Start Your Own Web Design Company And Make Money Straight Away

When you start your own web design business the hardest thing is finding customers. You might be great at design, but perhaps you don’t quite have the right marketing skills to get it off the ground. This could be the difference between surviving or going under. At the very least you need to be bringing in enough money to put food on your table. So what will you do? Will you throw up your fancy website and wait for clients to get in contact? 

If you answered yes to that question then you might find yourself down at the employment office faster than you think. The easiest way to find clients is by getting off your seat and hunting them down. Now you might be wondering how you can hunt down clients. You won’t even know where they are. Will you just stop random people in the street and ask them if they’d like a website? I’m sure they’d really like that. 

Local businesses 

The perfect opportunity lies for you in the local business market. You need to start by making a list of all the local businesses in your local area. Have a plan before you begin. Now you can start picking up the phone and calling around, but the chances you will even get to speak to someone in charge is pretty low.

The only way you can maximize your chances is by going around on foot. Personally going inside each shop and asking to speak to the person in charge. First you must go to the businesses that don’t already have a website. Sell it to them. Once you have made your way around I’d like to think you’ll have closed some sales. 

Take an iPad 

Unless you’re the best salesperson in the world it could be quite difficult to sell a website to someone if they have no idea what it will look like. They don’t know you and what you’re capable of. They have no reason to trust you with anything. If you take an iPad with you this can completely change the outcome. 

Show them your best work. Make it hard for them to say no. If you are letting them see how great their website will be it could be hard for them to resist. Once it’s in their face they might become attached to it. Especially if they were already thinking of having one done. And who isn’t these days? 

Make extra money 

Let’s imagine you have made the sale. Actually, imagine you have went around everyone on your list and are booked for the next few months. You can’t make any more money. Your profit is based on how many websites you can design and unless you take on more employees it’s hard to scale. 

But not if you team up with an SEO company. If you can do this, you can up-sell them services to take their new website to the top of the search engines. Now you can take a commission for finding the SEO company extra work. It’s an easy way to make more money without the hassle of more staff. What do you think?

About the Author: James is a proficient blogger who writes articles on web designing and development. He is recognized as a keynote speaker for delivering excellent speeches, corporate presentations and trainings that are educational, motivational and entertaining.

Delivering more with less – How to (successfully) run a lean project

If there’s one thing the recession has taught us it’s that every business must run as ‘lean’ as possible.

In these cash-struck times, the basic premise of lean – creating more value in delivering client projects using fewer resources – has never been a more attractive prospect.

In project-oriented organisations where people-related costs are far and away the biggest outgoing, it is difficult to cut out the fat without leaving the business exposed. The well-established just-in-time strategies of the manufacturer have to be translated into a ‘just-enough’ strategy for resourcing, so that projects are delivered on time and to budget.

Successfully implemented, the lean approach leads to a winning combination of outcomes: better managed projects, greater client satisfaction, reduced cost to the business and importantly, greater long-term business viability.

Here, we look at the key pointers that are fundamental to developing a leaner business without putting projects and client relationships at risk…

  1. Don’t keep recreating the wheel – build on previous experience to save time, reduce administration, and improve the accuracy of your quotations. When setting up new projects, use previously entered information and apply previously established rules, processes and templates.
  2. Have clearly defined project plans – assign key responsibilities so everyone knows what they’re doing. Ensure any actions discussed as a team have a named ‘owner’, responsible for carrying them out.
  3. Measure and review throughout the project cycle – but do this in a way that does not in itself consume time and hinder progress, for example by automating the flow of information from remote teams back into the business.
  4. Eliminate bottlenecks – use the technology available to streamline essential processes such as workflow management, timesheet recording, expense claims, time and expense approvals, and billing.
  5. Trust and empower your team – an open book approach increases accountability and helps win their support in the drive to increase efficiency and identify where time could be better spent.
  6. Gain a ‘helicopter’ view of your whole project portfolio – being able to view the big picture but also zoom in on the underlying detail leads to better management and strengthens your ability to avert risk.

This article is taken from the IRIS ProjectMinder whitepaper: ‘Running lean: How project-oriented organisations are creating more value with fewer resources‘. The guide is free and available to download in full here.

About the author: Paul Sparkes is Product Director at IRIS ProjectMinder, the ideal web-based project management solution for architects, engineers, surveyors, IT & management consultants, marketing agencies, and other time-based project centric organisations

How to get a loan for small business?

Moneylenders of every ilk are looking for a way to get the most amount of profit out of their investment with the least amount of risk. This works to a scale, which is why if you are deemed as a good risk (i.e. good credit rating, regular long-term income) then you get better rates, where as is you are a bad risk (i.e. bad credit rating, poor money management) then you will be charged higher interest rates.

This is the reason why most Bad Credit Quick Loans are so expensive for such short periods of time. It is also the reason that people with good credit are always getting letters through the post about having a loan or charge account.

A small business is a fairly large risk in the eyes of a lender. Especially if it is so small that the owner is requesting Debit Card Loans. A lender is looking for a business loan that is preferably for an established business that has a good income and good track record. If the business were a start up concern, then a lender would prefer an established and branded franchise, run by a person with a proven track record in the field, in a prime location with a decent marketing and business plan. All of this would make lending the money a little less risky, so the lender would probably consent.

This means that if you are looking to borrow money for a small business and do not want to jump to Bad Credit Quick Loans, then try to make yourself and your business concern less of a lending risk. One of the best ways to sway the lender is to put in a substantial amount of money yourself. For example if you were looking to improve the cookers in your kitchens to ones that use less energy, then apply to a lender. Show them how your purchase will fit into your business plan and show them facts upon how these improvements will benefit your business and its profitability. You will then stand a good chance if you can show that your current disposable/liquid income is three times higher than the monthly repayment needed. You can then improve your case further by putting a lot of money into the project yourself. If for example you were to put 75% of the costs into the project, then you would greatly improve your case. If you put nothing into the kitty, then the lender may assume that you are cash-poor and possibly lying about your income.

