Offline Marketing

[MR.MOE]

Okay warriors I want to try my offline luck and see if I can make money. I was wondering if you guys could help me. I really like the idea of getting a job and then outsourcing it and making huge profits. Any suggestions of what to do so that I can get started?


Thanks
Moe

[Keith Boisvert]

Originally Posted by MR.MOE

Okay warriors I want to try my offline luck and see if I can make money. I was wondering if you guys could help me. I really like the idea of getting a job and then outsourcing it and making huge profits. Any suggestions of what to do so that I can get started?


Thanks
Moe

There are many ways to get started, I think if you search the term "offline" right here in the forum you will find at least a solid list of threads dealing with this exact topic, and you can read and determine what path is right for you.

Outsourcing is a good way to go if you are unable to perform the work yourself, finding the right outsourcing outlet is the toughest part...as well as determining your rates based off of their rates.

But I recommend reading the threads on the forum and determining the path thats right for you, as only YOU can do that.

keith

[Antony103]

hey there, SEM blueprint is a good starting point... if you want almost an entire business in a box, but it costs about $197

if you time, just scour the forums, or search "offline" and you'll find a bunch of gems


regards

[TimCastleman]

Moe -

There are a ton of things out there for sure. A couple of my students are having great success getting appointments for free (no marketing cost) via my latest WSO, in fact one is starting to outsource it this week to get even more business.

But I would also say this -

It comes down to 3 things in offline marketing:

1. Your budget. If you don't have time you'd better have money to get things done. Don't have money, ok then you need to have time to do those things to grow your business.

2. Your personality. Some people fear talking on the phone. If that is you then you don't need to cold call. Some people hate the idea of going door to door asking for sales.

You get the idea. So make a list of things you don't want to do and find something that fits your personality.

I hate rejection so I use several methods that get offline businesses calling or emailing me for work instead of the above mentioned ways.

3. Your schedule. If you don't have the money I hope you have time. Also if you work a full time job my guess is you don't have a lot of free time. Again certain methods take a lot of time, others don't.

Above all, only you can decide what works for you. Best of luck.

Tim

[Mohsin Rasool]

You have to Prepare a site offering services.

Then you have to create a presentation to give to your prospective clients.

You have to go out and meet them...
You have to listen and listen ...

I recently had an appointment with a BIG boss with international presenece and
market share in Office Equipment... They had website but no traffic/queries/leads...
and they thought their site is #1 for every keywords (Yeah poor selection of keywords..)

Term SEO and Traffic was VERY new to this client...what i learned is that it would be
a mistake to try to sell them High end IM services until yo know what their goals are
and also you educate them the need of your services...

They think they have got site, and for searching their name in Google, their site
comes in #1 is what is all they have to do....

So just listen and ask questions and ask questions...until they ask you: SO WHAT DO
YOU SUGGEST.....Now you time starts sell them! Ask them to change their stupid
windows based costly hosting company and signup them to new quality linux based host(use your affiliate link where possible!)

May this help,
Mohsin

[TimCastleman]

Mohsin -

I don't have a sample website to show any customers. In fact I don't have a fancy presentation at all. I simply meet with them and ask a lot of questions to focus on them, not me. It seems to have paid off ok ;-)

All of those things are nice but I haven't found them affecting the bottom line.

Tim

[Irishman]

Hey Moe,

Regarding outsourcing... it absolutely can be a great thing, but it is not as easy as it can sound, or is often played out in "systems". A couple suggestions I thought might help you in thinking through this process...


1. Setting the proper expectations with your client will save your reputation, and tons of rework. If you go in promising the sky, hoping an outsource can deliver it for you... well that's a quick game plan for failure. Really understand how you can serve any business through consultative marketing suggestions - and really spend time aligning you/your client's expectations so you can properly deliver it.

2. Outsourcing's biggest "art" in my opinion is the intangible passing of the client's/your "idea" and giving it to the proper outsource. By experience, just because someone says they will design it and "SEO" it doesn't mean they have the same idea of SEOing a site that you do. Putting meta tags in the website doesn't mean the page is SEO'd. Keyword research is as much a part of SEO as on-page optimizing. Anyhow, you get the picture. You really need to find a reliable source that you can work with and "train" to deliver your concepts.

3. If you don't currently have a website, "be your first client". Run yourself through the process, including hiring an outsource partner and treat the entire project as a client. This will help you seriously define your offering, and iron out the kinks before over extending to your client.

Hope that helps Moe... best to you!

