.

Ok, so for anyone that want's to start selling and has no idea where to start ... you need to BEFORE you target potential offline customers to improve their sites is...

1. create some type of site about yourself.
You can use wordpress, tumblr, or get your own domain name and put your information.

2. Create some type of packages, services.
You want to have something easy to offer people.... so they know what/how much services cost and what exactly you are offering.

3. A type of "timeline" "guarantee" or "conditions"
If you don't tell people what they can expect and what type of results they may get, then it's difficult to sell SEO.

Obviously offering SEO guarantee it's a challenge... but you can highlight what they can obtain with you like

- Better optimized site
- More organic traffic
- Better understanding of SEO

etc etc
etc

sallan

Ok, so a progress update.... I don't know if I'll meet the 15 day deadline but so far

-I've got a shiny new domain name and hosting,

-I'm waiting for a couple of quotes back from designers for a custom wordpress theme and logo. (I could do this myself but the services section has really talented designers who are so cheap I thought I would spend a bit of cash and get something really smooth.)

-Started looking for talented SEO contractors who can do the work as I haved decided to concentrate on managment and sales

-Looked into SEO software so I can do quick analysis of prospects sites befor approaching them.

-I have been researching other companies and their packages and pricing and I'm getting closer to developing my packages and their prices.

.....Plus worked 2 full days offline as well!

How is everyone else going.

anton343

Hi Mate

I have recently purchased a few wso's on SEO (mainly for my own sites) and I can honestly say I have received better advice just from reading your comments in this thread.

Great for you to share your knowledge with us you deserve all the success you have.

Anton

WP Free Image Finder

.

thanks buddy. Very kind. Let me know if you have any specific questions.

Cheers Gab

.

Man you rock!
Great.
Now, let's remember: you want to focus on ONE AREA

It can be one area by : one town
One area as: one niche
One area as : one "type of SEO customers"

Example: I may just target great sites with poor ranking
or sites with no social media presence
or sites that I may think had bad SEO companies behind.

By applying a rule, you can fail fast.
Remember the key point is to FAIL FAST

The faster you fail, the more time you have to focus on something that may work....

colomboairporttranfers

wow grate but i also working here

Sri Lanka Airport Transfer Colombo taxi We are Best & professional cars & private car hire airport transfer services in Sri Lanka

Sherlyne

Before anything I must say you're awesome..Thanks for supporting lots of people...

I am doing SEO in my company for more than one and a half year. But now I want to start my own project..I don't have any portfolio to show to the clients(Although I have worked on some very competitive keywords eg. those related to social networks (ranking under 3)). So can you pls suggest me where to start with....
I really want to start something as early as possible..

Thanks Rankinghero
Sharlyne

sallan

The area I'm going to start with is small to medium sized regional businesses. The reason for this is that I understand their needs well.

I've run three small businesses over the years myself. I've work with SME's as an newspaper ad sales executive in a regional area and this was my client base with my web development business.

So I'm going to play to this strength, and I'll also market online the way I did in print media, via areas. I'll target one region until I have exhausted my leads (and hopefully gained some clients) then focus on another area. I have realised I made a big mistake with my web development business by having a very scattered marketing plan. The business suffered because of it, and while I was able to survive on the income it generated I was always living week to week scraambling to find the next client. I want to do thing differently this time round.

Thanks for this thread, it's really helping me get foccused and prompting me with timely advice.

anton343

Hi Gab,

I am looking to put together some outsourcing jobs but my experience on having jobs done on sites like scriptlance hasn't gone to well.

How have you gone on in using the phillipine site you posted the link to.

Could you give any advice on choosing outsources, would it be better to try them on a new site of your own before trusting them with any clients sites etc.

WP Free Image Finder

sacredhoops

Hey,

I am still trying to contact business, but I have yet to get any response. What could I be doing wrong?

.

You don't need a portfolio to start, you just need to "start" somewhere. the 1st step is to start contacting someone out there, and target 1 niche/industry offering 1 type of solution.

My question is: what do you feel more comfortable offering first?

.

In Easyoutsource I tend to train people myself. I always trust someone more that HAS no idea vs the "link builder" for hire.
Mainly you want to hire people that are flexible to learn.
My suggestion is: if you get a big client, consider outsourcing your SEO may be to a white label reseller.... or then train the outsourcer to do part of the job.

Mainly you want to "test them" with your own sites, or give them jobs that if they fail is not the end of the world.

Example: social bookmarking -- making a mistake is not such a big deal vs posting cr*ppy comments in high profile blogs.

The important thing is: hire cheap and train them fast.
If they fail, you move on ....

.

how many businesses?
How are you contacting them?
What are your writing?
Are you following them up?
Really? how?

More details to help you....

Sherlyne

Thanks .
I want to start working on websites of a startups or small scale industry.. Want to work on everything, right from Pre-optimization to business generation.. Beside this, I would like to add informative blogs on client's site.

