[Progress-Thread] Starting Front-End Web Design As a Short-Term Strategy

[RealDreams]

Hi everybody.

I've been here for almost 2 years but never really posted an execution thread, so here I am.
I was a little hesitant about doing this, as what I'm doing right now can't be really considered Fastlane. Especially if we look at it in the short-term. But from my point of view, as a 20 y/o, I feel like I'm on a decent path.

I've been thinking about starting front-end web design for a lot of time. I began learning HTML and CSS 2 months ago but I was previously in touch with graphic design so I kind of just had to learn how to transform design into code, which took me around 2 months to get decent results.

As I said in the title, my intention is not to become a life-time freelance web developer, and even less than that, a 9-5 web developer.

The reason I began this journey is that I was tired of having ideas every single day, but never being able to turn them into reality due to my lack of coding skills. Nor could I outsource anything as I had no money to pay $4.000 to a developer for an unknown outcome.

Most importantly, I was tired of partnering up with coders when I knew nothing about coding, often feeling in lack of control.
Not even a month ago, a friend of mine dropped out from a project we've been working on for 2-3 months, because I put too much pressure on him, as he often looked like he wasn't committed, but interested (as MJ puts it). I have to admit I put excessive pressure on him, but that's besides the point.

The main point to understand is the commandment of control. I wasn't in control of the website. I couldn't keep it moving. I had to constantly trust my partner and pray he would work on it as much as possible while I was working on the strategic part of the business.

I know a lot of you prefer outsourcing instead of DIY or finding a parter as it saves a lot of time, but as a kid with no money, I thought investing my time into learning a valuable skill wouldn't have been that bad, at the end.

That's why I said, "Why not to learn a skill I can both use on my future businesses and to earn a decent amount of money in the meanwhile (so I have enough capital to start an actual business)?"

Some will say it's action faking, and I understand where it comes from. That's why I'm currently doing random projects but plan on creating something REAL and actually SELL something in just a few weeks. If this mindset seems wrong to you, I gladly appreciate any kind of feedback. I'm here to learn, after all.

I'm just trying to learn the basics of the front-end web languages, especially JS as I started it just a few days ago so I'm not really skilled at it. This is a random "tip calculator" I created a few hours ago while watching a course on skillshare called "JavaScript Fundamentals for Beginners": https://codepen.io/victorbianconi/full/qBOVPxm

I watched and read some content by @Fox and found it truly useful. One thing I realized is that I need a portfolio asap, and that's what I'm working on.
I still have no actual projects besides some random landing pages I've created while learning HTML/CSS.

Anyways, this is it. Again, ANY kind of feedback is appreciated.
Thank you.
- Vic

 

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[PizzaOnTheRoof]

I’m self learning web development TO get a job at an agency.

For years I’ve wanted to skip the bottom rungs of the ladder and I haven’t had the confidence in my skills to do it.

Working with actual businesses owners under someone’s thumb beats never working with them at all.

As long as you’ve got a roadmap, a plan.

I’ve realized a job is not a great evil. It’s just a stepping stone.

 

[Fox]

Sounds like a good plan.

You are 20 and this is a great way to get going. For a portfolio look for people with a specific business problem you can help with. What matters is what the website did, not how it looks (within reason).

Glad the content helped and tag me if you got any Qs.

 

[RealDreams]

05/04/20 -- Portfolio Creation
​

I'm currently working on the creation of my portfolio. I decided to just start creating my website (even though I still have no projects) and code it entirely by myself. I prefer coding it myself instead of using templates for the following reasons:

- 1. Because it's practice.
- 2. Because I prefer modelling the website based on my preferences.
- 3. To prove myself I can actually do this.

After this one, I'll probably buy some templates on ThemeForest, as it'll definitely give me a boost in terms of time. And I don't want to lose the view of my goals, and I must remind myself every day that time is ticking and the goal is the Fastlane and not the Slowlane.

I'm trying to create a portfolio that focuses on sales and actually contains decent copywriting and a decent "funnel". That might be my weak point which needs more work.

I started reading "S.P.I.N Model" and it discusses how trying to close too much on big sales is very counter-productive and might actually make you lose the customer right away. That's why I want to avoid creating a portfolio full of salesy techniques. I'll try to find the median point, though.

