Bit of Business Blog 1
Morning Everyone,
Over on the dark side of the western world we are already up and at it for a fresh week. It's sunny and cool, the birds are singing. Out there is the slow trickle of cash that I hope will soon swamp this little part of England.....specifically my house.
Enough of that though what about a bit of business? This is the first of a series of blogs I intend to put up for those, who like me, are serious about making this WA thing work for them AND are a bit strapped for cash.
My motivation ? Helping out, because others have done that for me on WA. The other reason is so I can track my own efforts. What I write will always be about 2 months behind where I am up to. That way I can give you an idea what has worked and what hasn't.
LOSS LEADER ( a product you sell for less than it is worth in order to stimulate sales)
When it came to getting hard cash from the skills I have learned a lack of past glory was an issue.
Sure I had some fledgeling sites of my own, but nothing impresses a potential client more than recommendations from other clients.
I contacted a few local organisations that are there to help start up businesses.
I said,' Hey I will do 2 free WordPress sites for anyone serious about starting up on their own.'
FREE! WHAT FOR STRANGERS? FREE AS IN NO CASH FOR ME?
I know soul destroying isn't it? Read on it has a happy ending
I could only find 1, can you believe that? For the grand price of zilch I found only one taker.
The thing was I was adamant that I only wanted people who were dedicated to long term effort. I kind of made that a huge point when talking to people. It is still a roll of the dice, but if i was going to put my time in I needed to be as sure as possible that it would be worth it. I didn't want recommendations this week I wanted them next month, in 6 months, in 10 years!
THE COST TO ME AND WHAT I GOT BACK
The total time spent developing the site was 33 hours. That included meeting the lady on 2 occasions, 2 phone calls, a dozen email updates ( and grunts and grips and corrections) 3 blogs, 5 pages, 22 products with associated links to checkout and a frustrating fight with a new WP theme. I have taken enough of your time, so I will cut to the chase.
That 33 hours, I didn't get paid for no.....I have got paid for the 3 sites I did for people from that free one, I am getting paid for the 2 others that have so far come from them annnnnnnnnnnnd I'm getting paid for the 1 I am doing after I write this, which came from a separate enquiry.
LAST BIT AND HOPEFULLY I AM MAKING SENSE
Best if you can find a paying customer of course. If you have no history of success, however, try doing what I did. If I can help just shout me. I'm no salesman, I am not the a social media natural, I am not a tremendous fan of events and gatherings, however with a bit of self pushing this has helped fund my progress.
A WORD FROM OUR SPONSORS ( or just an Ad break to Brits)
This blog was brought to you as a direct result of Jay ( user name Magistudios). Jay for all your local SEO marketing training needs, follow Jay TODAY
just to be clear, Jay has no association with this blog. I doubt he even knows who I am, but that is just part of the lonely road that I travel, unappreciated and did I mention lonely:)
Oh yeah! I need to tell you all about my weekend and what I got up to.....nah I'll stick to this:)
Have a good week and remember, there might be a few sales opportunities on here, but the real money is out there. Cheers
Tim
Recent Comments
10
That's great Tim and you have really grabbed the bull by it's horns! I like your thinking... and I think I have a bit of catching up to do! You will know what I mean :)
No, you don't I have two new windows to put in, you are all snug for winter:) Since I read your blog I have been out with sandwich boards which say,' WILL DO WEBSITE FOR FOOD.' :)
Ha, ha, ha! Now there's thinking outside the sandwich-box! :) or in this case inside... Oh this is such fun!
When you're an "unknown" it's hard to get business so what you did was smart. I remember putting $500 of my own money (which at the time was hard to come up with) into an account to establish my own credit. Sometimes you need to expend your own time/money for long term results. Not everyone GETS that so thanks for sharing your success. Maybe it will help others to consider this option.
I am a secret past devotee of a guy called Bill Myers, picked it up from him. All I had until a few month ago was a portfolio of work for since fired editors so I had to do something:) Glad you see the sense in it, especially given you have great experience in business. Local markets I find need that local contact before they will bite. Thank you
Good advice, Tim. I have offered to write for free to get a new writing client. Nothing huge, but maybe 500 words. It hasn't always worked, but I got a few clients that way. That 33 hours gained you a lot of experience and. . . .who knows? Your next campaign may get you a lot of takers. Good Luck!
I have done the same writing, man has it become difficult out there since 2007 eh? I used to get $200 for 1300 words for a national each week. My son now writes for $8 per 500. All best to us both, thanks for your comment I appreciate it. Tim
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lol! As usual great content with an awesome (started to use the word royal, couldn't do it) sense of humor! This was great strategy that your efforts have given great testimony to. Thank you for sharing your journey. Maybe I will follow your example in the future, but I am definitely not ready just yet! Congratulations!!! Christa :)
Christa, thank you very much, brilliant comment made me smile, appreciated. Hope all is well with you. Tim