Professional freelancing advice needed
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I have had a web site under the name PCSpectra (either .ca or .com) for almost ten years but I really only ever used it as a place to host source code, ideas and remotely store files of importance and backups. A couple of months ago I decided to put some serious effort into it and promote my services through my web site and not just some random PHP developer guy. I've been linking back to my site from various places (mostly forums and programming communities, Linux, Web design, etc) and I'm getting only about 50 unique hits a day. Sadly none of my online marketing efforts have transpired into any lead or contact, etc. What I do get a lot of is bogus emails coming in through my contact form, of people telling me how much my blog sucks or how much my site sucks, etc... X| :laugh: Some comments are actually funny. :) Unfortunately none have made me any money. I am gradually changing all my forum aliases to PCSpectra from Hockey and linking to my site from my sig and promoting my blog on other related blogs. It's all quite a lot of work when all you want to do is develop software. :P For the last year or so I've been developing a newsletter/email marketing software package to compete with the big guns and now I need extra cash to pay for the hosting and advertising fees, hence the serious effort in promoting my web site/business -- if you can call it that. :) So my question is, clearly I'm advertising in the wrong places, probably mostly developers or other tech savvy people viewing my site and borrowing ideas or trying to hack it. I have joined a few business networks like Ryze and tried promoting my services there as well with little or no success and yet I see others who do the same thing, with no web site (or one of poor quality, in terms of design, layout and validation, etc) and they apparently do find busiess on these sites. It's frustrating to say the least. What I would like to ask the CP community, especially those who have any experience doing freelance/contract work on a full time scale (something I've never been able to do -- simply cause I couldn't find enough business) can you please look at my site, tell me what you think and more importantly tell me how I can improve what I already have. More content? More blog entries? Where and/or how can I find leads? My webiste: PCSpectra p.s-Please do not recommend those PHP freelancing web sites. I am aware of them and despise them.
I think you should have a more generic home page (or 2 completely different ones) with links for each of your distinct markets. The highlights on the home page (Principle of Least Privilege, SQLi, XSS, CSRF and arbitrary code execution) will make your small/medium businesses potential customers "who don't know how the internet can benefit their business" leave your site before they even make it to the Internet Solutions page which seems to be the one you want them to see.
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I have had a web site under the name PCSpectra (either .ca or .com) for almost ten years but I really only ever used it as a place to host source code, ideas and remotely store files of importance and backups. A couple of months ago I decided to put some serious effort into it and promote my services through my web site and not just some random PHP developer guy. I've been linking back to my site from various places (mostly forums and programming communities, Linux, Web design, etc) and I'm getting only about 50 unique hits a day. Sadly none of my online marketing efforts have transpired into any lead or contact, etc. What I do get a lot of is bogus emails coming in through my contact form, of people telling me how much my blog sucks or how much my site sucks, etc... X| :laugh: Some comments are actually funny. :) Unfortunately none have made me any money. I am gradually changing all my forum aliases to PCSpectra from Hockey and linking to my site from my sig and promoting my blog on other related blogs. It's all quite a lot of work when all you want to do is develop software. :P For the last year or so I've been developing a newsletter/email marketing software package to compete with the big guns and now I need extra cash to pay for the hosting and advertising fees, hence the serious effort in promoting my web site/business -- if you can call it that. :) So my question is, clearly I'm advertising in the wrong places, probably mostly developers or other tech savvy people viewing my site and borrowing ideas or trying to hack it. I have joined a few business networks like Ryze and tried promoting my services there as well with little or no success and yet I see others who do the same thing, with no web site (or one of poor quality, in terms of design, layout and validation, etc) and they apparently do find busiess on these sites. It's frustrating to say the least. What I would like to ask the CP community, especially those who have any experience doing freelance/contract work on a full time scale (something I've never been able to do -- simply cause I couldn't find enough business) can you please look at my site, tell me what you think and more importantly tell me how I can improve what I already have. More content? More blog entries? Where and/or how can I find leads? My webiste: PCSpectra p.s-Please do not recommend those PHP freelancing web sites. I am aware of them and despise them.