I'm currently figuring out whether I should create a few pages for free and without any actual request from anybody, just to have something to put on my portfolio before starting contacting companies. I know again someone might say this is action faking and unnecessary, but I would argue that written statements (such as "I create websites") beat actual proof of work created.

My current goal: find 2-3 niches I want to "specialize" in, and create 4-5 web pages related to these niches, to prove the quality of my work and what any future buyer is going to get from me.
I must have figured out these 2-3 niches before Thursday 7th.

 

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[Kid]

$4.000

You skipped one zero.

 

[RealDreams]

05/06/20​

My personal website is getting closer to completion. I spent like 12 hours every day in the last 3 days building it and it's insane how much you learn by actually doing what you need to do, instead of watching random tutorials without a clear goal of what you want to accomplish.

For instance, I wanted to understand how to create animations on JavaScript (I knew NOTHING about it just 3 days ago), and after some research I found out tutorials that I actually needed to go ahead.

And yep, I fixed the problem I had in regards to animation.

Now, I don't want to get stuck into what's not necessary, but I'm trying to gain a general knowledge of what you can actually do with coding (and you can actually do a freaking lot I realized!).

Still have not contacted any business, and I don't think it's a great idea to contact anybody before I actually have my website ready and at least 1-2 projects to show (hope this is not action-faking crime).

Not that it's not possible to achieve results by contacting them without having anything to show, but the ROI is definitely much smaller.

I'll probably finish the design part of my website/portfolio by the end of this week. Then I'll have to figure out how to use PHP to submit contact forms (and how to do it securely), but I'm sure that will take me a few hours at most.

Finally, I'll actually start contacting businesses.

 

[Stargazer]

I would not worry too much about your website or portfolio.

100% of businesses had zero clients when they got their first if that makes sense.

Moreover, if I were to look at your portfolio I might not like what I see.

eg You approach a car rental place and say you did this:

Personal & Business Car Leasing | LINGsCARS

BRILLIANT UK car leasing website from Ling. WOW! An experience! On TV; BBC Dragons' Den. Best lease car deals! Ling bites! WAH!

www.lingscars.com

and they may think 'Not for me old chap.'

Beats Avis, Hertz etc etc though. (In the North of England that is)

Approach the correct market for your skill level with a reasonable offer and you're off.

Play with these to get your story as an up coming hungry chappie. Especially the Avis needs you one if I expanded it correctly.

avis ads image - Google Search

Dan

 

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[RealDreams]

I would not worry too much about your website or portfolio.

100% of businesses had zero clients when they got their first if that makes sense.

Moreover, if I were to look at your portfolio I might not like what I see.

eg You approach a car rental place and say you did this:

Personal & Business Car Leasing | LINGsCARS

BRILLIANT UK car leasing website from Ling. WOW! An experience! On TV; BBC Dragons' Den. Best lease car deals! Ling bites! WAH!

www.lingscars.com

and they may think 'Not for me old chap.'

Beats Avis, Hertz etc etc though. (In the North of England that is)

Approach the correct market for your skill level with a reasonable offer and you're off.

Play with these to get your story as an up coming hungry chappie. Especially the Avis needs you one if I expanded it correctly.

avis ads image - Google Search

Dan

Thanks for your feedback!

So do you basically mean to straight off tell my customers I'm not an expert (which is definitely true since I'm a beginner) and just make them feel like I'll do a great job and put all my effort for a cheaper price?

Something like "I just got into web design, however, I'm sure I can provide you a website which is better than what you have now. For better, I don't just mean it looks great. I mean it will make people trust you more as soon as they open your website, and it will make them convert into new customers with a higher probability than you have now. Since I need 1-3 projects to add on my portfolio, I was looking for businesses to help, and my prices are very low at this very moment. Since the project I will eventually create for you will go on my portfolio, you can be sure I'll put all my effort into it, to ensure you get results and I get proof of what I have created."

Now, this is completely general and quickly-written, but is this what you meant more or less?

