Big Fish in a Local Pond…
01. Mar, 2010 
166 Comments
Local Businesses Need YOU...
Do you have ANY idea how much smarter you are, at least marketing wise,
than any other business owner in your town?
No? Try talking about what we do as marketers to the local yokels and
watch their eyes glaze over and their greed glands start to water, even if
your explaining basic opt-in strategies and simple autoresponders, they will
think your a genius, I guarantee it.
A few of my students have really caught on to this and are making a FORTUNE
right in their own back yards.
One guy in Florida is selling the “brain dead” simple service of setting up local
mom and pops in Google local, Google’s simple local listing tool.
He does a really great job and ads photos and some interesting copy for each listing.
His fee: $200 for about 20 minutes work so he can do 10-20 a week. Plus, he
uses an outside sales person on commission and never even sees the customer.
Another sharp student in Atlanta sets up and maintains local businesses Twitter,
Facebook and YouTube accounts then updates them from time to time.
Her fee: $175 a MONTH minimum and she has built up to over 100 clients in just a few months.
Do that math!
Lastly, this one really killed me. One of the more clever guys I’ve seen offers a
“Who’s talking about you” service for local businesses that send alerts to the
business any time they are mentioned online in a search engine, social media etc…
He charges $79 a month for his service and relies largely on the free Google
Alerts and Twitter Search service for most his information. I don’t know his
numbers, but he has 6 full time salespeople on staff and has had for a while.
The big point is, you ARE smart. Smarter than most of the businesses owners
in your area and NOW is the time to share your skills and collect some great
fees in the process.
Best Wishes,
Ryan
P.S. Comment below and tell me if you offer a local service, have a question or
just want to be heard. Go ahead, brag a little…
Hi Ryan,
Great article! I have basically been a Social Media Manager for 2 1/2 years, primarily working with authors & musicians and slowly expanding into local businesses. I call my company Scully Love Promo and if you do a Google search for me, you can find me in many places.(http://scullylovepromo.wordpress.com – am having a professional website done next month!) I just didn’t know that moniker of Social Media Manager until I watched your Let’s Get Social video last night and found out all about Kate Buck. Thank you so much! I am going to start implementing your tips (and look for them everywhere!) and hope to build my business from the part-time entity it is now to a full-time, successful, 6-figure operation! I KNOW I CAN DO IT!! You and Kate have given me the confidence and the extra tips I need to go the distance. I can’t thank you enough! Please be sure to add me to your mailing list for your blog.
All the best,
Christine
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
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I own and operate BCH Plumbing in central missouri. I have also been involved with the internet marketing world since late 2004
Basically learning copy writing and affiliate promotions.
Taking the knowledge that I already have aquired, I have devastated my competition.
I now have other owners asking how I was getting all of my jobs since I am not listed in the local yellow pages.
Some of them have offered to pay me a big fee to do the same for there business.
Maybe instead of getting dirty all day I might take them up on the offer, hmmm…
Thanks for the great post Ryan
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Great post. Even when you think you have so much to learn, stop and ask someone on the street about an autoresponder. They don’t have a clue.
Any of us could do this business.
Great info Ryan!
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I can across a website http://localsearchbooster.com where they sell a training video on how to make your local search listing work best. This was the best marketing money I ever spent for my local t- shirt shop. I had my best 2 months in 25 years! Lots of new customers.
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Awesome post. Thanks for that. That gave me some business ideas. Thanks a lot again.
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Here’s an idea. Go to a local business and ask how much he would pay to get a customer. Say $150.00. Tell him you will give out $50 coupons and he oays you $100 for every coupon used. (I read that a boob job is worth $20,000 to a plastic surgon.). Set up a ppc ad in Facebook for the coupon. Your cost less than $20, your profit $?.
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Would it be possible to get permission to use some of your posts on forums with a link?
Reply-Hello Lakisha, of course you can use our posts on other forums. Just make sure you link back to us
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I Will Be Teaching My Students All Of This Info,They Will Find It Very Interesting Im Sure. Keep Up The Good Work…
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Just found Your Site,Very Cool With All The Free info On It
A big Thank You To The Editor…
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Thanks For Collecting So Much Info In One Place,I Have Learned
So much From You Guy, A Super Thank You And keep Up The Good Work…
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Wow this is really interesting you forget that most businesses want an online presence but are unsure of what to do or even how to start.
Cheers Kerie
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