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INNOVATION
& DESIGN Home Page Architecture Brand Equity Auto Design Game Room SMALLBIZ Smart Answers Success Stories Today's Tip INVESTING Investing: Europe Annual Reports BW 50 S&P Picks & Pans Stock Screeners Free S&P Stock Report SCOREBOARDS Hot Growth 100 Mutual Funds Info Tech 100 S&P 500 B-SCHOOLS Undergrad Programs MBA Blogs MBA Profiles MBA Rankings Who's Hiring Grads | | SEPTEMBER 26, 2000 SMART ANSWERS By Karen E. Klein Starting a Web-Design Business from Ground Zero Use your own site to market your abilities, and make sure you can offer all the latest technology -- and knowhow
Q: I started a Web-design business but am having trouble finding customers. I've called businesses from the phone book, I've sent out letters, I've even dropped by places of business. After a year, I have only three clients. For my business to run well, I need at least 100 small-business clients. Am I not advertising right? Next year I'm going to be in the phone book. Is that going to help? ----George Butiri, GBI Enterprises A: Web-site design, like so many service-oriented businesses, is primarily driven by personal referrals and word-of-mouth. Getting started from ground zero, without an existing customer base, is particularly tough. Until you get a few initial clients to take a chance on your work and recommend you enthusiastically, developing a solid customer base can be excruciatingly slow. The phone-book listing can't hurt, especially if your clientele is primarily local. But most Web designers say they get their business inquiries through the Internet, rather than from a static, "old media" marketing tool like the yellow pages. "I talked to one client who said he had looked in the phone book and called a few [Web design firms], but they were either disconnected or didn't even have a Web address," says Marlo Fullerton, a designer with Planetmall Internet Marketing, based in Roseville, Calif. "He couldn't understand why a Web-development company would not have a Web address in the phone book." OFFER INSPIRATION. Since your own Web site is the best advertisement for your business, use it to inspire confidence in your abilities. Is the design absolutely first-rate? Is it supremely functional and easy to use? Do you have up-to-date listings in all the search engines where your potential clients may be looking for Web designers? Put a portfolio of your best work online where your clients can see it and get inspired to call you, recommends Ralph Wilson, owner of Wilson Internet Services in Rocklin, Calif. Meeting with business owners in person sounds like a good strategy. When you talk to prospects, however, are you enthusiastic about the Web and their chances of making money online? If you're not knowledgeable and excited about doing business on the Internet, you're not going to attract entrepreneurs who may be wary about going online -- or reluctant to spend the money to do so. Can you offer all the latest technologies and services, including security programs and the ability to produce full-service Web sites? You must be up on the newest offerings and able to answer questions about how the technology works, and what your clients need. "You can't get away with just static pages anymore," Fullerton says. "People want...online application development, they want their catalogs of products online, and online shopping carts with order processing and custom applications." THE NEXT LEVEL. Another crucial service you must offer in order to be competitive is site hosting, experts say. It's so much easier for a client to buy a package that includes both Web-site design and hosting that they'll go elsewhere if you tell them they have to find their own host. Along with targeting new businesses that don't yet have Web sites, you might try marketing to companies with existing sites they want to take to the next level -- perhaps, a brochure site that a company is interested in making interactive. "Solicit by looking for local Web sites, then phoning the company and asking them if they're happy with their Web-design team or are looking for another," Wilson recommends. There's so much turnover in the Web-design field that companies looking to upgrade their one- or two-year-old sites may no longer have contacts operating in the industry. Cost is critical, but having the lowest price around won't get you the quality clients who will refer you to larger jobs and more impressive customers. Finally, says Wilson: "It's important also that you have a high-quality team in place, even as subcontractors. The day of the one-man Web shop is over for growing business sites."  Have a question about running your business? Ask our small-business experts. Send us anail at smartanswers@businessweek.com, or write to Smart Answers, BW Online, 6th Floor, 2 Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121. Please include your real name and phone number in case we need more information; only your initials and city will be printed. Because of the volume of mail, we won't be able to respond to all questions personally.  | | |
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