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When you’re a new SEM Agency, bringing in new business can be difficult. Usually you’ll already have a handful of clients lined up before you start the business, but eventually you’ll hit that ‘slow period’ where you don’t have as much business as you’d like. There are so many untapped resources available to you locally that you could and should be taking advantage of.

Local Business Referral Networks

What is it? A business referral network is a giant networking opportunity to virally spread the word about your business. They usually meet two – four times a month.

How will it help me? Referral networks are a great way to educate people about what you do. There are so many people in this world who still don’t know what Search Engine Optimization or Pay Per Click is, and you’ll be able to give your pitch on how it can help grow their business. Referral networks range from lawyers to chiropractors, and they tend to only let one person in your business category in per chapter. That would give you exclusive rights to all of the different businesses involved in the network. Members are also usually required to give a minimum number of referrals, so your guaranteed to get a few leads each month.

How can I join? Joining a referral network is pretty easy. Just find your local network via the Search Engines and sign up for a membership. Membership dues vary.

Angel Investor Groups

What is it? An Angel Investor is an individual or group that invests in a start-up company that is unable to raise venture capital.

How will it help me? Angel Investors are investing money in these companies for one reason – they want them to succeed so they can make money off of them. Your Internet marketing services can be just what these small businesses need to jump start their business. Usually, startups won’t be able to pay your high rates, but luckily they just received a bunch of funding from an Angel Investor. All of a sudden, they have extra cash available to invest in services like yours.

How do I set this relationship up? The best way to set a relationship up like this is to use your networking skills to get in touch with an Angel Investors Group. You need to strike up a partnership with them so they will recommend your services to the startup once they give them the funding. That will help get your foot in the door with these businesses, and you’ll have the support of the Angel Investors. How you compensate them for doing this for you (doing pro bono work for their site, giving them a commission for the sales) is up to you.

State Grant Programs

What is it? A state grant program gives funding to small and startup businesses that are in need of cash. The businesses file for the grant, and if approved, they receive the money.

How will it help me? This is the type of resource you can use when a client turns you down because you are too expensive for them. There are many small businesses who are not aware that this funding is even available to them. If you can get them to apply for the grant, and then wait for it to go through the approval process, they can use the money from it to pay your wages. This is a great way to help both parties because it won’t cost them a thing to receive your services, and you’ll be able to get paid for the hard work you do.

How do I set this relationship up? In order to for this relationship to work, you need to be prepared. Research how to apply for the grant, and have the papers easily accessible. When you are on the sales call and they give you the traditional, “that is out of my price range” speech, bring up the state grant, and fill them in on all of its benefits. You’ll need to be prepared to act as their FAQ, because they are going to fire off a lot of questions to you about it. Also mention that you can email a copy of the required papers over to them so they don’t have to spend their time finding them. You’ll need to hold their hand during the process, but it will mean more revenue for your agency.

Local Web Designers

What is it? This can consist of both freelance designers and local web design agencies, but in my experience, the agencies are the better source.

How will it help me? This is a referral based relationship, and it works very well for both parties. When they get a new web design client, they will recommend you for their web marketing needs and vise versa. The reason these relationships tend to have a high success rate is because you are both sending each other high converting traffic. The clients you send to one another have already expressed a need for your services, and now you are just pointing them in the right direction (your direction).

How do I set this relationship up? There are a couple of ways to set this relationship up. Many times they will come about from working with the designer with one or more of your current clients. Another great way is to find out if there are any meet-ups for web designers. Refresh Pittsburgh (where I’m from) is a great example of this type of meet up. It is a giant networking event for people involved in the online world (designers, developers, marketers, etc.).

So if you find that new business has started to slow down, or better yet, before it slows down, start taking advantage of these local opportunities.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 14th, 2008 at 12:44 pm in Sales.