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Secrets of marketers: how to increase sales and retain customers. How to increase the flow of customers without resorting to advertising Customer flow and also increase the recognition of the building

If you start to understand the topic of increasing sales efficiency, then in the first place, I think, there will be trainings on "cold" calls. I myself, as an entrepreneur, began my journey in business with these trainings. Then, as a trainer, she led these trainings, and until recently, as the head of her consulting company, she drummed into her account managers that cold calls are the most effective sales method.

But let's face it, who loves these cold calls.

Personally, I can’t stand them, but I resign myself to the need to do them, arguing: “Where to go?”.

Why do we dislike them so much?

It's probably no secret that it's very unpleasant when you are "sent to hell" at the other end of the wire. Of course, this comes in different forms. It happens that they answer like this: “Not relevant yet!”, “Thank you, we already have it,” or “We will think about it,” or something else like that. Sometimes you run into outright rudeness, rudeness. And you also have to overcome the so-called secretarial barrier. And yet, I noticed that responding to cold calls became even tougher, secretarial barriers even stronger. One director of the company admitted to me: “Yes, if I answer all the calls, I will have no time to work. Do you know how many of you are calling a day!” The same thing happens with advertising, people close themselves from advertising, stop responding to it.

All this is happening because of the information overload of our time. We are closed from obsessive informational pressure. A kind of cocoonization occurs, i.e. we try to protect ourselves from unnecessary information, we create a kind of cocoon around ourselves: company management puts up a secretarial barrier, does not answer unknown calls, does not read promotional offers. While watching TV, we mute commercials, change channels, set email spam filters, etc. etc. According to experts, the process of cocoonization will intensify. And in this situation, it is necessary to change the methods of business promotion, apply other marketing strategies and tools.

Both "cold" calls and advertising are already among the dying marketing strategy - the "push" strategy. In the age of abundance of goods and services and information overload, and this is our age, the time in which we live, in order to “push” something, more and more efforts and time are required, and the result is minimal.

The push marketing strategy is being replaced by the pull strategy.

The main goal of this strategy is to create a need for a potential client in your service or product. To do this, a completely different tactic is used, a systematic approach is needed here, and not a set of some popular chips.

1. We find out who our potential client is.

2. Instead of aggressively imposing information in which we are interested, we analyze what our potential client needs.

3. We establish contact with a potential client.

4. We form confidence in us from a potential client.

5. We offer what the potential client needs, competently leading the client through the stages of the sales process.

At each stage of this tactic, different technologies are applied. And in subsequent articles on this topic, I will talk about them, but for now, watch my free video course "How to increase the flow of customers without cold calls and advertising." To receive a video course, fill out the subscription form on the main page of the site or on the "consulting and training" page.

They say that a good doctor does not need advertising, the “folk path” to him will not overgrow anyway, as to the miraculous monument of a brilliant poet. That's right. This statement is true for dentists. But before such a path is formed, it usually takes years. In addition, here we are talking about an individual, one person, and not about a clinic, a team. How to ensure a constant flow of patients to novice dentists and conditionally “impersonal” clinics? Let's find some answers to this question.

Control

"Control" here means "control reception", that is, a visit during which you study the result of the work done earlier after some time has passed.

Control appointments usually do not involve payment, but this does not mean that they are completely useless in terms of filling the schedule with paying patients. During the check-in, you can:

  • offer professional teeth cleaning;
  • offer whitening;
  • outline the next steps for more comprehensive rehabilitation;
  • detect new dental problems and suggest treatment if control is far behind treatment in time.

The control visit is contact with the patient, and should be seen as an opportunity to develop a relationship with him, and not as an inevitable routine.

Hygiene

The professional dental cleaning mentioned above can generally be one of the drivers of growth in the income of your practice, whether it is a private dental office, a small clinic or a chain of dental clinics.

The bottom line is that professional teeth cleaning is a procedure that is recommended to be done every six months. Simple calculations show that 125 disciplined and motivated patients can fill one slot of each with professional hygiene for a whole year:

  • an average of 250 working days per year;
  • two cleanings a year;
  • 125 patients - one cleaning every day for a year.

Of course, this is an ideal picture, reality always makes its own adjustments. Minimizing the consequences of such adjustments depends on your ability to convince the patient of the need for professional dental cleaning.

