The real value of an offline customer...
Just a quick note that I hope might help some...
I was able to land a client a couple of years ago (it's one of those types of clients people tell you stay away from because you can't make any money)...
I was creating a bunch of feeder sites and doing SEO on his main site - got paid $2,000 per month for around 6 months.
Then he got ADD and decided to sink his money into something else, but he didn't fire me outright...he let me keep the feeder sites and continue to work on them (and he paid me $27 for every call the sites got him).
When we first moved to this type of arrangement, I was making around $450 per month from the leads - I quickly moved that up to $1,000 per month on average. This lasted about 3 months until I realized that his main site was now off of page 1 and he was losing business - I let him know about it.
His main problem? He didn't want to be a 'general contractor' where he had to hire me for SEO, somebody else to help with print ads etc. I told him I can do that for him - just hire me for it all.
So he did - $4K per month (we are about 6 months in). About 3 months ago he referred me to a colleague - $2,500 per month for SEO and feeder sites (and the guy wants to discuss moving up his investment).
The original guy is talking to another friend about using my services as well - probably $2,500 per month too. Between the original guy and the 2 referrals (assuming the second one happens and they both stay a full 12 months) that is over $100K just from this guy.
I am not sharing this to brag (this is really nothing to brag about) - I just want to demonstrate the value of working with the right people to begin with.
Only work with business people that are already successful, have an extensive advertising budget and 'get it'. Also - don't be discouraged if they scale back their investment with you - try to work it into a positive.
And..you know how I landed this guy? I sent him a cheesy video. It was still different then the 5 emails he gets a day about SEO (still).
I hope this helps somebody - approach the right people and be different in your approach.
I was able to land a client a couple of years ago (it's one of those types of clients people tell you stay away from because you can't make any money)...
I was creating a bunch of feeder sites and doing SEO on his main site - got paid $2,000 per month for around 6 months.
Then he got ADD and decided to sink his money into something else, but he didn't fire me outright...he let me keep the feeder sites and continue to work on them (and he paid me $27 for every call the sites got him).
When we first moved to this type of arrangement, I was making around $450 per month from the leads - I quickly moved that up to $1,000 per month on average. This lasted about 3 months until I realized that his main site was now off of page 1 and he was losing business - I let him know about it.
His main problem? He didn't want to be a 'general contractor' where he had to hire me for SEO, somebody else to help with print ads etc. I told him I can do that for him - just hire me for it all.
So he did - $4K per month (we are about 6 months in). About 3 months ago he referred me to a colleague - $2,500 per month for SEO and feeder sites (and the guy wants to discuss moving up his investment).
The original guy is talking to another friend about using my services as well - probably $2,500 per month too. Between the original guy and the 2 referrals (assuming the second one happens and they both stay a full 12 months) that is over $100K just from this guy.
I am not sharing this to brag (this is really nothing to brag about) - I just want to demonstrate the value of working with the right people to begin with.
Only work with business people that are already successful, have an extensive advertising budget and 'get it'. Also - don't be discouraged if they scale back their investment with you - try to work it into a positive.
And..you know how I landed this guy? I sent him a cheesy video. It was still different then the 5 emails he gets a day about SEO (still).
I hope this helps somebody - approach the right people and be different in your approach.
Lucy Castle
Lucy@GettingOnlineIncome.com
www.GettingOnlineIncome.com