3 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
3 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Top 5 Dumbest Mistakes I'm Made..Avoid These

by stewane
2 replies
I'm going to try and keep this short so that I can explain how to AVOID them...it took some bumps and bruises to learn the crap..BUT.I'm actually in the field testing stuff, not postulating theory. I hope you find these original because I have not read them here. These are NOT in any particular order, BUT #1 is the biggest mistake (I'll write more as time goes on BUT I need to keep this short; feel free to chime in:
  1. NOT FINDING THE BUSINESS BEFORE I BUILD THE SITE - So you rank your website #1 for "plumbing denver"..great job! Now all you have to do is Cold call a million businesses and tell them how you can generate leads for the them - lol...Here is the right way: Find the businesses ahead of time even before you start building and ranking the site. I personally find 5 businesses ahead of time. I use another hook, but you can say: "I'm in the process of building a lead generation service for plumbers and wanted to give you 3 free leads so you can see how this works" do this for 5 businesses then take the highest paying. Keep the others in the loop in case your guy falls through. My Mistake: I have a #1 ranking site and I called around and business have little interest..why? They have been bombarded to death with SEO, lead generation crap. So I was basically FORCED into taking the first business that said yes..as I was already getting phone calls from people who wanted "plumbing" services. I'm looking for another partner as we speak because the current system I have is just NUTS: The clients are not able to book appointments online (because it is an OLD business woman who does not get the internet); I HAD to do the CPA model (service before I got paid); because I could not negotiate form a weak position..I had not found other businesses that were interested in my leads
  2. Not Knowing How To Properly Test a Niche - I'm going to keep this short STOP USING KEYWORD TOOLS: Use EXACT match ( [plumbing Florida ]) in Google KW. Use Google trends to COMPARE the different niches this way, you can tell in relation to one another what gets more searches..example Google Trends - Stupid Bitly think this link is malicious.. scroll ALL the way down to visit Google trends.
    Finally the BIG Kahuna: Use Google Ad words to test the traffic volume and click-through rates using exact and broad match. SCREW you crappy keyword tool that LIES to you - how many times you found the magic keyword and there is no search volume! - I stopped using keyword tools)
  3. Letting the Client Control the Website - Self Explanatory. You need to build and control your own site..if the client walks away you can go to someone else...yep, I made this mistake earlier on, because I was trying to sell SEO services..screw that SEO is DEAD...you need to be in the lead generation business..lol
  4. Accepting any/every business - This is a killer..thinking I could help a mom and pop store that sells "sea Horses" (joke of course)..Bottom line: Go to where the TRAFFIC is..you can't help everyone despite the sob stories..so pick a niche like "massage therapy"; gets good search volume, etc.

  5. Not Have an Effective Lead Tracking System - I'm still screwed on this one..Can someone please let me know of one and NOT Google Voice - [It needs to be able to auto gen reports - Am I this lazy? Does Google Voice do this?]



I'll update as I get more time (rushing right now; exuse the typos)..
Others please provide feedback good or bad
#dumbest #madeavoid #mistakes #top
  • Profile picture of the author SashaLee
    Hi there,

    Thanks for the honest post. I'm sure there's some points in there many had not considered.

    "NOT FINDING THE BUSINESS BEFORE I BUILD THE SITE"

    Not sure I understand this one. We had an intern build sites and get them to rank for certain keywords and the clients came to US to buy them. Now, we chose fairly competitive niches so maybe we had hotter markets, but you shouldn't have to make a million cold-calls. If your site is compelling enough to get customers to call, and it ranks well, you should get competitors calling too to see who the new cat in town is.

    All the best,

    Sasha.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7974684].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author stewane
      Hi Sasha,

      Sorry I saw your message really really late..I've been "in the field" Sasha, it is a difference in culture. Here in the US since we practically invented SEO, business people have been hammered to death. In other countries, SEO is "fairly new". In the US, business people are highly skeptical and not too informed about the internet.(valid reasons). Like I said I ranked a site and no one wanted to buy it - they didn't understand the concept. Other people in the SEO game here in the US have experienced the same thing. Any other people care to share their thoughts?
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8387820].message }}

Trending Topics