Scheduled inspection

Another reason to meet with the patient in a professional setting is a scheduled examination.

Like professional teeth cleaning, a routine checkup is an occasion to meet with the patient every six months. Again, as with professional hygiene, the reality is far from ideal, and most patients are reluctant to go to the dentist when their teeth don't seem to hurt. What arguments can you convey to them the importance of routine checkups?

  • Free. Make a scheduled visit free of charge and remind patients about it in advance (a week, a day before the scheduled date of the visit).
  • Usefulness. Treating diseases in the early stages is easier than in the later stages, dental diseases are no exception. Bring this fact to the patient who doubts the need for routine examinations. And point out that "easier" almost always equals "cheaper" here.
  • Simplicity. The patient must understand that a routine examination is a simple and quick procedure that does not imply prolonged sitting in a chair with an open mouth in constant expectation of a pain “backache”.

Again, with 125 patients and under ideal conditions, you can take one "planner" per day. Some of these appointments will translate into new treatment plans that will likely cover your free routine check-ups.

Referral program

Referral program is a term from the world of marketing, in the Russian version going back to the English word referral, “recommendation, referral [to someone]”.

In dentistry, the referral program can work in the same way as in many other industries: you bring a patient - you get a bonus. Or even better: brought a patient - both received bonuses.

It is up to you to decide what kind of bonuses to offer existing patients for referrals. It's probably best to keep it simple and not introduce a complex system of scoring, interest deductions, etc. The sooner you can explain to the patient the benefits of your referral program, the better it is. Free cleanings, discounts on certain types of treatments, whitening, professional toothpastes and brushes are understandable incentives.

Real people, real jobs

The dentist works with the patient face to face. The trust factor in dentistry plays a very important role. Accordingly, the more you do to build trust, the better for your practice.

Colleagues

It's probably fair to say that the word "competition" now has a very unambiguous meaning in dental circles as well. However, is it only about rivalry between colleagues?

For example, you specialize in implantation, but do not take on complex cases that require root canal treatment (preferably under a microscope). Or your clinic has dentists for all cases except orthodontics. And the patient needs exactly what you do not give: a thorough endo or individual braces. In such situations, it is wise to refer him to friendly colleagues, who in turn refer people to you for, for example, beautiful direct restorations and aesthetics.

Charity

Free examination / treatment in kindergartens, schools, boarding schools, nursing homes, most likely, will not be easy, today pupils are usually sent to the state. clinics for a scheduled examination, and there they already issue referrals, and often for free treatment.

But this does not mean that you will not be able to realize your intentions. It is unlikely that anyone will mind if you decide to conduct a small master class, say, for preschoolers, and show how to brush your teeth properly, explain why this should be done twice a day, and distribute / play good toothbrushes and pastes.

If you do participate in charitable programs, donate part of your profits to a foundation that does a good job, tell your patients about it. Unobtrusively, without a “shout”, a small banner on the website or a framed gratitude from this foundation on the wall of the reception.

What are you doing to fill your schedule and ensure a steady flow of patients? Share your experience in the comments.

More on this topic

Alveolar decortication and bone grafting: a strategy for long-term orthodontic outcomes... There are many studies devoted to the issue of changing the dental arch of the lower jaw after a course of treatment with the use of orthodontic appliances. ...

Doing business is aimed at increasing the income of the entrepreneur. No matter what sales figures you have now, there is always room to grow. In addition, representatives of even the most successful businesses take care of retaining and attracting customers every day, since capitalism has provided the market with high competition. Offering even a very high-quality product or service, the business will not bring the desired income and success if no one knows about it.

There are three main areas of work to increase business income:

  • Increase in the flow of customers;
  • Increase in the average check;
  • Increasing the conversion rate.

With the right approach and the use of these three methods, profits can even be doubled. But sometimes a simple focus on increasing sales is enough, which directly depends on the number of buyers. Sales volume is, in fact, the main indicator of business success, which many are guided by. To increase it, it is worth approaching the issue systematically and using effective solutions. The most obvious is advertising. Then there are smart marketing moves and a PR campaign, which are a little more difficult to deal with, but they guarantee a long-term effect. Marketing and PR are focused on the brand name and product quality, therefore, they provide the business with a constant client turnover.

