My Offline Client Prospecting Tool... (low tech)

This very well may have been discussed before, but of all the "offline" products I've read and tested, nothing works better, faster and more effectively for getting hot leads than the technique I use...

Local Daily Newspapers!

I have been using this method for the past year and regularly find a minimum of 8-12 targeted leads for me to contact each week. These are people who are already spending a LOT of money for newspaper display advertising. They are obviously looking for more business and willing to spend money for it.

Just today I found 2 plastic surgeons, 1 dentist, 2 tree removal services, 2 attorneys, and 1 contractor... among a few other possibilities as well. They won't all become clients... but past results say I will get my share.

I have had success finding AT LEAST one new client every single week (on average) for the past year! The vast majority of these people are on a monthly payment plan... a few $97/mo, many $197/mo, a few $300-$600/mo.

Of course, I have expanded this method to include MANY daily newspapers in 15 cities. It does require work... the kind I generally don't like, like making phone calls to these people... but it is VERY effective.

Generally my services are less expensive then what they are paying the newspaper and they are actually building a prospect base with my services.

I emphasize two points to them. 1. I will bring them more visibility to a TARGETED audience than the newspaper. 2. I will give them a way of capturing peoples contact information so they can follow up on a regular basis with these people so that when they are ready to buy, they will buy from them! That can't be done with the newspaper!

Generally, I start off with a phone call to their office on "off" hours so that hopefully I can just leave a message. Sometimes thats all it takes to get a call back. If not, after one day, I give a call asking for the person who placed the display ad in the "Name of City Newspaper". Often times that will get me the right person to talk to. I don't try to sell anything at that point... I just simply try to get their email address so I can send them addtional information.

Now I know their name, phone number/ext. and email. Two days later I send them a follow-up email with additional benefits and information.

Most times I offer my services for FREE until I get something on the front page of google for SOME keyword. In the vast majority of cases this is a very simple task. I pick the keyword... I may use their site or maybe build a quick site to target a long-tail keyword.

When they are the first page with ANYTHING, that triggers the payments. It's a very simple process. Often times I will give them a substantial discount if they pay me 6 months in advance.

I have tried every method out there... postcards, cold calls, emails, door to door... and I can tell you that NOTHING comes close to the success I've had with this.

As I said, I'm sure this must have been discussed somewhere before, but I haven't seen it and it is the surest bet for gaining more offline clients than anything I've ever seen.

The other thought that I think is extremely important is that people are sold by "process". Make sure you have a sales process in place. I put everyone through the same sales process. This keeps me in charge, I look like I know what I'm doing and makes the prospect more comfortable because they never have to ask, "what do I do next", or "what happens next". I always say, "so the next step is for me to...".

This stuff works, I guarantee it (or your money back)

Hope this was helpful for someone who is struggling with getting business for their offline SEO business. You can grow this as large as you'd like!

BTW... I believe this is my 100th post!!!

Good read. Thanks.

I do something similar to this, but I outsource my calling. Set up a free consultation with the client and then I call them back. Make it pretty simple really.

great post and idea. My question is what do you offer specifically? What software tools do you use and what processes are involved?

I might try this on a small scale to start off but need specifics

I have ScrapeBox if that helps

Great idea Mike, targeting people who are already spending on advertising . Why didnt I think of that.

Ive been writing out a nice offline plan but the MAIN thing im trying to avoid is promising / selling "loads of hits / customers" etc. As even though I can bring their page to number 1 for local terms. Its not going to get nearly enough traffic. So im trying to focus on other areas. Such as selling just a website, etc.

Do you have this problem or thought at the back of your head? At the end of the day if they dont get enough extra visitors to make the sales for to pay $300+ a month then I cant see it lasting for a month.

But if you sell them a website and they pay monthly for maintenance and hosting. You dont feel pressured or bad for them having a website but not getting traffic to it as that was never mentioned as its up to them to put their website about, newspapers, flyers etc. You can just advertise it as a landing spot for their potential customers from all their different means of advertising. Also sell a capture form / auto responder service.

Am I making sense? hahah

Hi Supermat007,

Yes, you're making sense... but I don't generally run into that problem. I let people know that this is not all going to happen "overnight"... I also sell them BIGTIME on the idea of capturing contact information on their website (offering a free report)... that way they are developing a future client base so over time, they won't have those seasonal ups and downs.

I just did this with a plastic surgeon and it made so much sense to them. I sell the fact that many people take months to decide whether or not to have work done. If you have no way of following up with these folks then you're losing business. So, they see their website as not just a tool to bring some "immediate" business, but as a business building tactic for the future.

Surprisingly, people also find it "addictive" to be on the first page of google. Its a bit like "bragging rights". Once there, most people don't want to give it up easily... and they know that if they stop my services, they will eventually fall from the fist page. I always make sure they know I am building links for them on a regular basis and how important it is to use the right "linking strategy" to maintain googles "good graces".

I still try to make it as "mystical" as possible.'

I go after low competition keywords first so they see results in the search engines quickly. Once that happens, they are sold... and my fees aren't extremely high end, so for most businesses I'm a "fun" project!

I also do the old, "working with only one plumber in the area" type of deal, so that they have that prying on their mind that some competitor is going to take their place.

Yep, thats what I was thinking.

Just sell sell sell the fact they can capture their potential customers details.

You say you dont "generally" run into that problem...

