Sales Strategy for Rent-a-Site Model

15 years ago

Your methods look pretty solid. How many letters have you sent out, and have you received any replies? What have people said during your follow up phone call?

Originally Posted by JonTuckerUSA

I recently started trying the rent a site model that's been talked about on WF for quite sometime. I have about 5 websites created for various niches in San Diego, will be able to get them ranked in just a few weeks based on past experience, and am ready to start selling them.

I wanted to pre-sell some of them this month before I leave for traveling in Australia / Indonesia (since I won't be in San Diego to do sales calls or visits).

I wanted to see if anyone has any unique sales method that works well for this rent a site method once the site is created / ranked...I'm having a bit of a hard time.

I currently use the below process
-create the website based on keyword volume, etc.
-find leads in each niche based on who has Yellow Page ads
-find the owners name via salesgenie.com
-send a personalize letter, signed by me, handwritten envelope, confidential stamp on the letter...the letter talks about how XX,XXX people per month type in "the keyword"...I want to refer these people to you and bring you XX or XXX new customers per month since there is such a large number of people looking for this service/product. here's my phone number...it obviously says more than that, but you get the idea
-I then followup via phone to confirm they received the letter and see if I can get them further down the sales funnel.

I'm thinking I can figure out how to make this work, but wanted to see if anyone on WF had any luck with other tricks in marketing a site available for rent.

Maybe it'll be easier once it's ranked, but I'd rather not sit on the beach in Indonesia at 5 in the morning trying to call prospects in a San Diego timezone ; ) I should be able to have it ranked in 1-3 weeks, but I'd rather get it sold now and have the payment period start once it's ranked.

Looking forward to your thoughts...

Thanks

Signature

"When you do something exactly wrong, you always turn up something."
-Andy Warhol

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1094228].message }}

Voasi

15 years ago

I've got a sales guy doing this now, but our sites are ranked. For me, that's our USP, so it's an easy sale - as long as you get the decision maker on the phone, it's been a no-brainer so far.

Thanks
1 reply

Signature

Want $6,000/mo. SEO Clients? Watch My Free Video!

Page 1 Link Building: Finally, Linking That Works, because I do it! Pagerank 5 Homepage Links!!

We do WSO Designs TOO!!! Best on WF! - Click Here

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1094326].message }}

DukeNasty

15 years ago

Originally Posted by Voasi

I've got a sales guy doing this now, but our sites are ranked. For me, that's our USP, so it's an easy sale - as long as you get the decision maker on the phone, it's been a no-brainer so far.

I would love to see what your sites look like. I have seen the one Go Getta mentions in his WSO, but seeing a couple of other examples would be great to get the creative juices flowing! Thanks.

E.

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1094695].message }}

Jason_V

15 years ago

Honestly, even if the site's aren't ranked yet it's no big deal. Most business people don't understand much about how search engines and SEO works. I think the great thing that you're doing is catching their attention with the whole "Hey, look, this keyword gets searched x amount of times per month and it can be your site sitting there collecting all those potential sales/clients."

Obviously, in the interest of full disclosure after you're talking to them for a while, you should mention that the site isn't ranked yet, but it will be in a few weeks. If you wanted, you could actually offer them a slight discount on the first month just because the site isn't ranked yet.

Thanks

Signature

"When you do something exactly wrong, you always turn up something."
-Andy Warhol

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1094347].message }}

JonTuckerUSA

15 years ago

Originally Posted by Jason_V

Your methods look pretty solid. How many letters have you sent out, and have you received any replies? What have people said during your follow up phone call?

^JasonV,
very few letters thus far. About 10-15 per niche. I found all the people with large ads in the YEllow Pages for each niche. However, I'm starting to think that I should try the "smaller players" in these niches...such as the people that aren't advertising in the Yellow Pages but still enough business to invest in quality marketing. At least in one niche specifically, I know that that big players have waiting lists of clients or 2-3 months, so it's not a huge pain point to get new customers from Google each month. I'll be trying this soon

The response during the phone call isn't going too well. I'm not bad on the phone, but I'm sure I'm coming across as another salesman pushing them into something. Instead, I'm going to try both a few different me-on-the-phone strategies and also a few other unique strategies I thought of yesterday...

