Email Marketing For Finding Offline Clients

by 43 replies
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How about some ideas on what has worked for you to get emails opened and read? And more importantly what offers are working using email as an opener?

My fav (so far) is "need a ______ in (city)" or "looking for a _____", etc.

Just gets their attention so as not to lose potential clients/cusotmers so they open the email. Nothing new here , but it still works.

As for the offer I like to keep it real short and to the point. It is better to make it look like you just typed an email to them, not just copied and pasted a long drawn out dissertation.

If I get some contributions to this thread I will give the exact email and offer that gets me good leads. It is not magical, just a foot in the door but works nonetheless.

Anyone...?
#offline marketing #clients #email #finding #marketing #offline
  • michael,
    i like the titles. can you give us an example of the bodies that have worked well?
  • Following-up on the email via a phone call is a great way to make contact.
  • Ok here is my email body (one of them):

    "I was wondering if you would be open to looking at new ways to make sales for your business? I am not selling anything, I am just looking for a few local clients to help out for no cost (as future references). If interested just visit yourwebsite.com"

    Note: the website has a video presentation that offers free advice and/or information for them to download. It can be about getting listed on Google Places, SEO, email marketing, PPC, etc. As long as you have a good follow up system this method will work to get you a constant flow of leads.
    • [3] replies
    • great idea but how do you get the emails for the businesses? most sites have a contact us form...
      • [1] reply
    • Michael,
      Thanks for sharing. Very generous of you!
      -Scott

    • Hi Michael,

      This is just my opinion (and that's all it is - an opinion) but you sound very timid in the above email.

      "I was wondering.... if you're open to..." it makes it sound like you're not very confident in your skills.

      Personally, as a confident person, I'd approach it like I'm doing them a favor by working on their website.... not them doing me a favor by letting me work on it.

      Maybe something more like
      "Hi Business owner,

      I know you're busy, so am I - I'll keep this breif. I'm an expert in internet marketing, but I'm new to working in our community. No one knows (yet) how great of work I do...

      For that reason I'm willing to offer you my services for free, to prove I am "that good" and get a testimonial from you about my work.

      It's win-win.

      I'll help you make more money from the web and in return you'll write me a testimonial.

      Sound fair?

      Give me a call right now and I'll answer any of your questions.

      Thanks,
      James Foster
      XXX-XXX-XXXX
      • [2] replies
  • Internet Sweetie,

    You can check the sites I listed in this thread: http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...-business.html

    You can google "@websitename.com" to look for various email addresses.

    You can purchase a list from a place like Sales Genie or infoUSA, with email addresses.

    You can do a WHOIS lookup for the owner of the domain. This may or may not be the right person.

    Or, you can go ahead and use the contact form.

    -Scott
    • [ 3 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • Most cities also maintain a publicly available list of new business licenses they have issued. In my small suburban city, these lists go back to 2009. They include the name of the business owner, the phone number, the address, the email, etc.

      All free.

      As an additional resource, since you won't be getting the contact info for long time established businesses. But, newly established businesses may need your help the most (although they potentially have less to spend..however! if you are in there early, as they grow, you will grow together, if you are offering any value at all)
      • [ 2 ] Thanks
      • [1] reply
  • I think the best email marketing technique that I've been using is this:

    Subject: Re: Enquiry

    This makes it look like I'm making an enquiry into their business - always an opener!

    Once they're in I'm literally going:

    Hi,

    It's (your name) from (your company name).

    What are you doing right now to make more sales/leads from Facebook?

    Facebook is red hot right now and with more than 500,000 global users, companies all over the world are putting their message in front of their target audience with huge success.

    Is your business on Facebook yet?

    Let me know if you need help setting up your business page the right way.

    Regards,

    Your Name

    I've been getting a 1-2% reponse rate frorm this exact email and I charge $250 to set up a Facebook Fan Page.

    Guess what, I then upsell my other services.

    Hope that helps.

    Russ
    • [ 4 ] Thanks
    • [2] replies
    • Outstanding! That's what I'm talking about. I have heard about selling facebook fan pages (honestly I am not even sure what a fan page is) and am sure it can be outsourced for far less than $250!
    • Russ, Thanks for sharing. I live in a small rural town so for me it's not practicle to go visit the businesses in other areas. I will give your email method a try.
  • Lots of good ideas here. Have you had success WITHOUT the follow up call?

    By that I mean, how many businesses contact without you calling them?

    Millard
  • I don't like to pussyfoot around. My attitude is like, "Hey, I'm giving you the chance to work with a real marketing pro, do you want to increase your profits this week? If not your competitor surely will". Now I don't actually say that but that's what I'm thinking.

    I like to use specific testimonials subject lines, THAT gets their attention.
    "Joe's Plumbing Made an Extra $9,846 Profit Last Week, Would you Like to Also?
  • Does anyone know the laws regarding b2b automated dialers? I saw a post from another forum about how this guy used to use automated dialers to contact the answering machines/VM of clients and left a stammering message about how he had a client interested in buying his property.

    He was just drumming up leads for a Realtor, but says he received a ton of call backs. His trick, he said, was stammering with "ers and uhs" on purpose to make the recorded message sound more natural and less canned.
  • haven't heard much about automated b2b dialers, but always had success calling after hours with a message.

