Step by step on how to not find clients.

[RiccardoR]

Gentlemen, greetings.

There I am, to quickly tell you how I did manage, in something like four month, to not get one single client. Good read and I would love any feedback.

Ahem
I also was pretty fired up by Fox's thread about web design, therefore I learned how to code.
It was a long time ago and now I can build responsive websites without even using templates. I'm also some kind of the artistic type (I paint a lot) so I think to be pretty good at designing professional and clean look for websites.

I started out by asking a few friends of mine if anyone needed a website. I got one friend to buy a hosting plan and a domain's name, then I told him to send me basic info about his job and some pictures to create the website. One thing lead to another and then in the end he did nothing, do not why, he is just lazy. I also bought him a copy of the Milionaire Fastlane and he didn't read it because it wasn't in Italian. He is still paying for the hosting plan thought.

Then I decided, well, I should do some kind of a website demo, I did it

Minimalweb

It is not in english but I was trying to get some Italian clients.

I started with some of this freelancing platforms. I started using Upwork. I have even read a lot on how to write presentation letter.

You guess it, no client. Then I thought that I needed some kind of video presentation

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noUtXPGOTKc&list=LLj8yC7jk9Fcc3HmMZAvZo5Q&index=1


Then after some month of nothing I decided to change approach and be more direct.

I was going to cold call!
A bad idea.

I started browsing the yellow pages and I started doing cold call. I also thought of myself as being very charismatic. Maybe that is true in person, not on the phone.

In the end after a little less than 300 cold call that I made in a week span, I manage to talk to not more than a hundred business owner, and the best that I have done was to get a third call just to be told that a website was not a priority.


I know that this is just my fault but then I have a question. How can one improve his marketing skill? Just keep on calling? Take some course? Read some other books?

The problem is that even if I learned a LOT of useful stuff I feel like it is not my style to just talk on the phone or with skype. I will prefer to talk to them in person but if I do this now, I have 0 curriculum. I made some cool presentations paper and diagrams but without portfolio they all are just worthless.

My idea was to get some sales guy or agency to find me clients, and then I would give them a percentage. The problem is that I searched online for this and found nothing of my liking.

So what do you think?
Hope that I didn't bored you too much and I will appreciate a lot any suggestion.

Have a great day!

 

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[Fox]

Well you get an A for effort.

There are a few different things here.

Since you have a strong accent (I used to have also) I would focus on doing some native tongue websites first. This means you can back up calls in English with proof that you know what you are doing. So I would start with that first.

Also your video is really cool visually but the sound is not so great. It is really hard to hear but you do sound really high energy which is great.

Selling websites is about finding someone who has a problem and then creating a solution together. I would focus on building that skill up by starting with those closest to you so you can practice your problem finding skills along with your ability to sell a solution. Rome and Italy have tons of people that need help right away.

I think with a new approach you could go far, you have the energy and drive with is 50% of the battle.

 

[maverick]

Gentlemen, greetings.

There I am, to quickly tell you how I did manage, in something like four month, to not get one single client. Good read and I would love any feedback.

Ahem
I also was pretty fired up by Fox's thread about web design, therefore I learned how to code.
It was a long time ago and now I can build responsive websites without even using templates. I'm also some kind of the artistic type (I paint a lot) so I think to be pretty good at designing professional and clean look for websites.

I started out by asking a few friends of mine if anyone needed a website. I got one friend to buy a hosting plan and a domain's name, then I told him to send me basic info about his job and some pictures to create the website. One thing lead to another and then in the end he did nothing, do not why, he is just lazy. I also bought him a copy of the Milionaire Fastlane and he didn't read it because it wasn't in Italian. He is still paying for the hosting plan thought.

Then I decided, well, I should do some kind of a website demo, I did it

Minimalweb

It is not in english but I was trying to get some Italian clients.

I started with some of this freelancing platforms. I started using Upwork. I have even read a lot on how to write presentation letter.

You guess it, no client. Then I thought that I needed some kind of video presentation

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noUtXPGOTKc&list=LLj8yC7jk9Fcc3HmMZAvZo5Q&index=1


Then after some month of nothing I decided to change approach and be more direct.

I was going to cold call!
A bad idea.

I started browsing the yellow pages and I started doing cold call. I also thought of myself as being very charismatic. Maybe that is true in person, not on the phone.

In the end after a little less than 300 cold call that I made in a week span, I manage to talk to not more than a hundred business owner, and the best that I have done was to get a third call just to be told that a website was not a priority.


I know that this is just my fault but then I have a question. How can one improve his marketing skill? Just keep on calling? Take some course? Read some other books?

The problem is that even if I learned a LOT of useful stuff I feel like it is not my style to just talk on the phone or with skype. I will prefer to talk to them in person but if I do this now, I have 0 curriculum. I made some cool presentations paper and diagrams but without portfolio they all are just worthless.

My idea was to get some sales guy or agency to find me clients, and then I would give them a percentage. The problem is that I searched online for this and found nothing of my liking.

