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What is YOUR favourite prospecting method?

by StrategicCheetah
54 replies
Hey offliners, just wondering how everyone is getting their clients these days?

I'll start off by saying my 2 favourite methods still remain to be Cold Calling and Social Media (LinkedIn mostly)

Lets hear it?
#favourite #method #prospecting
  • Profile picture of the author bob ross
    smoke signal.


    Telephone for sure.
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  • Profile picture of the author massiveray
    Biggest earner - cold calls

    Easiest - email

    Highest conversion - referral

    Most consistent - leads generated from zero position

    Fastest without calling - ppc
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    • Profile picture of the author CEOArob
      Originally Posted by massiveray View Post

      Biggest earner - cold calls

      Easiest - email

      Highest conversion - referral

      Most consistent - leads generated from zero position

      Fastest without calling - ppc
      lololololol RAYYYY

      -----

      I read this post, and I was like, "Wow, this sounds exactly like something I would say", and lo and behold. It's you, lol.

      Much love bro.

      ------

      I concur with the quoted post wholeheartedly.
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    • Profile picture of the author CEOArob
      delete this.
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    • Profile picture of the author alanjai
      Originally Posted by massiveray View Post

      Biggest earner - cold calls

      Easiest - email

      Highest conversion - referral

      Most consistent - leads generated from zero position

      Fastest without calling - ppc
      Sounds like you've done all this yourself True ??
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  • Profile picture of the author JaceBarnett
    I like to create a "prospect funnel." I start most of my prospecting with a cold call, but I almost never do sales at the time of initial contact. I don't set up that many sales appointments with my initial contact any more either.

    Now what I do is I take out a bunch of flyers into the field with me. I hand the business owner a flyer and a voucher for a freebie of some sort and invite them to attend a free seminar. At the seminar I attempt to build up reciprocity by providing at least 45 minutes of good content for free. I "close" by asking the business owners to complete a form about which of the related services, if any, I provide they would be interested in learning more about and what number (personal or cell) or email I should contact them at for them to redeem their freebie.

    This has been working like gang busters for me. Not only do my "cold contacts" turn into warm leads, but now they are asking me to follow-up with them rather than me begging them to give me 20 minutes of their time. The form that I make them fill out to "redeem" their freebie also gives me the ability to follow-up with them in the future without needing to swing by their office during normal business hours and interrupt their operations.
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    • Profile picture of the author TheAtHomeCouple
      Originally Posted by JaceBarnett View Post

      I like to create a "prospect funnel." I start most of my prospecting with a cold call, but I almost never do sales at the time of initial contact. I don't set up that many sales appointments with my initial contact any more either.

      Now what I do is I take out a bunch of flyers into the field with me. I hand the business owner a flyer and a voucher for a freebie of some sort and invite them to attend a free seminar. At the seminar I attempt to build up reciprocity by providing at least 45 minutes of good content for free. I "close" by asking the business owners to complete a form about which of the related services, if any, I provide they would be interested in learning more about and what number (personal or cell) or email I should contact them at for them to redeem their freebie.

      This has been working like gang busters for me. Not only do my "cold contacts" turn into warm leads, but now they are asking me to follow-up with them rather than me begging them to give me 20 minutes of their time. The form that I make them fill out to "redeem" their freebie also gives me the ability to follow-up with them in the future without needing to swing by their office during normal business hours and interrupt their operations.
      Dude - what you've just said crushes 70% of the WSO's out there. Thanks for the method/process detail. Definitely requires more work compared to other methods, but the conversion rate after the seminar must be insane.
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  • Profile picture of the author Pedersenmt
    Cold calling? Ugh!

    I have not figured out what to say at the beginning and when they quickly say "who are you with" and "what's this about"?
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    • Profile picture of the author JaceBarnett
      Originally Posted by Pedersenmt View Post

      Cold calling? Ugh!

      I have not figured out what to say at the beginning and when they quickly say "who are you with" and "what's this about"?
      I always tell them that I only came in to introduce myself and drop off a flyer/business card. Then I do just that before asking their name and position before going into my elevator pitch.
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      • Profile picture of the author Pedersenmt
        So you do the pitch right there during the first physical visit?

        If so, can you share your pitch?

        Originally Posted by JaceBarnett View Post

        I always tell them that I only came in to introduce myself and drop off a flyer/business card. Then I do just that before asking their name and position before going into my elevator pitch.
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        • Profile picture of the author abbot
          Banned
          Originally Posted by Pedersenmt View Post

          So you do the pitch right there during the first physical visit?

          If so, can you share your pitch?
          I'm sorry to dogg you but you really need to use the search function on this forum. There are literally hundreds of scripts posted around this section in particular.
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        • Profile picture of the author JaceBarnett
          Originally Posted by Pedersenmt View Post

          So you do the pitch right there during the first physical visit?

          If so, can you share your pitch?
          The elevator pitch isn't really a pitch... it's more of an extended introduction just designed to make them want more. My pitch is pretty simple, and you don't need anything more...

          Let me describe my typical initial contact.

          "Hi there. I'm Jace. I just wanted to stop in, introduce myself and drop off this flyer to you."

          Hand extended to give the flyer, business card, or shake hand.

          "Now are you the business owner?"

