Cold calling vs direct mail

Just some quick background info; I started my own SEO services site during the summer. Sort of got distracted with other things, and didn't do much with it.

I've been recently reading up and considering on picking up that project again, and in doing so, I was thinking about something.

I'd figure two of the main ways to pick up SEO clients would be cold calling vs letters. Now, on a large scale, cold calling could land you quite a few clients. But I was thinking that personalized (meaning hand written on the envelope, possibly using 7878's trick with dice, and making the letter very personalized) would be far more effective. I think the selling point would be the letter. For example, I would have screenshots of Google top 10 for various keywords, and then I'd write on each screenshot how many times people are searching for those keywords per month.

Why do I think it'd be more effective? Well, I figure that these business owners receive hundreds of calls a year, and they are all fairly generic.

I just wanna get an idea of what experiences you guys have had in terms of cold calling vs direct mail.

Alright, let's hear it guys! And if anyone wants to talk business, feel free to PM me and we can exchange our Skype info

I would definitely prefer personalized letters to be sent instead of cold calling. The idea is great one. In addition to that you may think over cold faxing also.

sounds good, have to think about it.

I think your conversion rate will be much higher with the personalized letters. That said both methods are a numbers game with the letters being more expensive but also more promising. If you think of yourself as a great salesperson on the phone though you should definitely include that in marketing your services..

I've been sending out direct mail (personalised letters, traffic levels for keywords etc) for a few weeks now. Out of around 20 mailings, one prospect called me (in fact a couple of times). Well worth taking the time to personalize.

By the way, what kinds of SEO services do you offer, as I might be looking to outsource some stuff.

Alright guys, thank you for the suggestions so far

Now, how about emailing? I mean, it seems like emails are much easier to send, thus chances of it being ignored could be quite high. But on the other hand, since they are easy to send, you could easily pull off sending like 100 emails a day. Do you guys still email local businesses? Do you personalize each email?

thedon23 said:

Alright guys, thank you for the suggestions so far

Now, how about emailing? I mean, it seems like emails are much easier to send, thus chances of it being ignored could be quite high. But on the other hand, since they are easy to send, you could easily pull off sending like 100 emails a day. Do you guys still email local businesses? Do you personalize each email?

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I remember once sending out around 50 emails offering SEO servies. Had one reply who wasn't interested but still asked for the going rate. Direct mail should work quadruple times as good. Include the dice, it gets them curious!

thedon23 said:

Alright guys, thank you for the suggestions so far

Now, how about emailing? I mean, it seems like emails are much easier to send, thus chances of it being ignored could be quite high. But on the other hand, since they are easy to send, you could easily pull off sending like 100 emails a day. Do you guys still email local businesses? Do you personalize each email?

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you have to think bigger!

letter first, if they dont response call them with reference to the letter (at this stage you should already get a meeting). after the call send them an email reminder every few days with reference to the letter and call.