Reader mail: Online Business Development – Getting from Ideas to Results

A reader writes:

Thank you for the work you are doing. My partner and I began a Graphic Design Studio, in Bangalore India, a little over 2 years back. We specialize in developing Corporate Identities, Print & New media design – in other words, the entire gamut of Graphic Design.

From the beginning we were keen on an “on-line” business development model - essentially that of building trustworthy, profitable and sustained business relationships over the internet. (Indeed your phrase of “a virtual handshake” so precisely captured our desired model of business in all its connotations)

We understand that being virtual demands a more determined effort on our part to be both transparent and well organized in our communication with clients – ensuring and assuring them of high quality and on time service.

Finally, we also positioned ourselves as “global” in our approach to design stylization and concepts – suggesting that the client could get from us, what they expect from lets say an agency from LA or NY or wherever – at better price! Hopefully, our website and portfolio is consistent with this.

However for all these great ideas - I haven’t been able to execute them effectively!

No matter how many directories I listed us in (hopefully the right ones), or write to agencies abroad (suggesting partnership and a sharing of work since we don’t have any marketing personal abroad to get in business)… apart from the odd one or two… it has been fruitless. In fact, I was thoroughly disillusioned wondering if this medium of the internet would really ever bring in the sort of business goodwill traditional methods do.

Until I found your site!

So my problem in a nutshell is that I am not able to cross the bridge from “idea” to actual “result” let alone recognize it. Help!

Thomas John
Seventh Incorporated
www.seventhinc.com

Thanks, Thomas, for your kind words and for your willingness to be so open about the challenges you are facing.

One of the things that many people seem to miss in the practice of networking is that having the relationship, even a strong relationship, just isn’t enough. For all the talk of the non-competitive nature of networking (and I agree, generally), the reality is that when it comes time to start making a buying decision, there is competition – you are vying for mindshare, or attention, from the people you’ve met who may become buyers.

In order to stand a decent shot at getting the business, you must differentiate yourself. Now, every marketer knows this, but I’m saying that you must differentiate yourself during the networking process, or you’ll never get the opportunity to differentiate yourself during the buying process.

Frankly, you are offering a service that has become commoditized and is highly competitive. I get several spam messages a day offering logo, corporate identity and graphic design services. And I must know at this point at least two or three dozen graphic designers reasonably well through my networking activities, and many of them are in India or other countries such that they may be able to offer lower rates than U.S. or Western European businesses.

The point is that for you it is not a numbers game. You could reach a million people, but if you don’t do something to differentiate yourself in your initial interactions, it won’t matter. You could write a fantastic sales letter, or you could even just focus on partnering and asking for referrals, but it wouldn’t matter. Why? Because people have dozens of other people asking for / offering the same thing, at least on the surface.

No, what you need to do is focus on building stronger, collaborative relationships with a much smaller number of people in a way that demonstrates your expertise. In your particular case, I would recommend the following:

1. Identify the online networking communities that have enough flexibility in the design of profile pages and club/network pages to let you showcase your work. MySpace, Ryze and Ecademy all do. Some others probably do too, but those are a good start.
    
2. Build an absolutely fantastic profile that showcases your talents. In your case, it’s not just about the words, because excellent graphic design is your content. You might even include a few links directly to portfolio samples. This gives you a presence within these communities that demonstrates your expertise. Also make sure to create a very simple, understated signature that ties in with your corporate identity.
    
3. Identify the leaders of the networks of small business owners, entrepreneurs, etc. Look for ones that don’t have a good logo or strong corporate image and approach them and offer to help create an identity for their network – probably not their business brand, unless they happen to be the same, but just for their network. Ask only that their network and maybe their profile include a reference and link to you or your company. You’ll almost certainly get some takers, and once you do, each one of these will put your work and your company name in front of their entire audience every day. You’ve also differentiated yourself because you provided something of value to them first. Sure, the link/reference is also of value to you, but the value to them is far greater than the cost to them, just as the value to you is far greater than the cost to you. That’s true win-win.
    
4. Participate in the forums/groups related to HTML design, branding and marketing. Whenever a question is posted that you can provide a valuable answer for, answer (remember that signature!). Create value. Never sell – don’t say, “We could do that for you,” or anything like that. Just deliver value and reinforce your branding every time you do. That’s how you gain mind share and truly distinguish yourself.
    
5. You’re very articulate. You might consider starting a group/club/network within some of these sites yourself, or perhaps blogging. Remember, create value first.

Some of the advice above is specific to your business as a graphic designer, but the basic strategy should work well for most service businesses. Again, the numbers just don’t matter if you haven’t set yourself apart. The best way to do that is by action, not just claims or even portfolios or pricing.