What would you say to this room of business owners?

Yeah. I know already that there's a real mix of people in the room. Some that know quite a bit and others that know nothing...

So what I might do is a live session where we take someone's site that is struggling and tell them what they're doing wrong and what they could be doing differently and what that might do to impact their profit.

Great stuff.

What i've planned is that i'll be doing 10 minutes on broad brush what is internet marketing, help people understand what they aren't doing etc followd by 10 minutes Q and A ...

Then.. i've offered an extended Q and A at the end... for people that are serious about growing their business.

That's when I can work out who'll be potential clients.

I'd start off asking questions of the group. As mentioned elsewhere, you have no way of knowing what they know, don't know, or think is important.

Then just tailor your remarks to address their questions and offer to speak to them individually afterwards if they're interested in more information.

I've done hundreds of these short talks to groups of self employed small business owners.

Passing out cards or waiting for them to call is a waste of time.

At the end of the 20 minutes;
Ask for a show of hands "We all have individual online advertising needs, and our businesses are unique. In this 20 minutes I can't answer all your questions. Show of hands...who would like a 20 minute phone online marketing consultation.... with me...if it was free?"

"OK, I'll need your names in a minute so we can arrange the sessions"
Get their names, phone, e-mail and the end. And You call THEM all the next day.


Of course, their businesses aren't unique. And the session is 10 minutes of asking questions, and a ten minute recommendation that you do work for them...but this works. And everyone thinks their business is unique, so don't waste time fighting it...use it to your advantage.


Don't take one person's site and give advice. Everyone else in the room will think "This doesn't apply to me and my business". Believe me, I've tried this with very limited success. And the person you used as an example, now thinks that they are fixed.

Show an example of a before and after site (if building websites is your thing), along with Google ranking changes. Show a video if you can.

I use this one;


This video isn't selling anything, and it's not an affiliate link. You can borrow it if you like.

Anything to get their juices flowing.

So I;
Show a video to get them interested in online marketing
Give a few statistics (like the % that search online instead of in the Yellow Pages)
A Q & A. And give real answers, not teases. (You have to be really good at what you do, so this won't backfire. And you risk losing the momentum of your talk)
Ask how many want a free consultation.
Get their information.
Some of these "consultations" I do by phone, and some I do in their business. I like making an appointment with them live, because if they buy...I can start taking videos of their business and them to start theonline promotion. Once I start work, they feel it's sold, and don't try to back out.

Work fast. Twenty minutes goes by very quickly. If someone asks a question that requires an answer that won't move the presentation forward, just tell them you want to give thaat answer your full attention, and will talk to them after your talk.

I hope that's helped.

I stuck to my allotted time and then did some extra at the end.