Well, you've lost me at the front page. The content font is too faded and the banner is too big. Effectively you've sandwiched the most important part of your page into a very small area because valuable real estate is taken up with that contact callout. You're forcing me to scroll down three times to see all your content - this is not good, and won't help you win friends. I changed the font size and your layout degraded instantly. If you're pushing yourself as a professional web company, then your website needs to be rock solid and not fall over on such basic areas. If you can't get it right on your site, how's a client to expect that you'll get it right at their site? As others have said, networking is vital. You may want to take a look at this[^] article (and the other ones in the series - more will be coming soon). Legwork, and word of mouth are the only ways that you are likely to push yourself forward. The main issue that you face is that the market is saturated, so you need to stand out from the crowd. You need a differentiator that gives you the competitive edge when bidding for work. Looking at your site, one of the key things that strikes me is that you've given no thought as to how your site will place in search engines. You may want to consider taking a look at SEO techniques and figuring out what your site should focus on - and if you get the chance, get somebody in to write your copy. You will suck at it, and a professional will shine; it's nothing to be ashamed of because it's not what you are there to do. Marketing is a tough job to do, and while I'll sometimes poke fun at it I do respect it.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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I have had a web site under the name PCSpectra (either .ca or .com) for almost ten years but I really only ever used it as a place to host source code, ideas and remotely store files of importance and backups. A couple of months ago I decided to put some serious effort into it and promote my services through my web site and not just some random PHP developer guy. I've been linking back to my site from various places (mostly forums and programming communities, Linux, Web design, etc) and I'm getting only about 50 unique hits a day. Sadly none of my online marketing efforts have transpired into any lead or contact, etc. What I do get a lot of is bogus emails coming in through my contact form, of people telling me how much my blog sucks or how much my site sucks, etc... X| :laugh: Some comments are actually funny. :) Unfortunately none have made me any money. I am gradually changing all my forum aliases to PCSpectra from Hockey and linking to my site from my sig and promoting my blog on other related blogs. It's all quite a lot of work when all you want to do is develop software. :P For the last year or so I've been developing a newsletter/email marketing software package to compete with the big guns and now I need extra cash to pay for the hosting and advertising fees, hence the serious effort in promoting my web site/business -- if you can call it that. :) So my question is, clearly I'm advertising in the wrong places, probably mostly developers or other tech savvy people viewing my site and borrowing ideas or trying to hack it. I have joined a few business networks like Ryze and tried promoting my services there as well with little or no success and yet I see others who do the same thing, with no web site (or one of poor quality, in terms of design, layout and validation, etc) and they apparently do find busiess on these sites. It's frustrating to say the least. What I would like to ask the CP community, especially those who have any experience doing freelance/contract work on a full time scale (something I've never been able to do -- simply cause I couldn't find enough business) can you please look at my site, tell me what you think and more importantly tell me how I can improve what I already have. More content? More blog entries? Where and/or how can I find leads? My webiste: PCSpectra p.s-Please do not recommend those PHP freelancing web sites. I am aware of them and despise them.
I took a look at your site. It looks fine, albeit generic. Hate to say it, but the same goes for your logo, company name and tagline - all very generic. There's nothing to seperate you from 1000 other companies offering the same thing. I've been in business for nearly seven years, starting on my own and now have three employees. I don't believe I've gotten a single bit of work other than through word of mouth. I've never advertised (not even Yellow Pages), my current web site sucks. It doesn't matter, though, because for me it's all about the people network, doing a good job, keeping in touch, being friendly (but firm when required) and being someone people want to call. Go to conferences, chat with the people sitting beside you. Don't be pushy about what you do, ask what they do - they'll ask back. The last conference I went to I got an RFP from a fellow sitting beside me in one of the project management sessions. All I did was say "hi" and ask about him and what he did. We chatted for a few minutes, he gave me his card, I gave him mine. People will take a chance on others if they can relate to or at least feel comfortable with them (in my experience, anyway). I noticed, when searching for your company name, that it usually came up on computer-related sites. Bill's Flower Shop isn't going to look there to find someone to do his web site. If he belongs to the local Chamber, he's going to ask people he knows there. He's going to ask his 'Computer Guy/Gal' if they know anyone. He might look in the local Yellow Pages if all else fails, but ultimately it comes down to the people network. If you don't feel like you're the best at approaching people or talking on the phone etc. (I sure wasn't!), get someone to listen to you and give you feedback, then try hard too get better at it! Join Toastmasters and learn how to talk and think on your feet. Finally, I think changing your user name to your company name here is a big mistake. It comes across a bit smarmy. Why not change it to your real name? It makes you seem more approachable. Anyway, that's my perspection. Others will be different but hopefully there's something here that helps. Good luck with what you're doing - it isn't easy getting that network going, but the effort will definitely pay off. You'll be surprised how far reaching a network can become in fairly short order if you do a good job. Cheers, Drew.
modified on Tuesday, November 11, 2008 10:23 PM
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Anna-Jayne Metcalfe wrote:
My suggestion would be to join Business Link
I second that. Joining a local Chamber of Commerce or something like that is helpful.