 

[Stargazer]

Good Morning Vic,

Yes, that is the general gist of what I meant. You are giving me an honest reason as to why you are able to give me a great price. (ie lowish)

So let's say you offer a simple website for £500. This is nothing for a micro business with a small handful of employees.

Website two you ask for £1000 then just increase by £500 each new customer as your confidence grows and you know what works and what does not work.

Personally I would not target any Tradespeople, Restaurants, Lawyers or Accountants when you get good.

They are bombarded with offers from people who read Forums.

Here is an example for you of what sort of thing I would be looking for. Not sure if you can see accounts of companies where you live and I have access to full reports not just overview which is all you will be able to see here.

1) Terrible website.

Metal Fabrication

2) However, decent cash in the bank, longevity - 33 years

PRV ENGINEERING LIMITED. Free company accounts direct from Companies House. Download Accounts FREE

Free company accounts for PRV ENGINEERING LIMITED including 5 years graphed cash at bank, assets, liabilities and net worth, complete financial table with FREE CSV export, plus download Companies House accounts documents FREE.

companycheck.co.uk

When you are good at what you do and have a good, realistic offer people like this will pay you £10k no problem.

Dan

 

[RealDreams]

Good Morning Vic,

Yes, that is the general gist of what I meant. You are giving me an honest reason as to why you are able to give me a great price. (ie lowish)

So let's say you offer a simple website for £500. This is nothing for a micro business with a small handful of employees.

Website two you ask for £1000 then just increase by £500 each new customer as your confidence grows and you know what works and what does not work.

Personally I would not target any Tradespeople, Restaurants, Lawyers or Accountants when you get good.

They are bombarded with offers from people who read Forums.

Here is an example for you of what sort of thing I would be looking for. Not sure if you can see accounts of companies where you live and I have access to full reports not just overview which is all you will be able to see here.

1) Terrible website.

Metal Fabrication

2) However, decent cash in the bank, longevity - 33 years

PRV ENGINEERING LIMITED. Free company accounts direct from Companies House. Download Accounts FREE

Free company accounts for PRV ENGINEERING LIMITED including 5 years graphed cash at bank, assets, liabilities and net worth, complete financial table with FREE CSV export, plus download Companies House accounts documents FREE.

companycheck.co.uk

When you are good at what you do and have a good, realistic offer people like this will pay you £10k no problem.

Dan

That's super wise!

I honestly don't know if there are company public reports in my country but I'll definitely check asap!

But yeah, applying a reservation price based on the customer/company you are doing business with is a crucial part of the sales process.

Thanks a lot!

 

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[Stargazer]

Well in the UK all Limited Companies are Registered with Companies House in London and every year submit their accounts which are publicly available for a small fee.

Here is a trick for you. (If you become well established if that is the path you were to go)

PLCs (ie very large companies with shares listed) not only have their accounts audited and published but produce a nice glossy brochure once a year called Shareholders Report. You only need one share to receive it in the post.

The Chairman and CEO write about the last years figures, what revenues went where and what they predict for the upcoming year.

So for example if you were a TATA shareholder (massive steelworks) you would know exactly how they see the market and where the growth opportunities are. eg Shipbuilding declining and Hotel building growing (I am making that up)

You now approach a little operator like in the above post I did and your message is to help them get their products into the Hotel industry; rather than just saying help you sell more steel because it will grow by xyz% over the net 5 years whereas shipbuilding is declining abc%

They will think you are some sort of genius.

Dan

PS: One step at a time though

 

[RealDreams]

Well in the UK all Limited Companies are Registered with Companies House in London and every year submit their accounts which are publicly available for a small fee.

Here is a trick for you. (If you become well established if that is the path you were to go)

PLCs (ie very large companies with shares listed) not only have their accounts audited and published but produce a nice glossy brochure once a year called Shareholders Report. You only need one share to receive it in the post.

The Chairman and CEO write about the last years figures, what revenues went where and what they predict for the upcoming year.

So for example if you were a TATA shareholder (massive steelworks) you would know exactly how they see the market and where the growth opportunities are. eg Shipbuilding declining and Hotel building growing (I am making that up)

You now approach a little operator like in the above post I did and your message is to help them get their products into the Hotel industry; rather than just saying help you sell more steel because it will grow by xyz% over the net 5 years whereas shipbuilding is declining abc%

They will think you are some sort of genius.

