6 Things I wish I knew in the beginning!

What's going on my friends?

I want to go ahead and share with you a few Tips/Tricks that I've learned over the last few years that have really helped my business grow!

1.) One of the many ways that I get business is through Web Design. I specifically focus on Redesign. I don't want to try to convince a business owner that he needs a website. I'd rather deal with a business owner that has a bad site but understands he needs it "Updated". So for those of you that offer Webdesign or even Mobile Design I recommend offering a "Free" mockup. However this free mockup shouldn't be a working site. It should just be an Image file that was created in Photoshop... again it's just a mockup, not full blown site. You want the business owner to get the gist of what you can do for them. That's not the tip though... this is... before you create the mockup ask him for his budget so you can create a design that "once coded" won't exceed his budget. This makes the close a piece of cake. No worries about over quoting and alot of the time these business owners will give you a budget larger than you would have quoted them at. Tip 1 Find out their budget so the close becomes EASY!

2.) This tip pertains to Direct Mail. Direct Mail is a GREAT way to get business owners attention and peak their curiosity. The problem is, alot of business owners are so busy that they won't contact you, even if they want to. That's why it's important to make sure that you follow up every Direct mail campaign with a series of phone calls as well as emails. Don't ever run a campaign by just sending out a few letters and praying you'll get a call back. Sure a few will bite, but not nearly as many as if you followed up with them.

3.) When writing a proposal, watch how you word your fee structuring. Don't ever use the words, *fee * price *quote ... use the word "investment". People think of an investment as something beneficial to them.

4.) Outsource as much work as you can. Systematize as much work as you can... find reliable outsourcers that can do your work fast and as instructed. As your business grows your going to realize you only have so much time in the day. You can't continually market, go out on meetings and fulfill client orders. Somethings got to give, you need to have a system in place that allows you to have all 3 working congruently.

5.) Webinars! Get business owners on a webinar. This is a great way to close a bunch of clients at once. You can only go out on so many meetings... webinars allow you to solve that problem.

6.) Focus on a vertical!!! This one gets 3 exclamation points! Become the go to expert for a specific vertical. When I started to focus on a certain vertical and I started to master my marketing message... the flood gates opened and conversions/referrals were never higher.
These are just a few things that I wish I new when I got started a couple years back. I hope you apply the above tips/tricks.

Let me know what you've learned or if you'd like to add on!