          They respond. No matter what they say, the next word out of my mouth is "Great." So if they are the business owner it is:

          "Ok great. And your name?"

          They respond.

          "Well Rob, like I said, my name is Jace and I help businesses grow by bringing them new leads and building loyal customers and we can all use that right?"

          They usually agree. And then I roll right into...

          "Well fantastic! I just wanted to invite you to this free seminar I'm hosting. There's nothing to buy there, and you're definitely going to learn a lot of great ideas to really get this place hopping. And just for coming, I'm going to throw in (freebie). So, I look forward to seeing you on the (date)."

          I shake their hand again and leave with, "Now if for whatever reason you can't make the seminar, my cell number is right there on the flyer/card. Give me a call, and I'll either let you know when the next one is or we can just schedule a time where I can come back and give you the same one hour coaching session one on one."

          I smile and I walk out.

          Now if they aren't the business owner, the dialog goes like this:

          "Ok great! And you are?"

          They respond.

          "Alright Rob. Now what is the owner's name?"

          They respond.

          "Ok great. And 'Cindy' is who I should talk to about your marketing needs. Right?"

          They're going to say, "Yes." 10 out of 10 times.

          So I make my exit (if I see a business card out) with a simple, "Well it was great to meet you Rob. Oh and is this Cindy's business card here?"

          Grab it and go.

          If I don't see a business card I make my exit with, "Well it was nice to meet you Rob. Oh and before I forget, does Cindy have a business card by chance?"

          Grab it and go.

          Then later when I follow-up with "Cindy" via phone the conversation goes like this...

          "Hey Cindy!"

          She responds.

          "Well this is Jace over at (your company name.) Hey look the reason I'm calling is that Rob said I should give you a call. So I just wanted to follow-up with you and make sure you got my invitation for the free seminar I'm hosting."

          ----

          Rather she got the invitation or not (and she probably didn't) you just roll right into what you would have told her had you met her. The great thing about dropping Rob's name in this scenario is that it already takes her wall down a little because she's not focused any longer on the cold call. She's now focused on her friend/employee/brother Rob and the fact that you "referred" her. The truth is you're being 100% honest, but you're letting her own mind paint you in the best light without telling her all the details. This was all set up when you asked Rob that all too important question... "So Cindy is the person I should talk to about..."

          When he says, "Yes." and he will... that gives you every right and reason to say that Rob said you should talk to her, because... HE DID! You just don't share the part about you asking him if you should call her.

          It turns this cold call prospect into a warm, "referral."

          ----

          In truth what I have outlined here is actually a lot longer and detailed than what is necessary, but if you can just master this simple introduction, it will pay off.
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          • Profile picture of the author Brian F Adams
            I still use email to get clients. Never cared much for going out in the field. Localizer leads tool is my choice and works great. I think it is offered here somewhere LOL.
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            • Profile picture of the author Pedersenmt
              Can you tell us your exact method?

              So you send out an email first, then do they contact you next, or do you follow up with a phone call?

              I'm asking, because I have not gotten one response from emails so far.

              I have one proposal from a cold call to a prospect I sent an email to, but he says he did not see it, so basically a cold call, but I started off the call, "I'm following up from an email I sent you a few days ago".

              Originally Posted by Brian F Adams View Post

              I still use email to get clients. Never cared much for going out in the field. Localizer leads tool is my choice and works great. I think it is offered here somewhere LOL.
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          • Profile picture of the author alanjai
            Originally Posted by JaceBarnett View Post

            The elevator pitch isn't really a pitch... it's more of an extended introduction just designed to make them want more. My pitch is pretty simple, and you don't need anything more...

            Let me describe my typical initial contact.

            "Hi there. I'm Jace. I just wanted to stop in, introduce myself and drop off this flyer to you."

            Hand extended to give the flyer, business card, or shake hand.

            "Now are you the business owner?"

            They respond. No matter what they say, the next word out of my mouth is "Great." So if they are the business owner it is:

            "Ok great. And your name?"

            They respond.

            "Well Rob, like I said, my name is Jace and I help businesses grow by bringing them new leads and building loyal customers and we can all use that right?"

            They usually agree. And then I roll right into...

            "Well fantastic! I just wanted to invite you to this free seminar I'm hosting. There's nothing to buy there, and you're definitely going to learn a lot of great ideas to really get this place hopping. And just for coming, I'm going to throw in (freebie). So, I look forward to seeing you on the (date)."

            I shake their hand again and leave with, "Now if for whatever reason you can't make the seminar, my cell number is right there on the flyer/card. Give me a call, and I'll either let you know when the next one is or we can just schedule a time where I can come back and give you the same one hour coaching session one on one."

            I smile and I walk out.

            Now if they aren't the business owner, the dialog goes like this:

            "Ok great! And you are?"

            They respond.

            "Alright Rob. Now what is the owner's name?"

            They respond.

            "Ok great. And 'Cindy' is who I should talk to about your marketing needs. Right?"

            They're going to say, "Yes." 10 out of 10 times.

            So I make my exit (if I see a business card out) with a simple, "Well it was great to meet you Rob. Oh and is this Cindy's business card here?"

            Grab it and go.

            If I don't see a business card I make my exit with, "Well it was nice to meet you Rob. Oh and before I forget, does Cindy have a business card by chance?"

