Question

Topic: Strategy

Website & Graphic Design : Marketing Strategy

Posted by Anonymous on 4/2/2012 at 6:58 PM ET 125 Points
I need help with my strategy of my company. We offer a wide array of print services, website design, and graphic design. We do fast, professional work, and 99% of the time clients have been pleasantly happy with how we have gone above and beyond. We have been in business going on two years, but have consistently struggled with a common aspect: sales.

98% of our business is purely referral business from happy clients, so that is great that we have consistent people happy with our work to refer others. The sales problem we run in to is we don't make enough money to hire a sales team, and can't do it ourselves because of the amount of work we are already dealing with. It's a vicious cycle- Not enough money to hire a sales person, who will bring in more money, but we can't make more money without a sales person.

What strategy could we take in order to overcome this, and begin making more profit? Another problem with our business is our jobs are usually on a per job basis, and never are constant money / passive income.

Is there a way you can think of to streamline our business to make it more of a consistant/monthly cashflow (i.e. selling memberships vs. selling indiviudal products.) I feel like part of the problem is that we're consistantly searching for new clients and new business.

I can provide any more details if necessary.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 4/2/2012 at 11:49 PM Accepted
    Dear Adam,

    Using simple templates that you buy once and that you set up through Wordpress you could create and manage client websites on a monthly basis for at least $25 per client, per month.

    Forget custom CSS. Forget Flash animation.

    Setting up sites through Wordpress will be easier, more focused, and give you the ability to offer your clients UNLIMITED site design options from templates that you'll barely have to touch.

    That's one idea.

    The second idea is reseller hosting.

    You buy one reseller license and then you get to host people's sites for a monthly fee AND you get to sell them on the idea of you managing their websites for them.

    Oh, and you could also offer a social media management and local SEO service as well.

    All pretty much bringing you monthly income on autopilot.

    Cash flow problem, begone! I hope this helps.

    Gary Bloomer
    Princeton, NJ, USA
  • Posted on 4/3/2012 at 1:02 AM Author
    Gary thanks for the input. We currently use wordpress, and some pre-made themes, however sometimes the problem is that you dont want all your websites to look so cut and paste. I'm a very creative person, and I like editing the CSS. We usually don't mess too much with flash. I'm contemplating though: For example, charge $1200 for the site, one time, up front, and be done with it, or charge $100 a month for the eternity of the site?

    Maybe I'll start to offer two options
    A) You own it and pay $X one time
    B) We own it and manage it monthly and give them tiered pricing options (i.e. - small business plan, medium, corporate, etc.)

    However, what would you recommend to establish a consistent sales presence? I'm looking for a strategy, whether traditional or guerrilla, i don't care, but I'm hoping to focus this post more on how to market this. Who can we partner with to help drive sales? Who can become our affiliates to create strong referral bonds? (not networking groups, but forming "partnerships" with companies that would push business our way)
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 4/3/2012 at 9:17 AM Accepted
    Where are your leads coming from now? Is there a professional organization/guild whose members already know of others' satisfaction with you that you could approach en masse? If your clients love your work, can you offer then a social media add-on (setup FB, etc.) with the ultimate goal to have a story about them featured on your FB/website and seen by their friends/customers?
  • Posted on 4/3/2012 at 10:47 AM Author
    Jay, our current leads are 99% coming from referrals, from happy customers that tell their friends. We do have a facebook, but most friends on there are friends of ours (younger people that don't really have any connections or interest in what we do), so the social media side hasn't really paid off for us too much...
  • Posted on 4/6/2012 at 10:52 AM Author
    SageHill, sometimes thats fine, and yes we always say thank you, but when wanting to take it to the next level how do you establish relationships with larger corporate accounts from scratch? How can I market to them?
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