A Foolproof Networking Strategy that WORKS
In my SEO company I've recently brought on 6 sales reps (5 in the US, 1 in the UK) and one of them happens to be here locally in Dallas.
Recently I joined our company up in the local Chamber of Commerce and as a new member I was invited to speak at the next meeting. At each meeting, everyone drops their business card into a bucket, and on the way out everyone gets a photocopy sheet of all the business cards in attendance.
What I did was have my local sales rep run ranking reports for everyone whose business card was on the list. At the next meeting, where I got to speak, I did my usual presentation on why SEO is far superior to both PPC and Social Media, complete with lots of statistics, showing the traffic potential of SEO.
Meanwhile, my sales rep was handing out the ranking reports and everyone saw just how crappy their sites ranked, if they even ranked at all in the top 100.
Needless to say we walked out with a TON of very interested leads and lots of appointments!
This is an EASY strategy you can employ thanks to Meetup. In every city there are TONS AND TONS of business networking Meetups. Almost all are 100% free. The best part about Meetups, though, is that every one I've been to, and I've been to a LOT, hand out a list of members with all contact info, along with a list of all guests who RSVP'ed for that meeting.
So, what you can do is hit every networking Meetup group in your city. Walk out with that membership & attendance list, take them back to your office, and pull ranking reports for everyone's site. Print them out in color on nice paper (go to Kinko's or the UPS Store if you have to), and then bring them to the next meeting.
You'll not only get tons of very interested prospects, but on top of that, you'll find that people truly appreciate the information and don't consider it to be a pushy sales move at all. In fact, whenever we do this, people at meeting #2 who weren't at meeting #1 almost always give us their card and ask for a ranking report of their own along with an SEO proposal.
Give this strategy a try - it's easy, it's fun, you get to meet a lot of new people, and it's WAY more effective than cold calling!
Recently I joined our company up in the local Chamber of Commerce and as a new member I was invited to speak at the next meeting. At each meeting, everyone drops their business card into a bucket, and on the way out everyone gets a photocopy sheet of all the business cards in attendance.
What I did was have my local sales rep run ranking reports for everyone whose business card was on the list. At the next meeting, where I got to speak, I did my usual presentation on why SEO is far superior to both PPC and Social Media, complete with lots of statistics, showing the traffic potential of SEO.
Meanwhile, my sales rep was handing out the ranking reports and everyone saw just how crappy their sites ranked, if they even ranked at all in the top 100.
Needless to say we walked out with a TON of very interested leads and lots of appointments!
This is an EASY strategy you can employ thanks to Meetup. In every city there are TONS AND TONS of business networking Meetups. Almost all are 100% free. The best part about Meetups, though, is that every one I've been to, and I've been to a LOT, hand out a list of members with all contact info, along with a list of all guests who RSVP'ed for that meeting.
So, what you can do is hit every networking Meetup group in your city. Walk out with that membership & attendance list, take them back to your office, and pull ranking reports for everyone's site. Print them out in color on nice paper (go to Kinko's or the UPS Store if you have to), and then bring them to the next meeting.
You'll not only get tons of very interested prospects, but on top of that, you'll find that people truly appreciate the information and don't consider it to be a pushy sales move at all. In fact, whenever we do this, people at meeting #2 who weren't at meeting #1 almost always give us their card and ask for a ranking report of their own along with an SEO proposal.
Give this strategy a try - it's easy, it's fun, you get to meet a lot of new people, and it's WAY more effective than cold calling!
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ewenmack -
Thanks
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NickSway -
Thanks
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