The Basics of our Business

Let's start with my value proposition. 0:00 I don't want to just list that I run a web design business. 0:03 That's the easiest way to drown myself in the crowd. 0:06 What am I good at and what am I going to focus on? 0:10 In all the work I've done, I've enjoyed working with small to mid size businesses. 0:13 Their needs were simple and I usually dealt with one point person or 0:18 two, not entire committees that stagnated the project, led to scope creep and 0:22 missed deadlines. 0:27 I'm also really good at using WordPress, whether it's writing custom themes or 0:29 building plugins. 0:33 So, the core of my value proposition is that 0:35 I run a web design business that works with small to 0:37 mid size clients to deliver their solutions using WordPress as a platform. 0:41 Now, I also do other things, like logo design and 0:46 some occasional SEO work, but those are add-on services if the client desires. 0:49 Including all these little things I do in my value proposition can make 0:54 it confusing. 0:57 We want it to be specific, so we hone in on our strategy. 0:59 Now I have a value [SOUND] proposition [SOUND] but 1:03 if a customer ends up finding me, 1:05 my value proposition doesn't effectively tell them why they should pick me. 1:07 [SOUND] I need to frame this value proposition around the problem I'm 1:11 solving or the needs and wants that I'm satisfying. 1:15 I'm going to focus the value proposition to say that I build websites for 1:18 clients who don't have any sort of online presence. 1:22 This means that I might have to engage in activities like marketing or 1:26 helping establish a social media presence for them as well. 1:30 But my value proposition directly speaks to a small business owner who wants to 1:33 market himself online, but 1:38 doesn't know where to start since he's never had a website before. 1:40 As much as I can, I need to think in terms of what the customer is looking for. 1:44 But in order for 1:49 me to do that, I need to figure out what my typical customer is like. 1:49 This brings me to the next section, my customer segments. 1:53 I'm targeting somewhat of a niche market. 1:58 Small to mid size businesses can be considered a mass market since there's so 2:01 many of them, 2:05 but I really want to focus on companies that have no online presence whatsoever. 2:06 Since these customers don't have any online presence, 2:12 we can say that our customers aren't really tech savvy. 2:15 This means that they're going to be looking in some of 2:18 the more traditional places for help. 2:20 I can dig deeper and define my customers in more detail to understand their 2:22 preferences, habits and how I can target them better. 2:27 But I'm not gonna undertake that task in this video. 2:30 I'm just going to use what I've learned to build on my strategy. 2:34 Now, if you don't know what your typical customer [SOUND] looks like, 2:38 then go out and meet them. 2:41 Find a potential customer and talk to them about their needs and 2:43 wants, what their workflow is like and the places that they look for help. 2:46 It should be easy to find a client. 2:51 If it isn't, then you probably need to change your focus. 2:53 Having that steady stream of clients is pretty important for a freelance business. 2:57