Top 3 Ways To Plan, Execute, and Close SMMA Clients [STEP BY STEP OUTREACH METHOD]
Let’s be real, getting started can be the most difficult part of any new endeavor.
With the endless options out there, planning and most importantly, executing an outreach strategy for your newly founded business can be daunting…
That’s what we’re going to teach you today…
You may have already tried some of the typical online models, e-commerce, dropshipping, affiliates and you’ve realized building an actual service-based business is the fastest way to grow wealth online in today’s world.
Let’s get to the business at hand. You want to get this business rolling, BUT with the endless sea of options, analysis paralysis is the real deal and will stop you in your tracks before you ever begin…unless….you start creating and executing a well thought out plan.
Now a big hurdle most new agencies face is what niche to pick. You don’t want to waste your time and go all out in a niche that is never going to work and hell you want to make money, so a profitable niche is important.
When starting out, the best niche to go after is the niche that pays you. How do you get into a niche that pays you? You get out into the market place.
If you’re thinking you need to really think it over and pick the perfect niche before you start, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
Start here, pick two niches:
- A niche that you think is profitable and not super saturated
- A niche you actually care about and preferably are already a customer of
Just because you start doing outreach in a niche, doesn’t mean to marry it forever. David and I when we first started were going after 2–4 niches each per week, and switching them up on a week by week basis.
You don’t really know if it's a good space until you personally get into it. You might hear people out there doing well with chiropractors, dentists, realtors, but how do you personally fit in with that?
The whole point of entrepreneurship and digital nomadism if that’s what you’re into, is to build a business you love and enjoy, not another 9–5.
Anyways pick two niches right now
- A niche that you think is profitable and not super saturated
- A niche you actually care about and preferably are already a customer of
If you hit a wall, switch it up.
Steve Jobs said it best, the people that really create change, achieve success, are the ones that are thinkers and doers. Be a doer, and adjust as you’re out there in the marketplace, having conversations and collecting data.
“The Doers are the Major Thinkers” — Steve Jobs
You’re not going to think your way into making enough money to quit your job. It’s going to come to pass through action, doing.
The second niche I mentioned, one you actually enjoy or are already a customer of, puts you at an advantage significantly because most likely you’ll already know a lot about the industry, and even if you don’t…. If it’s a niche you are already a customer of, even if you’re junior in your marketing experience, you can say “would I click on this ad” What would I want to hear to get me personally to buy and build a campaign around that.
When we first started we did exactly that. Went after industries we “thought” were profitable, but also those niches we knew we could be successful in because we already had a passion around it or are customers of.
Next, let’s pick an outreach method.
You’re probably catching on at this point… there’s a ton of options out there again which can be super overwhelming and put you in that analysis paralysis stage.
I’m going to simplify this. Here are the outreach methods we’ve used, and we’re going to just pick two to start with and go for it. The theme of this is ACTION ok.
1) Calling…
People say it’s dead, we built the foundation of our business on it. It works. Just like a drill, it works, but if you don’t use it…it’s a piece of plastic and metal that sits on the shelf.
I get it that this might not be for everyone and that’s totally fine, but if you want instant communication, an instant yes or no and you’re not afraid to get on the phone, do this… It works.
2) Linkedin
I could make 20+ videos on this topic and have in the smma blueprint course, but this is a fantastic place to start.
You can search for business or c-level players right on the platform, down to the niche and GEO.
Now there’s a few things you should know before sending out 1000 connection requests and pitching everyone on the platform.
It’s a free platform, yes there’s paid subscriptions which I do recommend, but for it’s basic functionality…finding business owners, connecting with them, and getting through so they can hear your pitch. ANYONE can do it, meaning everyone does it.
You’re going to have to differentiate yourself. Don’t send them an 8 paragraphs about why you’re so great and they’d be a fool not to work with you…that’s what everyone is doing.
An executive at a company I used to work with in the legal space said it best, “Be brilliant, be brief, be GONE”
Time is the most valuable asset on the planet, and if you don’t respect these business owner’s time, you might as well pitch to the wall because no one is going to listen.
I like to connect, lead with an insight or authority, and pose a question or point something out that is unique to them or their experience specifically.
Take literally 5 seconds and actually look at their profile before you hit send. Most people are just out there copy and pasting, so be different.
3) DMs/social groups
This is similar to linkedin, but you’re not just limited to that social network. One of our first clients we landed by joining a FB group, spotting a member in the group that clearly had an issue we could solve, I cold called them, sent a linkedin message, AND an email.
We got a response and closed them for a $2500 dollar a month deal. Any means necessary, get in front of them.
