Advertising can be difficult to assess when you're taking your first ad in a media you haven't tried before.
Sure, the salesman will tell you his magazine is fantastic, gets 100,000 readers each issue and will result in big sales for you. Usually he's full of crap.
But how can you tell.
A very simple advertising assessment strategy I've implemented over the years is easy and effective.
I get hold of the magazine/newspaper/TV show whatever I'll be advertising in and I see who else advertises with them.
A Quick Phone Call
A quick phone call and (as long as they're not a competitor) I'll have the truth about the effectiveness of advertising in that media.
Cheap, simple and effective.
It's a few quick phone calls that have saved me thousands of $$$ over the years.
"Get Lost Creep" - What To Do When You Hear Those Words
We all get rejected at some stage. Whether it's a pretty girl/guy or a business proposition, "Get lost creep" could well be a phrase you hear.
I can't help you score more with the ladies (!), but here's what to do when a prospect rejects your web site proposal.
It's a simple enough strategy - just 2 words in fact.
"Why not?"
"We don't accept your proposal."
"Why not?"
"We don't want to work with you?"
"Why not?"
You need to understand the reason the prospect rejects you. Only then can you adjust your proposal so he reconsiders immediately or keeps you in mind for the future.
If you are turned down it's not the end of the world. The prospect is saying your proposal doesn't meet his needs at that particular moment.
After yesterday's post, someone asked me if having absolute confidence in yourself can be a bad thing.
Of course it can. It can be a terrible thing.
2 of my brothers and I all have similar personalities - we're very driven and very, very competitive.
One brother goes as far to describes his drive to succeed as a "sickness".
Our Competitiveness Is Our Biggest Strength & Biggest Weakness
We've talked many times on how our competitiveness (as a result of this confidence in ourselves) is our biggest strength AND our biggest weakness.
We never, ever give up
We never quit
We never concede a point
That can be good. It can also be disastrous.
2 Reasons Your Confidence Can Undermine Your Business
1. Sometimes the best thing you can do is quit. Quitting at the right time can free up resources that might be better used elsewhere.
Quitting can help make your successful. Successful people quit all the time. Indeed, part of the reason they are successful is because they quit the stuff that doesn't work.
If you're have the utmost confidence in what you're doing you might not recognise the need to quit before it's too late.
2. If you're over confident you tend to dismiss others' criticisms.
That's not to say that confident people aren't receptive to ideas - I feel the more confident I've gotten over the years has allowed me to relax and acknowledge I don't know everything (hardly anything if the truth be told).
This, in turn, has made me more receptive to advice, feedback and criticisms.
Confidence is great. Over-confidence is not so great.
Taking The Plunge - How To Get Your First Web Design Client
You know people who act before they think?
I'm kind of like that.
I don't think too much before I act. I certainly don't analyse things for days. Make quick decisions and act.
Sure, I'm wrong some of the time. But the benefits of acting (and being wrong some of the time) far outweigh the benefit of not doing anything. Here's how to get your very first web design client.
1. Check out web sites of local businesses 2. Find ones you think you can improve 3. Call the web site owner up and say "I can get your web site to make more money."
Your aim with the call is to get a meeting. Once you have a meeting you make your offer. Easy.
It's so easy that no one ever believes it can work. But it does.
Sure, you'll get knock backs. But from every 100 calls you'll make you'll get at least 5 meetings.
It's Hard To Be Humble When You're Perfect In Every Way
I can't wait to look in the mirror, I get better looking each day.......... (apologies to Mac Davis)
I think the solutions we provide for our clients are the perfect solutions.
I think we do a great job.
I can honestly say that when a prospect rejects our proposal my first thought is "Oh bad luck. They don't realize what they're missing out on."
For some reason I've always had this insane, unbreakable belief that I can do anything.
I have absolute confidence in myself.
Some see this as arrogance, over-confidence, being completely up myself, whatever.
Some people get mighty angry when I even speak about having this confidence in myself. I Don't Care What You Think
But you know? I don't care.
I don't care because, as I've built my business over the past 10 years, I've needed this confidence in myself and what I do to survive.
This same stupid self confidence has been the same self confidence that kept the wolf from the door on many occasions.You have to believe you can do it
In business, like life, you'll:
get rejected,
get laughed at,
be ridiculed,
deal with rudeness,
deal with idiots.
You don't have to be like me and be, and I quote: "An arrogant, obnoxious dickhead", but have confidence in yourself to accept the criticism, the rejections and the put downs and continue on your path to success.