Dan

PS: One step at a time though

This is advanced level, for sure haha.
I'll keep that in mind for the near future.
Thanks again!

 

[RealDreams]

11/05/20​

Okay, so a few days passed and honestly I moved forward very little. I spent maximum 3-5 hours a day learning to code and moving forward with my portfolio.

Currently figuring out how to create responsive nav bars without having the body scroll on mobile. Tried putting

overflow:hidden;

on the body but once I put it, the nav bar toggle became cemented. So I still have barely any knowledge in JS and that's why I'm having such basic problems.

In general, I have University exams (BCs in Economics, so completely different from my side-hustle lol) in about 2 weeks so I'm making sure I get decent grades and do not spend the whole time grinding my side-hustle. I'll have 3 whole months on summer to do that so I try to take smart actions right here.

But yeah, overall I'm making sure I move forward every single day so I don't become stagnant with my dreams.

 

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[RealDreams]

05/13/20
PERSONAL WEBSITE: COMPLETED​

After a week (or two) of work I have finally completed and uploaded my personal website online. It should be fully working and responsive. I can't even believe I coded it entirely from scratch.
www.victorbianconi.com
Even if it's not perfect (still have to put lateral nav bar for mobile version) and fix a little bit the copywriting, I guess I can now get started. The last thing I want is to action fake for ever.

I'll now start contacting business owners. My plan is to research 10-30 businesses every week and contact them, analyzing the response rate and every possible data that could help me move forward.

Edit: Noticed it's not responsive on certain mobile resolutions. Gonna fix that asap.

 

[RealDreams]

05/13/20
Made my first mistakes already!
​

So I realized a few mistakes I've made, technically speaking:

1. I created a personal website in English when actually most of my customers are and will be from Italy. This is bad for SEO because I'll never rank up for anything and the website only serves as a "business card" I link the customers to.

2. SPA (Single Page Applications) are bad for SEO, too. I have one static page and no internal links besides anchor tags.

Now, I'll probably keep it this way and don't let it affect my thinking in a way such as "I can't contact business owners now!". But yeah, I know it needs to be fixed sooner or later. This is why you should always have a plan before you do imho.

Asked a bunch of IRL friends whether they need a website or know anybody who need it, promising them a 20% commission on the final price. Let's see whether I manage to find my first customers this way.

 

[RealDreams]

05/14/20
My first cold-emails​

So I contacted 3 local businesses today. I made sure to check their website first and see what I could have improved so it took me like 20 mins per business to come up with a targeted cold-email.

I used @Fox's advice on his YT video "How to Write Cold Emails" making sure the focus was on THEM and not on me. I don't think I mentioned "I" once besides at the very end, when linking my website.

I admit it was very hard for me to get started. It felt like being 10 years old and having to cold approach a girl in elementary school. The feelings were similar lol. I guess that's part of fear of failure.

I'm going to keep contacting businesses hoping someone will reply sooner or later.

 

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[Fox]

05/14/20
My first cold-emails​

So I contacted 3 local businesses today. I made sure to check their website first and see what I could have improved so it took me like 20 mins per business to come up with a targeted cold-email.

I used @Fox's advice on his YT video "How to Write Cold Emails" making sure the focus was on THEM and not on me. I don't think I mentioned "I" once besides at the very end, when linking my website.

I admit it was very hard for me to get started. It felt like being 10 years old and having to cold approach a girl in elementary school. The feelings were similar lol. I guess that's part of fear of failure.

I'm going to keep contacting businesses hoping someone will reply sooner or later.

Nice work. Let me know if you need help and keep us posted on the progress/response.

 

[Madame Peccato]

Hey Victor, I'm Italian and I have a couple of suggestions for your site.

First off, I think it looks cool (I'm a sucker for minimalistic designs), great job on that.

Regarding the copy, (aside from the fact that it is in the wrong language as you have noticed) I find it a bit lackluster considering the people you plan to work with at the moment (small local businessmen).

