Forgive me for this long post but I want to explain a method that seems to be working well for me so far. I got some of the stuff about the packet I will be explaining from something that I found on here a while back - I can't remember what the actual article was called though. I have also seen methods similar to this mentioned by other people here, so I am not trying to take any credit for coming up with it. I just want to let you all know that it is working good so far for me.

As I said in the title, I have only sent out 3 of these information packets to potential clients so far. I got the first call back on Friday afternoon and met with the owner of the business today. After talking for a little while, he agreed to purchase my Google Places Optimization service to start off with. This is a 3 month contract and he will consider some of my other SEO services once he sees some results from the Google Places Optimization.

The informational packets took me about 45 minutes to put together but I'm sure this will become a lot faster as I make more of them. Personally, I think that this method will be better than just calling businesses to try to get clients since there are already so many other people and organizations calling also. This will be something that the business owners don't see everyday and should get their attention better.

Here is the process that I take to make the packets:
1. I print a screenshot of Google Places results that does not have their business in the results for a relevant keyword.
2. I also print out a screenshot of the Adwords Keyword Tool site with the broad results of that keyword showing them how many potential clients they are missing out on each month by not being on the first page of Google.
3. I print out the first page results of the Google search for that keyword with a local modifier (ex. electrician insert city or state here). I check the first 3 pages of the search results to see if their business or website is listed. I make a note of what page it is on or if it is not on the first 3 pages.
4. I cut out their ad from the YellowPages in the phone book or the newspaper.
5. I include a brief letter that I have printed explaining who I am and that I noticed that they are not listed on Google in a place where customers can easily find them. I let them know that I would like the opportunity to help them get to a better position so that they can gain more customers who are searching for their products or services online.
6. I put these together with the ad that I cut out attached to the front of the stack and mail them in a full document envelope (the kind that you don't have to fold the paper at all, like a manilla envelope).

This way when they get the packet they will be curious as to what it is and open it. The first thing they should see is their ad that was cut out. This will grab their attention even more and entice them to take a look at the other things I have included.

This is all it took to get them to call me to find out what I could do to help them. This got me in the door to talk to them face to face which is where you want to be when you start talking about actual amounts and fees so that you can judge their reactions to know how much to charge them.

I hope this helps anyone else who is unsure of how to go about getting new clients.

6. I put these together with the ad that I cut out attached to the front of the stack

Is that ad being which you cut out from the YellowPages in the phone book or the newspaper ?

This is really good. Thanks for the share.

simple but effective +6 rep

cutting their ad out I think is VERY KEY to getting their attention/response so good job..

are you targeting small local business?

how much did you charge for your first client?

Nice Gammbyt! I have a few questions for you if you don't mind.

1) Did you use a return-address on your envelope?
2) Did you print or handwrite the sender's address?
3) Did you print colors or black/white?
4) How long did it take before they call you back?
5) Did you market youserlf as a company or a solo marketing consultant?

I was about to start cold calling today but I really like your method and like you said, it makes you stand out compared to the others company calling them, so I'll start right away and build up a good list of prospects and prepare their marketing materials to be sent out. Thanks a lot for sharing your success and have a great one!

This method is a ditto to this WSO shared here:

http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackha...w-clients.html

Originally Posted by anil2006

Is that ad being which you cut out from the YellowPages in the phone book or the newspaper ?

I will attach both if I can find one in each. For the 3 I have done so far, one of the businesses had a Yellow Pages ad and an ad in the local paper, while the other 2 businesses had ads only in the Yellow Pages.

Originally Posted by t0mmy

simple but effective +6 rep

Thanks

Originally Posted by gmarch25

cutting their ad out I think is VERY KEY to getting their attention/response so good job..

are you targeting small local business?

how much did you charge for your first client?

Yes so far I have only targeted one plumber, one heating/ac company, and one construction company in the city that I live in. The computer repair company that I manage is also a member of a local business network here. We meet once a week and each week a different member gets a chance to talk to the group about their business. I am working on setting up a power point presentation to show the group the next time I get a turn to speak.

In reference to the price, this first client is paying $300/month for just the Google Places Optimization. The ad that he is paying for in the Yellow Pages is costing him $350 so this is cheaper than the Yellow Pages advertising. I am not charging him a set up fee and the monthly fee includes targeting 4 keyword phrases.

Originally Posted by Wings[SENSE]

Nice Gammbyt! I have a few questions for you if you don't mind.

1) Did you use a return-address on your envelope?
2) Did you print or handwrite the sender's address?
3) Did you print colors or black/white?
4) How long did it take before they call you back?
5) Did you market youserlf as a company or a solo marketing consultant?