.

I believe if you manage to explain them what Penguin is and how important is a content strategy is... adding blogs on your client's sites could be a winning strategy.
A big market is in the things you can do THAT ARE NOT 100% related to link building... so for sure that's a great way to start.
May be send them a PLR info about penguin?
then have a chat with them?

what do you think?

Sherlyne

..

Thats a nice idea to startwith.
I believe that If I'll charge slightly more that other seo providers and offer seo as well as content to people, it'll work.
I went through few requirements mentioned in this forums and provided a quick SEO analysis report to them(suggested by you to of one the warrior).But I am waiting for their responses.
So what should be my next step.?
Should I go ahead with this offer.??

Thanks.

.

Making an offer to quick is usually a mistake. Let them feel the pain.... example, analyze with them their competitors and show them how their competitors are doing SEO, once they realize... holy cr*p these people are on top because they are doing SEO...
...
...
THEN make the offer.

Don't push it. Make it clear, put it on writing. and close it.

CLOSE FAST.

Sherlyne

That sounds perfect..
All set to go..Just one last BIG question...
Where to start find the leads.?
I have already responded to some of the warriors requirement(waiting for their responses ) and tried to find some of them in other seo forums, but nothing seems to be so much fruitful..

Thanks Rankinghero for assistance.

.

why target warriors? (they know SEO more than 99.9% of the world)
instead target non-warriors....
target business owners.
Normal people.

sacredhoops

I have contacted all different types of business via the email. I have sent only one email with image like you suggested. Just saying small intro of me and where I am from. Share a little of what I saw about your site that could possibly use some improvement. than attach a image of there current stats from alexa.

I have contacted close to 10 businesses a day and this is just blind emailing. I have yet to follow up.

I am really trying and working at this, but maybe I am doing something wrong. Or just need to keep on trying.

.

Alexa means nothing for a small business owner.
Show them a screen capture of their ranking vs their competitors

you really really need to follow up.
And consider follow up with a phone call.

Now keep in mind you "just sent one email with the image attached" and sent only 10 emails per day....

so difficult without a proper amount of emails.
why did u sent only one email with the attached image?
:rolleyes:

Sherlyne

Thanks for the assistance
.

dirocket

good one

Directory submission service | Link Wheel Service

hacktheworld

I am also from India and i know its hard to convince clients for SEO here. People think that having a website will give customers. They do not know about SEO at all.
What you can do is to have a meet with the website owners and let them know the benifits of SEO.

I agree with you.Offline selling is much more easier then selling online. But, i think you should have physical office for that because it will make you a trusted person.

Need an Online store? Start Now!

.

I work from home.
No office.
Trust is not a matter of office....

mojo1

Man you really know your stuff. I can tell you are the real deal based on your responses though. Unfortunately, I suffer like so many here of being all over the place and yet just treading water. Being a stay at home mom has just made me a bit batty with concentrating on a single task

I honestly forgot that I signed up for the challenge on this thread and just happened to see it in my subscribed threads...eek.

I know about seo and have gotten some of my personal blogs on page one for their keywords but man things have changed and its a challenge just to keep up with all the search engine requirements.

I really like and will take your approach though and apply it to getting new website redesign projects instead of seo.

JTzor

Now here is a man, a business owner, who has experienced success and is paying it forward.

Take the advice and implement it folks.

I know you are not doing it for the accolades/kudos, but i have to say great job Gabriel, you are a true Warrior!

Warmest Regards,

- John Tzor (JT)

.

Hey John, is 8:12 am here in Australia, you made my day mate. Very kind. Cheers.

JTzor

"Hey John, is 8:12 am here in Australia, you made my day mate. Very kind. Cheers"

Gabriel, You are humble my friend. I am happy to have made your day, but I am just recognizing the humanity and generosity of your spirit.

If you read a couple of posts up, I think you will realize that you may have made some folks' lifetime with your thread.

Warmest Regards, God Bless and Please Keep Paying it Forward,

- John Tzor (JT)

sacredhoops

I probably have not said yet! But thank you for all your help, suggestions, and ideas! I appreciate you taking the time to answer all these great questions on this awesome thread that you have started! I just wish I was a better salesmen so I could report to you that I did it and got a customer!

But trust me I will continue to work at this and continue to take your advice, and keep working on pressing forward, constant emails, and following up!

Thanks again mate you ROCK!!!

.

Thanks a lot.
i think the important thing to remember is how hard we are when we start.

Yes. I have made good money in this SEO game, yes I have... but I have failed like a champ also.

So it's all about understanding your own process.
I have launched campaigns that have been a failure and some of them have been crazy good....

The only thing I know is the more stuff I do.... and the more focus I get to get things done... the more chances I get to succeed.

So keep going.....

