Don't give up -- a little inspiration!

When I first started with offline consulting, I contacted some businesses to barter services. One was a massage therapist. She was cordial, but hesitant, and even disappeared on me for an entire month as she was trying to decide if she wanted to barter. (Yes, I know I should have given up but I was desperate at that point.)

She finally called me and said she wanted to do it, and we were about to start when I got a voicemail the next day saying she had decided not to do it because her web hosting company offered all of the services I offered, so she wouldn't need me. (I have no clue what they told her, but she obviously was desperate to blow me off.)

I was really upset, but I moved on. A few weeks later, I found another massage therapist to barter with. She was totally on board from day one.

Fast forward a year... she now enjoys two to five new clients a week thanks to me. The original massage therapist is no where to be found on the search engines. She even told me when we first met that she was struggling with her client base, so I know she really could have used those two to five new clients a week. It's her loss that she wasn't willing to take a chance on me!

Any time someone tells you no, just move on. It's hard to convince business owners the value of SEO sometimes, but those who "get it" will be rewarded greatly.