Make Money Online Blog

HOW DO YOU GET MORE CUSTOMERS & MAKE MONEY FROM ONLINE LOCAL DIRECTORY?

Answer: by getting more customers of course =P. How do you get more customers? Before I answer that question, let first talk about what kind of directory I’m talking about. And the kind of online local directory I’m talking about in this tutorial series is not one where you place an ad somewhere and set back and wait for customers. You earn money with this method by talking to a lot of people face to face. Of course it doesn’t hurt to advertise on the Internet but that is not the primary way this online business is started.

My story is told as a narrative to a fellow Online business person who asked “How can I generate an income opportunities of $3000 a month within 9 months.” The principles I speak about can be made to fit any reasonable goal.

Remember, this method is a stepping-stone to finance further Internet endeavors. Of course if you choose to keep on “growing” your online local directory as a primary source of income opportunities that is up to you. The following is the forum
post. It is very close to the original post, however, it has been edited for this tutorial series.
Question: How can I generate a regular income opportunities of $3,000 a month within 9 months?

My Answer:
Nine months to generate a regular $3000 per month income opportunities. I’m going to assume that you need a little walking around money while you are building this income opportunities, so that will be built in here. I also trust that you know how to download and upload web pages, if you don’t, take the time to learn. Finally, you must realize that this method will take a lot of off line effort on your part to reach your goal.

How much money do you need to start? Around $110 if you don’t have a host and you don’t have a laptop computer to show your examples. (If you don’t have a laptop, don’t let that stop you. You will need a few dollars to make some laminated card stock examples of your web pages to show clients).

If you have a host already and have a laptop computer then you will just need a few dollars for your business cards and flyers. $12 per thousand for business cards and a few cents for each flyer keeps your needs down to under $20 dollars to get started. This method will work for a homeless man on the street, or for Donald Trump. (like the Donald really needs this, or a homeless person has a PC.

However, if you are reading this I know you fall somewhere in between rich and homeless) Pick where you are and start from there. This will work if you don’t have a Credit Card. I’m starting from step -0 and assuming you don’t have anything (I know you do but I might as well make this interesting)

DAY ONE. Take your $110 to a Rite Aid Drug Store or wherever in your town they sell prepaid debit cards that think they are Credit Cards. Buy a debit card with $100 on it. It requires a $10 service fee. http://greendotonline.com has a store locater where they sell prepaid debit cards. If you live outside the U.S., Google “prepaid MasterCard” “prepaid Visa.” Along with your country name and see if you can get a prepaid credit card.
Go home and make a list of the major streets in your town that have businesses on them. If your major shopping streets are Euclid, Main, Broadway, and Simpson St. Note that on your list. Think of a Catchy name for your directory.

If your town is Phoenix AZ then call it ShopPhoenix.com If that’s taken, call it ShopInPhoenix.com or come up with another name that will work. Go to A Registrar, I use http://domainspricedright.com and buy 3 or 4 URLs; EuclidSt.com MainSt.com BroadwayAve.com and ShopPhoenix.com. Of course you will have to play around with the names because as you might well guess, MainSt.com is taken, try ShopMainSt.com MainStInPhoenix.com play around with the names you WILL find them.

After you buy the names. Buy a simple business card from your local printer that says “advertise your business on the online world on ShopYourTown.com.” You are going to charge $150 a year for your service so if it’s an owner operated Print shop offer to barter your service for business cards. They should be willing to give you a lot of business cards for a year of your service but if they aren’t willing to barter, just get some cheap cards, they shouldn’t cost more than $12 per thousand. Basic black on white cards can be purchased at Copy Max for around $12.00 per thousand.

Design some Restaurant Menus and put them online and on the hard drive of your laptop. If you don’t have a laptop make some glossy printouts and laminate them, have this done by your printer or Kinko’s or whoever in your town does this. Throw out the window everything you have learned about “professional” looking sales page websites. Go Wild.

Here are examples of two restaurants that pay $150 a year for my service. http://allgoto.com/vicks and http://laventinas.com an example of a non-restaurant business is http://adamsvillephotography.com . If you are using the card stock laminated pictures of your example web sites put them in a spiral note book with other sales material you create and make yourself a “flip chart.” You might like to use this as your sales tool even if you do have a lap top computer.

Whenever I find that a potential customer has a PC with Internet access in his business I ask if I can show him my site on the Internet. They usually say yes. I have a PowerPoint presentation that I use. I have this presentation on my laptop and in my three ring binder. My “local directory” is Amateur by most “webmaster” Standards. However my customers love it and it serves my purpose to Pull Money Out Of Thin Air.

Convince yourself that every call you make is worth $5 whether the customers says yes to your offer or no, and start calling on every business on the streets on which you are selling. Every call is worth $5 so you will need to make 30 calls a day. Start your sales talk with the first person you meet in the business. DO NOT ask for the owner or manager. Just start talking.

