Life is full of surprises. When it comes to planning web design and online marketing campaigns, however, we can often tell which business owners will be successful and which ones won’t simply by paying attention to the questions they ask. That’s because every question reveals a deeper motivation or concern.
Usually, when someone comes in for an initial consultation they have one dominant question that’s on their mind. They may or may not express it directly, but their thinking is leading them in a certain direction. And this tells us a great deal about their mindset and the odds that they will be successful or not.
In today’s post, we will look at each of the three questions in succession, starting with the most common and least useful and ending with the rarest and most valuable.
Question #1: How Do I Spend the Least Amount of Money?
You have probably heard and read again and again how dangerous it is to make business investments solely on the basis of price. Still, we continually field inquiries from potential clients who only want to save as much money as possible on the front ends of their projects (and if you work in B2B you probably do, too).
There is nothing wrong with saving money, and we always work with our clients to lower upfront expenses whenever we can. However, when your only goal is to spend as little as possible you put yourself in a position where it is difficult to make solid long-term decisions. Sometimes you have to sacrifice a little bit of time, money, and return now to get a bigger payoff later. That’s true in most industries, and especially when it comes to web design and online marketing.
Question #2: How Can I Achieve a Positive ROI Quickly?
This is a much better question. Rather than worrying about how you can cut your budget to the bone, you should work with your design and marketing partner to think about ways to generate rapid and sustainable returns.
In many instances, we have been able to help our clients start earning positive returns from their online marketing budgets within weeks. It may involve a bit of pain and sacrifice upfront, but the investments you make today can help you see the bigger sales leads you want to achieve tomorrow. By asking a smarter question today, you put yourself in a position to ask an even bigger and more important one later.
Question #3: How Do I Build a Good Long-Term Foundation for Profitability?
Once you get past the day-to-day concerns, you can start doing things that set you up for a more profitable future. That’s when the magic starts to happen.
Ironically, it is frequently the case that doing the organic “long-term” work of building search engine optimization and social media marketing campaigns pays off quickly. Meanwhile, the businesses that try to take shortcuts, and opt for cheap quick fixes, set themselves back time and time again.
Either way, you should always be looking for ways to position yourself as the permanent leader in your market. Financial realities might dictate the need to look for quick wins (see question number two above), but you never want to lose sight of the bigger picture.
Are You Asking the Kinds of Questions That Will Make Your Business Profitable?
We get it. It is easy to get focused on costs, web design proposals, and immediate deadlines when you are trying to keep your bottom line trending in the right direction. That’s especially true given all that we’ve gone through in the past year.
The companies that succeed do things differently, however. They look for real answers over the long term and then make minor adjustments as they go. That was true before the pandemic economy hit, and it is a principle that has been proven valuable again and again lately.
If you’re looking for a web design and online marketing partner who can help you achieve short-term growth and long-term profitability, we can help. Contact us today to learn just how easy and affordable it is to put our expertise to work for you!
