Online marketing keeps shifting, changing, moving… you always need to be on your toes.
And while a lot of us (me included), find that exciting – for most people, this can actually be a bit of a PITA (politely put… Pain In The Um..)
It’s likely you’ve learned some marketing tactics yourself along the way, but turning that into money… is often a bit harder than folks make it look on most of the sales pages.
Fortunately it’s not all been for nothing!
You see, that information you’ve picked up can be used to make you money WITHOUT having to compete with the millions of people trying to do online marketing… by approaching local businesses.
In this article I’m gonna share some strategies and info that you can take, use and profit from really easily.
Yellow Pages advertising USED TO be the way to go for businesses. The ads where that poor lady gets fired ’cause she forgot to put in the Yellow Pages ad… and now the business is sitting there quietly waiting for business, well – that’s super old news.
Now most people are moving online. Which can be scary for the local businesses – because they know they NEED to be online and have solid online representation, but – they’re busy running their businesses, it’s a lot of work! They don’t have time to learn about internet marketing… which is where you come in!
You can help those businesses survive and thrive, while making money for yourself in the process. You can use the skills you’ve learned for promoting online businesses to help offline companies and get paid upfront for the work!
Finding Clients
The first thing you need to do is find clients. This is a lot easier than it sounds, I’m going to cover the most popular ones in here and some of them you might just think ‘hell no!!!’, but I’ll mention them anyway because some of these ways might work really well for you and horribly for other people.
Anything in business and your success comes down to your personal preference – find what works for YOU!
You’ll probably want to set up a website for your business so you can send potential clients to it for more information. Your URL will be on any printed material such as flyers, brochures, and business cards.
Your website should include the following information:
- Examples of sites you’ve built
- A page about the type of marketing you can do
- A contact form so people can get in touch for a quote or to request your services
Once your website is set up, you’ll probably want to get some printed materials done. This can be anything from business cards and flyers (which are relatively cheap) to full-color brochures. If you can’t afford any printed material, don’t worry. It’s not absolutely necessary, but it will help a lot.
You can set up a WordPress blog easily – if you want help getting that set up, I’ve got some starter WordPress training videos you can access here. And if you need things printed, VistaPrint is the cheapest around.
Don’t get caught up in the details too much, you basically just need SOMETHING up there so they can see that you are legit and have an online presence if you’re going to be handing out cards.
There are other approaches I’ll talk about later – that don’t need you to have a website – so if that’s more your thing then keep reading!
Finding Client Strategies
Walk In:The cheapest way to find clients for businesses you live to is to walk into their businesses during slow periods and asking to speak to the owner or manager. Ideally, you want the owner. Sometimes managers don’t have the authority to purchase advertising.
The slow period for restaurants is usually 2 PM until 4 PM. This is the best time to walk in for most restaurants. Other businesses may have different slow periods, but generally this is a time when people are at work and most companies don’t have as much foot traffic.
Cold Calling: This isn’t ideal, and can be super awkward if you don’t do it right… but if you have no way to get to local businesses, it can work. Simply look through your local Yellow Pages for businesses that either don’t have a website or have one that isn’t ranking well. Give them a call and let them know you want to help them get more business.
Brochures, Flyers, Letters & Business Cards: It is less effective to send printed material (and costs money) to a company than it is to speak to them in person, however it can still be effective if you reach a large number of companies.
Chamber of Commerce Meetings: Most areas have a Chamber of Commerce or other similar business organization. You’ll want to go to every meeting you can possibly make it to. These meetings are full of business owners looking for ways to increase their business. Networking for business purposes is the major reason people attend these meetings.
Don’t forget to take a large stack of business cards with you. If possible, take a laptop computer with mobile internet access. This will allow you to show potential clients some samples of your work on the spot. Don’t hard sell there! Just keep it casual so you get good cred in your local community.
Facebook: A lot of businesses will have Facebook pages now, and sometimes they do a great job of them – but sometimes you’ll see they have a page.. showing they WANT to be on FB, but it’s empty, not updated etc. which is a great queue for you to step in and offer to help them set up and run it (or provide other services too)
Google: This is perfect for a WIDER range of local business than ‘just’ in your own local community. Now with the expanding acceptance of marketing online you can find targeted clients without having to ever meet them face to face.
Facebook & Google sources of traffic are ideal for simplifying things, you don’t need a website (although, if you have one it can lend more credibility, but… it’s not usually a full deal breaker)
It takes time but i’ll show you in a bit, some software tools that can automate the whole process.
Closing More Sales
When you visit companies, there are a few things you can do to increase sales. Remember, not every company will agree to hire you. Some companies will have excuses, and others will just deny you completely. You have to learn to face rejection and realize it’s probably not personal. Rejection is a part of the sales process. But if you are prepared, you can minimize the likelihood of rejection.
Don’t Just Sell Websites: If you’re using a software like Discover, you can use their search tool to find out exactly what service your new clients will be more inclined to want to buy from you.
Services you could provide are:
- Create websites
- Create mobile apps
- Make videos
- Create/Manage Facebook pages
- Grow and manage Instagram accounts.
- Optimize and rank websites.
- Reputation management
All of these things are services you can provide with very little training – I’m pretty sure if you have a look at all of the software tools you’ve bought previously, or courses you’ve studied online – you’re plenty qualified.
