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How to sell ourselves

         

TiNiB

10:42 am on Nov 23, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



As i've said in a previous thread, i'm thinking of started up my own web/graphic design company in the UK.

What are good way which you can advertise your company without spending too much money.

Thanks

rj87uk

3:55 pm on Nov 23, 2004 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



You could REDESIGN a few websites for free in return ask the website to link back to your website with text like...

'website designed by (company)'

Reason behind the redesign is because i find that if you design a new website it wont get loads of hits to begin with, but redesign a website that gets traffic would mean you would get people reading your line of text website done by ' ' and you may spark some interest with others looking to pay...

Apart from that im sure you could get listed under somewhere...

rj

photon

4:34 pm on Nov 23, 2004 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



You could REDESIGN a few websites for free...

Or offer your services to a few non-profits in your area. Some list "in kind" donations on their web sites or in their newsletters. And they often have local business leaders on their boards of directors who may take notice.

mack

3:14 pm on Nov 24, 2004 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Administrator 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



there are many web design/development directories out there, list in as many as possible, then when you feel you are listed in them all, find some more :)

Mack.

TiNiB

11:27 pm on Nov 24, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Thanks!

kodaks

11:43 pm on Nov 24, 2004 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



Welcome to Webmaster World, TiNiB!
There are many ways to market and promote your service, I listed some below:

-List your products in shopping search engines. The best know one, is Froogle (froogle.com), by Google.

-Buy PPC Ads on sites like YAHOO! or Google.

-Post ads in newsletters.

-Join an ad exchange.

-Ask visitors to bookmark your site.

-Install a tell-a-friend script on your site

-Create and announce a contest, to attract potential clients.

-Make a monthly newsletter, to keep clients in touch.

-Install an automatic signature on all of your emails with an ad for your service.

-Submit your site to numerous directories.

-Get good search engine ranking positions.

-Submit your site to major search engines.

-Make sure you have sufficient meta tags. [webmasterworld.com...]

I hope this helps, and have a happy Thanksgiving!

Stores

12:11 am on Nov 27, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Make sure your portfolio is developed. You may just be getting started...but that's not what your customers are looking for.

They want people who have done this before; they want to see examples; they want testimonials; they want to contact your past customers to see how the job went (when possible).

As a starting point...do whatever you have to to build that portfolio up - then get to work on everything Kodaks posted.

TiNiB

10:02 pm on Nov 29, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Thanks for all the info,

how about sending out 1000 A6 flyers to businesses advertising our company?

would you quote prices on these flyer?
our prices are really low, (almost half price of most design agencies)

Thanks

shigamoto

11:12 pm on Nov 30, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Buy a book about Guerilla Marketing, usually pretty effective.

Stores

2:33 am on Dec 2, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



would you quote prices on these flyer?
our prices are really low, (almost half price of most design agencies)

Only if that's how you want to position yourself in your area...as the discount web design place. I've been there...its a hard hole to climb out of.

datadame

10:07 pm on Dec 6, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



I agree with those who've suggested doing a few sites for free - that's how I got started.

I also agree with the emphasis on the portfolio, which you can of course build with that free work, to get off the ground. When a client tells you how pleased they are with you work (and of course they will be! :)), ask them if they'd mind writing a short testimonial - one or two sentences, that you can include in your online portfolio as a "Client Comment". That saves people the time of having to contact your clients for input, although of course they still can if they want to, since you'll link to the client's site from your portfolio.

If someone hooks you up with a prospective customer, be sure to thank that person, of course. If it works out well and you get a new client from their recommending you, it's a good idea to give them a small but nice thank-you gift. A nice pen or something like that is good, and if you can "happen" to have it arrive when other people can see it, so much the better. ;) Oh, and make sure your business card is in there too!