Web designers have an enormous opportunity to make money by helping small businesses establish an internet presence. Use the tips below to expand your web design business to small businesses.

Your web design advertising should offer a basic package and should establish a price range that you can advertise. While many businesses will find web design companies advertising free consultations or contact information actual dollar and cents figures are difficult to obtain.

If you advertise what can be accomplished within a specified price range you will attract calls from businesses that don’t want to listen to a spiel before getting a price quote or aren’t certain as to what they want for their web design.

Beginning web designers can incentivize small business customers by offering a discount to businesses that allow the web design company to use their website design as part of the web design company’s own advertising materials.

If you offer a discount to first-time customers keep it small so that your repeat customers won’t feel like they’re getting ripped off.

Spend time describing exactly what you provide with your service. Be clear as to whether your fee covers a certain number of hours or a specific project to completion. If you are charging by the project be very clear about what services that covers including how many revisions you’ll make for the specified fee.

Small businesses have a tremendous need for individuals whose time they can purchase to help them get a website up and running. If you are a web designer who is willing to get a company’s website up and running using a web hosting company’s web design tool, consider selling your freelance services at an hourly rate to small businesses.

If you pride yourself on one special skill in web design, such as photographs or superior text, make sure you communicate this to potential customers. You can’t anticipate what experience a customer has had prior to you, whether it’s a typo in advertising copy or a photograph that wouldn’t load. Regardless, you can draw attention to your own strengths.

Consider developing a niche business by going after a certain type of small business customer that you’d like to focus your web design skills for.

Contact other web designers to see whether they have work for you. This will give you an opportunity to gain experience and income while you’re building your own web design business.

Do not try to up-sell your small business clients by making them feel as if they’re not doing enough by buying a basic web design package. It’s a commonly used tactic, but it only works on a very narrow range of customers to be told in effect, “You know you’re not buying the best but…”

After you deliver your web designs ask for a recommendation that you can use in your advertising materials from your satisfied customers. If you have a blog as part of your web design marketing strategy, consider having your customer’s positive comments included in your blog.

Marketing yourself as a web designer to small businesses presents some unique opportunities and challenges. Consider some of the suggestions above to tailor your web design marketing efforts to small businesses.