Finally... How I Leased My Pre-Made Roofer Website For $197 a month... For 5 Years.

[Jimian]

Hey Offliners...

As some of you may remember, I attempted to employ the "lease-a-site" model (thanks to Don "The Almighty" Alm)

So I chose roofers in RI....

I wasn't really getting anywhere UNTIL I put up a Google Places listing...



Then I start gettin' calls from customers.... and calling roofers to pass out the leads...

And one guy even gave me a kick back for job he got from it!! ... So I started sending out postcards and cold calling roofers....

I'd tell em "I designed a roofing site for an online class, and now people are calling me... yada, yada, yada..."

Then this one roofer guy called and said "let's talk" and basically just wanted it...
$197/month -- and he wants it for 5 years!!!



Actually I think I coulda got more, but it was an "expereience."

P.S. When I changed the google map listing (and put his number on it) it
disappeared for now... which I had a feeling it might... I'll see what happens.

JIM

[Dexx]

Way to go Jim!!

I'm going to move this to the Success Stories section so that those looking for inspiration can see what you did (and how easy it was) =)

Now rinse and repeat!

~Dexx

[rdpatrick]

Hey Offliners...

As some of you may remember, I attempted to employ the "lease-a-site" model (thanks to Don "The Almighty" Alm)

So I chose roofers in RI....

I wasn't really getting anywhere UNTIL I put up a Google Places listing...



Then I start gettin' calls from customers.... and calling roofers to pass out the leads...

And one guy even gave me a kick back for job he got from it!! ... So I started sending out postcards and cold calling roofers....

I'd tell em "I designed a roofing site for an online class, and now people are calling me... yada, yada, yada..."

Then this one roofer guy called and said "let's talk" and basically just wanted it...
$197 -- and he wants it for 5 years.



Actually I think I coulda got more, but it was an "expereience."

P.S. When I changed the google map listing (and put his number on it) it
disappeared for now... which I had a feeling it might... I'll see what happens.

JIM

Maybe next time you can get a Google voice or skype number, list it on the Google map then forward it to whomever leases your site. That way if they stop paying you have the option to transfer the number to someone else.

[brettnordin]

Awesome, Jim!

I consultant into a national marketing company and all they do is lease for $200 a month. They provide the client a turn-key website/Places package that has a back-end suite of tools for reporting, text marketing, scheduling, CRM, autoresponder, etc.

They have huge call center and sign businesses up on a free 30 day trial...over a 1000 small service businesses per month sign-up for the trial.

At this point, they are a friendly competitor of mine...since they are paying me buku bucks.

There are some serious players figuring out internet marketing solutions for service professionals is a huge opportunity. Expect to see more start-ups like Yodle and Reach Local popping up with huge capital behind them.

I personally don't think the leasing model is sustainable because businesses are going to painfully figure out that their online properties are one of the most valuable assets they can invest in. When it comes time to sell their business, they'll need to show their online properties are secured assets...not leased and out of their control.

Take note of that from a long-term perspective and the model you are building.

I prefer the build/flip and maintain model and have been having major success with that.

BTW, I bought your Offline Marketing Magnet course and it's great. Thanks for all the guidance, inspiration and ideas.

Brett

[Marcos]

There are some serious players figuring out internet marketing solutions for service professionals is a huge opportunity. Expect to see more start-ups like Yodle and Reach Local popping up with huge capital behind them.

I personally don't think the leasing model is sustainable because businesses are going to painfully figure out that their online properties are one of the most valuable assets they can invest in. When it comes time to sell their business, they'll need to show their online properties are secured assets...not leased and out of their control.

Take note of that from a long-term perspective and the model you are building.

I prefer the build/flip and maintain model and have been having major success with that.

BTW, I bought your Offline Marketing Magnet course and it's great. Thanks for all the guidance, inspiration and ideas.

Brett

First off, don't get me started on Yodle. I mean they are straight up ripping people off. Charging 4-5x what you could get with a little spit and elbow grease on Adwords yourself. If I could get the 90 day list of Yodle, I could make money hand over fist, because the service they provide is absolutely horrible. Like I said, don't get me started.