I was about to start cold calling today but I really like your method and like you said, it makes you stand out compared to the others company calling them, so I'll start right away and build up a good list of prospects and prepare their marketing materials to be sent out. Thanks a lot for sharing your success and have a great one!

1. Yes. I currently manage a computer repair store and the building right next to ours is vacant. I just used that Suite # as the return address for now.

2. I printed it out on a label and attached it to the envelope.

3. Color - personally I think that makes it stand out better and allows me to highlight the parts of the screenshots that I really want them to focus on (the number of searches, etc)

4. I sent them out on Monday and Tuesday last week and got the first call back on Friday. The one that called me back was one that I sent on Tuesday so 3 days for that one. I realize they won't all be that fast but I am not waiting around for them to call back either. I am just putting the information in their hands and making them aware of what they could be missing out on - if they actually call me then I know that they are genuinely interested and I will make arrangements to meet with them face to face. If they don't call back then there are plenty of other competitors of theirs to target. I have put together a few more packets to send out this week.

EDIT: I forgot to answer your last question. I am marketing myself as an individual consultant right now but plan to form an LLC to operate as asap.

Originally Posted by webnise

This method is a ditto to this WSO shared here:

Yeah that's the WSO that I had downloaded. (Sorry I had to remove the link from your quote to be able to pass the URL filters since I haven't been on here long enough). Thanks for sharing that link. I had downloaded it, along with a lot of other things, and had forgotten which thread it was from. I highly recommend anyone who wants to take this route of contacting new clients to download that WSO and read through it. There are some great ideas in it.

I didn't like the sticky note idea. Even though it might draw their attention to something you want to tell them I just think it made the packet look less professional. I did like the idea of highlighting the important information on the pages that you print out to draw their attention to that information. I also typed in notes at the top of each page before the picture of the screenshot addressing the important areas of that screenshot instead of hand writing notes in the margin.

another question I had was...

do you look for companies that have no website that exists?

or ones that already have a site just with poor SEO?

I would think you would want to start fresh with a company that has no websitethat way you can optimize on page seo and off page...

If a company already had a site you would need to get into their webmaster tools which seems like a hassle

if you could elaborate that'd be great

I'm also wondering Gammbyt, did you use the cover letter template in the WSO or you made another one?

Also, did you basically follow the WSO and copied everything in it or you made some modifications to it? I'm asking this because I've started reading the WSO and it looks your example converted better than theirs.

Originally Posted by gmarch25

another question I had was...

do you look for companies that have no website that exists?

or ones that already have a site just with poor SEO?

I would think you would want to start fresh with a company that has no websitethat way you can optimize on page seo and off page...

If a company already had a site you would need to get into their webmaster tools which seems like a hassle

if you could elaborate that'd be great

I have sent out 10 packets total now. 6 of the businesses that I targeted already had sites built (although they are really horrible sites in my opinion) 3 had no site at all, and as best as I can tell it looks like 1 was using a Facebook page as their main site. The one that I signed the contract with in my initial post already had a site that was very outdated and not optimized for SEO at all. I am only working on the Google Places optimization for them to start with, but I had someone I know from one of my web design classes through together a quick redesign of what could be the client's home page so that they can get an idea of what their website could look like if they wanted to have it updated. We will see if they decide to do that after they start seeing more results from what I have agreed to do so far.

I also had 2 other people call me back. One of them has no website at all and the other is the business using the Facebook page. I have appointments set up with them next week.

Originally Posted by Wings[SENSE]

I'm also wondering Gammbyt, did you use the cover letter template in the WSO or you made another one?

Also, did you basically follow the WSO and copied everything in it or you made some modifications to it? I'm asking this because I've started reading the WSO and it looks your example converted better than theirs.

I made my own cover letter. It was not as long as the one that was included in the WSO but I did use that one to gather the key points that I wanted to pass on to the potential client. The one included in the WSO seemed good, but it seemed a little too much like a template and didn't seem personal enough.

As far as rest of the WSO goes, I did follow along with a lot of it:
- I printed out the screenshots in color and highlighted the things I wanted to draw their attention to on each page.
- However, instead of hand writing the notes on the page, I typed the information about what they were looking at on each page at the top of it, then pasted the screenshot.
- I did not use any post it notes - this made it look less professional in my opinion

I think that the WSO would convert if it was done exactly as the author wrote it, I just like to make it look as professional as possible while also making it look like I actually took the time to write a letter specifically to that client instead of using a template and filling in their information.

