To pick up on the flyer thing that was mentioned a few posts back, MS Word (and Pages if you use a Mac) have some really slick templates you can use to create some nice flyers.

If you can't see anything you like there, there's a few websites you can pick up templates for pennies (I picked up a flyer, letter and business card template for a touch under $3)

Today is Monday....

Focus on getting some proposals out today! Just set a goal to get 4-5 out today, and do the same each day of the week, this week.

This way, at the end of the week you will have gotten out 20-25 reports.

Also, I highly recommend that you guys check out the "7878 Reputation Management" thread that is here in the Offline Section now - it is excellent.

If you are not offering ORM (Offline Reputation Management) to your local market then you are missing out on an opportunity.

Best,
Red

Originally Posted by redhill

Today is Monday....

Focus on getting some proposals out today! Just set a goal to get 4-5 out today, and do the same each day of the week, this week.

This way, at the end of the week you will have gotten out 20-25 reports.

Also, I highly recommend that you guys check out the "7878 Reputation Management" thread that is here in the Offline Section now - it is excellent.

If you are not offering ORM (Offline Reputation Management) to your local market then you are missing out on an opportunity.

Best,
Red

unfortunately the original 7878 thread isnt here anymore, I just have the cached version. or am I missing something? cant wait to start this, just 2 exams left..

Has anyone else noticed that google has changed their algorithm for places? First of all, there's only 3 local organic results on the front pages, and not even for all terms with the city included. Also, citations have been completely removed.
I'm starting to wonder if the existing places techniques (places page optimization + citations + backlinks to citations) still work. I've also heard a rumor that outranking a local business that has a more relevant address than you is virtually impossible, and this is what google is deeming to be most important now.
Is there anyone who's in the places business that can verify or deny any of this? Muchos thanks!

Just to keep things moving, I'm trying a few variations to stuff mentioned in the WSO.

I'm working on a single page flyer (which has a screen capture showing that the client's site isn't on the first page) together with a indication of how many new customers they're missing everyday.

I'm also going to test out the old $1 Dan Kennedy letter.

Originally Posted by fxzombie

Has anyone else noticed that google has changed their algorithm for places? First of all, there's only 3 local organic results on the front pages, and not even for all terms with the city included. Also, citations have been completely removed.
I'm starting to wonder if the existing places techniques (places page optimization + citations + backlinks to citations) still work. I've also heard a rumor that outranking a local business that has a more relevant address than you is virtually impossible, and this is what google is deeming to be most important now.
Is there anyone who's in the places business that can verify or deny any of this? Muchos thanks!

Noticed the same thing and want to know also if the BLs to Citations still works... but as always we would have to try it to get tha answer ;-)

Just because they are not there doesn't mean that google isnt using them to rank the places. Google knows that we can game yelp and the other citation and review sites so they remove them from their listing and just give out theirs.

Have read about some guys nervous or can't get the FedEx envelopes
how about envelopes like these:



Look pretty pricey at first but considering the ROI on your end it might be an alternative. Just look up faux fedex envelopes to find a few manufacturer's.

Another trick I have heard is people putting cheap dollar store dice to bulk up the package to make the owner a little more curious about opening.

JQ

Originally Posted by xenoxen

Noticed the same thing and want to know also if the BLs to Citations still works... but as always we would have to try it to get tha answer ;-)

The never-ending dance with Google goes on and on. I have been noticing this myself (only showing 3 results on the 1st page).

Really sucks!

Will watch it closely. I talked to my tech guy too, he was aware of it. It is Google changing the display results.

They have been tweaking / tuning / changing it for a few months now.

We have to wait and see if this is going to be a permanent change.

Another thought, this is an effort on Google's part to get more people to use Adwords (look at the results - some of the pin drops showing on the map are from PPC advertisers).

Redhill

If they're only showing 3 results on a page in the future, there's an opportunity there. Even if they have a Maps listing, but it's outside the top three......!

hey guys,
I have been following this thread the last few weeks.
I have ended up sending 30 letters for local search optimization to businesses that advertise in the local classifieds.
I have also sent out 45 letters to clients who have bad reviews for online reputation management.

I got one call back from a client for the online reputation management service, but the client didnt even want to listen when I told them the price.