"The clue train passed his station without stopping." - John Simmons / outlaw programmer "Real programmers just throw a bunch of 1s and 0s at the computer to see what sticks" - Pete O'Hanlon "Not only do you continue to babble nonsense, you can't even correctly remember the nonsense you babbled just minutes ago." - Rob Graham
We've certainly found that ourselves - conferences can be pretty useful too.
Anna :rose: Having a bad bug day? Tech Blog | Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "If mushy peas are the food of the devil, the stotty cake is the frisbee of God"
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I took a look at your site. It looks fine, albeit generic. Hate to say it, but the same goes for your logo, company name and tagline - all very generic. There's nothing to seperate you from 1000 other companies offering the same thing. I've been in business for nearly seven years, starting on my own and now have three employees. I don't believe I've gotten a single bit of work other than through word of mouth. I've never advertised (not even Yellow Pages), my current web site sucks. It doesn't matter, though, because for me it's all about the people network, doing a good job, keeping in touch, being friendly (but firm when required) and being someone people want to call. Go to conferences, chat with the people sitting beside you. Don't be pushy about what you do, ask what they do - they'll ask back. The last conference I went to I got an RFP from a fellow sitting beside me in one of the project management sessions. All I did was say "hi" and ask about him and what he did. We chatted for a few minutes, he gave me his card, I gave him mine. People will take a chance on others if they can relate to or at least feel comfortable with them (in my experience, anyway). I noticed, when searching for your company name, that it usually came up on computer-related sites. Bill's Flower Shop isn't going to look there to find someone to do his web site. If he belongs to the local Chamber, he's going to ask people he knows there. He's going to ask his 'Computer Guy/Gal' if they know anyone. He might look in the local Yellow Pages if all else fails, but ultimately it comes down to the people network. If you don't feel like you're the best at approaching people or talking on the phone etc. (I sure wasn't!), get someone to listen to you and give you feedback, then try hard too get better at it! Join Toastmasters and learn how to talk and think on your feet. Finally, I think changing your user name to your company name here is a big mistake. It comes across a bit smarmy. Why not change it to your real name? It makes you seem more approachable. Anyway, that's my perspection. Others will be different but hopefully there's something here that helps. Good luck with what you're doing - it isn't easy getting that network going, but the effort will definitely pay off. You'll be surprised how far reaching a network can become in fairly short order if you do a good job. Cheers, Drew.
modified on Tuesday, November 11, 2008 10:23 PM
Drew Stainton wrote:
Finally, I think changing your user name to your company name here is a big mistake.
Maybe he's Phil Spector, and he's trying to disguise this but not in a very clever way.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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We've certainly found that ourselves - conferences can be pretty useful too.
Anna :rose: Having a bad bug day? Tech Blog | Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "If mushy peas are the food of the devil, the stotty cake is the frisbee of God"
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe wrote:
conferences can be pretty useful too
That's something I am going to have to remember :)
"The clue train passed his station without stopping." - John Simmons / outlaw programmer "Real programmers just throw a bunch of 1s and 0s at the computer to see what sticks" - Pete O'Hanlon "Not only do you continue to babble nonsense, you can't even correctly remember the nonsense you babbled just minutes ago." - Rob Graham
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I have had a web site under the name PCSpectra (either .ca or .com) for almost ten years but I really only ever used it as a place to host source code, ideas and remotely store files of importance and backups. A couple of months ago I decided to put some serious effort into it and promote my services through my web site and not just some random PHP developer guy. I've been linking back to my site from various places (mostly forums and programming communities, Linux, Web design, etc) and I'm getting only about 50 unique hits a day. Sadly none of my online marketing efforts have transpired into any lead or contact, etc. What I do get a lot of is bogus emails coming in through my contact form, of people telling me how much my blog sucks or how much my site sucks, etc... X| :laugh: Some comments are actually funny. :) Unfortunately none have made me any money. I am gradually changing all my forum aliases to PCSpectra from Hockey and linking to my site from my sig and promoting my blog on other related blogs. It's all quite a lot of work when all you want to do is develop software. :P For the last year or so I've been developing a newsletter/email marketing software package to compete with the big guns and now I need extra cash to pay for the hosting and advertising fees, hence the serious effort in promoting my web site/business -- if you can call it that. :) So my question is, clearly I'm advertising in the wrong places, probably mostly developers or other tech savvy people viewing my site and borrowing ideas or trying to hack it. I have joined a few business networks like Ryze and tried promoting my services there as well with little or no success and yet I see others who do the same thing, with no web site (or one of poor quality, in terms of design, layout and validation, etc) and they apparently do find busiess on these sites. It's frustrating to say the least. What I would like to ask the CP community, especially those who have any experience doing freelance/contract work on a full time scale (something I've never been able to do -- simply cause I couldn't find enough business) can you please look at my site, tell me what you think and more importantly tell me how I can improve what I already have. More content? More blog entries? Where and/or how can I find leads? My webiste: PCSpectra p.s-Please do not recommend those PHP freelancing web sites. I am aware of them and despise them.