Originally Posted by Voasi

I've got a sales guy doing this now, but our sites are ranked. For me, that's our USP, so it's an easy sale - as long as you get the decision maker on the phone, it's been a no-brainer so far.

^Voasi,
Where did you get your sales guy from? Is he selling all the websites you do in different niches, or are you sticking to one niche and hitting multiple cities? I'd like to get the sites ranked and then hire a sales guy to sell these things while I'm overseas. We'll see how that goes...

Originally Posted by Jason_V

Honestly, even if the site's aren't ranked yet it's no big deal. Most business people don't understand much about how search engines and SEO works. I think the great thing that you're doing is catching their attention with the whole "Hey, look, this keyword gets searched x amount of times per month and it can be your site sitting there collecting all those potential sales/clients."

Obviously, in the interest of full disclosure after you're talking to them for a while, you should mention that the site isn't ranked yet, but it will be in a few weeks. If you wanted, you could actually offer them a slight discount on the first month just because the site isn't ranked yet.

^Jason
Yes, most of the clients aren't really "wowed" by the "I'll get this site on Google for you". Once it's ranked, I'll be able to say XX,XXX people are searching for your services each month, and I have a website in front of all of them that you can have.

Yes, I did disclose that it's not ranked yet. What I wanted to do was to collect the first month's payment right now, but not have that actual payment period start until it hits the first page.

Originally Posted by DukeNasty

I would love to see what your sites look like. I have seen the one Go Getta mentions in his WSO, but seeing a couple of other examples would be great to get the creative juices flowing! Thanks.
E.

^DukeNasty,
I would love to show you the sites, as I'm really happy with how they turned out, but I don't want to give away my niches, Sorry about,

Thanks

Signature

Done for You Website Chat Service - HelpFlow.net

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1096748].message }}

Voasi

15 years ago

I would love to see what your sites look like. I have seen the one Go Getta mentions in his WSO, but seeing a couple of other examples would be great to get the creative juices flowing! Thanks.

My sites are all built with Wordpress. I do this for 2 reason. One, it's easy for me to update. Two, it's easy for them to update.

Seriously though, Wordpress is so flexible that it just makes sense.

Where did you get your sales guy from? Is he selling all the websites you do in different niches, or are you sticking to one niche and hitting multiple cities? I'd like to get the sites ranked and then hire a sales guy to sell these things while I'm overseas. We'll see how that goes...

He's a buddy of mine that was doing sales for web design company. He has spare time so he doesn't mind making a few extra bucks. It really shouldn't be hard to find a sales guy on Craigslist though - times are tough and everyone is looking to make more money.

I'm sticking to one vertical at a time. I build in batches though. I buy all the domains I want for a given vertical, then start the ranking process. Once they're ranked, I start to move on to the next set and then my sales guy starts to close the last batch that is ranking.

Thanks
1 reply

Signature

Want $6,000/mo. SEO Clients? Watch My Free Video!

Page 1 Link Building: Finally, Linking That Works, because I do it! Pagerank 5 Homepage Links!!

We do WSO Designs TOO!!! Best on WF! - Click Here

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1098571].message }}

JonTuckerUSA 15 years ago

Thanks Voasi, I like the batch process idea. Makes it easier for creating the sites, ranking them, and especially selling them. I was concerned about having a sales guy sell various verticals all at once. I'llgive the batch approach a try.

Do you mind me asking how many of these you rented out and the average monthly price?
- Thanks
Signature

Done for You Website Chat Service - HelpFlow.net
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1099990].message }}

Maria Gudelis

15 years ago

Hey Jon - the RAS model works real well. And FANTASTIC for upsells - I upsell them on my social media and branding package, video marketing, etc.

I add a 'twist' to it and also offer up an "auction" to create that crazy auction mentality to the prospects.

