If you network, you will certainly hear the phrase “a good referral for me is…” more than once. Networking is, after all, a way to help other businesses to succeed and to be helped in the process. I rarely bring referrals up in my own networking, as I prefer to allow leads to grow naturally and organically. However, this topic does give me an excuse to discuss who my clients tend to be and what to look for in businesses that might be helped by Kropmark Design.
Customers of Kropmark Design typically come to us for the following reasons:
You are starting a new Business
Most folks starting a new business today realize the necessity of a website and will make it one of their first priorities. The downside of this is that new businesses rarely have a lot of capital, causing some owners to make the mistake of getting a cheap (and cheaply done) web page design. Which leads me to my next type of client…
You are unhappy with your cheaply-made website
Although a website built through a free website builder will work in a pinch, most business owners realize quickly that there are significant drawbacks to these types of sites. For one, they rarely look as professional as a web page design should be in order to bring in finicky (discriminating?) clients. Second, many of these hosting providers will include only the most basic functionality in your website. Adding a blog, e-commerce or other advanced functions will often increase your monthly rate. These nickel and dime style charges begin to accumulate, and your “inexpensive” website becomes significantly more pricey. This process leads me to my next type of client…
You want to upgrade to a more powerful, flexible and functional website
The restrictions of a non-cms (content management system) website eventually will frustrate most business owners, forcing them to look at better website options. Why would any business pay a monthly charge for blog functionality on a cheap website when they can get a powerful and flexible website with an integrated blog for a one-time fee? Businesses that come to this conclusion will discover that a cms website provides the balance of good looks, adaptability, ease of use and power that other web page designs lack.
You are not getting found by the right customers
Many business owners have great websites, but they are not tapping into online clients as much as they should. These businesses ask for help with their search engine optimization, Google Analytics, or Google Places accounts. Some businesses need help creating quality print advertising or coupon offers.
You ARE getting found by the WRONG customers
Some businesses receive scathing online reviews that they previously did not know existed (Note: you can run your business with top notch customer service and still recieve bad reviews). These businesses realize the damage that negative online reviews can have, or they realize the positive impact that five star reviews of their business can have and ask Kropmark Design to help monitor their online customer feedback.
You want to market your business in other ways, but don’t have the resources
Many businesses want to tap into social media but don’t have the time or knowledge to do so. Some businesses come to Kropmark Design because they want professional print design and layout for their presentations, but they don’t have the proper software or ability to design it themselves.
So then, who are the customers of Kropmark Design?
- Business startups
- Growing businesses who need web page design or advertising help
- Businesses who have at least ten customers a day and need their reputation monitored
- Business that have a storefront, especially restaurants and retail
Kropmark Design enjoys working with other designers, marketing agencies and programmers who need additional design help but don’t want another full-time employee. Kropmark Design has also worked with many publishers in need of design, pre-press or production help.
We help other businesses to succeed. It is not just our mission statement, it is what Kropmark Design does and who we are. If you can relate to any of the above descriptions, trust us to provide a quality, high value product that is made with creativity, integrity and precision. We look forward to working with you.
Image by Comstock
At Kropmark Design, we operate our business with integrity and look out for the interests of our clients. We will not purchase your domain name or hosting for you, unless you specifically request this. Although we do make web hosting recommendations and are affiliates of some hosting programs, we do not force our clients into any of these choices and are happy to work with any legitimate hosting company. And most important, we do not force our clients to use a proprietary website system that only we can edit. We only use well-supported content management systems such as WordPress, Drupal and Joomla. These systems allow you, the business owner, to make most changes to the website yourself without the need to pay us another penny. And if you decide to work with another website designer for future website modifications, these systems will allow that (although we would be sad to lose you as a customer).
