How to Approach Businesses?

Working for firms is a little different, but freelancing is like you said. I feel that web design work is even more difficult that a normal job as you’re chasing for the money, whereas a normal job (not sales) you’ll be getting paid so all you have to focus on is being good at your job.

If you love web design work, then keep it as a hobby, don’t give it up. I would hate to do this. It’s quite fun to learn whilst you go along. However, your hobby in a full blown working environment will no longer be a hobby.

You must also understand many outsource work to India and third world countries. Just look at placed like fiverr or peopleperhour. People are literally available to do what you do for the fraction of the cost. Because these people live in poorer countries, or find a way to group things, they are able to make a substituted living from these websites.

A person from India could make a living from fiverr, but an American person would likely have another job to make ends meat.

I am so sorry to be painting this picture, but we need to be realistic.

There is another path, which might be more attractive. If you work with firms for quite a while and they know you they might eventually keep you on a good salary and let you work from home. Again, I know a few this has happened to.

Just keep that in mind, there are many scenarios. Unfortunately however, freelance from the get go on it’s own is going to be a tough ride (regardless of the amount of eBooks out there).

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Good advice.

Well, don’t think this is a good idea for sales (How many people read your card ?)

I saw many companies use DATA (information like tel. or email of people) and that seem to be not effective.

Go door to door introducing myself and passing out business cards.

It is better

Have you actually done that, and if so…

  • Where is your location?

  • What were people’s responses?

  • Did you gain any new customers?

True! yet those people have or will learn it the hard way that a $100 website will end up costing their biz a sweet amount of $$$. Lots of good businesses do understand that cheap, unresponsive, low quality websites will not do justice to their biz, so they usualy agree paying for a quality service.
My 2 cents: do your website (makes them trust you) and each time you get the chance to talk to businesses needing a website, try to explain them the real cost of a cheap website. Hmmm i should write an article about it on my blog :)) this might help others.

Having walked in similar shoes, when I started out years ago. I know things are not always straight forward, and at times the obstacles can seem impossible to pass.

As you start up, you are unknown and that makes it very difficult. During the first few years, you will struggle. Then things will most probably start to look brighter as you get new customers through word of mouth.

During the first years, you will most probably also need to look for any payable work on the side as well. I know that without looking for and taking on odd jobs in between the web work, there is no way I would have been able to provide for my family at the start. Then as time goes on, you will start getting more and more web work, until it is at a point that you have more than enough work.

From that point, is when you are able to start increasing your hourly rate as you have more work than you can handle. And slowly but steadily you will reach the hourly rate your looking for.

Note. This is assuming you will actually do the work required, as you will only be able to charge at higher rates when your customer see you as an expert in the field. So progressing the hourly rate, will also mean keeping up with the development in the field and improving your skills.

One thing you will notice here, as you develop your skill and are able to raise the hourly rate, is that the customers will start behaving differently. They will stop challenging what you say, and if you suggest a different approach is better for their business or problem, they will actually listen.

I wish you good luck, it is not an easy walk you have started, but it is doable.

Please note, that I do not agree with many of the former posters that say there is no money in this business anymore. There is a lot of money, but it is not easy getting access to the customers that has it. The only way is through hard work, and continue to improve your skills, both for web development and sales.

There is a difference in the “nature” of the clients.

When you are dealing with “low ballers”. Basically meaning someone who tries to always haggle on the price, and get you to work almost for free. Then they will complain even if/when you give them a sizable discount, trying to get even more value for their money. Many times, these are customers who are struggling themselves, or who want to create a business website for an idea they have.

As you increase your hourly rate and change our your customer base, the higher the hourly rate becomes, the less haggling/arguing you will receive. But at the same time, you have to accept that these customers will have a much higher quality expectations on the product you deliver.

One of the most common advices you will get here is to avoid the “low baller” clients, but when you have a family to feed, this is not always an option. Sometimes you have to take a project, even if the hourly rate is horrible as there are bills to pay.

Be careful in what you promise to archive, claiming that you will get them X traffic, is not a good idea unless you can back it up. Instead it will be better to go with, on average our customers have had an increase of X% on their traffic after we setup their new website. etc. Though, be prepared to prove this if they request proof.

