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Help me with first offline client

by Michael D Forbes
11 replies
Hello all.

I've got a neighbor that owns a construction related business that's doing pretty well, but he has big dreams about expanding his business, providing more services, opening auxiliary businesses, etc.

He's practicably chomping at the bit for me to implement some of the things I've shared with him about utilizing a website more effectively. He actually hinted at a full time job, to work in house and develop his ideas. I'm going to pass, as I would rather go for the potential upside of my own pursuits.

My problem is this... I don't really know how to charge appropriately.

I feel like I need to charge him "per piece" as I develop his web presence, and implement various money making ideas, and I don't have experience to guide my pricing.

1st step - They're on free hosting, would you get a reseller account and manage it, or would you take the affiliate commission from Hostgator and be done?

2nd step - His website looks to be 2002 free site builder vintage, complete with animated snowball throwing reindeer. I will propose to migrate it to WordPress to both modernize it and make it easy for his employees to update, add content. It's 6 pages with a photo gallery.

3rd step - They have no lead capture system, or email communication with past customers. I plan to set up an Aweber account for them and integrate it into the site. Would you charge separately or include it in the initial site set-up.

My plans for him extend well beyond this... i.e - a mobile site, referral program, general marketing, etc... but any input on these first three would be gratefully accepted.

Thanks!
#client #offline
  • Profile picture of the author MattyD
    Originally Posted by Micheal D Forbes View Post

    Hello all.

    I've got a neighbor that owns a construction related business that's doing pretty well, but he has big dreams about expanding his business, providing more services, opening auxiliary businesses, etc.

    He's practicably chomping at the bit for me to implement some of the things I've shared with him about utilizing a website more effectively. He actually hinted at a full time job, to work in house and develop his ideas. I'm going to pass, as I would rather go for the potential upside of my own pursuits.

    My problem is this... I don't really know how to charge appropriately.

    I feel like I need to charge him "per piece" as I develop his web presence, and implement various money making ideas, and I don't have experience to guide my pricing.

    1st step - They're on free hosting, would you get a reseller account and manage it, or would you take the affiliate commission from Hostgator and be done?

    2nd step - His website looks to be 2002 free site builder vintage, complete with animated snowball throwing reindeer. I will propose to migrate it to WordPress to both modernize it and make it easy for his employees to update, add content. It's 6 pages with a photo gallery.

    3rd step - They have no lead capture system, or email communication with past customers. I plan to set up an Aweber account for them and integrate it into the site. Would you charge separately or include it in the initial site set-up.

    My plans for him extend well beyond this... i.e - a mobile site, referral program, general marketing, etc... but any input on these first three would be gratefully accepted.

    Thanks!
    Michael - first up, congratulations! Taking action is the biggest step, now you've done that - time to do a fantastic job and grow as you build your confidence!

    In answer to your questions...

    1) Unless you intend to offer all the support for the hosting, I would sign the client up to HostGator and pocket the affiliate commission from it. Hosting clients can be quite a stressful and frustrating task, especially if you come across an error that you aren't sure how to fix. Leave the support in the hands of the big boys - the reason they're big is because they know how to do things properly.

    2) Wordpress - perfect. If you aren't completely confident at designing themes, you can purchase fantastic themes from many sources. I'm a big fan of Theme Forest - Premium WordPress Themes and Web Templates - ThemeForest

    You can get a Wordpress theme from there for around $30-35, and customise it to suit your client. Some of them can be a bit more technical to implement than others, but they should come with excellent installation guides.

    In addition to setting up the site, you could have a back-end upsell of training for the client and his employees on how to use the software. This is pretty much vital and you could charge a nice fee for 2-3 hours of running them through how to manage the website.

    3) Email Marketing - I tend to charge this as an add-on. You have a lot of options here and it's probably something you should discuss with the client to get a feel of what he needs. At the very least, a lead capture form with an incentive for the visitor to sign-up is the starting point. You then have the option of setting up a campaign for him, possibly with an email autoresponder series. Or you can train his team how to use it and leave them to send out their own promotion emails. Or both?

