Ask HN: How to Promote My Small Development Company

Hello,

I run a small software development company down here in Uruguay (5 developers and one UX designer). 2019 was a great year since we developed 2 medium size projects. One project was a file upload and radio transmission system for a telecommunications company (medium size startup). The other were 2 single page application systems for a large multinational corporation. Everything went smoothly and both projects were finished. The first project is still in use and needs next to nothing maintenance. The other didn't gain much traction and died (contrary to what you might think, it was the corporate software that didn't make it).

2020 didn't start well since I haven't signed any development contract yet. I had calls with entrepreneurs willing to develop mobile applications, but they didn't have money. I never paid attention to marketing and that's a big mistake. I did that because I've got recommended several times and always have developed high-quality products, so clients kept coming.

I know that clients will eventually come, but I want to start working on a marketing strategy and hiring somebody to do sales. People hire us because we are cheaper than locals (outsourcing) and we produce high-quality products (compared to really cheap outsourcing). Also because we are at EST+1 timezone (sometimes EST+2). I'm interested in getting clients in the US as well as Europe. We are very good at working with entrepreneurs since we help them get ideas down to earth but also love corporate clients due to stability.

The following ideas came to my mind:

- Hiring a local guy/girl to do sales using LinkedIn (cold email and cold calling). - Hiring a sales team in the US. - Paying for ads to increase the company's web traffic. - Going to the US meetups and conferences, meet people and tell them about our services.

What do you guys think I should do?

Thanks!