I always thought that sales was a universal art. Shouldn't need a course.

True, there are alot of offline marketing courses.... Main Street Marketing had a huge launch not long ago but had pros and cons...

The thing is when you're starting out is to take small bites of information and then actually put it to work. Example; Learn about google places maps and then actually do a couple for practice.

What are your clients saying?

When you first start out, you'll hear, "I'm sick and tired of Google calling and telling me "first page on Google." You'll hear that A LOT!!!!

Secondly, a lot of biz owners got ripped off (felt they did) when they paid for a crappy website, never got any biz from it, etc. You almost have to do 'damage control.'

What are they really asking for? What services do they really NEED?

Here's where most new offliners really screw it up...

A business owners wants L-E-A-D-S! They want the phone to ring!

A website by itself won't do the trick. Google Places Listings work better WHEN PART OF A SALES FUNNEL. Person see's listing, goes to website, leaves info on contact form, or signs up for free info.... biz owner calls or contacts that person...relationship begins...

Not long ago, I made a roofing website for myself (I'm NOT a roofer - BestRhodeIslandRoooferdotcom), placed it on google places, started getting calls from customers... So I called roofers in the area and gave the leads out. They now WANT TO do business with me. (They want to pay me if the ob goes thru...others want their website fixed.

So focus the message on LEADS - LEAD GENERATION (not first page Google - everyone and their Momma is saying that) and you'll be ahead of the game.

~ JIM

Unfortunately a course wont help you much. If you buy one chances you wont have the skills to pull off a good business.

We have seen plenty of posts about people getting in over their head.

Offline clients are not nearly as gullible as Internet Marketers so unless you have what it takes it can destroy just as fast as make you a fortune.

If you want to go into offline marketing hone your skills and then offer what you know you can deliver.

Quentin

I have invested in a few courses. Honestly, the wso's here were better information for me. The problem for me was always being able to scale. There are basically three options: raise your price, hire people, or change what you are selling.

In raising your prices, the roadblock I found was finding qualified clients willing to spend the money I wanted to charge. While you can find plenty of $1000 clients, there are only so many people ready to pay $10,000 or more.

I want to remain a single person operation, so hiring anyone other than sales people was not going to happen. I was outsourcing a lot of work, but was busier than I wanted to be closing and delivering work.

So I decided moved away from providing a service and am now selling pre-packaged training courses. I can do the work once creating training courses and have the ability to sell an unlimited number. The benefit of selling information is a 24/7 hands free income. My sales funnel works very well, taking people from a free tele-seminar to a purchase of one time or monthly training packages.

seems to be a hell of a lot of "offliners" promoting courses "online"

Go with a product/offline coach you resonate best with and keep your high BS detector on.

NOt that I"m biased...or anything LOL

...but best to go with someone who has actually been consulting for MANY years - over 10 or more years....rather than a one shot flash in a pan person who got one client and then announces he/she is 'the offline expert' and offers tons of wso's info products etc.

That way typically you'll get a product/coach that helps you truly build a consulting business.

Cheers, Maria

Yes, I have been very very successful with offline marketing, but I haven't bought any WSO products to learn this business.

The way I think one should go about it is

-build a simple squeeze page

-get targeted prospects of people from the area and niche you're targeting

- approach companies and sell the whole squeeze page package and leads

- then offer to look after the system for a monthly fee

I never used a course for offline. I did purchase a couple WSO reports that were helpful, none with new, mind boggling revelations that opened new doorways...most just re-enforcing my own ideas & chosen methods....

As far as one's offering the best products....that's hard to say...it really is up to each individual, what they get out of it & how they implement that information that determines if it's "the best"....for them.
20 people can buy the same report or the same course & get 20 different results...

There are courses or reports that cover Google local...
Courses or reports that cover local seminars....
There are a variety of courses or reports that cover lead generation or client acquisition, because there are a variety of methods....
Courses or reports that cover consultant methods & rules of thumb....
And courses or reports that cover outsourcing, email marketing, social marketing or mobile marketing......

You name it, there's a course, eBook or report on it somewhere. Remember...just because somon writes an eBook or report, doesn't mean they are experts in that field...
But I see no courses that cover all the bases that make up marketing to brick -n- mortar businesses. Maybe that's because, IMO....no one has mastered them all....

What skills do you yourself have to offer?
Like Quentin stated ...."If you want to go into offline marketing hone your skills and then offer what you know you can deliver."

What are clients really asking for?
Like Jimian stated ...."A business owners wants L-E-A-D-S! They want the phone to ring!".....In any form of offline marketing, this should be the main focus...

Which one's are the best?
Like Maria stated ...."go with someone who has actually been consulting for MANY years - over 10 or more years....rather than a one shot flash in a pan person who got one client and then announces he/she is 'the offline expert' and offers tons of wso's info products etc"
....do your research!

~Ken

It depends upon your target market. If you have an internet-based product then offline advertising doesn't make much sense (unless you offer SEO tools and advertise in Website Magazine). However, if you have an offline product and your target market is accustomed to seeing offline ads, then you will need to implement offline advertising. In my experience it's more expensive from an ROI standpoint, but you have to go where the fish are biting.

Good luck!

Why even say (or promise) 1st page in Google, you don't really know what Google will do.

It's better that you go after several keywords for the site and if you make any promise, it's that you'll get more online exposure & leads for the business.

You don't have to know exactly how to do something, just be able to effectively hire someone who does... of course it helps to have done it yourself and to know what it really takes

not sure if you mean taking an offline course to leqan how to work on the internet or strictly offline marketing ... I can speak on the offline marketing course for online internet marketing... I took a course in Florida cost over 6K not worth the cost complete failure and I couldn't get my money back ... beware ... when someone tell you that they can put together a business for you over the weekend and you will be up and running by Monday morning..... never again and I'm warning everybody don't do it ..

I agree with Maria, Jbode and netkid. (I always find it weird quoting people with weird user names )

There's no secret to creating a successful business and there's no "best" way to do it.

Look at it like this - If you don't think you could set up a 'normal' offline business then trying to setup a business helping offline businesses will probably not be right for you.

If you want to work WITH offline businesses - you need to be LIKE an offline business.

i.e - Meet up with people, find out what they need, create an offer, deliver on that offer, invoice them for your work, support them afterwards, build relationships.

All of the normal things you would need to do if you setup a printing business or a dry cleaning business.

Unless you have an office people can come to - you're not even going to get normal footfall traffic that would be an important consideration in choosing an offline business location.

So - if you're thinking can you create a successful "offline consulting" business from your bedroom - yes, but you're much likely to do better if you do it like any other business and expect to have to get out and build relationships.

I'm not making any assumptions about your specific situation or intentions - just trying to make the point that it's not as easy to be successful if you're looking for an easy answer that let's you sit at home and outsource everything with little effort.

The short result of that is that - it doesn't matter whose course or products you buy - your success will be based on your own ability to get out and spread the word about your business and your ability to create new relationships and keep your customers happy.