    4) You haven't mentioned it yet, but take a good look at Social Media. Is he currently engaged in these? If not, is it something that can build his business? If he is already engaged - does his Facebook page have a nice layout? Does it offer lead capture? Has he included any discounts for fans?


    The whole scope for your project may feel overwhelming, but build it up as you go. Don't promise too much too quickly, build your confidence.

    Best of luck to you and if you need any further help - feel free to hit the Skype icon under my username on the left and add me.
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  • Profile picture of the author spesialis
    1. Sign up to hostgator baby plan (use 1 cent first month coupon floating around the web). Add his domain as an add-on.

    Which means, you will host his site, you will pay monthly fee, he will pay you monthly fee (preferably higher than hostgator charge you)

    2. Free WP business theme: Business | WordPress 3 Themes

    3. Instead of paying aweber for second month. Sign him up with mailchimp.com, 1contact.com or constant contact.com

    They will cost nothing until x amount of subscriber.

    4. Create 5 videos @ 2-3 minutes each about the business (using real footage or just slideshow). Optimize file name, title, description etc and blast them to 50 video sites. This will rank quickly and impress your client.

    Hope that helps
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    • Profile picture of the author Michael D Forbes
      Any thoughts on pricing?

      I'm thinking $600-800 for site migration, does that seem out of line? I was originally thinking more, but he doesn't have as much content as I thought he does.

      Another question. Since he doesn't have any traffic to speak of (and if he did, he wouldn't know it, he has no tracking), I'd like to propose he change his domain name. It's currently an exact match for his abbreviated business name, which no one outside of our little country town will ever search for.

      The exact match for his full business name is available. It's longer, but it has some keywords that get searches nationally, which I feel will give him an opportunity to expand beyond the local area.

      If he agrees to this, I imagine we can 301 the old domain for any type in traffic he might get?


      MattyD - yes - I've also thought about how he might be able to benefit from Social Media as he is pretty well known around here and could probably build a pretty good local following initially. A separate service to setup custom Twitter and Facebook accounts for his biz perhaps?
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  • Profile picture of the author MattyD
    Michael - sent you a PM.
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  • Profile picture of the author spesialis
    No

    Build his website, and buy the exact match domain.

    Use this coupon: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...-netfirms.html

    Only 5 bucks

    Slap a 1 page article on the exact match domain with anchor link keyword to the real site.

    That way your client will have 2 domains for that keyword on 1st page.

    But only charge him to build 1site (buy one get two)

    The price will depends on niche and area

    Hope that helps
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    • Profile picture of the author DaniMc
      I think you are making a classic mistake with this customer that will limit the outcome for both of you.

      Don't get too far into explaining things to him on a technical level. He obviously knows he needs to make some changes and you have his ear as the professional who can do it.

      If he is doing well, then he has some money to use.

      1) Tell him he needs to completely update his company image.

      2) Show him how you need to work together to put a client acquisition funnel into place. Start talking to him about his past business, things he has tried and liked.

      3) Don't even mention the term "Wordpress" to him. Tell him you will design him an awesome modern site that will catch his visitors eye. Tell him it will be easy for his employees or himself to use. $600- $800 for his type of design is way too low. Remember, you are starting from scratch. You are going to need to find new photos, write new text, design graphics, make changes to his design ideas etc etc etc. Quote him at least $2,500. Other designers will likely charge him more that $4,000. He doesn't have access to the cheap designers that you do here on WF. Hire one of the better designers to give you two versions, you won't do the actual work, you are coordinating it. He does not need to know you aren't the one doing it...because you are doing it!

      3) If he wants you to do updates to his site charge him a monthly fee. $20 per month will get him one change/addition. $30 will get him up to three. $50/month will get him five or more. These can be weekly blog posts or whatever he wants.

      4) Host it on your reseller plan for $35 per month or more. If he runs into technical issues you will be his man. You don't have to fix these things yourself. Tell him you will call him back and then get on Hostgator live chat and have them fix it.

      5) Aweber...Hmmm...Not sure you will get subscribers via free ebook type promotion. You can integrate it to look like a free custom quote form. Or give $50 off initial consultation. Something like that. Have him go and set up his own account at Aweber, giving you the user/pass. Then charge him a monthly fee to design, write and send his newsletter. At least $30.

