Use **THIS** approach and you'll be SWAMPED(!!!) with Offline Clients

[ChrisByrns]

Sometimes, when i want to earn some additional bucks to spend (okay i know this sounds pretty arrogant, but it works most of the time), i approach locals like this (tested on nail art studios, beauty salons, food delivery services, tanning studios):

• i walk through the front door.

• i say "Hey, how're you doing? My name's Chris Byrns. Can I please talk to the Business Manager?"

When they ask "why?", i usually say "i have some questions relating to your homepage".

Now, there's 2 options:

1. they have a homepage and the manager is curious what's wrong about it.. or
2. they don't have a website and the manager is curious about what you can offer him.

Either way, he WILL talk to you.

When talking to the manager i just say:
"Hi, my name is Chris Byrns - nice to meet you - I'm the CEO of a local webdesign and search engine optimization company.. I just wanted to introduce myself, say *Hi* and give you my card - just in case you need any web-related services sometime in the future. Oh and... well, that's basically it! Now i'm gonna have a pizza (or nail polish, or tanning session, or blah)"

On the Bizcard i write my address, url, and "GET MORE CUSTOMERS, SPEND LESS ADVERTISING DOLLARS"

..they usually call me the next day.

You can sell them:

a) webdesign if they don't have a site yet.
b) seo services if they have a site that doesn't rank.
c) autoresponder stuff if they have a seo'd site and don't know **** about marketing..

CHEERZ!

[Kyle Tully]

The funny thing is it actually can be this simple to get offline clients.

And you can "work" your local area during your normal day-to-day activities.

You don't have to be on the road selling to people, just take advantage of the business owners you meet every single day.

Here's a hot tip I teach my coaching students:

Implement a referral program and tell everyone about it.

The guy you're talking to might not need a site done now but he likely knows other business owners who might.

[brucerby]

Totally on target!...selling SEO and web services in general is far easier than selling most other services/products to business owners.

You can be sitting in a restaurant with your laptop and get asked the question, "So, what do YOU do?" ....leads to an easy discussion of building local businesses traffic through internet advertising.

Much more interesting topic and conversion opener than say...., uh,.. insurance :-)
_____
Bruce

[ChrisByrns]

Originally Posted by brucerby

(...)
You can be sitting in a restaurant with your laptop and get asked the question, "So, what do YOU do?" ....leads to an easy discussion of building local businesses traffic through internet advertising. (...)

tbh, this happened to me once - but in my particular case this didn't lead to money in my bank account.. but it got me a date with a cute lady

[Angela V. Edwards]

Originally Posted by Kyle Tully

The funny thing is it actually can be this simple to get offline clients.

And you can "work" your local area during your normal day-to-day activities.

You don't have to be on the road selling to people, just take advantage of the business owners you meet every single day.

Here's a hot tip I teach my coaching students:

Implement a referral program and tell everyone about it.

The guy you're talking to might not need a site done now but he likely knows other business owners who might.

That's what I did. I got my Physical Therapist's website (I have an old ankle injury) to the number ONE spot in Google from where it was on the bottom of Page 6. We have an agreement. Not only is he going to tell other businesses that he knows about me, but I can also have business owners call HIM and ask him about what I can do for their websites. It's a pretty decent deal.

[Kyle Tully]

Originally Posted by Angela V. Edwards

That's what I did. I got my Physical Therapist's website (I have an old ankle injury) to the number ONE spot in Google from where it was on the bottom of Page 6. We have an agreement. Not only is he going to tell other businesses that he knows about me, but I can also have business owners call HIM and ask him about what I can do for their websites. It's a pretty decent deal.

Sounds like a great deal

Here's something I've got cooking:

I love dark chocolate. Go nuts for the stuff. It's no surprise I know the local chocolatier. And he knows every single business owner in town.

Not only that, he is involved in local government and is a thought leader within the community AND has connections higher up the food chain.

I've not taken advantage of our relationship as yet -- I'm simply too busy -- but I'll continue building this relationship (an excellent excuse to eat more chocolate!) and you can bet if I ever need to ramp things up I'll have the ear of a very powerful individual within the community.

The best part about this is I didn't go out of my way to "create" this relationship. It just formed during my day-to-day activities.

[Nic Lynn]

Originally Posted by Kyle Tully

And you can "work" your local area during your normal day-to-day activities.

You don't have to be on the road selling to people, just take advantage of the business owners you meet every single day.

This is GREAT advice. At some point, you may want to scale yourself beyond what you can do through the course of everyday errands, but this strategy of talking to the business owners you happen to patronize is a perfect way for folks who are wary of "offline selling" to ease into it, get some practice, hone their approach and get comfortable.