? About Getting started w/ new Web Design Business

If you don't have clients just make fake websites to show what you can do. The (potential) client just wants to see your work it doesn't need to be done for a real business.

I too, made up several sample websites of various types of businesses and used them for my portfolio until I got my first clients.

I would not call them fake. .. Just bad language.

And if your going to go through that amount of effort.

Take it one step further. Do some research, make some niche specif
sites, or lead gen sites ect.

then get traffic going to them.

Then flip them. All of them. Now your making money as your building
your portfolio.

No sense in just making dummy sites just for people to look at.
It takes work to make them, so get paid for it.

This is very true, most local clients want to see a portfolio or some sort of work history to make sure that you have some sort of clue on what you are trying to sell. I prepared a few premade designs to match the niche for the target of customers I was targeting.

Little do you know now I have almost 5-6 examples in almost 8 different categorizes.

This is how I got started 6 years ago!

I created a decent website for my company, one that wasnt to much flash and was a fast load!

I designed example websites 3 - 5 of them and used my own sales on each page, and so as they went to each website they got to read my sales lines and what I offered.

By doing this people new all my info and everything I offered when finished looking at the examples, this is what they mostly care about and skip the reading but they will read the examples, so by giving it to them at the same time its creative and sticks with them! I always got feedback on this and people really enjoyed it.

My example websites never were bigger then three pages, my home being the flash and design of it, I always made sure they loaded fast and looked clean without much writing on it for them to read, if you do what I did then just split it into sections.

If you are looking for work when you are driving around your home town write down every business number you see, put some info next to each one, just something anything that you noticed about the company that makes them a special call.

When you call them let them know right from the git that you give local websites discounts because you believe in supporting our (Your) local community

Tell them strongly that to much money is already going out by everyone spending their money with global companys, if the company is local and it should be you just struck brownie point heaven!

Let them know that you give a 35% off discount for the locals, do some research on why local support is important and practice this, use it for every customer if you don't land the sale you will land a contact and a later sale when they want a website I promise!

Offer a payment plan, a lot of companys dont do this because they dont need to, once you have a name is very easy to get work but starting it isn't that way.

Also it allows you to land the website at the best time, time of impact this is important because its fresh and they want it right then., this call was a surprise feeding on a desire that they have had let them know you will start for very little down and as the first week passes let them know it gives them time to be comfortable money wise.

Offer them a Three Payment plan, Small one at first, decent one second then the rest when finished, this allows them to be able to pay for the website because some people will chat so much with you they wont want to admit they are not doing so well and will not go through you in case they dont have money if you become to good of a friend on the phone

I have a ton more but I better stop lol I will be back to check on this blog I wish you much success !

The quality of the questions you ask your prospects will determine your credibility with them.

Find out about their world. What's really going on? Don't be a product-pusher and want to make them buy a website from you. How can you genuinely help them?

What has been going on until now? What don't they like about those results?

In a perfect world, what would be happening? What would that look like?

What were they hoping you could do for them? How would that turn out?

Do they have a budget in mind?

Is this all a fit with you and what you offer?

Find out about what's really going on in their world. This is more difficult than it sounds, since people do not trust others they have just met, and don't want to get ripped off. If you can develop that rapport, get the truth (or at least most of the truth) flowing, have them explain what they want you to do and it's a fit with your offer, then you should have no trouble.