No matter what you do online – whether you’re a web designer, SEO expert, web content writer, etc. – there’s somebody offline who can use your services. Actually, offline clients are the best. They have business experience and they understand well the value you bring to them; in other words, they pay well. The only tricky thing is finding them.
Pick up the Phone
Everybody hates cold calling and some people have serious telephone-phobia, but cold calling works. It’s as simple as that. Find businesses in your local area that can benefit from your services and give them a call.
Create a script that emphasizes the benefits hiring you would bring. Don’t think of it as sales calling. Think of it this way – you’re a trusted friend and you’re calling them to offer your help. Talk to them just like that and they won’t even feel like it’s a sales pitch.
Offline Events
Even better than cold calling is participating in offline events. I’ve found offline seminars to be an excellent place for networking and finding clients. Any local community events will work as well.
Be sure to bring samples of your work and business cards. The connections you meet at these events are much stronger than those you create by emailing or calling people.
Classified Ads
If you’ve got the money and you don’t mind spending it, classified ads can work really well. They can be a little hit or miss, so try it out and see what kind of results you get. Take out an ad in local business newspapers or magazines.
My Ninja Technique for Getting Offline Clients
This is a technique that works wonders but it takes some time investment at first. Join your local Chamber of Commerce. This puts you directly in touch with businesspeople in your area. You go from being an Internet person to a REAL businessperson instantly!
What will happen is that you’ll get to know the important business people in your area. Whether or not they hire you doesn’t matter. They’ll refer you to other business people who are looking for your services. A referral is worth a lot.
Give Seminars
I mentioned participating in seminars; another great strategy is to give your own. Create an offline seminar teaching business owners about your area of expertise; for example, the basics of SEO.
If you’ve ever done an online course or webinar, this is a piece of cake. Your offline course is exactly the same. You can make it cheap to attend or if you want a huge turnout, make it free. You’ll get tons of leads because they’ll recognize your expertise.
Whatever you do, don’t bother emailing people. There are too many spammy emails offering to raise your ranking in Google or whatever already and they’ll chuck yours in the spam folder.
Tony Phelps