As far as a leasing model going out of mode. I think if anything its going to be more en vogue. I signed a contract with a client today and you wouldn't believe the story. Paid a spouse of an employee $8k to build a site, didn't work. Had to pay $15k to get it fixed. Spent $25k on SEO services, which bought them 10 pages on-page optimized as far as they know, and who knows what else. They have a grand total of 12 crappy links to their site. Spent $2k on Adwords no idea if it was bringing them any business until they were slapped by Google and had $10 minimum bids. I mean the story was just brutal.

You're telling me this company is somehow magically going to figure out what they have to do?

On the other hand Jim says you don't worry about this, I'll take care of it, as long as it's in the Top 10 you can pay me $200/mo. 9 of 10 business owners will jump out of their socks for this opportunity.

Plus if Jim owns the #1 spots for his search words it doesn't really matter what ABC Roofings plans are, he's already #1. And that has value, and as long as he maintains that spot he will continue to have value.

Here's another hint for you, if you control the Google Places listing, you can transfer it. Pretty much ownership of the listing means you can do what you want with it. For instance, I sign with ABC roofing, and they don't want to pay. I can change pretty much every bit of the Google Places listing and port it over to someone else, the address, the phone number, everything. What's weird is the reviews stay, which is kind of odd. But, I've only had to do it once, and let me tell you they were hoppin' mad.

I think as more and more businesses realize that the yellow pages is a waste of time and money, they won't have much choice but to turn to the internet, and if you own that valuable real estate on the first page, you are absolutely golden.

So Brett, I'll have to respectfully disagree. The leasing and lead-gen model I believe will thrive in the future, not die out. I think there will be much more opportunity not less. As long as you can deliver what you say you can. If you can get top 3 rankings, you can make money and that's all there is to it.

At least that's the way I see it.

Marcos

[brettnordin]

Hi Marcos,
Good discussion and points.

I'm working and getting paid by both a flip/maintain and lease model so I have a really objective and open view.

I absolutely agree with you that the lease model is great for you and I to make money. We own the properties and control everything.

The rub will come when the business owners become more savvy, realize the value we are creating and want to own the value.

The business owners I work with in my personal business understand how valuable online properties can be and they will invest heavily to own and control it all. They would never dream of leasing.

The ones that lease have not begun to understand the long term value of online properties. If you and I do our jobs and their business explodes, they'll find a way to own it because their business will be at risk otherwise.

The internet is going to become so important and such a competitive advantage that companies will struggle, fail and figure it out.

In the meantime, we'll see a spectrum of different consumption models.

Brett

[Don Alm]

Thanks Dexx....

[Marcos]

Hi Marcos,
Good discussion and points.

I'm working and getting paid by both a flip/maintain and lease model so I have a really objective and open view.

I absolutely agree with you that the lease model is great for you and I to make money. We own the properties and control everything.

The rub will come when the business owners become more savvy, realize the value we are creating and want to own the value.

The business owners I work with in my personal business understand how valuable online properties can be and they will invest heavily to own and control it all. They would never dream of leasing.

The ones that lease have not begun to understand the long term value of online properties. If you and I do our jobs and their business explodes, they'll find a way to own it because their business will be at risk otherwise.

The internet is going to become so important and such a competitive advantage that companies will struggle, fail and figure it out.

In the meantime, we'll see a spectrum of different consumption models.

Brett

That's the thing Brett, if I own and control the asset. It doesn't really matter what the business wishes to do.

Let's take for example roofers in this instance. If I were to want to take on the niche of roofers(I don't). I would probably pick out 50 markets to go after and buy up domain names. And then I would spend the next two years building up a network of back-end sites to push up my roofing sites, across different platforms, different Class-C IP's, different types of sites, blogs, news aggregators, static sites, etc. And I can completely control my niche.

So ABC Roofing decides to wise up and wants to control that asset. It really doesn't matter, because I already control it, and because I've poured my resources back into firming up my foothold in the industry, it would be VERY difficult for ABC Roofing to take my spot, if not impossible. They might be able to buy it for me, but we're talking at a HUGE price. I might sell it up front before I really get started for $10-20k. But if I have an "internet property" that is generating lets say a million dollars in revenue a year, which isn't out of the question for a roofer. Then I'm going to ask $200-500k for that internet property, or you're welcome to try and take me out.

And this is the real crux of it all Brett, over time you actually have them more by the short hairs than if they never got involved with you at all. Because they end up getting business cards with the domain on it, and get "emotionally" invested in the site they lease. They don't want to lose it, and they sure as heck don't want to see their competitor get it. So, other than deciding to write me a very big check. I'm not sure what ABC Roofing can do to get out of this bind?

