Here's how I got a $500/mo Offline contract without doing any work

[Ron Douglas]

I've thought about jumping on the offline bandwagon, but I always thought of it as trading time for dollars. As a work at home dad, my time is too valuable to do that.

But here's a spin on offline marketing which I can do.

I recently partnered with a friend who owns a Public Relations business. He's a real wheeler-dealer and gets out there to network every chance he gets. Many of his offline customers have a need for traffic from the search engines, PPC, and to build a list. He knows about my online experience and made a deal with me to package my services in with his PR services.

I let him do all the selling and I provide the online services. It works out great for him because his clients are happy and the packaged offer is better than his competitor's. His clients will stay on longer with him because of it.

All the actual work that comes my way will be outsourced. I already have agreements in place with a writer, a coder, a web designer, a PPC company, and a SEO company to do all the work.

Really, I'm just the middle man, but it's still a win/win/win/win LOL.

We just got our first contract from this arrangement and it's an easy $500 a month profit for me.

How can you use this model to make some extra money?

All it takes is to partner with online service providers who are looking for business and partner with the offline sales guys who are in contact with offline clients (PR firms, print shops, brokers, etc).

[Scott Burton]

Originally Posted by Ron Douglas

All it takes is to partner with online service providers who are looking for business and partner with the offline sales guys who are in contact with offline clients (PR firms, print shops, brokers, etc).

This one sentence keys in something I bet a number of us didn't even think of.

If you have the resources (outsource destinations) available to handle more than you can generate (workload to be outsourced) then letting someone else find the work for you just makes sense.

In addition, you only have to 'sell' your services to your partner, and he or she sells the client.

Very interesting twist. Sometimes simple answers are the most elusive.

[jack_turner]

Hi Ron,

Thanks this is a brilliant post, its really got me thinking thats for sure! If its not too cheeky asking how did you find writers, coders, web designers, etc? was it through elance, rentacoder, and here on the forum, etc.

I was also wondering if you had any advice on how to ensure you build a team of reliable people to outsource to?

One thing I've toyed with recently is to offer web design and management, for local businesses, and outsource the more complex web design and SEO stuff.

Sorry to ask so many questions, I hope you dont think I'm being rude, your post has just got me buzzing!

congrats on setting up a great deal mate

Jack

[Ron Douglas]

Originally Posted by jack_turner

Hi Ron,

Thanks this is a brilliant post, its really got me thinking thats for sure! If its not too cheeky asking how did you find writers, coders, web designers, etc? was it through elance, rentacoder, and here on the forum, etc.

I was also wondering if you had any advice on how to ensure you build a team of reliable people to outsource to?

One thing I've toyed with recently is to offer web design and management, for local businesses, and outsource the more complex web design and SEO stuff.

Sorry to ask so many questions, I hope you dont think I'm being rude, your post has just got me buzzing!

congrats on setting up a great deal mate

Jack

That's simple. I've been in Internet Marketing since 2001. These are all people I've worked with before for my business.

[Doug McIsaac]

I was wondering when were going to land your first offline deal you've been talking about it for a while.

Outsourcing everything is a great way to do it if you have people you can trust already in place. The majority of my income comes from offline clients and I outsource almost all of it except for market research and strategy

Doug

[Ron Douglas]

Originally Posted by Doug McIsaac

I was wondering when were going to land your first offline deal you've been talking about it for a while.

Outsourcing everything is a great way to do it if you have people you can trust already in place. The majority of my income comes from offline clients and I outsource almost all of it except for market research and strategy

Doug

Yeah it's been on my 'to do' list for like 18 months LOL. I probably wouldn't have gotten this one if I had to actually leave the house and talk to people.

You're my inspiration with the offline stuff Doug.

[Vijay M]

Another effective passive strategy is to place your printed materials, either a promo sheet or a card at places you frequent.

While waiting at my tax guy's office, I noticed flyers fom different companies like auto servicing firms,restaurants etc placed in the waiting area. When my number was called, I asked him if I could place a few printed sheets in his office and he said yes!!

I'll drop my 1 page pitch this weekend and see how it goes.

[chrisnegro]

Originally Posted by Ron Douglas

I've thought about jumping on the offline bandwagon, but I always thought of it as trading time for dollars.

Jump on the bandwagon Ron....many online warriors are jumping ship to the offline (more money). But its not a get rich quick scheme...it will take effort and time to set things up. But once you set it up its a wonderful business model.

There is a small window of time where online marketers (who have online marketing lists) can convert their list to the offline world. And in the meantime, while they are converting them -- THEY CAN SELL OFFLINE PRODUCTS to them (I'm sure this is intriguing many online warriors right now).

Don't get me wrong...they should believe in the offline method (not just try to whore their lists just to make money -- but you get my drift.)

Best of luck,

Chris Negro

[Doug McIsaac]

Originally Posted by Ron Douglas

Yeah it's been on my 'to do' list for like 18 months LOL. I probably wouldn't have gotten this one if I had to actually leave the house and talk to people.

You're my inspiration with the offline stuff Doug.

Thanks man, that means a lot.

Doug

[bert81]

Cool, thanks for the post. I'll have to give that a go.

[W.P. Allen]

I do something similar. I built a website for a local mortgage loan originator and when he converts a lead that came through the website we split the commission 50/50. Even though the housing market is in the toilet I still do fairly well with it.

[w123]

I'm wondering also where you find good and reliable 'outsourcing' people to do the work. Care to share?

[metaphors]

This is a very solid idea especially if you have outsource contacts like you said that you do.

[Ron Douglas]

Originally Posted by w123

I'm wondering also where you find good and reliable 'outsourcing' people to do the work. Care to share?

I've been in Internet Marketing since 2001. These are people I have relationships with from using their services in the past for my own business.

Freelancers and skilled workers are all over the web, but it's important that you are confident in their performance and reliability before you put your reputation on the line with clients.

Some of the places I've found vendors and freelancers in the past - Elance, RentACoder, ODesk.com, Craig's List, word of mouth referrals, the Warrior Forum services section, SitePoint Marketplace.

[Sheila]

You're right on, Ron! I don't have the experience you do, but I'm having some success with this offline/outsource model.

I know marketing, but I don't have tech skills. So I figured I'd go with my strengths and outsource the rest. Since everyone is talking about the "recession", I decided to start talking about using internet marketing to cut ad costs and help businesses build a presence online.

I started talking to a few people 2-3 weeks ago, and now I have some great deals cooking - and all it's taken is a few phone calls on my part. I have three insurance agencies setting up seminars for me and inviting their databases (18,000 clients total - 30%-40% business owners) to learn how to effectively advertise and profit with their businesses online. I'm sure some of them will be needing my help!

It's a win-win-win for everyone. The insurance agents are offering something of value to their clients, to help them survive the "recession", the clients will be happy because I will give them great content, and I'll be happy because I'm doing my part to help business owners like myself while I'm also making money on the OTO I'll be offering them at the workshop/seminar.

Funny thing is, I can't do the seminars until April, though, because I'm working with 6 guys from across the country on creating and marketing their website. They've already agreed to a $7,997 set up fee and a $497 a month maintenance fee. I was referred to them, too :-)

Am I out of my comfort zone - you bet! But I'm taking it one step at a time. Maybe if I knew how to do all of the tech stuff, I wouldn't have considered outsourcing yet and would have thought I needed to do it all myself. Who knows? But, this way I'm building a business that will sustain itself. It's a great blend of online + offline skills . . . and I'm finding there's certainly a need for it in the marketplace!