5 Tips For Putting Your Offline Income on Autopilot

This is good stuff thank you.

You make it sound so simple to get leads from your contact form but getting the traffic to your site is the key to this. How do you get this traffic?

I'd love not to cold call but its a damn site easier than SEO for the offline niche?

Aussie -

For my accounting I use Freshbooks.com. It's simple, looks great (edgy web 2.0) and automated. I'm a serial entrepreneur and a creative so sitting behind a desk printing and invoicing each month was a waste of my time and absolute misery for me. I've been burned before in the past by commissioned sales people, business partners, etc. so it's made me very hands on, to a fault probably. This is why I prefer automation everywhere I can. The best part of Freshbooks is that it emails out late notices at 30, 60 and 90 that are scary as hell and all on autopilot. I have some bigger corporate clients that are always 90 payers (while my smaller mom and pop shops have a check to me the day after their invoiced - go figure). Since using Freshbooks I've never had them go over 30. Here's a tip. My proposals and invoices say that our invoicing system is attached to our marketing tools so be sure to pay within 30 or the system will shut itself down. Not true but I don't have any late payers to chase after. It makes my system the bad guy, not me.

I use Grasshopper.com for my phone system. 1-800 #, $9/month with name directory, hold music, mailboxes, etc. Rings your cell phone and you can choose to pick it up. Best feature for me is that at 5pm it shuts off automatically and goes to voicemail. I value my time with my family in the evening so this was imperative. Also you can log into their site and listen to missed voicemail while on the road.

My most valuable tools I have are the tools I've created. I have a custom content administration tool (I hate wordpress for clients and clients hate the wordpress interface) I've developed, drag and drop landing pages with an admin and auto reporting that I can hook to adwords to track conversion rates, Banners that can be changed quickly for Google's remarketing system, Lead gen Facebook apps that link to my web admin so you update your website and the client's facebook app updates live. I can have a client set up in about an hour and all the tools talk to each other so making a report is a breeze at the end of the month. Some of the setup I outsource and my wife is very well organized so she handles the reporting.

Reputation management is really hot right now and frighteningly simple. This is a huge market and the easiest sell (it's a fear sell, being proactive about your business -businesses owners are proud). Once I tell my client how we execute it they think we're genius because it's so simple plus we cross sell their other services to their customers while we execute the proactive reputation management plan.

I truly enjoy what I do and the respect and appreciation I get from clients is very gratifying. To have a CEO of a multimillion $$ company sit in a meeting and take notes on every word you say is exciting and humbling at the same time. I've thought about simply becoming a consultant but the execution and numbers part is just as interesting to me.

I've gotten a few PM's about my warroom post from way back. There's some juicy info in that post that still brings in a very healthy passive income and has been a blast. Every offliner already has the knowledge to execute the plan. People create boxes for themselves they can't get out of. Stop creating boxes and start thinking higher level. A key to this is to start spending time with higher level thinkers. It's allowed me to create a unique system that has brought in a quarter of a million in extra sales for one single client (maybe I'll elaborate on that later).

Fernando - I have 2 in my local market but they have very different clients. I have others in other geographic markets. Ad firms tend to have a core set of clients that they keep for years so there's not much conflict. One is in the medical niche which is very profitable for both of us, lots of money on the table there from LASIK surgery to brain surgery (Doctors LOVE their reputations and pay HUGE for it). But yes, that can get tricky from a political standpoint if you work with conflicting ad firms. One asked me to sign a non-compete and I told them no way. They still work with me to this day

Back to the point of the original post. One thing you should practice at the end of the day/week is to sit down and analyze what you did that day, write it down. Now go through that list and write down in another column what you could have done to automate those tasks and how you could have done it without being in front of a desk. If that's not possible, write down how you could have done it in half the time. It's amazing how much fat you can cut out of your work diet in retrospect.


I've also had a few requests on here and in the real world to start a course and offer tools for other professionals in other cities. Who knows, maybe one day I'll get out of my own box and get something together. Then again I've fallen for a couple WSO's on here that peaked my interest and I can say I've had $6.50 bottles of wine that were better than the crap contained within. The wine also left a better taste in my mouth once I finished it.

Anyways, Hope everyone has a profitable day.