It's easy to go out and find a few customers - the hard part is being able to effectively deliver on what you agree with them.

This isn't anything new - it's normal business 'sense' - but online it seems like it's not 'common sense'.

Andy

WOW!!!! Everyone is really passionate about this topic. Well I have done a lot of "offline marketing" for my clients, but I swear it's not anything like what people are preaching/selling/promising. I can tell you that none of my clients are ever concerned about being number one in Google or having a fancy web site built or any of the of the other stuff that Internet marketers are selling.

I'm not knocking anyone in particular or talking about anyone's package or offering, but I can tell you that offering 'offline services' is about one thing and one thing only. Making your clients money!!!

That's it. If you can't do that then shut your 'offline marketing business' down and go open a mail-order business. Building a web site, a mobile list, or doing email list management, etc, are all great, but the whole goal with all of this has to be about making the client money.

If you don't have a SYSTEM in place about how you are going to make money for your clients you are wasting their time and will be out of business soon. At the end of the day you have to build a list and make them money. If you build them a web site - great, build a mobile site - great, build a massive email list - great, get them to number one on Google - great, but if you don't know what to do with this when it's done they you are offering no value (or very little).

Now I'm new to the Internet Marketing world so I don't know all of the players and the ins and outs, but I am not new to marketing, advertising and branding. I've done this for many many many years. It takes years to become an expert in anything and all I see is 'guru' after 'guru' talking about how they are an expert in this and that and the next thing and another thing in a matter of months. I love it. I actually watched one 'guru' claim to be a Local Marketing expert and within 8 months he was now a mobile marketing expert (if any of you know me you know that really bothered me - a lot).

Doing offline marketing is about building an ad agency. There are very distinctive parts to an agency that make it work the way it does. If you cannot do this then you have a problem in your formula. It takes outsourcing, partnerting up with or hiring other people. There is no way you can do all three parts well enough to make it work - for real. I can go into more details about how an agency works (but only if you guys really want me to). An agency's main job is to make its clients money. If you don't know how to do that then its time to buy a new course or go get some help from someone that does.

Building web sites and doing SEO are just tools that are used to help make your clients money. At the end of the day you still have more work to do. Maybe these offline courses can be of help, but I haven't read any to really judge them. I just wanted to see what other people thought about them. Is there one in particular that I should start with (without wasting - I mean - spending $2000)?

I think a lot of "offline marketing" is to sublimate the fact that people cant earn money online.
Businesses want to see results. There is no point in saying I'll get you on google 1st page, if it only gives them marginal returns to their business.
If you can add measurable value to a business, your service is valuable. But due to the overhyped nature of "offline seo" you will need a unique selling point.
Think of yourself as on an episode of The Apprentice, and you have to increase sales at XYZ. How would you do it?
Answer that, and you have a business.

Jenna:

I agree 100%. Can you increase my business by at least 10%? If not then what are you really doing for me?

I make a good portion of my income from offline clients... but I'm not offering typical SEO/"#1 in Google" type stuff. My offline business is based around performance based marketing. My offline clients know exactly what they're getting and the pay me when they see the results.

Truth be told, that's about the only way I've been able to cut through the BS and get people to try me out. Where I'm from, there is a LOT of offline competition from SEO/SEMers targeting local businesses. Likewise, there are a lot of local businesses that feel ripped off from someone in the past offering SEO type services..

The trick is being able to differentiate yourself and regain the trust that your competitors took away.

That's an interesting perspective - but I'm afraid I don't agree.

I know that probably sounds really weird, especially since you make very good sense.

But the issue I take with it is this - some clients are not doing it to make more money....

Now - I know I'm opening a can of worms here but there's a reason and I think it's worth talking about.

I have several clients who don't expect to make more money by having their website.

I can imagine that someone who thinks that's the purpose of a website will think that these people must be crazy - but they're not.

In my experience there are 3 main reasons I've seen why people want a website but don't expect it to make money:

1 - It's just for branding.

Their business is all about relationships and no-one is going to buy their very high ticket services because of their website. The website is just to provide a little information and support the credentials of the team so that when they speak to potential clients their image and messaging is congruent, and when people look into that niche they're up there in the search results with their competitors.

2 - It's just what's expected.

Their niche is well-focused and they know all of the key players by name and their business will come in based on providing their solutions to those people. They actually don't want a website at all, but because people expect them to have one - they do. They want as little information as possible on there because the only people it's useful to are their competitors.

3 - They want one but haven't thought about how it will help their business, so they want to get one created now and think about how to integrate it into their normal business later.

So, with that said.

If you're saying that these customers aren't worth having and if you expect to make money helping them you should pack up your bags and start a mail order business - then there's something wrong with your thinking.

Also, this idea that you can't make good money by being a one,an show and if you're to be taken seriously you need structure and outsourcing and employees etc.... That's just wrong too.

I've given examples for this many times before.

It's perfectly possible to make over $10k a month working part time in this area - I KNOW this.

If $10k is not a full-time income for you or you think that's small time and not worthy of being called a proper business - fine, that's obviously where we're differing.

Now, I'm sure that some of what you're saying and your positioning is probably in response to newbies starting up and making a few hundred dollars a month and then calling themselves experts and telling others what to do - I can understand why you might want to promote the concept that having systems and structure are good building blocks for building a more significant business - the only issue I think that's getting ignored is that not everyone is trying to build that big business that requires all of their time and focus.

Some of us are looking for how to spend some of our time working in ways that we enjoy and that help others - and that leave a lot of free time for other pursuits.

Not to want to build a billion dollar consulting business is not a failure or small-minded thinking.

So while I generally agree with the concepts of building solid business - The way some people state things like they're essential to being successful is misleading and often just wrong.

It's all about your own vision and goals - and building what fits that.

Andy

10k = one les paul custom, one American Deluxe Telecaster.... and one American deluxe Stratocaster... who needs more than that? The other months are just gravy... (Did I type that out loud)?

Okay , well I guess man cannot live on telecasters alone... but 10k per mth is plenty.

Hello Silho
I have been marketing to offline businesses for 2 1/2 years now. In my opinion, you need to learn Internet Marketing yourself at a very high level before these Offline - Retail Businesses will pay good money for your services.

I have found as Andy, that most small businesses just want "A website" online... because it embarrasses them that they dont have one... kinda like wearing high waters to school.

Now as hiles says , unless you can really talk the talk you wont get any 10k jobs... but as Andy says (and I know this is fact) most small businesses just want to spend 500 bucks to get website online... they will never even use... and they know it isnt going to make them a million dollars... its an "expected to have one" kind of thing.

I built my first successful offline operation in 2000, and have done it off and on since then... things havent changed much... cept now people dont expect miracles because most of them have already had a site at one time or another... they just all know they need one.

There are a few marketers out there that can charge thousands because they have a few special clients, and extra skills... and they are in a good niche, or targeting a demographic where they can prodiuce lots of traffic... but in lamar arkansas with 700 people... a businessman might want a website... but if you are the pope you still arent going to get him a ton of local traffic.. he knows that. He just wants to give you 500 bucks for a website and pay the hosting fee... so he can be "online".