Some "issues" (I like the word "issues", it covers a multitude of sins :) ) with your site that you might want to consider... 1) If your core message is "Professional Web Developers for hire", your site does a good job of hiding it. I open the link and the first thing I should see is "Professional Web Developers for hire" 2) No product showcase. If I were to even consider buying your services I would expect (and even demand!) to see what you've done for other people. Moreover, you should be shouting at me "Here's what I've done for company X, just imagine what I can do for you!" 3) No personal touch. Make your photo (and that of anybody else involved) more prominent and give me a tailored autobiography - incidentally, I don't care about pets or kids, I want experience, achievements, more experience, work ethic, professionalism and even more experience. Similarly I don't want airy-fairy statements like "Over the last 15 years we have developed professional relationships with some of the brightest and best in their respective fields... With these best of breed contacts", I want specifics. Above all I want to feel confident that you can do the job; you can tell me about your personal life when you invite me around for dinner as your number one customer. 4) Design. It looks nicely put together, but it's boring and too corporate. It says to me accountancy - not dynamic finger-on-the-pulse of technology. 5) Present content is far too technical. I'm a business man, not a developer, and I'm interested in selling more [whatever it is I sell or do] to more people via the web. I don't know what the LAMP stack is and I probably don't want to - I'm only interested in the results. (Although by all means have a separate technical area - just don't include it as part of a sales pitch) 6) Language: Watch out for stuff like "You have nothing to lose but an entire high-tech world to gain so contact us today!!!" and "No worries. We have a database of professional cost effective freelance web designers who will craft you a perfect design." 7) In a crowded marketplace you need a unique selling point and YOU MUST MAKE IT KNOWN! 8) Blog - didn't like the security like pop-up when I clicked the link, and the very first thing I noticed about it was the title "Rants about technology and software, especially it’s design and development". Bad move - I don't want a ranter, I want someone calm, collected and confident. And there were a couple of other things, but I can't remember wha
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I think you should have a more generic home page (or 2 completely different ones) with links for each of your distinct markets. The highlights on the home page (Principle of Least Privilege, SQLi, XSS, CSRF and arbitrary code execution) will make your small/medium businesses potential customers "who don't know how the internet can benefit their business" leave your site before they even make it to the Internet Solutions page which seems to be the one you want them to see.
Good points - I had to go back and take a second look because I was that put off by the look of the site that I didn't even look at the content. The first rule is KISS, and this hasn't followed that at all. It reads like a B3 page (and for those who don't know what B3 is, it means Bullshit Baffles Brains).
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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Some "issues" (I like the word "issues", it covers a multitude of sins :) ) with your site that you might want to consider... 1) If your core message is "Professional Web Developers for hire", your site does a good job of hiding it. I open the link and the first thing I should see is "Professional Web Developers for hire" 2) No product showcase. If I were to even consider buying your services I would expect (and even demand!) to see what you've done for other people. Moreover, you should be shouting at me "Here's what I've done for company X, just imagine what I can do for you!" 3) No personal touch. Make your photo (and that of anybody else involved) more prominent and give me a tailored autobiography - incidentally, I don't care about pets or kids, I want experience, achievements, more experience, work ethic, professionalism and even more experience. Similarly I don't want airy-fairy statements like "Over the last 15 years we have developed professional relationships with some of the brightest and best in their respective fields... With these best of breed contacts", I want specifics. Above all I want to feel confident that you can do the job; you can tell me about your personal life when you invite me around for dinner as your number one customer. 4) Design. It looks nicely put together, but it's boring and too corporate. It says to me accountancy - not dynamic finger-on-the-pulse of technology. 5) Present content is far too technical. I'm a business man, not a developer, and I'm interested in selling more [whatever it is I sell or do] to more people via the web. I don't know what the LAMP stack is and I probably don't want to - I'm only interested in the results. (Although by all means have a separate technical area - just don't include it as part of a sales pitch) 6) Language: Watch out for stuff like "You have nothing to lose but an entire high-tech world to gain so contact us today!!!" and "No worries. We have a database of professional cost effective freelance web designers who will craft you a perfect design." 7) In a crowded marketplace you need a unique selling point and YOU MUST MAKE IT KNOWN! 8) Blog - didn't like the security like pop-up when I clicked the link, and the very first thing I noticed about it was the title "Rants about technology and software, especially it’s design and development". Bad move - I don't want a ranter, I want someone calm, collected and confident. And there were a couple of other things, but I can't remember wha
martin_hughes wrote:
I can't remember what they are and I'm going to bed.
