Website building could almost be seen as a public service since every business in the country needs one. A sweeping statement perhaps but the truth is that any business which ignores the power of the world wide web and doesn't already have its own website is already getting left behind.

The 'big boys' have seen the light and they all have sophisticated sites which run alongside their core businesses. Those sites may not add greatly to their profit line, but if all they do is help maintain market share then building them has certainly been a worthwhile investment.

Smaller businesses have been slower to see the benefits. They tend to operate with much tighter financial restrictions but conversely, they are the ones most at risk - particularly so if we do experience the threatened global slow-down or recession which all the experts are now forecasting, so if you are going to consider website building, there is your ready market.......

There is a huge potential market and one which older people - who are more likely to be listened to by conservative business folk - should find it easy to take advantage of.

Fact is, a lot of people are already 'thinking' about website building and having their own company website and they are already 'pre-sold' on the idea - they just want you to convince them! Well, if there is going to be an economic down-turn, they had better be quick because as Dylan once wrote "A hard rain's a gonna Fall" and everyone in business will need every marketing aid they can employ.

Accept that people know they really 'ought' to have a web-site but they have been putting it off because:-

 

You know that it isn't expensive to build a site. Yes, it was complicated building the first one - but it got easier and easier as you got into the swing of things. How long is too long? I would guess that if you built your first site using SBI, you probably spread the ten day programme over a month - and that was to build 30 pages. A small commercial site is often only 5 pages long so you could easily do one a week. Website building at the rate of just one a week would probably earn all you need!

Likewise, if you are familiar with HTML or one of the WYSIWYG packages like Front Page or Dreamweaver - particularly if you use pre prepared templates - then you can also do one in days rather than weeks.

You should think in terms of a clean, functional design which is suited to each customer. Obviously, the home page for a hair stylist or flower shop will be different than that for an

accountant or lawyer because they are looking to address different markets. That said, the function of a Home page plus linked sub tier pages remains exactly the same, and the time involved will be very similar. Indeed, most of the time taken will involve meetings with clients and delays in getting the written content and pictures from them!

A very talented web designer with a gift for subtle colours Rosemary Martin is a regular contributor to our Age-Net website. She has been in the business for a number of years and you can see some examples of her work on her own website here. Rosemary is unusual in that she shows her prices 'up front' - most companies tend to quote after consultation, which may frighten off some enquirers.

Forget the beautiful 'Flash' sites so beloved of professional web designers. They are a delight to the eye, but usually they are slow to load and - unless you are selling an exotic sports car or luxury designer goods - they are counter productive. Also, they require skills which you probably don't have yet!

Oh, and that last excuse about "My competitor hasn't got one either." I guess that's like saying 'you will wait until he has gone bankrupt and then join him because it will be too late by then!'

So, how do you get startedbuilding websites? You already have if you have a site ready built which you can show as an example of what you can do! What you need to do now is 'put the word about'. Try contacting a few small business people who don't already have their own web-site. Ask them why not because you have the answers to all their objections already.

It doesn't matter what profession your client is in. Solicitor or garage mechanic, dentist or acupuncture practitioner, business is business and they still need that web-site built!

Offer to meet them - obligation free of course - to discuss how a site could best work for them. Do they want to increase their local or national exposure say, or do they want to generate business leads? Do they want to sell their services or products? Now be careful here! The work involved in setting up an on-line shop is a lot more demanding and time consuming than a simple 'Company Profile' site. You need to be confident that you can do it and you must very careful to price it accurately.

You may need to use the media for promotion, but cost any advertising very carefully. Your free local newspapers offer good value classifieds, your paid-for local papers are more expensive but may reach a different target market. Don't forget your local Church or village magazine and never overlook the 'postcard in the local shop' medium. Remember, advertising has to be cost effective and just one commission - perhaps the wife of a local businessman seeing your postcard

and mentioning it to her husband - will pay for many months of low cost ads. Forget about the Thompson or Yellow pages guides at this stage. They only work when your income stream is already flowing.

Once you have got the order, over deliver! Make sure you understand your client's thinking and guide him or her around the less obvious pitfalls. Check the 'copy' (the wording) and then check it again. And then get someone other than the client to read it all through, before you consider the job complete. Remember that running a spell checker over the script simply isn't good enough because there are lots of words which can be correctly spelt but which are completely wrong in the context of a sentence. Also, your client may be running a successful business but that doesn't mean his English is that good! Your job is to see that when the site goes live, it brings credit to the client - who will assume it's all his doing anyway...........

Now, does it pay? Expect a typical business web-site of five pages to sell for between £350.00 and £500.00. That should include the basic site, the URL and the first year's hosting. In addition, you will need to charge - at cost - for any photography and for specialised logos or graphics. If the client has particular needs, it may also be necessary to buy in special code programming but in general, we are talking about building simple websites which you already have experience with. Assume a minimum profit margin of two thirds. On that basis you can cost your time and decide if it's for you.

Remember, the money doesn't end once the site goes live............ Your client is certain to want changes and updates, even a complete re-build from time to time. Make your hourly rate for additional work clear so that your client knows in advance what he is committing to. And relax, he almost certainly charges more per hour for his own time!

Also; your client won't be able to resist talking about 'his' new web-site with his friends and customers. If you have done your job well, you are guaranteed more enquiries from other potential clients.

 

Not confident about building a commercial site for a client?

That's perfectly understandable and there is no pleasure in getting in too deep. Well, no problem, you can still make some useful money because, website building is something we know about and thanks to the magic of the Internet, we can help you there as well. We can build your client's new site - quickly and efficiently. We supply a complete package including the registered name and one year of top quality hosting at very competitive rates. We still charge the client our normal rate and we pay you 20% commission.

Interested? Please use our contact form and we will get back to you very quickly.