2 Unemployed 22 Year Olds - Offline Journal (Pics)

[NotTheDude]

+rep for taking action. I've just sent out my second round of packets. I have not had any success with the first lot. My first packets were sent to businesses with websites and offered GP promotion. But I think, my prices were too high and businesses where I am are not ready for this yet. I'm in the UK.

But now I am doing exactly as you have. Targeting businesses without websites. I presume Ontario is similar to where I live. We're way behind the US and many businesses don't have websites yet. Amazing but true.

A tool I've found useful for the printouts is snagit

http://download.cnet.com/Snagit/3000-2192_4-10004813.html

free for 30 days, $50 after. This is great for taking screenshots of your searches and then editing it. You can add arrows, highlights, text box, etc and it just makes things look more professional rather than writing by hand on the print outs if any of you do

Good luck and subscribed.

Never used it but I did find the torrent on TPB:

http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/6968487/SnagIt_v10.0.2___Serials_[ChattChitto_RG]

I will check it out, thanks!

 

[talkmeow]

Very cool, I like that you are trying several different niches that haven't been talked about much.

 

[bwman]

A tool I've found useful for the printouts is snagit

http://download.cnet.com/Snagit/3000-2192_4-10004813.html

free for 30 days, $50 after. This is great for taking screenshots of your searches and then editing it. You can add arrows, highlights, text box, etc and it just makes things look more professional rather than writing by hand on the print outs if any of you do

Good luck and subscribed.

JING is completely free and does pretty much the same thing, I'd go for that rather .. test it out and compare it to what you are already using and see how best it works

 

[TheCrazyMan]

very good idea, offline biz always like papers (old school ) they don't care much about emails

 

[gmarch25]

Update:

It's been 2 business days since we sent out the pack's and no response yet. I have cut out 4 more advertisements and will be sending them out

Here are the 4 new ads

1) chiropractor
2) optometrist
3) Jewelery Store
4) Plumber

 

[charlie3]

Update:

It's been 2 business days since we sent out the pack's and no response yet. I have cut out 4 more advertisements and will be sending them out

Here are the 4 new ads

1) chiropractor
2) optometrist
3) Jewelery Store
4) Plumber

I'm hoping for some success for you man!

I do have an ulterior motive, which is if it works for you then I'm going to gather some friends who want to make some money and get them to do all the work making and sending out the packets. Just before I do that I want to show them some evidence that it works.

All in all, good luck! I'm still watching this thread for future updates

 

[qwiktrade]

Wish you the best of luck with this.

If I understood you, you guys sent only 5 packets? In that case, you would need 20% open rate and 100% conversion rate to get one sale. You should probably be thinking more along the lines of sending 500 mail pieces at a minimum, then following up in person or over the phone. If you don't want to send that many, hit the phones and prequalify your targets.

Anyway, just some thoughts from an old salesman.

-William

 

[SexyMonk]

You should go out there and hand deliver the packs.

 

[schwagoo]

AGREED.
find the owner and shake his/her hand. Explain in 20 seconds what is in the packet and ask him to personally take a look.

At the very least, give them a day to open it and make a follow-up phone call. Just 'making sure they received the packet and what day works for them to schedule a meeting to review the information. What is better Sir Monday or Tuesday at 8am?'

You should go out there and hand deliver the packs.

 

[dantob]

For your search volume page that you include in the packet are you using the 'broad" or "exact" numbers? I know the broad numbers would show alot more, but exact would give a better idea of what sort of potential leads they might really get once they are on the first page or top of the GPlaces listings.

Also did you change much from the original GPlacement letter from the WSO?

 

[MadMX]

Awesome thread! It's nice to see an offline journal! Subscribed, gonna follow this thread as I plan to do something similar.

Do you have any advice how to easily find stores that are not in Google Places?

Cheers

 

[dotcomdesigns]

You can't find my Google Places resources page, what's going on LOL

Try here

http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackhat-seo/offline-marketing/399196-google-places-resources.html

Can please you link me back to the original thread where you got this method (cutting out the newspaper clippings - a member uploaded a guide).

I remember it on here, but can't find it. I plan to use it too.

Good luck guys Keep us updated.

 

[xenoxen]

AGREED.
find the owner and shake his/her hand. Explain in 20 seconds what is in the packet and ask him to personally take a look.

At the very least, give them a day to open it and make a follow-up phone call. Just 'making sure they received the packet and what day works for them to schedule a meeting to review the information. What is better Sir Monday or Tuesday at 8am?'

I love the idea of calling and SETTING meeting. Do not ask question like - did you open it? ; Ok sorry for bothering coz I'm miserable.. bla bla bla.

Just shoot them from shotgun. Hello. Ok. Monday is OK for meeting at 8AM. Do not ask them if they want - ask them when.

Brilliant.

 

[McStud]

I love your story and I'm going to use it to motivate some people I am mentoring.

You got off your arse, you're doing something tangible and you will succeed.

At the point where you speak to interested prospects, ask questions and then most important of all, listen to what they tell you. They will tell you how to close the deal. By asking and showing an interest, they will tell you their personal pain and thats when you know how to solve their problem.

Well done and keep us posted with your progress.

 

[MitchHoward]

I love your story and I'm going to use it to motivate some people I am mentoring.

You got off your arse, you're doing something tangible and you will succeed.

At the point where you speak to interested prospects, ask questions and then most important of all, listen to what they tell you. They will tell you how to close the deal. By asking and showing an interest, they will tell you their personal pain and thats when you know how to solve their problem.

Well done and keep us posted with your progress.