            Grab it and go.

            Then later when I follow-up with "Cindy" via phone the conversation goes like this...

            "Hey Cindy!"

            She responds.

            "Well this is Jace over at (your company name.) Hey look the reason I'm calling is that Rob said I should give you a call. So I just wanted to follow-up with you and make sure you got my invitation for the free seminar I'm hosting."

            ----

            Rather she got the invitation or not (and she probably didn't) you just roll right into what you would have told her had you met her. The great thing about dropping Rob's name in this scenario is that it already takes her wall down a little because she's not focused any longer on the cold call. She's now focused on her friend/employee/brother Rob and the fact that you "referred" her. The truth is you're being 100% honest, but you're letting her own mind paint you in the best light without telling her all the details. This was all set up when you asked Rob that all too important question... "So Cindy is the person I should talk to about..."

            When he says, "Yes." and he will... that gives you every right and reason to say that Rob said you should talk to her, because... HE DID! You just don't share the part about you asking him if you should call her.

            It turns this cold call prospect into a warm, "referral."

            ----

            In truth what I have outlined here is actually a lot longer and detailed than what is necessary, but if you can just master this simple introduction, it will pay off.
            Jayce..!!

            You've got it down to a T.

            Really good elevator pitch.
            As I'm in the U.K. I would prefer to keep it real short and friendly, just ask a few pertinent questions, such as how business is going and let him do all the talking.

            Alan.
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  • Profile picture of the author JaceBarnett
    I have Localizer too. I use it some too, but I do like going out in the field. I especially like it now that I'm inviting folks to my seminars. It allows me to meet them before I give them free marketing advice. And since I use a "no" (loose use of the word no... ) pitch seminar, this gives the business owner a chance to have met or spoken with me three times before I actually start selling them anything. It winds up being a great relationship building tool.

    This has worked so much so that my close rate following a sales presentation has went up from a 35% close all the way to over 70%. The combination of relationship building and reciprocity are paying huge dividends for me.
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    • Profile picture of the author StrategicCheetah
      I like your funnel Jace, sounds pretty solid.

      I haven't dabbled in seminars up until now, but it's certainly something I'm interested in doing because I know you can win a lot of business through educating on a grand scale like that.

      The idea of giving an introduction and then more if they want it is really what I do whenever I am cold calling or networking on LinkedIn.

      It works brilliantly. I learned right at the very start that the worst thing you can possibly do is try to ram a sales pitch down a business owner's throat because it gets you nowhere.

      Many people still think that's the way to get business in though...
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  • Profile picture of the author riverview
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    • Profile picture of the author lmooney1028
      I prefer telemarketing then following up with email. I'm thinking about "pre-warming" the prospects i'm gonna call by doing some direct marketing so i can refer back to it when i'm on the call with them - "hi, I'm _____, i sent you a letter the other day about...."

      Anyone tried this style? Does it work?
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  • Profile picture of the author s62731
    C'mon Guys.

    Were supposed to be offline MARKETERS! And for some reason the best way we can come up with to get business is cold calling?

    I'm not saying cold calling is bad, hell when I first started I pounded the phone all day long, fought my ass to get the cash flow going. It's tiring, inefficient and simply not a smart business.

    Now lets talk real marketing, especially real ON-LINE marketing to get OFFLINE business'.

    Has anybody here ever heard of something called a "Squeeze Page"?

    If you've never heard of that I wouldn't try and tell business you "can help their online marketing" because you simply don't know what you're doing.

    But if you DO know what a squeeze page is, then you know how POWERFUL they are!

    So how should you prospect?

    Point some PPC towards a squeeze page.

    On the thank-you page offer a free "20 minute strategy session" to getting more customers.

    Now you spend $100 and get 100 clicks. You get 15 opt-in for the first offer (if you are a bad copywriter, you should get 20-25 opt ins if your smart ) and then about 5-7 opt-in for the "strategy session". Now these are people which have come to you, and requested to spend time with them on the phone. So NO MORE cold calling.

    Now you might be saying: "Jesus only 5! I need 100 to make money"

    We'll actually these are the easiest people to sell. They desperately need your service so bad they requested to have 20 minutes on the phone with you.

    And even better, sell them a squeeze page setup, they already have proof it works!

    "I’ve proven already on this phone call that it works. Because you’ve come to me looking for more leads and more sales, and I just happen to be selling more leads and more sales and look at us were having a ****ing awesome conversation. How would you feel to be able to talk to a ton of people everyweek who WANT you what you’ve got, so you can talk to them about getting started with you?"

    Bam. Sell them a squeeze page system for $2000-$4000. Use optimizepress to set it up.

    If you have 5 of these strategy sessions (you should get 10, but saying 5 for people with little copywriting experience) you should sell 1 at the minimum, 3 in a normal week, and 5 on a good week. (Or if your getting 10 sessions/week then you can EASILY get 5 sales!)

    Now tell me, lets say you only made 2 sales a week @$2000 each. So $4000/week.

    How would it feel to make $160,000/year, only working 40 weeks in a year, without cold calling, only making 5-10 calls/week?

    That's real marketing. Not this cold calling bull****. Cold calling is for bootstrapping mother****ers who need money NOW. Real marketing is for people who can spare $100 to make $4,000.

