Need Website Business Design Tips, Advice & WSO Recommendations

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So as someone that has been working as a full time internet marketer for 5 years, people always assume I create websites. It would annoy me because when you say internet that's all people think of. So like a dummy for years I've told people no I don't. I never really wanted to deal with the hassle of doing a custom designed website. But it's finally dawned on me after reading this forum and studying the comp on craigslist that I don't have to do custom designs per se. I can just sell website design services based on pre-set packages and Wordpress themes where the only thing that needs to be customized is the header/logo and the content.

So with that said, I have a few questions from the esteemed successful offline marketers here.

1. Where can I find offline business ready Wordpress themes or software that makes it easy to create? Mobile ready would be nice too but can easily addressed with simple mobile plugins. Any wso suggestions are welcomed too. It would be nice if I could easily whip up demo sites in minutes instead of just referring to a portfolio. I think it's more powerful if the client sees their own information. But I could be wrong about that.

2. How to get clients? I don't think this will be much of a problem because I have a sales person and already have tons of people always asking me if I create websites. But I wouldn't mind learning unique ways of getting clients for this business. Any wso suggestions are welcomed too. I figure the easiest approach is giving away free information to prospects that help them get more business and then offer to build them a website as another way to help get them business.

3. What other services would you eventually upsell that isn't reliant on Google but adds value? Facebook fanpage, Google Place Listings, Yelp Listings, YouTube Videos?

4. Are there any WSOs or products that cover the whole website design business from the design aspect, getting clients, and everything else? I searched but it seemed like each wso only covers a certain area rather than all.

Your feedback and guidance is greatly appreciated!

I've sold SEO successfully for a year or two. But I find it to be a hard sell and now with Google being all over the place with their updates. I don't feel as confident that I can rank local clients consistently as I have in the past. I also don't like the idea of my business being reliant on another company that I don't own. So I figure with the website design business it solves this issue and then gives me the opportunity to up-sell other things like email marketing, usability, lead generation, etc.

Thanks guys!
#offline marketing #advice #business #design #recommendations #tips #website #wso
  • 5 years of SEO clients and you haven't retired? Wouldn't 5 years of building residual income set you up for life?

    Do you mind explaining?
    • [1] reply
    • Sorry I didn't explain myself properly. I've been earning a full time living as an affiliate marketer for 5 years. I've been able to do that because of the niche and being able to maintain high rankings for competitive keywords for that amount of time. During that time I decided to do some SEO consulting on the side to make a bit of extra money. I figured I might as well help other people with their website since everyone kept asking me how I was able to manage staying at home full time running websites.

      Things were good then the Penguin thing hit and it's pretty much cut my traffic down by 60%. Although I think I can get it back because of some of the warrior seo services I've seen.

      In any event, unlike most people I don't blame Google. I blame myself for building a "business" on one leg. That's why I tried venturing off into other business (Tax and municipal provider & Seo Consultant) while still running my own sites. But unfortunately the two other businesses haven't been profitable enough to replace the income I made as an affiliate marketer.

      So given my business model, no it's not something that can make you set for life since it was so dependent on one company. In stead of crying about it I'm adapting especially because of the wisdom of the folks on this forum.

      Hope that clarifies what happened.
  • Why don't you find a trustworthy and reliable person you can sub the work out to, and take a % as your fee?
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply

    • I would love that. But again then I'm reliant on someone else which has left a bad taste in my mouth because of the whole Penguin stuff. But If I have a few reliable resources that are reasonable priced then that would spread my risk so you're probably right. I have a sales person so at least that hurdle is resolved.

      I actually used snagit to whip up a local business website template based on one I found on Google. I've made it so I can easily modify it for any type of local business. Snagit allows me to export the design as an image or pdf. So I plan to create free demos for the people my sales person calls using snagit. And if they decide to buy I can have the mock up easily created into an actual wordpress theme by someone at fiverr. I already have one reliable wordpress template guy there that I have worked with before. But I definitely want to have more wordpress people available to me. So if you do know of some, I'm open to it.

      Another part of the outsourcing issue is pricing. I was planning on doing the whole 5 page package for $500 and split the profits with my sales person who is also my business partner. So at that price the margin it isn't really all that great to hire someone that may charge $100-$200 to create the site. But I have read a few threads that are showing me the error of my ways in my price. So I may not limit myself to that price point.

      I know my sales guy is good so I'm hoping he can sell the sites at a higher price. So we'll see. Either way I'm very excited. I've read some great tips and ideas in this sub forum. I have taken tons of notes and know this can be successful. Many of you are living proof of this and it's great that so many folks are sharing!
  • In my humble opinion, the services to sell to local business owners should be:

    1. G+ Local Listings / SEO
    2. Reputation Management

    Both are easy to do / outsource, and both bring a tremendous amount of value to a client.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • 1. Google place listings are so much like SEO with google constantly changing stuff but definitely less volatile. But I don't know of any good companies that are able to produce results. If you do know of any, I'm total open to outsourcing it. I really want to provide value and results to clients. The problem I have found with SEO for local clients is that it hasn't always translated to more business for them.

