13 replies
So a little about me first...I'm presently on leave from work, wanting to change my career - I need a 360!

My first thought was to help local businesses get on Facebook. I was also pondering the thought of creating an "affordable" web presence like a one-page website. With the help of this Forum, I'm now considering doing the rent-a-page model. Up to here, I'm good & excited.

Started reading more posts and searching the web, I saw the definite need to add Google Places to my services! Great!! One more thing to do! This seemed like the perfect package to start.

Then, I thought...some businesses I have in mind would really benefit from a video on their site or FB page! Pretty comfy here as well, to some extent.

I'm now really excited and see a full business ahead of me. Since the re-discovery of this forum, I've been going to bed late, waking up way early...and this is driving me to be passionately obsessed!!

But I am also sooo overwhelmed as many aspects are complete new to me!
(hopefully...some of you will relate!) I have no background in SEO or backlinking! I'm just struggling with wanting to learn it all to perfection...or outsourcing all I don't know to set-up a business that would free me from the nitty gritty from the get-go.

Anyone else feeling this way? :rolleyes:

Don't get me wrong - this is all very exciting! I have a warm persona, training & working experience in sales as well as in marketing. I seem to have it all...but the working knowledge of how to put this all together to offer the BEST service around!

Apologized for the long post but I had to share!
#overwhelmed
  • Profile picture of the author racso316
    I think at some point when we all start we feel the same way. The trick is to especialize in something specific. You don't have to it all. You do have to have a basic understanding in all the aspects of your business though. But you can outsource the rest. Take a breather. Schedule and hve blocks of an hour where you study and learn a specific subject and you'll be fine. Keep on going! You'll do good. Take action too!
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    • Profile picture of the author iInvent
      Originally Posted by racso316 View Post

      I think at some point when we all start we feel the same way. The trick is to especialize in something specific. You don't have to it all. You do have to have a basic understanding in all the aspects of your business though. But you can outsource the rest. Take a breather. Schedule and hve blocks of an hour where you study and learn a specific subject and you'll be fine. Keep on going! You'll do good. Take action too!
      Seems like specializing is a key word! I believe I'll stick to my original plan and go with it!! Thanks for your input!
      Signature

      Thanks for reading!

      Chantal
      "Before you try to satisfy the client, understand and satisfy the person."

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  • Profile picture of the author vndnbrgj
    Don't be a marketing service whore......

    Be a consultant!

    Talk to a business owner. Find out what they need, and what they are doing to accomplish that. Don't sell, let them sell themselves.

    Sure, you can offer everything a WSO owner pushes on you, or..
    You can focus on one lead in product.

    Once you get your foot in the door, then talk about additional services.
    Or, you can be like everyone else and not take action or try to sell everything you offer and pitch puke when you meet a business owner.

    Time for the truth:
    - No one gives a s*** about what you offer!
    All they care about is what's in it for them
    Here is what a business owner wants.....
    Ready.....



    More time, more profits, and more customers

    Your job is to educate them on what they are currently doing wrong, without making them feel like an idiot. Then show how your solution will fix their problem.

    What's your USP? How do you, or will you, differentiate yourself from everyone else?
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    - Neale Donald Wilson -
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    • Profile picture of the author iInvent
      Originally Posted by vndnbrgj View Post

      Don't be a marketing service whore......

      Be a consultant!

      Talk to a business owner. Find out what they need, and what they are doing to accomplish that. Don't sell, let them sell themselves.

      Sure, you can offer everything a WSO owner pushes on you, or..
      You can focus on one lead in product.

      Once you get your foot in the door, then talk about additional services.
      Or, you can be like everyone else and not take action or try to sell everything you offer and pitch puke when you meet a business owner.

      Time for the truth:
      - No one gives a s*** about what you offer!
      All they care about is what's in it for them
      Here is what a business owner wants.....
      Ready.....



      More time, more profits, and more customers

      Your job is to educate them on what they are currently doing wrong, without making them feel like an idiot. Then show how your solution will fix their problem.