    Who else wants to quit cold calling and make $160,000 in a year selling something that actually works?

    James

    PS. I did not re-read this so spelling and grammar errors are likely!
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    • Profile picture of the author StrategicCheetah
      Originally Posted by s62731 View Post

      C'mon Guys.

      Were supposed to be offline MARKETERS! And for some reason the best way we can come up with to get business is cold calling?

      I'm not saying cold calling is bad, hell when I first started I pounded the phone all day long, fought my ass to get the cash flow going. It's tiring, inefficient and simply not a smart business.

      Now lets talk real marketing, especially real ON-LINE marketing to get OFFLINE business'.

      Has anybody here ever heard of something called a "Squeeze Page"?

      If you've never heard of that I wouldn't try and tell business you "can help their online marketing" because you simply don't know what you're doing.

      But if you DO know what a squeeze page is, then you know how POWERFUL they are!

      So how should you prospect?

      Point some PPC towards a squeeze page.

      On the thank-you page offer a free "20 minute strategy session" to getting more customers.

      Now you spend $100 and get 100 clicks. You get 15 opt-in for the first offer (if you are a bad copywriter, you should get 20-25 opt ins if your smart ) and then about 5-7 opt-in for the "strategy session". Now these are people which have come to you, and requested to spend time with them on the phone. So NO MORE cold calling.

      Now you might be saying: "Jesus only 5! I need 100 to make money"

      We'll actually these are the easiest people to sell. They desperately need your service so bad they requested to have 20 minutes on the phone with you.

      And even better, sell them a squeeze page setup, they already have proof it works!

      "I've proven already on this phone call that it works. Because you've come to me looking for more leads and more sales, and I just happen to be selling more leads and more sales and look at us were having a ****ing awesome conversation. How would you feel to be able to talk to a ton of people everyweek who WANT you what you've got, so you can talk to them about getting started with you?"

      Bam. Sell them a squeeze page system for $2000-$4000. Use optimizepress to set it up.

      If you have 5 of these strategy sessions (you should get 10, but saying 5 for people with little copywriting experience) you should sell 1 at the minimum, 3 in a normal week, and 5 on a good week. (Or if your getting 10 sessions/week then you can EASILY get 5 sales!)

      Now tell me, lets say you only made 2 sales a week @$2000 each. So $4000/week.

      How would it feel to make $160,000/year, only working 40 weeks in a year, without cold calling, only making 5-10 calls/week?

      That's real marketing. Not this cold calling bull****. Cold calling is for bootstrapping mother****ers who need money NOW. Real marketing is for people who can spare $100 to make $4,000.

      Who else wants to quit cold calling and make $160,000 in a year selling something that actually works?

      James

      PS. I did not re-read this so spelling and grammar errors are likely!
      Great post, great ideas.

      I certainly think there is a place for cold calling and that it should be a part of your marketing but it should be outsourced at the earliest opportunity, which is the way I roll these days.

      What kind of keywords are you targeting with your PPC campaign?
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    • Profile picture of the author henry Argueta
      Originally Posted by s62731 View Post

      C'mon Guys.

      Were supposed to be offline MARKETERS! And for some reason the best way we can come up with to get business is cold calling?

      I'm not saying cold calling is bad, hell when I first started I pounded the phone all day long, fought my ass to get the cash flow going. It's tiring, inefficient and simply not a smart business.

      Now lets talk real marketing, especially real ON-LINE marketing to get OFFLINE business'.

      Has anybody here ever heard of something called a "Squeeze Page"?

      If you've never heard of that I wouldn't try and tell business you "can help their online marketing" because you simply don't know what you're doing.

      But if you DO know what a squeeze page is, then you know how POWERFUL they are!

      So how should you prospect?

      Point some PPC towards a squeeze page.

      On the thank-you page offer a free "20 minute strategy session" to getting more customers.

      Now you spend $100 and get 100 clicks. You get 15 opt-in for the first offer (if you are a bad copywriter, you should get 20-25 opt ins if your smart ) and then about 5-7 opt-in for the "strategy session". Now these are people which have come to you, and requested to spend time with them on the phone. So NO MORE cold calling.

      Now you might be saying: "Jesus only 5! I need 100 to make money"

      We'll actually these are the easiest people to sell. They desperately need your service so bad they requested to have 20 minutes on the phone with you.

      And even better, sell them a squeeze page setup, they already have proof it works!

      "I've proven already on this phone call that it works. Because you've come to me looking for more leads and more sales, and I just happen to be selling more leads and more sales and look at us were having a ****ing awesome conversation. How would you feel to be able to talk to a ton of people everyweek who WANT you what you've got, so you can talk to them about getting started with you?"

      Bam. Sell them a squeeze page system for $2000-$4000. Use optimizepress to set it up.

      If you have 5 of these strategy sessions (you should get 10, but saying 5 for people with little copywriting experience) you should sell 1 at the minimum, 3 in a normal week, and 5 on a good week. (Or if your getting 10 sessions/week then you can EASILY get 5 sales!)

      Now tell me, lets say you only made 2 sales a week @$2000 each. So $4000/week.

      How would it feel to make $160,000/year, only working 40 weeks in a year, without cold calling, only making 5-10 calls/week?

