How do you promote yourselves?

[jamesohio]

I just found this really amazing site. Don't know if this helps but I'm assuming that just by looking at how they've presented their content with such great quality automatically helps them attract clients. Just one look and you're hooked. This is the site: http://www.sotomayorandco.com/

[CliveG]

... automatically helps them attract clients. Just one look and you're hooked.[/url]

 

This is all very well; these guys have good work, simple website but how does a potential client find their website (or Facebook or Linkedin or Behance or Pinterest or whatever) this is the main question for me here. I see nothing "automatic" about this attracting clients.

 

Potential clients are not necessarily going to be seduced or persuaded just by some nice images. They need to know that whoever they award a project to, is going to deliver what they want, when they want it and for an agreeable price and (for mine) a few images on a website (or social media) isn't going to do that on their own.

 

What makes the potential client go to their website in the first place

 

What then reassures them that these guys can deliver compared to the myriad of other websites (or social media) the potential client may have seen.

 

Why should they pick up the phone to them...

 

These are to me more important than the colour background or font of a website (no offence to anyone by the way)

[godzycabari]

behance is budget though

its got a nasty amateur feel and isnt really for professionals

 

Totally agree, there are so many artists on Behance so i decided to try it myself couple of weeks ago and i don't see why people use it..it is least user friendly site i'v ever seen, one of few things that you would want from site like that to work-"adding projects" is slow and annoying as shit.

[heni30]

This is all very well; these guys have good work, simple website but how does a potential client find their website (or Facebook or Linkedin or Behance or Pinterest or whatever) this is the main question for me here. I see nothing "automatic" about this attracting clients.

 

Potential clients are not necessarily going to be seduced or persuaded just by some nice images. They need to know that whoever they award a project to, is going to deliver what they want, when they want it and for an agreeable price and (for mine) a few images on a website (or social media) isn't going to do that on their own.

 

What makes the potential client go to their website in the first place

 

What then reassures them that these guys can deliver compared to the myriad of other websites (or social media) the potential client may have seen.

 

Why should they pick up the phone to them...

 

These are to me more important than the colour background or font of a website (no offence to anyone by the way)

 

While a cool website is not a guarantee to getting jobs - a mediocre one will make people wary and maybe guarantee not getting jobs.

 

Sol it's A necessary but not sufficient part of the game plan. I find the only time I use it is to refer clients to work samples AFTER the client has already contacted me.

 

Contacts come from word of mouth referral 90% of the time.

 

High quality work and good service will get you referred.

 

But be careful what you wish for - it's not fun getting swamped.

Edited June 7, 2016 by heni30

[CliveG]

Contacts come from word of mouth referral 90% of the time.

 

This is the nub of it... as with me contacts come by word of mouth referral 100% of the time - nowhere else! And yes, I've been swamped plenty of times too!

 

But I was thinking the thread got distracted from the real point of the original question....

 

But the thing is i don't know how can i promote my work and be seen.

So i'm asking you guys, what was your experience on promoting your brand?

 

It's the "be seen" that is the difficult element of this question - a great website with no hits isn't going to put food on your table.

 

Of course we're all reasonably tech savvy creatives - we can probably all do a decent web-site. But the real question is how do get interest in you and that website from potential clients with money and a project in their pocket? I simply don't believe that they'll go to the trouble of a google search or spend an hour flipping through Pinterest, Behance or Facebook - these are busy people with better things to do than go looking for me or you!

[augustobohm]

You are right C G...

 

Now... if wasn't hard enough to start a business... my country is in the middle of an economical crysis and the construction segment has almost stopped... BUT, i've not give up... i will just adapt myself for now, just to handle the crysis offering lower prices than the competitors (their price is WAY higher than mine... i just need to get discovered i think.

Thanks again for the advice guys! I also created an instagram because i saw that lots of my possible clients are sharing their work on it and i think it could be a valuable try... if you whould like some follow exchange, please, follow https://www.instagram.com/corner3d/ and i will follow back.

[danieladelgado]

I've been having the same problem. Opened a website, have a instagram channel, and I've payed to promote some of my post for higher exposure. Our costs is 25$ per render image. I realize it's probably very cheap comparing to other companies but still haven't been able to find work. It it maybe the cost? That is to "cheap to be true". We do great realistic renders. http://www.TuRender.com http://turender.com

[Lewis Garrison]

Jesus $25 an image? So your only making 50 cents an hour?

[danieladelgado]

Yes, just 25$ per image with a minimum of two per ambient. And with that price I can't get enough work.

[danieladelgado]

I belive that's right. Even at that pricing I haven't been able to reach the amount of clients I would like. Got any ideas for me?? Thank you.

[Corey Beaulieu]

Why are you doing head counts on clients?

 

If you charged a more reasonable (higher) rate, you wouldn't need to work for more people.

[Arnold Sher]

Hi Daniela,

 

So we are one of the people that you have contacted for work. Here is my two cents worth... Your work is not up to par. I do not mean that in vicious or mean kind of a way but if i am subcontracting my work out to someone, the level of work i expect is what my studio can produce. That is number one, number two... You will never be taken seriously when you charge nothing for your work. I mean your pricing is ridiculous. If you do not value your time, how can i? Also i have a moral dilemma with essentially enslaving people. Maybe this is little too straight forward but this just how we feel.