This is some good stuff. So from what I am seeing is that a lot of clients really only need to have a web site done (as a digital secretary/business card)?

So then I ask this....

Are these Offline Marketing courses really providing you (the consultant) with the tools that are needed to help grow your clients' business so that you can grow your business?

Well, to answer your original question...YES!

I will only speak from personal experience, so what I share is what's been done by me and not what I've heard.

Before the emergence of courses praising the opportunity for online marketers to profit from offline business'. I had taken the very same approach starting in 2008 from a auspicious conversation which led to what I'm about to share.

I now have 5 clients who each pay me 1200-1500usd per month for simply offering them a blueprint on how to start garnering a presence online and making sales. No, I did not say me actually doing it, but they themselves. I still can't believe after all this time from that very first client, I'm able to land clients by handing them the same(updated) simple blueprint on exactly what to do step by step. Now, I'll say that the 5 clients I have now are not the same since I first started. These are new clients acquired this past May, but my point is, it's a lot easier to do than most think. Buying a 2-3k course just seems a little counter-productive to me since I've figured out my own little way to do just fine without it...over and over. I wouldn't say Yes and I wouldn't say No to anyone looking to purchase a course on the subject matter. But, I will say, it's money to be earned and it's best to equip yourself and your prospective clients with something that actually works. No matter how you learn it. Hope that helps.

Cheers!

kadensnga

I agree. Figuring out your own way to do it, or better yet finding out what your prospective clients would want to pay for is the best way to go. Give them what they want.

OK well I'm glad that some people are pioneers in this space and have been doing this longer than others.

Some people are having success and some not.

Those that are having success with it please (if it's not a trade secret) share what you are doing/offering your clients? Did you learn any of this the dozens of offline courses?

I am doing quite well with it, but my experiences are different than others so my offering is very different. Yes, I have a 'system' that I use to build a list for my clients and help drive sales.

Since I love learning new things (or a different approach to things that I already know) can some of you recommend a course or two? I want to know what's out there.

I'm sorry Andy. It seems that by starting this thread I've upset you in some way. My desire was to find out what people are doing, what new tactics and strategies clients are asking for and what you are delivering?

Are you doing SEO, social media, email list management, mobile marketing, advertising, branding, etc. I just wanted to know what the overall experience of the WF with Offline and what new tricks people had up their sleeve.

I apologize that my inquisition has terribly bothered you.

I only make monopoly money. :p

What is your business plan?

How many doors are you knocking on per day?

What is your list of services?

Do you have a sample site to show others what you are capable of?

silho -

People are making money with offline marketing. How much and by who is anyone's guess.

There is a huge need for it. Business are willing to pay you if you can show them the end result they want or need.

You have to be confident in your ability to deliver what it is they want.

Start easy with Friends and Family, then go to local non profits, church groups, etc to get that confidence.

Once you feel confident then feel free to jump into paid clients.

Find ways that you are comfortable attracting clients (postcards, cold calls, seminars, banners from rooftops, etc) and make a plan of attack.

Stick with it and focus and you'll be 90% ahead of the game.

Tim

Sorry guys meant this to be in the last post - not a new one, my mistake.

i think that if you have that talent of sales then any sales related course is of no use for you because i believe that sales marketing is an universal art. If you have that in yourself then courses are worthless.
Till now i haven't made a single penny offline because its not as interesting as working online. But there are some good courses available costs around $2000-3000 which are really effective and you can earn a lot by doing them.

Since you are passionate about offline consulting (obviously by your original post and follow-up posts on this thread) and contributing to the Warrior Forum (so everyone can benefit), I will give you a free review copy of my upcoming offline consulting system.


However, I don't know when I'm going to launch it as Im TOO BUSY making money offline to launch this product. Before I go live with this in a couple of months....I will send you a review copy just for your enthusiasm and your passion into the topic of offline consulting.

Thanks again for reminding everyone on how much fun (and lucrative) offline marketing can be. Just remind me again that I sent this to you as it maybe 8-12 weeks before I launch this thing.



Success to you Siloh,

Chris Negro

[DELETED]

Offline marketing is a form of internet marketing. It's not for everyone. But if you are good at person to person sales and driving traffic then it's a great way to make lovely money.

How about courses from Dan Pena?

He seem to be able to transform Business.

I watched his training videos... Paradigm is different...

He philosophy is close to Donald Trump, which is Think Big & Kick Ass...

Hi Silho,
Based on your post above my friend, (which I happily read several times) It sounds like you have most of it "sussed out" so to speak, unless your looking to venture into SEO Or PPC, in that case, there are (as you know, I'm sure) many products/service out there to assist in that regard, (too many for me to list) but if you don't want to do those as It sounds like you have your hands full, outsource those tasks and see how that goes.

Hopefully, I'm on the right track with what your looking for and you can get the info your seeking.

If you buy anything by Jay Abraham you'll be happy with it.

Pretty much anything that can be said about him... has been
said, so just google him or search youtube before you buy
anything ;°)

Cheers,
Saul

ps. his stuff usually is expensive, but imo worth every penny...
twice. With cream on top. And cherries :°)

Silho... great post you started...

With offline marketing, it appears you have to be a great salesman, great with talking face to face... and that may leave many out. However....

If you can team up with someone who's great at sales and getting the jobs -- but has little patience doing the actual work -- you can be part of this great offline opportunity.

My personality isn't such that i want to be "ON" and talking to people face to face all the time. I like hanging out in front of the computer and doing my thing online.

So if you want in, but aren't having luck getting clients yourself, try hooking up with someone who's getting the clients... chances are they're overwhelmed with business and can't handle doing EVERYTHING like one of the posters mentioned.

Not everyone is a Tim Castleman or Chris Negro. (I enjoy learning from them both!!)

~JIM

Real offline marketing courses are very successful. They're called degrees.

Sorry but I'm fairly inexperience with offline marketing. Do we need a business license for the chamber of commerce to approach local businesses?

Thanks,
Benjamin

Yes, I make real money. However I haven't had a salaried job since 1986, I mix with and like business people and I've had my fair share of ups and downs.

Don't underestimate the power of getting a business website to number 1 on Google for a search term with traffic. I know that it's trendy on here to say that that's not where it's at, but I've seen what happens first hand if you can stand in front of existing traffic and knock their competitors off the top spot.

Obviously you can't guarantee rankings, but that's what I go after, and I do get them = happy clients.

I probably undercharge in some areas, something that I'm about to address. However gradually raising prices as you become busier and more confident is a strategy that I'd recommend (to any business actually).

There are no shortcuts, I've put in thousands of hours developing my own sites, so I'm really just selling my knowledge of what works for me to other business owners.

As has been mentioned before, managing client expectations is the hardest part of the process. Sometimes it's not easy to under promise and over deliver.

