This may be more relevant to UK people.
I'm trying to make a living making web-sites but am having real problems getting clients.
So far I've got all my work through friends.
I've put ads in the local paper but only get people phoning up asking me to put ads in other publications.
I've sent out over 100 letters to small companies (my target) with not one reply.
Hi
I have had a look at these sites but they are more US oriented really.
Peter - where are you based in the UK, I have similar problems to you. Maybe we can help each other?
I too live in the UK and design web sites for a living. Thankfully, I get enough work - usually about one site a month - which pays for all my basic needs Anyway, my clients all come from friends and family. Word of mouth is still the best form of advertising!
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote/font><HR>Originally posted by Peter Hibbit: I've sent out over 100 letters to small companies (my target) with not one reply. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
I have heard lots of opinions on this topic! A guy from my school actually phones round companies looking for work!!!
I'm not sure if sending out mailshots is advisable because people don't like to be contacted in this way without permission. In the offline world it's called junk mail!
I certainly would never phone a company up; how irritated would you be if you got salespeople on your doorstep everyday, trying to sell you new windows?
The best way to crack this market is just plain simple advertising. The best way for any freelancer to advertise themselves is to set up a web site advertising their services. Getting listed in Yahoo and in the major search engines will help too!
In the world of offline advertising, it really is quite expensive to get something to work effectively. For example, recently NTL ran some great-sounding ads on Northern Ireland's top radio station, advertising their web site service. I'm sure that they got a lot of feedback from this, however this sort of method is way beyond the reach of a freelancer like myself
Magazine advertising is also expensive but you will get excellent results. Newspapers are usually less expensive than magazines so I suppose you should try these first, especially if you don't have any financial backing
As for my own business, I've just finished my web site, and I'll probably be placing some ads in my local newspaper soon. It'll be interesting to see how many leads I get from that.
Good luck!
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Daniel Irvine F-Free - Free Stuff and Freebies!
I've found that the only replies I get from newspaper ads are more people wanting to to place ads in other publications.
I wouldn't phone someone up to ask for work, but as I say I do send out letters. I type each letter individually for each company I approach so that I can make it suitable for them. So hopefully although it is 'junk' mail it is responsible junk mail - is there such a thing?
All the work I have had so far has also come from friends. Hopefully, I can expand on that.
If you design decent sites and your prices aren't too high, I'm sure that other people will recommend you. But it never hurts to ask around by yourself, the trick is to avoid looking greedy
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Elledan Dunedain www.emudreams.web.com Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet-engines
If you are going to do mailshots, just make sure you are sending to a targetted audience (you'll get better results). My target audience would be the small business (<10 employees) offering a service that is marketable on the Web. For instance, I wouldn't mail a window cleaning agency because nobody looks for window cleaners on the Web, do they? Similarly, I wouldn't send promotional mail to large corporations!
I still think having a web site is the best idea for freelance promotion. Instead of you looking for people, people come looking for you (it makes all the difference!).
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Daniel Irvine F-Free - Free Stuff and Freebies!
That's the kind of thing I was hoping to tap into. A lot of these companies advertise in specialist magazines and run mail order and so it would be 'quite' a simple process of transferring the catalogue on to the net.
They don't really even need internet access to benefit - I have offered to forward e-mailed ads to them.
There just seems to be too much competition on the web for people to find you that way.
Anyway, my clients all come from friends and family. Word of mouth is still the best form of advertising!
/font><HR>Originally posted by Peter Hibbit:
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