WOW tx for the share.

Great share. Thanks.

what are you charging for your services?

what is your call to action?

are you putting your prices in the packet?

Congrats Gammbyt.

I'm a little surprised though. From my experience, I would tend to move away from any sort of direct mailing. That is indisputably losing it's effectiveness, and making packages can be costly in money and time (interchangeable).

The sad reality is, most business owners won't even see it. I've found that many throw most of it away since they are so used to seeing 'junk mail' even if it is of value. Hell, I've had clients throw away contracts, invoices and important documents by accident, so I wouldn't put it past them to throw away these packages either.

I also read that WSO but to be honest it still seemed like he was trying to hype it up since many will say direct mailing has horrible conversion rates. I am not a huge fan of cold calling, but I have found it converts better than mailing because this way you get a direct response right from the decision maker as opposed to mailing where only a few may actually read it.

Let us know though after you do more testing. I'm curious to know if you just happened to hit an interested business, or if it's 'so powerful' lol, that you can get a client out of 5-10 mailings.

I saw someone here was thinking of doing 50 mailings right off the bat ... heh ... that would require a significant amount of time, no? Interested though.

Originally Posted by anil2006

Is that ad being which you cut out from the YellowPages in the phone book or the newspaper ?

Yes,you can cut out either a newspaper ad or a YP ad.

I did the same back in August. I got two replies out of 30 packets, although they were not local firms I sent them to. If you charge a high enough fee for your services it is very worthwhile to do.
I am going to try the local ads route, as the OP did. I'm sure I'll get a better response rate because you are clipping out their ad and showing them their GP ranking, or lack thereof.

I am currently testing this method from the original WSO .
I have sent out an initial email to the potential clients with an introduction of myself, my services and how they can help the clients business.

Now I have completed the packs and will be sending these out tomorrow.
I can report back here if it would help others.

How much have you charged for your services, do you see your clients ever being interested in a mobile website?

cutting their ad from yp is very clever. great method

Originally Posted by Dannn

Congrats Gammbyt.

I'm a little surprised though. From my experience, I would tend to move away from any sort of direct mailing. That is indisputably losing it's effectiveness, and making packages can be costly in money and time (interchangeable).

The sad reality is, most business owners won't even see it. I've found that many throw most of it away since they are so used to seeing 'junk mail' even if it is of value. Hell, I've had clients throw away contracts, invoices and important documents by accident, so I wouldn't put it past them to throw away these packages either.

You can give local college students unpaid internships with your seo company to do the manual labor.

Placing a solid object such as army men or dice inside will increase open rate.

There is another success story using this method but is has been moved to exec vip forum.

Originally Posted by Getwhatchuwant

what are you charging for your services?

I base my charges on a few different factors. I have a base price that I would like to get for each service that I offer (basic SEO, Google Places Optimization, Web Design, Web Hosting, Mobile Advertising, etc). If the client wants multiple services performed then I will give them a package deal at a discount. This gives me plenty of options and things to upsell. I base the actual quote that I give them on what they are currently paying for their advertising as well.

Originally Posted by nethead01

what is your call to action?

are you putting your prices in the packet?

In the letter that I write to the potential client I make sure to include the fact that I am only offering this help to one business that is in their field in this area. Once I find a business that is interested in this help then I will not be offering it to any other ones similar to them.

I do not mention anything at all about price in the initial packet. I prefer to wait until after I talk to them in person (preferably at their business) before I give them a quote. This gives me a chance to read their face and body language while we talk. I have found that people say a lot more with their bodies than they do with their words usually in situations like this.

Originally Posted by Dannn

Congrats Gammbyt.

I'm a little surprised though. From my experience, I would tend to move away from any sort of direct mailing. That is indisputably losing it's effectiveness, and making packages can be costly in money and time (interchangeable).

The sad reality is, most business owners won't even see it. I've found that many throw most of it away since they are so used to seeing 'junk mail' even if it is of value. Hell, I've had clients throw away contracts, invoices and important documents by accident, so I wouldn't put it past them to throw away these packages either.

I also read that WSO but to be honest it still seemed like he was trying to hype it up since many will say direct mailing has horrible conversion rates. I am not a huge fan of cold calling, but I have found it converts better than mailing because this way you get a direct response right from the decision maker as opposed to mailing where only a few may actually read it.

Let us know though after you do more testing. I'm curious to know if you just happened to hit an interested business, or if it's 'so powerful' lol, that you can get a client out of 5-10 mailings.

