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Advertising?
Kamar
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hey H/A, I was wondering if anyone here has any experience or advise regarding advertising. It's kind of ironic I need to ask for help on this, considering the work I do.
Basically, I do a ton of internet marketing stuff for local businesses-get them to show up on relevant Google searches, stuff like that. But actually getting new clients is eluding me. I need a way to get in contact with business owners. Cold calling seems like a bad idea (and I get nauseated from anxiety issues just ANSWERING calls, so yeah), and mailing is only getting me one response from every 30-40 letters.
Any ideas? I'm not confident the sales copy in my letters is good enough, think I would be better off hiring a professional to write the letter for me? Or maybe someone to do cold calls for me? Or maybe a different method would be better, although I'm not able to think of any targeted enough.
Thanks for any help in advance.
Basically, I do a ton of internet marketing stuff for local businesses-get them to show up on relevant Google searches, stuff like that. But actually getting new clients is eluding me. I need a way to get in contact with business owners. Cold calling seems like a bad idea (and I get nauseated from anxiety issues just ANSWERING calls, so yeah), and mailing is only getting me one response from every 30-40 letters.
Any ideas? I'm not confident the sales copy in my letters is good enough, think I would be better off hiring a professional to write the letter for me? Or maybe someone to do cold calls for me? Or maybe a different method would be better, although I'm not able to think of any targeted enough.
Thanks for any help in advance.
Kamar on
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Also, what types of businesses are you marketing to? The gist I'm getting from your post is that you're looking at B2B.
But, what kind of business owners are you trying to attract and for what purpose? Are they young, old, do they have kids, are they locals or immigrants? Is there anyone that offers your same services? What is that guy doing to get new clients? If you stop and think about their needs and get in their heads as to why they need you you might come up with a better plan.
Keep in mind that if you're serious about doing this yourself, you're gonna have to invest some money and you won't necessarily see a return right away. We can come up with a good plan here at the HA, but you need to be more detail specific.
Now, before I end there are two things that I want you to answer (aside from the questions in the second paragraph):
As I said before, I'm an internet marketer. This is a pretty vague description of what I do, but then again I do a broad range of things. Once I have a client, my goal do everything I can to get their business as visible online as possible. This runs from SEO (search engine optimization, making them show up on relevant searches) to Google Ads (those little text ads you see EVERYWHERE), to more indirect things, like Youtube videos promoting them and social networking(MySpace, Facebook, Twitter) stuff.
Now, as far as what kind of clients: I can do my thing for anyone, but it is only going to be worth paying my fees to those that make a decent amount per single customer. I try to aim for businesses where, if I can get them ONE more customer every month, it will be worth it to keep paying my fees (from $150-$250 a month, in addition to an initial $500 set up fee.
These businesses of course can be anything from lawyers to roofing contractors to acupuncturists to high dollar salons.
Now, I only very recently really started trying to get this business off the ground. I have no competition in the area. I have only 2 potential clients right now, and even they aren't sealed deals-the only two to contact me out of about 80 letters I sent out.
It might be worth noting that I'm 19, so I'm working against my youth even once I manage to get someone interested in my services, hence why I'm considering getting someone to work on commission to find clients and act as an intermediate.
Join the local chamber of commerce, get involved in business groups around the town, attend networking events. You have to go out there and press a bit of flesh to get yourself off the ground.
Then they'll tell their friends, who will tell their friends, etc....
Probably a little harsher than they'd be, but it's something to think about. Do small businesses need viral marketing? If you think the answer is 'yes,' than you need to prove it to them. Get a site of your own together, do all the things you'd do for your customers, then you'll have something to show prospective clients. If you've got 2 potential, I may consider offering a significant lower/free rate for them so you can add them to your portfolio.
Last thing to consider is growth. It's good you have a target in mind. Just make sure you can sustain that by yourself (or if you have have others working for you). While it's not making widgets, there's still a time investment, and it can grow pretty quickly as you add new business.
I am planning on doing what I can to seal the deal, even if it means less money, for my first few potential clients, as I know that nothing will get me business faster than word of mouth.
I already have plans for growth. Within a year or two, I plan to outsource everything and do nothing but manage.
I have considering trying to find someone to handles sales for me, as business for me isn't something to run myself ragged over. I do this because its easy, kind of fun, and has the potential to put me at five figures monthly within a few years. Torturing myself daily trying to make sales sounds like the kind of thing that'll have me dead at 40 from alcoholism and stress like my dad.