Nate

Alright, alright. I wasn't going to give the farm away but you've all been fun to interact with and appreciative. I'll give this away with a challenge to you all. Add something to my formula to make it better. First a preface...

When i first heard of reputation management I thought it was joke, another reason for another lousy WSO. I figured my clients would view it as a joke too. This was a few years ago mind you. Then I had a client call. "Nate, I got a nut job that's blasting every site out there saying my service techs installed a leaky gas valve". He was right, the guy was certifiable and it turns out he had a reputation for this nonsense. He even made an entire website dedicated to it with photos and everything. The fitting had nothing to do with any of the work my client performed and wasn't even on the same piece of equipment. I suggested legal counsel first and foremost which got the website removed by very convincing lawyers who charge very big retainers. Before we could get a handle on the situation he had blasted every site known and unknown to man. Yelp, Angie, Google places, Yahoo etc. Damage was done. (I just gave you your story pitch, your welcome )

Now what?

I researched the TOS on those sites, read forums, educated myself on how the sites work, made calls. Some allowed for us to respond to the complaint which is an art form in and of itself. (Never allow a client to respond. They get themselves in trouble that's why you charge the big bucks, let them review your script so they feel involved). True story - one of my clients had a leak in his bathroom and my client thought it'd be funny to suggest he was simply missing the toilet. It was fun cleaning that up (pardon the pun) Anyways, I received suggestions ranging from blasting other sites with links to bury the comments all the way to sending Google a DCMA take down notice (no need to comment on the stupidity of that) and even to hire a service with a proxie that could create accounts and fake reviews. I don't do ANY of that. I have too much respect for myself, my company and my clients to engage in ANY practice that could ever cause irreparable damage to their businesses.

I figured my client was a bit screwed and we'd have to wait it out. He had a few other bad complaints as all companies do, it's natural and normal and actually good. I call them counter positive reviews ("good service but more expensive than I thought it would be" or "they took a few days to respond but I loved the work when it was finished"). This one really bad review pushed the average way down.

I went home that day and had a cigar and unwounded my brain and it came to me. I got out of my own way (stupid brain) and I got back to basics. All of the greatest solutions you'll ever have will come from getting back to basics. That morning I designed a system in 5 minutes on one of my whiteboards (they cover my office, my client's think I'm a wizard of some sort I think) that would end up being the most simplistic, most powerful, most profitable tool in my portfolio. My proactive reputation management system.

I like my systems. Systems allow autopilot and automation. I once wrote a formula (or a system) on my whiteboard and came back late at night just to have a night cap, lean back in my chair and marvel at it's simplicity.

Here it is. I warn you, it's simple and you may think I'm nuts or you may think I'm a genius but I like to teeter totter between the two. All I know is I can sell it to any company you put in front of my conference room table. I won't gunk this up with any more words than necessary.

The system

Step 1. Create an e-mail template branded for my client which has links to 4-5 client profiles on review sites. Think Angie's List, Google places, you know the dirty culprits.
Step 2. Have your client dip into their system and pull email addresses for all the clients they've worked with the past month (think yearly servicing of a furnace).
Step 3. Write a friendly message in the email from step 1 saying something to the effect of "Jim, your friends at company xyz really appreciated being able to serve you this month. In an effort to serve you better we'd love you to reply to this email with how we could have been better. Also, if you've enjoyed your experience with our company we'd love for you to let others know at any of the following sites. Let us know you've left a review and we'll send you a gift card to Dunkin Donuts so you can have a coffee on us the next time we're at your home."
Step 4. Send the same e-mail out at the end of every month with the new list of customers using constant contact or some other service on the clients behalf. I craft it to make it look like it's coming from the CEO as it genuinely does and the CEO along with myself will get the responses. This produces the best results and makes people feel extra special.
Step 5. Track results and report to client at the end of the next month with new reviews, good reviews, bad reviews. Clients pay survey companies HUGE $$ to get customer feedback and assess their performance. You just saved your client's some cash.
Step 6. TEST TEST TEST. Test your message, better your message, make it perfect. Choose different gifts each month.

