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A Cool Offline Success Story...

by Zachary R. Skinner
10 replies
Howdy warriors,

I thought I would take a few minutes and share with you one of my offline success stories.

According to a lot of the information being pushed through this forum, the way to make money with offline consulting is to sell a big expensive website package or by building some kind of local directory or by creating and then managing a company's local adwords campaigns.

That's exactly what I'm NOT doing...

Instead, what I am doing is capitalizing on my knowledge of web marketing and social media marketing by offering my consulting services to local businesses.

Because I'm just a consultant I'm not required to manage a company's adwords campaigns or build an elaborate website or know scripting code or anything like that.

The product I'm selling is advice.

If you know what you are doing (and i do) advice is a totally badass product to sell!

So here is one my success stories working as an offline business consultant, I really hope it inspires some of you...

I met a guy named tony who owns a computer store here in the dayton, ohio area. They also build websites for customers and perform a number of specialty services.

Tony was struggling to bring in customers and was very, very frustrated by his current advertising programs. He told me that if things didn't pick up he was going to close the store by december.

I sensed a perfect opportunity and invited tony out to lunch a couple of weeks ago.

Before I had invited him to lunch I had already reviewed his website and his business operation in general and knew that I could be of service.

At our lunch session I gave tony some free internet marketing advice and also explained to him that using social media could reduce his advertising spending and increase the number of customers walking into his store (among other things)

I handed him a to do list and told him to update me on his progress and his results. I was also very honest with him and told him that I was giving him this free information in the hopes of turning him into a paying client in the future.

Tony made the changes I had suggested to his website and also created a Twitter presence for his business. He followed my suggestions to the letter and started building a following composed of local twitter users. Here is his Twitter profile based on my suggestions.

If you're on Twitter, feel free to hit this guy up and ask him if what I'm saying is true

So I got a phone call from Tony on Monday and he told me that in the previous few days his twitter account had brought in 12 potential customers into the store 7 of which actually became paying customers generating $1,100 in sales!

Now this guy is willing and ready to pay me my $100/hr rate to listen to my other advice and suggestions.

And the money he's going to spend with me will be well, well spent because he will end up saving and/or earning THOUSANDS of dollars a month for his small business!

The sky is pretty much the limit on this. I could and likely will end up making $50 or $60k a year doing offline consulting in my spare time.

If you know what you are doing, there is a TON of money to be made in the offline consulting biz!

I hope this inspires some of you to take action....
#cool #offline #offline consulting #offline marketing #story #success
  • Profile picture of the author Zachary R. Skinner
    :rolleyes:
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    "The successful man is the one who finds out what is the matter with his business before his competitors do"
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    • Profile picture of the author seoFool.com
      We tend to focus on Internet marketing so much that we often forget that there's an offline world at all. Great post!
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      • Profile picture of the author Black Hat Cat
        Banned
        So I got a phone call from Tony on Monday and he told me that in the previous few days his twitter account had brought in 12 potential customers into the store 7 of which actually became paying customers generating $1,100 in sales!
        Yeah, I can see how a Twitter account that auto posts about everything BUT networking, pc repair, and virus/spyware removal, or even the guys business in general would generate customers for a computer store. The Obama Nobel prize tweet alone made me want to drive to Ohio and buy a computer from him.

        Sorry, not buying it. Smells like an ad for the product in your sig....but that's me.
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        • Profile picture of the author Zachary R. Skinner
          Originally Posted by Black Hat Cat View Post

          Yeah, I can see how a Twitter account that auto posts about everything BUT networking, pc repair, and virus/spyware removal, or even the guys business in general would generate customers for a computer store. The Obama Nobel prize tweet alone made me want to drive to Ohio and buy a computer from him.

          Sorry, not buying it. Smells like an ad for the product in your sig....but that's me.
          There is no product in my sig dumb ass...
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          "The successful man is the one who finds out what is the matter with his business before his competitors do"
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  • Profile picture of the author Handsome J
    Call me Gordon Gecko if this sounds too greedy, but I think $100/hr for consult is cheap. The whole point to me of selling offline is to make large amounts of cash fast. Thats why packaged services and products make substantially more per hour. Who wants to work a 40 hour week for $4k when you can sell Websites, videos, or other services and just outsource and collect a premium. Im sorry but I would rather work less for more.
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    • Profile picture of the author Zachary R. Skinner
      Originally Posted by Handsome J View Post

      Call me Gordon Gecko if this sounds too greedy, but I think $100/hr for consult is cheap. The whole point to me of selling offline is to make large amounts of cash fast. Thats why packaged services and products make substantially more per hour. Who wants to work a 40 hour week for $4k when you can sell Websites, videos, or other services and just outsource and collect a premium. Im sorry but I would rather work less for more.
      HAHAHAHA, your post had me rolling!!

      You do make a good point, I have to hand it to you.

      Given the value that I'm generating for my clients $100/hr is really a bargain, I know that. I could charge half again as much or even double and still make people very happy.

      The reason I charge what I do is because I'm not a greedy man and I actually liking talking to people (as strange as that may sound). The fact that I can get people to pay me to talk to them blows my damn mind on a regular basis.