You say, "The business owners I work with in my personal business understand how valuable online properties can be and they will invest heavily to own and control it all. They would never dream of leasing."

And that's exactly my point, I know how valuable they can be, and the truth is I can't get paid what it's really worth. If I can make an attorney an extra $200k a year by properly doing SEO/Google Maps for him. How much can I reasonably charge him, and for how long? $10k-$20k-$30k? And that's probably the top-end of the spectrum. But, what if I could build my own site, and rent it out for $1k a month. Now that has a lot more value, if done correctly I might be able to keep that site generating income for 10-20-30 years. So because I recognize the value of my work, I do very little straight SEO for clients any longer, I don't do anything unless I am in control. Even if it's a silly massage site I built six months ago that pays me $150/mo. I believe in my own value, and it's worth more than I can accurately convey to a prospective client.

But, if I set it up correctly, it's a win-win for everyone involved. Even though I might be generating $300-500k of business for them. I'm probably going to ask less than $10k yearly investment. I want them to feel happy about it, and thrilled to send me that check. If they aren't making 10-20x what I'm making, I'm not doing it right. And that's a win-win plan that can go for years and years and years. At least that's my plan.....

Marcos

[Cato]

Hi Jimian,

congratulation for your deal.

Does 197$ is for 1 month?

((Then this one roofer guy called and said "let's talk" and basically just wanted it...
$197 -- and he wants it for 5 years.))

¤Cato¤

[Jimian]

Yeah Dexx,

I was thinking of rolling it out (similar roofing site) to each major city (I'm sure others are too)....

but I'm busy with other stuff to... Anyway Dexx, I gotta thank u for starting this entire forum.

JIM

[Jimian]

Great job Jim....however, I'd like to mention something;

Getting a site on 1st page WILL bring your client more biz, just by the very fact that he IS...on 1st page....BUT....what your clients "really want" is "HOT Leads"!

Actual "Potential Buyers" of their goods or services.

To explain, I go back to 1985 when I first discovered how to "Market" my programs. I was placing ads in USA Today and in Biz-Op mags where prospects were asked to "Mail" for more info. And I'd then "Mail" my sales letter (Talk about Pony Express Days, wow) I then set up an "Answering Machine" so prospects could phone and leave their Names & Mailing Addresses and I'd mail my sales Letters.

Well...I kept experimenting with ways to get prospects to phone and then ways to get them to order my products until I FINALLY HIT IT!

The 3 Magic-Marketing words...."FREE REPORT REVEALS.....!" I then added to that and asked that they PHONE my "RECORDED MESSAGE". This was Non-Intimidating and easy to respond to since they KNEW in advance they weren't going to have to talk to a salesperson (They weren't ready to talk to a salesperson yet, anyway)

So...the number of calls per ad increased EXPONETIALLY.

However...I was still mailing my sales materials and waiting for them to mail back their order with payment.

Then...I hit upon the "Bonanza". Along with each sales letter, I included a CD that had the product I was selling...however...it was encrypted and to get the product that they ALREADY HAD (it was IN the CD)...they had to phone my order line and the operator would tell them how to Open the CD.

This worked fantastically. This is what I call "MARKETING"!

By the same token....there's ONE MORE STEP you should consider besides using good SEO stuff to get them on 1st page. You should create a "LEAD" program where prospects are "Raising Their Hands" and being "IDENTIFIED"....so your clients can follow-up.

As an example, I know of a "Home Remodeler" who has a "Squeeze-Page" which he advertises locally. When prospects go to his Squeeze Page they see a short video of him introducing himself...who he is and what he can do AND....how he gets potential remodeling customers to "Raise Their Hands and Identify" themselves is by "MOTIVATING" them to submit their Name & Email Addy to receive a "FREE Report".

Now...what do you think is a subject that MOST homeowners, thinking about remodeling their home....would be motivated enough to take the time to enter their Name & Email Addy into a Form?

I'll tell ya. It's an "Estimator Sheet". A way to find out HOW MUCH the remodel will cost, roughly. "Cost" is at the TOP of the list. And, the words he uses at the top of his Squeeze Page and...in his ads and postcards to realtors and other promotions...to get interested people to his Squeeze Page are;

"FINALLY, A Fast And Simple Way To Estimate Your Next Rehab!"

