Often I’m asked – “Derek what should I do – should I go after local clients or should I do affiliate SEO?”
It’s a question that came up just a couple of days ago so I’m going to lay it all out on the line in this post and by the end my goal is that you’ve made a decision on where your approach is going to be.
For starters, it’s not one is better than the other.
Both have their strong points.
It’s a matter of knowing your personality, what your goals are, and the position that you’re currently in at the moment.
While building a business online is fun, the rewards are huge, I wouldn’t quit my day job just yet…
That’s part of the reason for the struggle during my days as a Real Estate Investor…
I’d cut off my j-o-b…
And then I started having this mindset that “I’ve got to make this deal work”.
What happens is you begin to try to force things instead of just letting them happen naturally.
You begin making bad decisions because you’re putting so much pressure on yourself to make sure it’s the right call.
And it creates an unbelievable amount of stress and tension.
You completely lose your focus.
It’s much easier, when you know you’re able to eat next week to make a decision without the emotional – “I gotta make this work or else” mentality.
Now, that I’ve got that out of the way…
The question comes should I do local vs affiliate SEO?
For me, I enjoy affiliate marketing and selling my products online.
I’ve had clients and didn’t like it at all.
However, I didn’t set the tone or the rules at the beginning.
As a result, I was annoyed with the constant questions, explaining myself, defending myself and tired of dealing with the phone calls at the least bit of any movement in the search results.
You probably would never have guessed this, but I’ll let you in on a couple of little secrets about yours truly…
First, I’m not a huge fan of the phone.
Secondly, I’m not very social.
I’m good when I’m around a handful of people, however the big crowds I get all weirded out.
So, instead of forcing it – I figured out a way to make my business work for me.
Therefore, the affiliate model has been by far my favorite model.
The cool part is I can promote something without having to really create anything.
Once I see what is selling and once I see where I can improve upon what’s in the market – guess what happens next?
I can now build something to bring to the market to sell.
This is now an asset that can pay me for months and years to come.
If you look at what I’ve done, I’ve promoted first, then I see where there’s holes in the current product and then build a better mouse trap primarily in the SEO space.
This same process works for whatever niche your in.
However, the affiliate model is…
Do work first.
That means you need to build the sites out, rank them, get traffic to them, or build a list first, then you get paid.
Local SEO is different.
Local SEO is get paid first before you start any work.
See the difference?
It’s very possible to get a client, and get paid before you do any of the work.
Lots of people believe that in order to go after a client, they need to rank the client a site first.
In my opinion, I feel this is the worst advice for anyone starting out and makes absolutely no sense.
Why would you do all that work without any hope of even getting an appointment?
The only goal if you’re going after clients is to get clients and GET PAID.
Now, if you don’t deliver and the client doesn’t see the results – you’ll not get a second or third payment.
If you’re following me and listening to me, then the results part shouldn’t be a problem.
“But Derek – I thought it was an easier sell if I rank the client first?”
It may be or they may be totally weirded out by it.
Put yourself in the business owners shoes and think about it…
The guys I know that have really succeeded in the local markets are meeting people, getting nose to nose, and always looking to make connections.
They know how to sell.
Now, you do need proof and results.
That’s why you seen so many people trying to rank for ‘Their City SEO’
It’s not there going to get a ton of leads, it has more to do with the positioning.
Being able to say hey – I rank # 1 for my city SEO.
You can also use a mass site approach to accomplish the same thing to rank for longer tail keywords.
Now, remember what I said with the affiliate model…
After I promote and see where there’s holes in the current products, I build a better mousetrap and now I have products I sell that I consider assets that I can make money from for months and years to come?
You can do the exact same process with the Local clients.
Let’s say you come up with a method for getting clients…
Or what about a software that helps you follow up, schedule, or schedule your SEO task?
How ‘bout a special closing technique?
Or even a way to rank their sites using Maps, Videos, or in the organic results?
Or a case study of how you increased a company’s lead flow by 30%?
Do you think others would pay you for that?
You betcha.
The goal of this email is to help you navigate to which is best for you…
And your current situation.
Now, let’s shift gears here to wrap this up because let’s face it…
After all this goodness, I need to make you an offer or that would be blasphemy.
So, I'm telling you to join the Inner Circle now…
If you liked this write up, then you'll be blown away at what I have in store for you behind closed doors.
Derek Pierce
PS – Yesterday’s “Building the Great PBN Wall” training I did didn’t go quiet as planned.
There was a few tech hiccups as everyone saw live…
But you know what?
It happened just the way it was suppose to because there were more people that said this was the best training I’ve ever done.
And there were those that saw sometimes – things happen.
It ended up being just short of 3 hours.
And I couldn’t be happier with how it all turned out.
