Offline Prospecting Methods - What Works / What Does Not

[boo blizzi]

I have to say - I have never seen this approach before!

I think it is brilliant.

Have you actually implemented this? Has it worked for you?

One twist could be to place an ad in Craigslist in your city in the appropriate sections - and forward them to your squeeze page (like you mentioned above).

But, seriously - is this working for you right now? Your original approach you outlined above?

Very curious.....

Thanks,
Red

as much as i would like to take credit for inventing this process...it is exactly as i stated...a 2 step marketing approach...it is a long proven lead generation method...i use it for setting up purse parties for my wife and when i need to fill vacancies for my rental properties and want to prequalify the tenant before they even call me.

the main key is to make sure you have the right media for your targeted audience before you put your message out there.

 

[Zeopro]

Really it is just about building your sales funnel. Get enough leads in there and keep filling the funnel and the clients will eventually fall. Most of the stuff I've been reading about offline marketing lately is just proven marketing techniques with a little SEO twist.

I have to say - I have never seen this approach before!

I think it is brilliant.

Have you actually implemented this? Has it worked for you?

One twist could be to place an ad in Craigslist in your city in the appropriate sections - and forward them to your squeeze page (like you mentioned above).

But, seriously - is this working for you right now? Your original approach you outlined above?

Very curious.....

Thanks,
Red

 

[sicnarf]

I can share what hasn't worked for me. Sending follow-up letters was a complete waste of time and money. Sent out the letters last week and haven't heard from anyone. That's all right. There are other businesses out there that need my skills. (Staying positive!)

 

[boo blizzi]

I can share what hasn't worked for me. Sending follow-up letters was a complete waste of time and money. Sent out the letters last week and haven't heard from anyone. That's all right. There are other businesses out there that need my skills. (Staying positive!)

just sending out follow up letters is not enough...you have to say the right things and hit the right triggers with each of those letters...i would suggest reading the gary halbert newsletter for a couple days then try again

 

[theag]

just sending out follow up letters is not enough...you have to say the right things and hit the right triggers with each of those letters...i would suggest reading the gary halbert newsletter for a couple days then try again

great suggestion of gary halbert, thanks, will look into it

 

[sanjeev2010]

@theag

You could also try following up using a different medium. If the letters didn't get them to call you, you could follow up by email or 'phone call as alternatives.

The Gary Halbert letters are a great idea, or any decent books on copywriting/influence (Cialdini's "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion and Whitman's "Ca$hvertising" are personal favourites).

Oh, and anything by Dan Kennedy too.

 

[ardley216]

Some good solid ideas here. One massive point I would like to make... I have been doing Offline for a long time, and one thing that I have found every time when I read these eBooks..

UK clients DO NOT fall for 'sales funnels'. They also don;t go for the "I'm your friend, mate" approach. They like a SOLID professional sales letter, no.. "I'll promise you this, that and the other". It seems as if UK businesses go by "if it's too good to be true then it is".

I have had great success by being MODEST and truthful, not BS.

That's my 2 cents.. I mean pence

 

[GlobalP]

If your letter does not work hit them with a follow up letter, a facebook message and an email. If you call them and you get a gate keeper ask for the owner and say you sent them a package and you just wanted to make sure they got it.

get referrals, print out a nice card that has spaces for their info to be hand written in. When you make a sale, give them a card and write there info in. Make sure the card gives them something good like $100 off next months bill with a referral. Tell them to give this to fellow business owners and if you get it back they get the $100 referral bonus.

Just a few quick tips.

With you follow up letter you can throw in a "waste basket" from lumpymail.com
one of my personal favs.

 

[blackieman]

I love to present. Get in front as many people as you can. You are sharing some very valuable information, and keep it that way. Tell them how SEO works (99% don't know). What Google Places is, etc.

When you do this, you look like an expert. Take a picture, and include it in your sales letters (if any). Soon you really start looking like an expert, and clients will flock. No hard selling necessary.

I spent a $1000 on a useless herbalist doctor, because of his presentation to parents. I know it works (as a victim).

 

[theag]

I love to present. Get in front as many people as you can. You are sharing some very valuable information, and keep it that way. Tell them how SEO works (99% don't know). What Google Places is, etc.

When you do this, you look like an expert. Take a picture, and include it in your sales letters (if any). Soon you really start looking like an expert, and clients will flock. No hard selling necessary.

I spent a $1000 on a useless herbalist doctor, because of his presentation to parents. I know it works (as a victim).

Good points there. I think another good thing is to start a blog about online marketing tips for small businesses and let them know about this blog. this should also add credibility. of course you will want to write in their language and not some seo-industry jiggle-jaggle.

 

[Getwhatchuwant]

I am going to throw some things out there that have worked for various business I have managed in the past, in no particular order. These have come from different industries and ratio of success varies but depending on the audience may land you some decent clients.

• Getting out to other business to leave info packet- this can be non intrusive, just walk in say hi and tell the gatekeeper you have a packet for the owner.
• Leaving your info in highly trafficked areas-Laundromats, Dentist offices, Doctors offices etc...
• Email- one of the lower converting forms but you can make up for it with numbers. We might send 10 packets per week but it is also easy to send 10 emalls per day.
• Attending B2B events- Business to Business events everyone wants to talk to you...why? because they want to tell you about THEIR business. So let them talk, compliment their product and then tell them what you have to offer!
• Advertise offline- There are little booklets that go out weekly to business, some of the advertising is perhaps $50 or so for a small ad that goes into the very businesses that advertise in them.
• Referrals- I have 2 soon to be 3 clients mostly from referrals..unpaid.
• Do Free Case studies- Much like a referral, nothing like someone going to page 1 and telling others!

