I am the co-founder of a company that provides software to established and rapidly developing organisations that wish to introduce modern web working-practices. Think e-commerce apps, large Joomla-based sites, social media features, clean and functional design etc.
We are just getting started but have managed to find some leads mainly through our professional contacts. We’ve also tried websites such as http://www.supply2.gov.uk/ but I’ve found these to be of limited use. Getting clients at this stage is critical to us as we need to increase our portfolio of work.
My question is for those that do web development for a similar audience; where do you look for potential clients, RFPs etc? Do you hit the streets? Hold workshops? Attend ‘networking’ events? Search online?
Note that I am based in London - although it would also be interesting to know how this works internationally. Thanks all.
Think about how you would select someone for a project if you had £50k to spend on a project. Would you search the web and pick the company with the nicest website or most blog articles?
Or would you reach out to your contacts, see what other companies have done, seeking referals. When you're spending a lot of money, nothing soothes a buyer more than sound recommendations from people who have used you before.
I'm not saying the website isn't important. It is, as your 'shop front' and public image, very important. But it's a small part of the whole package.
So networking might the most important activity you can do, as you never know who you might meet.