[Adam Kruvand]

humm... do you use Behance Adam?

Hi Augusto, sorry I never replied to this. Yes, I use it for both personal and business. I also look for and contact freelancers there. Hope you have been building up your Behance profile since this post!

[dvdarchitecturerenderings]

Some Input to the original Question. We tried a lot of things and I can tell you how well each worked.

 

1. Sending a postcard with some references to all architects and real estate offices in the area

-We sent out about 10 000 postcards. We made sure they were well designed and had a "nobel" feel to them. We chose A5 postcards because it was the cheapest medium to send through mail.

Result: This managed to give us our first clients so you could call it a success. However, it was connected with a high pricetag and a lot of work finding all the adresses.

 

2. Calling and Meeting possible clients

-We called a lot of potential clients and if possible scheduled meetings.

Result: Eventhough, I had high hopes for this method, this didnt work out well for us. In most cases we couldnt make it past the receptionist and got rejected as "spam" (especially when you just started a company this can be very depressing). Still we managed to have some meetings. For some reason, though, we got almost no clients even out of the meetings. This may work for some, but for us it really didnt work out.

 

3. Random Email

- Sending a Sh*** load of mails to any email address of companies and people who could be remotely interested in your service. I know this isnt a good way to go, and I am not proud of it, but when there are no clients youll be willing to try anything.

Result: nothing. No clients only some replies asking to be taken off our mailing list...

 

4. Targeted Emailing

-We searched through relevant websites and tried to find the relevant people and their email (you would be surprised how many companies have their direct emails online). I then tried to introduce myself as a person while applying to a writing style more like a job application than an advertisement. Talking about how archviz is my passion and so on. I reused some parts of the same mail over and over (to reduce work), but still always added some customized intro (to make the email more personal to the target person).

Result: Even though this was a lot of work for each email (compared to spamming) the feedback was great. We got many new projects and many more clients who replied that that they will ask us for a price offer once they have a project.

 

5.Google and Adwords

-Adwords is a great way to get positioned well on Google but it has a high pricetag. It`s best you research SEO (get lots of backlinks, use https, and optimize your website to load fast) a little and manage to get a good position at google. Even though we are on the first page of google now, we still use Adwords to strengthen our position even more.

Result: We get a slow, but constant flow from this. Adwords is worth it in our case, especially if you include follow up projects.

 

6. Advertisement in an architecture magazine

Result: big waste of money. not a single client despite a large and visible advertisement.

 

 

So those are basically all the things we tried. I believe, what may be successful may vary a lot depending on your location and your type business. Generally I suggest you use a targeted approach so that you get to the right people directly. Additionally, stay active online, write news, blog posts about new projects, write in forums like CGarchitect and so on. This gives you a great online presence and gives new clients as well as old ones a chance to stay up to date on your work.

 

Most important of all, however, is that you do a good job at what you do. The best advertisement is being recommended from old clients.

[anatolideriouguine]

I completely agree with Damian on this, as we have also tried all these methods except for print ads. When starting out, it is a good idea to leverage your professional network to get your initial leads. My first clients came in a very organic way because they were people I worked for, companies for which I interviewed and other prior acquaintances in the field. After that came a period of cold emailing and calling, but with very few results. Doing that I received very few responses and the ones that answered mostly wanted to be taken off the mailing list. There were a few inquiries into prices, but hardly anything that resulted in collaboration.

 

The most effective way is to research your potential clients and ultimately getting in contact with the person who can make the decision to purchase from you. If your pitch is convincing and your images are good, they will be more likely to give you a shot. One thing to keep in mind is that there are not so many reliable companies who can deliver quality visuals at reasonable prices, so if a client was pleased with your performance - he would usually be quite happy to introduce you to his own contacts.

 

Don't hesitate to ask for referrals as well, but most importantly - be convinced in what you are selling and your lead development will be a lot more efficient.

[Robert Lamp]

Go to freelance portals

 

Young and ambitious start-ups have huge chances in a short time to collect a decent portfolio, carrying out orders for freelance portals. Set yourself the task of registering for 10 of these.

 

Participate in professional competitions

 

Yes, it's spent time and, sometimes, money that you have to pay as an entrance fee. But, firstly, in case of winning (getting a prize place), you have all chances to become the owner of a serious monetary prize that can be effectively used as an advertising budget (contextual advertising, placing banners on industry sites, etc.).

 

Secondly, your work, submitted to the contest, remains yours and will take an honorable place in the portfolio. Thirdly, any competition is an additional opportunity to declare itself to the professional community.

 

Blow up friendship in social networks

SMM, or Social Media Marketing, helps both small and large businesses, public people, and anyone who wants to find customers, in a short time to collect a pool of like-minded people.

 

Industry resources: join

Check yourself - is it everywhere, have you posted information about your design bureau on all industry portals with such a potential opportunity? Are there any current contacts, links to the site, a description of the services and, preferably, the price level? There are a lot of reference books, catalogs, forums.

 

Print and publish

Write articles, comment on articles, answer questions on forums, try to get on TV-programs. Your expert opinion (if it is really expert) can be of interest to colleagues in the shop, people who are planning to do repairs on their own.