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: Web Pro Business BlogMake money from your mistakes
It is possible to profit from your mistakes. Let me tell you a little true story.
“ Once upon a time, one Saturday morning my (then) hosting company accidentally deleted one of my reseller accounts and failed to get the hosting back on-line for 2 and a half days, (the hows and whys of it are not for this post).
As you can imagine, my clients were furious. Even though it was not my error — I was responsible for it. So, once everything was back up and running, what did I do? Did I give them an imaginative excuse, using lots of acronyms and blaming everyone else? No. I sent all the affected clients a personalised email. Apologising and explaining what had happened and what I was doing to prevent it happening again. I sent this email to everyone, even to the clients who had not noticed the outage.
The response to that email was actually incredibly positive:
“Thanks for letting us know”
“I appreciate your honesty”
“Oh, by the way I need “X” doing, can you send me a quote.”
And business continued on happily after…
THE END ”
The moral of the story?
Now, whilst it is not the most exciting story, there is …
What’s wrong?
If you want to find out how good your product/service is — ask what’s wrong with it.
You may think you know what your customers want and need, but that may not be how customer feels about it. An important part of client service is not to find out how great things are going, but to find out what’s not going so well.
Ask your clients for an honest opinion on what they like about your product/service, but more importantly — ask what they didn’t/don’t like. Let them know that you want to improve your service/product and would really appreciate their honest appraisal on anything and everything — no matter how big or small. How can we improve?
Ultimately by engaging your clients, showing that they matter and acting on what they say (if appropriate). You will:
- improve your product/service
- be more competitive
- improve client retention rates
- improve your image
So, what are you waiting for? Find out what’s wrong.
Are you a “green” employee?
There is plenty of talk about how people want to work for environmentally sound businesses and how people are being more environmentally caring at home. However, there is evidence that those same people may not be doing the “right thing” at work. Are you that person?
I have compiled a short list of questions to find out:
- Do you switch off your computer when you finish work?
- Do you use a mug rather than disposable cups?
- Do you print out your emails?
- Do you use public transport or walk/cycle to work?
- Do you recycle any garbage/rubbish you create at work? (I’m not talking about the standard of your work!)
- If you are the last to leave, do you make sure all unnecessary lights and equipment are switched off?
How well did you do?
How to get contract work in three easy steps (Part 3 of 3)
The Follow up Phone Call
Unlike the previous post on the initial email contact, phone conversations tend to be unpredictable. There is no exact blueprint for this type of call, it could go in any direction. I will however, endeavour to give you some advice on how to conduct the call.
The purpose of the call
There are two main purposes to this call:
- establishing that the firm has got your email — It is amazing the number of times that an email is lost or doesn’t get to the right person
- arranging a face-to-face meeting
Keep in Mind
Before you make the call keep these things in mind.
- be polite and courteous
- it could take days or even weeks before you get to talk to the right person in the company
- write down the names of each person you talk to
- keep notes on what was said
- Keep it brief — the other person is likely to be busy
- Remember you are selling a business proposition, your purpose is to add value to the firm you contract for
Who you get to talk to
Your first phone contact is usually the receptionist. Introduce yourself and ask if <Joe Blogs> is available and explain why you are calling.
From here you will either be …
How to get contract work in three easy steps (Part 2 of 3)
Following on from my previous post, I am going to talk about that vital first email contact. I am going look at what should and shouldn’t be in the email and how to structure it to best effect.
The Initial Written Contact
This first email is the “teaser” email. The “get your foot in the door” introduction. Nothing more. It is not your resume or an essay on your approach to the web. Its a “would you like to know more?” introduction.
Remember, this email is a sales pitch – it is a textual representation of you. It gives the recipient their first impression of who you are and what you are capable of. So, it needs to look and read professionally, but it also should show a bit of your personality. I know it is a tall order, but with a little work it can be done.
Keep the Reader in Mind
When creating your email you need to think about the person reading the email. What they looking for and what they will be asking themselves:
Who is emailing me and why?
Basically, this is the spam-scan we all tend to do automatically – Who is it from, do I know them? and what …
How to get contract work in three easy steps (Part 1 of 3)
Over the next three posts I am going to outline one method of getting contract work that has been very successful for me. It is both cheap and easy to implement, requiring little more than some time, email and a phone.
