Ok, time for a share that could/should work pretty much anywhere

I have been working on offline clients for about 3 months now and I am now banking pretty well

Abount 5 clients now and around $8k a month turnover with healthy margins.

When I started I guess I was bamboozling them with stats etc and pretty much got nowhere. In the last month or so all of the above new clients came in as I simplified things greatly.

Mpst people who have websites that they aim to make money with really have no idea about seo at all. So all the terms that are used daily here are in the main not in their comfort zone.

Also I have found that most of my customers were told by the people that built thier sites that they would get them "on google", so effectively they thought they were ranking

A few dodgy site builders were even telling people to search for their business name and hey presto they were on page 1

This had the initial effect of a brick wall as owners thought they were ranking

Obviously after a few minutes of clarification they understood what they actually needed to be ranked for and the need for real traffic to their site.

When they were told that they were pretty much ranking for nothing and by ranking they could get some pretty hot leads they then were very hot leads.

The one basic example that they all understood and fairly much closed the deal was this.

All I did was explain that a website was pretty much like a car, without fuel it would not go anywhere and fuel costs money. Depending on the make and model of the car more fuel is required to get it to where you need to go.

This very simple analogy converted my first 5 customers

All were business owners , all were (I would say) in their 40/50's and when it was broken down to something they could undertsand they went with it.

One guy had a multi million dollar company and his "seo guy" had managed to rank him for his trade name rather than the services offered. In one short month he is ranking for some pretty tasty keywords and his traffic and business is going up very well. He is now committed to $4k a month. Maybe I should have got more but I make good $$$ their and the customer is happy

He is already talking about referring me to a friend so hopefully more business soon

As the old saying goes KISS (keep it simple stupid)

Good luck to all

Wow thanks for the analogy

I'm starting to understand that most businesses owner does not understand SEO lingo at all

Originally Posted by obdcodes

Wow thanks for the analogy

I'm starting to understand that most businesses owner does not understand SEO lingo at all

you are certainly right, what we talk about and look at all day is not what our customers are thinking at all.

If we try and break it down into really simple steps then more success may come our way

good luck

That is intelligent thinking to convince the potential customers. Once you have convinced someone with your simple but persuasive argument, you have got him in.

Originally Posted by boom1

One guy had a multi million dollar company and his "seo guy" had managed to rank him for his trade name rather than the services offered. In one short month he is ranking for some pretty tasty keywords and his traffic and business is going up very well. He is now committed to $4k a month. Maybe I should have got more but I make good $$$ their and the customer is happy

He is already talking about referring me to a friend so hopefully more business soon

How did you get in contact with someone like him? Cold call? Direct mail? Networking?

What's the best way to reach people who run big companies and can afford to spend $X,XXX/month for your services? It's easier to have several big clients rather than many small clients. Less headache, more/same money, etc.

^I went scouting for competition in my area (CL; competition is nonexistent or outdated lol) and actually found a guy looking to get a new site and SEO. He said he made 960k last year alone. He wanted a ecommerce and was offering a sales %. I didn't contact him to see if he was offering a total sales % or a website sales %. His niche was really blew my mind. And look at how much your client value their customer, and charge accordingly.

As for OP. Great analogy; simply genius. I will be using this in the near future. I plan on starting consulting real soon. Just been collecting knowledge. And good luck in the future OP.

Originally Posted by NowYouCan

How did you get in contact with someone like him? Cold call? Direct mail? Networking?

What's the best way to reach people who run big companies and can afford to spend $X,XXX/month for your services? It's easier to have several big clients rather than many small clients. Less headache, more/same money, etc.

that particular client I met in a bar, we were chewing the fat about almost anything and he asked what I did. The next day I was analysing his site and 48 hours later a deal was done

What made it easier , the bar we were in I had done some work on their site and made it number 1 for a few local seo search terms, the owner of the bar a couple of times pitched in and said what a great job I had done etc. So I am sure that helped a great deal too

Thanks for the share, but that is not a script.

Encountering this almost everyday. You don't realize the time you've spent on the computer has hidden value. These people have not put in the time, nor do they want to. This is half your value. The other half is providing results.

Yep, it's all about giving them real life examples they can understand. They don't give a shit about "I will get you on Google" or that crap. They just want the phone to ring more. If you can explain that you will do that, you should in my experience get the job.

I have like 4 or 5 sites now rented with site rental model and that's how I got them all. Looking at scaling up to $1K+/m clients and not just $300/m ones.

Originally Posted by sldebo

Thanks for the share, but that is not a script.

ok you are right should have said method

Mind to share the script you use for cold calling?

Originally Posted by boom1

As the old saying goes KISS (keep it simple stupid)

Well said! need to print that out and use it as my company's slogan!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by obdcodes

Mind to share the script you use for cold calling?

I don't do cold calling yet, mainly email and by chatting to people constantly

Nice congrats! I myself am just starting out as an independent since leaving a company I was with. Breaking things down and using analogies people can grasp has been huge for me. Im just in the start up phase so Im not making serious money but I am getting myself out there(building trust, I guess you could say). If I know something about the prospect and their interest, I try to use the interest as an example, but using the car(so obvious, I've over looked it) everyone can grasp. I will try it out. Thanks for sharing.

Originally Posted by NowYouCan

What's the best way to reach people who run big companies and can afford to spend $X,XXX/month for your services? It's easier to have several big clients rather than many small clients. Less headache, more/same money, etc.

Thing is, it isn't "big" companies that can afford $X,XXX. Truly big companies can and do pay 5 & 6 figures monthly for marketing.

Mid-size, and some small companies, should pay 4 figures monthly on marketing. And that's exactly what SEO is...marketing.

Originally Posted by boom1

you are certainly right, what we talk about and look at all day is not what our customers are thinking at all.

This is truth. And it goes for ANY industry. Your industry jargon is just that, it's something that only the people in the industry understand.

While I do like the idea of explaining SEO in a metaphor such as vehicles/fuel, but (and call me a stickler if you'd like) WHERE'S THE SCRIPT!?

But on a more serious note, the OP makes a good point in that business owners are professionals in their business while we're professionals in ours. In order to make a bridge between the two professions, it is much easier to explain SEO in a metaphor that they would better understand.

Auto dealer: car metaphor
Salon: hair metaphor
Dentist: teeth metaphor

so on, and so forth.

Great analogy. I really like that. Truly, wisdom is the principal thing. It a good teaching methodology to use the known to explain the unknown.