Will

[Mohsin Rasool]

Originally Posted by TimCastleman

Mohsin -

I don't have a sample website to show any customers. In fact I don't have a fancy presentation at all. I simply meet with them and ask a lot of questions to focus on them, not me. It seems to have paid off ok ;-)

All of those things are nice but I haven't found them affecting the bottom line.

Tim

Hey Tim,

Fancy Presentation?! I hate them!!!
Who said that?

What i meant to say that you have to plan your presentation that what you
are going to say when, and what you are going to sell... the services...

You need to be very clear about Their GOALS and about your OWN goals....

For Website...I THINK you need to have a some sort of website where you
presell, educate the customer. If you are doing great without it.. that is also FINE...
but my point of view is that you should a website which you can ask your clients to
visit and get familiar what you offer and what results you have brought for others...

Best regards,
-Mohsin

[TimCastleman]

Mohsin (how do you pronounce your name by the way) -

I deal with clients who already have websites so that we can just look at theirs and talk about improvement.

I find it easier to work with people who already have a website - less convincing they need one, etc.

There are many ways to success and I am sure yours works.

Tim

[AmyBrown]

I'd start by assessing your personality, skills, what you're willing to learn, how hard you're willing to work and what you have to invest in your new business.

There are a number of different approaches to offline marketing and without more information it's not possible to recommend a suitable path.

I'm not a fan of taking people's money on a wing and a prayer that you can do what you promised. Clearly some people are as I am spending an increasing amount of time cleaning up after other local "experts".

[MR.MOE]

Thanks for everyones response and for the help. Well lets see I hate talking to people I get really nervous also I seen a lot of people on here say that they made a sale and outsourced it because they didn't know how to do anything, but how can you make the sale? I guess you have to know what SEO is and how to describe it to the owner or what a website is and what it will do for there business. I have time and honestly I'm not overly talented. In a year or so I will be able to do some business in the health part in the offline niche, but for right now I have school so. I can put it a few hours a day maybe like 4 or 5. I need help taking a path though.

[AndrewCavanagh]

Ultimately if you're going to get hired by business owners at any kind of fee above $100 you really have to be willing to talk to them.

In fact it's your skill at talking to business owners that will make the biggest difference.

Yes there are systems that will get business owners talking to you (I have one that's proven repeatedly with multiple users to get over 20% of business owners to contact you back).

Yes you can outsource work...even to other warriors...but you still need to understand how the different internet marketing strategies you're going to outsource work to make profits for a business so you can suggest appropriate strategies.

So you really need to work in 2 areas of developing your skill if you're serious about this:

# 1: Understanding how different internet marketing strategies can help a business make more sales and profits (you need to understand at least ONE strategy well).

# 2: Your skill at talking to business owners effectively (the best way is to just ask questions and listen).


Since you don't need to buy any products to develop those 2 skills (you can develop the first right here and the second just by talking to business owners) you really don't have to spend any money...and you really shouldn't starting out.

If you're not willing to do BOTH those things listed above then don't kid yourself. This is not for you.

Selling internet marketing skills to local businesses is a great way to make money but there is work and skill inovolved.

If you're not willing to develop the skill and do the work you're not going to make any of that money and no amount of WSOs or high priced information products will help.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

[MR.MOE]

Originally Posted by AndrewCavanagh

# 1: Understanding how different internet marketing strategies can help a business make more sales and profits (you need to understand at least ONE strategy well).

I think I can master #2. Can you give me a little bit more info on #1. Like the different ways. The ones that generate more sales and leads and get the business more prospectives.

Thanks
Moe

[AndrewCavanagh]

That varies quite a lot based on the business you're working with.

The process of getting to know the business what they're high profit lines are, where their customers are coming from, etc etc is the biggest key to finding or creating a strategy that has a high liklihood of making them more profits.

(What you're asking is actually difficult to answer in a few lines. I have written a book about it and on OfflineBiz.com we probably have several thousand very detailed posts about it on finding strategies for different businesses).

If you understand one strategy well you can usually come up with some ideas to help a business.

Some you might consider:
# Email marketing by autoresponder (especially integrating that with the offline business by capturing contact details at point of sale or during any other person to person interaction in the brick and mortar business).

# Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Especially doing SEO for keyword phrases that bring a business high value clients.

# Information marketing. Using lead generating and educating reports, audio, video etc to help get customers or convert prospects into paying customers. These might be delivered just online or online and offline.

# Pay Per Click. Same strategy as SEO more or less except you're paying for clicks.

# etc etc. Most internet marketing strategies implemented with a little intelligence should produce profits beyond what you charge a business to do it.

Obviously some strategies would work better than others for a business but if you're creating more profits than what a business owner is paying you for your work then you're giving that business owner a valuable service.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh