Promoting a Web design buisness

Ad space on Yahoo seems like quite a broad audience and I wonder if that would yeild good results or not. I'm beginning to think that the best ad money is spent places other than online. Newspapers and other local efforts. Maybe because I am living in a small town now, but it seems that most people want to have some feeling of an inside track with you or some connection, before contacting you for an estimate. Many other people, who might know that they need to build a web presence, might not be all that computer savy and unwilling to click an ad they may seen on Yahoo.

These are just some thoughts I've been having lately...maybe I'm wrong.

Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking. Exactly! I was going to advertise on a local theatre screen and my church bullitin. Then I was going to get some buisness cards and go around to local small, 1 owner buisnesses and give them a card.

Sounds like a good idea OddLaw And I agree with TortillaBoy here, start locally and get your self a name first, then go on to the net.

We get the occassional enquiry from the internet via our website but most of our work is repeat work from existing clients or from new ones recommended to us from existing clients, we haven't had to do any marketing for nearly 2 years now! In the beginning though we sent out letters to local companies introducing ourselves, then followed that up with a phone call a week later, the normal conversion rate for this type of marketing is 1 in 100 but we managed 1 in 10! We also paid for an advert in the Yellow Pages but we haven't had one single enquiry a result of that!! Just some thoughts for you

In my experience, the best advertising spot has been the design credit at the bottom of a web site. Advertise in a church bulletin? Why not buld them a web site and let them sing your praises in the bulletin? It carries much more impact - advertising and testimonial all in one.

I don't think that I can connect one dollar of income to direct advertising.

Our church allready has a webpage, but rarely updated.

Quote: Originally posted by OddLaw
Our church allready has a webpage, but rarely updated.

I was speaking in "for instances". If not the church, a community association, charities, clubs - something with a fair sized audience and/or membership.

Ahhh, Okie! I can think of many companies / orgs.

Quote: Ahhh, Okie! I can think of many companies / orgs.

I hope you can do this, Oddlaw - I made for an organization through my church called Dial-A-Prayer. I'm no pro-webmaster by any stretch, and never made one for anyone but myself, but now, slowly, people are asking me questions about web sites and the pastor I worked with thinks there is no reason I shouldn't grab an offer if one comes my way. He said people are coming to him in droves asking who the webmaster is for the site - and they're excited! Next week an ad is going out that reaches over 70,000 homes and goes online - And they're paying for it, not me! The pastor I worked with told me he thinks I should get some prices in mind because he feels certain people will be interested in my service - which I've never offered! It's exciting, really, how these things can work. And amazing how many people are grateful for even a simple web site - and it is simple! Oops, I'm rambling...sorry. Anyway - go for it - you've got nothing to lose and everything to gain!

Haha, Congrats! I hope everything goes great with the church.

Thanks, Oddlaw - me, too! Hope you can find something like this to help you out - even if you have to offer to make a site for someone for free (that's what I did) - just be sure it's a site you know the organization or whatever, will be promoting. Good luck!