Are you nervous about talking to a business owner

What market are you in, and what do you offer? Hard to give advice without knowing more about what you're doing.

You could make some videos reviewing what your prospect has or doesn't have, and what you would bring to the table. Then email them the link to view or burn it onto a dvd and send it with a bag of popcorn. Make sure they can contact you after they've viewed it.

You could hire a copywriter to write a direct mail letter for you.

You could learn about SEO and set up a website to draw targeted traffic to you.

You could walk in various businesses and talk to decision makers that way.

You could offer a free seminar or webinar to whet your market's appetite for your expertise, then follow up with warm calls.

You could watch my Free prospecting training videos and search for various cold calling posts that give lots of techniques here on the forum. That search feature is great if you use it. Prospecting is still the fastest way to get results. Cheap, too.

Check out this post! It lays out a step by step program to get new clients

The operative word in your question is FAST...and the answer is a simple NO....there is no faster or more cost effective way to gain a new client than through cold calling. Yes, there are tons of people (even on this forum) that will continue to try and dump their negativity on you about cold calling, but the fact remains that it works.

I've gone done the road of looking for and trying to create other methods of reaching out to new clients. But the fact is that in the time it took to create and develop these things to my satisfaction I could have achieved a lot more by picking up the phone and doing the thing I feared.

I give myself a little pep talk every time I pick up the phone. I'm a business owner and I'm calling another business owner, nothing more and nothing less. Odds are the business owner your calling went through the same feelings of fear of the phone as you may be, and he or she may still be going through it since building a business never stops.

The fears surrounding cold calling is astounding, and I can't help but be astounded at my own fears concerning it, but those fears lessen every day with every call.

There is more danger in a hundred other things we do throughout the day than there is placing a call to a business owner.

Fast? Craigslist and PPC.

Thank you very much for your responses. What I have been trying to sell have been different packages of done for you websites.

Thanks a lot for all the options you have given me as well as more reasons to use cold calling.

Email, Email, Email.... thats how I get all my clients.

Thank you very much for your replies.

Danielsteven how many emails do you send to get clients? Do you go after potential clients that are spending on ppc already?

hey guys,

interesting topic you have going here, I have just started an offline campaign in which I plan on combining both email and phone.

Basically I am going to be offering better looking websites to hotel owners.

I have a standard home page template which takes me about 5 minutes to personalise with some of their details.

I will then upload this mock up sample home page the net and send the hotel manager an email.

The email will have a brief intro, a link to the personalised sample home page and a way for them to contact me.

What I will do then is call the hotel and say something like:

"Hi I'm Stephen Courtney, I've just sent an email to manager@whatever. com, could you please take a look at it and get back to me.

Thanks, goodbye.

I know this may be a little bit of a long approach, but hey that's the way i'm starting out.

Eventually I will start cold calling, I'm just practising my script at the minute and don't want to rush in get flamed and lose my confidence.

Like I said though I have only started this, like maybe 3 hours ago, so far I have created 6 home pages and am ready to call tomorrow.

I have sent one text out tonight to a hotel who has a mobile number listed on their existing site.

they have since replied saying they will check the email once they get to a computer.

Anyway I hope this helps some of you out, I will keep you all posted.

Stephen

Hi Imagene,

Thanks for chiming in, its music to my ears that you are infact using this same method.

May I ask, are you also selling web design and also what are your percentages I.e What are your call backs to email ratios.

Also do you send the email and then wait a few days or like I plan on doing, send the email and immediately after call the business and ask them to take a look.

Regards,

Stephen