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Things our clients talk about on their forums

by soontobefishing
18 replies
Hey folks. I was spending some time on a forum for my target niche. These are actual biz owners talking about tips and how to's as well as marketing and running a business. A few points I picked up that seemed to be fairly common:
  • Some biz owners know way too much about internet marketing
  • Most know at least a little about I.M.
  • A lot seem to think adwords is the way to go
  • $500 for a website 5 page is considered cheap (good deal)
  • $3000 for a fully optimized is considered average
  • Most owners hate seo companies calling them
  • Most feel the salesman doesnt know seo from hole in ground and is scammer
  • They all love google places when it has them on 1st page and say it sucks and doesnt work when they get bumped to 2nd
  • Most seem to worry about their online reputation and know that it can be exploited by competitors
  • The guys using these forums know their stuff and freely hand out some of the same advice you see here but most still seem like they would listen to an expert who didnt come across as scammy or try and b.s. These guys joke about offers of 1st page listing for 5 or 6 word longtails. They are looking for the two word niche + local or local + niche
Just giving out a little of what I observed. Maybe its worth checking on your niche's forum and seeing what these guys Really think of what we do. Just saying. And now I go to sleep.
#clients #forums #talk #things
  • Profile picture of the author socialbacklink
    Originally Posted by soontobefishing View Post

    Hey folks. I was spending some time on a forum for my target niche. These are actual biz owners talking about tips and how to's as well as marketing and running a business. A few points I picked up that seemed to be fairly common:
    • Some biz owners know way too much about internet marketing
    • Most know at least a little about I.M.
    • A lot seem to think adwords is the way to go
    • $500 for a website 5 page is considered cheap (good deal)
    • $3000 for a fully optimized is considered average
    • Most owners hate seo companies calling them
    • Most feel the salesman doesnt know seo from hole in ground and is scammer
    • They all love google places when it has them on 1st page and say it sucks and doesnt work when they get bumped to 2nd
    • Most seem to worry about their online reputation and know that it can be exploited by competitors
    • The guys using these forums know their stuff and freely hand out some of the same advice you see here but most still seem like they would listen to an expert who didnt come across as scammy or try and b.s. These guys joke about offers of 1st page listing for 5 or 6 word longtails. They are looking for the two word niche + local or local + niche
    Just giving out a little of what I observed. Maybe its worth checking on your niche's forum and seeing what these guys Really think of what we do. Just saying. And now I go to sleep.
    Outstanding stuff. This is the kind of stuff that makes getting the sale easy. It also makes sure that we can give them exactly what they want and need. Do you mind if I ask which forum you were on? If it gives away your niche and you don't to it's fine. Just curious.
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  • Profile picture of the author soontobefishing
    Hey no problem. It was plumbingzone.com Just the first forum result for plumbing forum. Probably have the same results for painters, electricians, masons, roofers etc. Takes a while to go all thru the forum but you get the flavor of the crowd if you know what I mean. Not just the marketing side of their business but some of their lingo and style of conversation. Probably not a bad idea to really do a little scouting where your potential customers hang and evesdrop ya know. Fly on the wall kinda stuff. I know theirs a trick to finding forums in google but I cant remeber it right know. If I find it I'll post it so people can do easy checks for their niches forums. Have a good one.
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    • Profile picture of the author socialbacklink
      Originally Posted by soontobefishing View Post

      Hey no problem. It was plumbingzone.com Just the first forum result for plumbing forum. Probably have the same results for painters, electricians, masons, roofers etc. Takes a while to go all thru the forum but you get the flavor of the crowd if you know what I mean. Not just the marketing side of their business but some of their lingo and style of conversation. Probably not a bad idea to really do a little scouting where your potential customers hang and evesdrop ya know. Fly on the wall kinda stuff. I know theirs a trick to finding forums in google but I cant remeber it right know. If I find it I'll post it so people can do easy checks for their niches forums. Have a good one.
      Awesome. Thanks. That's really just like mining gold. Definitely gets a real insight into the thinking there.

