Teardown my Lead Prospecting Plan

Discussions
#1

At Greenlight we sell a “done for you” monthly email newsletter. We essentially charge $500-$1000/month (depending on many factors).

Problem: We need more qualified leads.

As a possible lead outlet I’ve identified small web designer / web developer shops (aka web site company) as an market to target for resale. I’m talking about the person or company that is making a good living off basic business websites in the $4k-10k range and they are doing around 15-30 a year.

Here’s why: they already have a trusted contact with a person who has spent $$$ on digital marketing. Most likely their client would be open to a referral from that same person. Also, from my experience companies like this don’t offer email newsletters. They are afraid of writing content, which we are not. Seems like a match made in heaven.

Here’s where I need help - I’m trying figure out a model that is attractive enough to the designer/developer and profitably works for us.

Here’s what I’m considering. Offering the web site company an initial $500 to send an email to their clients marketing our turn key email newsletter service. Plus an additional $250 for each new newsletter customer that comes from it. We’ll even send the email for them to their customers if they want! Additionally I’d potentially pay them to help with the design of the newsletter template.

What I’m not sure is if this is enough of a carrot to get anyone to actually do it. Do I need to offer more $$ for the send or for the actual close? Or does that not matter, could I pay less and offer something else valuable?

Stupidly or not, I’m trying to stay away from an affiliate model that requires monthly payments out and the overhead of setting it up and monitoring it.

Appreciate your feedback on this. I’m not looking to appear smart, I just want to grow my company. So if this is full of flaws, please tell me. If you’ve got other ideas or experiences please let me know.

Sales Assumptions
Each web site company would have 100 client contacts.
10% (10) of those contacts would be interested in our newsletter services and would become leads.
30% (3) of those leads would close to new customer.

#2

I am in your target market (small web shops). In a bit of a rush; my quick reactions below:

  1. $500 just to send an email seems grossly unsustainable, IMO. (are you talking about per client, or per agency?)
  2. I agree with not doing a complex affiliate program - a one time payout on signup makes sense to me.
  3. I think you’re overly optimistic with your conversion rates, but
  4. Can’t know without trying it.

My suggestion: try this tactic, without the $500 up front on send (or with, if you really think that’s best). Find some small shops, look through their projects/work/portfolio page, identify some of their clients you could benefit, then send the shop/agency your pitch. Heck, do this for me, if you want. Link is in my profile. I’m generally wary of recommending someone/a service I don’t personally use, but I’ll at least give you feedback on your pitch :smile:

#3

Thanks for your feedback!

  1. $500 per agency for one email to all clients. $250 for each lead that becomes a customer. So if you sent the email out and three people became customers, then it would be $500 + $250 + $250 + $250 = $1,250 total. In my model we charge around $500/month for a send on a annual so that would be spending $1,250 for $1,500/month. I’d prefer to not spend the initial for the send, but it seemed the quickest way to get the ball rolling. It is a sustainable cost on an annual contract.

  2. Glad to hear that!

Thanks for the feedback - expect an email pitch shortly!

Last question - what would motivate you to take this action? Immediate $$$, long term care for your client or other?

#4

Yes :smile:

Fill my pockets and make me look good, and I’ll refer people to you all day and twice on Sunday.

#5

I wouldn’t offer $500 just for sending an email. You really only want to pay for performance (either CPA or CPL if you know your conversion rate). Another option might be to offer a white label service to small agencies who don’t already offer this service.

#6

thanks for your feedback. I agree with you on the CPA, however I wanted something to sweeten the pot to get the initial conversation started.

Good idea on the white labeled service. I’ve run through options on it before and I couldn’t find a model where we could offer enough incentive to sell it leaving us enough profit to do the work. Are there any white labeled services you resell that make it worth your while? I’d love to hear how they set up the $$ side of things.