Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

How To Market A Small Web Firm To Large Companies

Posted by Anonymous on 7/15/2008 at 4:08 PM ET 125 Points
Greetings everyone,
I recently started a small web development company in Toronto, Canada. I currently have a few clients that outsource their development work to me which has brought me the most business.

I would like some suggestions or advice on how to market my web development business to larger business such as marketing/advertising agencies or other web related companies.

I thought about targeting new small businesses, but I find that targeting larger web related businesses would generate more sales and a longer relationship.

Do direct mail and email/snail mail surveys actually work when it comes to advertising? I know that networking is the most effective but I would like to try other methods. I am also trying to avoid cold calling.

Any help on this would be much appreciated. Thanks,

Anne-Marie
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by melissa on 7/15/2008 at 5:15 PM Member
    Hi Anne-Marie,
    Our agency was recently called on by a development company that found our Monster.com posting for a programmer. Was a great way to pitch us their services, since they already knew we had a need, and had enough business to support an onsite developer.

    Also, you really can't beat networking - but if your concern is walking up to prospects and pitching your services, try an organized networking group such as BNI. You will have a team of professionals helping to refer you out to their contacts, and vice versa. And if you don't have a complete LinkedIn or Facebook profile to use in networking and relationship-building, I would get one started as soon as possible. The more ways you can reach prospects and referrals, the better.

    Good luck with your new venture,
    Melissa
  • Posted on 7/22/2008 at 1:05 PM Accepted
    When I worked at an agency, I also went through the monster postings for marketing managers then called the employer posting the job. We could do the job faster, better and at a lower cost.

    Show them how you cost less (don't forget the "soft costs" of employee insurance, taxes, etc) than hiring someone full time. We put these clients on a retainer (x amount of hours for x dollars flat rate) and it was a slightly reduced price than per-hour rate.

    It worked! We doubled our client base and they were long-term. It's really about getting your foot in the door. Good luck to you. I also agree with the BNI route - have done that and if nothing else, they may be smaller jobs to fill in the gaps between large clients. Make sure you have referrals ready. After every job send your client a quick referral and ask for a "soundbite" that you can use on your web site and in your marketing efforts.
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