A suggestion to SEOs that cold call potential clients
-
Learn some basic salesmanship. Do you realize that business owners are getting 3-4 phone calls and emails a day from other SEOs claiming to be the best? Be polite, ask questions, and don't insult me or yourself through ignorance. Ask questions. You might just discover that we could work together.
When you tell me that I'm not ranking for "competitive keywords" it tells me that you don't know what I'm trying to rank for. When you tell me you can get me to the top of Google in 3 months or less, you're still telling me that you don't know my business and what I want from my website. Who said I wanted national ranking anyway? Oh right, not me because you never asked.
And if I answer the question "Do you want more business/leads?" with "No." Then politely end the conversation and move on.
The rare time that I do get asked about my current efforts, don't insult me by calling me an amateur. I may be one, but talking down to me, or trying to make SEO sound like you're turning lead into gold will get a quick hang up from me.
If you want a contract with me, learn to negotiate based on my needs, not your process that you feel married to. There are a lot of business owners out there that would be willing to work with you if you treated you leads with respect rather than iteration 23 of your cold call script.
And in response to the person this morning that sent a "free report" of basic SEO fixes for my website, make sure you put that report together using **my website. ** I know you're working from a template, so it should be really easy to remove the info from the wedding company and the lawyer's webpages before you email it to me.
-
Thanks for the courtesy.
Not to belabour the point (so this will be my last response):
But I never said cold calling was ineffective.
I just said that it was wrong.
In the grand scheme of the universe, it annoys people, gives business a black eye, and invites government regulation that over reaches.
-
Thanks for the response, but we'll have to agree to disagree.
I maintain my position: cold calling is wrong. I would never try it.
Most sensible people already hang up. More people should.
And then fewer people would cold call.
And the world would be a better place.
-
I can't imagine any sensible person ever buying anything from someone who cold calls.
It is not a practice associated with reputable businesses, IMHO.
-
Always have your competitors telephone number handy to give to these people.
-
lol
-
A really good seo gets more referals than they can handle! So sick of low quality, unethical, high volume crappy seo scammers out there....AAARRRGGHHHHHH!!!!!
Ok, I feel much better now....
-
This is just my opinion, but the fact that someone would have to cold call to find SEO clients throws up all kinds of red flags. A talented SEO NEVER needs to cold call. In fact the problem is not finding new clients, the problem is having to pick and choose who you take on. Isnt the point of seo to bring in leads and clients? If your own seo skills are so poor that you have to cold call, then...well I am go out on a limb here, but get the he k out of our industry and giving real seo's a bad reputation.
-
Wow! lol...made my day. I hate cold calls from these type of dimwits, half of the time they have no idea what they're talking about.
-
I'll go one better. DON'T COLD CALL ME. I know how to use the internet to find things.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
What are people calling proposals, pitches & presentations these days?
What are people calling proposals, pitches & presentations these days? When someone requests a proposal from us (often for a website & digital strategy) we send 2 documents: A proposal, which is the nuts and bolts - and an accompanying presentation - which goes over our process in a more general manner: our approach to web design, our approach to SEO, digital marketing etc... basically our slick schtick... What are the terms people use for this type of document or document combo - the proposal and the presentation?
Industry News | | wearehappymedia0 -
International pages - SEO - which metatags to use?
I'm trying to get my International pages set up correctly for SEO
Industry News | | MikeSEOTruven
Can you tell me which of the following meta-tags are the ones to use on the pages?
I've heard that some might be obsolete, so will it hurt if I throw on all 3 or just choose 1? Example: Italian language page0 -
SEO Services for small business
Hi all, Apologies first of all if someone in the forum already posted this question. We are a small business in the UK looking for a proven SEO service. Can someone please advise. Thank you! note: we are using Volusion ecommerce platform for our online shop. The SEO service provider doesn;t have to be based in the UK.
Industry News | | haveahobby1 -
What SEO topics would you cover if teaching a College webdesign class?
