Do You Still Sell SEO For Local Businesses?

Building more citations than just 20 top local directories, thats what I offer.
Video marketing too as Youtube videos tend to rank well

Define this.

If it's a service business, I have been working with the local level commercial printers and SEO service providers that have these "local business clients" as customers to incorporate text message outreach. Think of a local printer that has a bullet list/menu of services they provide ---- I set them up as a reseller for my SMS platform and allow them to add another bullet to that list and make them an instant SMS service provider to those local business customers.

You can't think in terms of shortcode anymore. The marketplace sophistication is too high and you have to be far more creative to conduct intelligent sms campaigns that are effective. Low-frequency, high-value type of campaign will win out the day for small business over some app deployment -- especially with mobile-optimized opt-in landing pages and self-service notification html.

...that's what we've been focused on anyway.

Hello,

Yes I'm still selling SEO for local businesses. This is my main source of earning this year

you might offer help with branding and copywriting if you have tools and services providers.
people always can use catchy names and enticing sales copy so why not find copywriters or branding experts?

When you say "SEO" the list below is in general the goto list. Broad spectrum of the term however and this is targeting a link back strategy. Proven to work? yes.. proven to be sustainable? and the answer would be no.

When you say "SEO" I say Onpage is a priority.

1. Schema tagging
2. balanced on page linking structure
3. understand and develop the separation of "Content" and "Context"
4. Developing onpage inbound segments focusing on lookers, comparers, and buyers
5. If you are not using feed burner to communicate with G+ to further develop your reach there, as well as your Google for business set up, you are missing the boat.

Then moving to the back linking concepts CONTEXT is king... getting links just have links is a bad strategy.

social traffic is great if you are using that traffic as an entry point to one of the looker, comparer, buyer funnels.

I personally am not a fan of yelp... a well SEO'd site will beat out a yelp listing - unless you are looking to try and dominate some low laying fruit term, and possess 3, 4, or 5 of the top 10 listing positions.

truly understanding the minor ins and outs of onpage SEO gets you a long way.. then introduce an off page strategy that that maintains the context of what you are representing for your clients to boost the over all effect.

We rarely do any SEO these days. We don't believe social networks are effective for selling - too much spam. Similarly for directories. Adwords is the one item on your list that we feel is still effective, though low on our priority.

The main things we focus on:
1. Value proposition - what makes this business stand out from the crowd.
2. Testing - Ensuring existing and new advertising is effective and reducing advertising costs where possible.
3. Customer relationships - keeping in touch with customers in the most effective way - usually email.
4. Other relationships, referrals, networking and JVs with suppliers, customers, competitors.
5. JVs with complimentary businesses.

Anything else that doesn't increase advertising costs.

videos (youtube and vimeo)... Create the video, rank the video.

I do them for myself. It's a great thing when I hear: I saw your video about... and wanted to talk to you more about it.

I even get people calling from video's that aren't ranking in Google (they find them because the channel's high in youtube... and other videos... or they followed some conversation).

1. EDDM mailings
2. Targeted mailings
3. Reactivation & Retention Campaigns
4. Print services
5. Consulting & Copywriting

Hey Bob.

For local advertisers, I'd think postcard marketing's major competitor would be local TV advertising, which isn't really all that expensive.

Why wouldn't a local business choose TV advertising instead of EDDM?

My seo main focus is Off page optimization . Such Social bookmarking and Directory submission for Google indexing. Blog commenting , Classified ad posting, Forum posting, Profile link, Video submission etc for website traffic.

My company provides :

2. Facebook Page - Run Targeted Facebook Ads - Get Likes - Post Good Content and Contests
3. Yelp - Total Love/Hate Relationship - Get Client In Top 5 Of Yelp Search Results
6. G+, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter.....
7. Google Adwords - Not for the weak at heart and unskilled....

And just to be clear, I don't hate digital marketing (I know often it seems like I think direct mail is the only way to go), I just don't like to mess with things personally where I have to do much technical stuff.

As far as I know, Thumbtack is a whole referral service, far different than SEO, no?

Selling seo to small business owners is the worst thing you can do.

WORST!

You cannot afford to build your business on something as unreliable as SEO. Clients hate; a) When you are not able to rank their websites and, b) When their website gets tanked.

I have been there. I just outsource it when I need it for my clients or my websites.

Now I don't sell seo.

I SELL MYSELF

Business owners are not interested in SEO, PPC or any other shiny internet marketing object.

They are interested in YOU!

Your confidence is the determining factor.

I was in an initial meeting with a CEO of a small business. They were doing $10m+ annually and he asked me, "Shoaib, before we start let us know the portfolio of your services". I told them "I don't have any portfolio. In fact, I don't know if I will even sell you anything today".

I did not pitched anything that day. Just asked him my set of 25-questions, went back to my home office to find profit leaks. Called them to set another meeting where I will show them a business blueprint for free, normally $550. I pitched and I won!

Turned them into my client!

The moment you put a commodity in front of a business owner, negotiations begin.

Just go here Abraham.com - Marketing Genius.

Download EVERYTHING!

That's all you need to increase bottom-lines of any business!

--Add internet marketing services on top of it, and you are GOLD!

I am so confused lol


How are you using Thumbtack as part of the SEO package that you give your local clients?

As a local contractor I know how Thumbtack works. I just don't see how a marketer is getting between Thumbtack and the client and able to make so much from it.

No, I still don't know how YOU use Thumbtack for your clients.

When your plumbing client gets a lead thru Thumbtack you relay the lead to your client and charge him for it?

I'm not trying to give you a hard time, I am just trying to figure out what you are doing. It sounds like you found a good idea, I just want to understand it.

Thumbtack is very easy for the end user (your client) to use himself, so what would a marketer sell himself on to be the middleman between the client and Thumbtack?