Ways to attract new customers

First of all, any brand must declare itself: entering the market, the company occupies a certain niche, and the primary task is to attract new customers. Making the first sales and receiving feedback, it is advisable to think about improving the work to increase sales in the future.

The best and probably the only way here is advertising. Any interaction with the buyer can and should be regarded as advertising, because the effectiveness of such interactions is later analyzed by marketers to build a more competent promotion campaign. And it is not necessary to be a marketer here, because not everyone has the opportunity to contact such specialists, especially if it is a small business. But having certain knowledge in this area, the analysis of methods for increasing sales can be done independently.

If you tell your neighbor about your auto repair shop, this is also advertising. And in some cases, it can be a better entry tool than handing out flyers on the street or banners on websites. It all depends on the audience: it is better to present information about agricultural machinery in newspapers, or by word of mouth, and sell fashionable youth clothes on social networks like Instagram.

There are several ways to increase the flow of buyers through promotion. Most of these methods are implemented on the Internet, because it is still the best platform for marketing.

  1. Contextual advertising is the most popular and widespread way to increase user traffic. It works in search engines and brings you the target audience. These ads lead to the company's website. But if you do not have a full-fledged site, you can use a business card site or a landing page (selling page). The most popular and working services are Google Adwords and Yandex.Direct.
  2. Targeted and teaser advertising. Similar to contextual, targeted advertising works on social networks, attracting people with inline ads. Teaser - these are banners that are used on partner sites and carry information about your product and a link to it.
  3. Placement of ads on online sites like OLX, Bigl.ua, Prom.ua, etc. These portals usually have paid placement services for companies, which include promotion and a guarantee of increased sales. Especially if your site does not have good SEO optimization, such sites will help shorten the path from the client to the product.
  4. Newsletter. In mailings, it is best to report about company promotions and new offers. There are many programs that are responsible for high-quality automatic mailing. But it is important to strike a balance here - too aggressive mailing scares and annoys users.
  5. Placement in mass media and services of bloggers. Using information portals, it is easier for a brand to express itself, and visible authority grows in the eyes of readers. The same goes for blogs. These two types of PR are on the same level, because bloggers are now very popular and have become an alternative version of the information flow. And although such services are paid, neither the media nor the blogger will review something that can frankly damage their reputation, so the reviewed products inspire confidence in the audience.
  6. SMM - marketing in social networks. SMM is a whole system of thoughtful actions to promote a brand and increase sales. This type of marketing is more suited to the characteristics of PR than advertising as such. Working with an active client base and increasing the level of expertise with good content, the desired result will not keep you waiting. But before proceeding, it is worth studying the target audience of different social networks.
  7. Promotions, discounts, sales. You can read more about them in the section on increasing the percentage of conversion, but for new buyers this can be quite an effective way. This method works especially well if the product is really of high quality, and the client, having met him during the promotion period, comes back to you again, and is now ready to pay the full price.
  8. Calling the "cold" customer base, that is, those with whom the company has never worked before. This method can be called outdated, today it is not so effective and it is rarely used, because in modern society they prefer to solve even business issues in correspondence, and unwanted distracting calls completely infuriate. But with some groups of clients, for example, the elderly, this method still works.

How to motivate a client to return

It is not as big a problem to increase the flow of customers as to keep them. At a minimum, the mechanism of attracting attention is clear, with a more or less competent entry into the market, the desire to try something new will attract new buyers, but this is far from helping to increase sales. Constant client turnover and the size of the average bill ensure the success of the business. And in the first case, there is little simple advertising, and in the second, it is not necessary to raise prices. There are several ingredients that guarantee success:

  • Quality product;
  • Ease of use;
  • Attitude towards the client;
  • Loyalty program;

In Internet marketing, there is a convenient term “conversion”, which refers to the ratio of the number of site visitors and those who performed targeted actions on it (read the content, followed the links, purchased the product, etc.). This is a very important indicator to help you know what methods are working and what needs to be improved. In general, it can be guided in the case of a business of a different kind.

Developing a permanent customer base and high customer turnover requires a competent marketing approach, work with the psychology of the buyer and constant product support. An increase in the average check should be achieved by a large number of purchased goods per person, and not by raising prices - this is an indicator of a successful approach to marketing work.

