How To Sell SEO To Local Business

I know of someone doing EXACTLY this, and he charges $1,000 a month. He uses wordpress too! The hard part is "educating" people!

Send me a PM dude, Ill ask him for more information. I know he organises casual meetings with clients at cafes and sells his pitch there. Last I heard he was at $6K a month. Its definitely something worth investigating.

PS. I can slap them around for you if you like - $500 per month, (recurring fee)

Recently I read an inspiring thread from a guy that has good success using this technique, read it here Now making $3067 monthly income from my 30DC skills - Thirty Day Challenge Forums

Whilst Ive never tried this strategy I am doing something "kind of" similiar. I dont spend any time on the phone, I just have an email template that I blast to people all day. Each email has the potential to bring in $1500.

Have you tried something similiar, rather than talking on the phone?

Personally I think if you did a "mini review" of their site and how you could "make improvements" they may be more responsive.

Just thinking out loud dude.

He is right, the hardest part is educating the people to show them all the potential that is out there. Getting them to see the bigger picture could be the hardest challenge.

Some time ago, there was a product about this method Offline Gold

Perhaps you could convince them by offering to do SEO for FREE. Just do a particular campaign that targets just one part of their business and let the results speak for itself. They'd be crazy not to pursue you to do SEO for the rest of their business if your efforts bear fruit.

I think if you're calling, most often than not, youre going to hit a dead end. Obviously what you're doing isnt working, so ask yourself "Is there a better way to do this...?"

You wont educate someone about the benefits of SEO over the phone in 5 minutes. Ive tried this before, and its like troubleshooting a printer problem on a desktop computer, with a non technically minded person at the other end - FORGET IT!

That is unless you are a great salesperson, which Im not!

Id do up a report, showing an example of how you helped XYZ's business acheive a 200% growth and customer base, along with increased revenues BY IMPLEMENTING YOUR STRATEGIES.

This way, you can forward it directly to them, they can read it when they have time, and you could *potentially* send hundreds a day. Sending an email is a LOT quicker than making phone calls.

Thoughts?

This is a massive opportunity, I consult/coach in it a great deal and while I will not disclose the precise amounts of the retainers I am paid, I will say that they are "healthy 4 figure sums", it's rare to get a 5-figure retainer although I did once (*sigh*)

Now, that being said the angle (if you will) is LOCAL SEARCH not "local seo", too much confusion around seo. Better to ride the wave created by Google and other major players creating awareness in the local search/mobile field.

*Hint* Think mobile. Think geo aware PDA's, cell phones, iPhones and more.

It's not worth the effort to educate at this stage, you're simply helping the competition. Better to attract the ones that "get it" and then offer them a variety of packaged service options.

The way to bring them to you is simple enough, webinars. Develop your pitch and your presentation and run webinars regularly. Webinars are powerful (which is why GTW just jacked their fees!)

Moreover, you want to attract NOT chase. If you come off as an "seo salesman" you basically are positioning yourself like every other player selling a commodity in the seo shell game. DON'T DO IT. It's a race to the bottom...

Position yourself as an expert offering free training (webinars.) Deliver useful but incomplete sessions. Talk about the "big boys" ... borrow their social proof and authority. Do not try and swim up stream. Don't reinvent the wheel.

What else can I tell you...

Yes, do your research on local search. There's lots of great information out there, some free, some you'll have to pay for. I invested a few hundred dollars and got so much information it was great. I then turned around and provided it through consulting and coaching for 25X what I paid for it.

I suggest you drop by my blog and read some of the articles on this subject.

All the best.

Check out this thread to see how some are doing this

Cynthia

Thanks to everyone replying, really is helpful.

Like i say today was my first day selling but ill get my first client doing so if it kills me

Awesome for taking action using the phone, it works, just needs practice thats all!

The most powerful thing you can do regarding selling SEO is to try and get the business owner in front of a PC.

If they are busy, just ask them for a convenient time that you can call back when thye can be in front of a PC and you will show them how they are missing out on a wealth of business leads, and how you can show them proof of this!

When you have them in front of the PC, your job becomes EASY! SERIOUSLY!