    Cheers,

    Millard
    • [1] reply
    • I know this is one of the things TimCastleman talks about (calling after hours and leaving a message).

      I have thought about doing this, but my only hang up with this is calling the smaller mom&pop shops late at night (like midnight'ish) and having them actually pick up.

      My concern is that the smaller places use a mobile phone, so as to not miss any calls.

      Have you ever tried an after hours call (like crazy late) and actually got someone?

      -Scott

      • [1] reply
  • Scott,

    I usually call professional offices late because there is nobody there. If I try to call someone and they are in the office or the shop (As long as it isn't the person), I ask to be sent to voicemail. In fact, when I call in the daytime, I use one of my scripts specifically so that will be placed in voicemail.

    Cheers,

    Millard
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • Great advice for calling. I am currently participating in a WSO about using outsourced telemarketers for finding business and it is apparent that b2b telemarketing for finding offline clients is making some people serious money. In fact I did a couple ads at CL: one asking for emailers, the other for telemarketers. The telemarketing ad outperformed the emailing ad 3 to 1 at least.
      • [2] replies
  • Great info here!
    Just have another question - what service do you use for mass mailing?
    Any tips on that?

    thanks
  • Ive been tryitng to send an email from my hotmail account to drum up business but it keeps getting filtered as a potential spam message. I think it might have something to do with some of the words in my email like profits, revenue, and business etc but I only just got my copy perfect so I don't want to change anything.

    Are their any other free email alternatives that work well?
  • Cam,
    If you are insistent on using a free email provider, then I would go with Google's gmail.

    However, I don't think you will be too happy with the results even if you end up finding that 'perfect' free email account. Because once you get past the spam filters, you now need to get past the prospect's mental spam filter.

    The free accounts just don't do as well as a dedicated email account for your business. If you are truly serious about doing offline marketing consulting using email, I would scrape the cash to buy a URL and hosting. Then you can set up an email account from that and look the part.

    If you don't have the cash to do that, then try to drum up business through face-to-face contacts.

    Good luck!
    -Scott
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [2] replies
    • Hey guys -

      I screwed up. I put the wrong "welcome" email in the email responder. It has been fixed so if you signed up you'll get the email in the morning. If you haven't signed up you'll be getting it right away.

      My mistake.

      Tim
    • Thanks for the advice . Ive decided to send a letter via special delivery instead. I didn't want to use direct mail as it can get expensive but I have a joint venture idea for a dentist so hopefully it will be a one off.

      I will definitely set up my website, soon, then I wont have to deal with hotmail anymore.
  • Following-up on the email via a phone call is a great way to make contact.
  • I tend to source all of my email marketing leads from local business directories, trade directories, chambers of commerce and (most hated) google searches. These are either sourced by myself, or outsourced with specific instructions on the data required and business niches.

    One thing I absolutely hate doing is sending a single email that is not personally addressed to the business owner. I've found that with around 90% of the businesses, the owner's name is either on the website or on the directory page where their business was sourced from. If it's impossible to get a name, then I will call ahead and ask to speak to the business owner directly - doesn't always work but it can be fun.

    Sending personalised emails increased the reply rates I was getting to my emails by around 20-25% on average. As an example, the last campaign I sent out on Wednesday involved a free marketing offer for local businesses. The email was sent to 125 businesses, of which 21 replied saying yes please, 3 asked if it was a scam (rebutted with 2 saying yes) and 1 person gave an unprofessional and sarcastic response. So total of 23 from 125 emails - I think that's a pretty good response rate!

    I've been looking back at old statistics from when my emails were sent generically (Feb 2010), on one day I sent 150 emails and received 7 replies. That was a pretty good day too... lol.

    So my biggest tip is to use a personal approach, creating empathy and trust with the business owner. Using their name in the subject and mail copy seems to work brilliantly

    Hope that helps in some way!
    • [ 3 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • I have a question a little of the subject but not. I want to setup a presentation for realtors and I am working with a title company that is willing to send out an email to 3500 realtors on their list. I dont just want to send a regular email, I want to record a message that plays when they open the email. I know their are programs for that any suggestions? thank you for any insight.
  • I just posted this email in anouther thread, but it applies here as well.. Micheal is absolutely right, the more you can make it seem like you just sat down and jotted them a quick note the better.

    Everyone tends to crap on emails, but I've actually had decent luck with the following approach.

    Here is a variation of what I posted earlier, this version is more to the point:


    Subj: Chiropractor needed (of course this will get opened!)

    Hello,

    This is (your name) and I'm looking for a Chiropractor in the (town) area that could take on some more clients.

    If this sounds like something you may be interested in, please contact me by (email, phone, website)

    (Your signature)

    Spare them the details. The only point is to just get them to contact you. That puts you in the power position. A warm lead is 500% more valuable than cold lead.
    • [1] reply
    • Hi Everyone,

      For those that are using the email samples given,

      Can you give me a hint as to how many emails are typically sent before you receive a response?

      Deanna
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  • When you at hand one of these start-ups, just realize that they are being targeted by lots of other businesses since they are on these lists.
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