Company website - 'Small company' vs solo

[kingshuk]

Planning to build company website. From other posts in this forum I understand that most of you with websites are presenting a 'Small IT consultancy' image. Has that brought in any new business? If so, how do you respond when potential customers ask about size of company, references etc?

I am inclined towards highlighting my own skills in the site - making it obvious that its a one man company. Has anyone tried this approach? Does this bring in new clients?

I thought this 'one man band' idea might work after seeing Jonathan Lewis's site -http://www.jlcomp.demon.co.uk/ He is quite well known in Oracle circle and working as an independent consultant for more than a decade.

[2uk]

simple really.

If you don't want to go towards the consultancy way , put a solo site.

[OrangeHopper]

Nothing to stop you doing both.

[Euro-commuter]

Planning to build company website. From other posts in this forum I understand that most of you with websites are presenting a 'Small IT consultancy' image. Has that brought in any new business? If so, how do you respond when potential customers ask about size of company, references etc?

I am inclined towards highlighting my own skills in the site - making it obvious that its a one man company. Has anyone tried this approach? Does this bring in new clients?

I thought this 'one man band' idea might work after seeing Jonathan Lewis's site -http://www.jlcomp.demon.co.uk/ He is quite well known in Oracle circle and working as an independent consultant for more than a decade.

It's true that as long as clients really want you personally, it is your personal reputation that gets the contracts. Mind you, in lots of classic small businesses like plumbing, roofing etc, the main man may have the reputation but he is likely to check out the job himself but send an employee round to do the job; you can only hope that he stakes his own reputation on everything his employees do.

In a way he does because he is running a business that he cares about. So perhaps should we. If clients want to deal with businesses (and why else would they use some of the agencies around? Don't answer, it might be construed as libel) then let them think of MyCo Ltd as a business, just as much as Dodgy Bodyshop Ltd (apologies where due).

I stand behind my name, personal or Ltd, at least as much as many an agency does. How to persuade clients of that? I hate to see them pay agencies so much for nothing.

[dotnetter]

I think the best way is to leave your options open. I try to run my company as a business so have a business website, I also have a personal blog that has my CV on it.

[TheFaQQer]

Planning to build company website. From other posts in this forum I understand that most of you with websites are presenting a 'Small IT consultancy' image. Has that brought in any new business? If so, how do you respond when potential customers ask about size of company, references etc?

I am inclined towards highlighting my own skills in the site - making it obvious that its a one man company. Has anyone tried this approach? Does this bring in new clients?

I thought this 'one man band' idea might work after seeing Jonathan Lewis's site -http://www.jlcomp.demon.co.uk/ He is quite well known in Oracle circle and working as an independent consultant for more than a decade.

Jonathan Lewis has written a number of books - he's known as working on his own, so him trying to convince people that he's anything other than a one man band wouldn't work.

I've received a number of inquiries via my company website, presenting as a small company. If they need more people, then I bring in "Associate Consultants", otherwise known as subcontractors.

[kingshuk]

thanks guys for the inputs. I will go the "small company" way and probably keep a weblog embedded in the site.

I've received a number of inquiries via my company website

Did you do any advertising (google/trademags) ? Or did they find you on their own?

[TheFaQQer]

thanks guys for the inputs. I will go the "small company" way and probably keep a weblog embedded in the site.


Did you do any advertising (google/trademags) ? Or did they find you on their own?

No advertising, apart from putting a link to my website on LinkedIn, and the two other industry related fora that I use. From that, there are a few entries in del.icio.us and technorati and the like that link in to me, but mostly it's just from searching on Google. I also run my own forum via my website, which helps get more hits via Google.