A secret question for people who own web design companies

Hi,
posting in here as i want to reach web designers and developers.
I am a java programmer(15 years programming now) who has been moving over to web programming and design for the last year(part time).
I have done a few joomla sites.

My question is, how do you guys market yourselves. I know about S.E.O., but thats a long process. I know some guys go word of mouth, but this takes time. is google adwords the way? print ads, signs on the car?

Any advice appreciated. I know I am the competition but give us a few crumbs please

Regards
Byron

 

Hi Byron,

My advice is , Please make portfolio site first , organize what you can do , At initially you have to work at low rate but high quality work . It is better to master one thing rather learn lot of languages and rechnology

Also if you are going to do freelance , you can find some work in
www.odesk.com
www.scriptlance.com
www.guru.com
www.rentacoder.com
www.getafreelancer.com

These are good sites where you can find some work and u can gradually develop your profile

Thank you

 

thanks, those are bidding sites.
There must be ways to market oneself though.

 

They may be bidding sites, but I picked up two recurrent clients from Elance (which was not in that other list) in the first month.

You can also check the Buy, Sell, Trade forums here at DP for the odd jobs.

 

Yes marketing the websites is really big bet.

 

As someone looking for design help, a fantastic and easy to see portfolio speaks volumes...and my attention span is short, maybe 5-10 seconds initially, if it doesn't look fabulous, I tend to move on.

 

We do lots of word of mouth and also give a 10% referral fee if someone sends us a client.

 

And I would make a really big bet that you know nothing about marketing.

 

If you have more money then using adword is better for getting big market

 

First of all...you have to make a plan...and then move step by step.
I think you have very useful skills...so, don't waste your time...just build your own site/portfolio...and then try to find client throw net or forums or any bidding sites...If really you have skills and you know internet marketing then must you will be succeed. Best of luck.

 

bidding may work for some but I say why 'pay' to get clients? I build my client base in a variety of ways.

1. The first and most important thing is to get a site or blog and post your work. (Galleries, scripts, demos, etc.) Showcase your talents and make it available for all to see.
2. I have a stack of business cards in my wallet that I hand out to places I go that have no web site. A good place to start is somewhere you regularly hang out. I've got many sites by chatting with the store owners, people at bars, etc.
3. Become a leader or respected voice in web design communities.
4. As mentioned, give discounts or finders fee. That works well too.

In my experience the keys to building a nice customer base are building trust and building relationships. Make people feel comfortable. Don't make them think. Keep them at ease and include them in the process. I don't just do projects and get paid, I create a process that involves interacting with the customer the entire way before, during and after a project is complete. From there my friend word of mouth does wonders.

 

Thanks - this sounds like good advice, i recently moved to the uk from Sydney and am still doing work for clients there (because they trust me).

 

thanks.

 

How we market Ourselves? Well this is one of the ways,forums,social media sites,blogging,beacuse content is king, and people like mouth to mouth ads,if your comany is old enough and have good portfolio and testimonials that show your true value,then traffic will get bigger with every new day,i hope that i helped at least a litle bit with this quick post

 

I have found the best way to start with is always local customers and while it may take quite some time, it often ends up with getting paid better, repeat business and often further business from other local businesses.

From there, I would then start the whole SEO side of things while using your local customers as your portfolio and going from there. I have seen many people just rush right in and expects to be earning from day one and going on bidding sites and offering it for about $5 etc which honestly, you can get far more.

 

Hi there is no easy way because due to high competition people are ready to work for very very low cost,if you bid $100 for a project then another guy from countries(have more value for a US dollar) bid for 30$(Thank god lower bid limit is 30$) then they provided projects to them like wise they got few orders and rating then they dominate.so change your residency to countries like Indonesia where dollar conversion rate is high.

 

Marketing your website could be easier over the niche related forums than any other method. But you may have to participate on the forums actively.