      I think even if I were making $1 million+ a year I would still bill myself at $100/hr because I actually like doing it and making a few hundred dollars for a few hours work always puts a smile on my face!
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  • Profile picture of the author chrisnegro
    Zach:

    Don't worry about the NAYSAYERS...I think what your doing is awesome. Many thanks for sharing you story as we can all learn from everyones story as long as we remain teachable. Those that think "they have arrived" .....the time is already ticking on their demise. Hate to say it...... sad but true.

    Keep the stories and personal experience coming Zach. Your post inspired to share some more intimate personal stories of alot of work I"m doing in the field. My mentor recently told me..... "Chris...you need to start sharing your successes with others more". So...in a few weeks....I'm sure I will be ready to start sharing some more real world experiences like yourself .

    Success,

    Chris Negro
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  • Profile picture of the author Pat Ordenes
    Zach,
    Congrats man!
    I'm on a similar situation...
    Stated building a site for a furniture store,
    who then referred me to a sofa place down the street...
    The Furniture store owner just told the sofa place that
    I was building her site and that from our conversations,
    I seemed 'pretty clued in the whole internet marketing thing'...
    So the guys booked me in for a full day consultation next week!


    Regarding what you are charging...
    I don't think it really matters, and 100/h
    should certainly not be frowned upon....
    Warriors should always focus on the Low Barrier Entry Price...

    If Zach can charge 100/h consulting,
    imagine what he can charge customers when he ACTUALLY does work for them!
    Thats my angle, anyway.... In fact, I'd encourage free consultations, as Zach has done at the start. You do several things:

    - Build trust
    - educate the customer (thus opening the door to further upsells!)
    - educate yourself about the client (thus arming YOU with priceless knowledge)
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    All kinds of GRAPHICS (ebook covers, headers, etc...) done professionally and guaranteed!
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    • Profile picture of the author AndrewCavanagh
      Nice story.

      You'll find this client was really the exception in that he:

      # Has good experience working with websites.

      # Followed your instructions to the letter.


      When I run across someone like that I usually focus on charging them for consulting too but be aware that as few as one in 30 or 40 clients will fall into this category.

      If you're serious about making a full time living on top of this consulting model you'll probably want to offer services to business owners who don't want to work on their websites.

      Remember that most business owners simply don't have the time or the expertise to do internet marketing work and would prefer to pay someone (like you) to do it for them.



      You can offer consulting to business owners who don't have the 2 key requirements mentioned above but the results they get will tend to be poor.

      If you're okay with that...taking money with variable results based on how well they follow your advice... then go for it.


      One interesting point.

      This first client of yours might make a good joint venture partner or you find another jv partner or outsource work to someone.

      $100/hour is a tiny amount of money when you start comparing it to the thousands of dollars you could be charging for the internet marketing projects you recommend your clients undertake.

      Also remember that with any business you're going to spend 1/3rd to 2/3rds of your time running your business so the amount you charge clients per hour has to make up for that time spent marketing and managing (in other words your $100 per hour fee shrinks to more like $30 to $60 an hour and you also have to pay for marketing expenses as well).

      Kindest regards,
      Andrew Cavanagh
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      • Profile picture of the author Zachary R. Skinner
        Originally Posted by AndrewCavanagh View Post

        Nice story.

        You'll find this client was really the exception in that he:

        # Has good experience working with websites.

        # Followed your instructions to the letter.


        When I run across someone like that I usually focus on charging them for consulting too but be aware that as few as one in 30 or 40 clients will fall into this category.

        If you're serious about making a full time living on top of this consulting model you'll probably want to offer services to business owners who don't want to work on their websites.

        Remember that most business owners simply don't have the time or the expertise to do internet marketing work and would prefer to pay someone (like you) to do it for them.


        You can offer consulting to business owners who don't have the 2 key requirements mentioned above but the results they get will tend to be poor.

        If you're okay with that...taking money with variable results based on how well they follow your advice... then go for it.


        One interesting point.

        This first client of yours might make a good joint venture partner or you find another jv partner or outsource work to someone.

        $100/hour is a tiny amount of money when you start comparing it to the thousands of dollars you could be charging for the internet marketing projects you recommend your clients undertake.

        Also remember that with any business you're going to spend 1/3rd to 2/3rds of your time running your business so the amount you charge clients per hour has to make up for that time spent marketing and managing (in other words your $100 per hour fee shrinks to more like $30 to $60 an hour and you also have to pay for marketing expenses as well).

        Kindest regards,
        Andrew Cavanagh
        Andrew,

        Your a total badass you know that?

        Your advice here is excellent and will definitely be followed. I'm sure you're 100% correct that only 3 or 4% of my clients will be like this particular client.

        I'm not really looking to turn this into a full time gig, just a part time gig.

        I simply meet people and impress them with my MASSIVE internet marketing knowledge because I'm a dork who likes to talk about this stuff. Then word spreads and I get clients.

        I really don't want to spend more than 20 hours a week doing this because I'm already spending 40+ a week on the computer. After all, I do know how to use my own knowledge!

        Thanks for the GREAT post!
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