Advice when taking on low baller clients:
I strongly recommend that you create a clear list of what the project will include before starting it. Then have them sign off/agree on it. This can be as easy as writing them an email, and them have them confirm that this is the scope of the project. Also mention in the end that any changes etc. to the list will be considered new billable work. In addition, on larger jobs make certain you get an initial deposit before you start on the job, on smaller ask for all in advance.

Note. The best thing would be to have this on a contract, and then signed by the customer. Though if the job is small, this is not always feasible. Though in either case, make certain you state the remaining amounts are due at X date, or X days after you have completed your work, even if the client has not completed their part. (It has happened that a customer decided they did not want the website mid project, and just delayed delivering their content so the website could not be completed. This became an expensive lesson).

Even if you do not have a written contract, but can show email communication that there was an agreement in place, you are able to take them to small claims court if they do not pay.

A final thing, even if you are upset at a customer due to constant revisions/updates, do not let it show. Treat them professional, and try to go the extra mile. Especially at the start it is important to get happy customers that will start talking about the work you did for them.

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@TheRedDevil,

Excellent advice!!

Thanks!

One way to build relationships is to join local business association. Then they are much more likely to trust you then, than if you just cold call them.

If you find companies with bad website, you can email them with feedback about the website. Show them how it is bad and what could be done to make it better, so they could get more customers. Don’t just try to advertise yourself straight away, but build trust and respect for your skills.

I suggest, before you appear in their office doorsteps, introduce yourself first. How?

  1. Email marketing - send them an email introducing yourself and your company
  2. Connect to them on LinkedIn - when they see your profile they will know where you work and what your company does
  3. Follow them on Twitter - get close to them

Remember that the sending of unsolicited marketing e-mails is Spam. In some countries it’s illegal, and in many (most?) cases it’s likely to result in the e-mail simply ending up in Junk and never being read.

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From reading some of your initial comments, there’s some frustrating points to address:

  • your sense of urgency to make $$$ immediately to feed yourself is not going to help you think rationally enough to genuinely make this work
  • building a reputation for ongoing work requires consistent and long-term effort to build your profile
  • you DEFINITELY need to have your own website that reflects your skills - this is without doubt
  • you may need to do some love jobs (free work) for suitable clients and organisations in exchange for great testimonials that you can spread around on your own website, Google Plus page, Facebook page. This is probably your most important thing you can invest in, make them small jobs, do not expect money but do expect a good portfolio to be built with excellent client references that will sell you. Importantly, you need to get those references out there - get them on your social media pages, make sure they are written directly on them
  • be careful to manage their expectations on what you do/don’t do re SEO. It’s easy for clients to get annoyed if they are not ranking because they confuse web design with SEO which are completely different services. you MUST define your scope with yourself and to your client so that they don’t expect something you are not providing and ensure you charge for any additional things you do outside of scope
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Well! as far as I think, call is not the best thing to do! Calls are not effective for securing position in a business, especially if they don’t know you! I think visiting the local businesses personally by introducing yourself is the best option to go for.

Being in business is a little tough but worth it if you succeed. Anyway, to get your target markets, you should know your product or services very well. It is one way to attract people to one’s business. Second find ways to let people know the great points of your products or services. Right there, search for the best ways on how to make it leverage among others by using traditional and online advertising methods as well.

Hi Mikey,

There are often two different approaches to building a business - volume (cheap price), niche (high price) specialty. What are you?

Do you build for restaurants? Profedssional offices? People like to know what you have done and that you have done what you are going to do for them before (successfully)

Also, I am not sure it was covered here - but people buy from people they know and trust.
If you ''need" to get a job today - it is rather like ‘needing’ to start a relationship TODAY. People will run away or ‘sense’ your anxiety a mile away. Not good.

When you are starting to build a business, you need a secondary form of income. It takes 3 - 5 years to build something worthwhile.

So, in summary, the best advice is to have a second job, network, and introduce yourself to businesses face to face.

There is wayyyyy to much Facebook / social medis marketing out there. As a small business owner, I hate it. I would hire someone who walked into my office to smile and say hello 100x over the random email from ‘joe blow’.

Face to face sales, pounding the pavement, patience and a seconary form of income - there are no shortcuts and no ‘quick fixes’. Anyone who tells you otherwise is blowing smoke.
thx
Karen

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It’s neat that this thread is still kicking…

I wanted to be the latter, but that seems impossible in this “IT-for-a-buck” world that we live in.

