Image Credit:  From The Design Portfolio of Ana Gomez

As we depend on the web more and more to sell our product or service, it's important that we take the things that have worked for us offline and implement them online . When selling was done on the streets with a briefcase or vacuum cleaner in hand, it took years of trial and error to figure out what worked and what didn't. Now that the process has been somewhat perfected, it makes sense to transfer those methods to our online efforts. There are 6 key steps in the sales process:

1) Prospecting - The act of finding the right clients or customers to sell your product or service (Target Demographics).
2) Contact - The actual contact you make with a potential client, either in person, on the phone, email, snail mail or on the web.
3) Sales Presentation - The sales pitch, tour or description of your product or service and the explanation of why it's the right product for your potential clients.
4) Handling Objections - Objections are the reasons why your client or customer will not buy your product, whether it's the price, time or quality of your product or service.
5) Closing the Sale - Closing the sale is the summary of the benefits of your product/service and finalizing payment options or service agreements.
6) Follow-up/Service - Following up after the sale by checking in to make sure the product is working correctly or servicing the product.

These are the steps your sales process will most likely follow whether you're selling an actual product or looking for new clients. Having a blueprint of these steps can be an asset when looking to increase your sales conversion rates.

With that said, your design portfolio website should embody the essence of these six steps in order to take full advantage of every user that visits your design portfolio website. Here are some suggestions on how you can implement these offline techniques in order to be more effective online.

PROSPECTING
OFFLINE: Prospecting offline usually includes lots of cold calling, showing up at potential clients offices... sometimes unannounced, sending out mailers and promotional offers, etc.
ONLINE: Prospecting online includes various social networking activities, blogging, search engine optimization, email newsletter subscriptions, email campaigns, and other inbound marketing techniques.

CONTACT
OFFLINE: An initial contact offline can be made through a cold call either on the phone or in person, a response to a promotional mailer, or email reply to information sent to your potential customers.
ONLINE: An initial contact online refers to a website visit by a potential client, someone sending you a message on Facebook, Twitter, or Linkedin, connecting with you through instant message (IM), or leaving a comment on your personal or business blog.

SALES PRESENTATION
OFFLINE: The Sales presentation is your sales pitch about your product or service which includes a description of the product and benefits to your potential clients.
ONLINE: An online sales pitch or presentation can be tricky to master since you're not personally guiding your visitors through your website, so your website needs to be set up to do exactly that. To get an idea of how a client might search your website read "10 decisions your clients will make before hiring you". Most People don't have the time to figure out how to navigate your website. It's important to make your website intuitive enough that your visitors conduct their own tour of your design portfolio. Ana Garcia, a 3d Designer on Styleapple does a great job of introducing her design portfolio and giving potential clients a tour of her work and design expertise.

HANDLING OBJECTIONS
OFFLINE: Handling objections is a skill that will close many deals for you. To effectively handle objections you must answer all the questions your potential clients have way before you ask them to sign a contract or get their credit card number.
ONLINE: Handling objections online is simply answering the questions your visitors have in the very beginning. For example: What does it cost (Provide a general price list for projects, i.e. Print Work, Illustration Work, Branding, etc) What kind of work have you done in the past (Showcase of previous projects or client recommendations) What tools do you use ? (PHP, Mysql, Adobe Photoshop, Ruby, Illustrator, Dreamweaver,etc). BTW, a great way to handle objections online is by integrating a live chat button on your website incase a client has a quick question for you.

CLOSING THE SALE
OFFLINE: Closing the sale offline is the summary of the benefits of your product/service and the moment you ask for their credit card number or signature on your service agreement.
ONLINE: Closing the sale online happens the moment your website visitor fills out your contact form, contacts you on Skype, initiate a live chat session, email or give you a direct phone call. It's important to have multiple ways of contact, so your clients can reach you in a format convenient to them.

FOLLOW-UP/SERVICES
OFFLINE: Follow-up/Service is where you keep your clients happy and build your referral base. Performing any necessary service to make sure your product is working correctly or being there to answer questions or concerns.
ONLINE: Follow-up/Service online includes detailed updates on current project progress. Having them subscribe to your blog, connecting with them on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, etc. and having them subscribe to your monthly newsletter where you can share promotions, design advice and request referrals.
The truth is, you have a small window to close the deal. Just like selling offline, you have a small window in which to get your client's attention. Guide them carefully through the sales process, manage their objections and get them to contact you either by a phone call, filling out a contact form or requesting a project quote.

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As you know, we have been working on the Styleapple website for several months now and are finally ready to launch this baby.  Today we sent out the pre-launch email to our wonderful beta testers who partnered with us in our 'bug hunting' endeavors. 

As a result of their hard work we are excited to announce that Styleapple is set to launch on Tuesday, April 21, 2009.  If you haven't already, create your designer or design company profile and let's get this ball rolling.