So...prospects get to his "Squeeze Page"...see his short video and "Sign In" for "FREE, Instant Access!".

Beautiful! It Works like "Gangbusters"!

This is just one example. I'll bet there's information that someone thinking about getting a new roof would LOVE to have....and be motivated enough to "Sign In" on the form. Maybe it's a way to figure out cost of a certain type of roof. The Roofer would know (or should) what is the thing consumers are MOST interested in knowing.

Same with any business. There's a Chiropractor in my town who places an Insert into the local newspaper about once a month...telling people to go to a website where they can get FREE Info on "How To Decrease Back Pain". You get to the site and it's a glorified "Squeeze Page" touting the info in his FREE Report and asking folks to "Sign In" for FREE, Instant Access.

So...hope this has helped explain the difference between "Getting a Good Google Position" and ...."Internet Marketing".

Don Alm....still "Marketing"

Hey Don,

That sounds like the Jack Mize model he's touting.... it's a winner!

[Jimian]

Hi Jimian,

congratulation for your deal.

Does 197$ is for 1 month?

((Then this one roofer guy called and said "let's talk" and basically just wanted it...
$197 -- and he wants it for 5 years.))

¤Cato¤

Cato, Same guy... $197 each month.... setting it up on paypal

[Jimian]

Awesome, Jim!

I consultant into a national marketing company and all they do is lease for $200 a month. They provide the client a turn-key website/Places package that has a back-end suite of tools for reporting, text marketing, scheduling, CRM, autoresponder, etc.

They have huge call center and sign businesses up on a free 30 day trial...over a 1000 small service businesses per month sign-up for the trial.

At this point, they are a friendly competitor of mine...since they are paying me buku bucks.

There are some serious players figuring out internet marketing solutions for service professionals is a huge opportunity. Expect to see more start-ups like Yodle and Reach Local popping up with huge capital behind them.

I personally don't think the leasing model is sustainable because businesses are going to painfully figure out that their online properties are one of the most valuable assets they can invest in. When it comes time to sell their business, they'll need to show their online properties are secured assets...not leased and out of their control.

Take note of that from a long-term perspective and the model you are building.

I prefer the build/flip and maintain model and have been having major success with that.

BTW, I bought your Offline Marketing Magnet course and it's great. Thanks for all the guidance, inspiration and ideas.

Brett

Thanks Brett,

Some businesses I find don't want to get their hands involved in the actual marketing online, but yeah, I know what you're saying.

[Bonnie]

Congratulations, Jim! That equates to nearly $12,000 for one website -- not too shabby!

I forget... did your site include an opt-in to capture leads?

Is the client contractually bound to the 5-year period... regardless of the site's performance? Or did you have to guarantee some sort of results (like remaining in the top of the listings, or minimum number of leads per month)?

$197 per month is peanuts (especially compared to Yellow Pages). Even if it only brings in one sale per month, the roofer who grabbed it got a fantastic deal.

If this is a "set it and forget it" model (meaning YOU don't have to touch it again after the lease is signed), it's one heck of a money-maker. Well done!

[Jimian]

Maybe next time you can get a Google voice or skype number, list it on the Google map then forward it to whomever leases your site. That way if they stop paying you have the option to transfer the number to someone else.

Yup, i didn't think it through all the way but I now realize using a system like you mention is the way to go. Chalk that one up for a lesson learned.

[Jimian]

Congratulations, Jim! That equates to nearly $12,000 for one website -- not too shabby!

I forget... did your site include an opt-in to capture leads?

Is the client contractually bound to the 5-year period... regardless of the site's performance? Or did you have to guarantee some sort of results (like remaining in the top of the listings, or minimum number of leads per month)?

$197 per month is peanuts (especially compared to Yellow Pages). Even if it only brings in one sale per month, the roofer who grabbed it got a fantastic deal.

If this is a "set it and forget it" model (meaning YOU don't have to touch it again after the lease is signed), it's one heck of a money-maker. Well done!

Hey Bonnie,

Yeah, He started saying "So you can guarantee I'll be on page one google...' but i cut him short and said, 'NOoooooooooo...i can't guarantee any of that because I don't control google anymore than if you did a roof job and it hailed the next day and damaged the roof. I can't predict what Google will do...but I'll continue adding more copy and pages, tweaking the SEO weekly. DEAL! It was an "letter of agreement' more than a 'binding' contract.

"This is what you can i expect from me, and this is what I can expect from you kind-of-thing.