That's it. Stupid simple. I've heard rumors going around that my competitors think I'm writing fake reviews somehow. My clients have 50 times more reviews on those sites than any of their competitors. We stayed in the TOS for the sites by not telling people to leave a good review, we just said leave a review and yes, I tell them they HAVE to send the bad ones gift cards too. The idea behind this system and another selling point for you is that out of 1000 customers that client had, 996 will be happy and 4 won't be. The 996 are at home eating cheese puffs in their lazy chairs watching dancing with the stars while the unhappy customers are pounding angrily away at their computers at all the review sites. By making it simple to leave a good review and offering incentive (everyone loves free stuff) you've just secured the online reputation of that company. The client is hooked on you and wouldn't dream of canceling this service EVER.

Now think of the added benefits to what we just did. HUGE Google places ranking boost. Ranking (popularity) boosts within all the other review sites. Any future scathing or unwarranted reviews will be lost in a sea of reviews full of glowing customers and the naysayers will look bat sane crazy. We didn't cheat, we were just more innovative in our approach, we can sleep at night knowing we've done well by our client. This is what a real company does. Innovate. Not look for cheats or shortcuts.

As a disclaimer, if anyone chooses to make a rip off WSO on here about this I'll hunt you down and publicly humiliate you in front of your friends, I'm thinking a wedgie would do.

Another disclaimer -I have no idea if someone's presented this concept on here in the past, it came out of my head and I'd like to think I originated it but of course some may find this common knowledge and there are some very bright people on here so my apologies ahead of time.

Charge whatever you want. Prices range from city to city. Pick a price, start high and come out at the price you choose. I wouldn't think anyone would want to charge any less than $1,400/mo minimum for this service. Forgot to mention, my monthly reports look they came out of Microsoft's first quarter fiscal earnings statement. They're beautiful and thorough which clients perceive as value rather than giving them a one page crappy word document with your pixelated logo at the top. It took me nearly a week to design the report but that work pays off now as it takes me 10 minutes per month to plug in the variables for that month. I have others tally up all reviews, graph it, graph increases, decreases, pick 5 for in in depth review, have consultants write scripts for those bad reviews for the clients to approve or wordsmith. Your client now has his finger on the pulse of how is ship is doing in cyberspace.

I'm not going to tell you how to sell it. I can't. Everyone's different. Get out there and fall on your face a few times with it. It'll help you gain insight as everyone has a different approach. My approach can change 360 depending on the way I read a client within the first minute of meeting them. Here's a gem. I believe 200% in everything I sell a client, I know it will help them and they'll make a 400%+ return on their investment. Attain that and you can sell anything to anyone. If you don't believe in what you're selling or the services you're performing for a client, don't waste your time or the clients. I'm always the smartest guy in the room (in my field) and I'm one of the most confident but the key is I'm humble about it. When I hire a fine woodworker to build a cabinet I admire and respect his expertise just as the clients in my meetings admire mine.

So that's it. That's the farm, the chickens and goat given away on my reputation management system. DO NOT gloat to your client about the simplicity or the process. They pay for innovation and that's what you deliver. Not a paint by numbers instructional manual they can steal. Information is power. Now, think of a way to improve the process...

Nate

share an amazing, thanks for willing to share his tips, I consent bookmarks .. thank you, success for you

Thanks as always for the appreciative comments.

Marcinao - the lead system on our website is really simple. Just 3-4 fields. I always believe in giving people incentive to give you information and I believe in keeping it simple. I see my competitors with 20 fields on their forms and all sorts of nonsense to make themselves look "smart". I'm a business man, my clients are business men. We're all busy and I don't care to fill out 20 fields when I want a service. This goes for myself and my clients - Lead forms are just for that - Leads. It's up to my clients (and myself on my own website) to close the lead once the phone call is made. On our company website I have a takeaway that is auto delivered to the potential leads inbox. i.e. on the "reputation management" page I have a report that is auto delivered to the potential client titled "5 ways your business image can suffer and how to prevent it from happening". This gives them a pdf in their inbox to print out and bring to a meeting (with our logo of course well branded on it) plus it gave the potential client a reason to give me their info so I can call and set up a meeting. The report looks like a ton of work is involved in the process and our pitch at the end is to hand us the keys and we'll take care of it all. There's a tremendous amount of psychology that goes into what we do to get the lead in for ourselves and our clients. I could probably write a book on this alone and it's an absolutely fascinating subject.