      What's your USP? How do you, or will you, differentiate yourself from everyone else?
      Hmmm I thought of being a consultant but I feel like I dont have enough of a strong background to back myself up...I don't feel confident enough!

      Sounds odd perhaps, but I feel I could be a consultant when I get more experience by actually helping people achieve more.

      I hope I make sense!
      Signature

      Thanks for reading!

      Chantal
      "Before you try to satisfy the client, understand and satisfy the person."

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5847662].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author RobbieT
      Originally Posted by vndnbrgj View Post

      Don't be a marketing service whore......

      Be a consultant!

      Talk to a business owner. Find out what they need, and what they are doing to accomplish that. Don't sell, let them sell themselves.

      Sure, you can offer everything a WSO owner pushes on you, or..
      You can focus on one lead in product.

      Once you get your foot in the door, then talk about additional services.

      Or, you can be like everyone else and not take action or try to sell everything you offer and pitch puke when you meet a business owner.

      Time for the truth:
      - No one gives a s*** about what you offer!
      All they care about is what's in it for them
      Here is what a business owner wants.....
      Ready.....



      More time, more profits, and more customers

      Your job is to educate them on what they are currently doing wrong, without making them feel like an idiot. Then show how your solution will fix their problem.

      What's your USP? How do you, or will you, differentiate yourself from everyone else?
      And ain't that the truth.

      My advice would be:-

      1/ to look at it from the business owners point of view. They just want to know "What's In It For Me" (WIIFM). In other words if they talk to you can you give them - more customers + more $'s in their hand.

      2/ remember that when you contact the business owner you are looking for an appointment to help them make more money, have more customers and free up their time. You are NOT trying to sell them the solution at this stage

      3/ ask questions of the business owner so that you can find out what is their biggest problem. If you have a "right fit" solution where you know that you can help them achieve what's in step 1 above then proceed.

      Take good care of those that you love.

      Robbie T
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      Follow my Journey to make an extra $40 or $400 per week each week and TOP UP YOUR WEEKLY INCOME

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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    Agreed on the consultant approach.

    You have many possible solutions, or tools in your toolkit. It may not be necessary or right to use them all for a client.

    Find out what their problems are with online lead generation...and then customize a solution package out of your toolkit.

    You'll make more money, too, because people won't see you as a "web designer" or "fan page builder" or "video guy"...you'll move away from being seen as a commodity.

    Your prospects are not buying a mobile site, fan page, SEO, SMS, reputation management...

    ...what they're interested in is a steady stream of qualified inbound leads. All those things fuel that outcome.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kung Fu Backlinks
    I'll share a bit about what I went through, and hopefully something will be helpful:

    I actually went the other way --> I put myself out there as a competent provider of one or two things and after earning trust did I become their consultant. For me... going out there as a "consultant" and jack of all trades didn't work.

    I started my offline career developing websites for people. It's easy as long as you don't get into "design." Design I found challenging because I'd get clients that were very picky about colors, layout, etc. I'm not a designer, so it was challenging going between designer and client. It eats up a lot of time.

    I then started to just offer simple business websites, as you mentioned above. This was much easier, as I knew enough about CSS to tweak WordPress themes. The price you can demand is smaller, but the projects are quicker and less time-intensive, so I found I was making much more per hour doing these simple sites.

    I then moved onto SEO / rent a site work. I found it enormously time consuming - both to find clients and to create and rank sites. In hindsight, developing simple sites for a few hundred bucks was easier.

    I then tried mobile websites. Contacted many businesses and found most of them didn't want to do anything with mobile - at least, not with me. I will be sharing a post on what DID work well for me here. Keep an eye out for that in the Offline forum soon.

    I then tried Google Places. This worked well for me. Google Places and reviews was something I could get business owners to understand quickly and it matched the amount of work I was willing to do for my business.