I think it'd be best to find someone willing to work on commission, offering half of the setup fee and 10% of the recurring fees for any clients they bring in. If I decided to move in this direction, what would be the best way to go about finding a person (or people)?
10k a month is, even considering the cost of outsourcing at that point, less than 200 clients. I already know how to outsource once I need to, so there are no concerns regarding growth. But its actually all irrelevant. I'll be happy making 2k a month for the rest of my life, if it comes down to that.
Just be sure to be really, really, REALLY specific about the different forms of exposure you can offer them, and how they work. The pitch we got, which I understood, was horrible for my boss. He literally looked at me after they'd left and said "Ok, now you explain that to me, because I have no idea what they want to do."
If it's an initial bump in cash that you're looking for, try a tiered system. Offer either a straight month-by-month plan with a start up fee, or a "pay 3 (6, 9, 12, whatever you like) months in advance and no start up fee" plan.
:edit: I realized I'm not actually helping with the getting customers part. If you're trying to do it as cheaply as possible, I'd second cold-calling, even though I do hate being cold-called... Research the business you're calling first though. Know which hours they're going to be busy, and don't call then. This means avoiding lunch/dinner hours with restaurants etc. Don't blow smoke up their ass, the reason they're in business is because they know how to run the business after all. And please, please actually use your name and business name when you call. I can't tell you how annoying it gets when I hear "Can I have the person who handles advertising?" and nothing else when I answer the phone at work. They get put on hold and don't come back. Don't try to sell the service over the phone, try to get a face-to-face appointment, that's when you sell the service.
Also, know if they have a website. Halfway through the pitch we got, surrounded by cake and pastry boxes with our company URL on them, they said "So, do you have a website?"
This is something to take into account.
DOOR KNOCK
Actually hitting the pavement and walking into local businesses and introducing yourself, a brief explaination of what you do, give them a card, look nice with maybe a suit on. Don't take up much of their time.
Instead of a card maybe have brochures to hand out, close with offering to set up a time to sit down and give a free estimate and indepth explaination. If not tell them to think about it and that you will call in a couple of days and see if they're interested. If they just flat out say no then move on.
I know some financial advisor firms make their new hires door knock for someone else for a long while before ever letting them get their own office and I can see the relation with what you're doing. Both offering personal services.
The advice to join a chamber of commerce and get a booth is GREAT.
The easy route is to advertise on magazines and newspapers. If there are business specific publications, even better. You can have a tag that reads "You're still advertising on paper?!" and then a short description of the benefits they'll get by using your services.
The ambitious rout would be to use non-traditional media like transparent stickers windows at business related spots with cool tags that catch peoples attention like "Tired of having people seeing through your ads?"
Or the toilet, "Is your advertising going down the drain?". Or the floor, "Don't let people walk over your ads". There's lots of ways you can do this, but none are cheap, advertising is an expensive investment. Go in wholeheartedly or don't go in at all.
BTW, if you're sending out mail, don't send sealed envelopes. Send out postcards with all your info outside. People don't have time to open mail.
Edit: I think your fees are too high for someone with no experience or solid customer base.
I'm 19 years old and look younger most days. My hair needs a cut, and I can't really afford to get one from someone competent, and my nicer clothes look terrible now because I've lost like fifty pounds dieting the last few months. So to be honest, most face-to-face meetings will work against me, until I have a reputation for getting the job done. Hence why I am seriously considering finding one or two people willing to work on commission.
With regards to my fees: As far as experience goes, I have done other types of internet marketing with success(I just hate marketing online products, because they are 99% scams and bullshit), and marketing to a specific area is almost infinitely easier. I will have NO trouble fulfilling my client's expectations due to inexperience. And I already plan to reduce my prices and maybe cut my setup fee entirely at first, just so I can get local references and word of mouth advertising.
You need to get over being scared to contact people (you wrote you're nauseous just answering the phone). You have to have the attitude when talking you know you shit. If you are an expert in web setup and such, you need to do two things: speak in the techno gibberish first, then repeat the exact same things in laymans's terms. You introduce them to the key words then they connect that with the simple term you've created. The hardest part is getting them on the same page as you are in speaking about the medium.
You also need to spend money on nice attire, and clean up (shit shave and shower). It doesn't matter the reasons for not having your clothes, do it right away. You can't do it half assed, or you won't be taken seriously, especially with the older clients who only use computers to check e-mail, use Word, and play Solitaire. If it means you have to spend some money, do it. You can't run a business pay as you go, startup is required.