      That's real marketing. Not this cold calling bull****. Cold calling is for bootstrapping mother****ers who need money NOW. Real marketing is for people who can spare $100 to make $4,000.

      Who else wants to quit cold calling and make $160,000 in a year selling something that actually works?

      James

      PS. I did not re-read this so spelling and grammar errors are likely!

      wait why are you talking so much s**** about cold calling,
      are you saying you don't do cold calling?
      because i swear i just saw a post from you about how you sold 14 websites in 4 days by doing cold calling.
      was that a fake thread??
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      • Profile picture of the author s62731
        Originally Posted by henry Argueta View Post

        wait why are you talking so much s**** about cold calling,
        are you saying you don't do cold calling?
        because i swear i just saw a post from you about how you sold 14 websites in 4 days by doing cold calling.
        was that a fake thread??
        Im not talking **** about cold calling. If you read my post you will clearly see that I am not saying it was bad, but I am saying that there are much better ways to do it.

        And I did close 14 websites over the course of 4 days. However, that was from about 2 1/2 weeks of calling. If you read that thread it is about making mock-ups and emailing it to interested prospects. And it just so happened that a lot of those culminated in sales over 4 days.

        And I'll tell you what, when that happened, it was a my damned savior.

        I was neck deep in dept, and needed a way out. And that made a huge dent.

        But there was a fundamental problem/flaw. Burn out.

        Calling as much as I was over more than 4-6 weeks causes burn outs, at that stage I was doing all the websites myself, and had a **** load of work to do.

        After that I didn't cold call for about 2 weeks because I had so much work.

        Big lesson there is don't under charge lol.

        But now as I have moved forward with my business, it is much easier; both mentaly and physically, to move on from cold calling.

        I plan on hiring my own sales people to cold call for me, because it definiately works, but the mental and time investments made are far to great for the rewards.

        So I am definiately not talking smack about cold calling, when you need money you can make it rain if you want. However there are much smarter ways around it so you can charge more and do less.

        Now I charge $2000 for squeeze page systems, these are like 5 really simple optimizepress pages. Before I was charging $499 or something like that for a 5 page small business website, a lot more work in that.

        At the end of the day you need to work smarter not harder. Leverage your time. Work ON and not IN your business
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        • Profile picture of the author IMguy123
          Originally Posted by s62731 View Post

          Im not talking **** about cold calling. If you read my post you will clearly see that I am not saying it was bad, but I am saying that there are much better ways to do it.

          And I did close 14 websites over the course of 4 days. However, that was from about 2 1/2 weeks of calling. If you read that thread it is about making mock-ups and emailing it to interested prospects. And it just so happened that a lot of those culminated in sales over 4 days.

          And I'll tell you what, when that happened, it was a my damned savior.

          I was neck deep in dept, and needed a way out. And that made a huge dent.

          But there was a fundamental problem/flaw. Burn out.

          Calling as much as I was over more than 4-6 weeks causes burn outs, at that stage I was doing all the websites myself, and had a **** load of work to do.

          After that I didn't cold call for about 2 weeks because I had so much work.

          Big lesson there is don't under charge lol.

          But now as I have moved forward with my business, it is much easier; both mentaly and physically, to move on from cold calling.

          I plan on hiring my own sales people to cold call for me, because it definiately works, but the mental and time investments made are far to great for the rewards.

          So I am definiately not talking smack about cold calling, when you need money you can make it rain if you want. However there are much smarter ways around it so you can charge more and do less.

          Now I charge $2000 for squeeze page systems, these are like 5 really simple optimizepress pages. Before I was charging $499 or something like that for a 5 page small business website, a lot more work in that.

          At the end of the day you need to work smarter not harder. Leverage your time. Work ON and not IN your business
          Assuming you are using adwords mainly for driving traffic to squeeze pages, how does google like those page you send ad-clickers to? At one time I thought Google required a higher cost for ads that went to squeeeze pages. is that true now?

          Also, what else (first offer) do you entice people to click with? It sounded like there is something other than the strategy session that you are using to make them click?
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          • Profile picture of the author JaceBarnett
            Originally Posted by IMguy123 View Post

            Assuming you are using adwords mainly for driving traffic to squeeze pages, how does google like those page you send ad-clickers to? At one time I thought Google required a higher cost for ads that went to squeeeze pages. is that true now?
            By and large what I have found is that local PPC is usually ridiculously cost efficient. If you optimize your campaigns locally so that you aren't bidding for a very large geographic region, clicks are cheap.

            Also keep in mind, Google isn't the only PPC place in town. Facebook has fantastic ROI, especially for local business.
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        • Profile picture of the author henry Argueta
          Originally Posted by s62731 View Post

          Im not talking **** about cold calling. If you read my post you will clearly see that I am not saying it was bad, but I am saying that there are much better ways to do it.

          And I did close 14 websites over the course of 4 days. However, that was from about 2 1/2 weeks of calling. If you read that thread it is about making mock-ups and emailing it to interested prospects. And it just so happened that a lot of those culminated in sales over 4 days.

          And I'll tell you what, when that happened, it was a my damned savior.

          I was neck deep in dept, and needed a way out. And that made a huge dent.

          But there was a fundamental problem/flaw. Burn out.

          Calling as much as I was over more than 4-6 weeks causes burn outs, at that stage I was doing all the websites myself, and had a **** load of work to do.

