Web Design & Toast

The Website Market

Sam Pullenza — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 15:49:20 +0000

We have evolved out of the industrial age and into the informational age. Just about every business card you pick up will have a website or email address attached to it. We live in a time where businesses are built, maintained and become successful based upon how well their website is structured. Having a successful website is not only the key to having a successful business but necessary to maintaining that business through the next decade and beyond.

As many have said in the past and will continue to say in the future, time is money. Now is the time to jump on the internet wave. If you become educated in how to use it to the best of your businesses ability, you will successfully ride that wave to a very productive and profitable business.

For those of you who are apart of the website market you will have felt the excitement that comes with knowing what great things lie ahead for this type of business. Sure there are many companies out there who you can consider your competitors but the demand for such a necessary tool in today’s success makes it easy to find work.

My recommendation to all those website salesman out there is to pick one or two industries that need this tool and become a professional in selling them this very useful part of their business. By doing this you set yourself up to make lots of money.

Lets use Restaurants as an example. When a restaurant needs a website, one of its necessities is to have a menu page for all of its customers to view at anytime. If any of you programmers have ever been involved with designing a menu for a restaurant, you will know it can be quite extensive work organizing a data entry table for all those items and prices. The nice part is that by choosing to sell to just restaurants you only have the need to create that tool one time and every consecutive website sold after that is less work the programmer has to do. Now you are able to charge for the tool minus the work it takes to create it.

Once again, time is money and money is time. Along the same parallel lines, work smarter not harder. By consolidating your industries you are able to make more money and focus on helping your customers with any concerns they may have in this continually growing informational age.

Part 2 - Know Your Product, Know Your Customer

Sam Pullenza — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 17:51:16 +0000

Once that is established you are now ready to find those willing to pay what you are asking for your product. In order to sell someone what you are offering you must first understand there are three types of consumers and that any one of these people are likely to be more than one type.

The first type of consumer is “The Friend.” This person needs to know that you are his or her friend and are looking out for their best interest when making such an important purchase. If you come off only wanting to sell them the most expensive package or item you have to offer without establishing some sort of trust with this person, they will walk away looking for someone else they feel is not out to take every last penny they have. These types of consumers like to talk about things that don’t even pertain to what it is you are trying to sell them. Spending an hour talking about their life and how you somehow relate to it, is usually all that is needed in order to help them feel comfortable making their purchase. So learn to build on common interest.

The second type of consumer is “The Needy.” This person needs to know everything there is to know about what it is he or she is buying before they buy it. This is why it is so important for us sales people to know our product. At times a “needy” person will ask questions about your product that only a tech guy needs to know. Regardless if you think these types of people need to know it or not, you better know your stuff. A “needy” consumer will often buy your product if you supply the answers they are looking for. So bottom line, know your stuff.

The Third type of consumer is “The Bargainer.” This type of person is out to get the Cadillac for the price of a Volkswagen. They will usually do their homework, know what is out there and if the price is not to their liking, they will spend as much time as needed searching until they find the price they feel comfortable paying. So making these individuals feel like they are getting the most for their money will most likely result in selling them what they need.

I hope this little bit of information will be of great help to you in becoming a better sales person. I know if you take some time, do your homework and learn to understand your customers, you will be more successful in your efforts. Good Luck and happy selling.

Part 1 - Know Your Product, Know Your Customer

Sam Pullenza — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 17:41:04 +0000

In order to be a successful website salesperson you need to possess a masterful understanding of your product. To know your product, you need to take the time necessary to become familiar with all the ins and outs of what it is you’re offering. If you fail to do this, you will also fail your customers.

Working directly with the people who developed the product or service you want to sell can give you a thorough understanding of what you’re offering faster than reading books and researching the product on your own. And taking time to learn from, and even befriend the web designers and programmers behind the scenes, will give you a greater appreciation for the work that goes into it and the benefits of bringing in new web design clients.

This process will make you a “believer” in what you’re doing which will translate into more confidence and greater success when selling your Internet products and website design services to others.

