Turning your community into clients
After you’ve built a thriving community, the next step is closing the deal and turning your community members into clients. If you’ve engaged them along the way through courses, mastermind groups, or through physical and digital products, it’s possible they’ve already been paying for your offerings.
For those interested in ultimately turning community members into website design clients, here are four strategies:
Message exclusive offerings to community members
Email those who have engaged with your community offerings with special deals that are only available for them. Consider marketing seasonal promotions like a summer brand tune-up or a holiday season marketing audit that are only available to community members.
Limit your availability for website projects to community members
If you find yourself with a full client load, make booking projects with you a benefit that’s only available to community members. Even if you have one or two slots for new clients in a given month, reserve them for your community. You may even consider discounting your rate for these projects.
Offer exclusive 1:1 consultation calls
If you’re interested in offering client consultations, consider only sharing the opportunity with community members. List consultations as a benefit of membership and make several call slots available each month. To take it a step further, you can offer these to your most engaged community members or let anyone in your community pay for a one-on-one consultation call.
Launch an affiliate program
Turn your clients into brand advocates by launching an affiliate program. Reward your community members by giving them something like a digital download or status in your community for referring new members. You can also give them a financial share of the business they refer to you as an additional incentive.
As you work to turn your audience into a thriving community, remember that community growth is never linear–it’s a learning process. Start small, don’t be afraid to experiment, and take note of what resonates best with those who say yes to going on this journey with you.
Engaging with clients on social media is a crucial component of creating strong client relationships. By setting goals, leveraging social listening tools, tuning into client feedback, and engaging thoughtfully, you can set the tone for client relationships that reap big rewards for your business.
We have worked with every type of business, building platforms for solo entrepreneurs through to multi-million dollar corporations. If you want to discuss a potential project, you can email on services@ahdconsultingsolution.com or get in touch with us here. Alternatively, you can book in a free 15-minute consultation call here.
Want more?
The web design industry is always evolving. But despite constant technological innovations and ever-changing trends, one thing remains certain: fostering client relationships is essential to long term success.
Your role as a web designer goes beyond designing beautiful websites and helping clients grow their brands. You are a business owner whose ability to maintain healthy relationships with clients is equal—if not paramount—to delivering exceptional work. Satisfied clients become brand ambassadors, choosing to work with you again in the future and referring you to their networks.
To unlock the key to building and nurturing positive client relationships, we interviewed successful members of Circle, Squarespace’s partner program and professional community of web designers, developers, entrepreneurs, and other freelance creators. In addition to their roles as Circle members, they are Community Leaders, an opportunity that recognizes members who have made significant contributions to the community.
Katy Carlisle, Allie Astell, and Kelsey Gilbert-Kreiling know how to maintain strong client-designer relationships. They also know what not to do. Ahead are 10 mistakes to avoid making as a professional web designer.