Obviously, if you are going to claim that you are going to put a certain amount of money into a purchase and you are asking for the rest of the money via a small business loan, then you will need to prove how much the purchase costs, and prove that you have the money to put down.

If you do get stuck for a loan, then try Debit Card Loans and overdrafts. They are often cheaper than other varieties of loans and could solve your small business problems in one foul swoop.

About the Author: Anna Mathews  has taken many Bad Credit Quick Loans and Debit Card Loans and now knows all there is to know about how they work in the financial world.

The Importance of Data Confidentiality for Small Businesses

The second a business obtains a piece of confidential information is the moment security measures must be put into place to protect the business and the people the information pertains to. A business doesn’t have to be a government contractor to think about ensuring the privacy of documents and personally identifying information.

Ideally, every piece of information about a customer, client, business partner or employee should be kept confidential, but this is not always possible to do. Some examples of information that should be secured are:

  • Names
  • Telephone numbers
  • Email addresses
  • Physical addresses
  • Blueprints
  • Patent designs
  • Research
  • Financial details

While it is often overlooked in this digital age, physical data needs to be secured too. For instance, if running an architecture business and a project is to be kept under wraps for whichever reason the client has, especially in the case of government and military facility plans, blueprints and design plans should be kept under lock and key with limited access.

Image by Salvatore Vuono

The secretary and the cleaning staff shouldn’t need to be privy to the details of where escape routes in the latest military research facility are located. File folders, contact information, billing information and everything else that isn’t public information should be kept in lockable cabinets or rooms.

Though it is harped upon, not everyone practices the safest digital security. Antivirus programs and software firewalls are, of course, helpful. However, they are not the only security points that need to be addressed. For example, a company that engages in researching highly-infectious viruses should keep data pertaining to the research on a company intranet that doesn’t have outside access to the Internet to protect it from potentially harmful leaks. Furthermore, not everyone needs access to certain files and computer networks.

Some small businesses may feel that it’s far too much work to be bothered with physically and digitally securing information. They may feel that they’re too small for anyone to notice or bother with. As far as the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is concerned, a company could have one client and still be under breach of the Data Protection Act (DPA).

If a small business is caught with a breach concerning confidential information, the ICO has potentially unlimited fining power. The highest fine they’ve ever issued came in June 2012. It was issued to the NHS in the amount of £325,000 GBP. Fines are calculated based on whether a breach is the first one, how big an impact it may have or has already had and a number of other factors. Because the fines, except in special instances, do not have caps, a small business would benefit from ensuring the security of customer data.

About the Author: Andrew Morrell has been involved in the confidential paper shredding services for several years and believes in the importance of business security and managing data. He currently works for Russell Richardson.

Don’t Believe the Hype – The Disadvantages of Digital Signs

Exterior and interior signage have changed throughout the years. New technology allows them to be produced more quickly and in different shapes and sizes. New materials allow signage to be created heavier or lighter than before to help them better adhere to their location, and some signs are even made from eco-friendly materials.

Signage can now also contain lighting or be created in a digital fashion instead of traditional print. Many companies are using digital signage because it allows them to constantly change out the message without needing to recreate it.

But just because digital signage is new does not mean that it’s better than traditional signage methods. In fact, there are a few disadvantages to using digital signage.

Chanel digital signage - Ginza building
Image by na0905 / Flickr

They’re expensive.

The use of digital signage is more costly than traditional methods. This is because digital signage requires technology and not standard printing like traditional methods. In order to create a digital sign, you will need to purchase a screen, the software used to generate the content, the technology needed to hook it up and the staff needed to manage the campaign. Plus, digital signage needs a certain level of protection to keep it safe from harsh weather conditions, which is another added expense.

They’re still new.

Digital signs are still the new kid on the block, which means that they will still have kinks that need to be addressed. It’s also likely that as technology evolves, newer digital technologies will be created that will be better and cheaper than the previous technology. Before long, this “new” technology that you spent a fortune on will no longer be as cool or functional as the models created in the future.

They require experience.

Though some digital signage platforms are easier to use than others, it still requires knowledge of the software or technologies needed in order to make the signage work. Even if the software is easy to use, it will require a good amount of use before you have a true handle on how the technology is used. You may end up putting the wrong content in, sending it to the wrong place or making it go live at the wrong time, which can be damaging to your marketing efforts.

They’re harder to replace.

If your traditional sign were to tear, all you would need to do is have another sign printed and adhered, which though frustrating, is a pretty simple task. When your digital signage breaks, it requires more work to fix. There’s technology and electrical involved, which may mean that you need to have multiple professionals come out and fix it. If the damage was severe, you could be without your signage for an extended period of time until it does become fixed, which leaves you with an expensive repair and without a marketing campaign.

They’re chosen without much thought.

Some people make the mistake of investing in digital signage simply because it’s new, but they don’t have a clear purpose as to why they’re marketing this way or the goal of the marketing effort. When you have a marketing tactic without a purpose in mind, it will not be much help to your business.

Though digital signage can be a fun new addition to your marketing strategy, you need to determine if it’s really as valuable as you think it is. It’s possible that you’re just attracted to the fact that it’s something new, and before you make a rash decision, you need to make sure you weigh both the pros and cons.

About the Author: M.P Brown is an avid reader always on the lookout for information that will help him undestand marketing and advertising trends. M.P helps to add insight to the designers creating signs from Icon ID.