Take a moment to consider that there's always time for one more beer before bedtime. It's like Zen.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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I have had a web site under the name PCSpectra (either .ca or .com) for almost ten years but I really only ever used it as a place to host source code, ideas and remotely store files of importance and backups. A couple of months ago I decided to put some serious effort into it and promote my services through my web site and not just some random PHP developer guy. I've been linking back to my site from various places (mostly forums and programming communities, Linux, Web design, etc) and I'm getting only about 50 unique hits a day. Sadly none of my online marketing efforts have transpired into any lead or contact, etc. What I do get a lot of is bogus emails coming in through my contact form, of people telling me how much my blog sucks or how much my site sucks, etc... X| :laugh: Some comments are actually funny. :) Unfortunately none have made me any money. I am gradually changing all my forum aliases to PCSpectra from Hockey and linking to my site from my sig and promoting my blog on other related blogs. It's all quite a lot of work when all you want to do is develop software. :P For the last year or so I've been developing a newsletter/email marketing software package to compete with the big guns and now I need extra cash to pay for the hosting and advertising fees, hence the serious effort in promoting my web site/business -- if you can call it that. :) So my question is, clearly I'm advertising in the wrong places, probably mostly developers or other tech savvy people viewing my site and borrowing ideas or trying to hack it. I have joined a few business networks like Ryze and tried promoting my services there as well with little or no success and yet I see others who do the same thing, with no web site (or one of poor quality, in terms of design, layout and validation, etc) and they apparently do find busiess on these sites. It's frustrating to say the least. What I would like to ask the CP community, especially those who have any experience doing freelance/contract work on a full time scale (something I've never been able to do -- simply cause I couldn't find enough business) can you please look at my site, tell me what you think and more importantly tell me how I can improve what I already have. More content? More blog entries? Where and/or how can I find leads? My webiste: PCSpectra p.s-Please do not recommend those PHP freelancing web sites. I am aware of them and despise them.
PCSpectra wrote:
(or one of poor quality, in terms of design, layout and validation, etc)
I get a few hundred hits a day but have never got a single response from my website alone. The only real way is direct, face-to-face marketing. Otherwise people will see you as just another low cost bidder with a crappier website that charges more. Which reminds me, I need to jazz up my site it is way too clearly done by an engineer.
Need software developed? Offering C# development all over the United States, ERL GLOBAL, Inc is the only call you will have to make.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know. -- Ernest Hemingway
Most of this sig is for Google, not ego. -
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe wrote:
conferences can be pretty useful too
That's something I am going to have to remember :)
"The clue train passed his station without stopping." - John Simmons / outlaw programmer "Real programmers just throw a bunch of 1s and 0s at the computer to see what sticks" - Pete O'Hanlon "Not only do you continue to babble nonsense, you can't even correctly remember the nonsense you babbled just minutes ago." - Rob Graham
It's worth remembering, believe me. We're off to the European Software Conference[^] in Berlin next month (always fun, and also my chance to remind myself how poor my marketing skills are). Next April we'll be at the ACCU Conference[^] again - an altogether busier affair, at which the underlying aim is not to end up becoming one of the Lakosed * for that year. If it helps, both involve lots of time propping up the bar and charging round town looking for just the right place to eat in. * If you really want to know, look in my tech blog for what happened this April...
Anna :rose: Having a bad bug day? Tech Blog | Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "If mushy peas are the food of the devil, the stotty cake is the frisbee of God"
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I have had a web site under the name PCSpectra (either .ca or .com) for almost ten years but I really only ever used it as a place to host source code, ideas and remotely store files of importance and backups. A couple of months ago I decided to put some serious effort into it and promote my services through my web site and not just some random PHP developer guy. I've been linking back to my site from various places (mostly forums and programming communities, Linux, Web design, etc) and I'm getting only about 50 unique hits a day. Sadly none of my online marketing efforts have transpired into any lead or contact, etc. What I do get a lot of is bogus emails coming in through my contact form, of people telling me how much my blog sucks or how much my site sucks, etc... X| :laugh: Some comments are actually funny. :) Unfortunately none have made me any money. I am gradually changing all my forum aliases to PCSpectra from Hockey and linking to my site from my sig and promoting my blog on other related blogs. It's all quite a lot of work when all you want to do is develop software. :P For the last year or so I've been developing a newsletter/email marketing software package to compete with the big guns and now I need extra cash to pay for the hosting and advertising fees, hence the serious effort in promoting my web site/business -- if you can call it that. :) So my question is, clearly I'm advertising in the wrong places, probably mostly developers or other tech savvy people viewing my site and borrowing ideas or trying to hack it. I have joined a few business networks like Ryze and tried promoting my services there as well with little or no success and yet I see others who do the same thing, with no web site (or one of poor quality, in terms of design, layout and validation, etc) and they apparently do find busiess on these sites. It's frustrating to say the least. What I would like to ask the CP community, especially those who have any experience doing freelance/contract work on a full time scale (something I've never been able to do -- simply cause I couldn't find enough business) can you please look at my site, tell me what you think and more importantly tell me how I can improve what I already have. More content? More blog entries? Where and/or how can I find leads? My webiste: PCSpectra p.s-Please do not recommend those PHP freelancing web sites. I am aware of them and despise them.