And I'll be honest, you won't find good people to peddle for you if you're 19 years old. They'll probably do a half assed job (because you're 19, what the hell do you know), and you don't have the money or the notoriety to go with straight commission yet.
Try and create a pitch using two or three of your best customers/websites that you have done. When you meet with the client, pull up the website, show them the simplicity.
And the best way to get leads is to go through your existing customers, call them up like you're just checking to make sure you're satisfied, and ask them if they work with other small business who may need the help you provided. If your work is good enough, it can sell itself.
Finally, you're going to have to eat your setup fee, or move some of it into your other fees. Companies who charge setup fees are usually the ones who have the experience and reputation of doing things right, hence they charge just to meet. If you do that as a 19 year old, they'll think you're just pocketing the money because you're looking for a quick buck.
Are you planning on going to college? If so, look into entrepreneurship.
What exactly were you planning to do serious advertising with? Sunshine and farts? Things cost money! How much advertising budget do you have right now?
No, this is bullshit. Seriously, get a haircut, which you can get for like 10 bucks at supercuts (or first choice if youre canadian) so you look decent. Get ONE nice suit. You can get a nice suit new for like, 50-100 dollars. At least one that will make you presentable and not look like an unemployed bum. If you keep it clean you can dry clean it like, once a week or every 2 weeks which will cost like 20 dollars. Youre telling me you dont have 60-110 dollars now, and 20 dollars a week, to maintain your professional image? You might want to get out of business now, because even with your idea of hiring someone, its going to cost you more than that. Fuck, even when youre well known, a lot of people, ESPECIALLY the group youre targetting (Small-medium business owners i assume? Which are mostly going to be older people, not people your age) are going to look at you and think youre completely unprofessional.
I mean, yeah, when youre doing nothing but managing other people, you can be the cool boss who shows up in ripped jeans with long hair flowing in the breeze, but for now, since its JUST YOU, the way you look reflects on your business, good or bad. Honestly, im pretty laid back, i get to dress casual for work and its great, but i can tell you if someone came in for a meeting or trying to sell me something, and they looked like they just woke up and had shitty clothes on, id instantly decide that im not buying what theyre selling. 99% of the people you deal with will make this decision as well. Sucks, but thats the way the world works.
Your idea of hiring someone now is a bad idea, especially if youre not a licenced business yet, which it doesnt sound like you are. First, you dont make enough money. Second, what happens if the person you hire decides theyre not making enough money, or any money since you wanna pay them 100% commission, and takes you to court? Youll end up paying back taxes and back wages to this guy and your other employees, and be royally screwed.
What you need to do, right now, is get out there and SELL. Open the yellow pages and start calling every business, top to bottom. Go walk down the mainstreet, wearing your suit and with your fancy new haircut, and go into every business, with your card business card which you can get made up at kinkos or office depot or whatever for cheap, and give them a brief explanation of what you do. Yeah, yeah, i now youre not good at this, but its what youre going to have to do, and after a while you WILL get good at it, and your response rate will skyrocket.
The only general selling tip i could give you would be to try and target businesses without a website. Most small business right now who dont have a website really really want one but they dont wanna pay an assload of money to get one. Have a couple printed out samples of what you can do, explain to them that if someone types "Restaurants in [your city]" or "Haircut in [your city]" in google, theyll be at the top, or near the top, of the list. Explain to them you can get them a dot on google maps, so people will know right where to go, and even have their business number come up beside it so people can call! Get them excited about all the money theyll make and all the new customers theyll have, without ever having to do anything.
For businesses that do have a website arlready, you might even consider giving them a month free or something, so they can see what great work you do. Bring an iphone or a blackberry and show them "This is what happens when you type your business name into google. Its on page 5! Dont you want to be on page 1? I can help you with that!"
Oh and most of all, know your audience. If its a 90 year old man and his equally old wife running a tiny italian eatery, dont bury them in technical terms. If its a 20 year old guy running a hobby shop, feel free to start talking about viral marketting, social networking, search engine ranking, etc etc.
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This is what they will be wondering when you sell to them, so make sure you have a good goddamned answer.
This. Based on your (OP) comments here, I admire the drive, but I'm concerned about the idea of some local shop needing Google spam. Why, as a hungry dude, can I not type, "sub shop. 60654" into Google and get a location for
Camille's Sidewalk Cafe?
You may want to look at working on a website, and maybe ensure they have a good basic on-line presence with meta sites like Yahoo!, City Search, etc.