    Were I to do everything all over again, I would start with simple, clean business sites and Google Places. It's easy to get a listing optimized, and it's easy to get citations done. It's a little harder to rank the listings, as you have to find a good outsourcer or learn the ropes yourself. But once you get things going, it's a hot ticket item.

    Now, when a client asks me about mobile. I say, let's get the basics done first and see what the analytics show us. If Google Analytics tells us you're getting mobile visitors, let's do a mobile site. But let's not spend that money unless you need to. Business owners really appreciates that I'm trying to save them money, making suggestions based on what will give them a positive ROI. I never recommend the newest things just for their own sake.

    So after all this, I'd say to someone - pick something simple, quick and easy to report on, so clients can see the work you're doing and hopefully get fast results. I always think in terms of my per hour earnings. I include time spent working, outsourcing, getting that client and managing that client. I found many of my $2,000 paydays ended up being months of work. Not good.
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    • Profile picture of the author iInvent
      Originally Posted by Kung Fu Backlinks View Post

      I'll share a bit about what I went through, and hopefully something will be helpful:

      I actually went the other way --> I put myself out there as a competent provider of one or two things and after earning trust did I become their consultant. For me... going out there as a "consultant" and jack of all trades didn't work.

      I started my offline career developing websites for people. It's easy as long as you don't get into "design." Design I found challenging because I'd get clients that were very picky about colors, layout, etc. I'm not a designer, so it was challenging going between designer and client. It eats up a lot of time.

      I then started to just offer simple business websites, as you mentioned above. This was much easier, as I knew enough about CSS to tweak WordPress themes. The price you can demand is smaller, but the projects are quicker and less time-intensive, so I found I was making much more per hour doing these simple sites.

      I then moved onto SEO / rent a site work. I found it enormously time consuming - both to find clients and to create and rank sites. In hindsight, developing simple sites for a few hundred bucks was easier.

      I then tried mobile websites. Contacted many businesses and found most of them didn't want to do anything with mobile - at least, not with me. I will be sharing a post on what DID work well for me here. Keep an eye out for that in the Offline forum soon.

      I then tried Google Places. This worked well for me. Google Places and reviews was something I could get business owners to understand quickly and it matched the amount of work I was willing to do for my business.

      Were I to do everything all over again, I would start with simple, clean business sites and Google Places. It's easy to get a listing optimized, and it's easy to get citations done. It's a little harder to rank the listings, as you have to find a good outsourcer or learn the ropes yourself. But once you get things going, it's a hot ticket item.

      Now, when a client asks me about mobile. I say, let's get the basics done first and see what the analytics show us. If Google Analytics tells us you're getting mobile visitors, let's do a mobile site. But let's not spend that money unless you need to. Business owners really appreciates that I'm trying to save them money, making suggestions based on what will give them a positive ROI. I never recommend the newest things just for their own sake.

      So after all this, I'd say to someone - pick something simple, quick and easy to report on, so clients can see the work you're doing and hopefully get fast results. I always think in terms of my per hour earnings. I include time spent working, outsourcing, getting that client and managing that client. I found many of my $2,000 paydays ended up being months of work. Not good.


      From a fellow Ontarian, thank you for your kind advice kung fu backlinks

      I guess I will stick to my original thoughts and go with the basics for now.
      One step at a time! And yes, I will be looking for your post on what's working!! Can't wait to hear more!
      Signature

      Thanks for reading!

      Chantal
      "Before you try to satisfy the client, understand and satisfy the person."

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5847649].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author John Durham
    Originally Posted by iInvent View Post

    So a little about me first...I'm presently on leave from work, wanting to change my career - I need a 360!

    My first thought was to help local businesses get on Facebook. I was also pondering the thought of creating an "affordable" web presence like a one-page website. With the help of this Forum, I'm now considering doing the rent-a-page model. Up to here, I'm good & excited.

    Started reading more posts and searching the web, I saw the definite need to add Google Places to my services! Great!! One more thing to do! This seemed like the perfect package to start.