Most of the people you are going to talk to don't know what CTR is, or how it correlates to more sales. The same goes for Copywriting and Marketing. They probably have some idea of what it is, so you are better off telling them how a good website helps them, rather than specifying what you are offering.

What Fox suggests you to tell people in his cold emails can (and should) be applied to your website's copy as well. You aren't a "web designer" or a "copywriter", you are someone who knows the problems your potential clients are facing, and you offer solutions to the problems.

Don't say you are a copywriter, a web designer, or a web marketing guy, there are 100000000000 people out there that do the same. Make people understand that you know their problems and that you are the right person to fix them.

You create websites that help people find the business online and makes it easy for them to schedule an appointment / call them / get in touch with them online, a crucial thing with this COVID craze.

 

[RealDreams]

05/15/20
Difficulty is the opportunity.​

I had a hard day, today. Spent 7 hours trying to fix a bug and I'm now going to sleep without having fixed it.

I lied in bed and told myself: "This shit is hard". I realized this is a not an easy path by any means.

Many guys (like me) see the success stories in this forum, but don't see the failures.

No, it's not easy. No, it's not a fast way to make money.

I just realized web design and coding is a wall that keeps the money-chasers outside. You quickly realize someone is money chasing when they start coding for a week or two and then give it quits.

I had the same feeling just a few minutes ago. Then, lying in bed, I picked "Unscripted " from the shelf and reached out the Commandment of Entry chapter.

Difficulty is the opportunity.

This is the phrase I'll repeat to myself over and over to keep going on this path and stop looking for quick ways to make money.

"Stick with it" is my new motto.

 

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[RealDreams]

05/16/20​

Fixed yesterday's bug, after about 12 hours. I felt like shit the whole day because I couldn't figure out how to fix it.

Anyways, I start to suspect Italian business owners give no clue about web designers. This is just an hypothesis I have to test.

I bought the web domain for my country and I began translating the website in Italian. Most Italian people (I'm more than certain business owners, too) don't know English so I'll take that into account.

@Fox talks a lot about the importance of trust. That's something I'm missing right now. A friend of mine found an Instagram influencer who needed a website and referred me to him. That guy didn't let me know anymore. I don't really care honestly. The point is, I need to find a way to gain people's trust.

How to gain trust, though? Lower prices? Is that really the way to begin with?
I thought about contacting some companies and straight-forward offering them a new website (without too much sales thought) for like $100 as a first-project. Clearly, I will make the offer AFTER I explained them how it would benefit them and their business.

One thing I'm struggling with is, trying to find the "perfect" cold-email. Or rather, trying not to mess things up as I live in a small city and one day or another I will have expired the local people to contact.

My main concern is, why ask $100 to someone who would pay much more? Unfortunately, that's something I can't really predict. Especially if they don't reply back with an offer.

So the idea here is, maybe I should price high for bigger companies and work almost for free for small businesses with low revenue, applying the hypothetical reservation price of each business.

If anyone has some advice to give me I'm open for any kind of feedback!

 

[Odysseus M Jones]

PLCs (ie very large companies with shares listed) not only have their accounts audited and published but produce a nice glossy brochure once a year called Shareholders Report. You only need one share to receive it in the post.

Checking companies for revenue & the PLC trick are awesome ideas! Kudos to you for sharing them.

I think anyone can download annual reports etc free from whatever stock exchange where company is listed. It was in HK anyway & saves buying. Google is £1000 a share.

 

[Madame Peccato]

One thing I'm struggling with is, trying to find the "perfect" cold-email. Or rather, trying not to mess things up as I live in a small city and one day or another I will have expired the local people to contact.

I thought I had the same problem (I live in a small town with about 12k people), however, there are lots of close towns / cities that would drastically increase my reach. So I wouldn't worry too much about running out of potential clients, unless you live on an island with just a couple of small towns.

You will have to "move out of town" so to speak when you start getting some clients, as you want to start targetting bigger and bigger businesses. So, unless you somehow fail to get any sales in your city and the neighbouring places you will be fine.

Also, consider the fact that your first emails are not going to be perfect no matter what. Cold emailing is a technique perfected over time (just like anything else), so consider your current situation as the training wheels to eventually land bigger projects.

