Strong-Arming Tactic for New Clients? [This Feels A Little Greeeezy]

Maybe I'm putting the cart before the horse here as I haven't got a new client (yet) from this tactic, but I think it's likely one will soon appear.

** I'm sure someone has already done this before, so I'm not claiming it's anything new. I'm really more interested in hearing some opinions/experiences if you've done anything along these lines. **

(FYI - It's a long read.............)

Here's what I did:

Today, I noticed there were quite a few contractors on Craigslist offering a specific kind of service. Something I would consider a bit of an "odd-ball" niche, but hey, who am I to judge.

I also noticed that these contractors where hitting CL hard and heavy every day (in multiple categories) posting their service. Digging a bit deeper, some of these guys have a generic YellowPage website. And I do mean GENERIC. (Yeah, I know, I could have went for the web-site redesign route, but I'm too lazy. Plus a BILLION people already do re-designs....blah...blah...blah)

Anyway, after doing a little KW research, I could clearly see that there was really no significant amount of internet traffic for these services on a local level but -- I can't help to think that SOMEBODY must need these services. Why in the heck would several contractors be pushing this service this hard?

So, KNOWING that it would be pretty easy to rank videos for this service locally, I chose one of these contractors I thought should be a good prospect and:

1. Built a YouTube channel
2. Ranked a video in EVERY city that this particular contractor works in as well as some cities further out..... 27 cities to be exact. Let's just say I thoroughly dominated the market area.

Now I have videos ranking on the 1st page of Google (most in prime positions above Google Maps). I thought "Okay, now let's give these guys a call to see if they bite".

My plan was straight forward: Get them talking about their business, ask them if they are looking to pick up anymore work, mention I noticed they have a YellowPages website, and then cleverly slide my "exclusive advertising - right now/today in all the cities you work in" offer.

Well, turns out, it's a man/wife team and they "got a call today from their YellowPages ad". So, they of course think their kickin' @ss and they don't need anything else..... I then asked the wife if she realized that her website is only showing up in her small little city and not in the other cities that they work in? She just acted like it didn't matter.

(At this point, I though to myself: "Wow lady, are you even listening to anything I'm saying to you? Aren't you the least bit curious how much total market domination would cost you?" I could clearly see that this is one of those typical "we're all set" type of small mom & pop contractors. These are the kind that are good at what they do, but have no clue about marketing, ROI, etc...etc. I mean c'mon man..... I'm willing to "consult" a client, but I'm not going to lift a finger if they aren't at least WILLING to learn. )

Anyway, then I said something along the lines of: "Well, that's great to hear you're doing so well. If you know of anyone who could use some work in any of these other cities you work in please let me know because I can essentially put them in every city giving them MASSIVE exposure for a lot less than YP's". Then I asked how much she paid for the YP's website - and she said "less than $500 for the whole year". I then thanked her for her time.

Notes:

1. I was going to offer her the whole package for $97/month - but I guess she was "too smart for me". I'm glad she has it all figured out.
2. I then went in and placed a couple ads on Craigslist offering a "Complete Video Marketing Kit for {niche} Contractors". I used a screenshot of a screencast I made explaining the whole process and benefits and embeded it into the CL ad - so it looks like there is a YouTube video right there in the actual ad (same kind of video you would do for video prospecting). So, when someone clicks on the picture, it takes them to the actual YouTube video.....(I like to call it automated prospecting).

Guess who called me an hour ago? The same frickin' lady! LOL! But she didn't call to say she wanted the offer. She told me she saw my ad on CL and she wanted to let me know that I was using her company name in my videos!

She explained that she has "{Niche} Services" registered with the state as her official business name. Clearly, I was using it only to describe the services being offered. Think "Window Cleaning Services" -- Anyway, I started laughing when she told me that I was using her name, but told her "no problem", it's a quick fix, I'll take it out. It was just a quick change of the Title by the way.

I think what really happened is she saw my ad on CL, looked at it, watched the prospecting video I made that laid out all the videos in every city, the custom YouTube channel and how it could help generate leads. I think she finally understands that what I offered her earlier today was no joke. NOW she realizes that I'm going to help her competition DOMINATE every city that she works in - and she's pissed!

So, what do you think: Is this "strong-arming" for new clients?