Online New Marketing Client Intake Form Template: Fill & Download for Free

What a great question! Thank you!I think screening potential clients is actually just as important (if not moreso) as the web design, internet marketing, SEO work, social media integration, planning, programming, and long-term return-on-investment for the client long after we developers depart.Why is that?Because as anyone who has read Clients From Hell can attest, there is very little (in the field of web design, anyway) that's more time-consuming or denigrating than working with (or trying to work with) someone who is just not a good fit, regardless of how kind or well-intentioned (or confused, sociopathic, micro-managing, or simply uninformed).There is a wealth of articles, videos, and advice blogs solely on the topic of how web developers should screen potential clients so as to stop wasting time explaining what web design is (or should be in most cases), what SEO is and why it matters, what responsive design and what that matters, why a custom site is superior to a DIY freebie template you fill in online, why websites are not single commodities but tools in a process, and so forth.Screening potential clients is invaluable for web developers as well as for lawyers, doctors, and just about any other service professional whose time (and work) matters to them. Lawyers use intake forms, hire staff to screen clients or take information. Doctors have staff screen patients over the phone or in-person. Veterinarians train their staff to do it, electricians do it, plumbers do it, mechanics screen potential clients, even handymen do it. And those that don't do it waste untold hours educating, negotiating, listening to stories, explaining, etc.And yet, when it comes to internet marketing, web design, SEO, it's (still) amazing to me how much detachment and misinformation there is.But to slow my digression here, some of the questions I ask potential clients are:Why are we doing this?What have you already done to this point? For example, have you already tried to build the site yourself, outsource work overseas, outsource a logo, etc?What's a realistic budget range for this project?Where will content come from?Will content and/or images be solely your own or will there be copyright issues? Who is your target audience?How important is SEO to you?Who are your competitors and what are they doing that you like?What are they doing you don't like?How have you tried to compete or work with other local businesses similar to your?Most new or small business owners or startup owners or "wantrepreneurs" (these are individuals who fancy themselves as entrepreneurs but upon inspection it's clear that their business ventures are more "ideas" than actual profit-driven ventures with structures) balk at having a discussion about their project. They want a price and then they want to shop that price around for the lowest, cheapest deal they can get. Quality, ROI, results, don't matter to them because there's no way for them to tell when or if they're successful with anything.I've had potential clients hang up on me in anger when I asked 2-3 questions about their business, had potential clients curse me out when I asked them to complete and submit an intake form, had potential clients tell me they couldn't figure out how to submit the form or that the form wouldn't work (when it had been tested moments earlier and worked fine), they couldn't "do forms" or "do" e-mail, or even respond to phone conversations.I had one potential client ask me why work had to be done on a schedule, only later to admit that she suffered from a severe mental and emotional disorder (that she was not taking prescribed medication for). When I very respectfully suggested that we might not be a good fit for each other at that admission, she began sending me multiple spam e-mails embellished with more expletives than an episode of "Hell's Kitchen."I had a pimp call and ask me to build a site for his business so that clients could select their desired escort, schedule appointments, pick location, receive pages and text messages, pay using bitcoin or PayPal, and even sell branded t-shirts. (He was actually very web savvy and relaxed, until I told him that morally I couldn't do what he wanted).I had an electronics recycling warehouse with thousands of physical items to inventory call and ask for a single price estimate for a site that would put all items online for sale, and add inventory to eBay and Amazon. After a few minutes talking, she told me that she expected it to cost no more than $500 since that's what other "developers" had quoted her.I had one potential client tell me that he expected me to come to his office, build the site in front of him (and pause whenever he had to take calls of course), teach him everything I was doing while doing it, and do it all within a 2-4 day period, for slightly above minimum wage.The list is endless. So it's vital to stop the negative experiences with tire-kickers, penny-pinchers, daydream entrepreneurs, those that see no intrinsic value in internet marketing or need to be convinced of its reliability, and help those who value and understand what we developers can truly do for them and can benefit the most from our work.At this time, I use an e-mail form to screen potential clients, and while some have complained that it's too long, confusing, or unfair, I've also had others complete it in its entirety and ended up with some great new clients or leads as a result. Whether the form is too long or too short, I encourage all web developers to ask more questions before working with clients, use contracts (or "agreements" or "understandings"), record conversations if it feels right (and you have client permission of course), and build more in the way of process refinement.I've seen developers insist on not using screening forms and then months later go out of business or choose another line of work; seen developers insist on using very short intake forms (or e-mail forms) only to confide later that they have to spend hours upon hours consulting clients they never end up actually working with later.My feeling personally is that you should be able to spend 5-10 minutes completing a form. If a potential client can't (or won't) do that, how would we work together on a quality end result and start a successful internet marketing plan that would build a business?