Don’t advertise your services as website creation. Many companies already have a website, or they’ve heard of other companies that had one and never saw any business from it.
Instead, sell your services as marketing. Let business owners know you’re offering a lot more than just a website. Sure, you can offer them a website if they don’t have one, or you could improve an existing site, but your services will be much more than that!
You will be offering SEO, placement in Google Local, social marketing services, and so much more! You can offer complete marketing packages for less than most companies charge for a single website! The service will practically sell itself.
Don’t Bother with Chains: Don’t waste your time with companies that are part of a chain unless the chain is small and locally owned. Franchises may be interested in local marketing, but most will have their marketing handled by the parent company.
Instead, stick with small, locally owned businesses. They will be much more receptive to this type of offer, and they won’t have the kind of marketing power a chain store will have.
Finding the Right Companies: Not every company is a good target for this type of service. A local manufacturing company may not be as eager for a website as a restaurant or locally owned clothing store, for example. Try to focus most of your efforts on companies that could truly benefit from this type of service.
Some examples:
- Locally owned restaurants
- Locally owned consumer goods shops like clothing stores, shoe stores, hobby shops, craft shops, bookstores, etc.
- Local delivery (food, groceries, flowers, etc.)
Go In with a Script
Never go into a sales presentation without a prepared script. Practice it regularly, and memorize it well. You want to seem like you’re just talking to the prospect, but in reality you’re delivering a precision script.
Prepare a list of possible objections. Some of these might include
- Price (I don’t have money in the budget)
- Timeframe (I don’t have the time to sit with you and explain what I need)
- Urgency (I want it done yesterday)
- Effectiveness (will this make me money or am I just paying you for nothing)
- Trust (how do I know you can do this?)
More Ideas For Services You Can Provide
There are many different services you could provide to business owners. The most obvious, of course, is website design. You can build websites with WordPress using standard themes you modify for the company, or you can outsource the development if you aren’t very good at building sites yourself.
You should be sure to offer various online marketing services, because that is what will set you apart from standard web development companies.
Some of these services include:
- Submission to Google Local
- Email marketing setup and management
- Social marketing setup and management
- Search engine optimization
- Submission to online Yellow Pages sites
- Development of contests and giveaways
- Development of videos and submission to video sharing sites
You can put together various marketing packages at different price levels, and let business owners know how much each package would cost, along with potential monthly maintenance fees.
You can make additional money by referring them to hosting and domains with your affiliate link, charging a monthly fee to host them yourself, charging ongoing fees for managing their email marketing and social marketing, etc. Don’t overwhelm clients with services, but provide a thorough and well rounded package.
Automation Is Key To Growth & Limitless Income
This isn’t 2012 anymore. There are software tools that can automate a lot of the processes, but there is one tool we recommend above anything else and that’s Discover.
This all in one tool is hosted (there’s nothing to install, you just login to your members area) and lets you:
[+] Find TONS of targeted clients by searching for a single keyword
[+] Search on Facebook and Google
[+] Create COMPLETE pipeline systems from finding the client to closing the sale
[+] Set up automated searches, eg. search for Dentists in Langhorne Creek once every 30 days
[+] When it finds one, you can add them to an autoresponder followup to intro and close the sale
[+] One click search to find EXACTLY what they need (do they have FB? videos? website? ads?)
[+] Create automated pipelines based on what they need too!
You’ve already got tons of software and knowledge – now with Discover local marketing software you can let that make money for you.
We believe in this product so much that our team put together a bonus bundle so that if you buy through my link, you’ll also automatically receive my;
Discover, Lead Gen & Marketing Software Bonuses
[+] Bonus #1: Customer List Builder Software (A simple ‘set and go’ system links directly with the popular Paypal payment service, automatically adding your customer details as soon as they pay.)
[+]Bonus #2: List Cleaning Video Course (This video course will show you what you need to do to ensure you are able to successfully and effectively maintain your email list the right way)
[+]Bonus #3: Email List Secrets Step-by-Step Guide (The step-by-step blueprint to building a thriving email list and increase your profits starting today.)
[+]Bonus #4: VidLock Plugin (This WP plugin let’s you capture more profitable leads by ‘locking’ your videos until your visitors perform a certain action, thus enhancing sales.)
[+]Bonus #5: Internet Marketing Methods Case Study (With this 6-part video course you will learn never-before seen proven method for making money online. This case study will show you how it was done, the traffic that was used, the system that was used, how you can use this never-before-seen method in your own business, you don’t even need a list in order for this to work. And you won’t have to create a product.)
[+]Bonus #6: Online Business Blueprint Video Course (This is a step by step 10-part video course with tried and proven methods that any online business owner can use to start generating massive profits.)
[+]Bonus #7: Commission Swipe VIdeo Training (Discover the complete underground profit system for launching set and forget affiliate review sites and making money on auto pilot step by step.)
[+]Bonus #8: WP Social Boost (Get leads & customers. Boost social media followers. Run viral social media marketing campaigns on your website, Facebook, blog, etc.. No Coding.)
Click Here To Check Out Discover
And when you grab it, you’ll also see all of those bonuses added at no charge!
Got questions? Comments? Feedback? Post them below!