Building a relationship with prospects is vital for any Internet marketer if they want their business to be successful. Ideally, the relationship between Internet marketer and potential customer should be founded on trust, integrity and authority. These three things help keep a prospect interested and willing to listen to what you say and what you would recommend.
To start, you need to provide VALUE to your prospects without expecting compensation. Give them your all for free in whatever business you’re involved with and you’ll soon find them asking for more.
As I was taking a stroll around the Interwebs, I stumbled on a conversation between some SEO people. Apparently, an SEO specialist offered services to a prospective client and gave away some keywords and tasks which they can work on. The prospect, after hearing her recommendations out, decided that they’d rather work on most of the tasks that she recommended.
Here’s how the thread played out:
Sputnik:
“Hi,
Just starting out SEO services for a client. How much information do you initially give a client? I checked out her site. Offered her preliminary keywords and recommendations of the tasks to be completed.
It boiled down to she decided she will do most of the work – article writing/blog posting. Doesn’t want links built, etc. Decided to hand out most of what I offered to her current assistants.I finally told her that for a one time deal – if she was interested – I would provide a list of competitive keywords she and her team could target. Would offer recommendations for SEO on-site and off-page. It came down to – I felt I did most of the research prior to her signing a contract. Learned: I need to figure out if I am going to do a package deal or custom packages. Being the first client – I don’t mind the trouble. Gives me insight into what logistics I need to fix.
Question: How far do you go to telling a client about the keywords your plan on working with? Or do you tell them at all? how do you deal with this?
Or maybe the question is: how do you deal with a client that you feel is going to take your initial hard work, not sign the contract and do it all on their own.”
Jill (High Rank Administrator):
“I think you’re asking how much information to provide a prospective client, not an actual client, correct?
Personally, I don’t give anything until I have a check in hand. But I don’t have to prove myself with potential clients as I’ve been doing this SEO thing for 16 years.
For someone in your position who’s just starting out, it’s a bit different. When I first started, I used to do full site audits for free! Perhaps a 10th of those who I did them for would sign on to have me do their SEO, but that was okay with me, it was a way to get some business.
I think you have to do whatever you’re comfortable with. If you feel that providing some free information shows your expertise, then go ahead and do it. Many people have no intention or desire to try to do things for themselves, they’d rather pay you. But if you feel someone’s just taking advantage of you, then tell them that you’ll be providing them with the answers to those questions during the research phase of the SEO campaign. Most understand that you can’t provide them with a complete strategy until you’ve researched things.”
Tiggerito:
“Even if I’ve done the full analysis I only give away snippets of the conclusions in that way.”
Sputnik:
“Yes, prospective client. This person still has not asked me to do some work, but did forward a lead my way. So even if this person does not hire me – least I can think my almost complete analysis report was good to send leads my way.”
Jill:
“@ Tiggerito – I think this is great advice for nearly anyone, regardless of experience. Do your research so that you understand the problems inherent with the job, but don’t give away the farm.”
So you see, providing value for free always has its benefits. It could be a little shaky for starters, but trust me, there’s always a good side to it. After all, what you have is only multiplied when you give it away.
Let me know what you guys think in the comments section below. 
Source thread:
http://www.highrankings.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=45628
Until then,
Andy Jenkins
PS
If you guys want to hear more about what I could have done when I was starting, go to my Beginner’s Luck Strategy. It’s FREE!
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