Let's say for example that we switch the type of service providers, since so many people are confused by internet marketing or don't understand what it's capable of providing. Let's say you're a dentist, for example. You use tools and equipment that you didn't pay for; friends and colleagues provided it to you or you share equipment with them - so you didn't pay out of pocket for it.You get patients coming in with broken teeth that take you hours of concentrated work to repair, and you have to check on them over a prolonged period of time to make sure they don't come loose or fall apart, or fillings don't come out.You feel guilty that the equipment was given to you, so you charge bargain basement rates. What happens? People start to wonder if maybe anyone can do their own dental work, other companies come out and offer automated DIY dental programs online showing instructions on what to do and what to buy, companies advertise online for automated root canal programs. Marketplaces open online where people offer to do dental work for the cost of a meal out or even less. The public loves it, but slowly you notice more and more people are afraid to smile, have cracked busted out teeth, or teeth that look like corn niblets. Soon people start complaining that "maybe nobody knows what they are doing after all," or ask "how much is a crown" or "how cheaply can I get a new tooth?" And on it goes until soon only very few people have decent teeth any longer.So it has become with websites.Most people see websites as single, one-time "one off" purchases. There is no perceived reason to invest in SEO because why would anyone do that?I've heard some people say at Denver networking functions "well, nobody really knows SEO anyway....." "I don't need a website, I have flyers," and even met one man who claimed to run a dating service by asking people he met at bars to work on his company website for him. The disconnect is profound.Only very few businesses have websites that help them reduce overhead, invade new markets, save them money, bring in new leads for them daily or help them run a business. Why is this? Because a) the client in most cases "just wants a website" and doesn't understand that a website can actually be the starting point of a process called internet marketing and that websites can actually become very profitable investments for them, and b) most "developers" simply install a recycled template, and then split after it's done.So to answer your question about what you should charge, the answer is in what you provide. If all you do is give the client a recycled template, type in some generic or filler text and then leave, then it has little value to anyone - in fact you're doing what an automated DIY program does. There's no problem being solved, in fact time and money is wasted. If you legitimately help the client learn how the website you are building for them can help them reduce overhead, reduce redundancy in their company, sell more items, sell more services, book more appointments, help run their processes better (like taking reservations, handling inventory, selling tickets, providing room reservations, automating social media, getting new sales leads for them, etc.), and therefore solve a serious problem all businesses have, then you should ask for a percentage of what you're going to return to them in terms of value.Every website we make for a client immediately (within days) starts returning leads to the client in the form of e-mails, phone calls, forms being filled out, or people visiting a physical store.So, how much is all this new business worth to the client? Most of them have no idea, but they're profiting aren't they? Every phone call could lead to a purchase, an investment, a partnership, or something else. When you provide quality, helpful service that bears considerable returns for the customer or client and charge them a few hundred bucks you devalue what you do, devalue our profession and art (yes it can be an artform if used intelligently), and give false impressions that websites are trash. The reality is that internet marketing can be extremely valuable to a client who understands internet marketing and is organized sufficiently to benefit from it.It's fair to charge a percentage of the value you return, charge for your expertise (that for many of use took a decade of hard work and study to master), and knowledge. It's not fair to produce something that doesn't solve any problems or help a business grow...and doing so benefits no one. So once you refine your screening or intake process to find out what clients think they want is actually very seldom what they really need you start seeing they don't need "just a website, " but help using internet technology to grow. If you can do that for them, you can charge what you wish based on what you're doing for their business. If you give them a template that sits on a server somewhere and doesn't do anything for their business, then the service becomes simply a one-time commodity (and this is why so many people see internet marketing as a one-time product rather than an ongoing service, because most "developers" just produce a DIY template with nothing else).The purpose of a website is to tie it into internet marketing campaigns and processes, that deliver tangible results for a business. Once you do that, the client should want to pay for your returned value and benefit, just as s/he would pay any other service provider.

My recommendations:1. In-person marketing - Referrals are the most significant source of business for most lawyers. This one should not be ignored, especially if budget is a concern. Go to networking events. Join committees at your bar association. Ask for referrals from your network.2. Website - here's your starting point for all of your online marketing including social media, SEO, advertising. You need a decent-looking website (preferably one that doesn't look like a cheap template) that is mobile-ready, and easy to work with (i.e. add new pages / posts).3. Writing content regularly about topics your prospective clients are interested in / searching for. You know the questions clients are asking you during an intake? Those questions should be FAQs on your website to help out future prospective clients searching for answers to the same questions. This will start to boost your search engine visibility.4. When you can set aside a budget, you may want to look into Google Adwords for online advertising. It can bring in prospective clients right away. But, there are some big drawbacks. You need to be sure the campaign is set up correctly, and that you have decent "landing pages" to send people to. No ad clicks should lead to your homepage.5. Email marketing. People tend to overlook this, but it has a high return on investment compared to other forms of marketing.6. Social media - Here's an opportunity to connect with an audience but at the same time has the potential for a huge time sink. As far as ROI goes your effort goes, social media isn't super high (say, as compared to email marketing). Don't invest too much time here, but at the same time, "go where your clients are" and they're on social. Don't be sleazy or salesy / too self-promotional - people can tell and it's a turn-off.