Local barbershop client ideas

When I was selling my local online marketing service, this became my immediate...#1 objection and problem.

You sell the first barber in a large city. The second barber will want to be exclusive, because you are already taking customers away from him. Whether it's true or not doesn't matter, it's how they will think.


If you are going to sell any comprehensive online marketing services to local businesses, they have to either be in separate cities or in different businesses.

Different Zip Codes may be enough. But even then, I would hear screams from established clients when they found out I was also working with their hated competitor.

I found this reaction in dozens of different core businesses. Always the same.

Working nationally solved that problem. And once you have worked with one barber (or any business), you know what to do with all of them, in the same business.

Ok, so you're saying no 2 same-type businesses anywhere can advertise anywhere within the same area?

Because if you stop and think about what you're saying...that's what you're saying...

We are making progress... and then there is THIS:

For every one that is thriving... there are probably 3 or 4 ( if not more ) that are in the exact opposite direction. The OP states:

So lets take this way off the deep end and bring up McDonalds. Probably 2nd on my list of business' that do the most in depth research prior to placing a location. ( 1st is Outback if anyone is interested ) Population, Traffic, distance from other locations etc etc. Burger King doesnt even have a dept that deals with identifying locations - They just use existing McDonalds locations.

Different vertical and the same pattern... Advanced Auto goes in and and Auto Zone will follow.

BUT we do not see a McDonalds on every corner now do we?

And this is my point... with My method of local advertising if you will... I strive for listings on the 3 pac... there are ONLY 3...in my little town or in the BIG city NYC... 3 spots and 3 spots only... how do you explain to customer #4, 5, and 6 that sorry.. you paid me a bunch of money, but I put my best work into 1, 2, and 3..and I simply cant outdo myself.

So then the questions is just being begged to ask... Why would you tell 4, 5, and 6 that 1, 2, and 3 are your clients... well I wouldnt If I ended up in this situation.

But what happens with clients 4, 5, and 6? They are not going to see an increase in results correct? How does that reflect apon the services I provide? 1, 2 and 3 think I am the best thing since sliced bread, and 4, 5, and 6 think I sold them a bridge ( NYC reference - did you see that? )

THIS is specifically what I am talking about... as a service provider, there IS such thing as density by geography and your ability to provide results...

With Google Business profiles, we are talking a 3 pack

With Instagram ads we are talking about 1 business getting 100 ad views per hour, and by adding 4 more clients in close proximity each will only get 20 per hour.

In both cases there comes a point real fast where effectiveness of your actions become diluted... Diluted being less effective, Less effective ultimately means lower life of customer... and that leads us to playing this game out, you have to build in a client rotator to hopefully over time end up with Optimal paying clients that are geographically spread out so that your efforts are optimized

And then going the other end of Providing the service we can get to charging:

Using the geographical prospect rotator ( 2 clients per borough ) has built in an element of scarcity... ONLY 10 SPOTS per 30 days.

@JeffDC89

And now I see the DC in your name hahaha oh well NYC is a great example ( 270 Zip codes in DC in 68 sq miles for those watching at home )

However this works, the same principles apply

In DC in particular I would go with something like 8 to 10 within the metro area and then you can target outside, so Annandale, Arlington, Fairfax, Bethesda, Silver Springs, Alexandria, Reston, Centerville, and so on

I would go forward with your first client... I would only charge the cost of ads. I would only run the ads from 7am to 5pm daily and not on days they are closed. ( this is a option in ad set-up - maybe not the times specifically but the ability to set the times )

I would then create the case study.

I would then hit up Google and search "Barbers in DC" right under the 3 pack, there is a link "More Businesses" and I would go through these ( scroll to the bottom of the left column and you see the Google prev and next 1, 2, 3,... ) Take a screen shot and print out each of these maps.

So you are now walking into a Barbershop... Hey I got this advertising thing... Here is a case study of what we do and the results we got. I would then "Leverage" the multiple pages of maps with 20 red arrows on each page and be like " If you dont take this the next guy will" maybe not in those terms, but you get what I mean.

Since you did the case study you will understand the cost associated with running the ad. ME personally would be charging a rate that INCLUDED the ad fees. If you grow this, you will then want to buy ad space at a commercial rate, yes you can buy such things in bulk - this will drive down your ad spend over multiple clients.

And again, this scenario has "Greed will get the best of you" written all over it. Think about your client's results... AND the results you are getting your clients... Its kinda the key to a sustainable business.

You made your point clear, and it makes perfect sense.
The problem isn't every barbershop advertising. Or even having a website, doing e-mail marketing, having a Facebook page, doing direct mail, or any one of a dozen other marketing efforts.

And in many cases, it's not a problem for an ad sales rep either.

Multiple barbers (for example) on the same street could advertising in the same newspaper, by direct mail, have billboards. Even some online marketing sold by an online service provider or listing service. Like Angies List, Yellow Pages (If they still exist) , or Yelp.

The problem for the ad rep is when they are selling a comprehensive online marketing service.

For example, I sell a service that gives the business owner 10 Youtube videos, a website, a blog, a Facebook page with updates, and listings in every possible directory.

The result (that I had experienced routinely) is that this one business now dominates the first page of a local Google search for the best search terms in that business.

This isn't hard to do in smaller cities, because most businesses don't know how to do online marketing beyond having a website and maybe a Facebook page.

But now I sell the second barber the same service. And instead of my first client dominating the first page of a Google search...he now has three listings, and the competitor has 5.

Then I sell the third barber the same service. Now each of these barbers has 2 listings on the first page of a Google search. You are hurting your client.

And..in every single case I've ever seen out of a couple hundred clients like this, the Sh1t hits the fan the day they find out I'm helping their competitor. Why? Because my effort is now damaging their results. And I'm doing it in a visible way.


Now...doesn't multiple ads for one type of business create ill will when selling newspaper ads, radio ads, TV ads, direct mail services, coupon ads?

No. And the reason is, it's not seen the same way by the client.

The problem isn't one of reality, but one of perception.

The perception of the client.

Now....if you simply stated that your service is non-exclusive, that would solve the problem. It would also stop many business owners from buying.

Here's an analogy.

You sell billboard ads. At one intersection, you have two massive billboards. You sell a great ad to one barber on the billboard. And the next month, the second billboard ad space is sold to the barber across the street. (or really anywhere in the city).

That first buyer is going to be angry with the rep. Two billboards across town from each other? Less of a problem.

But....Google only has 10 places on the first page of a search. Sharing isn't what business owners do well.