[Jimian]

I forget... did your site include an opt-in to capture leads?

It did have a floater...I recently added a 'in-line' one near bottom.

http://www.BestRhodeIslandRoofer.com

He actually now has 2 websites...after he saw mine, he went and bought ==> rhodeislandrooferdotcom

[Marcos]

Yup, i didn't think it through all the way but I now realize using a system like you mention is the way to go. Chalk that one up for a lesson learned.

It's not necessary, if you have the login to the Google Maps, you can change anything and everything on the "account". So you can change address, email, phone, even the business name. Of course you have to go back and change all your citations as well which can sometimes be a pain. But, as long as you control that account, you have control of who/where it goes to.

HTH,

Marcos

[Jimian]

It's not necessary, if you have the login to the Google Maps, you can change anything and everything on the "account". So you can change address, email, phone, even the business name. Of course you have to go back and change all your citations as well which can sometimes be a pain. But, as long as you control that account, you have control of who/where it goes to.

HTH,


Marcos

Hi Marcos,

I do own the listing and true, you can change anything, but I think when u change the address or ph # it goes nutso... I may have to de-list and start over. Shoot.

[Marcos]

Hi Marcos,

I do own the listing and true, you can change anything, but I think when u change the address or ph # it goes nutso... I may have to de-list and start over. Shoot.

Well, Google can be challenging. I've had changes where I changed the phone # and nothing happened it just continued to work for me. And other times when I've changed the hours and gotten penalized for 2 weeks. For the most part though it usually comes back. The only thing I have a problem with is when Google does a manual review and rejects your listing. Then it's almost impossible to get back, in fact I don't think I've ever gotten one re-listed. But, for the most part you can change them around as long as you change your citations as well.

I've had pretty good luck doing a PR Blast with the changes right before I change the Places listing(like 2-3 days). So that when Google goes out and looks they find your citations already built up. But as with anything with Google maps, you're more or less guessing.

Marcos

[MrPhelps]

The rub will come when the business owners become more savvy, realize the value we are creating and want to own the value.

The business owners I work with in my personal business understand how valuable online properties can be and they will invest heavily to own and control it all. They would never dream of leasing.

The ones that lease have not begun to understand the long term value of online properties. If you and I do our jobs and their business explodes, they'll find a way to own it because their business will be at risk otherwise.

How are they going to "own it" if YOU own the domain names? They're stuck -- they pay you a little every month, or they pay you a much bigger chunk to get 100% control.

Just keep this in mind ... most businesses do not own the buildings that house their businesses. Common wisdom would suggest buying those buildings would be a much better investment than leasing them. The same "we'd rather have 100% control" argument equally applies. So why do so few own their buildings?

However, there is no doubt in my mind that there will be businesses purchased in the future ONLY for the purposes of acquiring the online assets of the acquired business. Just like businesses are regularly being purchased simply because of their cashflows, receivables, or even their debts.

-David

[seangreen]

wow. nice going. congratulations.
many more!

[DLS]

Hey Congrats Jim, very inspiring. I'll be interested to know how long it takes for your listing to pop back up in the google local listings! Please keep us posted. I've actually been toying with the same idea, but have been waiting a few weeks for my listing to show up. No dice yet. Anyway, great story, thanks for sharing.

[SEODiva]

Great Job and great looking site as well...goes beyond the standard capture pages we are making and really speaks to the problems a person is looking to find a roofer to solve. I can see why folks would be come leads from this site.

What theme is this or is it straight HTML?

[Jimian]

Hey Congrats Jim, very inspiring. I'll be interested to know how long it takes for your listing to pop back up in the google local listings! Please keep us posted. I've actually been toying with the same idea, but have been waiting a few weeks for my listing to show up. No dice yet. Anyway, great story, thanks for sharing.

Will keep you posted

[Jimian]

Great Job and great looking site as well...goes beyond the standard capture pages we are making and really speaks to the problems a person is looking to find a roofer to solve. I can see why folks would be come leads from this site.

What theme is this or is it straight HTML?

Straight HTML Real sophisticated stuff HA HA @www.Citymax.com

[kf4qhk]

Y'know, rather than "lease" it out, I'd try to sell it at a "5 year" price. In other words, your guy is going to pay you $197 a month, and, that's good - over 5 years, that's nearly $12K. That sounds good, but, I'd sell it for $5K-$9K in cash today (but, of course, you have the option to continue to lease it.)