          After that I didn't cold call for about 2 weeks because I had so much work.

          Big lesson there is don't under charge lol.

          But now as I have moved forward with my business, it is much easier; both mentaly and physically, to move on from cold calling.

          I plan on hiring my own sales people to cold call for me, because it definiately works, but the mental and time investments made are far to great for the rewards.

          So I am definiately not talking smack about cold calling, when you need money you can make it rain if you want. However there are much smarter ways around it so you can charge more and do less.

          Now I charge $2000 for squeeze page systems, these are like 5 really simple optimizepress pages. Before I was charging $499 or something like that for a 5 page small business website, a lot more work in that.

          At the end of the day you need to work smarter not harder. Leverage your time. Work ON and not IN your business
          awesome, thats what i wanted to hear(read)
          well i mean i am were you were at that point i need a way out and i dont have 2 weeks i have 6 days to do it.
          so i will be calling like crazy trying to get that money!
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  • Profile picture of the author TrumpiaTim
    Good points above
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  • Profile picture of the author JaceBarnett
    James,

    That's fantastic. And I'm sure that many of the most successful cold callers (I'd consider myself one of them) here also utilize squeeze pages and other tried and true online strategies to get leads. That being said, I don't consider any set it and forget it system to be taking a pro-active approach to marketing. I consider most of these systems to be "lay downs." And while I am very thankful for them and have made a lot of money for them, I can also say that I would have left a lot of money on the table if I relied solely upon them. Worse yet, plenty of people who have realized increased profits since receiving a cold call from me may never have found that success had I not picked up the phone to call them or swung by their place of business to meet them.

    As an ethical business owner who cares about those around me, is it right for me to only help those looking for me or who are already savvy enough to find me? What about those who need me, but have no idea they need me? What about those who know they need you, but don't know how to get a hold of you?

    I make good money using multiple funnels. Cold calling isn't my only source of lead generation, but it is one that I certainly don't intend to throw away any time soon.

    My own sources of lead generation consists of PPC and squeeze pages, social media, social media + squeze pages, viral marketing, freebie marketing, chamber meetings, seminars, referrals, and cold calling. I, for one, am not about to get rid of any of these systems. In fact, I'm always looking for more baskets to put my eggs in not seek to reduce the number of baskets I already have.
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    • Profile picture of the author indata7800
      hi james,

      have you actually done the method you described?

      can this work for any service?

      thanks.
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      • Profile picture of the author s62731
        Originally Posted by indata7800 View Post

        hi james,

        have you actually done the method you described?

        can this work for any service?

        thanks.
        Look mate, I don't talk ****. If I wasn't doing it I wouldn't share it.

        And honestly it AMAZES me that people are not doing this more. This is real ****ing marketing.

        Any service with higher paying customers, yes it can work. Lawyer, Accountant, Financial adviser etc.

        Realistically, if people cannot market themselves properly, then they shouldn't be selling marketing products.

        @JaceBarnett: C'mon man... That's a bit of a cop out don't you think?

        For you, the business owner, to be cold calling is a waste of time. Like I said if your just starting out and need the money quick snap, sure do it.

        But if you want to leverage yourself and your time, you should hire other's to do the cold calling and focus on other things.
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        • Profile picture of the author JaceBarnett
          Originally Posted by s62731 View Post

          @JaceBarnett: C'mon man... That's a bit of a cop out don't you think?

          For you, the business owner, to be cold calling is a waste of time. Like I said if your just starting out and need the money quick snap, sure do it.

          But if you want to leverage yourself and your time, you should hire other's to do the cold calling and focus on other things.
          What exactly is a bit of a cop out?
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          • Profile picture of the author s62731
            Originally Posted by JaceBarnett View Post

            What exactly is a bit of a cop out?
            Originally Posted by JaceBarnett View Post

            As an ethical business owner who cares about those around me, is it right for me to only help those looking for me or who are already savvy enough to find me? What about those who need me, but have no idea they need me? What about those who know they need you, but don't know how to get a hold of you?
            *That is a bit of a cop out. Now don't take what I'm saying as being aggressive in anyway at all, but do you want to re-read that?

            It's sort of like saying: "I'm going to spend 8 hours of my week chasing after people that have no idea they are f*ucked, and convince them they are, and then get them to spend money with me"

            In EVERY business in the world there will always be people who need you but don't no how to get a hold of you.

            But if your running a well oiled machine, at least have OTHERS doing the cold calling for you. Hey then you could have 2 people calling for 4 hours a day each. Then you would be helping more people with more calls.

            At the end of the day, if a business owner is making the calls himself because "What if they don't know how to reach me" then that is a bit of a cop-out. (unless you enjoy cold calling more than anything else ever, and when you have free time you would choose it over spending time with family.)

            Having automated lead gen systems in place will without a doubt, make you more money and allow you to grow your business. And hiring others to do cold calling is also "automation". Once you get the business going, you need to step back a bit and start working ON it instead of IN it.

            The reason i'm so passionate about this point is because I myself have recently done this, leveraged my business, and now I am working half as hard and making more than double the money I was a few months ago. And this is only the beginning!
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            • Profile picture of the author JaceBarnett
              Originally Posted by s62731 View Post

              *That is a bit of a cop out. Now don't take what I'm saying as being aggressive in anyway at all, but do you want to re-read that?