Although I have an hourly rate in my head, sometimes I get paid 10x that because I have a particular skill set and sometimes 1/10th of that because I'm learning. That doesn't necessarily mean learning IM stuff, it's often learning when to recognise that I'm dealing with a prospective client that I need to reject or persuade to take on board a new idea .

Bottom line is that I work with a limited amount of businesses and I care about the value and results that I provide. I will occasionally have sleepless nights when ideas for the direction I need to persuade a business owner to take, or a development strategy constantly pop into my head.

If you can, join your local BNI, it's worked for me, not so much in terms of business transacted (although that's significant), more in the value of networking with other serious business owners and learning from them. The philosophy is right too - "givers gain" or as Zig Ziglar (what a great name) once said "you will get all that you want in life if you help other people to get what they want" I used to listen to his tapes when I was driving 60 miles to meet a suspect for Life Assurance back in the day.

You need a broad skills base to work from, life experience, the ability to listen and analyse, some humility and some balls - the person on here who fits that criteria and that I take notice of is Andy Henry. Also becoming increasingly fond of the musings of Paul Myres and the tactics of Dan Kennedy.

It's well paid, hard work, perhaps I'm just fortunate enough to enjoy it too.

Funny you should pop up Andrew, your offline gold thread and WSO was the catalyst for me to really take action back in January 2009 and jump into the online/offline world - thank you.

Tony

If you can pick up a phone and dial numbers and say " I am_________ I am a local webdesigner... just wondering if you folks already have a website for your business... or had maybe been thinking about one..."?

You will start hearing all kinds of opportunties to sell webdesign, seo, backlinks... all kinds of stuff. You almost cannot spend two hours on the phone without creating some business... for real.

Common ignorant telemarketers do it all the time, day in and day out. It's a fact. In fact you could probably JV with a local webdesigner out of your local yellow pages as Andrew alludes to.

My two cents. Moving on...

-John

Lots of small businesses and businesses clearly have not taken the leap of faith into Online . They're still concerned about spending a few bucks here and there to growth their business.

Frankly, I don't understand their logic at all. Don't they realize the urgency of this?
If they don't take actions now, in a few years, they will fall so far behind the businesses that have taken the steps to build their presence on the Internet.

I have created the blueprint to show these owners simple steps by steps to implement these online strategies, but so far, nobody wants to buy. I also offer my services to them but they either want it free or only want to pay $100. What gives???

And these are law firms and plastic surgeons who are worried about spending a few hundreds to grow and promote their businesses. I feel like I want to take a hammer and start hammering some business sense into their head!

I have made significant money over ten years in offline marketing and I can tell you the market isnt near saturated, it's getting better , and its easier than ever to sell offline services... So the answer is yes.

I wanted to step back for a couple of days to see what everyone else would have to say without my interjection. This is some pretty interesting stuff.

One of the things that I have been hearing (not just from Warriors) but even from my own database is that retailers are skeptical of all of these Internet marketers that are approaching them with promises of page one ranking on Google or charging 2000 prices for a web site or mobile site in today's economy and market. This makes it very difficult for others to offer services that some of these businesses seem to be more valuable.

Once again, I'm not knocking web site building, SEO, or anything else that anyone may offer, but I can tell you that the one thing that NO ONE will ever turn down is a person/company that shows them the money.

Now for those that know my service or my business you know that I do not promise to bring leads, sales, or non sequential and unmarked bills in a duffel bag. It's a mobile marketing and list building service so you use it just like you use Aweber (but for mobile - of course) but for my premium clients get a completely different offering.

I've offered to have a colleague rebuild a web site for a below market value price. I've offered SEO, SEM, and sometimes even mobile web site building, and I have very few takers, but when I say, "Let me show you how I can drive 'ready-to-pay-customers' to your store" they're all ears.

Maybe it's the clients I have, but damn, they all just want to make more money and more customers. For those that are struggling to make your service offering make sense to prospective clients try this.

No matter what you offer show the direct link to your service and your client's cash register. Make what you do directly affect your client's bottom line and I bet you'd make more sale.

Think of it this way:

The first thing to come up was offline marketing, later the www time came. So yeah, if done right and combining those two is a WIN WIN situation.

Yes... money can be made offline.

I just officially signed my first client yesterday (lawyer) to the tune of 1,000$ for his website, and 400 $ a month recurring for lead generation and consulting.

Now im working on #2, a bakery for a similar pricing structure

Ben

To be honest why even spend that sort of money on an offline course when you can get the same information from researching and even some free courses, plus of course you have the Warrior Forum, which I find invaluable to answering questions.

Personally I would not bother with offline courses. I have learned everything about internet and affiliate marketing through research and free online courses.

With the upcoming launch of MSMM (Oct) I've followed up with the advocates of the system, and almost every single one who has actually USED it, has bailed on the course and asked for a refund. Very different reactions to the initial views ...

Anybody left on the course WHO IS ACTUALLY USING IT and thinks its good (except for Fireman Sam)?

United:

What is MSMM?

Oh got it. I saw that when they first released. Do you know what's wrong with the course? What are people complaining about?

I'm sure there are some genuine courses out there... but the vast majority of "gurus" make their money telling others how to do it. Most of them have never made a success in a "real" business.

Someone said it earlier, but it definitely worth repeating: Give them what they want.

I have been doing some cold calling to small business owners selling website design. Yesterday, instead of my usual pitch, I decided to spend the whole day surveying my lead list. Rather than trying to sell them something, I asked them what they would like help with in marketing their business, and let the conversation go where they lead. At the end of the day, I was shocked with the results, as I had my best day ever, and I only called 60% of the numbers I usually dial each day.

If you have learned economics somewhere, many online marketing principles were adopted from offline marketing principles.

In my opinion, in order to 'help' off-line businesses, it would really help if you had some experience in running one.:rolleyes:

I also believe that 40-60% of off-line clients can raise their net income by 20-40% WITHOUT doing a single thing on-line.

Things like using an EFFECTIVE USP in current advertising, tracking what advertising works (moving ad money from TV to radio or radio to newspaper, or vice versa depending on what the tracking shows produces the greatest ROI). Things like in a service biz, teaching the service-people to up-sell, down-sell & cross-sell (without costing more time spent than the up-sell produces). Even spending half a day teaching the front desk/receptionists how to answer a phone promptly, courteously and correctly can make a HUGE difference to a bottom-line.

In my opinion, a businesses best potential income is from their previous clients and direct marketing to their customer base is one of the most effective means of increasing the net.

Getting more clients for a business that is not prepared to maximize the income potential of those new leads is useless. Before increasing traffic, sales funnels and other techniques that maximize return NEED to be in place. If a business is NOT set up to be able to handle new clients, more customers can actually COST them net! If a service crew has a $500 average ticket and then clients double and that same crew is hurried, their average ticket can fall to $250, costs are higher with more stops and a business already on the brink can fold! All due to an increase in business!

