The Web Design Business Kit Chapter 6 - Market Your Business

Marketing your business isn’t hard. There are literally hundreds of ways you might do it. Not all of them work, but you’ll soon have more clients if you follow a few basic steps.

You need a steady flow of prospects to develop your business. An approach that uses many different strategies, all linked together, will have those prospects beating down your door before too long. We’ll discuss these strategies here.

Contrary to popular opinion, your advertising and promotion effort need not be expensive. In fact, it should be very cheap and highly profitable. You don’t want to implement marketing strategies that run at a loss; you want to do what works. You need highly targeted, results-driven marketing. When you generate that lead, qualify the lead, find out how you can help, and then offer a solution, Bingo! Another sale on the way.

Develop a marketing strategy that works. Implement it regularly. Measure its impact. If it works well, keep doing it. If it doesn’t, then stop. That’s how to market your business.

Let’s explore these ideas a little more.

Do Something!

One of the biggest mistakes I see among small business people is that they simply don’t do any marketing. They have to finish off a certain job, they don’t have the money to pay for an advertisement in the local paper, they don’t have the expertise, they don’t have the time… the list of excuses goes on.

But marketing isn’t difficult:

1. Figure out who might want what you sell.
   
2. Ask people to buy it.

There are a million different ways to get the attention of your market …and that means a million different ways to waste money! Being smart about your marketing is important.

There really are countless ways to market your business. Try plenty. Measure the results. Crunch the numbers. If you can have a steady stream of prospects at the door, your business will grow.

But how can you create that steady stream?

Regular marketing means regular prospects!

Regular direct mail, regular advertising, a regular newsletter, regular networking, regular offers to local businesses… Whatever you do, do it regularly, and you’ll generate that steady stream of prospects.

As prospects see your brand in more places, and hear about you from more of their friends, they’ll begin to get used to your name. Once they're used to your name, they’re only a small step away from feeling that they know and trust you. And then they’ll start calling.

Simply put yourself in the shoes of your potential clients. Ask yourself what might be the most effective way to get their attention, and make your offer.

• Would it be best to cold call your prospect?
• Would it be best to write your potential clients a letter to tell them of your services?
• Would it be best to present a seminar entitled, “Attracting more business using the Internet”?

Let’s look at a real-life example.

Case 6.1. $20k In Thirty Days!

Recently, my company faced the challenge of generating an additional $20,000 of business within twelve weeks. Here’s how we planned to achieve the goal:

1. Write letters to all our current clients giving them a special offer, which would then be followed up with a telephone call.

2. Complete a direct mail campaign to 200 local businesses—a three piece mailer
   spread over three weeks.

3. Run a five week business newspaper advertising campaign.

4. Launch a PR campaign, including media releases announcing the promotion of a team member, the release of a survey we’ve commissioned, the announcement that the company is the new developer for a major site, and a few others bits and pieces.

5. Ask all our current clients for referrals.

6. Attend plenty of networking opportunities.

What were the results of our campaign? The advertisement (costing $70 per week for five weeks) secured us a $7,800 Website deal, with a $300 monthly ongoing marketing fee. The PR campaign delivered another client with $5,000 worth of work and good potential for more (we’re also on a ‘success fee’ structure with that project).

A current client has taken up our offer of site management services priced at $110 per month, and asked us to implement his online marketing campaign (another $5,000 per year). The mail-out to local businesses has generated three qualified leads that we’re now following up. A quick calculation tells me that we’ve achieved our goal of $20,000 in additional income in just a few weeks.

The key point here is that sitting around will only give you a sore behind! You might be a hot designer, but people need to know about your services before you can make a buck.

Get out there and shout from the rooftops!

Key Points

• Regular marketing means regular prospects.
• Understand your clients' problems, then work out how to solve them.
• Do something! If you're unsure of whether a marketing tactic will work, try it—and measure the results.