Well, you might find that strange for a web design company to post. But Glenn Website Design has always operated by word of mouth advertising and mostly developing website businesses that were profitable by selling our own products wholesale. As of January 2022, our focus has shifted to promoting web design services which we are highly skilled at already. This article covers all the paths we are taking to increase our own business.
The main reason for this change is the cost of shipping internationally. Most of our other business relies on shipping wholesale furniture from Indonesia. All of our buyers are on pending status for now due to the rise in shipping costs. The cost of shipping went from $5000 for a 40ft container to the USA in 2019 to $20,000 in 2022. So no amount of marketing can overcome the increased cost. So now you understand why Glenn Website Design is on the move. Our business model operates on 2 fronts, web design, and wholesale furniture. Both go hand in hand and when one is low the other is up.
How To Find New Business
My name is Glenn Madden. I own and operate Glenn Website Design. We operate 100% remote as a networked group of designers worldwide and only on a contract basis. I manage all the development and customer interactions from start to finish. Over the past few years, I have let our website and business for web design fall by the way. Until January this year, I had not been seeking new customers to do web design for. But all that has changed with COVID as our other business selling wholesale furniture is not doing so well.
This is my list and process of re-opening Glenn Website Design and seeking new business clients. The primary target was to re-design our website to bring in organic traffic from Google. Over the past few months that is now starting to bring in some results, not a lot of new business yet but we are getting increased exposure. Many of the SEO and marketing methods we are using for our business can be used to promote any type of business.
As you can see from this graph from Google Search Console over the past 30 days our primary website is on the move. This is primarily from changing the SEO focus to the local Tulsa and Oklahoma area. Google focuses on delivering search results that are close to where the searcher is at. Our home office is in Tulsa Oklahoma. In the last few days, our daily impressions on Google SERP have reached 1,500.
But as you can see also we are still on page 5 or 6 as an average. That will change but until it does we are not getting the organic traffic and business leads we need. In order to get the traffic, we have to be on page one of the SERP (Search Engine Result Page). It is proven that a well-designed website on the first page of Google will bring in new leads and sales.
Where to Find New Business
- Post to social media groups
- Promote your own website
- Create social media accounts
- Start a blog
Social Media Groups Target
When you choose social media groups to work with it is probably best not to use the ones specifically for your industry. Why? Because that is where all your competitors are at. What you should focus on is where your potential clients will be at. For example, I just joined several Facebook groups for startup businesses. These are the people that can use my advice and have more of a need for our services.
Promote Your Own Website
Whether you are planning to open a business or not you need a website. It is a place to showcase what you can do and have done.
Create Social Media Accounts
You should set up special social media accounts only related to your business objective. Keep it updated with information concerning your progress and what is happening. For example, we have a Facebook business page for Glenn Website Designs. You should set this up on various platforms.
- Alignable
Start a Blog
You have to give to receive. Once you have a website for your business you should look at creating a blog that is updated at least weekly. I started The Daily Blog in February and it is already proving to be very useful in finding new sources of organic web traffic. The Daily Blog. You should write about things you are familiar with. Write from the heart, not like some technical blog. Provide true honest quality content that will be useful and interesting to your readers.
This article is a good example of what I am talking about, give to receive. I doubt anyone looking for a new website or needs a designer is going to be interested in “How To Find A Job Designing Websites”. But where it helps us is possible sharing of the content and building our importance as a website in the eyes of Google.
How to Find A Job as A Website Designer
If you are not interested in opening a full-fledged design business there are a lot of opportunities with employment or freelance services. The first thing you need when seeking employment as a web designer is an exceptional resume. Second, you should have your own website as mentioned above. There are many places to apply online for free job offers. But keep in mind the marketplace there is very competitive.
You should set up an account with various services and at the very least set up your profile and upload your resume.
- We Work Remotely
- Upwork
- Freelancer.com
- Virtual Vocations
- Guru
- Indeed
- Working Nomads
- Remote OK
- Idealist
- Fiverr
The type of jobs available in the web design and online internet industry vary. All of these jobs can be done remotely working from home, traveling, or as a digital nomad. I have been doing this myself for 20 years and I would never go back to a 9 to 5 job. It is not always the easiest way to live but it is richly rewarding to manage your own life without a boss looking over your shoulder.
- Web Developer/Designer
- Social Media Marketer
- SEO
- Marketing
- Travel Lifestyle Blog
- E-Commerce Entrepreneur
- Freelance Copywriter
- Graphic Designer
- Virtual Assistant
- Teacher
How Much Do Website Developers Make
The amount of money you can make with website development is based on your skills as a web designer. There are people on Fiverr and Freelance offering their services for as low as $100 per website. Then you have the large corporate design firms that charge as much as $100 per hour for their services.
A note to the wise. You do not always get what you pay for. If you have some basic knowledge of what you need for a website you are much better at working with freelancers and small businesses in all cases. With the proper experience and supervision, you will get a lot better service for $1000 than you will for $10,000.
Let us do a free evaluation of your web design project. Our prices are low but I promise you will get the best service anywhere.