This weekend I was traveling, and had lots of time to reflect on my situation, my business hopes, and life in general. Right or wrong, here are some conclusions that I have reached on my own…

First, it is impossible to compete with WordPress and SquareSpace websites. I can’t even stage a fake photo with fake actors in a fake boardroom in an expensive glass skyscraper for what is out there. (That alone would cost me a couple thousand dollars even though people don’t get that.)

Second, I will never be able to build a website of any substance for a few hundred dollars or even a few hundred hours. Websites and applications are enormously complex, and not some you bang out in a day or with a few lines of code.

Third, the only way to combat #1 and #2 is this… Find a problem out their, write whatever code it takes to solve it, and then instead of trying to peddle to a single business, mass-produce it and try and sell it at a reasonable cost - as far as most cheap business owners are concerned - to hundreds and thousands of people/businesses. In other words, start building and selling applications whether they be in the form of websites, web apps, mobile apps, or software you install.

A major issue I have to overcome. All I have in my portfolio right now is a modest website where I took a business from unlisted to page #1 of Google in 10 searches. I think that is okay, but I’m peeved at the owner for complaining about what I charged him - which came out to less than $15/hour - so I have decided to not use him as an example of my work.

So, six months after starting this endeavor, I have learned a lot about responsive design and business, but I am starting out at square one, with no customers and no portfolio. At the same time, I have spent the last 6 months building a decent responsive website, and as I slowly write more content for it and add new features, I hope it will serve as a starting point for my work.

You are a wise women, Karen!

I have struggled with this very concept in many areas of my life, and while I hate to admit it, you are 110% correct.

Of course, it is a catch-22… How do you tell a starving person to not think of food or be hungry when that is exactly where they are in life? It takes $$$ to make $$$, and when you have none, you have a hell of a hurdle to get over!

You are correct on both points.

I have struggle to replace the “real” job I lost earlier in 2015. Am making a little progress, but that is what has torpedoed all of last year.

It is good to know there are still people out there like you.

I finished my website a month ago, and as I have time I am filling it up with content. I also had 1,000 business cards printed at a real printer - of course we had to move so I now have 1,000 business cards with an out-of-state tele # :unamused:

And when I have time I am trying to approach businesses in person - often people I somewhat know from where I shop or maybe from contractors from other odd jobs I have had.

So I am taking your advice here.

Thank you for taking time to share your thoughts. You gave some great advice, although it is hard to not show your desperation when the need for food and money is very real…

No probs, my approach may be a little different as I am a business person /MBA type learning programming so that I can build what I want. Not the other way around. Still, I also face the other problem as I had thought to use some of the programming skills I had learned to earn some extra income (now as per your conclusions, I have decided not do bother). Another way of approaching your problem that I am debating is to approach it from a ‘marketing’ perspective. Now, as a coder, perhaps you shudder at that approach. But, due to the language problems, lack of trust, lack of local understanding, lack of cultural understanding - i.e.a whole host of problems that as a business owner I can see that local people can deliver uniquely. These companies appear to be prospering. So, perhaps wrap your IT coding skills into a form of marketing - find some marketing person at your local university, forum, blah blah, and partner with them to deliver a ‘whole’ solution. People want cusotmers - buyers, solutions , not just the IT structure if that makes sense.

ps- I suspect that this line is still ‘alive and kicking’ because it is a problem faced by many people in this industry now.

The conclusion I have come to is this…

It is very hard to build anything of coding substance and sell it for what people are willing to pay. So I think the smarter approach is to find common problems for which there is no solution or for which there is a solution but you can come up with a better one. Then write code to fix that problem, and sell it to the masses.

My barber might like a way to allow people to book haircuts on their smartphones, but he isn’t willing to pay me for the time it takes me to devise such a solution. But if I invest in creating such a solution, and then can sell it to my barber, and thousands of others, then I stand a chance to make a lot of money.

People say there is an app for everything, but I don’t think there are quality solutions for everything.

I think my latest observation, combined with your earlier advice of building face-to-face relationships is a good way to tackle the larger dilemma of drumming up business.

Cool, that is where I am :smile:
Albeit, I am a business person who is learning to code (and find it thrilling oddly enough) to create what I am particularly interested in building - an online solution to a problem.

As opposed to the other way around. So, seems like we are arriving to a similar place.

All the best on your journey!

Karen