So you’ve got your eCommerce content marketing company setup. Your website is looking spick and span and your social media is on point. You’ve taken time to sign up to eComm.Network and now you want to go out there and proactively look for clients to get the momentum going. So what can you do?
Cold pitching your content
Now most people are going bawk at this one, put off by the idea of being a direct sales person or the idea that they think it will be a lot of work for little reward. The truth is, it is a lot of work and most businesses won’t even reply, leading to you actually appreciating rejection responses. But it is a numbers game.
The trick here is to not go in with the hard sale. You want to wine and dine them first before going for the close. Introduce yourself, maybe suggest ways they can improve their site already. This is where some SEO knowledge can come in handy.
You can even offer to write them a free sample and explain ways they could use the article to drive traffic by sharing on social media and other methods. If you write a good article, give good advice and they follow it then they should be able to see whether you delivered them business or not. If the ROI is positive then there’s no reason why they shouldn’t give you another chance.
Become friends with an eCommerce developer
This is a good one because people and agencies who are successful in eCommerce website development will have a steady flow of clients themselves and there is a good chance that if a client is having someone build a eCommerce website for them then they will need content to fill that site with.
Of course, you can expect the eCommerce agency to skim a bit off the top for providing you with work but that is entirely fair.
This can be a very effective way of providing a steady flow of new customers and while some will only want their initial site filled with words, others will want ongoing product copy and blog articles written for them. Winning!
Where ever eCommerce specialists converge to talk shop, you will find opportunity. Joining forums dedicated to eCommerce development and getting involved in the conversation is the perfect way to build a reputation in the industry and pick up new clients based on the value you provide. And you must provide value. Facebook groups and Reddit are a good place to start.
Don’t just shill your services on the site in a comment spammy way though and definitely don’t PM people unsolicited, trying to push yourself on them. Answer questions, chip in with tips and advice, voice your opinion on matters and you will find that eventually you will get people coming to you as you build up your authority.
It is also a good way to get advice and build up your own knowledge of the industry and how things work which will be invaluable to you in improving your service and self marketing.
Friends and family
Straight off the bat, don’t be ruining relationships over this! Obviously there is a big difference between trying to sell worthwhile words to someone and pitching them a pyramid scheme that is only called an MLM because it hides behind a BS product range.
I would definitely go in with a gentler approach here and see it as a good way of building up your portfolio at the very least, and be happy with that. I would suggest offering a free article or two at first and at the same time recommending how they can take this and use it to bring people to their site. Make sure they have some analytics set up and then, after posting the article, spread it around social media groups and forums to drive traffic to them.
For example, maybe your friend has a beauty salon which uses a method of body hair removal that is unique to the local area. You can write an article about it, the pros and cons, stuff like this, and then post and share the article in local Facebook groups for them after posting.
If you can demonstrate that the article brought people to the site and then to the salon then you have proven that your services are worthwhile. Local businesses are also easier to deliver SEO improvements which is another thing you can promote to them.
Do this with enough friends and families businesses and you will at least have gotten some experience and a few more entries to your portfolio. They are also more likely to refer you to other people as well, and referrals are golden!
Have a look at The Top 100 Content Marketing Companies in the WORLD - themanifest.com
Marketing, SEO & Analytics
General Ecommerce
Marketing, SEO & Analytics