Web Design Business - Dec 2005

Web design Sunshine Coast

Since starting my Sunshine Coast web design business back in 1997, I have learned many lessons along the way. These lessons have played a major role in my success, and I'd like to share them with you. My customers have to be successful and generate a return from their website for 12website.com to be successful.

Lesson 1

Collecting your visitors' contact details should be one of your top priorities. I have developed a habit of asking my visitors, "Where did you find me"? Web design on the Sunshine Coast has many competitors, as does a lot of businesses. Monitor where you spend your website marketing dollars.

Start collecting email addresses the moment you put your site up. Developing a list of targeted potential customers is an absolute must. Ask your visitors permission to send them emails, offer them the chance of unsubscribing and obey all the spam rules. SPAM is a four letter word and will be treated as such.

Lesson 2

Your web site can either make or break you.

A professional looking web site will play a major role in your success. If you aren't secure in your abilities to design a professional looking site, you will be much better off hiring a professional. There are many home based businesses in Australia, using a professional website and running very successful busineses.

Lesson 3

If you want to make a lot of money, you must create a niche.

A niche fills a specific customer need.

People want products and services that fulfill a specific personal need. If you are the first to fulfill the need, you'll reap the rewards. More on web design research.

Lesson 4

Generating web site traffic takes a lot of time and effort.

The key to generating a lot of traffic to your site is getting your link on as many sites as possible. Sure, listing your site with the Search Engines is your first step; however, you must not solely rely on Search Engines to bring you traffic.

Providing a Product or Service at no charge. - Providing your visitors with a product or service is a great way to drive traffic to your site. This can be a newsletter with special offers.

Lesson 5

Selling your own products and services is much more profitable than selling someone elses. You can make a profit that way however you have to sell volume.

Some of the top Internet sellers include:

* Software
* Books, CD's DVD's.
* Private sites
* Internet services
* Home based business

Lesson 6

People do not like to be sold. You will be far more successful if you have a sincere desire to assist your potential customers. This can be accomplished by writing informative articles, courses, tutorials, or even providing advice within discussion forums in your area of expertise.

Trust plays a major role on the Internet. You must build your credibility with your target audience. More on website trust.

Lesson 7

Automation can save you hours of valuable time. Although there are certain areas of business that must be personally dealt with, there are many areas that can be completely automated:

* List management
* Customer follow-up
* Welcome messages
* Thank you messages
* Order processing
* Order fulfillment
* Order confirmation

This can be accomplished using autoresponders, scripts and software programs. Do your web design plan as you would your business plan.

Lesson 8

Organization is an essential part of developing a successful business:

* Create a daily work schedule for an organized approach to each day.
* Use an email program that will filter your messages into specific folders.
* Organize your computer folders and files for quick and easy access.
* Create a "Frequently Asked Questions" page to lessen support requests.
* Create templates for frequently used messages.

Lesson 9

Customer satisfaction and support should be your top priority. Respond quickly to email requests and you will reap the rewards.

Lesson 10

You have to spend money to make money. You must be willing to invest in your Internet business including:

* Computer
* Internet Access
* Software
* Domain Name
* Web Hosting
* Education (books, courses, etc.)
* Advertising

Although this list is far from complete, these lessons should provide you with some basic guidelines to assist you in developing a successful online business.