Make More Money and Save the World
Local small businesses want leads. That means phone calls or online form submissions. Let's all agree that giving them a website (/online property of some sort), or getting more traffic to their existing website, is just a means of reaching that goal. We get paid to generate more business. And, generally speaking, we get paid more if we can generate more leads for that business.
I used to sell 'websites'. An aesthetic feature that would (hopefully) generate more calls. That wasn't my pitch... I always mentioned the things I would do to make the site better (ie. basic optimization). I thought that was the emphasis, but something made the prospects think otherwise. The objections always ultimately came down to "Will it look good?" or "Will it have my name and number at the top?" or "My site isn't finished because the designer disappeared and it's not doing anything for me. Will you be any different?"
I've since started pitching "more leads" and bigger packages to business owners who simply want more. These packages entail all the things I know are needed to make a website profitable and then some. It's helped that I have previous experience, numbers, and client results to back me up. It's also been extraordinary for my business, but that's not the point of this thread...
Weeks ago, I sent emails to web design clients from as long as a year ago on how they could improve the results their website is getting with these same services. These weren't sales pitches - no headlines, images or anything like that. Just simple tips on how they could get more phone calls from their website - ie. being active about their business on their personal Facebook, handing out business cards with their website address, showing up in Google for keywords in surrounding cities, etc...
At the end of the email, I included a line about how I would like to discuss a plan to help them get more results. I also called each client two days later- if they didn't call me first - to make sure they received the email. And dammit if I didn't have almost a third of my entire client base wanting to set something up to get more.
This of course doesn't really apply if you've yet to land the coveted first client award. If that's you... call some business, offer a website with basic optimization at a reasonable price ($500+), get some sales, and move forward from there. Trust me, it's possible for anyone. I did it while I was still in high school, believe it or not.
But if you have previous clients you know can benefit from more work, more promotion, and more links... you can make some easy money by softly pitching additional services via solid advice and a simple conversation of what your client really wants. Owners I never thought would be receptive to my offer contacted me for the first time in months. And if you can truly deliver both times as a service provider? The referrals and future referrals can almost eliminate your time prospecting for months on end, if you're a one man band like me. It's a good feeling knowing the pipeline is full, and easy sales like these seem to multiply the results of any lead generation technique you're using.
I used to sell 'websites'. An aesthetic feature that would (hopefully) generate more calls. That wasn't my pitch... I always mentioned the things I would do to make the site better (ie. basic optimization). I thought that was the emphasis, but something made the prospects think otherwise. The objections always ultimately came down to "Will it look good?" or "Will it have my name and number at the top?" or "My site isn't finished because the designer disappeared and it's not doing anything for me. Will you be any different?"
I've since started pitching "more leads" and bigger packages to business owners who simply want more. These packages entail all the things I know are needed to make a website profitable and then some. It's helped that I have previous experience, numbers, and client results to back me up. It's also been extraordinary for my business, but that's not the point of this thread...
Weeks ago, I sent emails to web design clients from as long as a year ago on how they could improve the results their website is getting with these same services. These weren't sales pitches - no headlines, images or anything like that. Just simple tips on how they could get more phone calls from their website - ie. being active about their business on their personal Facebook, handing out business cards with their website address, showing up in Google for keywords in surrounding cities, etc...
At the end of the email, I included a line about how I would like to discuss a plan to help them get more results. I also called each client two days later- if they didn't call me first - to make sure they received the email. And dammit if I didn't have almost a third of my entire client base wanting to set something up to get more.
This of course doesn't really apply if you've yet to land the coveted first client award. If that's you... call some business, offer a website with basic optimization at a reasonable price ($500+), get some sales, and move forward from there. Trust me, it's possible for anyone. I did it while I was still in high school, believe it or not.
But if you have previous clients you know can benefit from more work, more promotion, and more links... you can make some easy money by softly pitching additional services via solid advice and a simple conversation of what your client really wants. Owners I never thought would be receptive to my offer contacted me for the first time in months. And if you can truly deliver both times as a service provider? The referrals and future referrals can almost eliminate your time prospecting for months on end, if you're a one man band like me. It's a good feeling knowing the pipeline is full, and easy sales like these seem to multiply the results of any lead generation technique you're using.