              It's sort of like saying: "I'm going to spend 8 hours of my week chasing after people that have no idea they are f*ucked, and convince them they are, and then get them to spend money with me"

              In EVERY business in the world there will always be people who need you but don't no how to get a hold of you.

              But if your running a well oiled machine, at least have OTHERS doing the cold calling for you. Hey then you could have 2 people calling for 4 hours a day each. Then you would be helping more people with more calls.

              At the end of the day, if a business owner is making the calls himself because "What if they don't know how to reach me" then that is a bit of a cop-out. (unless you enjoy cold calling more than anything else ever, and when you have free time you would choose it over spending time with family.)

              Having automated lead gen systems in place will without a doubt, make you more money and allow you to grow your business. And hiring others to do cold calling is also "automation". Once you get the business going, you need to step back a bit and start working ON it instead of IN it.

              The reason i'm so passionate about this point is because I myself have recently done this, leveraged my business, and now I am working half as hard and making more than double the money I was a few months ago. And this is only the beginning!
              I'm really not sure you know what the term cop out means, because I still don't see one. With that out of the way, I will address what you had to say.

              I don't see where cold calling is anything like what you described. Although, as I described in another thread, I'm a pastor. And as a pastor one of the fundamental facets of my faith is that if you truly care about someone you will SHOW them that you care for them by taking help to them not sitting idly by watching them suffer until they decide to ask for a life preserver.

              On top of that you presume to assume way too much about me and my businesses. Just because I admit to cold calling does that in some way mean that I don't also outsource the trade or hire others to do it as well? See the facts are that I DO enjoy cold calling. I enjoy the entire sales process from initial contact to close very much. I think it's fantastic. It's fun. It's profitable. It's empowering. And it's an adrenaline rush. On tops of that it gives me the ability to train others (something I am highly passionate about), and know that I have earned the right to offer my coaching and advice.

              Right now I spend about 4 hours in the field two days a week cold calling prospects. Do I have to? Nope. Do I plan on stopping? Nope. Why not? Because I thoroughly enjoy it, and it IS very profitable.

              As I mentioned when I originally replied to you. I'm not a big fan of telling anyone to remove any sources of lead generation from their business model. Nor am I a big fan of telling others about how much more awesome my way of doing it is than theirs. Instead, I prefer to learn, copy, and adopt as many successful strategies and methodologies as possible in my platform. I do this because I am just smart enough to know that I don't know it all. In addition, I very strongly believe in the old adage that states one should never put all of his eggs in one basket. Bearing that in mind, it is my own personal goal to collect as many baskets as I can reasonably manage.
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  • Profile picture of the author Defacto
    For myself email. Then I tried outsourcing commissioned based telemarketers which failed miserably. I finally realized if I wanted to build a real business I would have to bite the bullet and pay an American about $15 an hour plus bonuses to find a telemarketer who would work and actually make sales.

    I tried 2 so far and one has and is working out for me very well. I plan on hiring more soon. He works 4 hours a day, 5 days a week and will normally bring in 3 to 5 sales a day. He makes more than I do per sale (with bonuses) but that is how I keep him working and I do not have to deal with the clients at all. If you hire a telemarketer and pay them peanuts they won't care about you or your company and they will go to the next opportunity on a whim.

    Edit: I wanted to add that we have a separate support system so I meant that I don't deal with clients during the sales process but do with support.
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    • Profile picture of the author Pedersenmt
      This sounds very strange or I'm missing something.

      The sales people make more than you? Then why are you doing it?

      So it's not really your business then?

      What am I missing?

      Originally Posted by Defacto View Post

      For myself email. Then I tried outsourcing commissioned based telemarketers which failed miserably. I finally realized if I wanted to build a real business I would have to bite the bullet and pay an American about $15 an hour plus bonuses to find a telemarketer who would work and actually make sales.

      I tried 2 so far and one has and is working out for me very well. I plan on hiring more soon. He works 4 hours a day, 5 days a week and will normally bring in 3 to 5 sales a day. He makes more than I do per sale (with bonuses) but that is how I keep him working and I do not have to deal with the clients at all. If you hire a telemarketer and pay them peanuts they won't care about you or your company and they will go to the next opportunity on a whim.

      Edit: I wanted to add that we have a separate support system so I meant that I don't deal with clients during the sales process but do with support.
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      • Profile picture of the author StrategicCheetah
        Originally Posted by Pedersenmt View Post

        This sounds very strange or I'm missing something.

        The sales people make more than you? Then why are you doing it?

        So it's not really your business then?

        What am I missing?
        From what I can gather, he is paying the sales person the lions share of the money that comes in and having to do very little legwork. This does make sense.

        I run a similar model, the ratio isn't quite as weighted towards the sales person although it is certainly very attractive.

        You don't necessarily need to be taking the majority of the money, as long as you are taking a substantial profit and having to do little work you can scale that to a massive income for yourself.

        Always look at the big picture.
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        • Profile picture of the author Pedersenmt
          Where do you find these salespeople?

          You would obviously have to train them into exactly what we do and offer correct?

          Originally Posted by PositiveVibe View Post

          From what I can gather, he is paying the sales person the lions share of the money that comes in and having to do very little legwork. This does make sense.

