Got my first client after only sending out 3 packets

cutting their ad from yp is very clever. great method

Dannn said:

Congrats Gammbyt.

I'm a little surprised though. From my experience, I would tend to move away from any sort of direct mailing. That is indisputably losing it's effectiveness, and making packages can be costly in money and time (interchangeable).

The sad reality is, most business owners won't even see it. I've found that many throw most of it away since they are so used to seeing 'junk mail' even if it is of value. Hell, I've had clients throw away contracts, invoices and important documents by accident, so I wouldn't put it past them to throw away these packages either.

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You can give local college students unpaid internships with your seo company to do the manual labor.

Placing a solid object such as army men or dice inside will increase open rate.

There is another success story using this method but is has been moved to exec vip forum.

Getwhatchuwant said:

what are you charging for your services?

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I base my charges on a few different factors. I have a base price that I would like to get for each service that I offer (basic SEO, Google Places Optimization, Web Design, Web Hosting, Mobile Advertising, etc). If the client wants multiple services performed then I will give them a package deal at a discount. This gives me plenty of options and things to upsell. I base the actual quote that I give them on what they are currently paying for their advertising as well.

nethead01 said:

what is your call to action?

are you putting your prices in the packet?

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In the letter that I write to the potential client I make sure to include the fact that I am only offering this help to one business that is in their field in this area. Once I find a business that is interested in this help then I will not be offering it to any other ones similar to them.

I do not mention anything at all about price in the initial packet. I prefer to wait until after I talk to them in person (preferably at their business) before I give them a quote. This gives me a chance to read their face and body language while we talk. I have found that people say a lot more with their bodies than they do with their words usually in situations like this.

Dannn said:

Congrats Gammbyt.

I'm a little surprised though. From my experience, I would tend to move away from any sort of direct mailing. That is indisputably losing it's effectiveness, and making packages can be costly in money and time (interchangeable).

The sad reality is, most business owners won't even see it. I've found that many throw most of it away since they are so used to seeing 'junk mail' even if it is of value. Hell, I've had clients throw away contracts, invoices and important documents by accident, so I wouldn't put it past them to throw away these packages either.

I also read that WSO but to be honest it still seemed like he was trying to hype it up since many will say direct mailing has horrible conversion rates. I am not a huge fan of cold calling, but I have found it converts better than mailing because this way you get a direct response right from the decision maker as opposed to mailing where only a few may actually read it.

Let us know though after you do more testing. I'm curious to know if you just happened to hit an interested business, or if it's 'so powerful' lol, that you can get a client out of 5-10 mailings.

I saw someone here was thinking of doing 50 mailings right off the bat ... heh ... that would require a significant amount of time, no? Interested though.

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I'm still not sure yet just how effective this will be. I have sent out 17 packets to various businesses in this city and in a nearby city. So far, I have had 6 businesses call me back and have had meetings with 5 of them. 4 of those have converted to actual clients. I have a meeting with the 6th one this coming Tuesday.

The first client that I signed with referred me to one of his business associates (without me even offering any type of incentive program). Coincidentally, I had sent out a packet to that person already, so I'm not sure if the packet had anything at all to do with them contacting me. Regardless, they called me and wanted to see how I could help them and they are now a client as well.

To be honest, this is how I would prefer to advertise - let my clients do most of the advertising for me. I have found in the past that the potential clients that are referred to me by other people tend to convert A LOT better and easier than the ones that I go out to find.

scc42 said:

I did the same back in August. I got two replies out of 30 packets, although they were not local firms I sent them to. If you charge a high enough fee for your services it is very worthwhile to do.
I am going to try the local ads route, as the OP did. I'm sure I'll get a better response rate because you are clipping out their ad and showing them their GP ranking, or lack thereof.

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This is what I am hoping will grab the attention of more business owners. I have already had one client refer me to someone else who became a client as well, which is what I was hoping for. I honestly think that if you do a good job in what you do and provide a valuable service then word of mouth will be one of the best forms of advertising that you can get.