Subtle marketing tricks available to everyone

Marketers use a lot of tricks to increase sales, and learning the methods of action for everyone at once will not work. But it’s worth understanding the most interesting and effective ones.

  1. Good design and positive user experience - focus on the presentation of information and strive for excellence in design - this is how you show care to the client, and he will feel it. In a highly competitive world, a good website, beautiful room design and pleasant staff can be almost the only and decisive distinguishing feature of a product.
  2. Loyalty program and gifts. This is so far a win-win way to win the hearts of regular customers and increase sales. The desire to accumulate bonuses, participate in closed seasonal sales and receive pleasant surprises from time to time makes the store a part of the life of customers. This is not only a great way to retain customers, but also a good PR campaign to establish the brand.
  3. Expand your product line. At the beginning of a business journey, the assortment of goods can be quite small, and with proper quality, it will win the interest of buyers. But in order to keep this interest, you need to constantly offer new products.
  4. Be unique. Yes, this may seem banal, but at the same time, many neglect this item, considering it frivolous. But, as mentioned earlier, it is uniqueness that helps to win back your audience from competitors.

And these are not the usual words "we are unique in that we have high quality and inexpensive." This is probably the most non-unique phrase in the business. Better think about what unusual you can offer the buyer: perhaps these are small elements of the last century in fashion design; only pottery in the coffee shop; origami collection, which can be collected by buying a magazine issue every month, etc.

  1. Check out your competitors. Someone may consider this method wrong or dishonest. But it's not. This is not about plagiarism or copyright infringement, which is punishable by law, but about inspiration and following trends. Often it is competitors or even their failures that inspire brilliant ideas. You can notice what problem a person is facing at a competitor, and solve this problem for yourself.
  2. Contact qualified managers. Always seek professional help when possible. If you run a small business and cannot hire a marketer or sales manager for a full-time job, attend all kinds of trainings, one-time consultations of specialists and follow the trends. But as soon as possible - expand the sales department. A good specialist can sell anything, but if you focus on quality, it will be a fourfold success.

Distinguish PR from advertising and use it

Advertising is a clear and precise message, a call to action. She is obvious. While PR is a subtle interaction tool aimed at the long term. PR (Public Relations) - this is public relations, influence on the mind of the consumer and activities to strengthen the brand. This is information about the brand, which entails fame, and recognition is associated with trust, which is the main goal of PR.

Participation in thematic events introduces the client to the company and gives it weight in his eyes. At such events, it is useful to arrange presentations and product testing.

Publications in various media, if presented correctly, are very productive PR. But such materials are much more expensive than the usual "custom" articles. The same can be said about the recommendations of experts in personal blogs - they inspire confidence due to the fact that the product is advised by a real, authoritative person, and not an advertising sheet.

Acting as a partner at various events, or, for example, in charity campaigns, can also be attributed to PR tools for increasing sales. Competitions with prizes are also included here. You can participate in competitions organized by other companies, or you can create your own, with real prizes - this is very effective for expanding your customer base.

We talked about what the force of attraction of a store is, what factors influence it, and how to objectively assess the attractiveness of a store in the eyes of a buyer. Today we will tell you how to increase the flow of customers to your store.

There are not so many main criteria for choosing a store by a buyer - there are only seven of them. To form a constant flow of buyers, it is worth matching at least one. And if your store meets all seven, then sales will definitely go up.

Hold back prices

The main factor that influences the purchase decision has always been and remains the price. A store with cheap goods is more attractive to customers than a store with expensive ones. This rule applies to all categories of people - and with small, and medium, and high incomes. Read more about the correct pricing in the store in this article.

If the low-income simply cannot afford big expenses, then for people with average incomes, buying goods at low prices is a kind of sport and psychotherapy: the opportunity to save money gives the buyer a feeling of joy and satisfaction (“I made a bargain”, “I run the house correctly”).

Wealthy shoppers also buy some of their daily necessities from inexpensive stores. Firstly, because they know how to count money (“why pay more if the same thing can be bought cheaper”). Secondly, because in very wealthy families, a housekeeper often goes shopping. Thirdly, the fact that people can afford delicacies does not mean that they eat only them.

For the population from the low-income category, inexpensive stores with a large assortment are the most attractive. For the sake of savings, people will come to your store from afar and buy "in full".