BlackMetal

Done. Im good at seo, always can improve the rankings, just never done any proper "sales"/cold calls etc, but still my results sell themselves.
If only I had a salesman, we would both be rich

Woodward82

I found a small area that I wanted to target first, consisting of offline business owners with websites already in place that not only need SEO but also sites that a simple install of WP and a paid theme would tremendously help.

Basically I emailed them if

1) They were in the nightlife scene of my town. (bar, club, events ect)
2) There titles tags where the name of the business, home, or index.
3) The site just looked like like it needed a major redesign.

I targeted this because I know that if they own a bar or club, they have the means to afford to promote there business. Also they already have a website so they at least at some point in time tried to successfully enter the internet with there business.

Here is what I sent them. Should I change any of this or try a different approach.

I used there website url as the heading for the email

If this post was useful please show your appreciation by hitting the THANKS button. ----- Right here V

.

Your email could work, but you need to make a difference, make them remember you.

This is the way I write some of my emails.

"Hey there, Gab here from tiny Merimbula in the South Coast of NSW - (and yes, it's also freezing here ...

Before you think , oh my god not another unrequested email, please read it's content, it can really help you out.

Yesterday I was looking for a hotel in your area and I noticed your site... because I'm a geek I realized you have some issues with the site.

etc
etc
etc

you see the difference?

Woodward82

Thanks, this does make a lot more sense! I just sent out 2 more emails, with the newly updated email. Also I made the tips a little more personal to their site, instead of just using the 10 tips from above.

Hopefully I will get an email back, even if I dont close a sale right now, a response would be great to know what works and what doesnt

Any tips on how to go about pricing? Should I have a "set" price and just come up with basic packages. Or just price it based on the individual site.

Would $750 be to much to ask to start off? I'm not to sure how pricing structure works here. A one time fee plus monthly ?

Sorry for all the questions, and thanks for this great thread and advice

If this post was useful please show your appreciation by hitting the THANKS button. ----- Right here V

.

My pleasure to help.
The pricing is an issue that you need to resolve.
how much money your time is worth...
how much another company would charge in your location.

$750 is nothing if you manage to bring them $10.000 in benefits.
$750 is a lot if they don't bring benefit.

Because you don't have any "credentials" or social proof.... my suggestion is provide like a trial... or a small fee to get yourself a few customers first.

But it all depends. If you need money ASAP, then start charging ASAP.

muzzy4u2

I am interested.

.

Cool there is enough info to get started. Welcome on board.

muzzy4u2

So in order to be successful I have to follow your 30 day plan ?

.

No, in order to be successful you need to start selling SEO.
There is no really a 30 day plan here, just trying to help overall.

What type of help do you need?
May be if you provide more details I can help you more.....

muzzy4u2

Do I need to develop a website related to seo services ?

I mean how I will get orders without a website or proof.

muzzy4u2

waiting for your reply.

.

Apologies buddy
I had a cr*p day today , got hit by a huge tax bill today...
Keep working even if you feel like crying | 10 Awesome Dollars

anyway....

yes, it's advisable to setup some type of site about who are you
the more honest, the better, the more people can see about you the more trust factor.

Example: I show people everything I am and I even publish my photo etc....
some people don't like that, they feel sharing to much is not their style
in my way of looking at things, the more my potential customer relates with me, the better.

So my suggestion is, yes, build a site, unless you are planning to visit customers face to face.

.

how are things going Sallan?

hacktheworld

Great stuff as usual. Any Idea on "How to get clients for website designing?"

Need an Online store? Start Now!

Phillip M King

Gabriel,
I am very pleased to meet you. IMO, you are doing a terrific thing by giving back to people by helping them get started.

I will be watching this thread for great stories to keep myself motivated.


From your website - I fixed it for you:
I discovered that the SEO industry in Australia the world, but especially Warrior Forum, is full of “experts” that make a living from “teaching” other people how to rank their websites, while their own sites don’t even rank for any of their own

Glad you found a nice little spot after all your traveling. Visited Melbourne myself when I worked for an Australasian multinational back in the day. Sometimes think about shifting back down under, maybe to Tasmania or SW Oz.

But say, situated between the two big smokes, which do you support - league or AFL?

.

hey mate, thanks for letting me know about the typo.

Regarding the question.... mmm I think League but I still put my kids to train soccer every week. One day we will convert Australia to play only soccer... and yes, one day also Australia will be a Spanish speaking country!
I just keep wishing....

sschufford

How can I get in on this rankinghero?

.

Hey buddy, anyone can get started.

I think the best way is to tell us a bit about your experience, goals, etc....

you are in Dallas, right?
then it's going to be easy ... huge city, tons of potential.

have you tried to sell SEO before?

sschufford

Never tried to sell SEO before....I am a newbie but trainable! I moved from Dallas to OKC...plans to go back at the end of the year. Goals is to never has to worry about money!