There is a lot to consider in 'off-line'. In my opinion, building a website for a local business might be called 'local internet presence help', not comprehensive off-line business consulting.:rolleyes:

My opinion. (That does not mean building a website, doing SEO, building an e-mail list is not a good and worthy pursuit, but it is (again, in my opinion), a very small part of the picture.)
Mark
(NOT a 'Guru')

Sales isn't an "art" at all.

It's a "process".

The people still clinging to the "sales is an art" nonsense of the last century haven't been paying attention to people like Neil Rackham for the past 20 years or so.

Gotta love that ^ guy

I think it comes down to the kind of customer you are calling on. There are a lot of guys here who are really good at the "street hustle" sale. They can call a small business owner and lay the one-call close psychology on the business owner because at that level, it's really not much different than a consumer sale. It's a single decisionmaker who typically runs their business out of their wallet - a one-write check system if you're lucky.

But if you start to get to $2 million, $3 million, $5 million a year in sales, then the game changes. At that point, B2B sales become more complex - typically involving multiple parties in the decisionmaking process before making a recommendation to purchase.

At that point, all the hot shot boiler room tactics are done and over with. You can have one person singing your praises after your phone rap, but then you've got to coordinate the complex sale process inside of the company to get to the next gatekeeper, then the next, then the next. The bigger the company, the more complex the sale.

Selling services to a business of any real size is not an "art" in the least. It's project management 101 with milestones and serious tracking of activity.

This is far outside the scope of the "WSO" section and the perspective of most "internet marketing offline marketers".

In fact, for the past 15 years, we've sort of called it "web development".

Lets get social is the best one I have read.

To answer your question, yes, people are making money with offline marketing..

The problem you might be facing is the how.
You see, most of the courses are the tools to get newbies and even Internet marketers to understand how to go about it and what tools and other things needed to bring offline businesses to the top of search engines.

If you have no idea how to get started and you expect to ask your professor, friend or family member, they probably have no idea unless they know someone or do it themselves. That is why the courses online for useful for people.

Some offline businesses are getting ripped off bc they expect their entire business to make them millions, etc ,etc...but do not promise them that...Tell them you can help their business by bringing more potential clients, customers to see them..And that you can track how many visitors and what they are searching for. And then upsell them and tell them that in order to really have a leg up is to have opt-ins, free ebooks, etc set up on their website. And if they do not have a website, then offer one.

But you want to build a relationship with these off line businesses, meet up with them..go around town...hang out with the people your parents hang out with...this one will work. you parents are older and their friends...and their friends will ask what you do and you can tell them.

But you really want to make this natural.


And this trends, idea, growth, will not go away anytime soon. Just keep promoting yourself and build a relationship with your clients or soon to be clients...

Jacer had a great experience with "Just talking" with prospects about marketing. Had a great day "Not selling."

That's the whole point, in my experience. I used to work the street being a "Closer" for a credit card company and also an ad rep for a "City Poster" company. In these "In the trenches" jobs, I had to push, push, push, for the sale.... I didn't like it.

BUT, I made sales.

I kept going. It was tough.

I learned, it was better for me, to be conversational.... to build rapport.... to see how I could help.... then have the prospect chase me down. Once a prospect got excited, I then led them to sign with me.

That's what I do now.

Getting the client to get online is easy.

Cheers,

Millard

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Anyone used Bob Serling's strategies?

Some people say that they make money with that . I haven't tried yet ... but for sure i will try

Offline is the best market, I recently discovered a source for 30 leads a week consistently and I will have a WSO about it very soon as it works in most countries.

[DELETED]

I think my biggest problem with all of this is that people are being taught to do things the wrong way, and then they leave the market place all battered and bruised. Local business owners are upset since they wasted money on poor marketing tactics that never paid off and when a marketer with real experience actually goes and makes an offer he has three hoops to jump through just to be seen.

Here’s the scenario:
Internet marketer pays $2000 for local marketing course.
He doesn’t question anything he reads and goes into the market place offering Local SEO to businesses the exact way it was taught in the course (by people with NO local marketing experience at all).
He promises Business A that he will bring them more customers and make his business more profitable by taking him to the top of the search engines.
He charges (let’s just say) $1000 to Business A for local SEO, and then does so with three other businesses.
He rides off into the sunset thinking he’s a savvy successful local marketer.

Now let’s take a look at the truth:
Problem 1: Learning how to milk a cow from a blacksmith.
Problem 2: Not questioning what you read and who you’ve learned it from.
Problem 3: Not doing your own homework to understand sales AND marketing.

Now let’s take a look at what should have been done…
First off, if you want to learn to do local marketing you should learn how to do that from someone that has “local marketing experience.” I’m not saying that Internet marketers cannot learn to do local marketing and then offer you a course on how to do it, but do you really think the “gurus” are out there in the market place knocking door-to-door trying to get local business owners on as clients? Let’s be realistic here.
So while the information that you receive from “Guru A” may be good you have to always question what you were sold and why. Is there anything that is missing and what can I add to it to make it better than this package already is.
There is a big difference between sales and marketing. SEO is about marketing, and a landing page or web site is designed to sell. Selling doesn’t have to be “take out your credit card and make a purchase.” It could be to opt-in, make a phone call, come to my retail location, etc.

If a local business owner is getting 100 visits per week to his web site and only getting 1 visit to his business from his web site then don’t you think the web site needs to convert better BEFORE you drive a ton of SEO traffic to it?

Let’s look at it like this…. You have a sales team and one of the guys on your team closes 1 out of 100 calls. Don’t you think it would be wise to retrain this guy and make him a better salesman before you double, triple, or even quadruple, his call volume??
So maybe it would be wise to create a landing page or micro site for your client’s web site and send all of your SEO traffic there to prove that only can you drive SEO results leading to more foot traffic. Your landing page can also convert the users and bring him what he cares about most – MORE SALES….

Just something to think about.

For me the rule of thumb is to always use courses that people I know have used. That way I can ask them all the questions I want. Before I pay, I make sure that the course will give me exactly what I require!
PhantomWr.

OK, I'll be honest to you right now:

What gets lost in many courses on this hype topic right now
is the ability to actually get a client.

A lot of people are really afraid either to talking to business owners
or nail them.

If they read in offline courses to keep a straight face on asking for
a high price they think "Omg I need to pay my rent, I am even afraid
to call up businesses and this guy asks me to say no if they offer me
1k instead of 2k upfront?"

In my opinion a lot courses sell their content like doing this business
is very easy and you can have success on the fly, which is simply
NOT the case.

Many business owners don't want to talk to guys like us,
and many business owners don't even give a f*** about our offers.

So this business is like almost any business in the world:
Have you the guts to keep your head into it even if you fail?

I think mindset and clear plans what to do when should be
more included into a lot offline courses (and I've read MANY of them).

Another thing I would say that's CRUCIAL is people that start doing
this need somebody to kick their ass or mentor them, too.
Many will have a really hard time being all by themselves.

Coming from the consulting field with over 10 years experience under my belt
I can add that you don't need to be an expert in any field, BUT
you need to be an expert when it comes to selling yourself, being a likeable
person and making people trust you AND smile when you step inside the door.

