How a random trip to the chinese restaurant ended up getting me $8,000 worth of business

First, a little bit about me:

I'm a fulltime IMer and I've aslo been doing offline marketing for quite some time now. Between me and my business partner, we have 10 high-ticket clients at the moment. Our USP is that we promote ourselves as an exclusive Internet Marketing Company and we pick and choose only a select few clients we like to work with. (which is merely a psychology trick to increase conversions.lol )


Anyways, on to the story:

After I finished up some work at home, I decided to grab a bite to eat before heading out to a bar to watch the Lakers play under the new head coach Mike D'Antoni. (Huge Lakers Fan! )
So I stopped by the local chinese restaurant to order some food and ate it there. Had small talk with the cashier and before leaving, I noticed a tray full of business cards next to the register.
Asked her if it was okay to take some and ended up grabbing three cards.
The first one was a plastic surgeon who specializes in specific operations, the next one was for what looks to be a small time lawyer, and the third was for a shop that takes second-hand belongings from mothers who no longer had any use for these items and sold them to the newly expecting mothers.
After I finished watching a few games,[btw, the Lakers lost to the Spurs that night ]
I went home and immediately started researching each business. I was looking to see if websites existed or not, if so, how were they ranking, researched their individual markets, etc...

-After I gathered some basic information, I started to put together a plan on how to approach these owners. So this was it:
-I would show up to the businesses in person and approach the owners directly.
-I would come off as being new to the area and wanted to get to know my surroundings and such.
-The plan is to befriend the business owner to make him/her lower his/her guard and carry on a conversation with me.
-Make them feel like they're doing me a favor by telling me about their nice community, discuss how business is going, even the best places to go after work to blow off steam..
-After all is said, I will make the business owner feel as if he/she done me a HUGE favor and that I was very fun to talk with and easy going..

Now, I know what most of you are thinking.. "what does this have to do with you getting new business for Internet marketing??"...
Well this is where I go for the kill!...(figuratively speaking)


The Owner now sees me as a new friend and feels like they did their part in welcoming me to the "neighborhood". So I offer to return the kindness by slowly explaining what brought me to this city and what kind of work im into.
At this point, your service sells itself. You already build up credibility and rapport with the business owner so when you go into detail about what you do, you can mold it around their current situation..(this is where all that research comes in handy.)
At the end of everything they will be asking you, "Can this work for my business?" Once you hear those words, it's a WRAP!!
Now you just tell them what you could do for them, ask them if there's anything else they need, and return later with a proposal..
They're gunna feel like this all happened by chance and glad you came when you did, but truth is, you planned this all along and it executed flawlessly..


So you wanna know how it turned out for me??


Business card #1- The plastic surgeon:

Wanted a website redesign along with monthly SEO/PPC
I quoted him $5,000 upfront costs and $2,600/month (and this was my beginner monthly package). He signed right after the proposal was given.


Business card #2- The lawyer

Had a lead capture landing page that wasn't converting. I offered to redesign the lead capture page and do monthly PPC campaigns..
I quoted her $3,000 upfront and $1,900/month


Business card #3- The second-hand shop for new mothers:

Already had a pretty decent websited already, just needed some promotion.
I offered PPC/SEO on a monthly retainer. We're still in negotiations on the pricing so Im waiting on an agreement with her.
But she did invite me out to an event this weekend which im pretty sure I can either close the deal there, or find potential clients through her network of friends..(I'm sneaky as they come.lol)


So the moral of the story??

Continue to think outside the box and come up with ways to catch prospects off balance. Don't approach them about business first. Engage in a conversation with your prospect, become interested in what they have to say and make them feel as if you're bonding.. And once they are done talking about themselves, it is now your turn so sell yourself!!

Hope this helps to inspire some of you that are on the fence about offline marketing. The first one is always the hardest, but the rest is all downhill from there.


Cheers!!!