4) Email
We landed one of our largest clients in the first few months from simple email outreach. You can find emails right on their website, get insights to the organizational structure, find their email by connecting on linkedin, there’s even free to cheap tools that will provide emails for you like Apollo, Snov.io, anymail, hunter.io
Or you can just guess them, typically it’s the owners first name @company if it’s small, first.last, or first/last @ company.
Get creative, but more importantly, get out there.
5) Paid ads
I’m leaving this one last, because not everyone has capital to start running traffic out the gate, but this is a fantastic way to get inbound and warm conversations booked on your calendar.
I will warn you, if you’re running these basic, general, we work with anybody type ads…it’s going to fail, big time.
The more specific your message and targeting is the better results you’re going to get.
“If you’re trying to speak to everyone, you’ll be heard by no one”
With all that said…
PICK TWO of these, right now. Either go calling/email. DM/email. Linkedin/Calling. Email/Linkedin.
IT DOESNT MATTER, just pick two….did you do that? Cool.
So now you have two niches, two outreach methods.
Let’s go execute, sound good? Ok?
Calling
— lets keep it simple, jump on google — type in your niche and Geo, see what pops up. Have a list going google sheet, or paper, doesnt matter.
The point is, before you lay your head down at night, you’ve got 50 names and numbers you can dial tomorrow.
And if you’re doing it right, you’ve got an email to match that as well.
Even if you dont want to do that, you’ve got a list of names and numbers and you can be looking up the email as you hear…
That’s right, while the phone is ringing. We’re trying to break you out of that analysis paralysis here, action, lets go.
The first few months of our business this is all we did. Met up at eachother’s apartment or common room. Put the computers on the desk and went dial for dial, until one or both of us landed 1–3 meetings each.
…let’s cover that. Free route, hit the contact page, about page, see if you can find some info on their site. Let’s scope linkedin, what’s their contact info there.
don’t want to scrap, grind? Hire someone on Upwork to build a list for you for 20–50 bucks, get it done, and get into the market place.
Your message, like anything needs to be insightful, and brief. The best response rates will come from you asking yourself…how can I help this person specifically? And writing that. If you find something wrong with their site, don’t see that they have any active ads on facebook ads library. When you google their name, 4 other competitions are bidding on their name and they are no where to be found. These are all insightful things you can lead with that can open up a dialogue. And of course always ask for time to chat, you’re not just handing out free advise and disappearing into the shrubs like that You’re here to have a conversation.
Let’s jump on the comp here. Find the search bar in linkedin…type in OWNER, CEO, VP — plug in the industry and GEO….vualla, you’ve got literally THOUSANDS of people you can reach out to.
You can either connect with them directly here, send them an Inmail if you have an upgraded acc, or are leveraging your free credits, or this could just be step one in your planning process. Seeing who makes the decisions, and then attacking from different areas, DMing them, cold calling, email etc.
This is a powerful tool, use it.
Paid ads
This is a much more in-depth process and if you want to copy our ads, funnels, get direct mentorship on how to deliver for clients and your own agency, head on over to the SMMA blueprint.com, get in , invest in yourself, and tap into the most powerful entrepreneurial community online today.
Check out these crazy wins this week :
O’Ryan…oh my… this guy just closed a 65k+ deal. O’Ryan has been a rock in our community, helping students as he grows just like us and is super active. Big shout out to O’Ryan.
Austin — His problem, wasn’t the planning, the outreach, even getting appointments, he was getting 5–10 hyper qualified conversations per week that came from his email campaigns, but he was unable to get someone from someone interested to saying alright, who do I make the check out to here, where do I sign.
We chatted with him for one session last Thursday… and he just closed his first client this Friday. Huge shout out to Ausin.
And last but not least Cam and Kasey…If you haven’t seen their interview yet, you defiantly should. This couple both got laid off in march when everything went down and now they are living the digital nomad dream, traveling the county out chopping wood, off the grid, so awesome to see people marketing really great things happen.
There’s a lot of negativity and bad news in every direction, so I am sharing these beautiful manifestations that are happening all around us that you might not see.
That’s all for this article
Now you’ve got a plan, tactical examples to create that plan and more importantly how to execute the damn thing because if you just think and dont’ DO, you’ll always be in the spot you’re in.
That’s all for this week, if you have any questions concerns or have some kind of road block that I didn’t mention in this video, let me know below.
That’s what this channel is for, helping aspiring entrepreneurs make the leap, take that step and build that biz. Let’s chat let’s help you out so you can finish this year strong and make the next one the best year ever.
IF you found any value in this, learned something, new resonated with what we’re sharing here. Please, take a second and hit the CLAP button…I would appreciate it a ton.
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in the next one!
