Some Pointers From 3 Years of Offline

5 replies
Hi -

An email came through the web form on my company website from a guy with some questions about starting an offline marketing company. I found myself sending him an answer with more detail that I had first intended.

I thought maybe this could help some newer folks who are just getting started. Kind of a quick blurb about everything.

Here is the email I sent to him - I changed his name and my company name, but that's it...

My company has been around since early 2009. For the 5 years before that we were consulting pretty regularly. The lessons we've learned along the way are too numerous to ever document...

I can give you a few ideas and try to answer your questions briefly.

Fist - if you are interested in selling for my company on a commission basis, do let me know. I would have that conversation with you.

Regarding charges... It depends on the service. Local Launch, for example, is for small, local businesses and is always priced the same 500 set up, 400/month. I have raised this to 500/month in the past and may do so again. It depends on what my service is doing. When we add certain backlinking for example, it increases cost.

Higher services like national SEO (broad, non local keywords) is charged based on what my service is doing. Over the past 3 years SEO has changed. As SEO changes, so too does what our SEO plan do and thus, so do charges. For the most part, national SEO plans are between 1500 and 2500/month.

For billing, I use PayPal Pro and do all billing through credit cards. I learned the hard way that taking checks is no good for cash flow. The only clients we take checks for are large corporations who can't pay with credit cards per their accounts payable policies.

For CRM - we've tried everything. First, all billing is entered into Quickbooks online - you must have this set up. MUST. Second, you'll need to track sales pipelines. For this it's up to you. Anything from a spreadsheet to Salesforce.com will work. You just have to figure out what works for you.

For reporting to your customers, you can do anything from simply exporting Google analytics reports to using a more robust system. SEOMoz, for example, has a pre-formatted keyword ranking report. We use several methods depending on how the SEO is set up for various clients. For Social Media, the reporting is different....Twitter followers, FB activity, etc is all readily apparent, so formal reporting is not really needed, but you may want to create a nice summary report (we did this from scratch). Conversion tracking - form conversions AND phone call tracking is a must. We use Google Analytics for forms and Marchex for call tracking. Marchex is expensive - we charge all clients $50/month for call tracking and it is mandatory on all SEO programs. We may move to a less expensive call tracking program...

Your biggest challenge, in my opinion, will be defining your service. We all know what SEO is, but you need to figure what you're going to do for each client. And as SEO evolves, how you'll change what you do for your clients. For example, we still have some clients on legacy SEO programs - just have not moved them over to new processes yet. The second biggest challenge will be figuring out how to scale. Once you hit 10 clients (or thereabout) you are going to be maxed out on time, but unable to afford decent help. You'll need to figure this out - I did, but the trials and errors are too numerous to describe. Bottom line, you'd better figure out outsourcing, or you'll max out making 50 grand a year and won't go any further.

Good luck... Starting a marketing company is a big step. You'll have freedom and flexibility and potentially can make a lot of money.

Let me tell you this.... it is HARD WORK.

WAY harder than any corporate job you will ever have. If you want to make real money, you will work every day of the week. You will work nights, weekends. Remember, YOU are responsible for sales prospecting, closing, order entry, service delivery, account management, bookkeeping, finance, partnerships, internal marketing, and.... putting food on the table for you (and your family if you have one).

So...don't go into this thinking it'll be a breeze. It is a ton of hard work. On top of that - looking at yourself in the mirror when you do a crappy job is also WAY harder than telling your boss you screwed up. When you screw up here, it could impact whether or not you pay your bills and your very perception of yourself.

Not trying to discourage, only trying to explain the reality.

When I started formally, I already had 3 paying clients because I had been moonlighting on my old job (director of search for Network Solutions). I also had a huge network of potential clients from doing many industry speaking engagements across the country.

Lastly - I would find a BNI group when you're first starting out. It will undoubtedly lead to a couple clients to get you started. It will also help you polish up your sales pitch. (Google it if you have not heard of it.)

Hope this helps... Good luck, and don't hesitate to fire off a quick question if you need help.

Best,

Harry

PS - If you're not part of the Warrior Forum - go there and create a profile. Visit the offline marketing area and see what some of the people are talking about. I wouldn't buy ANYthing myself, but there are often some good pearls of wisdom hidden away in that forum and it also can be a good motivator.

PPS - I will likely post part of this note to the Warrior Forum. Since I took the time to write it, maybe it can help someone else too....Hope that's okay with you.
#offline #pointers #years
  • Profile picture of the author alpine1
    Thanks Harry: You sound like you're speaking from experience. The one thing I can say is that it -appears- that with the current API integration(s) and sophistication of platforms it could be possible to run a fairly large company by outsourcing and having intelligent implementation of software and platforms. Is there any one system that sticks out as being one of the best 'out of the box' solution for start ups as well not growing out of the system too quickly?
    Thanks for you imput
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  • Profile picture of the author vndnbrgj
    I have to disagree with you about working nights and weekends.

    The only time I work nights, is to meet a client at the end of the day or to attend a monthly networking meeting. And there better be a darn good reason we have to meet after hours.
    I also don't work weekends.

    It is all about how you structure everything.

    I have a wife, kids, and a life. I want to enjoy them.
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    Life Begins At The End Of Your Comfort Zone
    - Neale Donald Wilson -
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  • Profile picture of the author hwwor91ST
    Hope this helps... Good luck, and don't hesitate to fire off a quick question if you need help.
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  • Profile picture of the author Baadier Sydow
    Lots of great information in there for those starting out. Btw what sparked the response? Did he simply ask you out of the blue?
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael75065
    good post thanks!!



    Michael Ladd
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