When Hunting For Clients

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SupremeBoner

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I want to get into local seo but my main deterrant is always about the process of finding the right client. I am not asking to be spoon fed a specific method but I am just wondering how you actually get them?

1. Do you typically find easy keywords like "dentist (suburb)" or dentist (small city) -- find a clean website with minimal links on the second or third page and call them?

2. Do you build a brand new website like "dentistlosangeles.com", rank it yourself first, and then call them and offer it as a rental?

3. Do you just advertise your services/call sites from everywhere (google, yp, etc) and hope someone bites?


I know they are all options but I am just wondering what you personally do? I see a lot of people who don't know their ass from their hands when it comes to seo and it boggles my mind how easy they seem to get clients.


To be clear I want to get clients on a per month basis and also I live in the country so I will not be going door to door in person -- it will have to be by email or phone.

Thanks
 
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If you live in the countryside, a small town, where population is less, and there are only a few professionals, then go for local advertisements (hoardings/local-newspaper/etc) rather than going online and global. That will make the most impact. But see rules, some places the doctors, for example, can't put up self advertisements.

If you still want them to have a site, then the Option#2 will be the best. A site well-placed in rankings and keywords, and getting steady traffic will impress any one, and it will fetch unending income, it can be tailor-made to suit any profession with minimum changes and specialized SEO, and once rented, the client may want to own it at 25x~100x the rate, or whatever. Also you can create custom-made sites (Option#1 and #2) from Option#2 for your clients if they insist on having some minor changes. :D You will also have lots of good sample sites and that alone will give you the confidence to get into offline marketing and meeting people who matter face-to-face.
 
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I have been getting a lot of 1 to 1 client work based on referrals lately.

I don't like to do this kind of work unless I can meet up with you and shake your hand.

You'll find that if you give people a fair price, good results, and a decent report that you'll end up getting referrals too.
 
Build your website,Do seo and rank it.
Then contact the webmasters and rent it..
 
1. Do you typically find easy keywords like "dentist (suburb)" or dentist (small city) -- find a clean website with minimal links on the second or third page and call them?
That's what everyone does. You have to think outside the box, and by outside the box I mean offline. There are plenty of offline businesses that do not have a website or have a poorly managed website. Finding a business with either one of those qualities is easy if you know your own town well, but if you don't simply meandering around your town or looking through local business directories for citations without URLs (you can find these directories online as well) is one way of finding them.


2. Do you build a brand new website like "dentistlosangeles.com", rank it yourself first, and then call them and offer it as a rental?
no, but now I want to try that. :D


3. Do you just advertise your services/call sites from everywhere (google, yp, etc) and hope someone bites?

My services are advertised on my own local business site, although I do not rely on this for conversions.
 
valesence said:
Why do you want to meet someone and shake their hand?
Click to expand...


For 1, all of my clients buy me and my wife dinner when we have our first meeting. I don't ask them to, but they all do..because we target local clients who are usually nice family businesses. They are awesome to work with.

I actually give a shit about them. I want them to do well. You will never in a million years get a better idea of what the client's needs or wants are than when you meet them in person and shoot the shit.

Plus, my last client gave us raving referrals and even set us up with an awesome accountant with some insider business tips.
In addition to that, people pay you more when they can meet you.

The question I would have is why WOULDN'T you want to meet them?
 
1. Make a site.
2. Rank it.
3. Tell businesses you're number one for such and such keyword.
4. 302 redirect your site to theirs.

Bit more to it but you get the gist.
 
I totally agree, face to face is a great way to build a solid long-lasting client base.
 
Initially know your audience, their behavior, target location and then go on. Answers to your ques:
1.Yes Obviously, if your visitor are through online, sure they will search with these keywords.
2. You can try with that, but I personally don't recommend this. They don't help in building a brand name.
3.Do all possible kind of local ads. Local Business listings, Citation, check for NAP consistency, do some promotional marketing. If necessary you can even do traditional marketing.
 
You can also offer them various related services. Not just about ranking. Look at local businesses in your area. Do they have Yellow Pages, Trip Advisor, Google Maps, Bing, Manta and Yelp listings? Do they have full profiles with good photos reviews and hours provided?

Simple things like a lack of a online presence will tell you a lot about the business. If they are missing easy free stuff like this then they also probably have a crap or no website and no online presence. I know lots of Local SEO guys that offer a starting "Online Presence" package where they just setup all these free listings for the clients. From there you can sell them on bigger packages like SEO and PPC.

But the key thing will be that they are local clients! As Andrew mentioned that handshake is far more important than you think. Everyday they probably get spammed by seo firms all over the world selling them cheap services or to good to be true seo rankings. They see all this stuff as spam and crap or they would have done it. If you're in person you get past that anonymous spammer filter. Now your a small business owner who they can meet and have a drink with.
 
I like how this thread brought attention to the importance of meeting clients in person. Of course, it's not always possible, but if it is, one should grab the opportunity to do it. A one-on-one encounter allows the client to puts a face to the service and offers the service provider to chance to find out more about the client (and in turn serve him/her better). It's not just about making a good first impression. It's about building trust.
 
EverestOnline said:
I like how this thread brought attention to the importance of meeting clients in person. Of course, it's not always possible, but if it is, one should grab the opportunity to do it. A one-on-one encounter allows the client to puts a face to the service and offers the service provider to chance to find out more about the client (and in turn serve him/her better). It's not just about making a good first impression. It's about building trust.
Click to expand...

Yes basically going entirely off topic considering OP was NOT meeting clients in person.
 
The whole "rank a dentist site, and then rent it out/sell leads to local offices" has never seemed appealing to me at all. Unless you know for a fact that they want the leads, I wouldn't waste my time. Sometimes it's a harder convincing the other party how leads can help their business than actually ranking the website.

What I do is rank SEO [city], get clients, do referral discounts for customers that refer us, word of mouth, etc. If it's a decent sized city or town, that may be the way to go.
 
koolkake said:
What I do is rank SEO [city], get clients, do referral discounts for customers that refer us, word of mouth, etc. If it's a decent sized city or town, that may be the way to go.
Click to expand...

Yeah that is basically all you really need to do.

I know a guy that ranks SEO in his city and he says it doesn't even really bring him much business, but it's amazing for converting business owners you talk to once they see your ranking.
 
koolkake said:
The whole "rank a dentist site, and then rent it out/sell leads to local offices" has never seemed appealing to me at all. Unless you know for a fact that they want the leads, I wouldn't waste my time. Sometimes it's a harder convincing the other party how leads can help their business than actually ranking the website.

What I do is rank SEO [city], get clients, do referral discounts for customers that refer us, word of mouth, etc. If it's a decent sized city or town, that may be the way to go.
Click to expand...

Elaborate on the "get clients" part?
 
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