Bummer! This is just a preview. You need to be signed in with a Pro account to view the entire video.
Start a free Basic trial
to watch this video
What Doesn't Work
4:32 with Paul BoagPaul dispels some preconceptions about how marketing works by discussing various strategies, including cold calling and networking events.
-
0:00
[Paul Boag] So let's look at the issue of marketing and promotion.
-
0:04
I want to start by doing something slightly strange.
-
0:06
I want to look at what doesn't work,
-
0:09
because I think there are a lot of misconceptions and preconceptions
-
0:13
surrounding how to market your work.
-
0:16
Let's look at some things that don't work well.
-
0:19
In my experience cold calling, advertising,
-
0:24
bidding sites, and networking events don't work very well.
-
0:29
Now you might be thinking, "Well they work for me,"
-
0:31
and I'm not saying they never work.
-
0:33
I'm just saying that I don't think they're the most effective way of working.
-
0:39
So why don't these things work?
-
0:42
Let's apply some of the principles of user centric design
-
0:46
by putting ourselves in the place of our potential prospect—our potential client.
-
0:53
First of all let's look at cold calling.
-
0:56
The problem with cold calling—by picking up the phone and just ringing someone
-
0:59
you want to work with—is that you have to call them at exactly the right time.
-
1:04
They have to have a project that they want to work on there and then in order
-
1:10
for your call to actually be useful. Now think about it for a minute.
-
1:14
What are the chances of that actually happening,
-
1:18
because if you're not calling them at exactly the right time
-
1:21
all you're going to do is just annoy them,
-
1:24
and they're certainly not going to want to work with you in the future if that's the case.
-
1:28
Then there's advertising, isn't there?
-
1:31
The problem here is that there's just too much choice.
-
1:35
There are too many people out there clamoring for attention,
-
1:38
going, "Look at me! Look at me! Hire me!"
-
1:42
The trouble is that you'll find that advertising gets really expensive,
-
1:47
and you're just going to be one voice amongst a million clamoring for attention,
-
1:52
and the problem is as well from a user centric point of view
-
1:56
is that for most clients buying a web site—
-
1:59
paying for a web design agency to come in and build them a web site
-
2:02
is an important purchase and it's too important a purchase
-
2:06
just to kind of go along to Google and click on the first ad.
-
2:11
It's something that needs some kind of recommendation behind it.
-
2:15
Then there are those bidding sites, aren't there? You've seen them.
-
2:19
You go along to something like Elance
-
2:22
and you enter in your details and you ask web designers to pitch,
-
2:28
but my problem with those is it's all about price.
-
2:31
They're the only things that define whether or not you win the work,
-
2:34
so it all becomes a race to the button,
-
2:36
and your profit margins will just evaporate into the air.
-
2:42
Finally, there are those networking events.
-
2:46
My problem with networking events—a lot of people really like them
-
2:49
and enjoy them, and they are great fun.
-
2:51
It's great to meet other people working in different industries and sectors,
-
2:55
but my problem with them is that everybody is selling and nobody is buying.
-
3:00
You'll go along to these events hoping that someone will buy your service,
-
3:04
but if everyone is selling then how are you going to win any business through it?
-
3:10
So the big one is about hiring a salesperson.
-
3:14
Should you hire a salesperson to do all of this stuff for you?
-
3:18
Well that's a tricky question, and I have to say
-
3:22
I don't think hiring a salesperson is the answer.
-
3:25
After all, how do you motivate them?
-
3:28
Do you put them on commission?—but commission on what?
-
3:32
Is that commission on sales or commission on the profit that you make on the project?
-
3:38
If it's sales, then they're just going to promise the earth, aren't they?
-
3:41
"Oh yes, we can do all of these really complicated technical things
-
3:45
on your web site for 50 pence" because they want to win the project
-
3:49
so that they get their commission on that project.
-
3:52
They don't care that you're not going to make profit on it.
-
3:55
If however you provide them with commission based on profit margins,
-
4:00
well that's a bit unfair on them, because your profit is so dependent
-
4:04
on things outside of their control. It's not their fault if the client is badly managed.
-
4:09
It's not their fault if you get stuck on a particular technical problem.
-
4:14
So it's very hard to motivate an external salesperson.
-
4:20
So what is our conclusion from all of this?
-
4:23
Well, basically, traditional sales and marketing approaches just don't work
-
4:28
when it comes to promoting your web design business.
You need to sign up for Treehouse in order to download course files.
Sign up