This can't be more on point. I literally just got off the phone from a potential client. He called me back on a report I sent him. I could tell he was on the fence about my pricing. I could also tell he was way old school and stuck in the 90's as far as promotion goes.

Instead of selling, I got him to open up about his business. What started out as a few simple questions like "what type of local promotion do you currently participate in?" ...Turned into him falling apart about how his business is in desperate need of change. How their sales have dramatically dropped blah blah blah.

I immediately responded to his concerns with "Sir, we need to meet. I can help you" He immediately scheduled a meeting.

Moral of the story, ask them questions, let THEM do the talking. They will point you in the right direction. You have to learn how to hit their emotion/kill points. They will open up and do anything you want. Remember, they are human, not robots

 

[gmarch25]

For your search volume page that you include in the packet are you using the 'broad" or "exact" numbers? I know the broad numbers would show alot more, but exact would give a better idea of what sort of potential leads they might really get once they are on the first page or top of the GPlaces listings.


Also did you change much from the original GPlacement letter from the WSO?

I use broad, the WSO suggest broad because a lot of exacts don't register especially for smaller niches like "dog grooming my city"

I changed very little from the original WSO just a few of the wording choices i didnt like

Awesome thread! It's nice to see an offline journal! Subscribed, gonna follow this thread as I plan to do something similar.

Do you have any advice how to easily find stores that are not in Google Places?

Cheers

a lot are in google place but rank horribly, as long as they dont rank on the first page i will contact them

Can please you link me back to the original thread where you got this method (cutting out the newspaper clippings - a member uploaded a guide).

I remember it on here, but can't find it. I plan to use it too.

Good luck guys Keep us updated.

dotcomdesigns post has it all!

To all those suggesting to go to the owner personally, I will consider it after sending out more packets, I think i'm going to try calling the owner first that i sent packets too, just to figure out their thoughts

 

[seanjohn]

To all those suggesting to go to the owner personally, I will consider it after sending out more packets, I think i'm going to try calling the owner first that i sent packets too, just to figure out their thoughts

Just a heads up -- you're going to get hung up on. A lot. I've been in this business for a minute.

These business owners get at least half-a-dozen calls every day about "#1 Google Ranking" / "I build your website very long time". Business owners and gatekeepers are sick of being pitched at. Even in a town of 130,000, people from India are calling these businesses to try to sell them websites and SEO. Not to mention these little fucking Groupon-type websites that keep popping up.

One of the methods I use to get their attention is to give them "free" advertising in an online local directory that I've spent maybe 20 minutes creating, in exchange for a meeting.

Similar to The Dark One's method, here: http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackh...d-10k-month-online-offline-hybrid-method.html

Why? Because you're never going to sell over the phone. Just go for the appointment.

 

[dotcomdesigns]

Yep I agree too. I have a brick and mortar business. I get called almost every day by an SEO firm telling me they can get me to no1. I am actually there already but they don't even bother to check. I now don't even answer them and put the phone down immediately. Some call back and I do the same again. They soon give up. That and companies wanting me to switch my phone or electric provider are the bane of my life!

I also get spam every day about Google rankings and ignore those too. So in my case, phone calls and emails are a complete waste of time.

Just a heads up -- you're going to get hung up on. A lot. I've been in this business for a minute.

These business owners get at least half-a-dozen calls every day about "#1 Google Ranking" / "I build your website very long time". Business owners and gatekeepers are sick of being pitched at. Even in a town of 130,000, people from India are calling these businesses to try to sell them websites and SEO. Not to mention these little fucking Groupon-type websites that keep popping up.

One of the methods I use to get their attention is to give them "free" advertising in an online local directory that I've spent maybe 20 minutes creating, in exchange for a meeting.

Similar to The Dark One's method, here: http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackhat-seo/offline-marketing/155794-guaranteed-10k-month-online-offline-hybrid-method.html

Why? Because you're never going to sell over the phone. Just go for the appointment.

 

[dotcomdesigns]

I use broad, the WSO suggest broad because a lot of exacts don't register especially for smaller niches like "dog grooming my city"

I changed very little from the original WSO just a few of the wording choices i didnt like


Have you planned what you are going to say to your customers who don't get any traffic when you've got them in first place on GP? If the exact searches are low you are inviting trouble.

Search Engine Watch did a study that concluded position one gets 36% CTR. Position 2, 12.5%. Bare in mind there are 3 paid ads above this and sites in GP has been reduced from 7 to 3 according to a number of comments on here.

Maybe the business owners won't have a clue what the traffic they are getting. In the end it's all down to ROI. If you're charging x amount and their business as not increased by x amount they'll call it a day anyway.

In Takticals great thread on here he explains that you better be ready for the complaints because irate customers will call if they don't see any improvements. Just something to consider if you plan on going into meetings saying there's 500 a month searches when there's really 50

I know Redhill and others are using broad figures so it would be interesting to hear if they have had issues with this yet?

Search engine watch stats:

http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2049695/Top-Google-Result-Gets-36.4-of-Clicks-Study

 

[seanjohn]

Yep I agree too. I have a brick and mortar business. I get called almost every day by an SEO firm telling me they can get me to no1. I am actually there already but they don't even bother to check. I now don't even answer them and put the phone down immediately. Some call back and I do the same again. They soon give up. That and companies wanting me to switch my phone or electric provider are the bane of my life!

I also get spam every day about Google rankings and ignore those too. So in my case, phone calls and emails are a complete waste of time.

Haha. Most businesses aren't as extreme as you

Anyone can be sold, it's a matter of how you approach the call. It's still possible to sell SEO services to the masses, but you can't call them and be like, "Yo, ama sell U some SEO".