Later this month I am guest teaching a class on best SEO practices for web designers at a local College. I wanted to see what topics others would include if you were doing an overview.
Industry News | | BCutrer1 -
Post your favorite SEOs for Mom and Pop Shops
I'm trying to compile a list of SEOs and/or Inbound Marketers that specialize in helping micro-businesses. For the purposes of this study 'micro' means any business with 5 or fewer employees. Names are great. Website URLs would be Fab. Twitter accounts would be super Fab. For instance: David Mihm http://www.davidmihm.com/ @davidmihm I'd be happy to share the final list with anyone who provides a name.
Industry News | | JesseCWalker0 -
Is it OK to discuss SEO for an adult site?
Hey guys, I run a few big tube sites and sales pages that contain adult material. I'm also new to these forums, so before I do anything that might be considered rude or innapropriate, I wanted to know what the stance was on asking for advice related to the SEO of my adult sites and/or posting links. I've read the Etiquette disclaimer, however, I don't actually intend to post images or anything of the sort, only ask for your opinions and preferred strategies. If its completely frowned upon, then I completely understand and will never bring the subject back up again. Cheers and Happy to be amongst you all!
Industry News | | CrakJason1 -
Seo is dead?
Hi there, I see a lot of conversations about the term "seo is dead" because some people speak that seo are dead because of google plus and facebook. Is it true? What do you think? What do you think that is the future of our business? We will stay uneployed or we still continue to work? Me personally I hate facebook. Is just so much stupid (like most of people, I guess thats why is so popular) but what about google plus? Is a serious and worthy social profile.This will kill us? I read in SEL or SEW ,I dont remember which of them that this guy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farhad_Manjoo said that seo is dead and some are even supporting him.Also he said that "Google just broke its search engine" with the creation of Google plus. Me I think search msrketing,seo will live for long time yet,Me personally and my friends NEVER EVER CLICK on Facebook ads(if we do it , is just curiosity, and after we never visit again that page,this guys what I was reading their articles before they said that they see a lot of traffick from facebook.me also but the taffic from facebook dont do nothing,even in adsense they dont click on my sites,not to convert to buyers).I have 20 close friends and none of them cares what kind of content they find from facebook.Is our mentality (I am from CYprus)? Or is just a fact?That facebook ads are just some crap? Or general the acebook is a crap?Me i think that is.Is made for some people who are boaring and need something to kill time.so the traffick what you get is some boaring people who dont care about nothing, just some more things to watch and comment with their friends.So practically you have them on the site and after BAM, new hot site so bye bye.Never visit again your site.Why is so much importand?Their likes etc?The difference with google adsense is that all from our company are clicking on the ads and on the results. (much more on the results, because we think that is the best.Including me that I know that SERP can be manipulated.But we still prefer that.Why all speak about that SEO are dead? Are paid from facebook? WTF? Why I never hear somebody from SEOMOZ to say this?My result is that they are some bunch of I@@@TS and they dont know what they speak or are on the other side.I am sorry for my bad english but like this I can express my fealings.If you dont understand something please ask.
Industry News | | nyanainc0 -
SEO Certification + SEO Experience = Ideal SEO Consultant ???
Since the responsibilities of SEO have increased so much, I think there has to be a kind of basic industry wide Certification / Degree system. Many people may argue that experince is much more important than certification but how about like any other trade or profession; we have (1) SEO Certification PLUS (2) SEO Experience for the Internet Marketers. One of the reasons, I get so many calls from people that they claim they are SEO experts and they are trying to sell their services to us, but when you talk with them, you can easily tell that they do not have any knowledge about it. But they sell the service to business owners that do not understand SEO. It is very sad to see small business owners believe those people.. and I understand it is business owners responsibility to check the background & portfolio of SEO agency, but wouldn't it be nice to have another credential that they can ask "are you also certified SEO"? what do you think about "Certified SEO" or "Certified Internet Marketing Consultant" concept? can there be an international or national organization to coordinate and superwise the certifications? Thanks, Lewis
Industry News | | CertifiedSEO0