A fight against medium/big Internet Company -- worth it?

You won't know until you try.

You sell what you have. The competition are the "big guys with so much infrastructure" while not giving personal expert attention and "they are the people who have committees to have committees" and so forth.

Tell your prospects that they can act like a factory mill churning out sites while YOU as the resident expert stay hands-on with each client you choose to work with as you only choose those you can help, not everyone with a wallet.

So when you decide to go in with someone they get you not some in-between that doesn't know what you know. Tell them there is a reason that general practitioner doctors are greater than neurosurgeons. Who would they rather have diagnose and work on their marketing/internet marketing problems?

Good luck...

I think it's just a mental state.. I must be sure of my value and my knowledges...
Well, I'm going to send to them a letter... I'll keep you informed

These comments are right, being smaller means you can give them personal attention tailored to their needs. Also don't forget that a larger company will have set processes in place for most tasks, that means that they cannot quickly deploy warrior magic that they pick up from the experienced & innovative people on the forum. But you can !

Think of it this way....

If they are dealing with a larger company that means they are one account of many, which means they were signed up to the company by a young underpaid sales guy.

Come off as professional and you will be heard

Thank you for all your reply!
I dont know if in the USA there's the same situation... e.g. in Italy the Yellow Page company is making very basic sites for 3-4 hundreds euros.. but these sites are very poor
Also, there're a 'dangerous' alliance between the main telephone company, the YP, Google and Register.
They are givin' away free website.. bleah!

You dont have to have "better ideas" than Goliath, you just have to bring MORE ideas to the table to help them expand and create new avenues. Many customers dont want to change their company, but they are glad to add new streams and new companies and new ideas...to expand their presence. You dont have to take down YP's website to help them expand. Heck for that matter they could have 5 websites.

In short, it doesnt have to always be "either/or" when selling a new client. You may even compliment some of their current efforts and show ways to add things...not to their site, but portal pages on other domains, articles, backlinks... and other things of that nature to help them get even more out what they already do. eventually they will develop more of a relationship with you than YP and they may change anyway.

Some businesses are very frustrated with the service they get from large companies. They get sold one thing and the company gives them something else. They just want someone that will listen to them and be honest and actually care about them. They might be very happy to talk to work with you.

There are some great suggestions in this thread about how to handle this situation, which I am sure all of us just starting to get into the offline arena will face.

I think one important point to remember is just because they are a big company doesn't mean they are satisfying their clients needs.

Focus on how YOU can produce results.

have a talk with the business owner. When talking with him or her you might find some holes that this large company is not filling and that might be your opportunity right there.

I don't know what services you are looking to provide but

This large company...

do they have this person on the front page of google?
if not there is an opportunity

do they have a way to capture the names and contact info of people who visit this persons website?
if not there is an opportunity

do they have good call to actions setup on this companys webpages?
if not there is an opportunity

My point is that no matter the competition you can always find a way in. But you have to 1) CHange your mindset, 2) Talk with the owner.

Let us know how things go for you.

Shane_K

(sorry for the delay..)
I've just sent some letters... in the next days I'll follow-up them...

It's possible to still succeed. Especially if you have a large advertising budget and a strong backend marketing campaign. Alot of testing will be needed until you find the "magical formula" that works. And once you have that formula, your rivals wont become much competition for you. Anyway you can squeeze yourself into a niche?

Web design is one thing... actually getting results in another.

When you sell yourself, and you're competing against the big boys, the most important thing you need to do is see where you can find a need. Clients, are only clients until they find something better.

Being smaller, maybe you can offer better service, personalized service. You need to find a weakness and expose it.