So, how do you get contract work?
Simple — You ask!
Of course, there is a little more to it than that, but basically: You just ask.
How Does it Work?
- First, find and research the web and advertising firms in your area.
- Next, send the firms an introductory email.
- Then, follow up a few days later with a phone call.
I have found this approach is far better than cold calling, as the firms are forewarned, (that you are going to call) and they know why you are calling. Also, by emailing first — If the firm isn’t interested: they will generally email you back to that effect.
The Ground Work
Preparation is really important, potentially any of these firms could be worth thousands of dollars to you. So, it is worth putting a bit of time and effort into researching each firm — basically the same as if you were preparing for a job interview (which effectively you are).
How to Find the firms
I would start by …
Expand your resume by contracting
When most people think of going into freelance work, they think of getting clients through their own sales and marketing. That is all well and good, but is there another way?
Yes, there is.
There is a much overlooked potential source of work: other peoples’ clients. What do I mean by that? Client theft? No, no, no. That’s just not cricket!
I mean: contract work.
These days there are lots of web design companies, web development firms, and advertising agencies with their own specialized web departments. They all have the need for skilled web professionals. Some might have employed all the workers they need but, in my experience, most are happy to hear from freelance web specialists.
Why would they want to hear from you? What’s in it for them?
Having a number of reliable external contractors who can be called upon as and when they are need is a huge advantage to firms, as it gives them extra capacity and the possibility of taking on work that normally, might be beyond their skill set. There are other benefits too — they don’t have to pay worker benefits to contractors, nor are they obliged to keep them on once the work is complete. …
Building your business using goal setting
Welcome back to the Web Pro Business blog for 2008, I hope you had a relaxing and safe festive break.
I had the pleasure and honor to be asked to write an article for SitePoint during December, which you can read over here. In the article, I made ten suggestions for goals to achieve during 2008, which would help your business grow.
Now, even if you haven’t taken the plunge into full time freelance or business owner status yet, these ten resolutions (also available as a single page A4 or Letter sized PDF to print) will help you get to this stage.
I’m hoping to elaborate on a few points which I made in this article over the next few posts. Firstly, let’s start with goal setting.
Most images of goal setting conjure up thoughts of sports cars, huge homes and swimming in a pool of money, however these are probably slightly grandiose for what I am suggesting. Let’s break this down to medium-long term goals, shorter term goals and actions which belong to goals.
Let’s say you are like many folk who have commented on my previous posts, and haven’t yet taken the dive into self employment. What would your longer term goal be? …
The Festive Season and Client Demands
As we all enter the silly season, with family events, social evenings and all the fun of Christmas, it’s a pertinent time to reflect on how you deal with client demands.
When I first started out on my own, I worked whenever I could – more so, I worked whatever hours clients demanded of me. This often ended up evenings and weekends, and I started to believe all client work was important and urgent, and it had to be done right now.
Then, after a year, I reconsidered having my mobile number on my business card, and dropped it with the next print run as a test for both clients and myself – would the barrier of not having it close to hand dissuade them from calling on Sunday mornings?
I was relieved to find it did, and more importantly, hardly any of my clients complained. Those that did complain had become accustomed to having me at their beck and call seven days a week. Sure, I could blame them, but I had also trained them into believing I was, so I was just at fault as they were, if not more so.
Now, five years later, none of my staff advertise their after-hours …
Getting those first 10 Clients
In my first post, I asked for comments from readers about topics they would be keen to see me cover. A number of people responded with some fantastic questions, with a handful at least asking along the lines of marketing, and how I went from sitting at an empty desk, to getting the first few months work in the door.
Well, for starters, I cheated. I had worked in the web industry for a number of years, so I already had quite a few contacts, and one of the first things I did was get in touch with other freelancers, particularly developers (remember, I started as a designer) and offered to help them out with any overflow work they couldn’t handle.
I ended up with a handful of clients that way, and some immediate work, however what I found was also interesting. I expected to do the work behind the veil of their business names, however I actually found that these colleagues trusted me enough to deal directly with the clients, and just provide a small kickback to the freelancer. Sweet! Not only did they send me work, they trusted I would do a good job, and I therefore made sure I …
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