I really like the upfront cash - it keeps me from having to do work, and, because we never know how this internet thing is going to work, it makes my bank account more secure with the money, in hand, today.

However, I really like it!

Jeremy

[Offline-Roy]

Never mind. Hey Jimian, good job! That's how's done.

[michael800]

Is there separate thread where Don discusses this "lease-a-site" model?

[dfw1]

The roofer is very fortunate to have a rate of $197 a month. I have heard that the profit margins on roofing is quite large. They are super aggressive with sales (at least here in North Texas) My guess is a higher month price could be achieved.

[echoNM]

Awesome job Jimian! Did you use you own home address for the Google listing? I am interested in doing this too, but with 10+ business types and 10+ domains. Now correct me if I'm wrong, Google would think something is fishy if I listed them all under one street address, right?

[kf4qhk]

I believe so.

[Jimian]

Awesome job Jimian! Did you use you own home address for the Google listing? I am interested in doing this too, but with 10+ business types and 10+ domains. Now correct me if I'm wrong, Google would think something is fishy if I listed them all under one street address, right?

Yeah, my home address...but u r right...you can't use the SAME address for all of them.

JIM

[ocd]

I apologize for asking what many will think is the obvious here but how are you getting Google to get your site on the first page? Is it primarily because of the map?

I'm very interested in this because I'm in a similar industry and this would help in generating leads. Customers seem to be rare and the competition is at an all time high these days.


Thanks

[Jimian]

When I say "First page" (I kinda HATE using that terminology 'cause it's so over-hyped)
I'm talking about the Google Places MAP (local business listing)

The reason it's so important is because that's where the human eye SEES (eye-heat index below)



Online searches tend to look upper left, middle...Google does all the crazy tests
and collects all the data, etc...so they pretty much KNOW what works,
hence the Google places listings.

[Jimian]

Finally.... my google listing came back!!!!

[dfw1]

I'm in Dallas TX and I don't see your listing at all on the maps for Roofing Cranston.



However I can view your #1 position
http://www.merchantcircle.com/busine...g.401-207-1273

and also position #4 http://www.insiderpages.com/b/152522...ofing-cranston

I posted this so that you could see what users are viewing from other parts of the country and FYI.

[dfw1]

Hmmm ... Now that I think about it... Did olliesconstruction hijack your listing? You were "pin d" right?

[Jimian]

I'm in Dallas TX and I don't see your listing at all on the maps for Roofing Cranston.



However I can view your #1 position
http://www.merchantcircle.com/busine...g.401-207-1273

and also position #4 http://www.insiderpages.com/b/152522...ofing-cranston

I posted this so that you could see what users are viewing from other parts of the country and FYI.

Yup..it keeps moving around...now it's letter "H" One freakin letter away.....

Most people type in 'roofing ri' or 'ri roofing'

Good catch!

[Cato]

Hi,

Do you have adwords or organic listings too with this site?
Or you are getting calls solely with local results?

With my staircase site I am getting clients solely from organic listings.

Congrats.
¤Cato¤

[MrDoFollow]

Hey??? Where did everybody go? Read through each and every comment only to find the end @ Aug 29

One question that was not answered: "Is there separate thread where Don discusses this "lease-a-site" model?" Guess I'll be surfing this forum over the next few days.

So I purchased Jimian's "Offline marketing strategies" and here is my humble/honest review: I felt disappointed. Why? Glad you asked..

Carefully reading through all those modules all I walked away with was a few nuggets of gold. A gold nugget here and a gold nugget there. But did see a motherload. In other words did not seem to find the meat and potatoes for a lack of better words.

In fact, upon reaching the bitter end of all modules I was considering asking for a refund. But... drum roll please... there was a link to clink at the very end of the last module at the very bottom for further reading. I thought what the heck, I've got nothing better to do. ......What did that link lead me to?

Forget about looking for the meat and potatoes... it lead me to not only a Turkey Dinner with all the fixings, but lobster and Alaska King Crab were thrown in also! Not to mention the pumpkin pie, apple pie and cheesecake!!! Let me put this another way... After reading through the added material it was as though Jimian was standing there saying to me, "Take all those gold nuggets you found and set them right here on the ground." What? "Just do it" lol "Okay, now look up and what do you see?"

Holy Flipping Cow, The Mother-Load!!

