Finally Started a Marketing Company - SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

[rogercbryan]

After two months of extensive planning and training I've finally launched my Marketing Company. Our first service is going to be Local Search Engine Optimization. I now hold 50+ 1st page rankings all across various niches. I've perfected my SEO Funnel and am confident I can get any local business ranked on the 1st page in 90 days. I'm so confident of this that if you sign a 12 month contract and at the end of 90 days you are not on the 1st page you stop paying me until you are!

I just set-up my direct mail campaign to kick this all off and I'm having a new sales page created on my blog (new version launches in 2 weeks). I've hired a full time marketing director to coordinate sales and I have a team of 16 outsourcers to do all the work.

I'm pretty excited to bring my third company to market and in this case way ahead of schedule.

Now our service is a little expensive but that is only because it works so well. The cost is $2000 a month for a 12 month contract. We offer optimization of 10 keywords with a guarantee that your primary local phrase will be on the 1st page in 90 days. We also guarantee that we will not take another client in the same niche in the same market.

So if you want
Miami Attorney
Cleveland Dentist
*We will not take another client in your niche for as long as you are working with us.

I'm going to direct mail 1000 potential clients and I need a closure rate of 1% or 10 new clients for this thing to really take off.

I'm wondering if anyone has any questions? I'd like to know what you all think of my sales proposal so I can tweak my message before the direct mail materials go out.

[veikoh]

Why anyone needs then 12 month contract if the results are ready within 90 days?
I could do the same for $600 but do not quarantee 1st page positions in very competitive search phrases. Probably 2nd, 3rd on those.

[rogercbryan]

Why anyone needs then 12 month contract if the results are ready within 90 days?
I could do the same for $600 but do not quarantee 1st page positions in very competitive search phrases. Probably 2nd, 3rd on those.

The reason people stay around is to keep the spot. I guarantee only one client per market per niche. The use of high PR links is part of their monthly fee. It is easy for one site to fall off and for another to take its place. I've learned from my blog that just getting the rank isn't enough. It is very hard to keep rankings once you get them. If you stop for a second you fall off quick.

[rogercbryan]

Ever since answering this question last night my response has been bothering me.

The goal is to start with five keywords and to optimize one primary for 1st page placement in 90 Days.

I will continue to work on all five as we move past 90 days.

Once all five are ranking we will expand to 10 keywords. We will also examine site expansion to include product placement (affiliate or self developed).

Once we have saturated the top 10 keywords we will move to a list of 25 and then again examine the site for growth.

My system is developed to grow with the company without any additional costs. It is a tailored to grow with a clients expectations.

This is where the long term value is developed.

[gv8sites]

Hi,

I already got a small company in Brazil, web sites, internet software, web host, It has been 05 years and we have more than 700 clients at 10 Brazil States . ( gv8 . com . br)

This kind of service does not have good quality in Brazil, you would be interested in some kind of partnership, so I can resell their services here?



Thank´s for your attention.

[Elsoft]

Great to know about your services.I am aspiring to start a similar service some day in the near future.This post has been motivating.Its always motivating to see some one succcesful.Wishing you a great success Bryan.

Regarding your quote "Business is a War.......".I dont agree with it.Business is about providing the best services/product possible to the customer looking for it.Its not about fighting with your competitor.If one can make sense to people,they will buy.These are my thoughts.

[rogercbryan]

Great to know about your services.I am aspiring to start a similar service some day in the near future.This post has been motivating.Its always motivating to see some one succcesful.Wishing you a great success Bryan.

Regarding your quote "Business is a War.......".I dont agree with it.Business is about providing the best services/product possible to the customer looking for it.Its not about fighting with your competitor.If one can make sense to people,they will buy.These are my thoughts.

I appreciate your comment... when you've been in business for yourself for a few years you'll change your mind. I spent five years in the Marines and yet I feel that the business world can be more cut throat and dangerous (metaphorically).

An example - what do you do when a competitor buys the #1 and #3 supplier in your industry cutting out a 15% margin of your business overnight? Do you sit back and throw your hands up? No... you grab the phone and you go after their chain elements... if thats not war then I don't know what I've been fighting. My quote doesn't have negative connotation - It's a motivational quote that lets me know that no one else is going to help me make money. I have to go at my business everyday taking what I want....

[college_entrepreneur]

I have been doing local SEO for awhile. I wouldn't charge a flat rate per year, instead charge a monthly maitenance fee and an initial ranking fee. It's what I've found to work better rather than an upfront charge (I found that scared away some clients).

[Elsoft]

I appreciate your comment... when you've been in business for yourself for a few years you'll change your mind. I spent five years in the Marines and yet I feel that the business world can be more cut throat and dangerous (metaphorically).

An example - what do you do when a competitor buys the #1 and #3 supplier in your industry cutting out a 15% margin of your business overnight? Do you sit back and throw your hands up? No... you grab the phone and you go after their chain elements... if thats not war then I don't know what I've been fighting. My quote doesn't have negative connotation - It's a motivational quote that lets me know that no one else is going to help me make money. I have to go at my business everyday taking what I want....

Well..I donot have enough experience to actual say something about what you mentioned.Probably its tough and thats what you mean by 'War'.Taking on the competition is challenging.And thats what makes business more exicting.