          I run a similar model, the ratio isn't quite as weighted towards the sales person although it is certainly very attractive.

          You don't necessarily need to be taking the majority of the money, as long as you are taking a substantial profit and having to do little work you can scale that to a massive income for yourself.

          Always look at the big picture.
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  • Profile picture of the author EnzoBlaque
    Prospecting is seriously my favorite activity, it's highly rewarding when an expensive campaign you put together produces insane ROI.

    But for me to come and say I have a "favorite" method wouldn't make any sense. I make them all work for me and that's what the key to success is. You need to structure your own marketing mix. You have to test and track each method over and over again until you find that perfect combination.

    But what I will say is Direct Marketing and Advertising produces the largest return for me. Things such as Direct Mail, Flyer Distribution, Newspaper advertising etc.. They produce the best return due to the large audience you are able to reach.

    Lastly, I don't engage in Telemarketing or Cold Calling because having a strong reputation also helps when trying to make a sale. You don't want your market to develop negative feelings towards your company.
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  • Profile picture of the author scrapcode
    I want to extend a thanks to Jace and James, both of you have provided some extremely badass information. James' "method" so to speak fits my "style" a lot better because there is less physical interaction, not to mention that investment he uses for PPC would quickly be thrown away for me in GAS to actually visit these businesses myself.

    Quality information. Thanks guys.
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  • Profile picture of the author RedShifted
    Jace would you personally prefer to use facebook over google?
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  • Profile picture of the author GomerMagtibay
    I have an online business promoted offline, and it works! I posted some low-cost paid ads in a local magazine here in the Philippines, with my cell. phone number and my site's URL appended at the end of the ads. When the magazines reached the shelves and the hands of subscribers, interested prospects started to call or send me text messages inquiring about my business!
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  • Profile picture of the author Gotham
    I'll have to say "referral": effortless and an almost 100% conversion.
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  • Profile picture of the author Hellobosses
    I'm depending on LinkedIn, Warrior forum, and on other Social Media sites. I'm getting good response. Thnx.
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    • Profile picture of the author IMguy123
      Originally Posted by Hellobosses View Post

      I'm depending on LinkedIn, Warrior forum, and on other Social Media sites. I'm getting good response. Thnx.
      Huh? depending on Warrior forum?? That was your second post.
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  • Profile picture of the author Carl Fridsjö
    Most of all I like the prospecting that goes on autopilot without my involvement... for me, that would be cold calling and email marketing.

    I do however enjoy when I get the chance to do something a little bit "out of the box" - Quite recently I did a successful campaign which was related to facebook. Brought my company some webdesign & social media work.

    As soon as I get the chance to focus on bringing in more business I'm going to rerun it and scale it up. Thanks for "reminding me"
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  • Profile picture of the author John Williamson
    I enjoy the referrals and email, and I've said I'm going to get more into LinkedIn one of these days and try to utilize that. I've read a few posts recently about Craigslist producing some leads, which is interesting. Referrals, though, are definitely the highest converting and easiest to "close" the deal, especially since I use my pay-nothing-up-front approach I discussed at length in another thread recently.

    I imagine no one really enjoys cold calling, but that's why you should outsource that, as well as any other things you may not enjoy or be good at.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lee M
    I love direct mail to any target audience and on a local level, walk-ins to small business owners.
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    • Profile picture of the author rapatterson
      Using freebies, email, direct mail. Just starting to try google+ local tied in with a squeeze page.
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  • Profile picture of the author coffeecashnow
    James, your strategy makes a lot of sense.

    But I don t understand why you say you sign up 10 then 5 sign up for the strategy session. What do you sign them up for at first?

    Is your strategy session like a recorded webinar or live, or anything else. Could an informative ebook about how to promote their business with squeeze pages work as well? At the end of the ebook you'd tell them to contact you to discuss more of this for THEIr business in particular.

    Would you consider using email to contact instead of PPC a good option? Selling the click on the email and the optin on the SP.

    Also, I believe there must be specific niches for this to work. I don t really see a restaurant using SP, they would just build a customer list, so they d better use SMS marketing I think or have an app.

    I d be very happy to hear what you think James.
    Thanks.
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  • Profile picture of the author Anthem40
    My favorite method is when I find prospects while having a beer at a gathering, sitting next to someone on the ski chair or any other random chance lead generation. Not consistent, but my favorite and very high conversions.
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    95% of IM'ers have great relationships with clients who also advertise offline and with other people. Stop missing out on that cash and leverage into it. PM me if you are an established marketer and want to find out how.
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  • Profile picture of the author RedShifted
    Without a doubt Craigslist. I was getting decent leads through referals for a while, then I went to direct mail, but when I learned how to use CL I stopped direct mail 100%.

    I also noticed a lot of the responsive copy that works on CL is now working on facebook too. So lead generation has fortunately become the least of my worries right now. My real issue is adapting my business to the demands of my customers. Which is mainly being caused by a lack of overall marketing experience (like PPC, I have very little experience with PPC and its very difficult to outsource). Regardless, if you are a small web design company, you can get all the leads you want off craigslist and facebook alone.
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  • Profile picture of the author mydream111
    Banned
    i think social media network is the greatest way to promote business and i use this method for prospecting business.
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