Until then…

Sam

Website Sales Prevail

Sam Pullenza — Mon, 21 May 2007 18:12:31 +0000

Ah… the joy of sales. As most of you know, there are those who were made to sell, and then there are those who were made to be sold. I seem to fall somewhere in the middle of all that. I have worked in sales for about 3 years and after putting in my time, I found out that I would prefer to be sold than to be the one selling. I consider myself a pretty good salesperson and know if I am given the proper tools I can sell a vegetarian a 12 oz. rib eye steak. But the true art of sales is to believe in what you are selling. I have been learning website and graphic design for the past few years and have seen the benefits a business has from owning its own website.

I was recently given the opportunity to sell websites for SiteForce an Arizona website design company. I found their products and services fairly easy to sell. Every business should have a website for a number of reasons. For the sake of time I’ll just name the reasons I feel are most important to recognize when considering the purchase of a professionally designed website.

Credibility. If your business is found on the biggest communication system used by the world today (the Internet) it shows everyone who takes in interest in what you do that you are worthy of his or her attention. When you put your company on the World Wide Web you are showing your customers that you are interested in accommodating their needs.
Tools. A website allows you to inform millions of people about your products or services 24-7. The people who were made to be sold, can be sold, without you ever having to raise a finger. It’s like having your very own salesperson working for you around the clock for pennies an hour. And if a customer can find what they’re looking for without having to leave the privacy of their own home, they might be more inclined to buy your product.
Business. As everyone knows, you need to have money to make money. And how does one get money? More business of course. Marketing your company on the Internet gives you added business and can increase your volume of customers. When your previous or current customers want to look at your product, and can do so anytime they wish, they will more likely remember you and continue to return for more of what you have to offer them.

These are just some of the things to think about when considering a website for your business. Of course you’ll need the proper staff to organize and help design your website, so don’t settle for just anyone. It takes a great amount of experience to properly establish your website on the Internet. If experience is what you’re looking for, SiteForce is the company to go with. I know, I know, but what kind of salesperson would I be if I didn’t recommend SiteForce to help you out with such an important decision for you business? We truly are dedicated to working closely with you and getting your business where it needs to be.

SiteForce Site Redesign

Erik M. Cunningham — Mon, 14 May 2007 20:52:58 +0000

Apologies to our faithful readers for the long web design blog hiatus. We’ve revamped our website design business site with a new look, new affordable web design packages and web marketing services.

With that behind us, we’ve got more time for blogging so be on the lookout for new articles about web design, search engine marketing and search engine optimization all summer long!

Turn Your Downtime Into Uptime

Erik M. Cunningham — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 19:20:44 +0000

Many web designers and website design companies have periods of downtime. When you’re between projects or awaiting responses from your existing clients, make your time productive by working on your own web design projects.

Anyone who spends as much time on the Internet as a web designer is bound to come up with new Internet business ideas. The great thing about being a web designer is that you can bring many of your ideas to life without outside assistance. It’s difficult to know which ideas will fly and which won’t, but testing the waters during your downtime could potentially lead to additional sources of income for you or for your company.

So give it a try. We did! Here are two examples of sites we just launched and developed between web design projects for our clients.

iTotallyRecommend.com - An online recommendation community.
Log jump - A free service that allows you to create your own web portal for personal everyday use.

Web Design Blog Topics for 2007

Erik M. Cunningham — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 19:25:31 +0000

We’ll be taking the next couple of weeks off from blogging to celebrate the holiday season. I’m sure many of you readers are doing the same. And although we’ll be absent in body, we won’t be absent in mind.

We’re currently looking for web design blog topics for 2007 to make our second year of Web Design & Toast better than ever! So if you have questions or ideas about anything related to web design, web programming, scripting, SEM, or SEO, send them our way and we’ll try to address them in the new year.

Happy Holidays from Web Design & Toast!