Expand your range

If finances and space do not allow expanding the assortment to the desired scale, you can cooperate with other merchants who offer something that you do not have on sale. For example, moving a store from a separate building to a large shopping center or renting space on a shopping street. The flow of buyers of two closely located stores, which successfully complement each other, more than doubles (this is exactly what tenants of space in shopping centers pay for). By the way, read this article about how to choose and rent a place in a shopping center.

Deepen your assortment

Deepening is the expansion of the range of one product category. The buyer is more willing to go to a store where instead of three varieties of sausage, 30 are presented in different price groups. The more diverse the choice, the higher the likelihood of a purchase.

Simultaneous expansion and deepening of the range leads to the need to increase the sales area. Super- and hypermarkets with a huge and deep assortment create the largest flow of customers. We wrote earlier about how a small store can survive in the age of hypermarkets.

Think of any household appliance chain that has thousands of product names and hundreds of models in each group. In those cities where their branches are open, smaller dealers in equipment are forced to close or change their profile due to the outflow of buyers.

The same picture is in the trade in building materials: large stores, where everything for construction, decoration and repair is sold in one place, are ousting small ones from the market.

To create a flow of buyers in the face of competition with a giant, you can look at one of the following solutions:

  • Open a highly specialized store of one product group and provide the most complete and deep assortment, including rare and unique types of goods. In order to increase the financial return from a thinning stream of customers, one should move to a higher price segment and attract buyers with something that a hypermarket cannot offer;
  • Develop the “Everything for the Home” or “Thousand Little Things” direction, offering residents of the microdistrict various household trifles: light bulbs, clothespins, soap and other inexpensive small-sized goods;
  • Sell ​​products through catalogs and through online stores. In this case, you can save a large assortment and save on trading space. For example, to equip a showroom of samples in the former premises of the store, and deliver goods to customers directly from the warehouse. Enterprises of this format successfully sell furniture, books, fashionable clothes, children's things, electronics and much more. You will learn how to properly organize and arrange a trading floor in a store in this article.

Offer something special

The majority of Russian shopping centers have the same assortment, so, other things being equal, the flows of their customers are divided equally. As it turned out, there is only one way to stand out from the mass of monotony - to put up for sale something that is not found anywhere else.

Unique products form a special flow of buyers who are ready to travel many kilometers for them, sometimes from another area or even a city. And it is these goods that make the shopping center a sales leader in its territory.

The owners of large retail space in the United States are hunting for sellers of rarities, attracting them in every possible way with preferential terms, because the unique offer of even one tenant brings profit to the entire store. Uniqueness is a powerful attraction factor and lack of competition.

Make your visit fun

Shopping can be a daily routine, or maybe a family holiday. Entertainment stores are often visited by the whole family and spend more time there.

The tools for creating a customer flow in the shopping center will be theatrical performances on weekends, games and competitions with the participation of visitors, attractions, cinemas, cafes, restaurants, children's complexes, etc.

Entertainment and interesting things can be organized in a small shop. For example, in a fish store you can set up an aquarium with live fish, in a pet store you can create a living corner, in a children's art or computer equipment store you can organize a technology corner for children.

This approach will increase the attractive power of the store even in the absence of unique products. Your assortment may not differ in any way from the assortment of a neighboring outlet, but sales will go better with you.

Increase comfort and safety

The shop where the buyer feels comfort and safety has a greater attractive force. This applies to both the internal environment (friendly staff, cozy interior, wide aisles, no queues, reliable luggage storage) and external details (large parking, comfortable porch, clean and well-groomed area near the entrance).

The absence of a cart ramp or the need to wait for the storage room to leave the bag will redirect part of the flow of your customers to competitors.

Be experts in your business

A seller who knows the product well and can give expert advice on it is more trusted by buyers. Therefore, to increase the attractiveness of the store, be experts in your field.

Many people like to ask questions about a product that caught their attention, and their satisfaction with the answer often determines their purchase decision. Therefore, work on improving the competence of your staff - conduct training seminars or hire those who have a professional specialization in your field.

In addition to verbal consultations, it is useful to provide customers with audiovisual information about the product - from text plates on the shelves to videos on large screens on the trading floor.