    Then, I thought...some businesses I have in mind would really benefit from a video on their site or FB page! Pretty comfy here as well, to some extent.

    I'm now really excited and see a full business ahead of me. Since the re-discovery of this forum, I've been going to bed late, waking up way early...and this is driving me to be passionately obsessed!!

    But I am also sooo overwhelmed as many aspects are complete new to me!
    (hopefully...some of you will relate!) I have no background in SEO or backlinking! I'm just struggling with wanting to learn it all to perfection...or outsourcing all I don't know to set-up a business that would free me from the nitty gritty from the get-go.

    Anyone else feeling this way? :rolleyes:

    Don't get me wrong - this is all very exciting! I have a warm persona, training & working experience in sales as well as in marketing. I seem to have it all...but the working knowledge of how to put this all together to offer the BEST service around!

    Apologized for the long post but I had to share!
    Lol. I have a joyous belly laugh reading this.... Yeah we can all relate.

    How about starting off offering a simple $99 one page website with all the bells and whistles? Just have a basic place to start, one that you can upsell from.

    Its an easy way to land a client, and once you have landed them you OWN everything they ever want to do after that, and they will ALL want to grow it... plus you block them out from everyone else, as they will say "I already have a web guy" to anyone else that approaches them.

    Just a thought, you gotta scratch the pad and start somewhere. It will grow fast.

    10 $99 dollar clients is really 10k in the bag. Once you have them hooked "you are their web guy", and you can take it wherever you want. There's a basic start. Easy to assimilate and easy to start, and to sense some initial progress which is invaluable.

    The sooner you get some clients the sooner you will have traction and feel you have something substantial to pursue, the rest will snowball.

    Just an idea, there are many. Go get a client this weekend like that, I'll bet you CAN, before monday even gets here!
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    • Profile picture of the author iInvent
      Originally Posted by John Durham View Post

      Lol. I have a joyous belly laugh reading this.... Yeah we can all relate.

      How about starting off offering a simple $99 one page website with all the bells and whistles? Just have a basic place to start, one that you can upsell from.

      Its an easy way to land a client, and once you have landed them you OWN everything they ever want to do after that, and they will ALL want to grow it... plus you block them out from everyone else, as they will say "I already have a web guy" to anyone else that approaches them.

      Just a thought, you gotta scratch the pad and start somewhere. It will grow fast.

      10 $99 dollar clients is really 10k in the bag. Once you have them hooked "you are their web guy", and you can take it wherever you want. There's a basic start. Easy to assimilate and easy to start, and to sense some initial progress which is invaluable.

      The sooner you get some clients the sooner you will have traction and feel you have something substantial to pursue, the rest will snowball.

      Just an idea, there are many. Go get a client this weekend like that, I'll bet you CAN, before monday even gets here!
      Thank you John for making me feel at ease with my overwhelment

      About getting a client...I already have one that's interested for a Facebook page for sure and possibly a rent-a-page as well. I live in the suburbs, everyone knows everyone and it seems like the business world is tired of the same old marketing through our local newspaper. It's costing them an arm & an leg.

      So...I guess I should not feel so overwhelmed in the end... I'm a lucky girl

      Thanks again for your ideas - this forum is sooo helpful!
      Signature

      Thanks for reading!

      Chantal
      "Before you try to satisfy the client, understand and satisfy the person."

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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    ...John's post reminds me...have a look at this post on his forum. It will give you a fast conversation you can have several times an hour if you keep calling...qualify people In or Out...and sell websites.
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    • Profile picture of the author John Durham
      Originally Posted by kaniganj View Post

      ...John's post reminds me...have a look at this post on his forum. It will give you a fast conversation you can have several times an hour if you keep calling...qualify people In or Out...and sell websites.
      It's "our" forum Jason. It belongs to the great people of TMF who are even greater since you came along.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kumaris
    Originally Posted by iInvent View Post

    I need a 360!
    Unfortunately, If you did a 360 you would wind up exactly where you are now
    Try a 180! lol

    best of luck to you!
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