Looking to start a web design business?Hi all,

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Syntac
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Re: Looking to start a web design business?Hi all,

Post by Syntac »

Haven't you asked this already?
josh
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Re: Looking to start a web design business?Hi all,

Post by josh »

Build up a portfolio, do pro bona work
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papa
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Re: Looking to start a web design business?Hi all,

Post by papa »

I had a web design company a few years back. And we started from the bottom with no clients. So we ordered a list of all companies in Stockholm and started calling people.
One of the most boring things I've ever done but it payed off in the end.

Try to find ideas how to make steady money each month, via support, hosting etc. Without that you'll never survive.

Good luck!
josh
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Re: Looking to start a web design business?Hi all,

Post by josh »

cold calling is the _hardest_ way to start a business, good job making it work!
gmrtss
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Re: Looking to start a web design business?Hi all,

Post by gmrtss »

do pro bona work
Excellent advice especially in this economy. You'll
be able to show off your talent and establish a
working relationship with prospective clients.
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papa
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Re: Looking to start a web design business?Hi all,

Post by papa »

jshpro2 wrote:cold calling is the _hardest_ way to start a business, good job making it work!
Thanks man. :)

One important thing to bare in mind when starting a business is that it's not that glamorous, at least not in the beginning. And people that get successful usually has worked their asses off for it.
EPX
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Re: Looking to start a web design business?Hi all,

Post by EPX »

I started my own IT support and web design company, we are in our 4 year now and things are going well.

The best thing to do, is get yourself a good looking and usable website. sign up to lots of directories, but unfortunately in the beginning it tends to be who you know, not necessarily what you know.

The best way is to go meet people. go to network groups, there should be quite a few in the local area. we found that council meetings were also good to meet new people as we found that quite a few counsellors own their own business.

Have reliable hosting! we had quite a few issues and unhappy client because our original hosting solution was unreliable.

The key things are: keep cost down, meet people, use quality products/services
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volomike
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Re: Looking to start a web design business?Hi all,

Post by volomike »

Some thoughts:

* First, you can really only handle one customer at a time if you want to do a good job. Sure, some gigs may only require that you spend 5 days on the project, but at least they would be focused days. So, if you can only do one customer at a time, it doesn't seem worth it to worry about getting a whole list of customer together, especially since you won't be ready to tackle them all at once. In fact, it may annoy them because you'll be telling them, "Sorry, I'm busy for the next 2 weeks," and you'll lose a potential customer here or there because you just solicited their interest and then shut them down.

[sidebar: Now, saying that, there's nothing wrong with working on the negotiations and marketing for your next customer while working on your current customer. That is, when you know you're meeting your deadlines, and want to hit the ground running on your next customer, then this is simply good business.]

* Second, way too many people underestimate the power of online advertising and link exchanges. They are very effective if put in the places where you might expect your customers to congregate.

In fact, your Contact page should ask the following questions (with popdown listbox answers): How Did You Hear About Us? and Where Do You Normally Go for Searching Business Like Ours? Make the questions optional, but don't state that -- just don't error out on the contact form if they don't choose to supply an answer. You'll probably find some unexpected answers.

Another suggestion is that you could make an online survey for those questions and then pay briefly for an AdWords ad on this topic. People would read Gmail or do searches and see your ad, consider clicking on your survey, answer your questions, and perhaps you can do something for them in return like give them a free series of ringtones or something.

* Third, pair up with 2-3 web developers who don't particularly focus on web design but who need a web designer. The relationship will be symbiotic. They will send you customer, and you will send them customer. It's win-win-win (because you, your developer, and your customer win).

P.S. I vote for this thread to be moved to the Enterprise forum. It's a good thread, just probably more appropriate there.
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Bill H
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Re: Looking to start a web design business?Hi all,

Post by Bill H »

...setting up a site with all your previous work on there ...
Just be sure that your client has given permission for you to display that you are the author of their site, and get that permission in writing. It can really be problematic when you advertise "I did the side for Brand X" and Brand X doesn't want it known that they didn't do it themselves or, perhaps, doesn't want the website to be advertised at all.
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