Text by Tatiana Blagovidova

Photo by Inna Ptitsyna

MangoStudio. What is interesting about the project

My story is about how I tried with all my might to leave the field in which I worked for many years, and how I eventually managed to find huge business potential in it, fall in love again and launch my MangoStudio project.

Today my team creates turnkey websites. It's no accident that I say "my team" and not "my company." Because our interaction is more like a partnership, and not like "the boss said, the boss found a client - everyone else did." Each employee can bring a customer himself and get his own percentage from this. Such a scheme of work allows us to work very harmoniously.

At the same time, clients often find us themselves - I just learned to attract their attention on the Internet. Customers also contact me through special exchanges - there are also interesting features here, which I will discuss below.

Disadvantages of office life

I created my first website in 10th grade. Then, after studying at the university, she got a job as a programmer in a bank, then in another. It's been 7 years. Outwardly, everything was fine - a stable salary, paid vacation, and so on - but every year some kind of discontent and resistance grew in me.

I was strained by the office system - come to 9, leave after 6, sit these hours, even if there is no work at the moment. If you need to go somewhere, you have to ask. There was no talk of personal or professional development.

I was so tired of everything that against this background I decided to do away with web programming altogether and began to look for options for what to do. I couldn’t go anywhere: I lived in Moscow without relatives, I provided for myself, and it would be critical for me to be left without money.

Reboot on maternity leave

With my boyfriend, we thought it would be cool to launch our own online store. And they began to think about the niche. They thought, probably, for a couple of years - everyone was afraid to take on the unfamiliar, to invest in some unknown product. I even wanted to create a site for the future portal myself, but I didn’t know what products to count on. In the end, the idea fizzled out.

At this time, everything in the bank began to strain me completely. Every day - stress, headache. We understood that I needed to leave this job. And they decided, while I was at a crossroads, to bring to life what we had been thinking about together for a long time - to start a family and give birth to a child. For some reason I was sure that I would find myself in the decree. I’ll take a break, catch my breath while my husband provides, since he doesn’t mind.

We organized our own wedding. Everything turned out great, and I immediately wanted to establish my own wedding agency. I thought that it was interesting for me, leafed through the beautiful blogs of the organizing girls, admired their work and dreamed of the same beauty around.

I didn't have a portfolio, so I started by organizing a marketing forum for wedding professionals (by franchise). The members came to hear about how they can promote themselves. I also spoke there, but most of the questions for me were not about weddings, but about creating websites. After all, I have a huge experience in this, and as it turned out, the meeting participants really lacked a person who could explain everything to them.

It was on that day that I realized that I did not need to go far from programming. I am a specialist, and I can really help people in solving their problems. Apparently, this maternity break really became a good reboot for me.


Business course and launch of your project

I decided to return to my field, working for myself. However, I didn't quite understand what to do with it. I took orders on stock exchanges, but earned little money, about 20-30 thousand rubles a month. But a lot of time was spent on them, and this worried me a lot - after all, I could stay with my baby.

A girl I know told me about the business course of Galiya Berdnikova - “Life. Business. Success ”(now it has been expanded and is called“ The Way of the Dream ”- ed.). She was delighted with the training, and I decided that this was a sign for me to gain the missing knowledge about self-promotion and earnings.

On the course, I was still stormy about the choice of direction. But Galiya then said something surprising in its simplicity: there is no need to look for one niche for life. Life changes, and today you can do one thing, and after some time open a new business. And I understood the root of my problems: I was always trying to find a life's work, so I thought for a long time, sorted it out, looked to see if it suits me exactly and whether I will live with it until old age.

It clicked in my head: you just need to shove in some direction. It's time to act, not to think. And since websites are what I do best, it makes sense to start with them.

I wanted to start my own web studio with several specialists to provide different services. But during the training, I realized that I have a weak point: if in terms of programming I understand what prices, what standards, then I don’t know another important part of the site - design - at all. That is, even if I hire freelancers, I will not be able to manage them and evaluate the quality of their work.


And I decided to study design. I thought that if I like it and succeed, I will take over this direction, and I will start delegating the program part. Just because I wanted something new. And if it doesn’t work out, then at least I’ll learn everything about design, I’ll be able to distinguish good from bad in order to manage hiring specialists.