Don't worry about people searching for reputation management. That's a term for us to use, not them. You could probably even find some bigger companies that have trouble keeping their customers happy and target them. If I were real desperate for business I would make a report and email it to a big client which lists the bad reviews and include our projections on how our service would allow their reputation to soar along with the literal and intrinsic value in doing so. Better yet, send it snail mail and make it beautiful, they won't be able to ignore it. He who puts the most effort in and shows the client you care the most about his/her business wins.

InTh3Moment - I was hoping people would respond to my challenge and improve the "reputation management" system but no one has stepped up yet. Keep in mind I charge clients according to innovation. Most business owners are so engrossed in the intricacies of running their business and babysitting their employee's that their marketing efforts get lost or become status quo. I charge big bucks to innovate on my clients behalf and they appreciate that and are willing to pay me substantially for it. I also have exclusives with some clients so that they're assured their competitors can't use our services, and I charge primo for that privilege. (that's a great upsell)

There are many ways you can add value to this service. For instance... Have the client print out "social" cards for their service techs with a sub url that reads "Visit reviews.companyxyz.com to let us know how we did and get a complimentary coffee for your next service". on the other side put the client's social media icons. Tell the client to have his techs hand them out to homeowners after they're finished at the customer's homes and provide a script for the client to give to service techs as a guide. Now when the customer goes to this URL it will have the same links as the email but it also will have a form on it where the customer can check the boxes off of each review site they left a review on and enter their address to send the gift card too. Now you can use that landing page to track customer interactions AND you just automated the review process for the client.

Now step it up even more...

Layout a program that will allow the client to incentivize the review system for the EMPLOYEES. Make it a game. Whichever tech gets the most customer reviews at the end of the month wins a gift card to a nice restaurant to take his family out for the night, or an overnight trip. Their employees will be falling over themselves to get the customers to leave good reviews for them. Who really wins at the end of the day? You do. The system makes you look great and you secured your client for life.

If you're going into a pitch with the fear of future failure in the back of your mind then postpone the meeting and buy a white board and some markers and get to work improving your system. Figure out a bomb proof plan and understand there will be adjustments along the way. Most importantly, choose a larger company with lots of customers. Your plan won't work with a small company who services 10 customers per month.

Please understand that I've been at this a while. I don't expect you to walk in and sell someone a $1400/mo reputation management service when they have no idea who you are. Start with a smaller company and get comfortable with it first. Go for quality over quantity so you can cultivate the client into a bigger spender down the road. Maybe you could even make your reputation management system tiered. A starter package at $, a mid size package at $$ and a domination package at $$$. That way you can upsell the customer after they see the ROI after a few months using one of the lower tiers. Tease, but don't give away too much info to a client you don't have a relationship with. Talk results rather than process so they don't steal your ideas until you have a good working relationship. My clients would never steal my ideas because they know I'd never work with them again and they'll miss out on all the future innovations my company comes up with.

Hope you can pull something beneficial out of all that and thanks again for the appreciative comments, it's what makes me want to come back here and help out.

Nate

Always use value based pricing. Charge non by how much it costs to produce, but by the value it creates. Any other strategy and you're shooting yourself, and the industry in the foot. Think of the value of information and the time, energy, and money it took to acquire it. That's why you're a consultant, not a widget producer, where you use use cost plus pricing.

Partnering up with an advertising firm sounds like a pretty good WSO. I would have never thought of that. I always seem to pick up some golden nuggets whenever I visit the forum. Thanks

What else do you want to know Your Highness? Nate shall deliver it to you on a gold platter.

Nate,

Your idea for rep mgt certainly is well organized and to the point. BTW, I know some people in my city who joined a class action suit against yelp. How successful they will be is anybody's guess. But the SF lawyer is probably charging big $$$ to bring the suit.

Regardless, your program overwhelms the review site's system w/positive reviews which is a good thing for the client. I really don't think you can improve on that system given the way the review sites have their system structured. At least what I read as I surf the review sites.

But, as you point out, bury them w/positive reviews should do the trick. Several of our local biz people have told me yelp has purposely not posted the good to great reviews because they wouldn't advertise with them. I don't know if this is true or not but why would the biz people say that if it wasn't.

I only mention this one review site because it is the one the biz folks told me. Have you heard anything similar?

We are working w/a restaurant and will try your suggestion. If it works, bingo!, we will have living proof it can be done.

Have a great day and don't drink too much. I"m told the stuff makes a guy drunk

Tom