 

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[RealDreams]

I thought I had the same problem (I live in a small town with about 12k people), however, there are lots of close towns / cities that would drastically increase my reach. So I wouldn't worry too much about running out of potential clients, unless you live on an island with just a couple of small towns.

You will have to "move out of town" so to speak when you start getting some clients, as you want to start targetting bigger and bigger businesses. So, unless you somehow fail to get any sales in your city and the neighbouring places you will be fine.

Also, consider the fact that your first emails are not going to be perfect no matter what. Cold emailing is a technique perfected over time (just like anything else), so consider your current situation as the training wheels to eventually land bigger projects.

I'll definitely scale onto closer cities once I either expired all the businesses to contact or received no echo from my cold emails. I've also thought of doing cold calling, however I'm not sure how that's welcomed in Italy since I've never tried. All these things I have to try to confirm the hypothesis.

 

[RealDreams]

06/08/20
F*ck it​

Been inactive for a few weeks. Yesterday night I said "F*ck it" and told myself it was time for me to take real action.

I had contacted 10 businesses via e-mail but weren't sure of the effectiveness. None of the 10 businesses replied, and before you tell me "you are foolish to believe you'll get an answer after just 10 cold emails", I know. What I was tired of having no feedback.

So I decided to man up and do some sales call. Got some numbers from yellow pages in the construction industry and "purge cleaning" (sewers) industry.

I admit it was hard to begin with, but I was feeling like a bitch so I just picked up the phone and called.

Feedback (ECHO):
Business 1 & Business 2.
I got answered by a secretary. I asked whether I could speak with the owner/decision maker, but both the times they told me "The owner is rarely here, I don't know when you can meet him".
Now, I don't know if this is a mistake, but after that, I basically said "Okay, I'll call back another day, thank you." and closed the call.

I just created a new problem. And if you're not creating new problems, you are not moving fast enough.

Problem #1: What to do when the secretary tells you the owner isn't available? Do you say something in particular to her? Do you tell her to remind her boss about you? I have no idea about this whole thing.

Business 3:
The owner replied to my call. I said something like:

"Hey, I'm contacting businesses to offer them a better and more functional website than what they have at the moment. I was wondering if you would benefit from it?"

This guy basically started saying "Look, I don't need a website. It's already being created by someone else". At this point, I didn't know what to say, so I said "Okay, no worries. Have a good day". This is the opposite of what I've read from most sales books, a.k.a "always be closing". What would you have done?

Business 4:
Even this time, I got answered by the owner. I was running the previous pitch and all of a sudden the guy started saying: "Look, web design doesn't matter. I don't sell clothes, I sell purge cleaning services. What matters is the position so all I care about is Google Adwords". He seemed so convinced about the fact that web design didn't matter that I had no idea how to tell him that it actually matters.

Problem #2: Am I contacting the wrong businesses? I have a feeling that in my country people don't care about web design. I live in Italy and I've seen this recurringly.

This is it for today. I know, only 4 sales call. But this is just the beginning. Gotta act, assess, and adjust. I'm on the assessing phase right now and I don't know what went wrong exactly.

 

[Odysseus M Jones]

Hey, I'm contacting businesses to offer them a better and more functional website than what they have at the moment. I was wondering if you would benefit from it?"

Are you selling web design or ways they can increase their business?

One is window dressing the other is money money money.

Even purge cleaners like money.

 

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[RealDreams]

Are you selling web design or ways they can increase their business?

One is window dressing the other is money money money.

Even purge cleaners like money.

That's right. But how do you say that on a call?

"Hey I help businesses make more money", then they'll ask you how, and you'll have to tell them "through web design" or some sort.

The last guy was so convinced about the fact that all it matters is being first on Google (with google adwords), and basically inferred that web design is useless.

 

[Odysseus M Jones]

That's right. But how do you say that on a call?

"Hey I help businesses make more money", then they'll ask you how, and you'll have to tell them "through web design" or some sort.

The last guy was so convinced about the fact that all it matters is being first on Google (with google adwords), and basically inferred that web design is useless.

I hear you, it's easier said than done, I'm looking at your post & trying think how to do this.

