- This topic has 174 replies, 63 voices, and was last updated 2 years, 3 months ago by
.
-
Up0
Hi Julian,
While there are a group of business owners that run successfully without a website and don’t see the need, I think it would be more effective to focus on those that are already sold on the idea of a website rather than trying to convince others why they should get one – educating the market can be a long road.With my copywriting work I’ve come across a lot of people over the years who don’t see the value in paying for writing work (design can be a similar thing), so rather than trying to convince them I think it’s best just to preach to the converted.
Once people are already sold on the idea, then it becomes a matter of convincing them that you’re the right choice for them – easier said than done
Especially with website development being such an increasingly competitive area right now – both with new entrants and DIY type options.Our surveys also show that word-of-mouth and repeat business are two of the best forms of finding clients, so patience and great work can be the long-term answer. Flying Solo has been around for 10 years or and has grown largely organically with referrals over the years, and over time the search engine rankings built up also help people find us.
No proven short-cuts that I know of
Cheers, Peter
Up0bb1, post: 223541, member: 53375 wrote:Julian,
I think a thing that a lot of service providers such as yourself fail to do is sell the ROI, to any potential client. Sure you say we need one, you say it makes us look good, you say XYZ, but what is the ROI to any potential client, or the better question is will there be an ROI to any potential client.
I am not going to spend hundreds of dollars to just look and feel good, if I spend hundreds of dollars I want to get those hundreds of dollars, plus a multiple back, before I would invest.
…
Don’t sell or preach to your potential customers, really think and understand the true cost to them of your cheap offer, and think am I really giving a ROI.Sorry I have gone on, but hope you get the drift of my thinking. What’s in it for me???
Thank you very much for this reply, Bert. I fully understand where you’re coming from.
I’m not trying to sell this to you, particularly. If you don’t want a nicely designed website, that’s entirely up to you, of course.
The ROI is a bit of a tricky one, isn’t it?
I can tell you that the work we’ve done for David’s website (my father) at http://www.flutesandflutists.com has led directly to quite a few more sales. He knows this because he tracks it. You can ring him and ask him if you like. His phone number is at the top left of his site: http://www.flutesandflutists.com
This design work in particular was a matter of taking an article he wrote about choosing a flute and hooking it up to an email sign-up. He then follows up that email sign-up with a question about whether they’re interested in buying a flute.
I might collect a bunch of my customer’s responses to this question that you have as it seems to be something of a common question. Somewhere along the lines of “why have a website?”
Perhaps, given the nature of your business, a website might not be the best way to sell your service. I don’t know. If you’re selling “widgets”, then I see a website as indispensible.
If you’re selling gardening services, I still think it’s a great idea, because you can take the customer through what makes you special and sell them on your services without you actually having to do a single thing… all before they even contact you. You can do this by showing off examples of the impact of your work, showcasing comments by satisfied clients, etc. etc.
But sadly I’m not sure how to quantify the ROI of this for you. I know that I’d be more likely to hire a gardener that had something showing off what they do than one that has nothing but maybe I’m weird or something
To me it just shows what you’re getting into before you get it. Kind of like going for food and seeing a menu with pictures of the food on it. Warmly,
JulianUp0FS Administrator, post: 223538, member: 1 wrote:Hi Julian,
While there are a group of business owners that run successfully without a website and don’t see the need, I think it would be more effective to focus on those that are already sold on the idea of a website rather than trying to convince others why they should get one – educating the market can be a long road.With my copywriting work I’ve come across a lot of people over the years who don’t see the value in paying for writing work (design can be a similar thing), so rather than trying to convince them I think it’s best just to preach to the converted.
Once people are already sold on the idea, then it becomes a matter of convincing them that you’re the right choice for them – easier said than done
Especially with website development being such an increasingly competitive area right now – both with new entrants and DIY type options.Our surveys also show that word-of-mouth and repeat business are two of the best forms of finding clients, so patience and great work can be the long-term answer. Flying Solo has been around for 10 years or and has grown largely organically with referrals over the years, and over time the search engine rankings built up also help people find us.
No proven short-cuts that I know of
Cheers, Peter
This is sage advice. Thanks Peter
- Total posts: 2
- Total posts: 2
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
