In our last post, we talked about how building an insightful base of educational materials can help your Web design business take off by helping position your business as an expert in an otherwise large and competitive industry.

We also talked about exploring podcast guestings and how you can always capitalize on being an expert in the field so you can leverage what you know to speak directly to your target market.

In today’s post we are going to get even deeper with top tier Web design lead generation techniques that are often underused or underappreciated in the industry. Remember: underused doesn’t necessarily mean ineffective. For the most part, many companies don’t pursue these techniques because they take longer to implement, but trust us, they will reap dividends later on.

Publish an authoritative newsletter

Newsletters are as old as the Internet itself and they continue to be distributed through one of the oldest online communication models: the email. While the level of engagement and interest over the years has changed because the old demographic got even older and people are now branching off to other platforms for information/knowledge, newsletters still perform a vital function in B2C communications – if you do it correctly.

How can you make the best possible newsletter for mailing your list?

1. At the very least, newsletters should be sent out at the same time/s in the month to establish a routine with readers. It does not matter if you want to create a monthly newsletter, a biweekly one, a weekly one, etc. Whatever the intended frequency make sure that it goes out on the dot every time.

Why? Because we want to create regularity and routine. We want potential leads to be expecting good deals and quality information at certain times of the month. Establishing and cementing subconscious expectations is a powerful thing in business.

2. Newsletters are not meant to be boring! In addition to important, ongoing promotions in your company, be sure that you are using your newsletters to share great stories with your list, as well as tidbits of all the new content that they may have missed if they haven’t visited your website recently.

The important thing here is that they are given a varied ‘diet’ of information so they would keep reading the newsletter. Because if you think about it, newsletters are molded after traditional print publications like magazines and newspapers, and you have to ensure that every part of each newsletter is engaging and interesting enough so people won’t skip over each issue.

3. And finally, don’t forget to include subtle but powerful calls to action or CTAs. Even if the CTA is just to call your company and schedule a free consultation, it has to be there. Since people have already signed up for your newsletter, there’s really no reason for you to do a hard sell.

You can be more comfortable with communicating with your customers through the newsletter. Try to communicate as if you were talking to someone close and you’ll get what we mean. If you use the right language, people are going to warm up to your message more because they feel that trust and closeness in the way you address them through the newsletter.

Try LinkedIn marketing

For the longest time, LinkedIn has been considered the “odd one out” in the global family of social media websites. You know, people don’t really log in to their LinkedIn accounts to post their last vacation or what kind of burrito they ate an hour ago.

Despite the seeming ill-fitting nature of LinkedIn because it is molded for professionals, it has grown fairly well in the past few years and it has been confirmed that decision-makers and other big shots of companies of all sizes are actually spending their time here more than anywhere else.

So basically speaking, if you are a Web design company on LinkedIn, not running even a simple campaign there might mean you are missing out on potentially big leads and a consistent flow of projects.

We do not recommend doing any hard selling on LinkedIn. Instead, it would be best to establish a friendly, or even casual connection with people that you think might be interested in your service. Here’s a sample message that might help break the ice:

Hi {first name},

I was browsing on LinkedIn and noticed your profile, so I decided to connect. My name is ______ and I help small and big businesses reach milestones with some great Web design. If you are looking for someone to chat about Web design, I’m your guy.

Jimmy Smith
Web design guru

The beautiful thing about this approach is even if potential customers don’t respond to you immediately, just getting into their inbox with a link back to your profile is already a huge leap. Should they need a Web design company, they would probably scroll back their inboxes to locate your message. Trust us, this approach has worked well in the past, and it will continue to work in platforms like LinkedIn because it is not a hard sell, the message is informative, and people appreciate getting industry contacts, even if they are not really asking for the information outright.

Tap your existing network for new leads

Let us say that you have been doing Web design for certain niches for years now. You have probably amassed a sizeable organic list in your email by now – so why not send messages to your past clients and ask for possible referrals?

What differentiates this technique from cold-calling and other techniques is that the people already know you because they’ve worked with you before, and you have the added benefit of having their blessing when they give you emails of possible leads.

The best possible time for asking for referrals is – you’ve guessed it right – right after your company has finished satisfactorily for a client his requirements. You need to be able to ride that positive emotional wave to get the best possible referrals. In case you find your past customers less than cooperative (hey, this happens for a variety of reasons), you can incentivize.

You can provide discounts for example, or small bonuses in the next project. You can also offer free downloads and other resources when they provide useful leads to you. It’s really up to you on how you can maximize your relationship with your old customers.

Here’s a sample letter that you can send when you are asking for referrals from past clients:

Hi (first name),

Hope that everything is going well on your end today! As we have discussed when we’ve finished with your project, you can always contact us for any questions, or if you have additional milestones in mind that you would like to achieve with the help of (your business name).

We can tell that your business is going to be growing in leaps and bounds now that you have a great website, and if you don’t mind we’d like to ask if you happen to know anyone who might need the same kind of help that we offered your business. You’ve seen how we work and what kind of value we bring to the table: we would love to bring the same value to other businesses, too.

If you have anyone in mind that you would like to introduce to me/us, just let us know. We would love to help this person out.

Thanks very much!

(Your name)