 

[RealDreams]

I hear you, it's easier said than done, I'm looking at your post & trying think how to do this.

Yep, when you actually get on the phone everything becomes much harder and less straight forward.
I've read a few books on sales but when you are actually talking to someone you can't remember what you've read from books. I guess this all comes with experience.

 

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[Odysseus M Jones]

Yep, when you actually get on the phone everything becomes much harder and less straight forward.
I've read a few books on sales but when you are actually talking to someone you can't remember what you've read from books. I guess this all comes with experience.

You have to have skin like a rhino & keep telling yourself that they're not rejecting you personally. Imagine what those call center people feel like, it's soul-destroying.

There are so many different ways to approach it.
You can make hundreds of calls a day and play the numbers game, eventually someone will say yes.
You can look at each prospect company more deeply and formulate a plan of approach based on their industry sector, their website, their competitors' websites, the search rankings, the list goes on and on.
When you're armed with that kind of information it can boost your confidence that you really have a solution for them.
The danger with that approach though is you'll make it too big of a deal and put undue pressure on yourself.

You have to think about what your time is worth too and what you stand to gain from each approach as well as the prospect's gain.
Is it worth spending lots of time for a few hundred dollars per sale, but if your sales are worth thousands it might be worth it.

Do you have anyone you can roleplay with?
Practise cold-calling with someone, go through every kind of scenario that you face.
Then you can say things that you might be afraid to say to a prospect, what might sound bad to you might not sound bad to another person. Get feedback from them.

Sometimes on the phone you have to be a bit cheeky, a little assertive, just push past that first resistance and you might be surprised that's all it takes to get them to see you.

Of course always be polite & professional with good telephone manners, but assertive, confident and persistent isn't being rude, speak with enthusiasm & passion, let them hear how strongly you believe you have the best thing since the wheel, OK in your case since Marco Polo brought pasta back from China. But you get my point.

I'm telling you this because you'll get rejections, you'll get yeses, highs and lows, I know because I've done it and had awful things said to me that hurt & scarred me and made me think is it me and made me afraid to make more calls, but I had no choice.

Also there's other factors to consider about objections and resistance like the prospect/secretary may be having a bad day or they're extremely busy putting out fires at the exact moment you call and they redirect their anger or frustration at you.

Anyway, let's look at your problems

Problem #1: What to do when the secretary tells you the owner isn't available? Do you say something in particular to her? Do you tell her to remind her boss about you? I have no idea about this whole thing.

Open ended questions:
Who deals with your online presence?
Who decides what kind of marketing you do?
Who maintains your website?
What kind of customers do you normally deal with?
Where does your company have an online page?
When will they be available?
When are they usually in the office?
When is a good time to call them?
Why do you think only Google Adwords work?
What other methods have you tried?
What if I could show you something better & generate more sales, would you be interested?

Many times you'll be told they're too busy to talk.
When is a good time to talk to you?
"Never, too busy."
OK, I understand, we're all too busy nowadays, I might be able to help you with that though, if you don't me asking, what is it exactly that takes up all your time?
Or put it another way:
what kind of things do you have to do that you wish you didn't have to?

Open ended questions get them talking & if you ask the right questions...

Problem #2: Am I contacting the wrong businesses? I have a feeling that in my country people don't care about web design. I live in Italy and I've seen this recurringly.

Just brainstorming here.
Who does care about web design?
What is a website for?
Isn't it just yellow pages ad in cyberspace?
How do people even find your website amongst all those zillions of pages?
What do they want to do on your website when they find it?
How can a website benefit my business?
What should a website be doing for me?

I know people have said a good website can get you orders, but how does it do that?
What makes a website good?
What is it about a website that makes a customer choose your company?

Reasons I would go to a website:
Order a product
Research information
Research the company, are they trustworthy?
Contact the company

It's easy to have a store for clothes or books, maybe not so much for purge cleaners, perhaps they need specialised quotes and the website goal is to give confidence & get the customer to call.

I guess different businesses have different objectives for a website.
Of course it all translates into sales.
Fox said that if the website just got them one sale, would the price of the website justify that?
How much is a purge cleaning job worth?

