Consulting Websites Made With Drupal - Boutique Consultancies

Boutique service companies provide specialized services for a very specialized audiences. Crafting your message can be very tricky because you are different things to different people. You have the challenge of really defining what you do because nobody knows what sets you apart.

Being "set apart" is what makes you a boutique! I learned a lot about these specialized consultancy businesses when I was VP/co-founder at Financial Interactive. Many of our clients were specialized advisors who needed to connect two different audiences: investors and fund managers. The specialization broke down to what kinds of investors and what kinds of funds.

Of course Boutique Consultancies are not just in the financial services. Superclean examples include experts in Commercial Real Estate, Residential Real Estate, Environmental Law, and Technology. Do you offer a specialized service that has some explaining to do?

Ultimately, you probably are not "selling" something directly online. You just need potential customers to contact you through your consulting website or give you a phone call. But how do you turn them into a warm lead so that they make the call?

1. Know your audience and show them the respect they deserve.

Be clear and up front with your intended audience. They should know they are in the right place within a few seconds of landing on your page. Given that, they will dig deeper into your site to see if you are the right match for their needs..

2. Explain what you do and how you provide value for them.

The task of describing your value position is more challenging than it sounds, especially if you are a small organization. It is an exercise of seeing yourself as your clients see you. It takes some work to effectively craft your message and positioning statement, but Superclean can help you with this. We really take the effort to learn what makes you special and communicate that to your intended audience.

3. Don't be afraid to give something away. This is how you build trust.

It often pays to give a little bit. In the world of consulting websites, you are selling something invisible or which doesn't exist yet. To make the sale, you need to establish trust. By giving something away, you show that you are confident and trustworthy.

Superclean usually invests a solid hour (at least!) in giving free consultation to prospective clients. The prospects get a lot of valuable information and can run with it if they choose. And plenty have. But our conversion rate of prospects into clients -- those we have had a chance to talk to -- is astoundingly high. And this doesn't surprise us, because we know that we have the best solution for them. If we don't think we are a good match, we aren't afraid to send them away either. It's not like we don't learn anything either. We always want to hear what people want for their website.

4. Organic SEO Strategy

Boutique consultancies are not very attractive when they "smell" of marketing. Your content has to come off naturally because your prospects know what they want. They just need to be able to find you.

So how do they find you? The best way is to build a strong, organic SEO (search engine optimization) strategy. This is best accomplished by a combination of web development best practices and dynamic content on your website. Dynamic content tells the search engines that you are producing fresh content thereby blessing you with better rankings.

Producing dynamic content is where you kill 2 birds with 1 stone: giving something away and building solid SEO. What is dynamic content? A common example is blog posts. But maybe you aren't a prolific writer... so you need something else. The possibilities are endless here. Perhaps you are just posting news stories that fall within your field (since you are tracking them anyway) or maybe you have some kind of data you update monthly.

We can help you figure something out as we get to understand your business.

5. Social Media Strategy

A lot of smart people tend to blow off social media networking (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) and we think this is a mistake. How you use these networking tools makes all the difference, and the same plan doesn't work for everybody.

Blatant self-promotion is NOT what works. They work best when it's 1:1 / 2-way communication. If you listen, you will get valuable feedback from your clients, prospects, and partners. It's a great way to keep your finger on the pulse of what's driving your corner of the world.

If you are new to social networking, don't worry. Superclean can help you devise a strategy that works with "your style" of communication. You don't have to be something or someone you are not. But if you aren't there, you will be missed.

Read more about integrating Social Media with your website.

6. Back everything up with your credentials - don't have to lead with it.

Having a website - even if it's a simple one pager - gives your practice credibility. Depending on your field, you have a lot of experience to reinforce your value. Some possibilities include client lists (or enhanced client listings), testimonials, media excerpts, education and bio background. This should be solid on your site, but in our opinion not front and center. What people really care about is what you can do for them.