How are you getting offline clients? - Methods

63lincoln said:

Monday I gave an SEO presentation to a Chamber luncheon of about 30 business owners. In the presentation I gave them actionable items and finished with a free service offering. Since then I have made one appointment, received interest calls and gotten props on their Facebook page.

Think it would benefit my bottom line to do this presentation again? Many, many more times?

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what about calling up the other 29 owners? They sat in front of you for a period of time within the week. Its not like they dont know who you are. Do some analysis, see what they arent already doing, offer to make them some money, and see what happens. The iron is hot and you have some credibility

Did you join them as a member or did you just offer to go in there to speak?

goingreen said:

what about calling up the other 29 owners? They sat in front of you for a period of time within the week. Its not like they dont know who you are. Do some analysis, see what they arent already doing, offer to make them some money, and see what happens. The iron is hot and you have some credibility

Did you join them as a member or did you just offer to go in there to speak?

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You know one of the reasons I love what I do is that it is a continuous learning experience. I planned ahead and created 3 signup sheets for follow up to be passed around. Guess how many names I got? 2, two, dos. What does that tell/teach me? That next time I need to pass around a Crown Royal bag and collect everyones business card.

I don't think business owners quite get shifting from a traditional marketing plan to the one racing by them. IMers need to really keep that soft pressure on them so when the lightbulb goes off, they know who to call.

I was asked to speak because I had been attending monthly mixers.

And I will contact those 2 people.

zoaster said:

1) Do the opposite of what every other hack is doing. EVERYONE is pitching "first page of Google" and using SEO lingo (even SEO is lingo). This begins with not pitching to the same people everyone else is (plumbers, dentists?the usual suspects). Pitch trailer hitch shops (you'd be surprised how much they make), storage units (independent ones), and A/V places that rent equipment. Nobody is pitching them.

2) No bartering. No discounts. No getting feet wet. You are trying to run a business, not a charity. Know your stuff and get paid what you deserve. Find businesses with stable income and in business longer than five years. Use Manta if you have to.

3) Don't just sell SEO?be full service. Sell ranking AND conversions. If the client is getting a 95% bounce rate on that great #1 keyword, it isn't doing him any good.

4) Almost all methods of getting clients work, you just have to test, test, test, and tweak. Be patient.

5) Forget testimonials?offer a teaser free service. Everyone can afford free and it's easy to do. If you sell SEO, rank a video on page one in a week or secure their Google Places page and set-up basics for free. Put their business logo from their site on an eBook cover with 5-10 pages of "plumbing tips" if it is a plumber and give it to them to give clients. Little eBook covers look exciting to the non-technical. You get the point?free is the best gateway drug.

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Bingo you hit the nail on the head! But remember you don't want to work for someone that has a service or a product that doesn't make them allot of money.

Look for the biggest business in that market that has a big advertizing budget!!!!!

heybro said:

Here's something that I just started doing. I'm contacting local graphic design companies and asking them if it's okay if I pass their contact info on to my current clients that need graphic design work. Once I hear back from them, they're usually stoked that someone random would send clients to them. I then tell them that I do SEO and they can pitch it to their clients and get 10% of the contract value.

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Excellent idea..

I think the reason why many people have not been
able to make this work is because they are not good
at talking to clients face-to-face.

We're all geeks at heart, but salesmanship is a different
matter altogether.

Good for you if you can do the work and sell the work too.

If you can do the work but can't sell, there's an easy
solution fortunately.

Hire someone to sell your services!

Split the profits with them if you can't afford to pay
them a salary, so you can focus on your geek stuff.

I have done a directory site ranking for my suburb with community stuff on it and give free listings to the local businesses. The listing is self serve with a wordpress business directory plugin. They get directions after they fill in the autoresponder form which also has 3 upsells on it - a bigger listing, a banner ad or a full page on the site. That gives them an opportunity to talk to me about other web services as well.

hope it helps doug

dougkpga said:

I have done a directory site ranking for my suburb with community stuff on it and give free listings to the local businesses. The listing is self serve with a wordpress business directory plugin. They get directions after they fill in the autoresponder form which also has 3 upsells on it - a bigger listing, a banner ad or a full page on the site. That gives them an opportunity to talk to me about other web services as well.

hope it helps doug

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very nice doug. interesting method

and a fair number of people contact you about getting web services done?

dougkpga said:

I have done a directory site ranking for my suburb with community stuff on it and give free listings to the local businesses. The listing is self serve with a wordpress business directory plugin. They get directions after they fill in the autoresponder form which also has 3 upsells on it - a bigger listing, a banner ad or a full page on the site. That gives them an opportunity to talk to me about other web services as well.

hope it helps doug

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Nice. Can you tell us the name of the plugin?

OK so i just picked up a client in a totally different kind of business than me. until now i have been talking to only people in trades because that is what I've done sense i was 13.

Friday i talked to a owner of a supply chain store.

Basically i asked him what plumbers he knew of in our area and he started naming off all the big boys in town. Then i typed a keyword that i own in Google rite in front of him and said now who do you think is spending more money on there marketing me or them.