Alex - I've managed to control my urge to heave long enough to move further into your site - specifically your Open Source page. I'm sorry, but as a client, I couldn't give a fetid rats toss as to how involved you are with Open Source. Well, whoopdefreakindo. Then, you go on to say that one of those open source products should be ignored because you've got another one on the backburner. That's not a great message you're putting out there.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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I have had a web site under the name PCSpectra (either .ca or .com) for almost ten years but I really only ever used it as a place to host source code, ideas and remotely store files of importance and backups. A couple of months ago I decided to put some serious effort into it and promote my services through my web site and not just some random PHP developer guy. I've been linking back to my site from various places (mostly forums and programming communities, Linux, Web design, etc) and I'm getting only about 50 unique hits a day. Sadly none of my online marketing efforts have transpired into any lead or contact, etc. What I do get a lot of is bogus emails coming in through my contact form, of people telling me how much my blog sucks or how much my site sucks, etc... X| :laugh: Some comments are actually funny. :) Unfortunately none have made me any money. I am gradually changing all my forum aliases to PCSpectra from Hockey and linking to my site from my sig and promoting my blog on other related blogs. It's all quite a lot of work when all you want to do is develop software. :P For the last year or so I've been developing a newsletter/email marketing software package to compete with the big guns and now I need extra cash to pay for the hosting and advertising fees, hence the serious effort in promoting my web site/business -- if you can call it that. :) So my question is, clearly I'm advertising in the wrong places, probably mostly developers or other tech savvy people viewing my site and borrowing ideas or trying to hack it. I have joined a few business networks like Ryze and tried promoting my services there as well with little or no success and yet I see others who do the same thing, with no web site (or one of poor quality, in terms of design, layout and validation, etc) and they apparently do find busiess on these sites. It's frustrating to say the least. What I would like to ask the CP community, especially those who have any experience doing freelance/contract work on a full time scale (something I've never been able to do -- simply cause I couldn't find enough business) can you please look at my site, tell me what you think and more importantly tell me how I can improve what I already have. More content? More blog entries? Where and/or how can I find leads? My webiste: PCSpectra p.s-Please do not recommend those PHP freelancing web sites. I am aware of them and despise them.
Your website looks like a generic template taken from a CMS theme gallery - there's nothing on there that makes you stand out or look like a real operation. my 2pc
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PCSpectra wrote:
Not a single one. It was probably the hardest thing I have ever done in my life...doing PR, salesy stuff. Yuck! Ideally I would do that...which is basically what my kits promoted...asking them to call me about their problems, etc. Giving some generic examples of why a web site/web applicaiton would help their business.
I feel your pain. I've had to learn how to market our product, and it's still not something I've got the hang of (though I can evangelise with the best of them!). The problem with flyers is that (at least) 99% will trash them without really looking at them. If you ever dabble in direct sales, you'll learn that only about 1 in 20 calls will result in any kind of prospect. With flyers its far, far worse than that. That's why I suggested you need to get face to face with potential customers so you can sound them out on what their problems are. At the very least, it could save you from wasting your funds on ineffective marketing.
PCSpectra wrote:
Initially I'll be giving it away for free...I plan on making money on customizations and exceeding of free accounts. That is how I will differ from every competitor I have seen so far. That and simplicity!
Free versions can work well for the consumer market, but for B2B I'd stay clear of it - particularly in the current economic climate. FWIW we actually had to change the licence terms for the free version of our main product earlier this year to stop some (very) large corporates from using it in preference to a paid version. I'm afraid I still can't tell what your service is from your description, though. If I can't do that, what is a non-technically literate business owner going to make of it? Just a thought. Good luck! :rose:
Anna :rose: Having a bad bug day? Tech Blog | Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "If mushy peas are the food of the devil, the stotty cake is the frisbee of God"
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe wrote:
That's why I suggested you need to get face to face with potential customers so you can sound them out on what their problems are. At the very least, it could save you from wasting your funds on ineffective marketing.
