Where to go to "socialize and mingle"?

bigredmachine

This thread was inspired by another thread talking about getting local clients (thread not started by me)
I loved all the advice there. I read through every response, probably twice. This forum is much better than "that other forum" which is infested with clowns and jealous people who have nothing better to do with their time than make fun of others.

Now my question is, where can I go to socialize and network? I live in a major city so there should be a lot of places I can do this, but I can't think of any. I want to go to any place where I will get to socialize and kind of "accidentally" tell them about my SEO services. By "accidentally" I mean they won't know I am trying to sell them things.

For example, something like this:
"why do you have a long beard?"
"oh, these days I am so busy, I have no time to shave."
"what do you do?"
"seo. wink wink. This is a process where we move websites higher in the search engines so they get more customers. wink wink"
"oh, my friend needs that"

I have so many creative ways to slip things in accidentally. English is not my first language so that might be a problem, but let's put that aside for now.

My question: WHERE do I go to do this? other than art shows, weddings, grocery stores (lame), I cant think of anything else.
How do I find such events?

ron

There are networking groups and rotary groups where business people meet.

If you are strictly talking about Local SEO (not national terms):

I like the approach where you specifically target the businesses that are not in the local "7-pack". You come up with a system of identifying who they are. The gameplan is telling them that they can get in that 7-pack and their world and income will change.

You already have a great marketing document in your hand in an envelope. It shows which people in their industry are listed. You explain that you can get them in there, and that it will change their lives if they make it  in that 7-pack.

You choose only high $$ sales markets like lawyers, dentists, people that sell expensive commercial services, etc. Where a customer can mean $$thousands. Now those people have a budget, and know exactly what a few new clients will mean in income each month. Lawyer's average clients are usually worth $10,000+ per client (divorce, accident lawyers, etc.).

You walk in like Clint Eastwood. You keep it short and sweet. Tell them that they can't stand marketers, and neither do you. You are a business man. And what is in this envelope is all about your business. If you are interested, my contact information is in there, etc. Thank you for your time, etc.

The piece has to be killer and persuasive. It needs to reflect that you understand their business, and what a client can be worth to them. Even a new dental patient can be worth $$100's to $$1,000 per year, and then don't forget with repeat service-type professions, the value is the "lifetime of that customer". So it isn't just about the first transaction.

You don't waste your time with low profit margin operations like restaurants or shoe repair. Stay away from cheap people and small$$ businesses.

And if your marketing piece is persuasive, they will call. But remember something...you need some real testimonial(s). At some point you have to be able to prove that you have done this before. If you can't, then do somebody for cheap or for free to get started. Marketing starts with one client, one testimonial. That gets customer #2. Then the first two get the 3rd, the 4th, and so on. That is how marketing works, period.

bigredmachine

Thank you, Ron. That's some excellent advice. You seem to be a big fan of google places. I have never found a consistent way to rank google places, it just seems so random. Websites with no backlinks and no citations and no reviews are A and websites with a lot of backlinks and citations and reviews are D, it just doesn't make sense.

And in my opinion, your advice about high $$ niches is solid. sometimes I meet people in coffee shops where I do my work and they say they want to spend $200 a month for marketing, I tell them good luck with that. In my experience, the more $ a customer pays, the less annoying they will be.

speaking of high $$ markets, besides lawyers and dentists, anything else you recommend?

ron

I think of things like auto repair, plumbers (who are overpriced f***ing thieves), heating & air conditioning, restaurant suppliers (like big commercial ovens, etc.). So try to think of the transactional price of the goods and services, as well as the value of repeat business. And then sort.

By the way, stay away from realtors - they are cheap as f***, and are not good business people. Plus they don't fit into a local 7-pack model anyway. They would be local seo in the sense of ranking for 'Chicago realtors", etc. in the actual organic listings. I know, there are exceptions to my disdain for them, but most are part time idiots.

Also, when it comes to 7-packs, many niches have no packs in the listings. So you need to do some research in your local Google market which niches have the pack listings.

The reason I bring up the 7 pack as opposed to local SEO is because it is easier to rank in a pack than it is for some term in the organic listings. It is just lower hanging fruit. But you have to structure it so they don't hit the eject button. As in you provide the website. If they don't pay you your monthly fee, you disconnect that website and take it to their competitor. Period. Hardball. Pay to play.

Small business owners will f*** you if given the chance to reap the rewards and cut the expenses. So how you structure any client assignment is critical. People respect smart people, and they walk all over do-gooders.

bigredmachine

Thank you Ron.