iuzeit

I'm wanting to get into selling SMS services to restaurants. I've read many posts on WF about SMS, and I've learned a lot. But I've got a few questions still, so I'm hoping some of you guys and girls can help me.

1. How do you go about determining a price point? Do you charge by number of subscribers, by text messages sent, a flat fee regardless, etc. I think charging a minimum flat fee (not really sure how much - maybe $199) with graduated costs based on number of texts sent (as their list grows, I charge more).

2. I read about an idea of giving the waitresses their own keyword and having a prize for the one that gets the most subscribers. I like this idea, but in reality, how does this work? I was thinking table tents, flyers, business cards, etc, but I'm not sure how to work that with various keywords for the same restaurant.

3. Any good ideas on how to get one's first client? I am using cold calling, and I am finding interested people, but going back to question #1, I'm not certain on how much to charge normally, and how much less I should charge (if any) when first starting.

4. How often should one send messages? I'm thinking sending 1 a week or so.

I appreciate any insight you guys can give.

xlfutur1

Pricing is one of the most asked questions relating to SMS services. I've found that if you build in a 10X profit margin you'll do fine.

I started out charging $99 per month for up to 500 subscribers and $149 for 501-1000 and that has worked well for me and for the businesses that are my clients. Most local businesses will probably have less than 1000 subscribers and if you limit their broadcasts to 1-2 per month you'll do fine.

I use Twilio so SMS is very inexpensive and there are no ongoing monthly fees, just pay as you go and its only 1 cent per text.

You have to be flexible to make it work for different businesses in different niches. For example, I have a hair salon client with limited marketing funds that has only a few dozen subscribers so I started them at just $49 dollars per month. The profit margin is still off the charts, so keep that in mind when working with local businesses.

One thing I have learned is that most business owners don't have a clue about marketing, so be prepared to lead them by the hand when setting up offers and broadcasts.

avandrunen

XL,

How did you learn to SMS market?

Did you pick a wso, just read through the forums or completely self teach...I am starting my own web design and marketing and would love to add this on as an upsell...just not sure entirely where to start.

Have an awesome day,
Adrian

Steve Solem

I think the best way to get your first clients in just about any business, but especially one where your costs are so little, is to offer a free trial to a business you know or frequent.

Especially considering that a business needs to build a list first before they can profit from sms, I'd offer them a free 30 day trial, provide them with some table tents or POS materials and be sure the staff promotes it, and then at the end of the month send out the first message to their new list.

Hopefully by then you've got a few hundred signups at least (if you offered them a good incentive to join) and sending say 500 texts should cost you less than $20 no matter which service you're using.

Find out what the business spends on other advertising methods like direct mail or coupons and how much business that brings them so you can compare the results and show them how much more effective sms can be.

@Adrian - you'll find plenty of great free advice here in the forum, or for a few $ there are a number of sms/text related WSOs that have been released over the years. Also do a search here for member "Dave Iago" as he's posted some really great ideas over the past two years.

Cheers,

Steve

Need Offline Leads? Get them more easily with two great Lead Gen reports and 65 pages of quality PLR PLUS flyers, postcards and other marketing materials. Starting at under $5!

krtheriault

This is a great thread! I have a hair salon as a client and am starting an email list for them

"You‘ve got to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology - not the other way around."

Steve Jobs

xlfutur1

SMS marketing is really just about building lists, stuff we internet marketers do every day. Once I found Twilio and OpenVBX it wasn't difficult to create systems that would build lists via an incoming phone call or a keyword to a phone number.

The trick is to get the business owner to understand how important it is to build lists of customers so they can be reached quickly with special offers and coupons. It doesn't get any quicker than SMS to reach them. Email pales in comparison.

The key comes down to showing a business owner how to benefit by using SMS marketing. For example, rather than have them spend $200 for a coupon in a publication that no one reads and simply throws away, show that they can spend that money (or less) to build a list of SMS subscribers that can be sent "digital" coupons - marketing messages that stay on their phone until they expire.

So many business owners throw away ad dollars when they could spend alot less and get a much better ROI with things like SMS marketing. Its not an end all, but definitely a strategy they should be using. Educate them, them help them cut costs and make more money and they will love you for it.