I’m often asked for advice on how to start a local digital marketing agency by newbies looking to build a real business with their digital marketing skills. I readily give out what tips pop into mind at the time, but here I’m giving you the full consult on how to do it right. If you […]
How to Sell Marketing Services to Small Businesses
Small business owners are an odd sub-set of people with hundreds of personal reasons for running a business, but one common ambition to successfully build something of their very own. If your selling marketing services, even if it’s only 10 hours a week, you are essentially a small business owner. Knowing the desires and fears […]
Beginner's Checklist for Starting an SEO Agency
Are you thinking about starting an SEO agency? With all the tools available to start, run, and grow your business, there has never been a better time to start your own SEO agency. Unfortunately, there is a big gap between having the desire to start a business and knowing what to do to make it […]
SEO and PPC Better Together: Optimizing Marketing Campaigns
SEO and PPC are two of the most profitable marketing channels, but it’s time to stop thinking of them as competing methods to the same goal – increasing relevant traffic to your website – and look at how SEO and PPC are better together. Search Engine Optimization and Pay-Per-Click advertising not only complement each other; […]
How To Pitch Your SEO Services to New Clients So They Respond
Building a business in SEO requires some sales mastery and a big part of that is your new client pitch. If your goal is to be a successful SEO provider, you need to get good at pitching your services. You know the type of person that puts a business card for lawn services under your […]
What are Local Citations?
Quick question for you Sharks: have you ever wondered why some of your competitors rank so high for local keywords? Well, here's a hint: they simply leverage the power of local citations. When it comes to creating a strong online presence for a local business, citations play a very important part in boosting your visibility […]
How to Get Your First Client as a New Shark
Has there ever been a better time to be an Offline Shark? With the online environment evolving at an alarming rate, now is a killer time to get into selling digital services! Yep - it's time to show your teeth, baby sharks! I read a statistic recently that said you can expect around 600,000 new small […]
Never Doubt the Importance of a Customer Review
How important would you say are customer reviews for a business? Personally, I have a TON of clients that I've never asked to leave me a review and I'm almost positive that you do too. But that's not OK and we should change that! Getting reviews from former customers is and always will be beneficial […]
What Should You Charge For Your Services?
Here's a question for you, Sharks: What should you charge for your services? I bet you've felt yourself asking this questions at least once in your life. Charge too much and you won't be working. Charge too little... and the prospective client will look elsewhere, thinking that you couldn't be very good or your advice […]
How To Spot a Tire Kicker When Negotiating with New Prospects
How many of you have had prospective clients ask about your offer and then disappear before you could even spell the word "contract"? Unfortunately, the harsh reality is that today, you may get a lot of calls from prospects, but not all of them may be ready to do business. More often than not, people […]
Effective Closing Techniques - Tips on How to Seal Your Next Deal
When it comes to closing techniques, the more options you have, the better. As Offline Sharks, we generally tend to concentrate a lot of our energy on staying up to date with the latest trends in marketing developments with SEO, web design, and other services. Which is awesome, if you're looking to be the best […]
3 Good Reasons to Offer a Top Notch Customer Service
"Your call is very important to us. We appreciate your patience. The average hold time right now is sixteen minutes". Sound familiar? Give me a break... Getting back to your clients as quickly as possible is probably the most important thing you can do when it comes to customer service. It's amazing how much you […]
The Power of The Little Things When Marketing a Business
Lately I've been thinking about the various forms of marketing that affect a business. Anyone who starts a new venture should have a plan in place to attract clients for their company. And since most of us are in the marketing business already, we should know the ins and outs of how to find new […]
Stop Using the Lack of Time as an Excuse NOT to Start a New Business
When you want something bad enough, you make the time to work on your plan. It's that simple. Regardless of your other commitments and obligations, if you really want to make your new business work, you'll do everything in your power to succeed. So many new entrepreneurs fail to make their businesses work, for many […]
What Does it REALLY Take to Become a Shark?
Today I was thinking about the mass amount of people who leave their job every day, either by choice or by force. Either way, anywhere you look, statistics show the numbers are huge! Whether people are fired from their job or whether they quit in the hopes to pursue the dream of running their own […]
Offline Sharks - Local Internet Marketing Association Interview
Interviewer - Kevin Wilke Interviewee's - Nick Ponte & Tom Gaddis
How to Make the Most out of Being a "Newbie" Entrepreneur
Learning to welcome being a "newbie" can be difficult. If you are just starting out with your marketing business, there's a good chance that probably no one knows who you are. But that's OK! Being unknown is a great position to be in. It may seem strange, but my advice to new entrepreneurs is "be […]
What are Messenger Bots, and Why Do Local Businesses Need Them?
Messenger bots have been taking the online marketing world by storm for years now. But what are they? And does your local business really need them? Messenger bots are robots that can carry on a conversation with a customer and interact with them just as an actual human being would. They can handle small customer […]
Productivity Tips for New Entrepreneurs
You wanna know something funny? I'm a serial list maker. Setting business goals and putting them down in writing is one of the best productivity tips I can offer to new entrepreneurs. As things have progressed with my marketing business, I've quickly noticed growing busier. There's no secret formula to becoming a successful entrepreneur, but […]
7 Ways to Boost Your Credibility as an Entrepreneur
We all deal with closing sales on a regular basis. Sometimes booking a new client comes easy, other times finding new prospects and closing the deal requires more convincing. However, there is one thing that is almost certain to improve your positioning, as well as your marketing efforts: credibility, your credentials. When I started my […]