So I don't know about anybody else whose read through "Offline Marketing Strategies" but as for me? Gonna jump on this program and see how it goes. If it works as I believe it will I'm gonna remember this guy Jimian and donate to him what I feel I owe him for this course. Which is $997! And feel that all who have read through this material 'should' do the same (only if you've found success of course)! Good Luck Everybody! ...as I push you off Google!!! LOL

[MrDoFollow]

My spelling was atrocious! Sorry folks. Maybe someday I'll learn how to use that preview post button.

[Jimian]

Hi,

Do you have adwords or organic listings too with this site?
Or you are getting calls solely with local results?

With my staircase site I am getting clients solely from organic listings.

Congrats.
¤Cato¤

Just Google Places

[Jimian]

Well, that was kind of a weird testimonial -- I thought at first....

But it kinda makes sense.... it's not til you see how to COMBINE everything
and roll it up into a complete strategy, that you'll see how POWERFUL it can be.

JIM

[txsigma41]

Everyone,
I was thinking of giving this a shot as well, but I'm not sure which road to take. I'm not sure which kind of "feel" I should use to design the site, something more of a 1-pager sales oriented approach like the threadstarter's site - or try to make a more elegant informative website with a sales aspect as well.

With the proper seo/marketing, both have a decent shot of getting to page 1...but once its there, which approach would be easier to sell to a contractor?

I'm assuming the contractor probably already has a informative website, they are just wanting something that converts? Or maybe they are interested in buying a website bc they dont have one - in that case, a 1 pager wont cut it.

Thoughts? Opionions?

[brightidea]

Maybe next time you can get a Google voice or skype number, list it on the Google map then forward it to whomever leases your site. That way if they stop paying you have the option to transfer the number to someone else.

Excellent idea Patrick -- Thanks for the tip!

CeeJ

[brightidea]

Congrats on your success Jim! - LOTS of potential in the "lease' model.

The pricing point at $197 is good. Don't forget, this new client can be
help generate a lot more clients. Provide them with great results and
they will become part of your sales team.

[brightidea]

Hi Brett,

I took this into consideration when I started working the "leasing" model.

What i do now is add a "Buy-Out Clause" to the service agreement. This
gives the client the opportunity to buy everything for an established
price. The buy-out price actually appreciates as the site becomes more
valuable. It's still a win-win for both parties. It also gives me more of an
incentive to make that site perform better.

I think the model will be around for some time to come. Most business
owners I know really dread site building and online marketing. They are
relieved when they find someone they can trust to handle things.

CeeJ

Awesome, Jim!

I personally don't think the leasing model is sustainable because businesses are going to painfully figure out that their online properties are one of the most valuable assets they can invest in. When it comes time to sell their business, they'll need to show their online properties are secured assets...not leased and out of their control.

Brett

[MWGrubb]

Jim,

I like what you've done!

I do have a wonder.... I found this out when I did a restaurant website.

I got to the places spot and put the business address in and phone number. Then Google asks to confirm it!

Had to call the restaurant, tell them to expect a can in the next minute and remember the code... sheesh!

Is there anyway around doing the Google places in THAT way? I seem to remember on another forum, someone was talking about it... but it seems that could be a problem if you want to do the Google Places thing.

Millard

[Stephen]

Jim,


I like what you've done!

I do have a wonder.... I found this out when I did a restaurant website.

I got to the places spot and put the business address in and phone number. Then Google asks to confirm it!

Had to call the restaurant, tell them to expect a can in the next minute and remember the code... sheesh!

Is there anyway around doing the Google places in THAT way? I seem to remember on another forum, someone was talking about it... but it seems that could be a problem if you want to do the Google Places thing.

Millard

Hi Millard,

Instead of using the restaurants phone number in the GP listings instead purchase a virtual phone number (do a search there are a lot of services like this and I don't know which is best) and see if you can find a local virtual phone number.

So for example if the restaurant you're representing was in the (425) area code purchase a virtual number with that area code.

Now go into the admin area of the place where you purchased the virtual phone number from and "forward" any calls made to it to your home or cell phone number. Now after you add the virtual number to your GP listings and submit your new GP page Google will call that number for verification, and since you set it up to forward to your home or cell phone you'll get the verification code at home!

After you get the code and verify the GP listing you can now go back to the virtual phone admin panel and forward calls to the restaurant instead of your home.

-Stephen