If you work as an independent contractor or small business owner, you will constantly need to get more clients in order to grow and expand your business. As you finish one job, you need to have others lined up to fill in gaps in revenue. Unfortunately, this can be a hard task to achieve if you are constantly engaging in outbound sales tactics. An outbound sale, like a phone call, can reach only one person at a time. You will have to work hard to reach hundreds or thousands of potential customers. Thankfully, you can use inbound sales to reach a huge number of people through one effort. This is where a website is an excellent tool.
Publicize Your Business
The first and most important function of a website is to publicize your business. Websites can operate as a front door to your company, particularly when you have no physical office to speak of. Your website is where clients will go to find out who you are, what you do, and whether you can help with their needs. Today, clients are less likely to pick up the phone and call you right off the bat. Instead, they will want to hear about your business first, and your website can share this information with them.
Provide Contact Information
Once your clients hear about your business, it is critical they have a way to contact you. Providing contact information on your website gives potential clients an immediate call to action to get you on the phone, and you can then try to sell your product. You do not have to limit your contact information to just a phone number. Consider providing multiple ways to get in touch with your business, including social networks, to give your clients options.
Demonstrate Your Work
One great strategy to increase sales is to show your clients what you can do. If you are a writer, provide samples of your work. Imagine how helpful it would be to be able to say to a potential client you pass on the street, "Yes, I do have clips of my work. You can find them on my website." Contractors can provide photos of projects and buildings; restaurants can show their menus. Simply give your clients a way to see that you can do what you claim you can do.
Verify Your Abilities
Verifying your abilities by showing your work is great, but it is even better if your previous clients are willing to add their input. Ask for testimonials from happy clients, and add these to your site. Client testimonials, particularly video testimonials, can help your potential client know you are who you say you are.
Attract New Clients
Finally, once you have built a site that provides potential clients
with all they need to know about you, it is time to draw them to your
site. By implementing search engine effectiveness, known as Search
Engine Optimization (SEO) to your site, you can help popular search
engines find your website based on key terms. For example, if you have a
brunch restaurant in New York, you will want search engines to find you
under these key terms. You can build your site so search engines do
just that.