You can show them analytics, get them to perform searches and witness their competitors sitting high and mighty and then explain how you can help them compete and take over the top pages!

If you have an example of your work, show them as this will help convince them you can do the job you are talking about, PROOF!

Just keep going, the more numbers you hit, the more opportunities and the more your name and company name spreads!

Good luck!

GoGetta

I have been selling Internet Marketing to businesses for over 2 years now.
Here is page I send them.
My Business Marketing - My Business Marketing

I charge $2,500.00 for complete package. The website and graphics explain the services.
It closes sales by itself.

This may sound harsh, but you set yourself up for failure right out of the gate...

First, you tried to sell "SEO services." That's like a Girl Scout coming to my door to sell me a "box of enriched flour." You've picked the wrong pitch.

Second, you tried to convince them on the phone of the importance of what you are trying to peddle. You aren't going to do this in 180 seconds. Your job on the phone is to buy yourself more time.. preferably with an in-person appointment (or to get their attendance at a seminar or a webinar or their permission to email them a report, etc).

Make a couple of basic adjustments and you will be successful in no time!!!

If you are cold calling you need to work on your pitch which has to be both informative and will leave them craving for more info. Pay attention to those "Dean Graziozzi" or however the heck it is spelled ... videos and take some notes.. now if you are a pro cold caller or if you have had real estate experience then the answer is ... get a better pitch.

And remember when u r on the phone get yourself in the right state of mind and always be closing!

Explain to them how much money you can save them by not relying on PPC so much. I did that with a local small business I work for. They were quite excited.

Dude, you still interested in that "monthly client slapping service" I mentioned earlier?

Positioning and marketing is key. You need to become the one they are calling.
You want to spend you're time only with people who want what you have.

I provide marketing consulting, seo, and copywriting to clients nationwide and 99% of them never met in person.

If you want local then the chambers, rotary club, or any other group you can get in front of is great if you present yourself as the expert and educator not the salesman trying to pitch.

When I have done local presentations provided reports(my sales letter) at the end with my business cards as well.

The hardest part about selling SEO services is working with people who have no idea what it is that you do. I usually charge between $525-$750 per month behind a retainer for Internet marketing services that drive revenue to companies.

The challenges I've faced are dealing with "Deb" the receptionist who handles "the books", "all operations", and and all critical decisions. Also the business owner starts off strong and does not provide info along the way that they promised they'd give you.

Weeks can go by in the development phase before you even get to on-going SEO.

I much prefer transactional sales. : )

great conversation, i totally agree offline methods completely underrated

Dude theres some really great answers in here.

Once you streamline this method - bundle it - then sell it as an info product for $1,997.

Would be worth it all day, especially knowing that it has the potential to make 5 figures a month.

It seems I can't post links yet, but this is a good place if you're into local businesses: www(.)localbizbuilders(.)com/forums/

Lots of info and ideas there.

You have 2 main problems:

# 1: By approaching your calls this way you're positioning yourself as a salesperson.

Business owners and their staff HATE having sales people calling them on the phone.

How much do you like cold calls at your home?

Think of that and then think about the fact that a business might get 5-20 times the cold calls that you get at your home.

In many cases they'll get called several times a day by people trying to flog them something they don't need.

So obviously you don't want to sound or act anything like the other people making those cold calls.


# 2: Your focus is on what YOU want...selling SEO to local business.

Understand that to a business owner in most cases SEO has NO VALUE WHATSOEVER.

He doesn't wake up in the morning thinking..."I have $6,500 in overheads to cover this week...I think I need some more SEO."

He doesn't stand in his empty business thinking..."Gee business is quiet today. I know...SEO...that will get them in here."

He doesn't look at a pile of some high priced, high net profit line that he'd like to sell and think "This product could make me so much money if it would just move a little faster. I know...SEO could do that for me!"


Now if you're smart you understand that and outstanding SEO campaign could conceivably do all those things for a business owner but he's not going to listen to a word out of your mouth after you mention website optimization or anything along those lines because....

YOU'RE NOT SPEAKING HIS LANGUAGE!


I'm not going to try to explain this in depth because just this topic would require literrally tens of thousands of words to cover (we actually have that level of knowledge on the topic indexed in our resources section at OfflineBiz.com).