The reason? If you are already talking to the owner and ask for the owner he/she will be thinking “Why does this guy think I’m not the owner?” and if you aren’t talking to the owner he/she will be thinking “Wow, I look like the owner, I need to help this guy!” You have a friend who will speak well of you when the owner does come in or when he goes to the backroom to get the owner. If the owner is not in, ask for a business card from the business, write on the back of it any details you want to remember.

These cards are more important to get than leaving your own business card. (which you should do) The business cards you collect will also be your “score keepers.” At the end of the day you should have one card for each business you walk into. Count the cards divide them into the money you collected and that is your per call score. Remember your target group for your local directory is small to medium “mom and pop” type businesses.

Your Approach
Say, “Hi My name is _____ and I want to put your business/restaurant menu/service/etc. on the Internet. I’m offering a very special price while I’m out here today.” Now shut up, wait for your potential customers to speak. At this point you will be told “I already have a website” or “I don’t need a website” or “How much does it cost” or “I don’t have a computer.” Be prepared to answer those four Objections. “You already have a website? GREAT! Then you know how important it is for you to be listed on shopBroadway.com since your business is on Broadway. Right now I’m not listing businesses on my main page in alphabetical order I’m listing them first come first serve and yours will be right on top. The Beautiful Banner Advertising for your business will link directly to your website.” Pull out your sales book and ask him “Will this be cash or check?” or How Should I make the receipt out? To your name or your business name?

If he/She says I don’t need a website say “yes you do” (with a big smile of course) and keep on as above except describe the beautiful website you will build for him.

If he says “How much is it” Just start writing the receipt.

What seems like a perfectly logical objection to about 10% of the people I call on is “I don’t have a computer” I then say, “You don’t need a computer” “I do all the work for you so the MAJORITY of people in town who do have computers can find you.”

Tell your new customers that there are expenses involved in setting up a new account but you defray these expenses by not charging extra money for them upfront. Instead you set up the account to bill in 9 months. When they renew in 9 month that renewal will be for a whole year and a year-to-year billing from then on. This tactic will make you reach your goal in 9 months.

If you make a sale in your first 10 calls don’t stop, keep on until you make 30 calls or until you are ready to drop dead. *(see the reality checks below)*

Do this every day for one week. At the end of the week you will have $750. Go to Rite Aid and put a couple of hundred on your debit card and start taking bids on Script Lance for “Simple Web Pages” these will cost you around $5 per page. Let bidders on http://scriptlance.com build all of your pages based on the info you give them, scans of business cards, pictures from customers’ flyers, logos etc. I didn’t do this and have spent more time building pages than selling.

This way you can spend more time selling. (I like working on Saturdays but most don’t and that’s OK in this plan). As an alternative to script lance if you want to “do it yourself” you can buy ready made templates for around $5.00 or $10.00 each or even pick up some very nice free templates. (See the resource pages below for both low cost and free templates) and of course you can make your own simple templates with a free HTML editor. (See the resource pages)
Start all over on Monday. Do this for 9 months. At the end of 9 months you will start sending out bills to your customers. Each week should have 5 bills go out for 150. 150X5=750X4=3000 a month. Or 10 bills for $75. Yes, I know every one won’t renew but in each bill ask each customer to refer you a new customer referrals will offset cancellations.

When someone cancels. Check their listing on yahoo.com the chances are great if you just used the title correctly and the headline correctly then they will be # 1, 2or 3 on yahoo, Lycos and hotbot. (Don’t even talk about Google) That is, if they are a shoe repair shop, your title should be Shoe Repair Phoenix. A headline should be Shoe Repair Phoenix, and Shoe repair Phoenix should appear in your text. Now remember this is for cancellations. Go to the person who cancelled and say “I hate to see you lose out, but I have to sell your spot to someone. I’m giving you the opportunity to keep it.” A good percentage of the time they will pay you. If they don’t, go to another shoe repair shop, “Hey, how would you like to be #1 on Yahoo?” If the site is not listed on Yahoo then just refer to your directory, “How would you like to be the #1 listed shoe repair shop on YourCityDirectory.com …..

When you first make the sale, encourage the restaurant to put their website address on the paper take-out menus and their own business cards. Encourage other businesses to put their URL on their business cards and flyers. It even pays to deliver a gift of 1000 cards less 250 to your new customers.”I kept 250 cards to pass out for you.” It’s hard for a businessperson to cancel their website when there are 1000s of cards and flyers and menus circulating with their URL on them, especially if they know that their cards and ads and menus will be leading
customers to their competitor’s website if they don’t renew.

Of course, the idea of this plan is to not have to go out selling after 9 months. You might have to make some calls after 9 months but not that many.

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