Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I work with a very talented graphic designer and we are excited to start the
new year with a new energy and new clients. What works? How do you
approach business owners who could use your services to improve their
businesses... phone, email, in person?

In addition, please check out ournew site and give any feedback...
www.jwdesigncenter.com. Do you know of a tracking system that really
works and gives you relevent information about your visitors?

Thanks , Carolyn at JWDesigncenter.



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Jen Walter
Creative Director
JW Design Center
www.jwdesigncenter.com

Carolyn,

This is my first post, so bear with me 

I am struggling with the tracking system as well.  I use citymax.com for my website development and hosting and they offer www.hitlinks.com as a statistics/tracking service.  You may want to visit their website and take a look at what types of reports they provide.  This is just one option, but at least it is a start!

I am just starting my business and was reluctant to contact any graphics firms regarding a logo design, business cards, etc.  Frankly, with my small budget, I assumed that the pricing would be prohibitive.  Once I got a few prices from some local firms, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that many will work within your budget.  Maybe this is a perception that persists with small businesses, so they are reluctant to even contact firms.  If you can do something to educate potential customers, maybe you can overcome this barrier.

Who are your target customers?  Is there an industry you`ve done a lot of work in, that maybe you could do a postcard or mailing to similar companies?  I know that I was interested in finding a firm that had done work for similar types of businesses, just so I knew they had a good understanding of my industry.

As for your website, I think it looks good. I would suggest that maybe your portfolio section show more print pieces, and the ability to view items full-size (or close to it).  Your business is definitely visual, so you want to showcase in the best possible way, the quality work you can provide.

I was also surprised that you had a picture on your banner, rather than a graphic that you designed.  Nothing wrong with the picture, but your designs are fantastic, and you should let that be the first thing people see when visiting your site. 

Good Luck, and much success in 2007!

ModJulie

We use the principle of making 3 points of contact with them before trying
to "sell".

For example, introductory phone call, a gift, maybe an email to the decision
maker with a helpful article (that fits your niche) etc etc....



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Pay The Price

I`m not a very forward salesman, so I do alot of mailing brochures. My former boss just started a new business, document shredding and he`s a great people person, (used to be a car salesman) But he has found out that going into a company and taking one of his brochures and a business card works much better than mailing them or postcards, he gets more business by the face to face meeting, and feels that when people get postcards in the mail, they tend to just toss them. Also, someone had mentioned that when they get an email from someone they don`t know, they tend to just delete, without reading them.

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kkrafts
"Treat every day as a new adventure"