These are off the top of my head, but for best results there should be some sort of marketing attempt every day you work. Give yourself time off, no need to work everyday but the days you do work either try to get a new lead, or follow up with an old lead. I often fail with this advice myself, so do not be discouraged just pick yourself up and try again.



Every-time you fail, you get better. As you get better you see opportunities but lose them, when you lose them you change the things that did not work. Eventually you will find a pattern or method that work for you a certain % of the time. If you can duplicate that over time you will grow your business to a point you wont have to worry about it anymore.

 

[blackieman]

Hammer meetup.com for local events. You CANNOT LOSE.

 

[theag]

I am going to throw some things out there that have worked for various business I have managed in the past, in no particular order. These have come from different industries and ratio of success varies but depending on the audience may land you some decent clients.

• Getting out to other business to leave info packet- this can be non intrusive, just walk in say hi and tell the gatekeeper you have a packet for the owner.
• Leaving your info in highly trafficked areas-Laundromats, Dentist offices, Doctors offices etc...
• Email- one of the lower converting forms but you can make up for it with numbers. We might send 10 packets per week but it is also easy to send 10 emalls per day.
• Attending B2B events- Business to Business events everyone wants to talk to you...why? because they want to tell you about THEIR business. So let them talk, compliment their product and then tell them what you have to offer!
• Advertise offline- There are little booklets that go out weekly to business, some of the advertising is perhaps $50 or so for a small ad that goes into the very businesses that advertise in them.
• Referrals- I have 2 soon to be 3 clients mostly from referrals..unpaid.
• Do Free Case studies- Much like a referral, nothing like someone going to page 1 and telling others!

These are off the top of my head, but for best results there should be some sort of marketing attempt every day you work. Give yourself time off, no need to work everyday but the days you do work either try to get a new lead, or follow up with an old lead. I often fail with this advice myself, so do not be discouraged just pick yourself up and try again.



Every-time you fail, you get better. As you get better you see opportunities but lose them, when you lose them you change the things that did not work. Eventually you will find a pattern or method that work for you a certain % of the time. If you can duplicate that over time you will grow your business to a point you wont have to worry about it anymore.

great advice!

 

[ilovemedia]

The two things that helped me were hiring a telemarketer and business cards. With the business cards I gave stacks out like candy at local shops in exchange for a stack of that shops cards, if you offer to hand out theirs, they will often hand out/display yours. Also my friend lost her job a while back so when I needed to make calls I just hired her. She was a stay at home mom and it was very relaxed (I told her to just call when she could and when the baby was quiet and/or napping), but it was something and it freed up my time without costing an arm and leg.

 

[cocococo]

its seems no one talked about ranking for seo related keywords, i made a thread about this and the replies was online client who searches example Seo Agency are not good enough comparing that of offline clients.

Personaly I would prefer to rank for seo related keywords and get my clients that way

 

[krzysiekz]

its seems no one talked about ranking for seo related keywords, i made a thread about this and the replies was online client who searches example Seo Agency are not good enough comparing that of offline clients.

Personaly I would prefer to rank for seo related keywords and get my clients that way

Does work. I just think people meant that the people who find you online already know what SEO is and are probably looking for some super deal. With offline clients - if you sent them a letter and get them interested, then they won't sit there demanding huge things because they're going to already be happy with what was presented.

In either case the client I picked up via SEO has been good, so no complaints from me.

 

[Execute]

I am going to throw some things out there that have worked for various business I have managed in the past, in no particular order. These have come from different industries and ratio of success varies but depending on the audience may land you some decent clients.

• Getting out to other business to leave info packet- this can be non intrusive, just walk in say hi and tell the gatekeeper you have a packet for the owner.
• Leaving your info in highly trafficked areas-Laundromats, Dentist offices, Doctors offices etc...
• Email- one of the lower converting forms but you can make up for it with numbers. We might send 10 packets per week but it is also easy to send 10 emalls per day.
• Attending B2B events- Business to Business events everyone wants to talk to you...why? because they want to tell you about THEIR business. So let them talk, compliment their product and then tell them what you have to offer!
• Advertise offline- There are little booklets that go out weekly to business, some of the advertising is perhaps $50 or so for a small ad that goes into the very businesses that advertise in them.
• Referrals- I have 2 soon to be 3 clients mostly from referrals..unpaid.
• Do Free Case studies- Much like a referral, nothing like someone going to page 1 and telling others!

These are off the top of my head, but for best results there should be some sort of marketing attempt every day you work. Give yourself time off, no need to work everyday but the days you do work either try to get a new lead, or follow up with an old lead. I often fail with this advice myself, so do not be discouraged just pick yourself up and try again.



Every-time you fail, you get better. As you get better you see opportunities but lose them, when you lose them you change the things that did not work. Eventually you will find a pattern or method that work for you a certain % of the time. If you can duplicate that over time you will grow your business to a point you wont have to worry about it anymore.

Definitely going to incorporate a few of these methods, thanks!

 

[iiaok]

Attending B2B events- Business to Business events everyone wants to talk to you...why? because they want to tell you about THEIR business. So let them talk, compliment their product and then tell them what you have to offer!

Networking like this is an almost can't miss way of finding new business.

I have never gone to a B2B event and walked out without, at minimum, one appointment set up.

BNI groups, Meetups groups, Trade Shows for the industry you're working in (walk around with a shirt that says you build [INDUSTRY NAME] websites, and you'll get stopped constantly!) etc are all good methods for networking.

 

[JaCkSPeter]

That's Actually stand out from the crowd as first impressions last. There quality always sucked but the others were a little too high for the marketing I was doing..

 

[Spawn]

I find that emailing,Making landing pages for multiple niches and video marketing works wonders!