20 Proven Ways to Find Agency or Consulting Clients Without Spending a Fortune on Advertising The following list isn’t an exhaustive list. It’s a short list of some of the many ways you can find new clients for your consulting, coaching or agency business. 1. Create a Local Business Alliance Create a networking group consisting of 3-5 other people who also sell to the local businesses (or niche) that you target. For example, if you sell social media marketing management to restaurants, partner up with the person who handles their payroll, their payment processing, their P.O.S. systems, their insurance, their wine salesperson, etc. Offer 10% commission to anyone who refers a new customer with you – and pay them residually 10% on every monthly payment because they will help retain your customer as well. Action step: Write out what type of sales professionals are already selling services or products to YOUR potential prospects? (i.e. think payroll services, credit card processing, P.O.S. systems, products, food, equipment, insurance, etc.) ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 2. Yelp.com This strategy is particularly useful if you sell to restaurants, salons and other businesses people tend to search for using Yelp.com. Here’s the Yelp search strategy to find qualified prospects: Go to Google.com and do a search exactly like this (substitute location or business type): site:yelp.com "watch video" + restaurant + dallas tx 1 © Joe Soto, JoeSoto.net | All Rights Reserved. Why? Because this will pull up Yelp listings in Google of businesses that feature of Video on their Yelp listing/profile. Why is this important? Because having a video on your profile costs money, and often costs at a minimum $375/mo. to have an updated Yelp listing (on up to $1500+/mo. depending on the type of advertising package they’ve purchased from Yelp). What does this tell you about them? They are a qualified prospect because they are already paying for local marketing and advertising. Action Step: Go to Google now and type in the formula and start making a prospect list of qualified advertising buyers. 3. Speak at Local Events Contact your local Chamber of Commerce and get involved. You can join for very little for a yearly membership and they are always looking for speakers for local events, including lunch-and-learns and other local business workshops they put on throughout the year. Create a brief speaking media kit, essentially a positioning statement, a bio, speaking topics and some testimonials and give it to your local Chamber so they know you’re an option when they are in need of local speaker. Here’s the directory of essentially every Chamber of Commerce in the United States. http://www.officialusa.com/stateguides/chambers/ There are a lot of other organizations you can find who need local speakers and presenters at workshops, conferences or at their association meetings. 2 © Joe Soto, JoeSoto.net | All Rights Reserved. • http://www.ipl.org – this is website of The Internet Public Library, which contains a search box that will allow you to search for associations • http://www.marketingsource.com/associations - this website allows you to purchase the U.S. Directory of Associations, either in its entirety or by region or individual states • http://www.ipl.org – this is website of The Internet Public Library, which contains a search box that will allow you to search for associations. • http://www.marketingsource.com/associations - this website allows you to purchase the U.S. Directory of Associations, either in its entirety or by region or individual states Here is a list of associations that are often looking for speakers – and they ALL have regional chapters and conferences. They all want a topic specific to their group – digital targeting topics are hot. • FPA – Financial Planners Association • ICF – International Coach Federation • NAR – National Association of Realtors • NAPO – National Association of Professional Organizers • NRA – National Restaurant Association • NDA – National Dental Association • NAWBO – National Association of Women Business Owners 3 © Joe Soto, JoeSoto.net | All Rights Reserved. • And many more! Do some research, they all have websites and all have events you could be attending and networking at with potential clients. Action step: Go to one of these sites above and/or Google and start searching for local events coming soon to a city near you, that you can attend and network at to find new clients. 4. Local Networking Groups As a member or even as a non-member of your local Chamber of Commerce you can attend local chamber breakfasts, luncheons, and cocktail events. This opens up the door for you to network with local business owners. Tip: Never focus on giving your business card out. Focus on getting to know business owners, find out why they started their business, etc. Take a genuine interest in other people and they’ll ask for your card. Make sure to get their card so you can initiate the follow up. Again, here’s the directory of essentially every Chamber of Commerce in the United States. http://www.officialusa.com/stateguides/chambers/ Action step: What local networking groups could you get involved with or join membership with? Go to Google and start searching! 5. Meetup.com 4 © Joe Soto, JoeSoto.net | All Rights Reserved. I call it the “forgotten social network.” It’s still huge. And why not utilize the Internet’s largest network of local groups to attract new clients, while helping you lead a community of your ideal potential clients? Go find a meetup (or start one) in your area and you’ll have immediate access to other business owners, and some who may also be your alliance partners. Action step: Go to www.Meetup.com and search for groups in your local or regional area. Identify the popular groups you could a) attend and b) model to start your own group that is hosted and led by you. What are they doing in their groups, how do they have it structured and organized? 