I have been working mostly online for the past few years. However, I would like to start offering my services locally. I am starting work on my new website for my services, so i'm going to want to get a few new clients. What are a few things you guys have done to get started in your own town?
Register your business in Google local. They will snail-mail you a post card to confirm your address. After that you'll be listed in the "local" search results. Best part... it is free!
That's nice: I didn't even know about that one. I did pretty well with telephone pole signs in 2005 for a business I've done door hanging & bulliten board flyers/ phone # tear offs with less than moderate success Something that I've wanted to try but haven't gotten to it is to hook up with local businesses & create a referrall program for them & they keep my flyers/cards on their checkout stand, and if someone comes to me through them I give them a percentage/flat rate/whatever. You can also purchase yard signs online for a very decent rate & "rent" lawn space along busy streets near a stop light. Depending on how much you wanted to spend; you could hire some people to go door to door for you and hand out coupons for discount service. You would probably want to be careful hiring people you didn't know to represent your business, though.
I mainly use word of mouth to get contacts locally...haven't spent anything on advertising and am booked for the next 3 months.
Well on the net, I have been pretty successful. Have done literally hundreds of jobs. However in recent years I have found that the internet has become swamped with people looking to underbid you with less than quality work. So, AfterHim.com, how did you start your business? What led you to get booked for the next three months? I already booked one business locally, and am just finishing up the job. I think I did pretty well with that, so hopefully it will help out in the future! Any suggestions are welcome
I find the best way to market and advertise your web design company is word of mouth. Get past clients to do the leg work for you. I do web design on the side, I only do it when its a good friend or someone willing to really pay good money. My brother works as a firefighter, a guy he works with needed a website for his side business, I did his site, he was so impressed he told everyone he knew, I now have 3 jobs book, 2 for fire departments and one for an ambulance company... Best part is... It was free and I didnt do a thing except my job..
Do some pro-bono work for a local charitable organization. Network through local Chambers of Commerce and organizations like the Rotary.
go for local classifieds portals. do seo for keywords like: "your location" web design "your location" web development Find out the best keywords for your target audience.
Visiting small businesses and asking about their online status works fairly well over here, That may be because I'm in a rural area though.
Suburbs here. Actually, booming suburbs... lots of small businesses are sprouting up around here. I could literally go out and find 50+ businesses with no website in a day. What would you propose the best way to approach them about a design would be? I was thinking about getting a smally flier, or letter and sending it out to all the companies I can find in my area.
With alot of small business, thats the perfect oppurunity, of course it depends on the type of business, some business just dont need a website. What you need to do when you contact these companies is sell them on the benefits of having one. You have to tell them why they NEED a website. For the CPR Training website I did, he NEEDED one so people could register and pay online, they could also find out information about each class, etc. You have to identify what they need and how you can provide it... Personally, I think every business should at least have a 1 page site that states phone number, hours, location etc.
Should it be a personal sale, where I go to meet them in person, or an impersonal sale where I sell them something through some promotional service?
I dont really think you need to have a "promotion" for it. Just go in their, call them, mail them,etc. I would reccomend doing your homework before you do though. Nothing is worse then trying to pitch something to someone and having them call you on part of it...