Part 4: Tips for Running a Successful Web Design Business

Erik M. Cunningham — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 22:42:16 +0000

A month has gone by since we started our series, “Tips for Running a Successful Web Design Business”. This fourth installment discusses how to turn a potential customer into a paying client.

Tip 4: "Close the Deal"

As you likely know from personal experience, potential customers, especially “busy” potential customers, are experts at procrastinating. They have good intentions about starting projects but often need strong motivation to complete them in a timely manner.

You might say that sales leads are a lot like fish. If you let them linger too long without reeling them in, you’re likely to lose them. Here are a few tips for reeling in the fish that’s nibbling at your bait.

Respond quickly to any questions or requests you receive from a sales lead. If your potential client worked up enough motivation to seek you out, you want to bring them onboard before they lose their momentum or find a hook with better bait.
Give them a quote or estimate and request a non-refundable deposit. You’ll be far less likely to lose a lead if they already have money invested in the project. You may also find that a deposit is a surprisingly powerful source of motivation for your client to finish the project because it gets them thinking about a return on their investment.
Help your client get “over the hump”. Clients can become overwhelmed with a project related to design or technology if they have little or no experience in the field. So assign your customer a very simple task, like showing you designs or web sites they like. The feeling of accomplishment might be all they need to get moving to their desired end.

These tips will not only help get you to the payday your looking for, but should also help your customers achieve their business goals. And we all know, that happy customers are the best kind.

Part 3: Tips for Running a Successful Web Design Business

Erik M. Cunningham — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 21:10:21 +0000

My third piece of advice in the “Tips for Running a Successful Web Design Business” series involves establishing clear deliverables through written contracts with your customers. Deliverables can include design drafts, edits, revisions and completed works, recurring monthly services and the like.

Tip 3: “Get it in Writing”

Every professional designer, web or other, has encountered clients that can’t make up their minds about the details of a specific project or design. Worst case scenarios involve a group of individuals with varying tastes or expectations attempting to come to a unanimous decision at the expense of your time and effort. These attempts typically steer you on a course back to the drawing board.

But heading back to the drawing board isn’t necessarily a bad thing as long as you’re getting paid for it. That’s why it’s imperative that you establish written contracts with your clients that clearly outline the products or services you’ll be delivering at what price.

The simplest way to approach the matter is to offer your customers a time estimate for the project with an hourly rate attached. If you find yourself in a “too many hands stirring the pot” scenario like the one above, you need only remind your clients about the time you’ve spent on the project to date and your hourly rates. If they aren’t concerned about the accruing costs, good for you. If they are concerned, the situation will spur them toward progressive decision making.

Another way to insure that your getting full compensation for your time is to provide your customers with a detailed description of your services and pricing. The keyword here is “detailed”. If you are designing a logo, let your clients know in writing that you will provide so many design drafts and so many revisions for such and such a price. Once you’ve delivered, let your customer know that additional work will require additional compensation.

Part 2: Tips for Running a Successful Web Design Business

Erik M. Cunningham — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 22:56:32 +0000

My second post in the series, “Tips for Running a Successful Web Design Business” involves marketing your business on the web. This applies to web site design and many other design related businesses.

Tip 2: “Go Local”

The Internet has been supersaturated with sites offering web design and web site related services. For your web design business to be discovered on the web, you need to target a specific audience. The easiest way to do this is to focus on your geographic area. There may be a million web site design companies offering their services to the world, but only a couple dozen in your city or region.

By including your business location in your Internet marketing efforts, your web site is much more likely to appear in search engines’ first 3 results pages when users are looking for local web design companies. It’s the general consensus among the search engine marketing community that if your site doesn’t appear in the first 3 pages, it might as well not show up at all.

And with so many businesses to choose from online, design or other, Internet users are looking for ways to narrow their choices. When consumers aren’t sure who to trust, they turn to local businesses. Part of the reason is a feeling of community and familiarity. Another is that they know where to find you if you mess up! But don’t let this intimidate you. Instead, use it to your advantage by assuring your customers that you stand behind your work and your local community.