That is essentially what I did when I handed the informaiton kits out directly...admittedly I had a few warm responses but ultimately no one called back. :( Follow up calls seem so "forward" almost spammish. :P
Blog Entry: 7 Software development best practices to make you more effective and productive PCSpectra :: Professional, Affordable PHP Programming, Web Development and Documentation
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I have had a web site under the name PCSpectra (either .ca or .com) for almost ten years but I really only ever used it as a place to host source code, ideas and remotely store files of importance and backups. A couple of months ago I decided to put some serious effort into it and promote my services through my web site and not just some random PHP developer guy. I've been linking back to my site from various places (mostly forums and programming communities, Linux, Web design, etc) and I'm getting only about 50 unique hits a day. Sadly none of my online marketing efforts have transpired into any lead or contact, etc. What I do get a lot of is bogus emails coming in through my contact form, of people telling me how much my blog sucks or how much my site sucks, etc... X| :laugh: Some comments are actually funny. :) Unfortunately none have made me any money. I am gradually changing all my forum aliases to PCSpectra from Hockey and linking to my site from my sig and promoting my blog on other related blogs. It's all quite a lot of work when all you want to do is develop software. :P For the last year or so I've been developing a newsletter/email marketing software package to compete with the big guns and now I need extra cash to pay for the hosting and advertising fees, hence the serious effort in promoting my web site/business -- if you can call it that. :) So my question is, clearly I'm advertising in the wrong places, probably mostly developers or other tech savvy people viewing my site and borrowing ideas or trying to hack it. I have joined a few business networks like Ryze and tried promoting my services there as well with little or no success and yet I see others who do the same thing, with no web site (or one of poor quality, in terms of design, layout and validation, etc) and they apparently do find busiess on these sites. It's frustrating to say the least. What I would like to ask the CP community, especially those who have any experience doing freelance/contract work on a full time scale (something I've never been able to do -- simply cause I couldn't find enough business) can you please look at my site, tell me what you think and more importantly tell me how I can improve what I already have. More content? More blog entries? Where and/or how can I find leads? My webiste: PCSpectra p.s-Please do not recommend those PHP freelancing web sites. I am aware of them and despise them.
Even though you go on to give 4 reasonable reasons, BUT, by starting your web site with these words "In a market that is already over saturated with competition and outsourcing, why would anyone use PCSpectra services?" In my opinion, you are giving your potential customers a way out without properly introducing yourself or your services. To use your words "why would anyone use PCSpectra services?". My answer "NOBODY", why - because the market is saturated and is cheap AND you haven't told me what you can do that I can't get done cheaper or better elsewhere. If this style is similar to how you approach businesses with your newsletter and e-mail marketing, then you may well need to go back to "start" and have a proper rethink of how you want your business to be portrayed and stating in confidence what it is you can possibly do for your customers to make THEM more profitable then you might start attracting customers and retaining customers thus you begin to create the kind of business success you are looking for. It will be good for you to have a read of Pete O'Hanlon's "Going Solo" series in particular those where he speaks of Marketing Techniques.
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Paul Watson wrote:
when I read "Internet Solutions Consultants."
When I read that, I thought "how expensive" can the consulting services be.
"The clue train passed his station without stopping." - John Simmons / outlaw programmer "Real programmers just throw a bunch of 1s and 0s at the computer to see what sticks" - Pete O'Hanlon "Not only do you continue to babble nonsense, you can't even correctly remember the nonsense you babbled just minutes ago." - Rob Graham
Paul Conrad wrote:
When I read that, I thought "how expensive" can the consulting services be.
That is just a title I invented to better describe what is was I can do for a business... I wasn't planning on just web development or web design, but online marketing, SEO, hosting, application management, training, etc. Basically I wanted to hear their problems and offer my solutions. If they wanted to know whether to use a certain designer or developer, I would act as a non-biased third party and scrutinize their services using a check list to determine the best candidates. Not including myself. :) The way I see it, business have financial advisors, lawyers, etc. I've been using software and programming computers for the majority of my life...I'm pretty certain if a business has any "tech" related problem (similar to a lawyer or financial advisor) I can offer a better solution then they can find or figure out themselves. It's easier for me to learn about their problems then it is for them to learn everything I have over the last 20+ years. Hence the Internet Solutions Consultant. Also in a few books I read on marketing, they suggested separating yourself from your comptition, not following the leader. :)
Blog Entry: 7 Software development best practices to make you more effective and productive PCSpectra :: Professional, Affordable PHP Programming, Web Development and Documentation
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martin_hughes wrote:
I can't remember what they are and I'm going to bed.