I saw someone here was thinking of doing 50 mailings right off the bat ... heh ... that would require a significant amount of time, no? Interested though.

I'm still not sure yet just how effective this will be. I have sent out 17 packets to various businesses in this city and in a nearby city. So far, I have had 6 businesses call me back and have had meetings with 5 of them. 4 of those have converted to actual clients. I have a meeting with the 6th one this coming Tuesday.

The first client that I signed with referred me to one of his business associates (without me even offering any type of incentive program). Coincidentally, I had sent out a packet to that person already, so I'm not sure if the packet had anything at all to do with them contacting me. Regardless, they called me and wanted to see how I could help them and they are now a client as well.

To be honest, this is how I would prefer to advertise - let my clients do most of the advertising for me. I have found in the past that the potential clients that are referred to me by other people tend to convert A LOT better and easier than the ones that I go out to find.

Originally Posted by scc42

I did the same back in August. I got two replies out of 30 packets, although they were not local firms I sent them to. If you charge a high enough fee for your services it is very worthwhile to do.
I am going to try the local ads route, as the OP did. I'm sure I'll get a better response rate because you are clipping out their ad and showing them their GP ranking, or lack thereof.

This is what I am hoping will grab the attention of more business owners. I have already had one client refer me to someone else who became a client as well, which is what I was hoping for. I honestly think that if you do a good job in what you do and provide a valuable service then word of mouth will be one of the best forms of advertising that you can get.

Thanks man i am going to try it soon,

Originally Posted by Ferginauld

I am currently testing this method from the original WSO .
I have sent out an initial email to the potential clients with an introduction of myself, my services and how they can help the clients business.

Now I have completed the packs and will be sending these out tomorrow.
I can report back here if it would help others.

It would be interesting to see how using the exact methods described in the WSO convert compared to the changes that I have made. I might try to follow the steps in the WSO exactly and see if the conversion rates turn out better. When I made the changes as I was putting the first packet together I just changed the things that I thought would make it look better, but I could be wrong.

If you don't mind, let us know how the packets that you sent out convert - maybe they will do even better than the method that I went with.

Originally Posted by onlythabst

How much have you charged for your services, do you see your clients ever being interested in a mobile website?

So far, I have not charged over $350 per month (for the Google Places Optimization). I have other prices for the other services that I am offering but I am basing them on a few different factors (such as what the client is already paying and which services they are wanting exactly).

I am offering mobile advertising as well as help in creating a mobile site but so far noone has been interested in those offers. I am still in the "getting my foot in the door" stage with them at this point - I think that once I prove myself to them with what they have me doing then it will be a lot easier to get them to agree to add more services.

Originally Posted by paulpapapump

cutting their ad from yp is very clever. great method

I think that this helps to really grab their attention as soon as they open up the packet.

Originally Posted by BreakAllTheClocks

You can give local college students unpaid internships with your seo company to do the manual labor.

Placing a solid object such as army men or dice inside will increase open rate.

There is another success story using this method but is has been moved to exec vip forum.

That is a great idea about placing some object inside the packet to increase their interest even more.

Getting college students to work for you is also an excellent idea. I am attending college (online) as well. While I have honestly not really learned a lot from the classes and material, it has given me a chance to meet a lot of other people who are really enthusiastic about what they are going to school for. Many of the students in my web design and programming classes are younger and anxious to get some real experience working on projects that they can put on their resume. I am always looking for them and more than willing to let them help me with a project that I am working on so that they can add the work experience and a professional reference to their resume

Any updates mate on how it's been working for you Gammbyt --- with your recent batch ?

My conversion with this has been quite poor. I did get two clients on monthly packages and one potential client still trying to decide.

I thought the packs looked professional and gave good advise. I will rework my offerings and try again.

What do you think of offering low priced websites ( e.g.£50 one off payment for basic WP SITE hosted on my reseller account) to get the ball rolling?

I sent out 24 packs Thursday, and 12 yesterday. I have received no calls so far, but it IS the weekend/"new years eve". I'll keep you all posted on how it goes.

This is the exact same method that I have been using to get new clients. It works guys. All you gotta do is follow the blueprint.

Looks like a very reasonable conversion rate. How much do the packets cost to put together and mail?

And how far outside of your specific area are you marketing to? If you promise not to market to a competitor, it seems like you would have to go quite a ways to get another client in the same type/trade.

this is a simple yet very effective tutorial.. thanks.

Originally Posted by Ferginauld

I am currently testing this method from the original WSO .
I have sent out an initial email to the potential clients with an introduction of myself, my services and how they can help the clients business.

