Getting New SEO clients?

[assassinmarketing]

I'm sure this question has been asked a million times, and as the new year is right around the corner what have been the most effective methods of gaining new SEO clients for you?

And what are your plans to scale that process up in 2012?


Myself, I plan on staying focused on my niche locally but may initiate another niche or so to compliment it, I'm also adding some more services to my local SEO consultancy.( i.e. Microsoft ad pro / Google Certified partner) Offering "Mastering local PPC " seminars to my niche etc. and have added an affiliate program as well.

I feel as the economy continues to stay unstable, the Digital Economy will continue to explode, opening up even more opps for SEO/SEM/SMM etc.

Because so many fly by nighters have tarnished the SEO biz image, cold calling prospects is pretty much dead where I am at, and e-mailing goes to the great spam abyss, I have had most of my success via the old-fashioned WOM + referral system coupled with a mass FB/Twitter Campaign.

I have also been succesfully farming Linkedin for leads.
What I've found works for me, is just being real, being useful, not pushing for a sale but educating.

My Father is a stock analyst and I have been integrating some of his theories into a new angle I'm testing. i'll let you know how it goes.

I'll sum it up with a fish story.

anybody can learn how to fish, bait the hook, throw the line in where the fish hang out, blah. blah.

The Samurai method was to use 3 poles in the same area
and it works, but I wanna take it a step further and use a net

 

[SEOWhizz]

Here's a few ideas:

* Local business networking: BNI, Local chamber of commerce meetings, other networking meetings.
* Referals: Ask those people who you know and who you've been doing business for a while and have credibility in their chosen field, e.g. consultants, chartered accountants, who already have a trust factor with their clients. Offer them an incentive to refer clients to you, e.g. free 2 months Adwords trial.
* If you've not already done so, create an opt-in form on your main site, with a free giveaway, e.g. how to get more leads for local business or similar. Drive traffic using SEO, Google Places, PPC. Offer a free consultation.

 

[assassinmarketing]

Here's a few ideas:

* Local business networking: BNI, Local chamber of commerce meetings, other networking meetings.
* Referals: Ask those people who you know and who you've been doing business for a while and have credibility in their chosen field, e.g. consultants, chartered accountants, who already have a trust factor with their clients. Offer them an incentive to refer clients to you, e.g. free 2 months Adwords trial.
* If you've not already done so, create an opt-in form on your main site, with a free giveaway, e.g. how to get more leads for local business or similar. Drive traffic using SEO, Google Places, PPC. Offer a free consultation.

These are solid ideas for sure. and being a certified google partner agency I have access to $100 vouchers to give away to new clients,, makes a nice perk or bribe at no real cost.

I actually use the Google voucher + Optin giveaway on my site and drive it through linkedin/yelp/localdotcom etc. that keeps a steady stream going for me.

 

[Couch Monkey Media]

yep the chamber can big big for you. get in and start working with the groups. offer to do some free stuff

you will see the leads start to come in.

 

[assassinmarketing]

yep the chamber can big big for you. get in and start working with the groups. offer to do some free stuff

you will see the leads start to come in.

Unfortunately the chamber in my area is super cliquish. So not as successful for me anyway but I do host a local inner circle, think tank networking event
once a month that drives good leads for me

 

[allurre]

1. Keep on expanding your social network. The more you expose yourself to people, the more opportune clients you'll get. That's just the way it'll work. More importantly, involve yourself with people "with money".

2. When you introduce yourself, tell them what you do (online marketing), followed by creating an instant beneficial proposition indirectly. The key is to not hardsell and shove your service down their throats, but shape their perception of you as someone that can create massive growth and opportunities for their business.

"I specialize in online marketing and help businesses get more targeted customers online. I love helping business make more money "

oh - don't forget to hand out your card, and make sure that card is well designed with a value proposition evident.

 

[assassinmarketing]

1. Keep on expanding your social network. The more you expose yourself to people, the more opportune clients you'll get. That's just the way it'll work. More importantly, involve yourself with people "with money".

2. When you introduce yourself, tell them what you do (online marketing), followed by creating an instant beneficial proposition indirectly. The key is to not hardsell and shove your service down their throats, but shape their perception of you as someone that can create massive growth and opportunities for their business.

"I specialize in online marketing and help businesses get more targeted customers online. I love helping business make more money "

oh - don't forget to hand out your card, and make sure that card is well designed with a value proposition evident.

Yes very valid points. associating with money "success = success" is a key
2 of my clients were both referrals from Dave Ramsey, one the ex-vp of Nissan north america, so that just goes to show

 

[KBC-12]

My Father is a stock analyst and I have been integrating some of his theories into a new angle I'm testing. i'll let you know how it goes.

With regards to client acquisition or SEO? I'm interested to hear the results on this either way.

being a certified google partner agency I have access to $100 vouchers to give away to new clients,, makes a nice perk or bribe at no real cost.

I actually use the Google voucher + Optin giveaway on my site and drive it through linkedin/yelp/localdotcom etc. that keeps a steady stream going for me.