Need your advise folks on what I can do differently, I have started tweaking the letters, making them more concise and direct, also added the dice to bulk up the passage.

Its getting a little frustrating trying these techniques with no response.... If any one has any advise, please let me know.
Thanks

Hey FF

Yup, it can be disheartening, but it's certainly a numbers game. I suspect that the first clients always the hardest!

Making the text in the letter more direct is a good start. I'm testing out some flyers & single page letters with additions, such as the dice you mention.

Originally Posted by fitfat1947

I got one call back from a client for the online reputation management service, but the client didnt even want to listen when I told them the price.

Chances are, you never established value before telling him price. Or you didn't establish strong enough value.

Some people, however, will never buy what you're selling, even if you're selling $10 bills for $5.

Originally Posted by sanjeev2010

Hey FF

Yup, it can be disheartening, but it's certainly a numbers game. I suspect that the first clients always the hardest!

Making the text in the letter more direct is a good start. I'm testing out some flyers & single page letters with additions, such as the dice you mention.

Yeah i sent out some letters today. I didnt put any dice in them this time to see if I get any responses.

Originally Posted by iiaok

Chances are, you never established value before telling him price. Or you didn't establish strong enough value.

Some people, however, will never buy what you're selling, even if you're selling $10 bills for $5.

your probably right. I explained how my service would capture the negative reviews and at the same time allow publishing of the positive reviews. But the owner seemed more interested in making previous negative reviews disappear.

I kinda felt that I should have let the call go to voice mail and then got back to her later.. but what can I say, you live, you learn, you share
Got to keep trying. I guess I have to find a way to establish value over the phone.

Btw I dont know if anyone is aldready using this but I have figured a way to generate a good amount of letters in a short time.

MAIL MERGE : you can use mail merge for text and images.
mail merge for images really helps to make it much easier once you have your edited images ready.

hope this helps.

In terms of creating value - what about recording a brief video outlining some of the ways you can help a prospect's business? You're offering your advice for free thereby setting yourself up as the "expert".

Got my first client yesterday, ...After sending out letters and getting no response i contacted two companies that i did websites for last year. After going through what benefits Google Places would do for them getting more customers the first said ok as he is very keen to beat his competition, the other will think about it. Also it will give me a chance to see how easy it is to get his site up high on the Places rankings with certain keywords.
Also another company boss who i know socially said he will want to use me for Google places, as the guy who did his website didn't even know about it.
So guys don't give up and as Redhill said don't just rely on the letters, do phone calls speak to people and you will get some eventually.

Redhill,

The fact that this is the look Google is using for their local searches now (use to be "boxed with darker background) has it changed the way the SEO work is done for optimizing a Google Places entry?

Great thread by the way



JQ

Originally Posted by jonnyquest

Redhill,

The fact that this is the look Google is using for their local searches now (use to be "boxed with darker background) has it changed the way the SEO work is done for optimizing a Google Places entry?

Great thread by the way



JQ

JQ,

Hard question to answer. Here are my thoughts....

With all things Google you never know where this will end up. I personally think only showing 3 organic places listings is a mistake on G's part.

I also know they are showing other results in the places listings too - these are PPC clients (by the way). Will come back to this.

With G only now showing the top 3 results it makes it harder, in my opinion. I know that may sound obvious - because it is.

It will make it harder for you to sell it to your clients - because now instead of trying to get them listed in the 7 pack it is getting them listed in the 3 pack.

To further expand - I made a post earlier that talked about not having all of your eggs in 1 basket. Well this is a perfect example - if you are relying on just G Places for your business that is not enough.

In my business I do G Places, traditional SEO, video creation, YouTube Account Maintenance (this is an easy one), some website development (I outsource this and I "manage" the project for a fee), and I am getting into ORM (Reputation Management). I am also moving into helping my clients with more traditional marketing like direct mail, etc.

One of the last ones - ORM is a big deal. And, one that cannot as easily be taken away from you by G. You ought to seriously look into this.

------

JQ - Regarding how the seo is now done for G Places optimization - of course it changes it. It is now much, much harder and will take longer (depending on how competitive a market is) to get your clients to rank for their respective kw's.