Now I have completed the packs and will be sending these out tomorrow.
I can report back here if it would help others.

Would be interested to know how you get on. I have the impression (maybe wrong or right) that uk small business owners are less likely to pay £300 a month for a service like this. Be interested to know the type of businesses you are contacting as well as I'm thinking of kicking this off in the next few weeks.

Happy to compare notes by PM or email. I'm not in Scotland so not competing

Great way to think outside the box mayne!

Originally Posted by blackcontent

Looks like a very reasonable conversion rate. How much do the packets cost to put together and mail?

I've spent well over $100 on making the 48 packs, and sending 36 of them. They were $1.71 each to mail. I put each report in a plastic report cover, which was extra $$ I decided to spend for a more professional look.

Originally Posted by blackcontent

And how far outside of your specific area are you marketing to? If you promise not to market to a competitor, it seems like you would have to go quite a ways to get another client in the same type/trade.

I know my opinion wasn't asked, but I think it's silly to work with only 1 business in each niche per city. I would do 2 or 3 honestly. After hitting up your own area, target other cities 30+ miles away.

Originally Posted by redhill

This is the exact same method that I have been using to get new clients. It works guys. All you gotta do is follow the blueprint.

I hope so. I have sent out 36 packs so far, and have not heard anything yet. I know the calls will come tho

please advice... is Google places optimization same as SEO? any step by step procedure on how to put them exactly in the first page of google without changing their domain name?

Originally Posted by versa

please advice... is Google places optimization same as SEO? any step by step procedure on how to put them exactly in the first page of google without changing their domain name?

Well that is a whole different subject by itself.

No, it is not the same as SEO. And yes you can get them on the first page usually without too much effort in most niches.

If you don't know anything about Google Places/Maps, you will just have to study up.

Nice to see other people using this method, i sent emails at first with just a rough outline of what i can do for there business and now i am about to send out packs.
The only thing i am still not sure of is price, i live in a small town in England and i am not sure small businesses would go for £200 + per month.

Interested to know if you have a website that you are sending them to for more details or not?

I personally don't think the website part is necessary, once i get the call or a meeting hopefully that will be enough to convince them.

Originally Posted by Baadier

Interested to know if you have a website that you are sending them to for more details or not?

Originally Posted by dragon123

I personally don't think the website part is necessary, once i get the call or a meeting hopefully that will be enough to convince them.

I am curious about this as well.
I can make a website for this no problem, but then it wouldnt be ranked at all since its a new site. I am concern I will be questioned about why my ranking sucks and yet offering a service.

Originally Posted by SuperNoobInc

I am curious about this as well.
I can make a website for this no problem, but then it wouldnt be ranked at all since its a new site. I am concern I will be questioned about why my ranking sucks and yet offering a service.

I wouldn't be concerned about this at all, as long as you can show them a client site that is ranking well. The "explanation" is that your site is an "information site" targeted for potential clients who find you through direct mail.

Just make sure you have ranked something that you can show them!!!

Originally Posted by MagicMike

I wouldn't be concerned about this at all, as long as you can show them a client site that is ranking well. The "explanation" is that your site is an "information site" targeted for potential clients who find you through direct mail.

Just make sure you have ranked something that you can show them!!!

Well, since I havent even made my website yet.
Would you recommend making one at all for this service to avoid being questioned?

I've just started using this method too, I sent out 5 packets last week and got 1 callback so far. I don't have time to see him this week so he wants me to set something up with him next week. I know he is keen because he rang me 5 times in 1 afternoon until I eventually answered.

Even though I was really excited getting my first callback I acted very coy and the fact that I'm genuinely busy all week just made it more believable.

I'm going to send out 10 packets this weekend and see how it pans out. If I can make enough to go full time doing this then I could easily send out 5-10 packets a day. It's just a numbers game.

If anyone is interested I am creating an Excel spreadsheet and a Word document to make the whole process simpler using a mail merge. I can post them up over the weekend if anyone would find them useful.

I'll post a full report when I start seeing some results

Originally Posted by SuperNoobInc

Well, since I havent even made my website yet.
Would you recommend making one at all for this service to avoid being questioned?

Well, that's up to you... but I personally think that an SEO should have some kind of web presence to show people. Even if its a quick site tailored specifically for that one promotion.

Honestly, I've had very few people even ask me for a website OR references. If you sound like you know what you're talking about, that pretty much does the trick for 90% of the people. Remember, you're the expert... how many times has anyone ever asked their doctor to examine their license!

Having said that, if you don't have any kind of a site up now, I'd put something up for them to look at.