Free Lance web developer heading off line - Advice?

**DelitaCorp** · 07-14-2009 08:48 PM

Hi

I've been working on the internet building websites, running websites, buying websites, and selling websites for 6 years now.

I want to officially become a free lance web developer and use my talents locally in the mid - small sized town that I live in.

I have my homepage up with a portfolio, I'm starting to list the "business" in the yellow pages and news papers...

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My question is, how did you get your first few sales?

I understand that the best form of marketing in this field is through word of mouth, but how did you get it going?

Please give your experiences, I'm not looking for "this should work" type stuff, I'm looking for "this is what I did"

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

**rpermana** · 07-14-2009 10:45 PM

word of mouth usually start from your close relatives, friends, or own family.

if they have own business, I will ask if they have websites to promote their sales.

You can then advise them how website or online business can benefit them...

maybe you can introduce in some database system to manage their business better or maybe link the website to facebook or something like that...

this is how i got my first sales. I help to register a domain, create email, and developing a tracking system..

and now i got my full time job with them..

if you have worked for 6 years in website building job, then i am sure you know all these..

**DelitaCorp** · 07-15-2009 02:55 PM

Thanks for the reply

Well yes, I do know all of this, but I think that's the problem, I know of to many ways to go about this.

I want to find the best most cost and time effective way of going about this.

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So about the people that hired you, are they a small business? Were they family or friends?

**rpermana** · 07-15-2009 10:03 PM

relatives and it should be a medium size business..

total employees is more than 100 (Indonesia & Singapore).

before they are mostly do with excel & paper-based which i think is a bit inefficient & not professional. I gave them some solutions to it and i didn't expect him to say "Hey, why don't you help me develop it...Are you free? "

So I created domain, website for sales purpose & tracking system with simple mysql & php to track all the materials.

after setting up all IT stuff in Singapore company, i was offered to work full time in one of the logistics project & maintaining system.

**inle** · 07-17-2009 03:35 AM

or if you do not have supporting friends & relatives like myself, you got to look for alliances..
yes, it is tough when you got NO support & have to build it yourself..

they could be businesses(non-competitive) which share the same target market as yours..

I assume you are into web designing for companies..
You can source for business consultants, business legal advisers, business accountants, busíness stationery supplíers etc etc..

Bear in mind that you will need to offer value that is beneficial to their business so that the alliance makes business sense for both parties ..
Work on a win-win situation..

**FiredUpNetwork** · 07-23-2009 10:48 AM

I am actually an entrepreneur too, and I really wanted to encourage you to pursue your business idea. I actually started a website called FiredUpNetwork.com, which has lots of resources designed to help entrepreneurs advance their ideas. The site has free resources on both starting a business, including information on writing a business plan and marketing your business. Please also feel free to post your launch on our site to gain exposure and feedback for your business. I hope you find the site helpful, and please let me know if you have any questions.

**riscphree** · 07-23-2009 11:42 AM

One thing I can recommend, go to your city council. They have a list every month of businesses that were just started. You can obtain this list and send marketing material to them to try and score a deal. Send them a postcard or letter or something about your services, you're bound to get some business.

**nonrate** · 07-23-2009 12:48 PM

Originally Posted by DelitaCorp

Hi

I've been working on the internet building websites, running websites, buying websites, and selling websites for 6 years now.

I want to officially become a free lance web developer and use my talents locally in the mid - small sized town that I live in.

I have my homepage up with a portfolio, I'm starting to list the "business" in the yellow pages and news papers...

---

My question is, how did you get your first few sales?

I understand that the best form of marketing in this field is through word of mouth, but how did you get it going?

Please give your experiences, I'm not looking for "this should work" type stuff, I'm looking for "this is what I did"

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Here's how I did it:

* I first let everyone know what I am performing for a service
* Then let everyone know again, the next week, what I do as a service
* I asked all of them if they could pass my name if they were in a conversation with someone that needed a web service

The above three did not produce immediate results or leads. However, over the course of 6 months, they did.

I'd say one of my first sales came through an ad I posted on Craigslist and I got a call from someone that worked for one of the towns in my area, looking for web services. I talked to him for about a half hour. I was inquisitive about what he was looking for, which allowed me to find out his problem, then was able to talk to him about how I would go about solving his problem via a web application. He was happy, felt as though he got value out of the conversation, and at the end of the conversation I made sure I told him "as a next step, why don't I send you a proposal and some sample websites I've done".

My other immediate sales were done when I wrote a script to parse craigslist, all RSS feeds of postings in "Gigs" and had it email me specific keyword matches for web application work. Craigslist is a very difficult system to work with, and is a lot worse regarding quality of people today than even a year ago. I would say about one in two hundred posters will lead to a legitimate sale. Be aware, most on Craigslist are looking for something for free. Don't ever give in.

Lastly, cold calling. It does work, but it requires persistence, patience, and no fear. That also means confidence when selling your services. You need to know in your heart what you do is professional and you're as good as anyone else offering the service before you make any calls.

If you're in a local town, I'd suggest going to companies where you know someone and ask them to get you a lead to a decision maker. Ask them to set a meeting up for you, names, numbers and even offer a percentage of your sale if you get it. If that doesn't work, literally call the business's and ask to speak the store manager (retail) or marketing department (will yeild little to no results).

* Have your elevator pitch ready; no one wants to hear a long, drawn out explanation of your services while you stumble to explain it
* Have your list of benefits ready, what makes you different and why they should buy from you
* If they are interested, be prepared to know what the "next step" is and allude to that at the end of the conversation, "Ok, great, I'll send you out some examples of what I've done and as a next step, can we schedule next Tuesday at 10am to go over some specifics so I can get you a quote?"

Hope this helps even a little bit.

**DesignUnleashed** · 07-23-2009 03:30 PM

I have done exactly what you are wanting to do and this is how I did it.

1# I joined a few local chambers, went to all the events and met with lots of local business owners in my community.

2# I joined a few free and paid networking groups in the area, example BNI, toastmasters, etc.

3# Got listed in local phone directory.

4# Got listed in local Google Maps Search.

5# Created some direct mail postcards and mailed out to businesses in my area.

I know it seems like a lot but it has really helped, I have lots of customers now both local and nationally.

**stott** · 07-23-2009 04:54 PM

Originally Posted by riscphree

One thing I can recommend, go to your city council. They have a list every month of businesses that were just started.

One thing I would'nt do when trying to find clients localy is to target startups. Chances are is that there alreay being bombared with pitches for products, services etc. Unless you have a very unique service and outstanding value for money you would just be another one of them. I would look for businesses that have had a presence in the area for a while and maybe have a website but it is not very good or could do with updating.