      6) Tell him just doing this site wont get him very far so it needs to be promoted. Sell him some other services like Places management, Press Releases, PPC, and SEO. Charge accordingly. For all of these, at LEAST $250 per month. You will be cutting it close with that low figure. Try to go $400 or more.

      This puts you at around $3,000 up front and around $500 per month. Get all these things lined up and be ready to outsource the services he hires you to do.

      Remember, you are completely changing this guys business! You are going to elevate his standing in the community to that of a top-notch construction company. You are going to reposition him as the market leader.

      The investment he makes will pay him back over and over for years to come. He's been doing fine all this time with a very plain image, imagine what is going to happen once he really invests in his company!

      If you quote him too low, he wont value your services and therefore will probably not pay you to do anything. Quote him high, then work with him to reach a deal he can afford and you still make good money. He will respect your time and your talents much more.

      You gotta talk to him like a champion. Don't be intimidated to lay these higher prices on the table. Look him right in the eye and tell him you are trying to help him out and his business will grow because of what you can do. Confidence and passion will win. You must be more passionate about giving his business what it needs than he is about saving a little money.
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  • Profile picture of the author dmramirez
    For pricing, you need to consider what your service is going to be worth to him... and what he's willing to pay. I was in a similar situation with one of my clients. He said he'd hire me for $2,500/mo to work full time. I, knowing how much he's willing to pay, said I'd do his stuff for 1k/month, but as one of my clients. He accepted, of course, because it appeared that he'd get the same thing for $1,500 less.

    If I were you, I would charge as much as you truly believe your product is going to be worth for him. I would have him put you on a monthly retainer of $250 to $1k for you to constantly make progress toward his improved web presence.
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    • Profile picture of the author DaniMc
      Originally Posted by dmramirez View Post

      For pricing, you need to consider what your service is going to be worth to him... and what he's willing to pay. I was in a similar situation with one of my clients. He said he'd hire me for $2,500/mo to work full time. I, knowing how much he's willing to pay, said I'd do his stuff for 1k/month, but as one of my clients. He accepted, of course, because it appeared that he'd get the same thing for $1,500 less.

      If I were you, I would charge as much as you truly believe your product is going to be worth for him. I would have him put you on a monthly retainer of $250 to $1k for you to constantly make progress toward his improved web presence.
      That is a excellent point. If he was willing to hire you full time for $3k or more, you can see where his budget is!

      Try to get your monthly fees closer to that number. And just think, he doesn't have to give you benefits or pay unemployment tax on you.
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      Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bruce NewMedia
    Originally Posted by Micheal D Forbes View Post

    He actually hinted at a full time job, to work in house and develop his ideas. I'm going to pass, as I would rather go for the potential upside of my own pursuits.
    My problem is this... I don't really know how to charge appropriately.
    It would be interesting to know what he would have offered you for a full time in-house job...not to take it, but to use that pricing knowledge.

    Anyway, you might even re-approach him with a plan like this:

    $5,000 per month fultime. or
    $2,500 per month as-needed marketing specialist or
    $500 ongoing site marketing and
    $750- $1,000 one time site migration
    NOTE: the full time offer is designed to make the other offers
    seem like a deal, which they are....unless you really want that.

    Agree with earlier poster, I would not mention/explain WP, just 'do' WP.
    _____
    Bruce
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    • Profile picture of the author mavericx
      This was a good thread; thanks to everyone who contributed!
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      • Profile picture of the author Alex Makarski
        You have a lot great suggestions here. The only thing I'd like to add is that I would not recommend Aweber (or any other AR that won't let import or add your subscribers by hand) to any offline business. I find many of them fall in love with Constant Contact, which is okay but is seriously lacking in features (eg, you can have only one opt-in form in an entire account -- call their support if you don't believe me). MailChimp is really good but doesn't allow any type of affiliate marketing (usually a non-issue for offlines but better safe than sorry). As things stand right now, I almost always recommend iContact (and usually get a 25% on-going affiliate check too).
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        "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." -Confucius

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