syncjam

I sent my info to a client and he seemed interested, but threw me a curveball and said to contact his marketing agency.

I contacted them and received a message to call back or email them the information I sent him.

My question is - could that be a brush off from the owner since he wanted me to talk to this agency? (who could do exactly what I'm doing).

And when I send my info to the marketing company, should I send them exactly what I sent the owner, or a revised and shortened version (since they probably know most of the issues I mentioned to the owner).

Thanks all...

WillR

1. What are we selling here? SMS services? A mobile website?

2. If you are dealing with businesses that have a marketing agency then my opinion would be you are going after businesses that are a little bigger than you want them. Try and go after small businesses with only a few employees - this way it is much easier for you to get through to the owner or the person making the decisions and it's a lot less likely they are already attached to a marketing agency. I probably wouldn't bother contacting them. I doubt they would let you talk them into anything. Even if they did think it was a good idea it's more likely they would take the idea and run with it themselves.

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syncjam

Thanks Will!

Yes both SMS and Mobile.

Oddly enough, they are only a single jewelry store with maybe 10 employees! That's what threw me off when he mentioned his marketing company!!

shqipo

But then again, his "marketing agency" could be a small one-person company which does mainly their fliers and newspaper inserts.

criniit

I would send the info over to the marketing agency and stay on the owner if you don't hear anything back. Don't be afraid to call him to ask if his agency has talked to him or just ask him how his business is doing.

JToneyUK

I would look at this companies website....are they a web design company or just another kind of marketing company? Do they offer mobile websites or SMS services?

If they don't then you could be onto some kind of JV.

You could approach them and say exactly what you're offering and how you're an expert in this field. There is a risk that this company could "steal" your idea once you explain what you do, however there is also an opportunity here too.

If this company see the benefits of your services, you could offer to be their "mobile expert" and share a percentage of any referals/upsells they could bring to you (assuming they have a client list/portfolio).

syncjam

Yes, they are a fairly large agency and do some really nice websites.

I got a nice brush off letter today thanking me for the info and saying they'd keep my info on file in case any other clients needed my services.
Oh, they also said they're adding a mobile site for their client (the store I was pitching).

I sent emails to them and their client thanking them for the time.

Now it's time to move on.

shqipo

Ah, I see. That's a bit fishy that this "agency" is saying they're build a mobile site after your offer - but I guess there's no way to stop that. Good luck!

syncjam

Yea! Same way I felt. Oh well!

ElenaEn

Most marketing agencies sub-contract a lot of their work. I know that 'cause my other business has been around providing technical / programming work to interactive agencies who did not want to keep their internal IT staff/programmers. As an idea - you could try selling your mobile marketing services to that marketing agency "wholesale". They are probably already thinking of offering mobile initiatives to their clients, but have not had the time to educate themselves and buy the right tools/platforms. Sub-contracting that work to you would be a lot cheaper and less riskier for them, so there is value there.

The key would be to convince them that you are only in the narrow mobile marketing niche, and not doing all the other work they do (SEO, PPC, etc, etc) and therefore won't completely "steal" their client.

drdeeweb

If they throw in a third party- move on! Odds are the 3rd party will just take your knowledge and find a way to bill their client for your ideas.
There are too many opportunities to be bothered or to be used.

Story: My hubby dropped in on a restaurant and began chatting with the owner about ideas to get more business. He had heard his ad on the radio so he wanted to check the place out. Of course he brought up mobile marketing strategies and owner said he wanted to know more.

Hubby came home and asked me if I could do a quick mockup because the guy was interested. I could not that evening because of a tight schedule. But said I would have it ready first thing in the morning. When my husband went back to let him know guess what! Owner was sitting there with " His WebGuy" who had his laptop and they were scanning QR code on my biz card, pouring over website and was scolding/asking his webguy why he hadn't told him about these mobile opportunities.

Do you really think I am going to get back in touch with them?
Don't waste your time.

Some Will. Some Won't. So What! Next!

bonn

I think this is the truth!

You should offer the agency (aka 1 or 2 people) a 60% of the deal and tell them you'll do all the work... Guranteed business there.

breakingnews

I would not deal with them and hunt for a new one, there are plenty out there.

Quentin

Marketing Agency is singing to my ears.

They can be anything from one man shows to big corporate agencies and it doesn't matter which type you just adjust your pricing accordingly.

Most of my wholesale contract work comes through marketing and advertising agencies.

I would be doing a presentation with them and use your client as a test case and get your client to give you the person they are dealing with.

This is a great opportunity for big volume work with very little effort.

I usually set them up their own hosting and domain then develop a complete system for them.

Quentin