[zibizibi]

Hi,

Besides referrals my main method of getting new clients is 'cold emails'. What about you guys ?

[zibizibi]

Nobody wants to talk about it ?

[joshfolio]

I'm currently half way threw building my site along with small portfolio

soon as its live, get a few business cards printed and go put a few in local shops and round the city center.

[MancunianCreative]

Cold emailing one would assume they already have a site, is that more difficult to convince them of a redesign than it is to get a person/company who doesnt have one to get one?

[sunnyp81]

First post ere

Im starting up a webdesign/dev business... my expertise is in marketing/sales...

I would concentrate primarily on web based classified listings/yell..

[Web Designer112]

Post On Local Facebook Pages And On This Site If Needed

[pandadoodle]

Referrals are rubbish, no one can sell YOUR BUSINESS better than YOU!

Network

Find a market place and create a product / placement just for them and build on it

Be different how many people are going to be setting up web companies this year after uni, when they discover there are no decent paid jobs out there unless you can do it all?

Being different the right way is the way forward. Why should I use you over any other freelancer / business your area? Explain...

[pandadoodle]

MancunianCreative, on 21 August 2011 - 10:24 AM, said:

Cold emailing one would assume they already have a site, is that more difficult to convince them of a redesign than it is to get a person/company who doesnt have one to get one?

Selling a redesign is EASY compared to getting them online. The fact they already got online shows they "kinda" understand the importance of it, its upto you now to improve and work on the expectations they had for the current site and give them reasons why it failed and how you can improve on it.

[lewis12]

Social Networks, business cards, meeting companies with poor web presence and just word of mouth. Also on Facebook look out for ADVERTISE "in your area" sometimes its worth a post in their just to put your name out.

Lewi

[mcampbell]

If you can build a good base of users in the same network through social networking sites, you would be in good hands. I mean, this would not work if you have not given anyone any service yet but if you have started to roll out some already, this could work to your advantage.

Though some still prefer going personal and physical with their advertisements, making use of the internet will save you time and effort, lots of them.

[Sogo7]

Lewis12 makes a good point of targetting any business with a poor web presence, especially local ones where you can physically get a foot in the door. Speculative emails can be binned in seconds but a face to face meeting with the Sales Manager tends to give better results.

However whilst a makeover might be an easy task to perform in terms of design, persuading a client that the new and improved website will generate more leads can be a trickier pitch. After all you cannot guarantee a client that visitors will come flocking and want to spend money.

Even if you don't persuade them it creates a small ripples in the REAL WORLD social networking that occurs privately business to business.

[brightonmike]

Be careful about approaching businesses that already have websites.

When I freelanced, I got in to trouble for doing this. I sent a business an email pointing out the problems with their site, and they forwarded it to the company that built it and I basically got an email back telling me where to stick it.

So yeah, be extremely careful doing that. Your best bet is word of mouth to be honest.

This post has been edited by brightonmike: 30 August 2011 - 09:53 AM

[Source206]

I would think to establish relationships online and offline, is the best way to build a good client base. But how to do that?

Some say to provide value (free) via some source - online, maybe you can put youtube videos targeting your client (what is your client? is it someone thinking of starting an online business and may need web design work?)

offline could be giving free lectures on making the perfect website in terms of design as well as other things - then at the end you can advertise your services - this creates trust because your giving something away for free (lecture) and building credibility, and if the potential client is interested, you will surely gain a new client!

[Sandeep]

Does anyone cold call?

[Stephen D]

Personally I think referrals are best. Also try networking with local businesses. Certainly with small businesses many people know eachother and it might be a good source of leads, even if some of them don't bear fruit for months or even years. Just get known!

Hope this helps,

S