Hope the images below helps you - you can do this from anywhere in the world by hiring a local sales rep (e.g. when I'm in south of france, I am still making money in my markets in U.S., and Canada)

Here is the ad I have used in CL- feel free to swipe it - customize it as you or other warriors see fit (NOTE -get the image or your image from istockphoto dot com for only one buck - buy the small size - it is important to have an image to differentiate you and have an image of a smiling face - whether this one below or a business women / man smiling (converts better with a smiling face - proven statistic):

NOTE - I had my 1-800 phone number at bottom of the image (took that off for this post) and also - the sentence above - got cut off in my snagit capture image - it says:

Turn-key solution. Benefits to the business:

Thanks
1 reply

Signature

Brand NEW: How To Dominate Facebook SEO - LIVE Coaching - Closes SOON! Get In Now Click Here

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1100030].message }}

JonTuckerUSA 15 years ago

Thanks so much for the CL post template. I'll give this a try. I'm leaving for Oz in 2 weeks and am excited to get this rolling in the meantime
- Thanks
Signature

Done for You Website Chat Service - HelpFlow.net
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1125755].message }}

Voasi

15 years ago

Do you mind me asking how many of these you rented out and the average monthly price?

I won't say how many rented, but I will tell you the range. It really depends on the vertical. You can get $500 to $50, just depends. Mostly, I go for $99 a month.

Thanks
1 reply

Signature

Want $6,000/mo. SEO Clients? Watch My Free Video!

Page 1 Link Building: Finally, Linking That Works, because I do it! Pagerank 5 Homepage Links!!

We do WSO Designs TOO!!! Best on WF! - Click Here

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1100242].message }}

JonTuckerUSA 15 years ago

That is along the lines of what I was thinking. Thanks
- Thanks
Signature

Done for You Website Chat Service - HelpFlow.net
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1125761].message }}

shivon

14 years ago

Ultimately you should rent out the site according to the amount of traffic you recieve.

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2726692].message }}

shivon

14 years ago

ultimately you should rent out the according to the amount of traffic you recieve.

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2726745].message }}

DrewClement

14 years ago

If you are here, and already into the world of internet marketing then you know that a 2-5% conversion rate is excellent for any product/service you are promoting.

Thus, if you truly want to be successful then you need to be prepared to make 100 phone calls/connections in order to get 1 or 2 clients. Be committed, be prepared for the people to hang up on you, and reach out to potential customers in bulk.

10-15 just isnt going to cut it.

Thanks

Signature

50% Commission, Proven Products, and MASSIVE Profits

Drew@SellHealth.com

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2726784].message }}

grimace_86

14 years ago

i would rent it out for the potential roi the business will get.

Ive spoken to a few businesses and most dont care about being on the first page. The reason why is beacuse they dont understand what being ranked on the first page will do for them. Ie. More customers, sales and profits.

If i were a business owner and somone gave me a proven solution thats generating 10 sales per month, and each sale is worth 500 bucks, i would be happy to pay 500 bucks for that per month. Though i would spend that if the site only made 1 sale per month. Not worth the investment.

Thanks
1 reply

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2726794].message }}

peter.max

14 years ago

Originally Posted by grimace_86

i would rent it out for the potential roi the business will get.

Ive spoken to a few businesses and most dont care about being on the first page. The reason why is beacuse they dont understand what being ranked on the first page will do for them. Ie. More customers, sales and profits.

If i were a business owner and somone gave me a proven solution thats generating 10 sales per month, and each sale is worth 500 bucks, i would be happy to pay 500 bucks for that per month. Though i would spend that if the site only made 1 sale per month. Not worth the investment.

That is my experience as well. In IM we understand the value of being high up on the first page but for offline business owners their expectation of a website is to get prospects for sales.

Trying to explain to them why they need to be on top of Google for organic search is a difficult cold call. I rather pitch other services that interest them and pick up the SEO work as an upsell if I wanted to.

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2726884].message }}

Sales Strategy for Rent-a-Site Model

Trending Topics

What's the Best IM-Related Skill to Learn Today That Can Help in the Future?

Would You Go?

Any good link monetization services?

Are billboards still effective in driving customers?

My WordPress website was hacked and this is what happened