theirs in a matter of a week. I would purposefully take my time so they thought I was spending days on it.

      I got some nice business this way, even a cleaning lady that paid me $200 / month for several months of SEO until she got all the business she wanted.

      - I also highly recommend you put together a fairly large portfolio. Make it easy to find. Having a full profile of about 10 websites made it infinitely easier for me to land clients.

      That's about all I did. It was fun and easy, and I made some folks pretty happy with it all.
      Thanks for the tips. Will start on my profile sites this week.
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  • Profile picture of the author SoCal Digital
    Thanks for the tips guys!

    Are kiiji ads only for Canadian services? I wonder if there are similar sites in the U.S.

    I am also going to try contacting local design agencies for overflow work
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  • Profile picture of the author reboot38
    I was selling them fairly cheap - $200ish, but had already created a bunch of example sites for different niches, so it was easy for me to drop a clone down for them, change out some pictures, contact info, etc. and boom, it was theirs in a matter of a week. I would purposefully take my time so they thought I was spending days on it.

    When dropping cloned sites, did you ever create multiple sites for the same niche in the same area? If so, did you worry that two, lets say landscapers, might realize they have the same site design with the only difference being a few pics and their business info/services/etc? Did you make it know that the design was not original before starting?

    At $200(ish) it probably wouldn't matter but was curious as to how you approached it.
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    • Profile picture of the author jimbo13
      Originally Posted by x11joex11 View Post

      The funny part is I'm getting web design jobs right now and I DON'T want them lol. How much do you charge for web design jobs?

      I now have so many jobs I don't know what to do with them.
      Originally Posted by SoCal Digital View Post

      I am also going to try contacting local design agencies for overflow work
      As you are both in California have you thought about contacting this person as he was the first to respond with advice and says he has too much.

      That is what I would do.

      You have nothing to lose.

      Dan
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  • Profile picture of the author webcosmo
    Contact people that have bad websites, or local small companies that have none, and make them a cheap offer. From there, you`ll go on referrals. Best of luck!
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    • Profile picture of the author BrashImpact
      Socal,

      Get a copy of Mobile Renegade here in the WF. Pretty dam good software but the customer support from Ken Michaels and team is first class. Use this software to find conversion funnel prospects for your web design.

      then.....

      This is going to be 100% dependent on what type of client you are targeting. In our case we only Target Businesses that turn over 2 Million a year or more as a minimum. Right now we are using Green Letters, a Killer Report, excellent Framing and Private 20 Minute Presentations to close deals.

      This is working extremely well for us right now.
      • Identify Target
      • Create Conversion Funnel
      • Set Up Tracking
      • Split Test
      • Review Metrics
      • Split Test
      • Re-Target

      That's a simplicity model right there for web design.
      Robert
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  • Profile picture of the author multiplecloud
    This is very my own opinion. When I need to hire some webdesign company, I find it in Google and look at their previous design (portfolio) So portfolio is needed.
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  • Profile picture of the author SoCal Digital
    Thanks for the great responses,

    These are all good ways of networking/gaining new clients. I am going to try out most of them
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    Search engine optimization and social media marketing services http://www.socaldigitalmarketing.com

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