------

Regarding why G is now mixing PPC listings into Places listings - it is (in my opinion) a ploy / trick from G to get more people to use PPC. G is fighting for every penny they can get. And, they DO NOT care about you or I, or even how good of an experience the consumer has. Think about it - they just took 4 good local candidates out of the search results and replaced them with PPC advertisers. If I was a local business I would be pissed. But, in the end - G really does not care. It is all about the ad dollars with them.

------

So, to sum up - you need to be more than a 1-trick pony (just doing G Places work alone in this example). And, you need to leverage and expand on your existing clients and get more revenue out of them.

Just my 2 cents.

Best,
Red

Originally Posted by dragon123

Got my first client yesterday, ...After sending out letters and getting no response i contacted two companies that i did websites for last year. After going through what benefits Google Places would do for them getting more customers the first said ok as he is very keen to beat his competition, the other will think about it. Also it will give me a chance to see how easy it is to get his site up high on the Places rankings with certain keywords.
Also another company boss who i know socially said he will want to use me for Google places, as the guy who did his website didn't even know about it.
So guys don't give up and as Redhill said don't just rely on the letters, do phone calls speak to people and you will get some eventually.

Dragon,

AWESOME!!!! Way to go!

You hit the nail on the head. I am constantly working / looking at who I can work with on a referral basis. These types of clients are easier to get, and they spend more money with you in the long-run.

Congrats!

Red

Just curious...I may start a general thread on this, but does anyone know of a good method to find newly created businesses?

I figure each state releases that info somewhere, but I wasn't sure if someone might know of a source for finding businesses created in the last week / month / quarter.

I just got a call from a Spa for the google places service. I took down the number and told them I would get back as I am in a meeting
Any suggestions over what to go over in the phone call and how to land a meeting with them.

Originally Posted by iiaok

Just curious...I may start a general thread on this, but does anyone know of a good method to find newly created businesses?

I figure each state releases that info somewhere, but I wasn't sure if someone might know of a source for finding businesses created in the last week / month / quarter.

If it is a sole proprietors/DBA the local papers have to publish so they may have a list or find a clearinghouse that does that...many moons ago just can't remember. But watching the newspapers will be the quickest.

As for corporations/LLC/Partnerships

Try this as an example

http://www.floridalistcompany.com/scroll_blist.htm

JQ

Just thinking out loud on this but....

I include a business card or two with all of my mailings. Here in the US, it seems that people like to put their pictures on their business cards. Since this is BHW, why not create an "employee" at your firm. Of course, he/she would need a business card with a picture on it. I bet your response rate might go up if the prospects thought that the meeting might be with your "employee", especially if he/she was attractive.

Just a thought.

Originally Posted by fitfat1947

I just got a call from a Spa for the google places service. I took down the number and told them I would get back as I am in a meeting
Any suggestions over what to go over in the phone call and how to land a meeting with them.

Don't overthink it. You are the expert. Call them and set the meeting. Show them the keyword tool in the meeting, with their phrases in it.

Talk to them about Places and how it is free traffic. And, for a small monthly fee you can get them there - and they can get all of that beautiful traffic.

"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to redhill again." LOL, guess I got a lot out of this thread!

Originally Posted by jonnyquest

If it is a sole proprietors/DBA the local papers have to publish so they may have a list or find a clearinghouse that does that...many moons ago just can't remember. But watching the newspapers will be the quickest.

Thanks for this suggestion. I'll have a look at it!

redhill i see you talking a lot lately about not being a trick pony. this is very good advice as you can help you client with more things and make more money for yourself.

however since google places is only showing a 3 pack now are you still recommending starting out with google places service as the initial product offered? or do you recommend starting out with another service?

Originally Posted by redhill

Don't overthink it. You are the expert. Call them and set the meeting. Show them the keyword tool in the meeting, with their phrases in it.

Talk to them about Places and how it is free traffic. And, for a small monthly fee you can get them there - and they can get all of that beautiful traffic.

thanks for the advise mate.

Originally Posted by jaredakelly

however since google places is only showing a 3 pack now are you still recommending starting out with google places service as the initial product offered?

I don't know about redhill, but I personally would suggest...starting. It doesn't matter if it's Places, ORM, SEO, the list goes on.

