Offline Marketers If you don't like cold calling here is a possible solution

Thanks, seems appealing.
Although I'd rather use it as a way of getting them "warmed up", so it'll just be "calling", instead of "cold-calling" :p

Really, if you mangage to get them all fired up, they might call you immediately, or you can call them when you know they've watched the video.

Just make sure it isn't too long, as business owners always like time for things like this.
Also make sure it is in a proper format. - They might not have flash or anything similar installed on their business computer.

Preben, good add! And something else to think about. The warm up call vs cold calling. Good feedback man

D

Hello,
A video may work for the short term,
but you will still have to see the client at one point or another.
If you can not make a cold call or speak well to a stranger
this may not be the job for you.
If you are good at seo and not speaking just hire help that can do it for you.

Video, like email, will get tired too very soon if it hasn't already.

This whole game will evolve back to communicating with people... Use the net to get the leads and the serious who buy early, but call up the rest who leave #s as well...just what I've been doing lately - works great.

Effective marketing of any intangible service LIKE CONSULTING
is a multi-step process.

There's a lot of bitching and moaning here by folks who want to
make the big bucks in consulting but wish to avoid the very
activity that is essential to selling consulting: Consultative Selling!

Nobody is going to get this all at once. Trying to build a
consulting business and figuring out how to market one just
by reading WF threads is absurd. Really. Go read some books
about how to run and market a consulting business.

You CAN hire a salesperson to sell your services - and if you're
really good you probably should because the salesperson will
get the prospects to the point where by the time YOU talk
to them they are already 80-100% sold on going with your
firm.

I handle my own selling. I have never worked as a salesman.
I'm introverted, too. I have all kinds of messy stuff in my
presentation - but I am sincere and I CAN help virtually any
business improve their marketing effectiveness. If they
don't want to hire me that's their loss! I don't take it personally -
it usually just means some other copywriter/consultant was
better at selling his or her services than me. No big deal,
because I win some too!

Seriously - there are ways around the "I hate selling" dilemma, but
in most cases it's better to "man-up" and get some basic skills and
preparation to sell.

There are tons of salespeople out there who have ability but
no good opportunity to make money at it. If you bring on a
salesperson you'll have to either cut your own pay or jack-up
your fees to pay him. That's the reality of it.

Probably the best, most-effective way to increase your fees
is to get a book in print to prove your expertise. Then you
can charge a lot more and position yourself as the busy expert,
have your salesperson do the prospecting and you only talk to
prospects in the closing phase of making the deal.

Great points Loren. And I really think having published a book will make it easy for you to push up prices, as well as getting hired more often.

However,my idea about the free consulting, was that you will have one hour to sell your marketing services, explain the benefits of marketing online etc. as well as they will really listen to you. You can also find out what the business owner needs help for/what their problem is, which will make it an easy sale.

Anyways, great points. You don't have to be a salesman to sell your passion, if you are able to showcase it's benefits.

Ahh, cold calling. Scares the crap out of you at first. You'll pick the phone up, put it down. Pick it up, hold it to your ear. Put it down. Pick it up, put it to your ear, maybe even dial a few numbers this time. Wow, we're getting somewhere. Then put it down.

The funny thing is, once you finally make a few calls and deal with rejection, it becomes pretty easy. In a past life I had to make cold calls. I got so tired of rejection that I just started to not care anymore.

And you know what, that's when you make the sales. You just start shooting from the hip and things come naturally. You're not worried about what the other person is thinking. Because chances are, it's the same as everyone else before was thinking. So if they are interested, it will come as a surprise and a bonus.

Best advice, go in with the mindset that what you are offering will benefit them. If they don't like it, that's their problem. Next! Spend your time on someone who will appreciate your help.

Offering a 1-hour free consultation is probably shooting yourself
in the foot. People know they'll feel obligated to buy your services
if they accept the offer - so there's already resistance built-in
by YOU as a marketer when you offer something that should
have a high perceived-value (your time) for nothing, to anyone
who wants it.

That being said, the way you learn how to sell to business owners
is by talking to them and asking questions. Join local business
networking groups and just ask questions with no intention to
sell. Many business owners are delighted to talk about marketing
issues as long as there isn't sales pressure - which they will in
fact expect in a "free consultation" situation.

Cold calling is, as -Oz says, not really that hard. You just have
to do it. It still sucks but you learn a lot about people doing it.

@Lauren - Hmmm... I haven't really thought of it in that way before, but it makes sense. However, what if you are able to presell a bit first? Like explaining that they actually get one whole hour for free without obligation, and you talk to them a bit about their business first, and give them a few great tips immediately and make them think they might need it. Of course, you will try to sell your services a bit, BUT it shouldn't mean the world if you don't manage to sell to them as long as you still provide them with value and help them. Then they might give you a few referrals, as you actually helped them.

I'm just reading Joe Girard's "How to sell anything to anyone", and he talks about offline affiliate marketing. He tried to make every potentially good affiliate into one. For example people who talks to many people, and have some influence on them. He offered them $50 for every sale they sent his way, and he managed to sell 550 cars a year, only using affiliates. He gave them promotional materials as well, like business cards etc.

If you can do this when you have the free consulting, I'm pretty sure they will send a few sales your way. And referral sales are really the easiest and best sales you can get. Then they're already sold.

I'm going to my stepbrothers birthday party today, and I'm pretty sure I can do some good networking over there and hand out some business cards to potential customers. And if I give them a good impression of myself, it's likely that they will call me.

BUT, you have way more experience in this than me, so I'm not saying you're wrong or anything. I just have a feeling my approach might work, although your arguments really makes sense =)

- Preben

P.S. There are many ways to make cold calling less "cold", and by asking the right questions, you might build a good list of future customers.

It was NHL great Wayne Gretzky.

This could work, although you'd need to stick with a one-time email shot otherwise, you *might* be accused of spamming them. The more you can personalize the email... even tell them a thing or two you noticed on their website that is hurting their efforts, the better your chances of getting contacted will become.

The offline businesses that probably need your help the most are the ones who don't have a website yet. Many times, it's because the owner is trying to wear too many hats and hasn't gotten around to tackling that "HTML stuff" yet.

Take care,

Mike

I don't understand why so many people hate calling and talking to people on the phone.

So what if they don't listen. Move on. If you're not excited enough about what you sell to motivate you to pick up the phone and start talking to people about it, then maybe what you're offering isn't all that great. After all, if it were, you'd be excited to talk about it.

The problem is that most people want to talk about themselves and they try to close the entire deal over the phone on the first shot. Calling someone should be about getting a few minutes of face time. Ask questions about their business. Ask them about their needs and frustrations. Don't launch into your presentation right off the bat. Just have conversations with people. That involves listening.