      2. I've actually done a bit of this. It's pretty easy. But the method I learned is to contact companies that already have bad reviews in google places and other sites and offer to get them pushed down by adding more positive reviews. The only problem with this service is that it's limited to clients that have bad reviews. I don't know of a quick way to find them.
  • 1. themeforest.net
    woothemes.com

    2. Read this subforum

    3. Mobile website
    Text messaging
    SEO
    Reputation Management
    Social Media Management
    PPC

    4. All offline WSO will teach you how to get clients. They will also teach you to sell specific service, for example SEO. Just offer web design instead of SEO. The client generating method still apply.

    If you think that selling web design is just changing logo and content for existing theme, prepare for a big surprise.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • Thanks.

      1. I created my own template based on one I found on Google using snagit. So that's done.

      2. I've been doing that for two days straight and I've learned so much! You offline guys rock and know you're stuff. I feel a lot more confident on how to win with this now.

      3. Mobile website, I plan on offering and know exactly how. So thanks for the suggestion.
      Social Media and Reputation management is probably another one I'll offer as well.
      PPC I really want to offer but I've always been an SEO guy so I'm not really strong with adwords and dealing with the bidding and monitoring of the keywords. Although I hear that adwords express makes this easier. Any guidance on how I could do this without it be time consuming or can be outsourced to some warriors or other good companies that specialize in small business? I'm wondering on how to price PPC management as well. Should be a percentage of the monthly budget?

      SEO is a moving target now. But I think I found a few warriors that might make it work again so I may offer it. But right now I'm inclined to stay away since Google keeps changing their algorithims like a game of musical chairs.

      4. Okay thanks. I did notice that. I'm not worried about getting clients. I have a guy for that so that will be easy especially with the tips provided here on this forum. In terms of the design I'm trying to keep it very template focused where only change a limited a number of things. But if I see it's going to be a lot more intense than I'll get someone I can outsource the design and charge the client accordingly. Folks seem to be able to sell the template based stuff fine. But I guess it all depends on what type of clients you're targeting. I did a simple site for a contractor. He didn't want much. But I guess every niche will be different.

      Thanks for the advice.
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • Best way is to show them how their site will look before they pay you. So they can see it using a custom URL
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply

    • Yeah I read that over and over again in this forum. It's such a genius idea and the prospect feels like they have nothing to lose. So I think it will work extremely well.
      Thanks!
  • Themeforest should be bookmarked in your browser if you're doing websites. Wordpress is pretty intuition-based if you just play around with it.

    Most of the WSOs that contain themes don't really have much you can't get on themeforest. And a quick search on google on "how to install wordpress themes/backups" will pretty much give you a video tutorial on the subject.

    Getting good leads is hard sometimes, at least it was for me. Gotta look on lead generation sites like sales genie and filter out the leads that don't have websites. After building a website for them I would upsell text marketing/mobile websites.

    Googling will pretty much give you all the answers you need with wordpress, except those rare occasions where you need to do a membership site or something a little more advanced. GL!
    • [1] reply
    • Thanks for the advice. I know wordpress very well. Installing it, plugins, themes and using it is no problem. I do that every day. It's the design stuff that was more of a concern. But you guys have provided some good suggestions and resources.

      The leads I'm less concerned with because of all the stuff I've read here. For instance I know in the service section of craigslist there are a lot of people posting ads but don't have a website. And keep in mind craigslist has tons of cities so you can find new people every day. This could be repeated in other classifieds too. So that's one simple way. I also get these penny saver and local papers sent to me every week. There are tons of businesses in there that don't have websites that can be approached too. So leads shouldn't be an issue. Closing them might be. lol But if you're giving away free demo sites, that should make it easier too. =)

      Maybe I'm being to optimistic. But I guess I'll find out soon enough. lol
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    Need Website Business Design Tips, Advice & WSO Recommendations

    So as someone that has been working as a full time internet marketer for 5 years, people always assume I create websites. It would annoy me because when you say internet that's all people think of. So like a dummy for years I've told people no I don't. I never really wanted to deal with the hassle of doing a custom designed website. But it's finally dawned on me after reading this forum and studying the comp on craigslist that I don't have to do custom designs per se. I can just sell website design services based on pre-set packages and Wordpress themes where the only thing that needs to be customized is the header/logo and the content. So with that said, I have a few questions from the esteemed successful offline marketers here.