3 replies to this topic

[idrive]

I have been doing SEO work "on the side" for about a year. I started it as a way to supplement my income as a computer trainer since that industry in my city is incredibly dependent upon Federal Government - which means very little training at the start of their fiscal year, insanity during the last month of their fiscal year and nothing in summer.

So far all of my clients have just landed in my lap - approximately 10 clients from long term projects to just keyword research reports. They are either companies who have hired me for computer training, individuals who are referred from the graphic designer that I use (she recommends marketing their website when she is finished the site), or companies that are referred from a colleague who does email marketing. I have in turn passed on clients to each of these individuals.

This says to me that I need to continue networking and increase my referral base ;-) I really don't know how to go out there and find my own clients! I can chat about what I do, I can write a proposal and a contract and do the work....but this can only happen when a client is open to hearing it ;-)

I recently visited a furniture store in "the market" - the most popular touristy part of my city which I rarely visit - and really liked the stuff there. I was short on time and would like to keep an eye on their stock so asked if they had a website. The response was "not yet"....well what an opening! I handed the owner a business card and indicated that I not only created websites but marketed them as well so that clients could get an ROI. She appeared interested and I suggested that we meet for coffee in the coming weeks to discuss some options and see if she would like a proposal or quotation.

I followed up with an email (not sure if it gets checked) and a phone call, but have not heard back. In all honesty, she was working alone when I was in the store and the phone rang off the wall...I am sure she is extremely busy! I hate to follow up again for fear of being a pest...and I really can't afford to buy anything in her store at present time...

This is the kind of results I get when I solicit business ;-) Oh yes, my most recent customer found me on the web. I am working on a new site and am wondering if that will bring people in this fall.

Any experience or suggestions on how people here landed customers from other locales (sp?) or even their own locales would be greatly appreciated!

Do tradeshows work for you? I have recently hired a marketing student from a local university who is currently on a co-op term - I am hoping that she will be an asset as well *grin*

Looking forward to your experiences....

[toprank]

Hello idrive,

We have been up to our necks in SEO projects for the past 6 months so I'll share a breakout of where we get our new business and hopefully it's useful for you.

I should note that we track where every new lead comes from to determine effectivness and I highly recommend getting into that habit if you haven't already. It's tedious, but very beneficial as you grow your business and need to evaluate your own marketing ROI.

Here's a breakout of the top sources of new clients for our SEO practice in the past quarter:

Found site on search engine - 40%
Client Referrals - 30%
Marketing Partnerships 20%
Networking Events - 5%
PR - 5%

As a SEO there is great credibility for your own site to be found under SEO-related terms. Prospects often comment, "If you can do it for yourself in a competitive category, then you should be able to do it for us." That's not to say we have GREAT rankings under SEO terms, we're nowhere near where we should be. But, we do well enough to attract business.

It takes time to get great visibility under SEO related terms, so while doing that, it's great to spend as much time as you can in front of prospects. Keep handing out your business card in situations like you've described.

I've not had great luck in the situation you've described either. So what we did was to get involved with a local retailer's association and have become their go-to company for marketing when retailers want advice on improving their online marketing. This way, a 3rd party is recommending us and the prospect is typically more willing to discuss our services.

If you can strike up partnerships with web dev firms, agencies or other marketing consultants that do not do SEO, it can expose you to many opportunities.

The main thing is keep fine tuning your SEO craft, be persistent in providing quality work and be sure to document the results you've achieved for clients. The more time you can spend evangelizing your service, the greater the opportunity to make sales - IMO.

Sorry for the rambling!

[idrive]

I've not had great luck in the situation you've described either. So what we did was to get involved with a local retailer's association and have become their go-to company for marketing when retailers want advice on improving their online marketing. This way, a 3rd party is recommending us and the prospect is typically more willing to discuss our services.

Thanks for some great info TopRank! I decided to optimize for a local client base (i.e. some web marketing phrase City) as it was a helluva lot easier ;-) Over time I guess I could naturally be found for "some marketing phrase" as it is contained in the phrase that I am optimizing for ;-) I do get some traffic from those terms but not alot. Unfortunately WordTracker doesn't have stats on such lesser searched terms

Several of my clients had booths or were in attendance at Smart City Summit - an annual trade show that takes place in April and aims to Connect Communities, Technology and Business. The theme this year was Broadband, but not everyone had something to do with Broadband. My colleague who does email marketing had a booth set up there....I am sure that she has the opportunity to meet the other companies with booths and market her services. Is this typically effective for SEO companies?

The same company that puts on the Smart City Summit also puts on an HR Solutions Show and a Capital Hospitality show throughout the year. What if I were to give one hour seminars at these shows on promoting your website - a seminar specifically targeted to the industries targeted - i.e. "Why your catering company needs to be on the first page of Google" - because XX number of people search for your service in a 24 hour period; approximately x% of people might click on your link and even if only x% of people use your service, you have still branded your name, etc....

Of course it will depend upon the price of a booth ;-)

[toprank]

The seminars are a great idea. The more you can do to establish in your local market that you are the expert to see on matters of web marketing, the better.

As far as booths go, we used to do them early on, and I do not regret them as we did sign a few long term clients there. However, as we increased our presence in our market, the cost did not justify the return for subsquent booths.

We have staff that attend those shows from time to time, but do not exhibit anymore. The next step would be speaking at those events.

As you build your client base and exposure in your market, the word of mouth/referrals can become a leading source of new business. Expanding into additional markets will require other tactics.

If you specialize in a particular aspect of SEO or a particular vertical, then it will be easier to penetrate national markets as opposed to focusing on general SEO services.