That way pockets will open up, because there are a lot of salespeople
and those people piss many businesses off which even makes it harder for
genuine guys, be it from IM or consulting fields, to succeed.

TK

A course should help fill-in-the gaps in knowledge or it should be such that it provides you with the lack of personal accountability that may be an issue for growing your business systems.

I run courses and I also attend courses. I will readily invest as much as I need to because I am the only one who knows what I lack or what I need to know to accomplish something in my business model or to help others.

When you invest in books and audio programs (and I reckon I should be a partner at Barnes & Nobles and Amazon based on how much of my money those guys get from me!) you are investing in a form of training... a course.

No matter what you read, courses can and do help provided they are a fit for what you are looking for and learning should be a life long experience.

Bayo

You raise some interesting and important points.

Courses: there is no 'universal course' that suits every learning need or learning style. Indeed there are 'popularity-based' courses either based on student results or the person selling the course but these should never be used by themselves to measure the fit-for-purpose element of any course.

If necessary, before you take a course, have a discussion with the provider to makes establish if its a good fit for both of you or not. That's what I do and also encourage before anyone attends any of my programs. It helps eliminate doubt and avoid disappointment on both sides.

Is it necessary?

Think of it this way. We, as Offline Consultants, practically swear by the 'Free No-Obligation Consultation' right? Why do we tend to offer this? It's not because we have time to waste but because we want to achieve that same balance I mentioned above. Yes, some people will attempt to 'close' every single opportunity in any market with any business owner but that's a big mistake.

What are your clients saying? What are they really asking for? What services do they really need?

'Real money' is subjective. I had a time in my life where just having enough money to buy 2 meals was real money to me, and I had a degree and experience behind me too.

We determine what this means for us and although nobody can give you a 100% guarantee of exactly how much you're going to make as a direct result of attending their training, they can 'ball-park' it based on IF you do the things they recommend and follow through.

Below ia an example from one of my recent coaching students on a coaching program on marketing and selling to Chiropractors, an area where there's a lot of money to be made, but no one teaches because it's not ike "shooting fish in a barrel"

...
A few weeks after the coaching - OK, maybe this Warrior couple was still riding a 'high' from the course. A bit like the buzz you get when you've just discovered something new?

I doubt it because they did one thing that you have to do by yourself when you invest in coaching and are in business to make money - They TOOK ACTION



OK, so they got 8 appointments - In my books, that's a big deal, and as a practitioner I'm always interested in learning from WHAT my coaching students did and HOW they did it to achieve those results.

Did they put their own twist on what I taught them? Did they use it hook, line and sinker? I learn from those I coach and I'm not too proud to say it. My Chiropractor, Dentist and other specialist service based coaching programs do not come cheap and it'f for a reason. I personally want to help people who understand what they want to achieve and are ready to invest for it.

It's no different to the secret key to selling high-priced offline services. You cannot successfully do it if everybody is your target ideal local business client. High offline consulting fees mean you'd better be able to deliver or else, stick with the $199-$250 a month mom and pop businesses and go for volume.

I promise and deliver results.

"So what?"

That's what you might be thinking right now as you read this.

Here's what.

All this doesn't matter, any offline course doesn't matter IF it doesn't have the ability to deliver results that are better than where you are now in terms of the following:

1. Improving your ABILITY
2. Showing you how to increase your VISIBILITY
3. Showing you how to generate INTEREST (no matter what you offer)
4. Showing you how to convert interest into CONFIRMED APPOINTMENTS only if it's a good match
5. Improving your ability to convert interest into SALES discussions

And these are just a few of the things to look out for.

Without sounding arrogant but at the same time making no apologies for any ability to help people be successful in getting clients and achieving all the above and a lot more, here's the follow on from the above ...



Coaching, Training, Memberships...Are They Necessary?

I remember a post in this offline forum where people were proud not to even consider training because they viewed it as a 'cost' or unnecessary. It's a personal point of view and they are neither right or wrong.

It's just a personal opinion.

But if someone invited you to invest just $1,000 and show you exactly what you needed to do to go and make $10,000 ... that's 10 times your investment, would it be worth it?

What about $2,000 ti make $20,000 from a single business deal. How many deals can you make a month? in 90 days? in 6 months to a year?

I have invested these sums and I would do so again if and when such programs come along in the private business group I belong to.

Plus, in the early days I invested heavily to get educated on Chiropractor wants, needs, desires and fears.

So, is anyone making money? Certainly yes, and lots of it too. This is why it saddens me when I see people publicly declaring that they will never use a coach (...think Olympics and Gold winning individuals and teams and you'll understand why)

Choose the right course for you and don't be fooled by popularity or the lure of the 'guru' because it will most likely ends in tears.

To your success!

BAYO

P.S. All typos free of charge as always!

I have been mildly successful online and offline, and found myself overwhelmed with work. Now starting to look at automation for many tasks. I have tried outsourcing, but very unreliable results. I want to make more money in this area, but need good software or more reliable people.

Offline money is there and once you have stats to show it becomes easier and easier!

Being a good salesman WILL separate you from the crowd. It seems like so many seo companies (and especially web designers) are TERRIBLE at sales and keeping communication with clients.

Unfortunately this also has caused a problem for me. Often times people are hesitant because they've been burned in the past.

But if you can overcome their objections, remember this is a numbers game (try hard enough and you will find someone), and once you prove yourself to someone they'll be happy to refer you. That's when you are set.

Matt

We have had some ups and downs on offline marketing. In fact, in seems like this year things are picking up. Most of the projects we have had are in television and print.

Surprisingly, the ad in my local newspaper has been very profitable for my tech industry business. I just keep it in there and people can't miss it as the days and months go on.

For marketing either it is online or offline a course wont help you much .If you buy one chances you wont have the skills to pull off a good business.
We have seen plenty of posts about people getting in over their head.
If you want to go into offline marketing then you have to increase your skills and then offer what you know you can deliver.
Regards,
Ali.

thanks for sharing

OK so we have some interesting comments and responses here that highlight some successes in local marketing using a few strategies, but let's turn it up a bit.

Is anyone doing anything that has a focus on hyperlocal content or strategies? I've been studying and practicing hyperlocal all year long, and I must say that is really helpful to both our clients and their potential customers. I would like to hear what everyone else is doing with this.

It appears to me you need good fundamentals online before you go offline. There are plenty of "consultants and gurus" that can help you for a price.
Once you have had some success online, take those skills to a local market where competition is not as great and make yourself some money

Sorry about that...

Hyperlocal is about FOCUSING on a specific area of your city. Currently, I live in Atlanta, and we have 35 counties that make up the metro area. This is about one third of the state. Crazy!!

Now if I go hyperlocal I can focus on the Downtown, Midtown, Dunwoody, or Buckhead areas of the Atlanta with my marketing efforts, or I can focus on my zip code. I could even do a promotion for Lenox Mall and the stores that are within a two block radius. Focus, focus, focus!!!!

