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 businesses to be created every year in America. That's insane! And did you know that most mom & pop businesses out there have little to no online presence at all? Furthermore, out of those new 600,000 businesses, it's likely that most already KNOW that they need to have a digital marketing presence, but may not have one just yet.
The thing is, if you can spend a little time every day to learn this craft, you CAN become a successful entrepreneur! Take my story for example: my personal experience in the beginning was.. squat. I had absolutely no marketing background, no tech background, nothing. But what I did have is a strong desire to be successful!
Is it even possible to land new clients as a “baby shark”?
Like many other Offline Sharks, I built my local agency starting with one website. ONE!
Here's what happened…
A friend of mine got fired from his job and decided to start a business. I told him I could probably figure out how to build a website for $500. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing and I'm NOT ashamed to say I hadn't even heard about WordPress at that point.
From that moment, I started to read up on how to build a website.
And you know what? Anything you need to know is right there at your finger tips! And the best part is, even after a few years, my buddy's website is still #1 in Google for his niche!
The reason that I say all of this is to encourage you guys. You deserve it. If you have been trying to get this thing started and have yet to find your first client, why not just start with offering your services to someone you already know? I guarantee you that people who you already know, are MUCH more likely to buy something from you then people who do not!
How to land your first client?
Ah! The question that never gets old. You wanna know what I'd recommend? It's really simple.
You could take your phone, scroll through your recent calls and locate a friend that's a business owner. You may be surprised to find that they could actually use some of your services!
If that doesn't help and you're struggling to find a business owner in your list of recent calls, hop over to your contacts section and start your search.
When you identify someone on either of these lists who is a business owner, do some digging on their business.
If you know that your friend (let's just call him Bill) has a plumbing company, do a quick search on Google for his website. Look for weaknesses on his website, SEO issues or areas that you think that you could bring value to. Or, if you're a real Shark, you can reconcile one of the Foot In The Door (FITD) strategies that we teach here in our community with a gap in your prospects marketing.
So, Does Bill have a website? Could it be updated? Great! You may want to check out using our Done-For-You solution to making this happen for your new prospect. Its called Website Profit Monster, and it will take all of the guess work on selling this new service and even fulfillment!
Another problem you may solve is to find out if Bill is ranked in Google's search results. Where is it placed in the search results, is it on page 10? If so, you should consider helping him to increase his online visibility which will bring in more business. There are many more questions just like this you could ask yourself and come up with a plan to help your buddy!
Once you've done your homework, get ready to call Bill and go have a coffee. That's it! Rinse and repeat!
Final word
It can be scary to start a new business, but keep in mind that we've all started from the bottom. But now we're here (thank you Drake)!
I know it sounds like a cliche, but even the longest journey starts with that first step. So, stop panicking and start calling some people. The more effort you put into getting your first client, the more business you may get in return.