Places is a good start simply because it's so powerful. The amount G has shown has changed so much in the last several years. I was involved when it was Google Local and before. They had the 10-pack, slimmed down quite a bit, went back to a 7-pack. It will change again.

But the reality is, unless you jump in with both feet, you'll be left behind by those who do.

Originally Posted by redhill

Don't overthink it. You are the expert. Call them and set the meeting. Show them the keyword tool in the meeting, with their phrases in it.

Talk to them about Places and how it is free traffic. And, for a small monthly fee you can get them there - and they can get all of that beautiful traffic.

Just landed a meeting with a SPA. Have it scheduled for tomorrow. If you guys have any suggestsion's on any particular thread or information that is worth reading before my meeting please let me know.
Unlike the last time I cant afford to waste this client anf fu** it up.

thanks for everyones input on this thread

Originally Posted by redhill

JQ,

Hard question to answer. Here are my thoughts....

With all things Google you never know where this will end up. I personally think only showing 3 organic places listings is a mistake on G's part.

I also know they are showing other results in the places listings too - these are PPC clients (by the way). Will come back to this.

With G only now showing the top 3 results it makes it harder, in my opinion. I know that may sound obvious - because it is.

It will make it harder for you to sell it to your clients - because now instead of trying to get them listed in the 7 pack it is getting them listed in the 3 pack.

To further expand - I made a post earlier that talked about not having all of your eggs in 1 basket. Well this is a perfect example - if you are relying on just G Places for your business that is not enough.

In my business I do G Places, traditional SEO, video creation, YouTube Account Maintenance (this is an easy one), some website development (I outsource this and I "manage" the project for a fee), and I am getting into ORM (Reputation Management). I am also moving into helping my clients with more traditional marketing like direct mail, etc.

One of the last ones - ORM is a big deal. And, one that cannot as easily be taken away from you by G. You ought to seriously look into this.

------

JQ - Regarding how the seo is now done for G Places optimization - of course it changes it. It is now much, much harder and will take longer (depending on how competitive a market is) to get your clients to rank for their respective kw's.

------

Regarding why G is now mixing PPC listings into Places listings - it is (in my opinion) a ploy / trick from G to get more people to use PPC. G is fighting for every penny they can get. And, they DO NOT care about you or I, or even how good of an experience the consumer has. Think about it - they just took 4 good local candidates out of the search results and replaced them with PPC advertisers. If I was a local business I would be pissed. But, in the end - G really does not care. It is all about the ad dollars with them.

------

So, to sum up - you need to be more than a 1-trick pony (just doing G Places work alone in this example). And, you need to leverage and expand on your existing clients and get more revenue out of them.

Just my 2 cents.

Best,
Red

Maybe the Adwords Express is meant to take over local PPC, a service they are venturing to service the local market.

Maybe the business model needs to change or be mixed with the Google Places, offer both PPC Adwords Express management and Google Places optimization. I am currently looking into this and adjusting my business model.


More info here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJoUE...layer_embedded

http://www.google.com/adwords/express/

Originally Posted by fitfat1947

Unlike the last time I cant afford to waste this client anf fu** it up.

Congrats on the meeting!

My only advice would be to throw the thought above away. Don't go in desperate. People will sense it and get turned off.

Be confident. Speak confidently. KNOW that he won't know more than you about what you're pitching, and in his eyes, you are the expert.

As far as what you should read up on, just get your pitch down. Make it your own.

Ha ha, must be the day for appointments! Just got a call from someone I sent a package to also.

Have arranged a meeting for late next week - this'll give me some time to figure out what I need to say!

To all of you out there following this, it does work - you just have to send out enough packets!

great info thanks alot!!

Redhill,

I have a question. I have seen on the forum that people offer 6 month contracts when they sign up new clients (seo and things like that). Now I have a problem with how I can set up a 6 month contract with my new clients. What I want to do is this...I offer local businesses the chance to create a free FB Fanpage (Fb Lead Machine) If they go ahead and take the offer I follow up with an offer with a custom fanpage for 397 (Fb Lead machine just gives a basic cheesy fanpage) from there I can hit them with either a mobile website upgrade or google page listing service...or both) Again I use this as a ONE TIME FEE. I however tell them that I can monitor there accounts on a monthly basis, hence this is were I would hit em with the 6 mos contract. How would you approach this? What types of forms would I use? I have seen and have some that I have gotten here and others sites but it is a bit confussing. Any help would be appreciated.

