How do socially challenged web developers still consistently humiliate their competition by being booked for months in advance? They know how to get higher-paying clients consistently. It’s not because they use mystical marketing techniques from an online course, and it has very little to do with their advertising budgets. No one in their right mind would expect you to spend years learning how to write effective sales pitches, and you don’t have to. It doesn’t even require a bottomless bank account or thousands of dollars to burn on Google ads, either.
You’ve just got to learn how to adapt and focus on being more efficient. These five tips immediately help you get the most out of any simple advertising campaign. It can help you get more income from old clients, too. Stop putting all your time into bad conversion rates. Put these easy steps in motion, and get more out of what you’re doing now.
5. Get a Long-Form Sales Letter for Your Landing Page
Many web designers fall into the trap of thinking that great web development services will sell on its own. If you’ve been in this business for any length of time, then you know that’s not the case. You can be a perfect fit for 9 out of 10 projects, but it won’t make any difference without a clear presentation. Chances are, you’ve never picked up a single sales book to help you get your message across to potential clients. As a matter of fact, it can take just as long to learn how to write a decent landing page as it does to become a full-fledged web developer. There’s no reason for you to spend your time trying to invent the wheel all over again. You can easily hire a seasoned freelance ad copywriter to craft an effective sales letter.
The trick with really selling your services to clients is using long sales copy. Don’t just have someone throw together a few professional-sounding sentences for your website. Go deep into the details. If the copy is longer than a thousand words, then you’re more likely to attract buyers who are serious about hiring you. People don’t make buying decisions like this on a whim. They want to know everything about how you can benefit their business. Don’t make it a technical presentation on how to design a website. Have your copywriter focus on things the average web development client wants to get out of hiring a professional. Talk about the outcome that they want, and how you can get them to it. Use that on your landing page.
4. Follow Up with All of Your Past Clients Every 21 Days
If you’re any good at programming, then you know how to think logically. There are a lot of changing variables in the daily lives of your past clients. That’s why it is crucially important to at least stay on their radar and make contact every once in a while. They might have a new business they are working on and they could use your services again. Maybe they had coffee with a friend who wants to have a website built. They might even be planning on getting back to you for more work, but they just haven’t gotten around to it.
Don’t leave your business fluttering in the wind. Take the initiative to constantly reach out to them. Most marketers stick to a 21-day rule. That means every 3 weeks you send some form of communication to every single customer you have ever done business with. It doesn’t matter if it was paid work, or if it was done for free as a portfolio piece. If you’ve worked on any web development services with anyone, then you should be reaching out to them at least once per month. This one tip alone could change your perspective on how to acquire new clients through referrals.
3. Get the Physical Address of Every Lead That Contacts You
There’s one thing that almost no web designer in the world is willing to do, and that’s sending an actual letter to clients. It will make you stand out from nearly all of your competitors. This technique is constantly used by clever entrepreneurs, and it keeps the conversation going with clients. Email doesn’t always work. You already know important emails can get buried in your inbox pretty often. They might not even realize it’s from you, and they could just pass it off as spam. They can’t do that with a letter, especially if it’s sent through FedEx. Just about everyone opens personal FedEx letters, and those letters always make it through the gatekeepers.
Isn’t it worth sending a letter for a few bucks to keep a paying client for years to come? You don’t have to write it yourself, and it doesn’t have to be unique for every person. The ideal course of action is to get your copywriter to put it together for you, and for you to send a small little token of appreciation with it. Maybe you could include a pen or a planner. Be creative. Send them something inexpensive that will get their attention. Make them feel appreciated, and you’ll keep getting their business.
2. Place Ads in Entrepreneurial Magazines
Online advertising works because people are interested in finding your services as soon as they type their keywords into a search engine. On the other hand, subscription magazines allow you to take a different approach to acquire customers. It gives you an opportunity to inform the reader that they need your services for their business. It’s a completely different dynamic, and it may help you get your message in front of more serious buyers.
If someone is interested in reading monthly editorials, then they are far more likely to be on the lookout for ways to improve their business. They come across your ad, and it piques their interests. The main thing you want to accomplish is getting them to ask valuable questions. Why do they need a web designer? What can a better website accomplish for their business? Try to go for at least a quarter-page ad to get your pitch out there. Don’t waste space on graphics. Give them every reason to buy your services, and make it look like an article rather than an advertisement.
1. Keep It Simple with One Method of Contact
One of the worst things you can do with your web development landing page is to put a button at the bottom that says, “Click here to get a quote.” Opt-in forms and online quote requests will automatically turn off a huge chunk of people that would otherwise. You can’t just give a flat rate upfront, and it would be a dumb idea to conduct business that way. Traffic is so easily distracted. Nothing stops them from putting it off for later and leaving your website to find a competitor that knows how to close the sale quickly.
They have to be sold on your services before they reach the bottom of the page. If they’re fearful at all about the unknown variables in your quoting process, then you won’t capture any info from them. The best way to get solid leads is to forget about what everyone else is doing online. You need to give them one option to request a quote, and the best way to do that is by phone. That doesn’t mean you have to talk to anybody on the phone. All you have to do is put the following snippet in this exact wording at the bottom of your landing page.
“Do you want a great website created for you? It’s easy, all you have to do is call. You’ll hear a recorded message by the team leader. Then, you’ll leave your name, email address, and mailing address on the voicemail.”
Give It a Try and See for Yourself
It’s easy to say you’re going to give a few of these tips a try and never get around to doing it. Take action now, and discover the results for yourself. Get a real sales letter written, and send traffic to it on a landing page. Contact everyone that’s ever come to you for services. Follow up with every single one of them on a 21-day rotation, and get started with that right now. Get the physical address of every lead, and send them a letter by FedEx.
Add something special in the letter to thank them for reaching out to you. Place a long-form ad in a decent entrepreneurial magazine. Get the readers asking questions about how your services can benefit them. Keep your funnels simple. Only give them one method of contact, and try a landing page where they can only get a quote by leaving a voicemail. You’ll save time on bad leads, and you’ll increase your close rates. You can implement these 5 easy steps immediately and see the benefits for yourself. Now, go out there and give it a try.
