[ articles ]

Web site development business - making a go of it

I know I shouldn't be surprised anymore. But I still am.

I'm surprised at how many web developers just don't "get it". And by "it" I mean they don't understand that what they are doing is business.

You see, I see a lot of web developers just starting out. And they always think it's about web design.

But what I tell them is this: Having a web design business has very little to do with web design.

Understand that and you'll be far more likely to succeed. Dismiss it or fail to grasp it and you'll end up like 95% of web designers - disillusioned with the web because you couldn't make your fantastic skills pay off.

...Get Out There and Sell

When I first started in web development I knew a bit - but nothing compared to what I know now. But I knew the important thing. I knew I had to get out there and sell. Many web designers starting out don't understand that. They think a great design automatically equates to more business.

That's not how it works.

Anyway, so I knew I had to get out there and sell. I also knew I had to act as the client's advocate. I couldn't approach it from the angle of "Let's see how much we can get off this client." More, "How can we help this client get the best possible result for the lowest possible price."

Because if you do that you become a trusted client team member. And having someone to trust with their web strategy is critical for most businesses.

(It's part of the reason we still have clients from when we first started out. And those clients are great for our business - very easy to deal with, we don't have to compete to win jobs, they refer their friends, etc, etc.)

Great customer service skills are required. No question about it.

And selling. You have to know how to sell. No use getting your foot in the door and then not making the sale.

I've always found selling stuff to be easy. And my tip for selling anything to anyone is incredibly simple. Do this:

To Sell You Must Forget About Selling

Forget about selling. Forget about making sales. Turn your thinking completely around from what you want to: Helping your customers get what they want.

It's that simple. The customer for web designers generally want the site to make their business more sales.

• Show them how you'll do that.
• Show them with examples.
• Show them with Case Studies.
• Show them with testimonials.

And then you do this: you quantify the benefit to the customer. "If we do A, B and C you'll get result D."

And then ask for the sale (it's amazing how many people don't ask for the sale).

Short, Sharp Article

I wanted this to be a short, sharp article for web developers. So I'll finish up here with this.

It's not about the best designer (no-one can judge that). It's about getting yourself in front of the potential customer at the right time (marketing). The best marketing wins. No question about it.

Brendon Sinclair