I've included the email we sent to our beta testers early this morning outlining some of the features of the new website.  I will probably not do another post before the website launches (bussssssssssssssy)  but you can always connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or via email.

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Just Creative Design, Jacob Cass Interviews Veteran Designers About Staying Focused.

Design as you know is not like anything else in the realm of career choices. Most times you find yourself hoping that you were not chosen to follow the path which initially brings a lack of financial security and sometimes even lots of insecurity.

A designer's journey is one of self exploration and one that takes you through a series of mental and emotional Olympic trials. If you don't know it by now you've chosen the road less traveled. But be sure to realized that it's your road and you must travel it because once you arrive at your destination, there is nothing else like it.

Jacob Cass of Just Creative Design, which I'm a big fan, did a great post called Advice For Design Students in which he interviews creative professionals in the design industry giving some insightful advice on staying in the game no matter what. Good stuff, check it out - you're guaranteed to get that second wind you've been looking for.

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 Now, I can start my weekend. Have a great weekend people.

Calvin, Cheers.

Are You Looking To Hire A Designer? 

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1. Create Cheeky Blog Titles

Blog titles are just as important as the blog content itself "at Hubspot, we probably spend close to half our time thinking about a cheeky blog title and half our time actually writing the article." Says Brian Halligan of Hubspot, an internet marketing company after reading my post on "How to write a Blog Title That Shows Up On DIGGs Front Page".

2. Write Great Content That Invites Discussion

Sometimes I find myself lecturing to my readers, which is not my intention, but when it does happen it tends to close the door for an open discussion about the topic of interest. Try writing with a relative instead of an absolute point of view.

3. Create Keyword Rich Content.

Keyword rich content could be tricky sometimes because keyword rich content is only for search engine purposes. It might become a little annoying for your readers if you repeat a keyword over and over in your content. I find writing your content with your readers interest first and then go back and replace or add your keywords only where appropriate works very well.

4. Make Sure Their Content Is Complete With Referral Links

Links to other relevant resources is very important. As much as I would like to think that I have the best content on the web - I don't. I read amazing articles by other bloggers all the time that addresses a point of view that does wonders as a great reference for my readers. Linking to those kinds of articles helps to complete the readers experience.

5. Create Internal Links To Other Articles & Tips Within Their Blog

Linking to other parts of your blog (internal linking) helps you with your PageRank and helps to build page authority. It's a big misconception that internal links doesn't matter.... they do.

6. Leaves Constructive Comments On Fellow Bloggers Articles

Leaving constructive comments sparks a conversation on fellow bloggers articles help to promote the discussion. The more interesting your comments the more visitors will want to know who you are. Most blogs have a reply URL that will provide a link to your website.

7. Track Readership Subscriptions Closely To Find Out How To Improve And Grow Their Subscriptions

Your readership is the most important asset a blogger has. If your readership is at a standstill, you should work on finding out why your traffic is not increasing, if your articles are engaging enough and how to improve your subscriptions.

8. Track Web Traffic And Analyze When Are The Best Times to Post Articles For Maximum Impact

This is something that I'm working on myself, most bloggers have an international following; you should find out where most of your readership is coming from and post your blogs usually in the mornings of that demographic. For your email subscribers, this will give them a chance first thing in the morning to read your new post. And besides most people take the first few hour in the morning to get the scoop of what's new and exciting for the day.

9. Reply To Comments Made On Their Own Articles.

When someone makes a comment on your articles, its good practice to reply to their comments; this helps to promote the discussion and engage other readers.

10. Continues to Research Articles And Topics That Will Engage Their Subscribers.

your goal as a blogger is to continue to build a level of trust with your readers, giving them new and exciting things to read and learn so than they will want to come back to your website.

11. Post Their Articles On Popular Social Bookmark Sites Like Digg And Designfloat.com

This is a great way to get new visitors to your site. If your articles are interesting enough, readers will vote to put your articles on the front page of these sites which increases your exposure and send lots of new visitors to your blog or website.

12. Surf the Internet; Sometimes Randomly

I've found lots of cool sites and gadgets on the internet that I've use as the subject of my blog posts and have written fairly successful articles around them, one such article is "How Much is Your Website Or Blog Really Worth? Your Numbers May Surprise You."

13. Add Their Blog to Selected Design And Blog Directories

Placing your blogs in directories can also help drive readers to your blog. Be careful and check out the directories to make sure they are not spammy and are respected; some directories you can try are of course the Yahoo directory, technorati, dexigner, and and blog catalog.

14. Write With Their Readers In Mind

Write with the intentions of truly providing your readers with quality stuff. No one wants to spend time reading articles with little substance.

15. Get Involve With Social Media Sites

Get on Twitter, StumbleUpon and Facebook - These sites can be a great resource and will help improve your readership if you take the time to learn the culture and become a part of it. My post on "Twitter is the Most Coolest and Stupidest Thing Ever" may give you some insight.

I've learned that blogging is both an art and a science; if you learn and do it correctly it can be very rewarding.

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