6. BNI Particularly if you are a new business coach, consultant or agency owner, take a look into joining a BNI group near you. “The mission of BNI is to help members increase their business through a structured, positive and professional referral marketing program that enables them to develop meaningful, long-term relationships with quality business professionals.” Action step: Find a chapter here: https://www.bni.com/find-a-chapter 5 © Joe Soto, JoeSoto.net | All Rights Reserved. 7. LinkedIn Direct Outreach Use direct outreach, be genuine and there is no reason to sound like a solicitor. If you find a client prospect who could use your help, simply ask them if they are open minded to some suggestions you have that you are happy to help them out with. Action Step: Leverage Sales Navigator so you can leverage their prospecting strategies – do your own digging, research for $79/mo. https://business.linkedin.com/sales-solutions/sales-navigator 8. Facebook Direct Outreach You’ll be surprised how many business owners you can reach, simply by friend requesting them or messaging them through their Facebook business page. But that’s not a green light to spam them or send them a commercial. Everyone’s human and expect to be approached that way. Keep it simple, pay them a sincere compliment about their business and say something along the lines of “I have some ideas that can help you if you’re interested in hearing them let me know.” 6 © Joe Soto, JoeSoto.net | All Rights Reserved. Action step: Find your prospects on FB and reach out with value. Send them an audit (or a video audit) really helping them and adding value with something that related to what you can help them with. 9. Facebook Page Interaction Most people interact with other Facebook pages, but as their personal profile, not as their business page. If you want to post directly to the wall of a Facebook page as your page use the drop-down at the top right of the status update box to select the page you want to comment as. Choose which page you want to post with. Then add value, don’t spam, solicit or sell your services. Add value to the conversation, and post comments. Doing this can show your value and ultimately position you as an authority in your nice. When you comment and interact on very engaged pages, everyone who has reacted (liked/commented/shared) that same post gets notified that you’ve also commented. This is why it’s also important to be one of the last to comment on an engaged post. Action step: Find the pages in your niche or local market that are active and be proactive! 10.LinkedIn Groups There is a rumor that LinkedIn “Groups” may be going away. This also applies to any forum or group online, but in essence sharing your content or value added articles into groups on LinkedIn is a proven way to get the attention of business owners – particularly if you aren’t trying to just pitch people or sell your services. 7 © Joe Soto, JoeSoto.net | All Rights Reserved. Action step: Find the groups where your prospects interact or where your potential referral (alliance) partners hang out: https://www.linkedin.com/groups 11.Audits Website audits, SEO audits, and Social Media Audits all add value to any prospective customer’s condition. And my suggestion is to offer them for free, even though you could also sell them if they are thorough enough. A business owner is always trying to evaluate their own business, but they don’t have the experience or know how to truly evaluate their own digital marketing efforts. You can truly help the business owner here whether they eventually hire you or not. Worse case, when a business colleague of theirs’s talks about needing a new website, SEO or social media help, you’ll be top of mind for someone they’ll think of to refer. Action Step: How can you add value with Audits for your prospects? Think video walk through teaching them something in under 5 min of REAL value (tip: use Jing – it will allow you to do under 5 min. screenshare videos for free, and then you can send a link directly to your prospect to watch. 12.Industry Events Attending and sponsoring. At the end of 2010 I was one of a few businesses that paid to be a sponsor at a local seminar that was in town. It cost $10,000 and it was out of our budget at the time. It paid off, resulting in over $500k in new business 8 © Joe Soto, JoeSoto.net | All Rights Reserved. over the following two years based on the relationships formed there that led to new clients. Action step: What industry events are your potential clients attending? Spend some time on Google and find out. Write them out here and decide which are local or regional enough for you to attend. I promise you, there are MANY. ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ 13.Local Publications Go pick up as many local newspapers as you can. There are still local businesses that are wasting their money by advertising in the local newspaper. Many are paying hundreds per ad, per month (some thousands) to do this. They just need to be educated. Action step: Make a list of the local publications in your area, and/or go out and pick some up at your local grocery store or convenience store. You’ll find advertisers doing a horrible job – help them by actually helping them first. 9 © Joe Soto, JoeSoto.net | All Rights Reserved. 14.Lead Lists There are thousands of lists out there for purchase, and some will contain new, relevant data that you need on your prospects, including name, website, phone and email. www.Infousa.com is just one of many lead list brokers online. Action Step: Do some Google research, chances are there are industry specific lead lists for your niche. 