Originally Posted by snowmike

Combine the original letter with BruceRuby's WSO...you are good to go! His stuff are good! check it out

Originally Posted by redhill

Thank you and thank you.

You know I am always on the lookout for better / additional / different ways to market.

This could be good. I think I will pony up the $12 or so that he wants and buy it.

Do either of you have that WSO? Nothing came up on search for it, was wondering if it was shared somewhere here or not.

@iiaok

If this is the one about flyers and postcards I picked it up and really didn't think that much of it. The only thing I found of use was a variation on the Dan Kennedy $1 letter.

Originally Posted by sanjeev2010

@iiaok

If this is the one about flyers and postcards I picked it up and really didn't think that much of it. The only thing I found of use was a variation on the Dan Kennedy $1 letter.

Glad it's not just me. With all the hype and positive reviews on the WF I downloaded it and thought it was very average. I wondered what I was missing. I've deleted it already. This is why I never buy WSO's

Update about meeting with a potential client: Since everyone has been landing a few meetings I am sharing my experience hoping it helps others

I showed up on time. Asked for the COO of the firm. I started by asking them what challenges they were facing and wanted to understand what was their ultimate goal.
After that I tried to create a story where I was able to validate how I have helped a similar client and got them measurable results.
Gave him some facts about local search and reputation management in order to qualify why it is so important.
Then he asked me to explain what packages I provide, After explaining the packages he asked for the price points.

Then the zinger, he told me 4 other people had called with similar products. He asked me if there was a memo that went out to the IM firms about his business. I brushed it off and said that it is good to be in a position where you can evaluate different services in order to make you feel confident that you are taking the right decision.
He then said that they were interested, only that he had to get it approved from his boss. Asked me to followup with him later.
In all it was a 25 min discussion.

Originally Posted by fitfat1947

Update about meeting with a potential client: Since everyone has been landing a few meetings I am sharing my experience hoping it helps others

I showed up on time. Asked for the COO of the firm. I started by asking them what challenges they were facing and wanted to understand what was their ultimate goal.
After that I tried to create a story where I was able to validate how I have helped a similar client and got them measurable results.
Gave him some facts about local search and reputation management in order to qualify why it is so important.
Then he asked me to explain what packages I provide, After explaining the packages he asked for the price points.

Then the zinger, he told me 4 other people had called with similar products. He asked me if there was a memo that went out to the IM firms about his business. I brushed it off and said that it is good to be in a position where you can evaluate different services in order to make you feel confident that you are taking the right decision.
He then said that they were interested, only that he had to get it approved from his boss. Asked me to followup with him later.
In all it was a 25 min discussion.

wow 4 other callers is tough but at least you got the meeting and the others probably not. good luck with the client

Originally Posted by theag

wow 4 other callers is tough but at least you got the meeting and the others probably not. good luck with the client

yea my face dropped when I heard it.... but hey you cant control the competition, you can just improve your service.

Also im pretty sure I will underbid them if these guys are really interested as I am looking to build a few clients and then start increasing the price....

Just noticed something odd.....I was working on collecting some more prospects and noticed that Safari gave me 7 GP listings while Firefox only gave 3 listings for the same search. Anyone else notice this?

Originally Posted by fitfat1947

Update about meeting with a potential client: Since everyone has been landing a few meetings I am sharing my experience hoping it helps others

Sounds like a deal, to me. Your follow up will land the deal, even if you aren't the low bidder.

BTW, what area are you in? Curious as to why you'd have run into someone that has been contacted multiple times.

Originally Posted by sanjeev2010

Just noticed something odd.....I was working on collecting some more prospects and noticed that Safari gave me 7 GP listings while Firefox only gave 3 listings for the same search. Anyone else notice this?

Yeah, I get seven still on some results. I don't think it has to do with browser, though.

And thanks to the many PM's I received about the WSO. Just DL'd it and will read through, but after the reviews above, it seems like it's going to be a less-than-awesome read.

Rep given to all who responded, except dotcomdesigns...the system won't let me +rep you again so soon.