Hyperlocal content is usually written by people that live in that city or area and know that place very well. It's all about the immediate areas and smaller cities of a larger metro area.

Customers and clients identify very well with the hyperlocal model because these smaller cities are 'communities' just like an online forum. It speaks to a smaller, more focused, area of the city that rings loudly with the local business. Try it!!!

I guess that it depends on what you mean by "real money".

We (2 partners and I) started selling offline internet marketing in 2006, cold calling and learning as we went along.

Our company, www [dot] pageonewebsolutions [dot] com, now brings in 70k/month in residual income plus whatever we sell development wise each month.

Over the years we have picked up 11 employees and opened 2 new sales locations.

So for us, this dollar figure is less than half of where we intend to be.

Matt:

I couldn't agree more. That has to be one of the best info products that I've been through. I've read it twice, and I'm sure I'll read it again before the year's out. If you have the right product and can make major upgrades every year you can live forever on the knowledge imparted in this book.

I think everyone should get a copy of this book. And use the fact that he went to jail is only a lesson to be learned and shared. Get over it, and learn from it.

Obtaining funding is the #1 Challenge for most Investors in to-day's business market. They can-not find financing on small deals, let alone multi-million dollar opportunities. If only the cash had been available to them, their dreams of financial freedom would have become a reality. Fortunately, Lee Arnold has uncovered the missing link to funding in every type of economy by creating, Private Money Bank.
As a self-made millionaire, Lee Arnold quickly identified the common elements that have kept so many would-be success stories from achieving their own personal financial dreams and combined these ingredients into a complete, all-inclusive package for success!

"You can have everything in life that you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." Zig Ziglar had it dead on.

There are two major schools of thought about sales. One is the one-call close thing.(Trick closes. Sharp angle closes. Hard work closes.)

Then there is the helping your client type of sales, which is really just doing what
Zig was telling us for years. It's easier AND you sleep better at night.

Hugh

Hmmmmm, lots of responses, lots of schools of thought, lots of ideas. Here's another question, and it might be of the most important ones I've asked on this topic.

The product, coaching, and training, may be OK, but the reason why people buy these products from expert A, or guru B is because the sales letter is good.

Who has the best (most sellingist) sales letter or video in this space? Since the salesman is the most important person to getting offline clients to hire you wouldn't the sales letter/video be the most important part of getting you to buy a course?

Respond with the URL of the sales letters that you think 'sold' the best and I'll help tear them apart to see what they did to make us buy so we can employ those same principles to get offline clients to buy.

We're gearing up for tonight's massive webinar where we'll give away over $7,000 in bonuses. This one you wont want to miss. For the first time in the Internet Marketing space we will be discussing HyperLocal Mobile Marketing!!

Click the link below to make sure you get your seat on tonight's webinar.
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/601162138

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Why not ? Offline marketing can earn better. Newspaper ads, Newsletters, magazines, radio talks are associated with offline marketing. We do remember offline ads much more than online ads. It is what people hear constantly.

Offline marketing and word of mouth is important for certain kind of business, this is why you see there are lots of advertising agencies working in the offline markets, the trend of advertising online business in the offline market is increasing.

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I never really needed a course to make real money offline. Although I flip though some of the provided information thats present, I usually move towards by typical sales knowledge that I've obtained over the years.

Ex. I currently clean yards for income offline. My course for this was trimming trees as a young boy, when working was the last thing on my mind!

I heard many stories about people who really earned from offline marketing. I think that is true. That is their testimony.

offline marketing cant be done by everyone. Only few people can do who have the best skills to do offline marketing

I believe so and it is proven in my conducts that Offline Marketing does earns so well...

MONEY <--- Marketer's always have this in mind

Its all up to your strategies and methods.

From JamieSEO: "Really offline marketing is about getting results... and the result they want is MONEY. Give them a decent ROI and you have yourself a customer for life."

Yes absolutely true.

Great SEO techniques for great leads that how it works for me.

Yes there are lots. All you have to do is to apply all the strategies. That is according to them.

I have not found courses to be the best way to go to make money. They may be good for education but you can get that through forums and reading a bit. While we do still sell our services to the end clients, we have found that partnering with other seo or marketing people has been the best route to go. We focus on being the best in local/mobile seo and add our piece to the mix that others want to offer or don't want to have to worry about. This has generated the largest share of revenue and the most secure.

Try making a local niche, they work good.

There is a ton of money to be made helping offline clients get familiar with online strategies. The "SECRET" is in building a relationship with the offline prospect and using your ears to understand want they want. You probably know more information than the customer so I wouldn't worry about finding a course. Find a CLIENT and ask them what they want and then sell it back to them.

For example: I talked with a business owner in the Starbucks line. I told him I was in the business of helping businesses get online. I asked him what was his biggest challenge or question about internet marketing.

He asked me "How do you do email BLASTS?" I made an appointment to visit his office.

That client has paid me over $25,000 in the last 5 months. Yes it works but . . . only if you work it.

Colin

If you have no idea about offline market , You can search it in Google or you can ask about this on Facebook by sharing your question.

I'm new to internet marketing. I've sort of been playing at the edges for the last year, teaching myself just enough to slap together a website and learning some of the techniques to drive traffic to a website, and studying ideas about list building and other strategies involved in the online marketing world, and regardless of who you are, or where you are, noting beats eyeballs on the screen, ie traffic in the online world, and in the offline world.

I've also spent time studying "The Tipping Point" and some of the ideas in it, like the Golden Sticker, or whatever, which would seem to translate into a special promo code or something similar when talking about the online world, but marrying the two seems like it could be pretty darn effective.

I mean a thrity second spot aired nationally during the Superbowl made Godaddy.com a household name FOREVER. Did it cost more than most would want to pay, HELL YEAH. Did it make Bob Parson's and company a hell of a lot more money than it cost? HELL YEAH!

Of course Superbowl advertising is AN AWESOME MARKETING OPPORTUNITY for the cost with THE RIGHT PRODUCT OR SERVICE. Does it really make sense for Pepsi, or Coke, or Doritos, or Ford, or Chevy to spend the money they spend on ads during the game? Probably not, but it launched Apple, GoDaddy, the film Independence Day, and a whole heck of a lot of films since then. It makes sense for the BIG SPLASH launch. It is unclear how much it helps drive sales for established brand names.

Okay, so now that I got off on a silly rant, what about the tried and true Infomercial? Or event the 2 minute infomercial that has become popular? They must sell one hell of a lot of Sham Wows to continue spending thousands a week on 28 min and 30 second infomercials on the back channels of cable and on late night local stations to keep airing them, right?

People say that nobody reads the newspaper anymore, and they are right, except when they are not. When I was in college I checked out the free student newspaper regularly, and I always looked at the alternative paper, and I know I'm not the only person that reads classified only papers like the Pennysaver or the Thrifty Nickel or what not when I'm looking for something like a used car, or maybe real estate, am I? Free ad driven papers are here to stay and they get read!