So what do you think?
Hope that I didn't bored you too much and I will appreciate a lot any suggestion.

Have a great day!

I have said this many, many, many times before on this forum:

Nobody buys websites. Websites are commodities. As are development skills. People are looking for value. If you can show them how to get that value, you have a product/service that is worth selling.

The website looks clean. However, I can find a lot of templates that will have the same look & feel to it and only pay a fraction of the price. For example: Generator for Startup Framework: Create Landing Page - Designmodo

 

[RiccardoR]

Well you get an A for effort.

There are a few different things here.

Since you have a strong accent (I used to have also) I would focus on doing some native tongue websites first. This means you can back up calls in English with proof that you know what you are doing. So I would start with that first.

Also your video is really cool visually but the sound is not so great. It is really hard to hear but you do sound really high energy which is great.

Selling websites is about finding someone who has a problem and then creating a solution together. I would focus on building that skill up by starting with those closest to you so you can practice your problem finding skills along with your ability to sell a solution. Rome and Italy have tons of people that need help right away.

I think with a new approach you could go far, you have the energy and drive with is 50% of the battle.

Thank you Fox, I started out by reading your post so I really appreciate your feedback

I think that your suggestions are very good, I noticed that there was something wrong with the audio but I never thought about actually improving my pronunciation. I will work on that ASAP

Also yes most websites here in Italy just sucks, the problem is that most business owner do not care about getting a new website. The truth is what you said, you must find solution (this is also what MJ book is all about). They do not care about a new website but they should care about improving their gains.

I have said this many, many, many times before on this forum:

Nobody buys websites. Websites are commodities. As are development skills. People are looking for value. If you can show them how to get that value, you have a product/service that is worth selling.

The website looks clean. However, I can find a lot of templates that will have the same look & feel to it and only pay a fraction of the price. For example: Generator for Startup Framework: Create Landing Page - Designmodo

You are completely right, this is a major point that I'm missing. You know, what you said has a tremendous value, the only problem is this, that when looking for a company to contact, especially one without a website, It is hard to figure out their pressure points. I suppose that this is when experience is the most helpful.

Anyway, even if I manage to convince them that I will provide them enough value they may ask me about previous work. Do you guys think than starting out, just to make some portfolio is it better to use upwork or just keep calling? Maybe doing some sites for free?

 

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[maverick]

Thank you Fox, I started out by reading your post so I really appreciate your feedback

I think that your suggestions are very good, I noticed that there was something wrong with the audio but I never thought about actually improving my pronunciation. I will work on that ASAP

Also yes most websites here in Italy just sucks, the problem is that most business owner do not care about getting a new website. The truth is what you said, you must find solution (this is also what MJ book is all about). They do not care about a new website but they should care about improving their gains.



You are completely right, this is a major point that I'm missing. You know, what you said has a tremendous value, the only problem is this, that when looking for a company to contact, especially one without a website, It is hard to figure out their pressure points. I suppose that this is when experience is the most helpful.

Anyway, even if I manage to convince them that I will provide them enough value they may ask me about previous work. Do you guys think than starting out, just to make some portfolio is it better to use upwork or just keep calling? Maybe doing some sites for free?

So figure out why people/companies that don't have a website, should buy one. What is the value proposition? Are you offering new business (leads) ? Brand awareness? Local presence?

Angle your offer based on the value prop e.g.

• New business leads => offer to setup a website for them and help them get their first lead. How much is that lead worth to them? Charge them monthly for upkeep/maintenance or charge them on a per-lead basis.
• Brand awareness => Set-up their social channels, help them develop a content strategy where you use the social channels to funnel people to your website.

Just calling business owners and saying: "Hey, you don't have a website. I will build you one. Pay me!" might have worked 10 years ago but not anymore.

If you're great at designing, create your value proposition based on that. Become the best infographic designer that's out there, learn how to digest information and create a graphical representation out of this.

 

[Dunkafelics]

Also yes most websites here in Italy just sucks, the problem is that most business owner do not care about getting a new website. The truth is what you said, you must find solution (this is also what MJ book is all about). They do not care about a new website but they should care about improving their gains.

Hey @RiccardoR

This quote tells me a lot about your mindset. You are telling me that a country with a population of 60 million plus, the business owners do not care about getting a new website? There are people looking for websites to be created everyday. I am working on the sales end as well for a few website developers and have struggled to get clients, that does not change my mindset about the need of websites. I just have to get better at explaining the benefits of website design/development and how having a new/updated website will absolutely, 100% help the client with their business.

A great quote from Grant Cardone is, "There is no problem with the product, the client or the industry. The problem is you, the problem is that you need to get better at pitching your product."

Last point! Your website looks awesome man. I actually really like it and think it is one of the best designs I've seen yet out of the Udemy course. Be proud of that design and keep pushing forward to find those clients!

 

[RiccardoR]

Guys, you all gave me amazing insight, thank you very much. I must keep working on improving my sales skill, I really appreciate all your suggestions, it is always nice to hear things from an impartial point of view.

 

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