15.Competitor Clients Clients of competitors have already proven they are willing to pay for consultants, coaches or agencies – services like yours. Find them, scout them out, and if you can do better go for it. The strategy to is to add value here too which you can do with an audit or an article that can help earn your trust, show your value and position you as another authority or expert that can help them get to the next level. Some businesses will stick with an agency only until a better one comes along that can actually produce the results they desire. It’s staggering how many businesses are unhappy with their current agency partner, but don’t know where to turn so they feel mediocre results are better than none at all. Also, you can focus on selling these clients something different. If you find a marketing agency that provides SEO and PPC services, perhaps you can offer social media advertising services as well, to supplement their efforts. 10 © Joe Soto, JoeSoto.net | All Rights Reserved. Action Step: Do a Google search for marketing agencies in your area or region. Also, try searching more specifically for SEO company, Web Development company, etc., and start making a list of competitors or close competitors and their clients. 16.Target Businesses that are paying for Google AdWords If you don’t know what it is, Google it, as it’s Google’s most popular online product. Businesses that are willing to pay for Google AdWords make great prospects. Why? Because they’re already spending money on online advertising. And, in most cases, Google PPC is more expensive than Facebook PPC. Although, also in most cases it can benefit the business from leveraging both platforms. Typically, a business that is advertising on Google has a marketing agency that manages it for them. That doesn’t mean that same agency knows how to do social media marketing or Facebook advertising. It’s your job to find out. You can also click through their ad and evaluate their online sales funnel. Does their PPC ad go to an optimized landing page, with a lead magnet to build their list or does it only go to a website page that sends their potential customer or client in several different directions (not optimal)? Just because someone is advertising on Google, doesn’t mean they are optimizing the customer journey which is where you can come in with added value. 11 © Joe Soto, JoeSoto.net | All Rights Reserved. ! Action step: Do a google search for your niche and make a list of who is paying for Google Ads and go to work! 17.Local/Organic SEO If I searched for a digital marketing agency or marketing consultant in your city, would your website show up on page one of Google? What about on Google Maps? If you’re in Topeka, KS and you provide SEO services and a business is searching for an SEO company in Topeka, would they find you? If not, you’re going to have a difficult time selling SEO services. Make sure to claim and optimize your business listing on “Google For Business,” and if that’s foreign to you, Google it and get it set up. It takes 15 minutes. If you don’t know how to optimize your website for local search, and if you don’t have very many sites linking to you (backlinks) then get some help. Action step: Optimize your website for SEO. If you use Wordpress, start by adding the Yoast SEO plugin to your website. https://yoast.com/wordpress/ 12 © Joe Soto, JoeSoto.net | All Rights Reserved. plugins/seo/ - They also have some great inexpensive SEO courses ($39 – $199), but you can also outsource this if it’s not something you enjoy. 18.Purchase Google AdWords for Your Agency This takes investing some money into your business, but you get to set the budget and it can help you get clients quickly. Action step: If you have an ad budget, visit https://adwords.google.com/home and start showing up with your own ad at the top of Google for your keywords so client prospects can find YOU. 19.Facebook Advertising You can target just about anyone on Facebook, including business owners, entrepreneurs, CEO’s, Dentists, Attorneys, and more. Localize your advertising. Businesses prefer to do business with local businesses they can meet with in person, so you’ll have an advantage over others outside of the area who are also advertising to your potential clients. Check out www.Facebook.com/blueprint. Action Step: If you’re a FB advertising agency then this option is a no-brainer for you. Be your own case study and show clients how you can attract clients locally through the power of FB advertising. 13 © Joe Soto, JoeSoto.net | All Rights Reserved. 20.Online Sales Funnel This one really goes with 18 and 19. If you’re going to pay for advertising, you’ll want to build out an optimized sales funnel to fully maximizing your ad spend. Some people run ads directing traffic to their website or a page on their website. This is a mistake. It’s not strategic and you’ll lose so many potential prospects by not guiding them in the right way through your funnel. If you have the time and budget, and know how to make an online funnel, it’s a lucrative way to get new clients to schedule appointments (strategy sessions) with you. Market one of your success stories (case study) and offer an audit to a lucky local business upon request. But, unlike many of the other ways to find clients, it takes an upfront budget and sometimes hundreds if not thousands of dollars before you dial it in and get clients with this method. Action steps: Get your Clickfunnels free trial and account set up. It’s very easy to use, and their funnels and templates are already done for you, all you have to do is customize it. Exercise: List 5 of the 20 ways to clients that you can take action on this week: 1. _______________________________________________ 14 © Joe Soto, JoeSoto.net | All Rights Reserved. 2. _______________________________________________ 3. _______________________________________________ 4. _______________________________________________ 5. _______________________________________________ Notes: ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 15 © Joe Soto, JoeSoto.net | All Rights Reserved.