Business is hard. Life's hard. Believe in yourself and what you're doing. Don't let others get you down.
You have what it takes
Cheers
Brendon
P.S: I'm now an old man of 42. For those who don't know the song the heading alludes to, here it is. Take it away Mac:
The new kid on the block decides to start up his own business and gets advice from the usual quarters:
Mum
Dad
Friends
They are, without question, the worst people to get business advice from. Sure, they're good for mum advice, dad advice and friend advice but not business.
Mum & Dad Have No Idea
Mum and Dad will tell you what you want to hear and your friends will either hope you fail or have no idea! Lawyers (that's mine on the right), accountants and bankers - good for legal, accounting and banking advice......but often they have their best interests (i.e. ability to charge you) at heart, not yours.
If you're starting up or running a web development business then the best people to get a load of great business advice from is other web developers.
Pick up the phone and call a few.
Tell them you're about to start up in business.
Ask if you can get together for a coffee or lunch.
Sure, you'll get knocked back. Get used to it, you're about to be in business!
A Huge Headstart
But you'll find a few like-minded web developers who will have a chat. And the info they can give you will provide a huge headstart to your business career.
After all, they've faced the exact same problems that you're about to encounter. Their words are gold.
Aside from other web developers, the next best people for providing business advice are other small businesspeople - the butcher, the baker, the candle-stick maker.
Small businesspeople have real-life experience of being at the coalface of business - when they talk business, it pays to listen.
1st Thing To Do When Planning Your Business - Plan How You'll Quit
When you start your business, or indeed the planning of it, I'd like to suggest something a little different:
Make sure the first thing you do is plan out how you are going to get out of your business.
After all, if you plan to sell within 5 years you'll run your business a whole lot differently than if you plan to hand the business over to your kids in 60 years.
If you plan your exit you've given yourself a goal - and that's a terrific thing to have in business (most people don't have one).
Now start planning to meet that goal. You've just given yourself a huge headstart over every one else.
How I Learnt Tons Of Brilliant Marketing Ideas (For Free)......And You Can Too
Over the years I've used literally hundreds of great marketing ideas.
These marketing ideas have been instrumental in helping me build my web design business to exactly where I want it.
How I learnt a lot of those marketing ideas is pretty simple......... I cheated!
Here's what I would do:
1. I'd visit someone's web site/business/receive a flyer/see a sign/whatever.
2. If I saw something that seemed to work/did work I'd file that away for consideration.
3. I'd incorporate elements of what I'd seen work well into our own efforts.
4. we'd measure, measure, measure and see if it worked.
5. If it worked, we'd do it again.
6. If it didn't work we would discard it.
A Great Example
Benchmarking is a long used and very effective way to get better - no matter if it's in business, sports (the Fosbury Flop is a brilliant example) or relationships.
On the side bar what caught my eye was that Derek - the owner - has a section:
"Our Competition"
Under this Derek has written:
"You have a choice in web design vendors, but we're not afraid of comparison. Here's a list of other Lynchburg web design firms you can investigate............."
Brilliant stuff.
Sheppard Web are positioning themselves as a quality operation unafraid to be compared to their competitors - going to the extent of pointing out their competition.
Can you use that same sort of thinking in your business?
Under The Bright Light - Questions To Ask your Web Design Client
In the "How To Sell Web Design" post below I mentioned asking a ton of questions to figure out what the client needs.
Only then can you offer him a solution to his problem - and sell something.
What to ask?
But what to ask? Well, here are some resources to help you figure out what to ask your web design client when he is sitting in front of you: Buy The Web Design Business Kit - comes with a ton of forms and checklists. Contains a specific Needs Analysis Form
I knew I'd have the ear of the PM one day......after all, his right hand man (Alister Jordan - chief political adviser) is an old New Town High boy like me.
Only not quite as old and smarter than me. But not funnier.
All New Town High boys are smart and tough. Smart enough to have an all-girls school across the road from our all boys school.
Tough enough that our unofficial school sporting team song was:
We are the boys from the blue triangle Every team we meet we mangle Roll 'em, bowl 'em, kick 'em in the eye We are the boys from New Town High
** Winner Web Design Library - Best Book of the Web Industry 2004 **
The Web Design Business Kit is a compilation of everything Brendon has ever done and every document he has ever used to build and grow his business!
It contains two huge ring-bound folders with over 700 letter size (8.5x11) pages, plus a CD-ROM which has everything you need to build a thriving Web Design Business...
To find out more about The Web Design Business Kit click here