      Just a tip. If you go to offer them ppc. (I'm a huge offline and online ppc guy) The traffic estimator google has will often steer you wrong on costs on certain niches like plumbing, hvac, electrical. Not sure if they just haven't quite gotten it right yet or what. Thanks again.
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      • Profile picture of the author mil0x
        The fact that they're online on a discussion board is a pretty good sign they might know something about IM as well.. however it probably only represents 2% of the small business owners.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Durham
    Originally Posted by soontobefishing View Post

    Hey folks. I was spending some time on a forum for my target niche. These are actual biz owners talking about tips and how to's as well as marketing and running a business. A few points I picked up that seemed to be fairly common:
    • Some biz owners know way too much about internet marketing
    • Most know at least a little about I.M.
    • A lot seem to think adwords is the way to go
    • $500 for a website 5 page is considered cheap (good deal)
    • $3000 for a fully optimized is considered average
    • Most owners hate seo companies calling them
    • Most feel the salesman doesnt know seo from hole in ground and is scammer
    • They all love google places when it has them on 1st page and say it sucks and doesnt work when they get bumped to 2nd
    • Most seem to worry about their online reputation and know that it can be exploited by competitors
    • The guys using these forums know their stuff and freely hand out some of the same advice you see here but most still seem like they would listen to an expert who didnt come across as scammy or try and b.s. These guys joke about offers of 1st page listing for 5 or 6 word longtails. They are looking for the two word niche + local or local + niche
    Just giving out a little of what I observed. Maybe its worth checking on your niche's forum and seeing what these guys Really think of what we do. Just saying. And now I go to sleep.
    I LOVE this post.... Only one thing though:

    You have to consider the source.

    If these business owners are hanging out in a forum talking like this online, then they arent a group of "average" non internet savvy business owners, being that they are online talking about online marketing in forums... I dont know many business owners who do stuff like that except for a rare one here and there.

    Its likely that you will find any special type of group congregating in similar places. take our offline subforum for example- Outside of the forum world "offline marketing" isnt even a WORD, but if you hung out in here enough you would start to believe it was a "household" one.

    In short, they only represent that group. Average business owners arent hanging out in forums.

    Again,

    They are a niche of internet savvy business owners to be hanging out in the forums...Far from "average".

    In your forums it seems more concentrated, but they dont represent the general population of business owners.

    Still love the info and post though.

    This is how myths are created, even though this myth sharpens people up, its still a generalization, based on "exceptions", that truly does not apply to the average thinking among biz owners.

    -John

    Edit: ooops looks like mil0x said it first (and much more concisely). Great minds think alike!

    @ Social backlinks, its a good lesson here to carefully consider what you thank people for. This guy is creating a myth. enough time at WF and you will start to recognize stuff like that.

    I gotta crash,. I have two pitches to finish in the morning so I can sew up that campaign and move on... Nite fellas! Or "morning"?
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    • Profile picture of the author socialbacklink
      Originally Posted by John Durham View Post

      @ Social backlinks, its a good lesson here to carefully consider what you thank people for. This guy is creating a myth. enough time at WF and you will start to recognize stuff like that.
      Thanks for the tip. I forget there are so many newer marketers on here that might get the wrong idea. Definitely something to keep an eye on.
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      • Profile picture of the author soontobefishing
        Hey David. Also a fan lol. Now these biz owners had a lot to say about things they like and don't like. I just jotted down a few so not to make it a bullet fest lol. Cold calls from people who know nothing about their business or trade or have never even seen their website seemed to be something they did talk about not liking. Not sure how this post got so off track it was meant to be positive, ie $3000 for a website is average. I thought that was cool. Just trying to be helpful and tell folks that they can learn an awful lot about the different trades etc. that everybody tells people to call from going to forums and lurking. Not a real earth shattering revelation to anybody I'm sure. That way you can learn things like if you get a plumber (possible customer) on the phone and he starts saying stuff like he's has the best warranty or guarantee on PTAC's for example you'll have some idea what that means and can respond intelligently to keep the conversation going (by them). It really breaks up a chit chat when they want to talk about their business and you have to think or worse say I have no idea what this guy is talking about. Just cant see how it can hurt by knowing a little lingo that's all. And this is coming from a veteran plumber who started in I.M. and now does offline work mostly from referral. Hope it helps someone not trying to start a riot or anything. And social thanks for the tip for on adwords. P.S. A PTAC is that heater/airconditioner with the buttons or dials like in a hotel rm. Not that anybody cares lol.
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  • Profile picture of the author soontobefishing
    Hi John. Huge fan btw. I wasnt trying to create a myth or scare folks about I.M. savvy plumbers or anything like that. I actually was happy to see these guys saying $3000 is average for a website. I was hoping people would realize that doing a little background on your niche is probably a good idea. Say I wanted to market to nail salons. I know zilch about nail salons or their industry language. But go lurk at a nail salon forum and you can get a little insight into the biz before pitcing cold. And i totally agree that what I'm talking about was a thin slice of 1 niche at an online forum. Completely agree these guys are more I.M. based just cause they use a forum. They are computer savvy. Again sorry if I sounded like I was trying to scare anybody. Im still learning and doing this stuff on the side. Just saying good source for doing real world research is forums.
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    • Profile picture of the author John Durham
      Originally Posted by soontobefishing View Post