If you could get a classified ad for your site in front of 90 million pairs of eyeballs a week, and only 1% of those 90 million sets of eyeballs ACTUALLY read your ad, that's 900K Potential customers. If only 1/10 of 1 percent of those 900K potential customers converted to a sale on a product selling for $100, like an information product, ie a subscription website, that's 900 customers, or $90K! I've seen an advertising agent that will place a classified for you in papers with an average readership of 90 million for under $3K. Can that kind of offline advertising work? I don't know, but I do know this, a classified ad that cost me $45 running in 2 newspapers with a total circulation of 14,000 4 times got me one customer during the first month I was in practice as an attorney and that client paid me $1500 for the services I provided him. I've seen classified advertising work in what I would consider an off the wall way right there, with a miniscule set of eyeballs. Do I think it could work a lot better if scaled up? You bet I do.

Especially when combined with online marketing, especially when combined with list building techniques, and especially when you use some of the ideas contained in "The Tipping Point" about nudging a campaign into the realm of going viral, i.e. Facebook like buttons, and YouTube related fair, and a Golden Sticker, i.e. promo code that lets people get a discount.

Whether it is online or offline, it is all marketing.

What an interesting read....there are certainly some very interesting and on the button comments on this issue. As Jenna Paulson pointed out many people gravitate to offline out of frustration with trying to make money online (ie. info products) Having spent many years in different offline businesses I can absolutely confirm what many contributors have said regarding business owners wanting L-E-A-D-S and not just page one listings.

I would suggest you start in a niche you are familiar with for example if you were employed as a baker start with bakers. This way you can get your feet wet with people you have some connection with and understand the little quirks about the business thus you will be able to speak their language. As Andyhenry pointed out you have to act like an offline business to be able to develop the rapport with the decision maker.

i.e - Meet up with people, find out what they need, create an offer, deliver on that offer, invoice them for your work, support them afterwards, build relationships.

i am always amused by the courses that have all the gadgets, buttons, agreements etc etc but seem to forget that the purchaser gets over the warm bath feeling of having purchased the supposed solution must at some point have a conversation with the punter / business owner. More often than not that's the point where the wheels fall off the project.

Whenever i make contact with a prospect i first build rapport / get their confidence before venturing into what i can do for their business.

In short; "people buy from people they like and trust'

Good luck

I never tried offline marketing, but Im considering joining seminars when you get to meet like-minded entrepreneurs, and potential clients

The course you buy really needs to depend on the services you want to offer. For example if you are going to make Google Places the centre piece of your offering then I would buy Brian Anderson's Google Places cheat sheet but if you want to lead with video then something like Webmustang's video bazooka would be useful (or my course....see signature).
But it also will depend of course on what skills you already have... if you are weak at selling or cold calling there are dozens of WSOs that address that and lead generation so its really a case of determining where your shortfalls are and then getting information that addresses them.

As for making money then...yeah I'm doing pretty good. I think the thing about Offline is that it will take you some time to get to the big league but you can earn some decent money quickly if you are prepared to actually talk to local businesses... something some people who are used to online unfortunately seem to have a problem with.

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American marketing expert Bob Serling has a course called "Small Business BIG Profits" that is darn good.

Also, Austrailian marketer Peter Sun has a darn good course on offline marketing. It's called "17 Easy Ways To Generate Leads And Get New Customers",and it's real good too.

(sorry if i made this post twice!)

Silho whatsup man! Long time! Yeah folks are. I just got a skype from a client that made his first 1500 with a course I put together with Jerome 007 (see link in signature << yes shameless plug but a tru answer to the question at hand).

I build inexpensive sites for local businesses (actually national businesses but who is counting) and backend marketing services. It is all in TAKING action and perfecting your approach along with streamlining and systematizing (if that is a word). At the end of the day screw a course, screw what he said or she said.. WHAT ARE YOU TAKING ACTION ON?

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wow, great

Offline Marketing is NOT for a lazy person. You need to be social, willing to meet business owners in person and have some sales skills. You also need some thick skin and be willing to accept rejection.
Here is quick story from 2 years ago, I tried getting this client with 18 franchise locations for $2,500.00 per month. It took me 4 months to land the contract. Now I manage/consult to 120 of their locations and aiming at all 800 by end of the year.
Be patient....Offline Marketing is not a "Get Rich Quick Scheme" but it works...there are businesses starving for a quality Internet Marketing Consultant.

Offline clients are not nearly as gullible as Internet Marketers so unless you have what it takes it can destroy just as fast as make you a fortune.

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I have a link in my signature that shows that I'm doing "OK" with offline marketing. I'm about to build a huge network of telemarketers. It's SOO ripe to start a offline marketing company, no matter if you want to make an extra $500 or $500,000 a month.

As a former gm for a small company, I can tell you that Businesses want customers now not tomorrow. I think so many people on this forum get addicted to buying wso's and it gives them an excuse for not just going out there and trying to get customers.

Just go out and do it. Now, there are many ways you can contact a business and I am going to give you an idea that you can use so that you will have no more excuses.

1. Find a business that is advertising in google adwords, yellow pages etc.
2. Call them up and say the following: Hi My name is Terry from xyz co. We are a marketing research firm. I am calling to see if the ad that you've placed with the Yellow pages or google adwords getting the results you've expected? This should be a good opener for you.

So just go out and do it. Again there are several ways to get customers just go do it.

I will tell you the truth as I know it. EMD wordpress/ hit and miss...bummer, I studied and executed site after site. BOOM. Played the authority game. I am a NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO- expert when it comes to bullshit information. YouTube Video. BAM I make a living on that. Is it hard? Hell yes, or women and children would be rich.

There is serious money in offline market. If you see some of the recent market reports, even some of the big national brands are betting huge on local internet marketing.

But you need to do it right -

- don't sell them something they can't measure in terms of revenue- hint: web design, seo
- don't talk to them in language they don't understand - hint: SERP, article directory, reputation management
- don't offer something which is not scalable - hint:google places listing
- don't go after business which are not fit for your country - hint: don't just start doing what everyone else is doing - chiropractors, dentist, plumbers - do your research first
- don't keep running after new local niches - hint: find a scalable model and then rinse and repeat

And none of the courses will help you - unless you are ready to learn and implement fast. Choose one course you trust, learn everything that it says, implement. Don't jump from one to the other.

be very careful with what you are purchasing and make sure it is the right fit for you, however something that costs closer to $100, how lightly is that going to help you succeed? think about it, something that costs closer to $1000 is more lightly to help you succeed however you need to be careful as not everything that costs closer to $1000 will work so my advice is look at the upper end of the scale but be thorough in your research

Yes offline marketing is still hot..
No course or WSO will do you any good unless you take massive action!

Making money with offline marketing?

Seriously this is the only thing that has worked for me so far. I've been struggling with making money for a while and was even homeless! I started my business same day and just ran to local businesses. I was able to get off the streets by outsourcing, and taking checks up front. So yea it works and works well.