Thanks man i am going to try it soon,

Ferginauld said:

I am currently testing this method from the original WSO .
I have sent out an initial email to the potential clients with an introduction of myself, my services and how they can help the clients business.

Now I have completed the packs and will be sending these out tomorrow.
I can report back here if it would help others.

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It would be interesting to see how using the exact methods described in the WSO convert compared to the changes that I have made. I might try to follow the steps in the WSO exactly and see if the conversion rates turn out better. When I made the changes as I was putting the first packet together I just changed the things that I thought would make it look better, but I could be wrong.

If you don't mind, let us know how the packets that you sent out convert - maybe they will do even better than the method that I went with.

onlythabst said:

How much have you charged for your services, do you see your clients ever being interested in a mobile website?

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So far, I have not charged over $350 per month (for the Google Places Optimization). I have other prices for the other services that I am offering but I am basing them on a few different factors (such as what the client is already paying and which services they are wanting exactly).

I am offering mobile advertising as well as help in creating a mobile site but so far noone has been interested in those offers. I am still in the "getting my foot in the door" stage with them at this point - I think that once I prove myself to them with what they have me doing then it will be a lot easier to get them to agree to add more services.

paulpapapump said:

cutting their ad from yp is very clever. great method

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I think that this helps to really grab their attention as soon as they open up the packet.

BreakAllTheClocks said:

You can give local college students unpaid internships with your seo company to do the manual labor.

Placing a solid object such as army men or dice inside will increase open rate.

There is another success story using this method but is has been moved to exec vip forum.

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That is a great idea about placing some object inside the packet to increase their interest even more.

Getting college students to work for you is also an excellent idea. I am attending college (online) as well. While I have honestly not really learned a lot from the classes and material, it has given me a chance to meet a lot of other people who are really enthusiastic about what they are going to school for. Many of the students in my web design and programming classes are younger and anxious to get some real experience working on projects that they can put on their resume. I am always looking for them and more than willing to let them help me with a project that I am working on so that they can add the work experience and a professional reference to their resume

Any updates mate on how it's been working for you Gammbyt --- with your recent batch ?

I sent out 24 packs Thursday, and 12 yesterday. I have received no calls so far, but it IS the weekend/"new years eve". I'll keep you all posted on how it goes.

This is the exact same method that I have been using to get new clients. It works guys. All you gotta do is follow the blueprint.

Looks like a very reasonable conversion rate. How much do the packets cost to put together and mail?

And how far outside of your specific area are you marketing to? If you promise not to market to a competitor, it seems like you would have to go quite a ways to get another client in the same type/trade.

this is a simple yet very effective tutorial.. thanks.

Great way to think outside the box mayne!

blackcontent said:

Looks like a very reasonable conversion rate. How much do the packets cost to put together and mail?

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I've spent well over $100 on making the 48 packs, and sending 36 of them. They were $1.71 each to mail. I put each report in a plastic report cover, which was extra $$ I decided to spend for a more professional look.

blackcontent said:

And how far outside of your specific area are you marketing to? If you promise not to market to a competitor, it seems like you would have to go quite a ways to get another client in the same type/trade.

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I know my opinion wasn't asked, but I think it's silly to work with only 1 business in each niche per city. I would do 2 or 3 honestly. After hitting up your own area, target other cities 30+ miles away.

redhill said:

This is the exact same method that I have been using to get new clients. It works guys. All you gotta do is follow the blueprint.

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I hope so. I have sent out 36 packs so far, and have not heard anything yet. I know the calls will come tho

please advice... is Google places optimization same as SEO? any step by step procedure on how to put them exactly in the first page of google without changing their domain name?

versa said:

please advice... is Google places optimization same as SEO? any step by step procedure on how to put them exactly in the first page of google without changing their domain name?

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Well that is a whole different subject by itself.

No, it is not the same as SEO. And yes you can get them on the first page usually without too much effort in most niches.

If you don't know anything about Google Places/Maps, you will just have to study up.

Interested to know if you have a website that you are sending them to for more details or not?

I personally don't think the website part is necessary, once i get the call or a meeting hopefully that will be enough to convince them.