[chanson]

I spent a few days with a sales consultant before xmas discussing our situation and something he had brought up to me that I noticed above is "careful what you call him" and "don't forget sales and marketing are two different beasts" They go hand in hand, but he is right they are completely different. With that said a flag was raised when I noticed you mentioned "marketing director" is coordinating sales. Is he a marketing director or a sales director? Maybe he is skilled at both and you just need to adjust his title. Also I don't know if I am very fond of you promoting you have 16 outsourced people. I am a resourceful guy(as are many of the decision makers within the business community), and it gets me thinking about cutting out the middle man.

Roger, you have been a member of these forums for as long as I have, and I have read a ton of good info you have posted. I hope the above is taken as constructive criticism as it was my exact thoughts, and though I don't know what your target market is there is a pretty good chance I would fall into it. I don't think your prices are to out of control as long you are presenting a good image and have track record to back it up when your dealing with a new client. But like I said if I were approached with that type of number for SEO and heard outsourcing immediately after my wheels would be turning.

Looking forward to hearing more about your progress.

Chris

[rogercbryan]

I spent a few days with a sales consultant before xmas discussing our situation and something he had brought up to me that I noticed above is "careful what you call him" and "don't forget sales and marketing are two different beasts" They go hand in hand, but he is right they are completely different. With that said a flag was raised when I noticed you mentioned "marketing director" is coordinating sales. Is he a marketing director or a sales director? Maybe he is skilled at both and you just need to adjust his title. Also I don't know if I am very fond of you promoting you have 16 outsourced people. I am a resourceful guy(as are many of the decision makers within the business community), and it gets me thinking about cutting out the middle man.

Roger, you have been a member of these forums for as long as I have, and I have read a ton of good info you have posted. I hope the above is taken as constructive criticism as it was my exact thoughts, and though I don't know what your target market is there is a pretty good chance I would fall into it. I don't think your prices are to out of control as long you are presenting a good image and have track record to back it up when your dealing with a new client. But like I said if I were approached with that type of number for SEO and heard outsourcing immediately after my wheels would be turning.

Looking forward to hearing more about your progress.

Chris

Wow... the person you talked to could not be more wrong. Marketing is Sales and vice a versa. Have you ever heard of ABC? It stands for Always - Be - Closing. When you design a marketing campaign it has to have a goal. The goal is the sale or the completion of a transaction. If you are working with a consulting firm that is telling you different they are misleading you.

Ask your consulting company these questions
1- How many companies have they helped start?
2- How many of the companies now make over a million dollars?
3- How many of the companies do they have an ownership stake in?
4- How many of the companies they have worked with have failed?

I started as a small business start-up consultant in 2006 with management and financial services. I used to outsource all my marketing as it wasn't my specialty. I now employ 15 people which includes a marketing director. She has been trained to know that you start your marketing plan with the goal (the sale... the close) and then you work backwards from that.

This is the biggest problem people have with SEO. They pick a few popular keywords and then they try to rank for them. All that does is disappoint them. If you start your marketing based on the needs of your buyer you will optimize for your buyer... you will optimize for the sale... you will market the sale... you will make marketing part of the sales process... you will make sales... well you will make it marketing..

This is just basic business... I'll stick by the approach to my dying day as it has been proven time and time again.

[chanson]

I wouldn't say they were wrong at all actually if you consider the two elements. What is the goal of marketing within a B2B service industry? Marketing MIGHT close a deal for you, but if you rely on that you will be left dead in the water. The goal behind marketing is to take the company strategy(image, value-proposition, solutions, etc) and turn it into a message which can be sent to the companies target market. The goal of this message is lead generation. The generated leads are injected into the sales cycle and the sales force takes over from there. A big misconception is that sales and marketing are the same thing, when really, they are two separate elements which have to work together in order to be successful. The architect does the plan, and the construction crew builds the house. Food for thought.

side note, the consultant had a very successful track record with major companies in our industry such as Microsoft and IBM and helped several early stage companies develop as well.

[rogercbryan]

I wouldn't say they were wrong at all actually if you consider the two elements. What is the goal of marketing within a B2B service industry? Marketing MIGHT close a deal for you, but if you rely on that you will be left dead in the water. The goal behind marketing is to take the company strategy(image, value-proposition, solutions, etc) and turn it into a message which can be sent to the companies target market. The goal of this message is lead generation. The generated leads are injected into the sales cycle and the sales force takes over from there. A big misconception is that sales and marketing are the same thing, when really, they are two separate elements which have to work together in order to be successful. The architect does the plan, and the construction crew builds the house. Food for thought.

side note, the consultant had a very successful track record with major companies in our industry such as Microsoft and IBM and helped several early stage companies develop as well.

All text book... not practical app... sounds like an up sell... Buy our marketing services... wait buy our sales services to... I wish you the best but completely disagree with the approach

[stand856]

Roger,
How do you plan on acquiring direct mail contact information?

[rogercbryan]

Roger,
How do you plan on acquiring direct mail contact information?

I buy my lists... They are very easy to get. Finding the right demographics is a little harder but I've been doing this for about 10 years.