Being the first business with a real, professional website after the Google Maps entry WILL get a business a bigger piece of the online pie.
A couple people have brought up the matter of "Why advertise on the internet, they only need locals to see their stuff." Well, that's part of SEO. When you are looking for a lawyer or whatever, do you just type in "lawyers" and pray Google magically knows where you are?
Well if you do, maybe you'll see one of the geographically targeted Google Ads I'll set up for my client. But if like most people you type in a location name, like your city, county, or zip code...you'll see my website targeted to search terms like "Shelby County Lawyers".
And that's not all I do. I can manage viral advertising, if I think it works for the client's specific business. I can hunt down every single online directory and meta site and get them on it.
I can even save them money on advertising by setting up a 'special members' program on their site and collecting customer data, which allows them to email out information about sales or whatever to people who are already proven customers.
A lot of people seem to be falling into the trap here of thinking I'm incompetent at sales or what I do. If a customer hires me, they will get back more money than they give me. I have the skill for that. It is a non-issue for this thread. And if I get a chance to talk to someone even vaguely interested, they will in all likelihood buy from me. Even in person, I'm good enough to counter to a large degree my semi-unprofessional appearance. My only thought was that someone who was good at sales AND looked the part would be better off, not to mention I fucking loathe this part of the business. But the consensus seems to be I should man up and do it until I'm in a better position, so I guess that's what I'll do.
When I started the thread, the I was wondering:
Whether or not I should hire a professional to rewrite my mail out letter, but I think the traditional marketers have made it clear the letters won't get much response unless I offer a free blowjob to everyone that calls.
Should I find someone to do cold calls? Well, it seems that doing so will somehow result in me being eaten by wild dogs or something, so I guess I'll do them myself.
So all that leaves is other advice, of which I've already gotten some handy things.
@gamefacts - Totally and utterly true gaming facts on the regular!
I'm afraid of cold calls, but then again I'm afraid of lots of things because I've got anxiety issues. Once I'm talking I relax and I'm fine. I just don't like subjecting myself to the minute or two of working myself up to make the call, and will eliminate the need as soon as possible.
I know that being good at sales is unrelated to my expertise in my field.
And as I said in my EDIT second EDIT post, I've only really set my business into motion a week ago or so. The first thing I plan to DO is reinvest in my business, both directly and indirectly (haircut and suit, for example).
You started a week ago? in your original post, why were you so worried you weren't getting clients? This doesn't happen in a week, give it some time.
Youll get over the fear. I used to hate talking on the phone, even to friends, but especially to businesses. The first time i had to use the phone at work, i was sweating like crazy, incredibly nervous and could hardly speak let alone make myself clear. After the first few times, it started getting better. After a week, i was still nervous but at least i was somewhat able to make my point. After a month i didnt even really think about it. Now, three years later, i pick up the phone and get shit done in minutes that other people spend hours trying to do. It all comes eventually, its like anything else. Hell, today we were waiting for files, my boss spent 2 hours trying to convince the guy to send them. I picked up the phone, and within THREE MINUTES we had files. When i started, no way id have been able to do that. It all comes with practice.
Trust me, i had, and still do have a lot of anxiety issues, but the biggest thing, like everyone says, is getting past them. When i was your age i had become, for whatever reason, one of the most neurotic and anxious people you would have ever met. I still am, to a certain degree, but i realised, you know what? Its way better to just DO something rather than sitting around wishing you did it, or waiting for someone else to do it or even putting it off until tomorrow just because you dont want to deal with it. And you know what? My life is a hell of a lot better for it, ive got a great roommate (living with a stranger? NO WAY! well, its pretty cool actually and id have never met him if i didnt call in response to his ad), ive met tons of crazy/great people through random conversations at bars, shops, etc. that id probably have never struck up when i was 19 (and probably missed out on meeting a lot of great people) and ive got an awesome job because i manned up and applied at a temp agency and made great contacts at a company.
Dont be to quick to just hire away your problems. I mean, even if you hire the best sales guy ever, eventually youre going to still need to talk to clients, whether its to thank them for their business, or deal with a pissed off dude because he doesnt feel hes getting his moneys worth, or his ad for the church meet was placed next to a gaping vagina on google, or whatever. Its going to be way easier to smooth over these kinds of situations if you get good at doing it now, rather than trying to stammer your way through an apology while an irrational angry dude is standing over you screaming at the top of his lungs.
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