I run a website design company and was wondering how everyone else goes about finding new clients. I have tried all different marketing techniques and regularly post on forums, I do at the moment have some work on but would love more. Just interested in finding out how everyone who owns their own business tries to get new work in.
Try doing some special offers where people get discounts if they refer someone, so, for example, if Person A tell's Person B how amazing your site is and Person B buys a website, give Person A a 30% discount, or something like that. Buy some blog posts on high traffic blogs, too.
craigslist and kiji and gumtree are all good places to find simple work. Also dp did wonders for me. You have to start small and offer something that no one else has to offer.
make a strong network in your msn ask them for works, post your offer at least 200 forum with your msn id.
Go to major forum and freelance site to bid for job And doing some free design to build up your portfolio and reputation will greatly help you in the future
Provide promo/discounts or contest, these are some interesting offers that might give you more clients. Good luck mate.
try to consult with marketing comapny specialized in software delepment also produce high quality products
Get out and hit the pavement. Talk to local business owners. Go through the phone book and find contractors who don't have a website (a lot of them are one-man-shows). It's not easy to get clients, but if you're not afraid to talk to a few people, you can do it. Even if you don't start with the big ones, you can start small and soon you'll be getting referals. Andrew Cavanaugh had some kind of formula for doing this. Search for his name and go through all of his stuff. Somewhere in there, you'll find a really great way to get new clients. (you'll find a lot of other cool stuff too).
Real world marketing (offline) would be great idea for you. Advertise in newpapers, radio, etc. These mediums are cheap nowadays and a lot less competition in the marketplace.
PPC campaign with restriction on your local city . It works well for me, I used to work in a web design company .
Just another note: Let's say you own a widget store on the corner of X ave. and Y st. One day a girl walks in and asks to see the owner. She tells you that she's a web designer who lives in the next town. She tells you that she noticed you don't have a website yet, and that there might be hundreds of prospects who might have come to your store, if they had been able to find you. But since they only looked online (as the trends suggest are happening), they went to another widget store and bought from that person. She tells you that for only $X, she can get you a website up and running by the end of the month. You say that you're not ready to go online yet. She smiles and leaves you her card...asking you to keep her in mind when you decide to make the move. 3 months later, you start thinking more about it because business is so slow. Now are you going to search the internet and find someone you've never met and have no link to? Or are you going to dig through that pile of junk in your drawer and find that girl's name and number? Yes...it's a rhetorical question. But an important one. If a business owner is not online yet, it means he's just not comfortable in the e-world. That one conversation is going to mean much more to him than all the ads (online and offline) in the world.