Food for thought.

Hope you get something out of this.

 

[RealDreams]

You have to have skin like a rhino & keep telling yourself that they're not rejecting you personally. Imagine what those call center people feel like, it's soul-destroying.

There are so many different ways to approach it.
You can make hundreds of calls a day and play the numbers game, eventually someone will say yes.
You can look at each prospect company more deeply and formulate a plan of approach based on their industry sector, their website, their competitors' websites, the search rankings, the list goes on and on.
When you're armed with that kind of information it can boost your confidence that you really have a solution for them.
The danger with that approach though is you'll make it too big of a deal and put undue pressure on yourself.

You have to think about what your time is worth too and what you stand to gain from each approach as well as the prospect's gain.
Is it worth spending lots of time for a few hundred dollars per sale, but if your sales are worth thousands it might be worth it.

Do you have anyone you can roleplay with?
Practise cold-calling with someone, go through every kind of scenario that you face.
Then you can say things that you might be afraid to say to a prospect, what might sound bad to you might not sound bad to another person. Get feedback from them.

Sometimes on the phone you have to be a bit cheeky, a little assertive, just push past that first resistance and you might be surprised that's all it takes to get them to see you.

Of course always be polite & professional with good telephone manners, but assertive, confident and persistent isn't being rude, speak with enthusiasm & passion, let them hear how strongly you believe you have the best thing since the wheel, OK in your case since Marco Polo brought pasta back from China. But you get my point.

I'm telling you this because you'll get rejections, you'll get yeses, highs and lows, I know because I've done it and had awful things said to me that hurt & scarred me and made me think is it me and made me afraid to make more calls, but I had no choice.

Also there's other factors to consider about objections and resistance like the prospect/secretary may be having a bad day or they're extremely busy putting out fires at the exact moment you call and they redirect their anger or frustration at you.

Anyway, let's look at your problems

Open ended questions:
Who deals with your online presence?
Who decides what kind of marketing you do?
Who maintains your website?
What kind of customers do you normally deal with?
Where does your company have an online page?
When will they be available?
When are they usually in the office?
When is a good time to call them?
Why do you think only Google Adwords work?
What other methods have you tried?
What if I could show you something better & generate more sales, would you be interested?

Many times you'll be told they're too busy to talk.
When is a good time to talk to you?
"Never, too busy."
OK, I understand, we're all too busy nowadays, I might be able to help you with that though, if you don't me asking, what is it exactly that takes up all your time?
Or put it another way:
what kind of things do you have to do that you wish you didn't have to?

Open ended questions get them talking & if you ask the right questions...


Just brainstorming here.
Who does care about web design?
What is a website for?
Isn't it just yellow pages ad in cyberspace?
How do people even find your website amongst all those zillions of pages?
What do they want to do on your website when they find it?
How can a website benefit my business?
What should a website be doing for me?

I know people have said a good website can get you orders, but how does it do that?
What makes a website good?
What is it about a website that makes a customer choose your company?

Reasons I would go to a website:
Order a product
Research information
Research the company, are they trustworthy?
Contact the company

It's easy to have a store for clothes or books, maybe not so much for purge cleaners, perhaps they need specialised quotes and the website goal is to give confidence & get the customer to call.

I guess different businesses have different objectives for a website.
Of course it all translates into sales.
Fox said that if the website just got them one sale, would the price of the website justify that?
How much is a purge cleaning job worth?

Food for thought.

Hope you get something out of this.

So much value. Thanks a lot!
I'll re-read everything carefully more times.

Also, I realized I haven't been talking at all during these calls. I haven't asked open ended questions. All I did was run my pitch and that's it. Gonna try again tomorrow and push the conversation beyond.

I'm also going to give a look back at the SPIN model cause it seemed like a very great book and unfortunately I applied none of that stuff today.

Something I thought about was, in response to the last business owner who told me a website doesn't matter. I might have told him:

"Well, you're right. AdWords is essential for service businesses, but what AdWords does is simply bring people to your website. But what if your website doesn't induce trust in people? What if a lot of people are leaving your website because it looks a little bit off? AdWords doesn't get you trust customers, just traffic."