Try using the phone number and asking if they want a website.

they will either say "No" or "I already have a website."

You have to have a reason for them to want to talk to you. This is usually
an offer that's a no-brainer for them to say "Yes!"

Do your research first to see if they have a website. If they do, offer a
free website tuneup - most of them have a website that does nothing for
them.

If they don't have a website, offer a free website and tell them what it
will do for their business. Then add billable services to make money. The
website you build doesn't have to be a full website. I started by offering
a free website - it was only 1 page. That opened the door to more
services.

A proper business would not take the risk of getting their website done by an individual hence would prefer to approach an existing company handling internet marketing and marketing procedures

I'm hazarding a guess that you're fairly young? This is not an advantage, sadly, as most business people have learned the hard way that having 'youngsters' building their website is almost always a false economy. Every business gets cold calls every week, sometimes even every day, offering them web sites and SEO, it was a tough sell even way back in 1997/8 and it's even harder now.

I'd suggest you find a web design company or agency in your local area and see if you could intern for them for a few months. Even if you're already 100% competent with HTML and CSS, you'll learn a lot and the experience will help no end with getting your own clients.

If you're determined to try and just dive right in before you have any professional background, then try taking the 'are you making any money from your website' tack rather than pitching them on a new website. Again you'll probably have to do some work for little or no money to 'prove' yourself, but if you can find a business willing to let you do some optimisation and promotion that leads to more sales for them, you'll most likely pick up an ongoing gig and some referrals from it.

I wish you the best of luck!

Hang around this forum and read through the archives. There are lots of ideas here for how to approach businesses. Different people have their different approaches, and a lot of it will depend on what you're comfortable with at the moment.

One thing I would suggest, however, is to make sure you have your own website up (offering your services) before you approach someone else.

Yes, thank you, all wonderful suggestions. as to showing them previous work, i agree that this is a good idea. i made this site Fairfield Custom Interlock Stonework from the ground up more or less, and by the way i am from a small town. I think michaelparsons, you are on to something. its almost closer to a social engineering problem i guess. I will look around town for someone who does this for a living and maybe see if i can get on with them.

You've have the answer and don't know it...

You like making websites... So make em and rank em and then LEASE em
like in the thread below:

http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...ite-model.html

One cool way to gain credibility among biz owners is to create a FREE local business directory.

Promote it, get it ranked, get them traffic, leads.

In a couple months (if competition is weak or non existent) you have gained visibility, credibility, and a couple of leads to start your services (some businesses don't have website, others have low ranking websites, etc).

Position yourself correctly and future will be brighter.

P.S.: This is just ONE idea, you can use lot's of different ways to get in good faith with business owners

And, if you're trying to get your client(s) ranked, LOSE THE FLASH!

When search engines encounter websites with front-page flash, they read them as sites with no content worthy of mention. So, what you've done, is chunked your chance of getting your client's site well ranked, right off the bat.

I know others will point this out to you, but you need to get some type of call to action on the site too. Give folks a reason to contact your client, and a way to do it.

Pete

Dave - I'm not a huge fan of cold calling, but if you can handle making 100 or so calls in hopes of a sale or two, it can certainly work to bring you some quick business. Do a quick search here and you'll find some good telemarketing posts and even a WSO or two you might want to invest in.

As others have mentioned, I'd definitely get a website for yourself up and running, and many beginning designers will look for a charity or non profit they can design a free site for. This not only adds to your portfolio, something most prospects you contact will be interested in seeing, but it can help you meet people who may also have a need for your services.

Once you get going and have a few satisfied clients, ask them for referrals to other people who need websites and you can go a long way starting with just a few happy clients.

Good luck!

Get what constitutes a completed project well defined up front. A web site is rarely done. There is always one more thing. This can be a real killer in any sort of contract work.

There are two WSO's that will help you tremendously. I picked both of them up and found them well worthwhile and complementary:

http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...-new-post.html

And

http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...usinesses.html

You also might want to check out the free videos on Jonny Andrews' site:

Training | Jonny Andrews Blog | Where Entrepreneurs Freak Out Like Little Girls

These were great. Unfortunately, it looks like he's moved on to other things because he did a great workshop last year that would have been great to do, but the videos are quite useful.

I would just like to add 2 cents worth. Spelling and punctuation, to me, can make or break a web-site, no matter how good the design or content. I realize that mistakes can be made on a keyboard when making posts and replies in forums, but if you are asking people to buy or respond to a "call for action", you need to make it easy to read...correct spelling, correct grammar, correct punctuation! Some examples that need to be made mental notes (even on some of the guru's sales pages) are the use of "there", "they're", and "their". Also, interchanging "then" for "than". I still haven't figured out how that one gets mixed up. Spell-check will not pick these up!! So, I suggest proof-reading, possibly more than once, or better yet, have someone else put eyeballs on it. They would be more likely to spot errors than you. If it looked right the first time, it will probably will look right the second time. I am even thinking of starting a proofreading service and just giving up IM. I think I could make make some serious bank. No, I'm not an expert at these things, but spelling and grammar have always been pet peeves of mine. And IMHO, they just destroy an otherwise great article or marketing system info, making them have less value to myself, and many others, I'm sure. It's just like IM or any other form of learning, if you aren't sure, look it up or ask someone else. Just my weekend rant. But I do hope it will help someone with "their", "they're", "there" content writing. Thanks for listening and hope I didn't misspell anything.

It sounds like you're fairly new to the website world and the business world. There's lots of good posts on this forum to help you become a better website builder so I won't bother addressing that...just read the posts and do what the pros tell you to do.

But first you have to get a client otherwise the strength of your web skills is irrelevant...

I hate cold calling so I'd never recommend that approach.

If you are willing to start out serving small businesses, my advice is to join a BNI group (Business Network International). There's chapters all over the country and you can get a ton of referrals by joining a BNI group. You'll also get the chance to meet a lot of small business owners and that experience will help you grow as a business professional.

Why not pick a business from the 3rd or 4th page of Google for a decent keyword and build an optimized site for them without telling them?

Get it to the front page, top position preferred. Get their phone ringing/email inbox buzzing etc.

Then contact them a few weeks later and ask them if they want to keep it. If they say no (you never know) then offer it to a direct competitor. Tell them that's exactly what you're about to do if they refuse it.

You could rent it to them or sell it outright. I would rent it on a monthly recurring payment basis. They stop paying, you find someone else.

Rinse and repeat. Build up a collection of these and a nice residual income.

It takes basic seo and a bit of backlinking.

I personally use Wordpress with the following plugins:

All-in-one SEO
SEOPressor - I would never do a WP site without this one - it's GOLD.
Google XML Sitemaps
Fast Secure Contact Form
Akismet

Abdul.

One thing I am highly in favor of is having prospects chase me! I realize that when you are starting out that you've got to talk to folks, somehow.

The challenge is that when you call or just drop by, you are perceived as a salesperson of some sort. Most business owners know how to say no before you even get a word out.

Therefore, it is vital that you get some sort of relationship going with a business before calling them... or do you want to be the one actually calling them? Of course, if you have absolutely no money at all... you are going to have to hire a salesperson to do your front work or just make the calls yourself.

If you have just a little money, you can send letters or cards offering a free report or information product that will actually HELP the business owner.

How about, "7 Ways to Know if Your Website Sucks."

You want business owners to raise their hand and let you know they want you. You can make much more money that way.

Don't get me wrong. You can make money cold calling and just dropping in. I just prefer to do it a different way.

Cheers,

Millard