      Hi John. Huge fan btw. I wasnt trying to create a myth or scare folks about I.M....
      Didnt think you were "trying" to create one, but just said you were "creating" one.

      Thats why I added that I loved the post, and expounded upon it to help with the understanding for some. I still think its a good outline to follow.
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      • Profile picture of the author soontobefishing
        Hey Jon Martin. Yea that was something that they did seem to grumble about on the forum. Actually they kinda joked about it somebody they could barely understand offering SEO for big bucks who sounded very scammy. Probably not the best way to lead off when you get a live one on the phone. Just my opinion. Some of my biz owner friends and clients talk about this too. Some of them get a TON of calls. Gotta have your unique angle. Like being honest and real. Referrals are huge and so much easier to close. Some happy clients will close a referral for you! It's crazy. They tell their biz owner friend "oh you gotta have him do your site! Mine has been getting traffic like crazy and blah blah". It's nice when its easy like that.
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  • Profile picture of the author Robert Grossman
    Fantastic market intelligence. Good job learning this from forum posts.
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    • Profile picture of the author David Miller
      None of them said they didn't like cold calls?

      Go figure!

      JD pretty much expressed my viewpoint about this.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jon Martin
    I can validate the idea of many business owners HATING when they're called by people offering just SEO. This is quite common here in Ontario. A lot of business owners I've worked with are telling me that they're called multiple times daily by people with middle-eastern accents trying to sell SEO. It's important to sound more like a boss rather than an employee/telephone agent when calling these prospects. They can hear a difference and it can make or break a deal.

    Thanks for the investigatory post! Good stuff.
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  • Profile picture of the author soontobefishing
    Ok. Pheww. I really didn't want you and David thinking I was a trouble maker. Seriously, follow you guys a ton and have the utmost respect for both of ya. I will be more careful to not say things that people could overly misconstrue. Peace out on this.
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    • Profile picture of the author John Durham
      Originally Posted by soontobefishing View Post

      Ok. Pheww. I really didn't want you and David thinking I was a trouble maker. Seriously, follow you guys a ton and have the utmost respect for both of ya. I will be more careful to not say things that people could overly misconstrue. Peace out on this.
      Im not a mod, but yeah I understand, we, as loyal members, sometimes go into people pretty hard if we see them trying pull BS...lol

      Didnt think that at all.
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  • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
    Obviously it's a small percentage... BUT... aren't all our clients the end statistic of our marketing, which ends up as a small percentage?

    The good thing here, that doesn't change whether it is offline or online, is the prices they talked about. Good stuff.

    I kind of wish you didn't post this, but hopefully people will be too lazy to really figure out the gold in your own post. I have been utilizing niche related forums for a while...

    These guys are also right, adwords IS the way to go. It is guaranteed for them.

    Your observations are spot on. They aren't average business owners, they're savvy but can be a very good thing!
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    • Profile picture of the author soontobefishing
      Thanks nameless. Glad to see somebody utilizes the free info at the forums to help connect with their potential clients. And yea like I said the $3000 for a website is coming from these internet savvy guys. One thing I noticed not every one on the forums even has a website.Even though they are using the forum they still ask questions like :
      • how much is a website
      • is seo worth it
      • how do i rank google places
      • should i get a facebook page
      Im sure could figure a way to offer these folks just what they are saying they want.
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  • Profile picture of the author Niks24
    Perfect Marketing Strategy......Really Appreciated
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    Served Over 100 customers and there needs with Web and Mobile Apps Development, if you are looking for one please connect with me with good turnaround.
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