Sourcing on a Shoestring
Get a Website Part IV
Before I begin on why it’s important to have a website, let me tell you this. During this series I’ve received some rebuttal comments that I should be revealing the TRUE DOLLAR COST of what these recommendations (get a group, get a blog, get a website) will cost to implement.
I do think that those who want to start a sourcing business need to know that if they are going to build a blog, a website and manage a group, they will have to shell out money. You will not be working in an agency where these things are taken care of. First, to have a professional construct a good website for you, you are going to need to spend $400. You can spend less but do you really want a crappy looking website that is unprofessional? You will or should spend at least $500 to Search Engine Optimize your site. You do want people to come to your site, don't you? Same applies to a blog. You can go to blogspot and get a free blog but no one will read it unless it is SEOptimized. That's another $300- $500. Unless you can find a group to join or your library has Hoovers, getting Hoovers will cost you over $2,000+.You have spent approximately $3,200 now. Now you have to email potential new clients and work your tail off for the next year to build your business.
I agree…that expectations need to be set correctly. A solid business plan and cashflow analysis are as important in this endeavor as with any business. I am growing my business model from Organization Development & Talent Acquisition Consulting to a Sourcing Business model. As I am now employed for a global company and traveling worldwide, I have partnered with several colleagues and we are retooling my website (I do my own) and pricing structure to provide only sourcing. We have recently requested to be listed in the New Sourcers Book that Maureen has started for 2008…
The first and most important expectation anyone should have in this business is the expectation that, when confronted with sourcing work, you will be able to complete it successfully.
All the business plans and cashflow analyses in the world won't mean squat if you don't know how to names source, and, to tell the truth, once you get busy you won't have time to worry about cash flow analyses and business plans - they will take care of themselves. Believe me.
Here's what you do: Spend all your time working. THAT way, you won’t have time to spend any of the hard-won money you’re making. It will accumulate. Once you have a pile of it, spend it how you see fit. If you're working the hours that name sourcing demands, you won't have the time (or energy) to spend any of it.
For those of you who are interested, though, in CASH FLOW theory: For a solid checklist of how to handle the money that comes in, read (or reread) “Small-Business Cash Flow: What to Do with Every Dollar That Comes In,” by Jeffrey Moses. The article can be found on the Web site of the National Federation of Independent Business, an advocacy organization representing small and independent businesses. These are among his suggestions:
Put part of every deposit into your retirement account.
Create a fund dedicated to estimated taxes.
Create another fund to handle payroll, to make record keeping simpler.
Finally, Mr. Moses suggests that every item of the checklist “be coordinated with your overall business plan.” This, he said, “will keep your cash flow aligned with business goals. The more strictly you can adhere to your master cash-flow checklist, the more efficient your business will be.”
I still think the best thing, though, is to just work all the time, at least in the beginning of any enterprise. When the time comes, there will be no shortages of places to spend your money. Europe will be there tomorrow and it might just be cheaper than it is today.
If you're active blogging and posting in your groups (both can be free to start) your search engine optimization will mostly take care of itself. I pretty much "own" the top spots (and lots of them) for anything having to do with name sourcing or phone sourcing and I haven't spent a cent to marketers to get these placements.
Sure, I encourage you to get Hoovers, but there are alternatives that will deliver some of what Hoovers does. Check out your local library - there are resources there! And yes, you can access it online if you have a library card. And, here's a secret. You can request they purchase different materials. They will purchase some, and not others - probably depends on time of year/their budget levels. How about requesting they purchase MagicMethod? Find out when their budget starts - that way they may be more likely to spend like drunken pirates, if you can imagine a librarian as a drunken pirate! Now wouldn’t THAT be a hoot?
;)
Now, the discussion about websites.
My husband put together a website in the beginning and basically it's the same one we have today with a few minor tweaks and a few content additions. It's pretty rudimentary (in fact, some might say "crappy looking") but it's a testament that even a simple and mostly cheap website works! Take a look at it here. People come to our website in spite of the fact that it's not filled with bells and whistles. Some have even commented positively on the thing’s "simplicity"!
I saw a post on the web once, in response to why it was important to have a website that said: "If people don't find your business on the Web, they will certainly find a Web site of one of your competitors."
That just about sums it up for me so why wouldn’t I have a website? It’s been a few years now that more homes have internet access than have cable TV and I know for sure that well-funded, well-equipped businesses use the Internet extensively today for email and to gather information. To me, my website works when I am not working. I kind of think of it as a Girl Friday, or a branch office – it answers questions, provides sales and lead generation, and, in general does a fine job of servicing customers during the few hours I am not answering my phone. By the way, it is my opinion that answering your phone is the #1 most important aspect in building, and running, a business.
Your website can be like an extra employee on duty working for you 24/7 with no overtime pay, no EEOC issues and, best of all (and the #1 reason people sell their businesses!) no complaining; all this compounded by huge dollar savings! This employee can do almost all your customer service operations, can be the cashier, the salesman, the catalog; can set appointments in a calendar, make contact with highly-targeted (categorizing and prioritizing) leads, and can facilitate communications with current clients in a format that you control! Can that last be said about most employees? No, it cannot.
This is woefully important: The content of a website is more important than how it looks. Sure, the glitz might satisfy my eye’s sweet tooth but the meat and potatoes satisfy my hunger for information. Whoever authors and edits your website must be eminently competent and the person’s skill who architects the information that goes on your website is almost as critically important. Fluff and misspellings do you no service. Many websites fall beneath these exacting standards and suffer as a result. Don’t make this mistake.
There are zillions of pages splashed across the pages of the Internet about the hows, whys and whats of websites. Read some of them if you’re not convinced. I think you may well soon be.
Let me say again what I say so often - nothing starts overnight. All things begin small, most starting out slowly and building over time. I am proof of that. Yes, it will take years of dedication (a few) before you are recognized as a "brand", maybe even a leader in your sphere. It will take thousands, no, let me correct that, tens of thousands of messages to get your message across. There’s a testament on Sourcers Unleashed about how effective a simple email campaign can be:
Honestly, those e-mails work. I remember seeing one of your posts ages ago that you generated work that way, and during a slow time, I tried it.....I sent out 8 emails introducing myself to people I thought would be hiring managers, and I immediately got two new clients and job orders from it! Just last week I heard from another I'd reached out to of that 8, who gave me two senior orders and then a third this week. So, right now, I have six active searches going just from that initial email. Oh, and I also got a candidate too...turns out one of those potential hiring managers of the 8 is looking, and he may be a candidate for one of these new searches.
This business takes elbow grease - lots of it and most are not willing to expend that - that's what sets you apart. That's the real "secret sauce" to success. That's the true advantage you have and it doesn’t have to cost a cent!
The first rebuttal said it best: the thing you have to do is "work your tail off for the next year to build your business". I couldn’t have said it better, except that I would delete "the next year" and warn that in order to be a success as a names sourcer you just plain and simple have to work your tail off all the time. If you do as I’ve suggested, get a group, get a blog and get a website, your efforts will be multiplied exponentially!
I hope you have enjoyed this series and I welcome your comments. If you’d prefer to send them to me directly, please email them to me at maureen at techtrak.com (replace the “at” with @).
Good luck!
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Sourcers! Don't be left out. Get listed in the 2008 Book of Sourcers!
Do something today you don’t think you can do. Lose phone fear here.
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Is your website working for you? Do you even have a website yet? Since many clients and customers won't do business with a company unless they can first check them out on the Web, even a very simple website adds credibility to your business, leading to increased sales. Make sure, however, that your website is working for you. Fortunately, that's fairly simple. In a nutshell, here's what you want a business website to do:
