How to Export Web Design services to Brazil
99.999% of all web designer are not outstanding nor generally recognized for their work throughout the world. This article give you some tips about how to export web design services to Brazil if you are an average web designer.
There are millions of web designers in the world, many of them live in a creative bubble and consider themselves as an unique and skilled designers that could take on any type of project as long as their clients are willing to pay. The question we try to answer is how you as an average web designer can export your services to Brazil.
You have a poor Value Proposition
More web designers are looking to extend their reach by taking on clients in new markets. Unless you are named Jonathan Snook or Jason Santa Maria you will face one major roadblocks on the way. Your value proposition is poor.
- You do not speak Portuguese
- You are not conveniently located for Workshops
- You might live in a different timezone
- You might be more expensive than local suppliers
- Brazilian are not used to buy web design service from abroad
Your value proposition does not improve your possibility of doing business, but with a realistic view on your own business and with flexibility to adopt your business model you should not give up yet.
Change you Sales Strategy
A large part of the worlds web designers sell their service do to lack of local competition and with a strong focus on personalized service and support. If you are not available in the local market and you don't speak the local language it's hard to image how you will be in a position to offer a strong focus on the degree of service and support.
Another common approach to face competition is to lower your hourly rate. Unless you are the cheapest web designer in India it seems like a bad idea to lower your hourly rate.
In order to sell in Brazil you should change two aspects:
- Team up with Local Partners
- Target one or two niches
Teaming up with a few local ad agencies or other relevant providers of “non-web design” service will get you in the door of Brazilian prospects.
Targeting one or two niches will give you the sales edge. A niche can either be a special software like Wordpress or a special industry like Tourism. If you are an expert on designing Wordpress designs for the Tourism industry, you have an edge. Keep in mind that Brazil is a huge market so what sounds like a tiny niche might be a viable market segment.
Deliver like a Restaurant
It's common that web designers are first hosting several workshops with their clients, then create wireframes and finally after a long pre-design process start to work with the actual design.
As a web designer you might have a few tips to pick up from how restaurants deliver their product. If the chef in a restaurant were going to make the entire dish from the bottom each time he received an order he quickly would get swapped with work and would have to charge high prices since he only could produce 2 – 3 dishes an hour.
In the same way as the chef prepare large quantities of food in advance you should build a high-end design repository of design elements that targeting your niche.
Imagine a restaurant where you sit down and the waiter tell you there are no menu. You just have to tell the chef what you want to eat. You might think it sounds silly, but this is how millions of web designers delivering their service every day. Having a menu simplify the process for both the client, the waiter and the chef.
Can you see how you, your partner and your client can benefit from having a set menu?
Compile example designs based on elements from your design repository, and relevant Portuguese example texts, then let the client be free to choose the elements they want from your al-cart design menu.
You design repository need to be targeted and tuned to your niches, if you are planing to sell designs to hotels in São Paulo you should not present the design with illustration photos of “Pão de Açúcar” in Rio de Janeiro.
You can read the article named "Localizing your Software for Brazil" to get a better understanding of relevant design modifications that are necessary in order to target Brazilians.
Lower your Prices
As a web designer you don't want to be cheap, but you shouldn't be afraid of being effective.
If you are able to deliver what the client want in shorter time based on an effective delivery system and targeted sales channel you might be able to increase you hourly rate on the services you export to Brazil.
After all, clients will be paying for the result, not the number of hours you been working. 3 hours of USD 200 can produce the same value for the client as 30 hours of USD 20.
Remember to not quote an hourly rate of USD 200, but a price for the complete design. You never ask what's the chef's hourly rate when you order ice creme and fruits at a restaurant that took less than 1 minute to prepare.
How to get started?
When you are comfortable changing your sales structure and also have built a good base repository of design elements you are ready to start hunting for Brazilian partners.
Some of the activities you should do is:
- Create a strong media-kit
- Identify complementary players in your niche
- Search for partners at relevant events
- Search for partners in relevant trading organizations
- Pick-up the phone and call!
We have previously published an extensive article about how to build a sales channel in Brazil. It's recommended to read this article, even tho it's more targeted for companies that sell products.