He thought it was so great that a company my size could kick the shit out of a company 10 times as big on the internet he wants me to work his stuff for him.

Its not big money but i really like doing it and its a side thing for me just to support my habit.

Its like crack i tell you!!! I cant stop messing with stuff to see what happens.

So maybe you guys that are doing this for a living should try that.

PS. The pole of this forum (in general) seam to have one big draw back to there sales. You got to hit the street and sell. I started my plumbing company by going door to door asking if anyone needed any plumbing work done. It took some time but i rarely lost a customer once i had one.

Offline is a serious learning experience and completely different from most other "no real social interaction" methods on BHW.

But to be honest, it's offline methods teach more than just how to make a few grand a month, but also interpersonal skills which are important for the rest of your life.

Combine black hat techniques with offline methods and there is some serious money and personality building to be made.


... Not going to lie it does suck at first. Going from anti social to pitching SEO services is definitely out of most people on here's comfort zone.

Figure if your good at SEO or good at sales. If your good at SEO hire a sales guy if your good at Sales hire an SEO guy. Simple but it works...

Networking offline has been the biggest boon to my business. I specialize in Internet & Social Media Marketing and online copy writing. I've worked with real estate agents in the past so I have a diverse background.
I was asked by one of my clients to speak (for Free) at a local Real Estate Investors Assoc. meeting about Internet Marketing - that 15 minute presentation brought me 6 new clients, one of which has 3 projects I'm working on.
If at all possible I would suggest doing presentations at local Chamber of Commerce groups, local meetup.com business groups, etc.

zoaster said:

1) Do the opposite of what every other hack is doing. EVERYONE is pitching "first page of Google" and using SEO lingo (even SEO is lingo). This begins with not pitching to the same people everyone else is (plumbers, dentists?the usual suspects). Pitch trailer hitch shops (you'd be surprised how much they make), storage units (independent ones), and A/V places that rent equipment. Nobody is pitching them.

2) No bartering. No discounts. No getting feet wet. You are trying to run a business, not a charity. Know your stuff and get paid what you deserve. Find businesses with stable income and in business longer than five years. Use Manta if you have to.

3) Don't just sell SEO?be full service. Sell ranking AND conversions. If the client is getting a 95% bounce rate on that great #1 keyword, it isn't doing him any good.

4) Almost all methods of getting clients work, you just have to test, test, test, and tweak. Be patient.

5) Forget testimonials?offer a teaser free service. Everyone can afford free and it's easy to do. If you sell SEO, rank a video on page one in a week or secure their Google Places page and set-up basics for free. Put their business logo from their site on an eBook cover with 5-10 pages of "plumbing tips" if it is a plumber and give it to them to give clients. Little eBook covers look exciting to the non-technical. You get the point?free is the best gateway drug.

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So fucking good.
Gold nuggets here.

I want to roll that shit up and smoke it.

I might change my signature to say this one day.

Thank you.

Taktical said:

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Black-Book-Connections-Relationships/dp/1885167660

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Just bought it.

Taktical whatever success should become of me--I owe a big thanks to all the things you have shared.

Thanks again.
∞

This is great share, everyday you learn something new here. Hope some day i can give back at least 10% of what ive seen here. Thx BHW.

goingreen said:

the referral deal isnt working for me
there has to be other ways of prospecting that is converting for others

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Do you know why it's not working? I would use that technique too here in Europe but I've got to find a way to pay referrals that haven't got a business number.

Diversify your services. Start twiddling around in social media. Some businesses benefit from one over the other.

Very nice thread !

I'm planning to use the referral system too and spread the word about.

Moreover, i'd like to add a strategy, i came up with yesterday.

3 steps to catch fishes :

1) Mailing with a promotion catchy enough to get some answers

2) Phoning the same person and be discrete on who you really are, you mention it once.

3) Go into each ones stores, offices to sell your product they already know about.

OKay that's classic, but the finest is to take 10 minutes to make a quick guide of how people refuse your offer. It is always the same universal shit :

"I don't have time"
"It is too expensive"
"It is my wife who decide"
"I don't need it"

Then you put some answers that you test yourself

"DOn't you have time to win money ?"
"Forget about the price, don't you think you'll benefit from our service ?"
"Hehe, i understand, wifes like deciding. Although, you can make her a present in doing the best deal ever"
"Oh, don't you need to win money ?"

Some people will think these sentences aren't working, but i had a "chance" to work in a callcenter so i was able to spot generic "way to say no" and try these answers out. They worked quite well in my langage, i was the sales leader in my old job among 60 professional seller and i was just an apprentice. Once, i've tested it everything i made a guide with the sentence in it, that ppl who didn't care about selling loved it very very much.

The purpose isn't to close the deal in one shot sentence but to buy you some time in opening a discussion and force them to listen what you have to say

This idea is not from me, it came from a movie with Vin Diesel talking about stock option. (boiler room ?)

My 2 cents