How to go about getting clients? This is the most important question that every business owner asks him/herself. Big agencies and well established freelancers might not have to worry about this so much. Nevertheless, for thousands of web designers out there, who run small businesses a lack of (potential) clients could spell the end of their creative dreams. Before you even get the chance to start putting your creativity to work you must, first of all, be creative when it comes to securing clients and putting together a marketing strategy. After all, an effective marketing strategy is the most important key to success in today’s competitive market.We want to give some advice and share our top 5 marketing tips. However, in order to be successful you need to regard these 5 tips as your base, your framework, and, as is always the case for a small business – go some steps further.
1. Local advertising
Whilst it’s great that we’ve all now gone digital, we’d do well not to forget about good old, traditional, print newspapers. It might sounds obvious but, in our globalized world, we tend to forget the importance and the impact that can be achieved through local advertisements. Experience clearly shows us that when people search for a web designer, they search locally. It may sound ironic but if you want to reach your client, as a web designer, you should consider the traditional newspaper. The old print newspaper, might just provide the niche that makes all the difference, when it comes to finding clients.
2. Logos, logos, logos….everywhere
People looking for web designers, often, don’t know where to find them. Of course, there is Google and it is the most obvious place to look. Nevertheless, anyone can go on Google, so let’s stick to what else you can do. Apart from the World Wide Web, there is still another, hugely powerful tool: ‘word of mouth’. Being recommended by someone else is the ultimate achievement and is key to success. If your logo appears on every piece of work that you undertake, people will remember, (and recommend), you.
3. A blog won’t hurt you
On the contrary, rather than harming your business, writing a blog is a fun and excellent marketing strategy. You should, nonetheless, take care not to be too technical. Technical expressions are great when talking to people from your industry, however, your fellow industry insiders will, very rarely, be your next costumers. For inspiration and further business tips check out other companies’ blogs.
4. Professional Content
As a web designer you will think of professional design which will be obvious to you. Nevertheless, while it is true that visual content is by far the most powerful aspect, you shouldn’t forget about the text. Well written content is the extra mile that you can, (and should), go.
5. Talk and give speeches
As a web designer you visually showcase, what you can do, every single day. However, in order to stand out from the crowd, you should really talk about it, too. There are many opportunities to give speeches and talk about what you do, such as, for example: conferences. This said, you should bear in mind that you will be talking to colleagues and other professionals who won’t be your future clients. If you want to use conferences as a marketing tool you should also advertise them on your website, (or why not, on twitter). People might just come along and you’ll have a chance to impress your future clients with your expertise.
Finally, some words on bureaucracy. Many tend to forget about basic steps when they draw up their business plan. You will need to make sure you get as much information as you can to be prepared for all unforeseen future events. A great option is liability insurance from Hiscox. You can find many useful information and tips, so no excuses for not taking care of bureaucratic things.