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NESUG '97 - CONSIG

Author and Contact Information
Charles S. Patridge - PDPC, Ltd. - 172 Monce Road - Burlington, CT 06013
Home: 860-673-9278
Email:Charles_S_Patridge@prodigy.net
Website:www.sconsig.com

Using the Internet to Market Your Services:

What I am about to share with you is no guarantee the demand for your services will increase by the SAS community or will your annual income increase. What should happen is a very economical, consistent and dynamic method of marketing your existence and skills.

First, how do you acquire your clients? Through agencies, word of mouth, networking, advertising or direct sales calls to prospective clients? Do you keep track of the hours you spend acquiring the next assignment(s)? What is happening here is a 1 time touch of prospective possibilities. Once you leave, end the call, brochure is read; your prospective client may (most probable) forget you within 2 months or less. Somehow you need to be able to keep in touch in an effective way without being burdensome to your future employer/client, especially when he/she needs your skills.

When I was performing full time consulting, I was spending approximately 10 to 20 hours per week making phone calls, networking, creating mail marketing brochures, preparing presentations and writing proposals. At a conservative rate of $30 per hour, this was costing me $300 per week, $1200 per month and about $14000 per year of unbillable time; a rather sizable amount!

How about a marketing tool which practically never sleeps, available 7 days a week 24 hours a day and available to virtually everyone in the world who has access to the Internet and extremely low cost to implement and as dynamic as you want it to be! That tool is having your very own Web site!

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  1. The initial cost is approximately $120 to $240 per year, cheaper than a Sunday ad of a local newspaper. This cost represents acquiring a service provide like AOL, Compuserve, AT&T, MSN, Prodigy and other such online companies. You can hire someone to develop and host a site which can run from $1,000 to $10,000 initially with monthly costs running upwards to $200 and remains static until you decide to make a change. Or, you can do it yourself!

















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  2. Choose your service provider wisely.
    • Quality of Support
    • Online availability
    • Cost
    • Speed
    • Reputation/Long Term
    • Web Hosting, CGI scripts, Email, Technical support, File Interface/Software

















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  3. Select Site Name Carefully (URLs are case sensitive) and service provider.
    • Easy to switch to another provider but almost impossible to notify past visitors of your address change
    • Stick to simple HTML coding using version 2.0 whenever possible.
    • Avoid using Java, Javascript unless you are good at it.
    • Have several Browsers to review your site’s contents as part of your testing process

















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  4. Associate/Link your web site to as many SAS sites as possible
    • Local area SAS user groups
    • Register with SI Consultants’ Registry with web site name listed
    • Submit It to Search Engines
    • Use Meta tags for Search Word Indexes
      • SAS, SAS Consulting, SAS Contractor, Contractor
      • Special SAS Skills (AF, SCL, Macros, Base, Stat, ETS, FPS, etc)
      • Special Industry Skills (Statistician, DB expertise, PC skills, Mainframe, etc)
      • Operating System Experience (Windows, OS, DOS, VM, MVS, Unix, Sun, Alpha)

















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  5. Keep Web Site Up to Date and Unique
    • Page is Dynamic, unlike hard copy brochures, vitas or resumes
    • Be creative and/or Unique with Content
    • Make site easy to use and navigate through
    • Make it fast to load, limit graphics use
    • Make it Professional Looking - It is representing you!
    • Make sure contact information available on each and every page
    • Provide easy way to email/contact you with inquiries
    • Provide Useful Information besides your resume
      • Tips and Techniques
      • Briefs on past projects
      • Past publications and/or papers presented

















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  6. Other ways to Market Yourself
    • Publish papers, SUGI, local SAS groups, Regional SAS groups
    • Present papers to same
    • Register yourself with ICCA, DICE and other Online service vendors
    • Incorporate Utility to notify registered visitors of changes in Web site
    • Create Guest Book facility and read/respond to entries
    • Use SAS-L frequently
    • Become a Quality Partner
    • Learn Something New Everyday
    • Attend/Participate in Local SAS User Groups
    • Build an Email Database of Contacts for Future Campaign Notices (Email Roledex)

















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  7. Closing Notes
    • This is not 1 time endeavor, requires about 1-3 hours per week
    • It is not a substitute for your current practices, but a supplement like vitamins
    • Always review your updates/changes
    • Use another service to access and test your site
    • Keep it Simple but Effective
    • Always publish website address whenever possible
    • Look for new ways to improve your Electronic Marketing Brochure (website)
    • Share your network with clients you are not able to service (truly assist your customer)
    • Pass along possible contracts/openings to other SAS professionals