Re: How to market a web site?

[EMAIL PROTECTED] (JuJu) wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] (mr goat) wrote in message
> news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> > "Justin Thyme" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> > news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> > > Does anyone know where I can find advice on marketing web sites on behalf
of
> > > a web designer? 



I once helped a start-up web design company successfully market its
services.  As you probably know, the web design market is saturated--
seemingly every computer geek in the world thinks he can design a
great site.  Because this service is approaching maturity, it's very
important that you develop a tightly defined niche.  For example, I
encouraged the company I worked with to market exclusively to small
and mid-sized nonprofit organizations in the Twin Cities.  This niche
was large enough to support his company yet small enough that the big
guys didn't target it specifically.

Once we determined a niche, we developed a series of key  messages
around the idea of an easy-to-use/easy-to-update sites.  These
messages were based on research that said, in general, nonprofits do
not understand web design technology and couldn't afford to hire
in-house expertise.  We simply met that need by providing
pre-designed, easy to update sites that could be maintained in house. 
>From the nonprofits' perspective, the benefit was having a way to
communicate effectively with its stakeholders, the ability to solicit
donations online (a less important benefit), and the legimization that
comes with having a professional site. (One of our mailings played on
this theme by stating, "Other nonprofits are teasing you-- you're the
only one on the block without a website.")

As far as specific tactics are concerned, we used direct mail with
considerable success.  After joining the state-wide organization for
non-profits, we received access to their mailing list.  We then sent a
series of five mailings to 600 targeted organizations (segmented based
on location, operating budget, and number of employees) and acheived a
response rate of roughly 7%.

Scott Palmer