Offline Gold - Not just for web developers

[John Hixson]

I've been wanting to introduce myself for sometime, I am a long time lurker and a big fan of the Warrior Forum. But I have, for some reason, always been hesitant. I took the plunge recently and since then I have been trying to think of the best way to say 'hi'.


In another thread Steve Wagenheim suggested this is a good move for new posters as it allows people to get to know a bit about the new additions to the community. A great idea, but I didn't want it to be just about me, I wanted it to be something for everyone... so I have held off.


But it occurred to me that actually I can do both, introduce myself AND give something to the community – by discussing what my partner and myself have been doing recently.


Our 'Offline Gold'


Now my partner is a business owner and a part time writer, whilst I am someone who has taken the plunge and gone into writing fulltime. Whilst my initial plan was to target Warrior members and use other social media sites to network into more clients another business plan occurred to us in the mean time.


My partner does a lot of work with telesales companies to help her promote her businesses products. Whilst she does get value for money she often laments the quality of the company. But she also mentions that they are almost always desperate for more products and services to sell over the phone – as that is how they grow their business.


Interestingly one of the gripes my partner has is the lack of follow up or information she gets from telesales companies after their initial pitch for her business.


Which got me thinking about how, as a writer, I could help them. Where we live is something of a hotbed for telesales companies so I was struck by how, if I broke into it, I would have a niche that could really take off for me.


Most of the companies have a basic website of some variety, but none maintained a blog, or company news section which would help with SEO. None of them had bothered to collect the emails of potential and past clients into any sort of list and none had developed a newsletter of any kind.


Which, when they need new products and services to pitch, is pretty shocking!


So I got in touch with those that my partner had spoken with in the past and pitched to them the advantages that a blog/SEO could bring to the company. How a proper newsletter can help develop brand awareness with potential clients – and how it could win them business by being an email 'at just the right time', certainly more likely than their slapdash efforts before.


Whilst my conversion ratio from such pitches was less than inspiring the companies that did convert have been well paying and given us regular work – and they have seen an increase in the amount of people approaching them with products to sell, rather than their usual chasing of such people.


I personally have high hopes in being able to expand this business into both other niches and with more companies within the telesales niche – and I think it might be something that writers here (of which there seem to be a large, and rising, number) could well make use of.


So there we are, now you know a little bit about me and you can, hopefully, take something from my own business model and use it for your own purposes.

[Steve Diamond]

Welcome! You've written a nice introduction, and it may prove helpful as well.

I also live in an area that's rich in call centers (as we call them in the States), and I hadn't thought of targeting them specifically for IM-related services before I read your post. Now I have something to think about.

Thanks!

[AndrewCavanagh]

Whenever you use someone else's database of business owners (preferably with an introduction from them) you have a very good chance of turning those business owners into paying clients.

Thanks for sharing.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

[John Hixson]

Originally Posted by Steve Diamond

Welcome! You've written a nice introduction, and it may prove helpful as well.

I also live in an area that's rich in call centers (as we call them in the States), and I hadn't thought of targeting them specifically for IM-related services before I read your post. Now I have something to think about.

Thanks!

Call centers are an interesting bunch. Obviously they like to consider themselves as 'marketers', but outside of cold calling people many of them are clueless about marketing.

If you can hit them with the right service at the right price (which is the key to pretty much everything I admit) then you should be able to sell them on then benefits pretty easily.

I have found the attitude from many of the owners to be more arrogant than the general business people you speak with - but if you pamper to them then they tend to react well.

Good luck if you do decide to persue them!

[chrisnegro]

Much success to you Wall Major and welcome aboard.

Chris Negro

[charlesburke]

I like your ending comment:

...but if you pamper to them then they tend to react well

Good psychology for just about any prospect, but especially when dealing with the know-it-all (who doesn't).

Cheers from warm and smiling Thailand,
Charles