Take a moment to consider that there's always time for one more beer before bedtime. It's like Zen.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
Pete O'Hanlon wrote:
one more beer before bedtime
Ok Pete, you've convinced me at least, cracking a can right now. Cheers! :beer:
Dave
BTW, in software, hope and pray is not a viable strategy. (Luc Pattyn)
Visual Basic is not used by normal people so we're not covering it here. (Uncyclopedia) -
Paul Conrad wrote:
When I read that, I thought "how expensive" can the consulting services be.
That is just a title I invented to better describe what is was I can do for a business... I wasn't planning on just web development or web design, but online marketing, SEO, hosting, application management, training, etc. Basically I wanted to hear their problems and offer my solutions. If they wanted to know whether to use a certain designer or developer, I would act as a non-biased third party and scrutinize their services using a check list to determine the best candidates. Not including myself. :) The way I see it, business have financial advisors, lawyers, etc. I've been using software and programming computers for the majority of my life...I'm pretty certain if a business has any "tech" related problem (similar to a lawyer or financial advisor) I can offer a better solution then they can find or figure out themselves. It's easier for me to learn about their problems then it is for them to learn everything I have over the last 20+ years. Hence the Internet Solutions Consultant. Also in a few books I read on marketing, they suggested separating yourself from your comptition, not following the leader. :)
Blog Entry: 7 Software development best practices to make you more effective and productive PCSpectra :: Professional, Affordable PHP Programming, Web Development and Documentation
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Even though you go on to give 4 reasonable reasons, BUT, by starting your web site with these words "In a market that is already over saturated with competition and outsourcing, why would anyone use PCSpectra services?" In my opinion, you are giving your potential customers a way out without properly introducing yourself or your services. To use your words "why would anyone use PCSpectra services?". My answer "NOBODY", why - because the market is saturated and is cheap AND you haven't told me what you can do that I can't get done cheaper or better elsewhere. If this style is similar to how you approach businesses with your newsletter and e-mail marketing, then you may well need to go back to "start" and have a proper rethink of how you want your business to be portrayed and stating in confidence what it is you can possibly do for your customers to make THEM more profitable then you might start attracting customers and retaining customers thus you begin to create the kind of business success you are looking for. It will be good for you to have a read of Pete O'Hanlon's "Going Solo" series in particular those where he speaks of Marketing Techniques.
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Paul Conrad wrote:
When I read that, I thought "how expensive" can the consulting services be.
That is just a title I invented to better describe what is was I can do for a business... I wasn't planning on just web development or web design, but online marketing, SEO, hosting, application management, training, etc. Basically I wanted to hear their problems and offer my solutions. If they wanted to know whether to use a certain designer or developer, I would act as a non-biased third party and scrutinize their services using a check list to determine the best candidates. Not including myself. :) The way I see it, business have financial advisors, lawyers, etc. I've been using software and programming computers for the majority of my life...I'm pretty certain if a business has any "tech" related problem (similar to a lawyer or financial advisor) I can offer a better solution then they can find or figure out themselves. It's easier for me to learn about their problems then it is for them to learn everything I have over the last 20+ years. Hence the Internet Solutions Consultant. Also in a few books I read on marketing, they suggested separating yourself from your comptition, not following the leader. :)
Blog Entry: 7 Software development best practices to make you more effective and productive PCSpectra :: Professional, Affordable PHP Programming, Web Development and Documentation
My bit about a consultant being "expensive" is actually advise I received from a client of mine. The individual is a sales/marketing expert. He warned that most prospective clients may be turned away from the word consultant out of assumption that a consultant is expensive.
PCSpectra wrote:
Basically I wanted to hear their problems and offer my solutions.
Sounds pretty fair to me.
PCSpectra wrote:
business have financial advisors, lawyers
Those guys can be pretty pricey. Don't take this post in a wrong way that you should sell yourself short, by all means, don't do that. I am sure you probably have some good demo projects that you can use when presenting yourself and your business, this is where you can justify a good competitive rate.
PCSpectra wrote:
separating yourself from your comptition
Well, with that in mind, you can do that by showing people what makes YOU stand out from the rest of the competition. What can your business do, that others cannot?
"The clue train passed his station without stopping." - John Simmons / outlaw programmer "Real programmers just throw a bunch of 1s and 0s at the computer to see what sticks" - Pete O'Hanlon "Not only do you continue to babble nonsense, you can't even correctly remember the nonsense you babbled just minutes ago." - Rob Graham