I dropped in on a guy who replaced my side fence here at home about 2 months ago.

He lives close by and I see his billboard on his fence most nights I go jogging.

I had a look at his site then did some research. He isn't even listed in the most obvious of keywords.

I had a chat going over the points from your report and he jumped all over it.

He asked "how much?". I replied "As you are the first client how about you replace the fence on my other side as payment.

It is a done deal. $900 worth of fence for helping him raise his revenue.

You're a champ mate. Thanks for the info.

Craig McPherson
Melbourne Australia

"I Walked Out Of The Store With A Check For $1,500"

This information just made me 3000 dollars and on top of that an ongoing 250 dollars a month.

There is a local pet store here that specializes in pure-breed "pocket" dogs. You know...the cutesy kind that Paris Hilton wannabes stuff in their Gucci bags and walk around in the mall  with.

I think these dogs look like rats and gerbils, but to each their own.

These things sell for $1300 and up.

The other day, after reading this thread, I found the website of said dog store and almost had to throw up at how terrible it is.

It is absolutely doing nothing for this persons business. It is the  type of site that a business has made up just to say that they have a website and aren't stuck in the 17th century.

So today I walked in and chatted up the owners, who also mind the store.

I asked them how business was doing and they indicated it was lukewarm, mostly because we are in the post-holiday season.



I then inquired what marketing they were doing:

They have a yellow pages ad and do some local coupon ads twice a year or so.

I then asked how many people come in the store, look around a little bit, and then claim that they'll come back at a later time when they see a dog they like (their "inventory" of dogs changes weekly).

They said probably 95%. Of these 95% about half take a business card or flyer. Of those half, only about 5% come back and actually end up buying something.

I said not bad but I can improve it, and spent the next hour explaining how...and then signing them up for a 3000 dollar complete site overhaul and 250 monthly fee for hosting and  monthly update.

I snatched the monthly fee by offering this service: they have their customers and potential customers sign up for a monthly e-mail update on what they have in stock.

Customers can also go the website and opt-in, of course.

I come in once a month and film their new inventory (using a Flip Video recorder). I will record about 90 seconds of video footage per mutt (they usually have around 12-15).

Each dog's video clip gets uploaded to youtube. The monthly email gets put together, with a two or three paragraph blurb about the new dogs they have available and the 12-15 videos embedded in the email.

The effect of this is twofold: customers that have already  purchased a dog, will probably check out a video,fall in love with one of the dogs, and rush in to buy it.

Customers who walk in, but don't like any of the dogs they currently have, can get a monthly audio/visual update on the stores inventory from the comfort of their home or workplace.

So instead of losing a potential buying customer, the store can now put its product in the face of prospects once a month with ease.

I estimate that it will be about 2 or 3 hours of actual labor per  month.

If I start getting too busy I know someone who I can pay 50 bucks to do it for me.

So 200 bucks a month for sitting on my ass. Nice.

250 a month is probably cheap. But it's my first client and I'm learning.

By the way I walked out of the store with a check for $1500.
Always get half up front, and wait until it clears before you start.

Peace.