How I Won My First Client. The True Value of Free.

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As the momentum of 2011 starts to gather, so too has the motivation for me to take my skillset and leverage it offline. This is, as many of you know, how BuRP! Consulting – ‘SEO without the Hiccups’ was started.
For those who are not aware, BuRP! is the acronym from Build Rank Profit, so it all connects. It’s also memorable and certainly different. Oh, and I still go on about that Tagline! (how awesome is it?!)

“I am so smart. S. M. R. T. I mean S. M. A. R. T.”

I honestly thought I knew who my target audience was, and I also thought I knew how to talk to that target audience. I had the wit, I had the tools and I had the motivation – and I engaged accordingly

Then I started expanding my horizons, and boy was I in for a shock!

Speed Networking Anyone?

As part of the effort to grow my business I have started attending various networking events aimed at small start up businesses and established small to medium enterprises. These events have been a great eye opener for me because they have helped me reassess who my target audience is, and more importantly – how to talk to them.

How Many Languages Can You Speak?

These new business owners no nothing about the online world, so the last thing they want to hear is information coming in the form of  acronyms (SEO, CTR, CPC, PPC, ETC)and flying over their head.

“What’s SEO stand for?” is what you are more likely to hear than say ‘How does RSS work?” so you need to filter your language accordingly.

In short, stop assuming.

To give you an example, I had an extensive conversation with a new business owner about the difference between a blog and a website. She was fascinated, amazed at how simple it actually was and incredibly grateful that I had been able to explain it in such a way that she finally understood. This of course meant she was interested in speaking with me further on the matter. I realised at this point that in order to sell I had to give away for free.

How I Won My First Client.

I am officially in business and I would like to share with you how I got that first client. But first, a little about Jo.

Jo recently created her own product from scratch. A brand new type of booster seat that fits in between a couple of baby related niche products and personally – as a parent, I think it’s a great little product.
It’s called a TooshCoosh, and you can find everything you need to know about it at her website (which you can find through this keyword rich link here )hey, I have to start optimizing sometime, may as well start now Child Booster Support Seat.

Jo has a basic idea of online marketing and she is actively learning. She has a fan page (check it out here and like it – go on, make ME look good LOL) with 100 plus fans and she has a static website, which she now anguishes over thanks to my pointing out the awesomeness of WordPress (sorry Jo)

So I meet Jo and we start talking, but how do I go from a conversation to a signed contract?

Talking Two Languages.

George W. is talking to the monkey out of shot...

I mentioned earlier that the biggest lesson for me was realising how little new business owners knew, and how much of a language barrier there was when trying to explain what SEO and social media  is and how it can help them. Well this problem can really start to show itself if you are trying to win their business. How can I convince you to pay me to build backlinks for you when you  can’t grasp what on earth that is. How can I convince you to hire me to handle a Social Media strategy that will never make any sense to you?

In short, how can I convince you to buy something that is not tangible?

The Answer lies in FREE, the most valuable tool you have – because no matter what language you speak, everyone speaks ‘FREE’. Combine this with generic terms that make a business owner drool (like ‘More Customers/More Sales’) and you have just created the Rosetta Stone for getting new business.

I told Jo that the best way to assess how I could help her was to run a quick assessment on her website and her potential market, which I offered to do for Free of course.

Below is the exact copy of the email that I sent to Jo. I have copied it here because I think there is a lot to learn from not only the content, but the way I engaged her and appealed to the business side of the matter.

I also learned a lot about what was wrong with the email, and what I will do differently next time. Of course, I will discuss all this after the letter.

The Email

______________________________________________________________________

Why Did This Work?

Looking back at the email now there are a few things that stand out for me as to why I think it was so effective.

The first lesson I had to learn was in the language I spoke. In Jo’s case she already had a modicum of understanding so I could speak a little more technical with her, but notice that the language is still not the same as how you might explain the same concept in say, a blog post.

I also aligned the conversation so that it focused on her and the business.  By appealing to what matters to Jo I was able to remove the feeling of ‘selling’ from the equation. Jo was now focusing on the potential that this has for her business and her bottom line.

What Would I do Different?

I think if I was to create a basic template from this email that I was then to use to send out to potential clients I would remove the personality to a degree. In this caseI had met and connected with Jo so I could speak the same language in the email. The problem with this is that it changes the wording slightly, enough to remove the most important element – the what’s in it for me bit.

I think the bulk of the email works because it not only shows what potential there is, it tells her how it works. Its not just about adding something tangible through explanation, it’s about focusing on the customer. I know personally that when I start talking about SEO, I get so passionate that I forget it’s not actually about me (story of my life LOL)

What Did I Learn Most?

I’m not answering the right questions!
I am actually going to be completely rebuilding the BuRP! Consulting site from scratch in the coming days, but in the meantime, check out the extra pages that I added – see how I have changed my language and aligned my message with something more relevant to those who actually need my services!

The Goal and Summary

The Ultimate goal of FREE is to show your value to your potential clients. The issue with that is that the service you provide is not necessarily tangible and therefore it is hard for them to quantify it. By speaking their language and aligning your focus to how their business can benefit, you quantify what it is you can do, and you qualify as someone who could potentially do that.

The Goal of your initial FREE consultation should not be to convince them that they need your service, it’s to make them feel like they cannot afford to go without it!

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How Can I take this to the Next Level?

I just got off a Skype call with a good friend of mine and the owner of the Self Employed Cafe, Pawel Grabowski.

Pawels Blog focuses on small business and he has recently started a fantastic community helping those survive their first year in business, a community I am proudly a part of. Pawel has just finished writing his ebook on new business and he was kind enough to send me a copy to look over. To give you an idea of how well timed this was, the email from Pawel arrived the evening I got home from the above networking event, so you can imagine how ‘stoked’ I was when I saw a zip file called ‘The Smart Business Guide to Winning New Work’ sitting in my inbox. (not an affiliate link)

Needless to say I hastily opened it and.. WOW! Seriously this is over delivering at its finest.
Pawel has provided 52 pages of relevant tips that you can implement immediately and get more business coming your way, and unlike many an ebook I have read on similar topics, Pawel’s goal here was not to tell you what you need to do, but to actually take the time to show you How to do it, and I can honestly say that from what I have absorbed so far, he has succeeded.

The Smart Business Guide to Winning New Work is only $24.95 and not only do you get 52 pages of genuinely helpful advice, you also get various templates including meeting preparations, killer questions, email templates, follow up sheets, the list goes on. Follow the above link to see what Pawel has to say about it.

Pawel has proven through his blog and his engagement that he has the tools to get your new business where it needs to be, especially in that first year, and this ebook looks to be a the perfect culmination of all that knowledge… Follow the link and get your copy today, or go connect with Pawel at his blog.

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