But to give you the short course there are two main secrets to talking to a business owner:


# 1: Position yourself as a fellow business owner.

Business owners love talking to other business owners.

(Just in case you're confused about this if you're supplying services to businesses and you're not an employee of anyone then you do have your own business. And to a business owner with massive overheads you may have the ideal business too...a business that is almost entirely income and profit).

In many cases you can just leave a message with a staff member saying you're xxx the owner of xxx business and you have an idea that might be valuable to him.

Most business owners will call back or talk to you then and there.


# 2: Start out by asking questions based around THEIR business.

Gather information then when you start making suggestions about how you might help them you already know how they're making their profits now, what products make them the most money, what they want and the things that are important to them.

Then you're not talking about SEO, you're talking about helping them make more sales and profits...and EVERY business owner speaks that language!


Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

Thats awesome advice Andrew. By the way, are you Davids bro?

Once again, Mr Cavanagh, you come up with a first class posts.
Cheers mate

Stop trying to sell SEO. Sell more customers and revenue increases.

First, unless you're a superstar salesman, cold calling can have the lowest return for the time invested in it of all prospecting methods. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do it - it just means you'll have to face a lot of rejection.

Second, study the posts above concerning positioning. Good positioning usually means the difference between a door in the backside and a check in your hand. If you're a consultant, you need to demonstrate that your main focus is helping their business. When you reach that point, your fee is just an understood.

Here's an example:

I just met with a prospect and my very first questions were concerning his company's ability to handle a potential surge in business. Given the nature of his business, that's a real concern - more clients served poorly doesn't help him at all. We spent a good 30 minutes talking about this. He was thinking about results (benefits) from the second we started talking.

How do you think that positions me versus someone who blindly calls offering SEO services, for example?

I run a financial planning business and have recently had a company email me offerring SEO and AdWords services. In their emails they've talked about how they've helped other companies rank better on Google and have posted links to videos showing how local search works. They give enough information to sell the benefits, but don't provide any real content that I can use. The intention is that it drives customers to call them to talk further.

If I were doing it, here's how I'd go about it.

Firstly, I'd target specific niches. Preferably ones where they are offline businesses that sell a product or service that is highly priced. If they need to get less sales to cover the cost of your services, that reduces the risk to them than if they needed to get 50 new clients to cover the cost.

Secondly, I'd learn everything I could about the struggles, challenges and opportunities facing that industry. And I'd find people who are using the web already to generate clients.

Thirdly, I'd produce a brochure / white paper / report that outlines cutting edge strategies that businesses in this niche are using to get new clients - of course it will be about the internet.

Find any trade journals / magazines etc and try and get guest articles. In my industry the journals are always looking out for fresh content.

Do whatever you need to do to get some initial clients. Write up their stories as case studies - they may like the peer recognition it brings. Also, ask them for referrals - old fashioned, but it works.

Build some buzz around your services. Offer to speak at events for free, do webinars, podcasts, videos etc. Remember, these people probably aren't actively searching for your services so they won't go Googling looking for you. You need to get their attention and direct them to your services.

As others have mentioned, sell the benefits. A difficult thing is to quantify the benefits, not just in financial terms, but also the non-financial benefits. Another important thing when selling a service is to reduce the perceived risk to the client. Offer guarantees (around things you can control) etc.

Hope this is helpful. Good luck.

This is such a great area of business. One that can quickly make you a significant recurring income stream.

I've followed the responses on this post with great interest and there have been some strong ideas which have been proposed.

Personally I align myself with business consultants, who provide introductions to clients. This has worked extremely well for me over the past few years. These guys are all looking to make a fast buck and as long as you can pass yourself off to be a "strategic" business partner this approach will work.

Keep the ideas coming as it's certainly stimulating some thoughts from me.

Thanks

I have not taken the time to read all the comments that you have gotten but here is one idea from me. Join your local Chamber of Commerce and offer to do a power point class to teach business owners how to do it their self. When y they see how much work and time it takes they will be more apt to hire you to do it for them.

There's better ways to break the ice... decent sales letter or postcards.