Does that mean you have done? or havent done yet?

Sure, I've had that problem a little bit, supermat007, but not very often. There are always people out there who are looking for a miracle fast. Those people tend to be a headache no matter what you do.

But, by and large people who own real businesses know that things take time. I also (as I mentioned earlier) "pre-call" their potential objections when I first talk to them. Meaning, I answer their questions before they get a chance to ask about them. Its just a good sales trick to use. If someone brings up an objection to you, they "own" it and they want to "prove" its important. If you bring it up before they do, it sort of takes the wind out of their sails and their not so committed to that point of view.

So, I talk about how hard it will be in a couple of years to rank on the first page of google because EVERY business will be hiring people "like me" to get them there. Prices will go up and so will the competition and the effectiveness of online marketing!

So, I try to set them up for the long haul no matter what happens in the short run. Works with 90% of my prospects!

good stuff magicmike. im looking into getting into consulting the next few months and this just might be a perfect fit for my business model. thanks again

@MagicMike ... you just sell them SEO services? Or other things too?

It's nice getting people on $500/m retainers
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seanjohn said:

It's nice getting people on $500/m retainers
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Click to expand...

all ya need is 25 of em and yer home free. That would fully pay an office staff to take care of them + some so then you are free to build the biz more. Most of the stuff can be outsourced for cheap, but you need quality people to oversee it.

j0b0123 said:

all ya need is 25 of em and yer home free. That would fully pay an office staff to take care of them + some so then you are free to build the biz more. Most of the stuff can be outsourced for cheap, but you need quality people to oversee it.

Click to expand...

Lol I think your math is a little off here.. 25x$500 = 12500 * 12 months = 150,000. I don't know about you but I couldn't hire an office staff and pay myself with that little money lol.

I pick up cards and flyers from the stands in supermarkets. They are nearly all locally based
businesses looking for local customers. They are spending money on printing and distribution as well. The first thing I do is bring up their site on my phone and if it isn't optimized for mobile devices I take a walk round show them how their site looks, show them how one should look and go into my pitch about the importance of mobile device optimization. Hardly ever fails, can put up a site cheaper than their present costs and with analytic s installed they can see the effectiveness.
Once I have them as a client for a mobile site selling them SEO, Social media, Video ect, is easy because you are now their expert. As you have been discussing site design and things you've also been buttering them up for the upsell with titbits of info regarding IM and impressing them with your knowledge and possibilities. Alot of the time you have to tell them to "hold back let's just do one thing at a time" which instills confidence in them
that you are not a hit and run specialist.

Sorry To the guys That are waiting for PM and email replies I've been really,
really, really busy so I will try and get round to them before the weekend.

I think that is excellent advice, oxonbeef. It is ALWAYS easier to get money from a person who is already spending money, then to try to convince someone to give you money who spends nothing on marketing.

The key is to make this as easy as possible. Don't waste your time twisting arms, there are enough people who have a genuine interest in what you do that you can find clients with a bit of effort.

I like the mobile optimization idea... I don't use it but probably should.

Another good source would be your mail. Look at ValPak or other direct mail you get. They're spending a lot of money for that.

thanks for this!

Worth trying. Thanks for the suggestion.

MagicMike,

These businesses that you find in the newspaper and then contact do all of them have a website already? Would it ve easier to go after a business with no site so that we can put a new locally optimized for a local keyword for example "plumber city"? Or if we do target businesses with a site is it better to target those that are not on the 1st page of Google?
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Well, merza001, either one will do. I hit all of them. Oftentimes we get so caught up in the: get ready, get set... that we forget to GO! Spending time setting up methods and processes is great... but it doesn't earn us any money.

If you haven't downloaded "The Great Telemarketing Report" yet from the download section, do it now! It has some great advice on the approach to use when contacting businesses... especially if they don't already have a website.

The key with my approach is that you already know they are spending money and they are looking for more business. This makes it much easier to "sell" your services, whether its website design, SEO, or site design & SEO!

The key is to get contacting, calling and emailing!!!

MagicMike said:

Well, merza001, either one will do. I hit all of them. Oftentimes we get so caught up in the: get ready, get set... that we forget to GO! Spending time setting up methods and processes is great... but it doesn't earn us any money.

If you haven't downloaded "The Great Telemarketing Report" yet from the download section, do it now! It has some great advice on the approach to use when contacting businesses... especially if they don't already have a website.

The key with my approach is that you already know they are spending money and they are looking for more business. This makes it much easier to "sell" your services, whether its website design, SEO, or site design & SEO!

The key is to get contacting, calling and emailing!!!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up on that report. Just finished reading it. Great stuff to use for when dealing with clients with no web presence and how to begin the process.

So the difference in initially getting clients with your method is that instead of buying a list (as mentioned in that report) you just turn to the local newspaper and look for businesses that have ads running and then contact them correct?

Do you focus on any particular business type such as services(i.e. attorneys, dentists, surgeons, auto body, etc) or do you go after ones that sell products as well like a bakery,florist, etc?

Once you locate the business ads do you first check to see if they have a website already (site optimized, ranking for any terms, etc.) or not before calling them? And if they don't have a website then I would think the services you can pitch is the initial website setup, optimization, google maps, etc. But what about those that do have a website already....is it just SEO to get them on 1st page of google and charge a monthly fee for that? What if they are already on the first page of Google what esle can we offer them to lock them in?