Just to clarify, so you are getting traffic from linkedin/yelp/localdotcom, and then your lead magnet is the $100 vouchers + the Optin giveaway? Which is more on the educational side?
(Its late, I'm tired. Lol)

 

[kez1000]

It's all about referals... you have to do some free work for a busy shop like a
hairdreesers and ask them to refer you to their bussiness customers..

people buy more from a referal than a cold call.. the are some powerful thread on
blw about this supject

 

[assassinmarketing]

With regards to client acquisition or SEO? I'm interested to hear the results on this either way.

Both Actually


Just to clarify, so you are getting traffic from linkedin/yelp/localdotcom, and then your lead magnet is the $100 vouchers + the Optin giveaway? Which is more on the educational side?
(Its late, I'm tired. Lol)

yes. That is one stream source, the soft sell massage.
(Angie's list / CL etc)
I use the Voucher to off-set my service cost (in their mind)

When presented well - this one pretty much sells itself

for my local niche, the SEO/PPC game seems to be a solid winning combo
that isn't oversaturated yet. (I'm in a metropolitan area w/ over 750k and aprx 1/2 are biz owners)

 

[assassinmarketing]

It's all about referals... you have to do some free work for a busy shop like a
hairdreesers and ask them to refer you to their bussiness customers..

people buy more from a referal than a cold call.. the are some powerful thread on
blw about this supject

yea exactly, you gotta be personable, informative without being pushy and def add value to their biz.

I actually stared by hitting local .org / non-profits /charity's
and built up a good launching pad w/ great testimonials etc.

I've since scaled this stuff up & have to outsource to my Brother's company

 

[Getwhatchuwant]

I am doing "ok" getting some leads, mostly from referrals i.e. friends, family etc.. and some email but I have been having issues with the close so far. I am getting close I can feel it but like you say keep throwing lines in the water!!

 

[assassinmarketing]

I am doing "ok" getting some leads, mostly from referrals i.e. friends, family etc.. and some email but I have been having issues with the close so far. I am getting close I can feel it but like you say keep throwing lines in the water!!

what it comes down to is gently leading the customer to close themselves.
make it a no-brainer for them, most good business people will see the value if presented properly.

There's a lot of great closing methods right here on BH
be the king of the awkward pause - it works

yur job is to simply execute, lay out the process in bite size pieces (sales funnel) and guide them to your end goal (just wiggle the worm)


worst case scenario, if you don't feel comfortable closing, get someone else to do it

 

[Sleinad]

I have got a lot from forums. I searched for 'UK business forum' and then '(my city) business forum' and got a big list of forums to sign up on. I then just went around them all looking for people asking about SEO and just sent them a PM. Large amount of them are interested in the services especially when you tell them how many more visitors they could get and therefore how many more sales a day etc.

It isn't that hard, I made a post here about my new business and I got a few people asking me to use my services. I haven't been running my business long enough to have a lot of referred customers, however I think at least 60% of my new customers are going to be referred.

 

[jiggsaw]

Lot's of gems in this thread.

 

[assassinmarketing]

Lot's of gems in this thread.

That was the idea bro

and this is just scratching the surface 2012 is gonna be interesting for sure

 

[cyberjunkie]

An effective way of gaining new 2012 Seo clients in your local
market is to dominate your own local market for common
keywords that a business would actually search for when
seeking an Seo provider.

 

[Sysgod]

Lots of great ideas in this post! Thank you for the reading ya'll, good stuff...

 

[finemoves]

I'm sure this question has been asked a million times, and as the new year is right around the corner what have been the most effective methods of gaining new SEO clients for you?

And what are your plans to scale that process up in 2012?


Myself, I plan on staying focused on my niche locally but may initiate another niche or so to compliment it, I'm also adding some more services to my local SEO consultancy.( i.e. Microsoft ad pro / Google Certified partner) Offering "Mastering local PPC " seminars to my niche etc. and have added an affiliate program as well.

I feel as the economy continues to stay unstable, the Digital Economy will continue to explode, opening up even more opps for SEO/SEM/SMM etc.

Because so many fly by nighters have tarnished the SEO biz image, cold calling prospects is pretty much dead where I am at, and e-mailing goes to the great spam abyss, I have had most of my success via the old-fashioned WOM + referral system coupled with a mass FB/Twitter Campaign.

I have also been succesfully farming Linkedin for leads.
What I've found works for me, is just being real, being useful, not pushing for a sale but educating.

My Father is a stock analyst and I have been integrating some of his theories into a new angle I'm testing. i'll let you know how it goes.

I'll sum it up with a fish story.

anybody can learn how to fish, bait the hook, throw the line in where the fish hang out, blah. blah.

The Samurai method was to use 3 poles in the same area
and it works, but I wanna take it a step further and use a net

Networking works well. Also try some local web design companies for referrals. New sites need SEO Offer them a kickback

 

[assassinmarketing]

Networking works well. Also try some local web design companies for referrals. New sites need SEO Offer them a kickback

Ya that's a good long term source for sure. I know it's difficult for beginner's to kickstart on that end though. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I jumped off with a few freebies for some local non-profits and sourced referrals that way, then hit up a local college and offered a credit program for their marketing and business students, then used them as a free staff to go "sell" my services.