Ecommerce, in spite of tough economic conditions, is still the hottest segment in the retail industry, and, frankly, one of the hottest segments for web design and development.
Combine ecommerce's growth—up 10 percent for non-travel sites in 2010 according to comScore—with abysmal unemployment rates—9.7 percent in May—and there is a unique opportunity for ecommerce web designers and developers.
Why is this an opportunity? As some workers involuntarily leave jobs, they may seek self-employment. In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of self-employed Americans rose nearly 8 percent from December 2008 to December 2009. Some portion of these newly minted entrepreneurs will want to create an Internet business.
Get More Customers
While there are certainly a number of effective self-promotion techniques and strategies that freelance web designers and developers can pursue, I am going to suggest three often ignored or underutilized tactics to drum up more and better customers.
Offline Networking
Get up from the keyboard.
Web designers and developers are digital natives who are comfortable, if not intimate, with the Internet and computers. As a result, they may tend to focus on Internet-only marketing and promotion. But many of your best potential customers may not be Internet experts, and they may be uncomfortable working with a developer that they have only met on Skype.
So get out and engage in real ways. Try to find one networking opportunity each week.
For example, I know a full-time developer that hosts a weekly ecommerce presentation at a local coffee shop. He advertises the event in a community newspaper and gets the coffee shop to help him promote it. Each week he gives a basic presentation about getting started in ecommerce. And typically, he'll get one or two leads that turn into customers.
Also consider speaking at local service or commercial organization functions. Local chapters of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, as an example, often invite in speakers.
Volunteer Your Services
Consider volunteering your design and development services to local charity or school organizations. Churches, high school sports teams, local missions, and other local non-profit organizations can be an excellent source of business, but not in the way that you might imagine.
Often churches and other charities have experienced businessmen and women sitting on their boards. Volunteering to produce a site for one of these organizations and then doing a great job will almost certainly lead to referrals for paying jobs either from the board members directly or via board member recommendations.
Specifically, I know a developer that does one free church site just about every month. And typically gets two or three paying projects as a result.
Work With Your Peers
Consider trading referrals with other developers in your area. Web design and development still tends to be a local or regional industry. So consider becoming acquainted with other professionals in your area through local development events—a jQuery meetup would work well.
Once you have identified a few developers that you trust, consider trading referrals. For example, they could send ecommerce referrals to you in exchange for potential clients that had an interest in their area of expertise.
Summing Up
While the U.S. economy recovers and jobless rates are still high, there is an opportunity for ecommerce designers and developers to get more clients. There are certainly a lot of ways to identify and communicate to those prospects, but three often overlooked opportunities offline networking, volunteerism, and working with peers can be an exceptional source of new business.
