Google leads vs Yellow Pages Leads which is better for selling web design/seo ?

If you go back and read related threads on this forum you will find the answers to your questions.. to save you the time it would take to get to those threads let me give you the short answers.

The Yellow Book listings in general will show more intererst, and will more than likely be more apt to buy. Why you ask? They have PAID for the listing you are scraping. They are actively paying for advertising. They understand that it takes money to make money. They understand the expense of obtaining business. They have paid for advertising in the past, they will pay for advertising in the NOW - AND the future.

Is is easier to sell websites to those that dont have one? NO. Not that it cant be done, that is exactly what I do.. but I dont make 1000 calls and think I have 2 or 3 possibilities to close a sale.

Is it easier to sell marketing to owners with websites? NO. They have already paid for thier advertising, the website.

Let me throw a concept at you.. you thinking is exactly backwards. You should be selling advertising to those that dont have a website, and selling websites to those that do have websites.

Business' without websites... a simple exercise... Get the local paper, and look at those that advertise there. You WILL find ads that dont have a website. go and see if they do have a website... if they dont.. call them and sell them advertising. They are more apt to spend on something they are already buying than they wouldbe a websie that they dont have.

Same holds true for those with websites... yes in your local paper there will be business' with websites. But look at the companies. they will tend to be bigger. When you actually goto the sites, they more often than not will be Corporate place holders vs a site that is actually drawing in leads. These are the people you would want to sell website design to. Why? because they are PROVEN buyers of that specific service.

You can read any number of my posts on the subject.. YES I buck the norm. Yes I sell to those without a proven record in buying that specific service. BUT I've probably been selling for longer than you are old, and I have been selling online services for over 20 years. Ive put in my time.. I have played by the rules long enough to know when they can be broken. Your not there yet.. not even close.

Sell to those that have a proven record in buying what you are selling.. its as simple as that. Don't believe me? Read Claudes post. he says the same thing. Read Jason's post.. same thing. Read Ozi's posts.. same thing. I will bet somewhere along the line even Animal has said the same thing.

Everything you need to succeed is right here in this forum... you need to read, internalize, and stop doing what you are doing, and start doing what others here are telling you actually works. ( For most all people and for you especially, just starting out )

To add to what Savidge said, I once talked to a man who said internet marketing does not work. He knew it because he'd done it without success.
So, you increase your chances by contacting those who advertise in whatever media that interests you again and again. They know it works, they have proof. If you can get them better results than they are getting, why would they not hire you?

Also, I talked to someone who's advertised in the same paper for 10 years. No, he could not name one instance when someone called from that ad. He did it for exposure. And it only cost a few hundred a month.

You could fight him, you could teach them or you could sell them what they're buying.

I do not mean take advantage if them or sell then crap. I mean sell them what they want not what you think they need.

Which means you find people whose needs and wants are the same. It also means you pay attention to how they talk about what they want and talk to them the same way.

Extreme case from my experience. Guy had a fit when I said we needed to reach his targeted audience (real estate agents and real estate investors) but loved the idea of creating a list of real estate agents abd one if investors and sending them emails and postcards, then calling them.

The bold part is the combination to the vault.

Sometimes, just calling something by a different name can make all the difference.

Take SEO for example.

Nobody except for IM geeks and SEOs cares about "being on the first page of Google."

But many businesses are very interested in increased exposure to prime prospects.

Yet being on the first page or two of serps for the tight keywords/topics yields exactly that.

Or, since you are providing web design services, instead of selling "web design," sell a web page that performs well enough to keep people focused on the company's message rather than how long it took to load (if they even stick around that long).

Position what you sell as the way to get what they want. You can come here or any other good 'insider' site to talk shop.

Note: One reason you may be seeing better engagement from YP leads is that haven't had a dozen calls from wannabe service agencies plugging 'get on the first page of Google."

Why scrape and don't buy traffic for your business?