| LED Digest 1961: The Small Business Mindset |
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================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" pair Networks: The LED's Web Host Hosting and Domain Reg. from a Trusted Leader pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. April 26, 2005 Issue #1961 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== CONTINUING ================= --== Problems with Web Design ==-- ~ Dirk Johnson "...most business owners have misconcpetions about the what, why, and how of a website." ~ Ronni Rhodes "I wish all of us 'good luck' as we try to change the small business mindset!" ~ David Yancey "...the challenge is to learn how can your services be 'packaged..." --== Beware of Internet-centricity ==-- ~ Martha Retallick "[Word of mouth is] pretty low-tech. But it still works." ==== BILLBOARD =================== --== Google vs Froogle ==-- ~ James Haley ===== CONTINUING ================================= From: Dirk Johnson Subject: When Biz Owners Go Stupid > I have pretty well given up on the > small business market. - Martha Retallick, LED 1960 I suspect that most good webmasters, (and especially, the developers) come to this same conclusion, unless they find a way to get someone else to feed new prospective clients / domains to them. My own transformation came when I did the math. If your average job for a "complete" website (whatever that is!) is US$2000 (and that number is on the high end of the pain threshold for a small business, most want a website for less), then you'd need to do 36 of them a year to make $72,000, which these days represents a modest professional-level, self-employed salary in most metro areas. That's 3 new clients a month, which includes time for quoting, planning, hand-holding, pulling-teeth for the content, the initial template design, the inevitable re-design, and content integration. Maintaining that pace would be daunting, especially when many of the clients become "problematic". Trying to "educate" them is usually fruitless and causes conflict. You have to face the fact that most business owners have horrible misconcpetions about the what, why, and how of a website. Most self-employed web designers who are starting out with no lifeline to an existing contract usually cut their teeth on pro-bono or charitable work in order to build a portfolio, then they do the small business work, and then they find something more stable and consistent that evolves from that. Like sub-contracting to a larger outfit that has big contracts, or clinging to the clients who need ongoing service, etc. Then they start turning down or padding their quotes on the nickle-dime work, unless they are specifically structured to deal with it efficiently and they have found a way to generate highly-qualified leads effortlessly. That is just the nature of the business. You have to pay your dues, but not forever. :) Best regards, Dirk Johnson Read "The Benefits of Reciprocal Linking - A Baker's Dozen Points to Ponder" http://www.linkstrategy.com -------- new post - same topic --------- From: Ronni Rhodes Subject: Web design - and other Services! Kathryn Martyn wrote: > I spent years learning what I know and tens of thousands > of dollars buying software like Dreamweaver and Photoshop, > digital cameras, computer equipment, etc. Why would I > undervalue myself? and > Why business owners suddenly go stupid when it comes > to the cost of a quality web site is beyond me. They see > those idiotic ads for $5 webhosting and think, "Wow, it's > so cheap." These statements really hit home! The "small business" segment has been inundated with so much DIY software that these folks have come to honestly believe they CAN produce a professional site with all the bells and whistles. Why should someone pay me to produce a professional looking video when it's so "easy" to make it themselves? Like Martha Retallick, we're attempting to attract those clients who understand the complexity of what we do, the benefits of hiring professionals to do the job, and the desire to have the project done in an efficient and timely manner. I wish all of us "good luck" as we try to change the small business mindset! Best regards, Ronni Rhodes Ignite Your Site with Sound and Motion! http://www.wbcimaging.com ------- new post - same topic -------- From: David Yancey Subject: Web design The problem of how to get compensated fairly for bringing a smaller business online is the major obstacle faced by thousands of local web consultants. I empathize with my friend Kathryn Martyn when she describes in LED # 1960 how: > I've quoted my reasonable rate to build sites and have > seen the faces fall when they hear $2000 or more. They > were expecting what? $200? Indeed, it is tempting to take the course favored now by Martha Retallick: > Instead of going after business in the "low profit, high amount > of handholding required" small business arena, I'm focusing > my efforts on the institutional and corporate markets. In other > words, clients with budgets. I've spent decades selling to the larger players, and agree with Martha as far as she goes. But let me add that those with budgets and a professional approach to dealing with professionals typically have *much* tougher measures and standards for contractor performance. In the medium to large web services marketplace, a web design or SEO/M consultant will be competing with established, experienced professionals, most of whom can draw on the resources of a polished team. The well-funded clients look for teams with as much *business* experience as technical smarts. So, while a proven pro like Martha can thrive in this part of the market, the great majority of newer or less experienced web consultants will not. It may sound harsh, but in my view most web consultants will therefore either learn how to make it with smaller accounts, or find another line of work. Further, as Martha and Kathryn and others have said, the level of realism among these small clients is so low, and the expectations so unrealistically high, that making a profit serving them is nearly impossible. Most locally-oriented, one- or two-person web consultancies, regardless of their specialty, and *irrespective of their demonstrable expertise* are going to face a very long haul before reaching a profitable level of account revenue that can be sustained year in and year out. It's a tough row to hoe, but not entirely hopeless. One key to ultimate success is to define the account relationship as an ongoing one. How is it that the Yellow Pages companies can make money dealing with small accounts? They define their service as a never-ending one. They treat the account as a long-term investment proposition, not as a one-off job or contract. This lets them put some extra expense into up-front sales and assistance with ad copy, knowing that, on average, they will get that money back many times over the account's life cycle. In other words, the challenge is to learn how can your services be "packaged" as a lifetime proposition. How can you become as much a fixture of the account's operations as its outside accountant is? It won't be easy to do this for most consultants, and even then, we all face years of educating the smaller and local businesses as to the value we add to their bottom line. But the rewards of doing this successfully will be considerable. According to the latest Yahoo! Small Business survey conducted by Harris Interactive and released last week, 72% of adult Americans are thinking about starting a new business. Those who figure out how to make a reasonable profit while helping them will be the real winners. David Yancey http://www.vivante.com ------- new post - new topic -------- From: Martha Retallick Subject: Internet-centricity In response to my recent post about the potential dangers of Internet-centricity, Mekhong Kurt asked: --------------------------- "What, however, of businesses with broader horizons than a single neighborhood, Martha? Can any business with a customer base beyond a single immediate neighborhood dare not to have an Internet presence? For that matter, were your yard man wish to expand his business throughout an entire city or area, could he walk the streets, pen and paper in hand -- only? I would guess not." --------------------------- To which I respond: Turns out that Greg the Neighborhood Yard Guy does have a client base beyond this area. Last week, when he was finishing some work for me, he said that he had to go out to a property about 10 miles away from here. Apparently, the good word about Greg has spread beyond our neighborhood. And just how would it do that? By word of mouth referrals. That's another marketing method that is not dependent on the Internet. All it needs is two people talking to each other. Pretty low-tech. But it still works. Martha Retallick "The Passionate Postcarder" http://www.postcardmarketingsecrets.com ==== BILLBOARD =================================== From: James Haley Subject: Google vs Froogle I was wondering if any of the LED list participants have any comments on the law suite being brought against Froogle by Google. Is this a greed concept where Google has shown that that old quote holds true. "Power corrupts and absolute Power corrupts absoloutely" Google didn't invent the name google so why would they own rights to simular sounding names. Its the old Microsoft technique of squashing the compitition any way possible and that is bad for business on all accounts. Just wanted to see what other LED'ers had to say. James Haley ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by pair Networks: pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains Copyright 1995-2005 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 19 weeks pregnant with a baby girl! |