Learned, learned. And fell in love with this new sphere to the fullest. At first I thought to provide only design services. But then I decided to talk with my target audience, to find out what they generally need.

My clients are businessmen. I communicated with them in various business communities on social networks. And I realized that few of them need just a design. They want to turn to a person who will solve their problems completely. That is, he will make a website and at the same time will be engaged in its promotion.

So I hired programmers, a marketer, and a copywriter, and started designing myself. We started building websites.

Not a company - but a team

I position myself not as a studio owner, but as a team manager. The guys and I are equal, everyone is just like self-employed. Any of us can bring a client and receive a reward for this - 10% of the total order. I just distribute the work and be responsible for the result.

And although each of the performers can work with third-party customers, our team turned out to be very well-coordinated. Moreover, we now have a constant flow of customers. We will be expanding more soon as I want to take on more projects.

As a result, for a year of work, we have reached a monthly turnover of 300-400 thousand rubles. We work with clients on a project-by-project basis, and each performer receives his share from the order.

My income now is 80-90 thousand rubles a month. This amount includes my salary and net profit, which I then use to further promote and pay for domains, hosting and other expenses. I get paid for both design and project management.

I lay the price for management immediately in the cost of the project, because it really takes a lot of time - to coordinate everything with customers, distribute tasks to everyone, monitor their implementation, show everything to the customer, and so on.



2. Exchanges where you can find orders or leave your contacts so that the client can contact you.

I use two exchanges.

  • upwork.com. Foreign clients come to this resource, with whom I really like to work! First, they require a higher level of quality. In order to meet it, you have to constantly replenish the piggy bank of your knowledge and skills. And due to this, my professionalism is growing very quickly.

Secondly, they are ready to pay a lot for this level, which, unfortunately, differs from domestic customers. We believe that creating a site is a matter of five minutes. And foreigners understand that quality work needs to be paid adequately.

  • Behance.net. This is a designer portfolio site. There you can set your tags, describe skills, and the customer finds you. I have an unpromoted profile there, but at the same time, large clients contact me.

The "secret" of my success is that I constantly read various paid articles and reports (mostly in English) on creating convenience for visitors to online stores and increasing conversions. There are many nuances: both on the main page, and on the basket, and on the product card - if all this is taken into account, then the user will be pleased to use the resource, and the conversion will be higher.

So, in my profile, I indicated from which cool sources I take information. The data is valuable because it is not in the public domain and not every designer knows it. And this acts as a magnet for customers who want to improve their users' interaction with the store and increase sales.



Sphere Features and Delegation

Website development is a very large field. At the same time, some people think that they can make the entire site on a turnkey basis alone. But programming, design, copywriting, promotion are very different areas. Positioning yourself as a human orchestra is a mistake. So you will never be able to achieve a quality result for the customer and good pay for yourself.

That is why I immediately counted on delegation. It was scary at first, of course. But I began to delegate programming - the part in which I myself am well versed. Thus, I knew that if the programmer made a mistake somewhere, I would do it myself. I delegate copywriting to performers whom I have known for a long time and whom I trust.

But the design is more difficult. I have already tried to give part of the work to another specialist, but the result did not satisfy me. However, I will look further to expand the team.

Where to get strength if you need to work hard

Now my husband and I already have two children, and every day I try to spend time with them. But sometimes difficulties arise, because it is not easy to combine motherhood and work.

For example, one day my one and a half year old baby, who is now constantly with me, allows me to work productively, and on the other he is naughty, and I do not have time for anything. On such days, I start to panic that I will not have time to meet the deadlines. Or vice versa, there is a feeling of guilt that I need to pay more attention to the child, and I think about work.

So sometimes I have to work at night when everyone is asleep. This is one of the most difficult states for me in work, because some kind of resentment turns on - everyone is resting, and I plow. And then a doubt comes - and maybe I don’t need to develop my project at all. Why all this, if it's so hard.


1. Stop being afraid and overthinking. Decided - it means that we must immediately get down to business. The longer you think, the more you find some minuses and fears, and it becomes more difficult to start.

2. Prepare for the fact that at times it will be difficult, you will have to figure out many things on your own, but the result is worth it.

3. Work should bring pleasure, then it is easier to experience failures, get up and move on. You must first fall in love with your product or service yourself, then customers will fall in love with it.

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