I wouldn't pay for a "pay now and maybe one day"

I totally agree and MUCH of the industry is just like that.

I HATE that system.
We have multiple gaurentees with our contracts that are result based.

This is also why we ONLY target specific industries like personal injury lawyers and a few others.
Because we can gaurentee in increase in phone calls ..

Someone should put together a series of interviews and then an ebook (for free) on building your marketing budget.. That would be a fun set of interviews
could be done on google hangout and then the link shared

Heck it would be fun, I would be willing to host it..

@Mindpro would you be willing to join in on a panel?

I take it back. You are not able to ignore the troublemakers and talk to the people who want to hear more. I'm very disappointed. I miss Benji.

I always thought it'd be very useful for consultants like Mike and me to put together a guide, ebook or blog post about how much it really costs to set up a proper online paid search and SEO campaign.

I talk a bit about set up costs for a website in the ebook (it's under $300) but I think a lot of folks think a PPC campaign costs hundreds of dollars. Not true.

For my kid show campaigns I'm spending $80/month and booking 10-14 shows per month.

Obviously a campaign like Corporate Magician will be more, but not much more than $150-$200 per month.

The trick is knowing who you don't want to click as much as who you do want to click.

Josh

I've read quite a bit of this thread and will say this, take most of the info that others provide here and ignore the blatant attacks from both sides. It's easy to get drawn into them and I'm definitely guiltly of doing so myself. MindPro and I have had our words but overall all I'd say that he provides a ton of great advice at no charge and he puts a lot of time, thought and effort into his posts. Can he be jaded sometimes? Yes, but overall he would like to see those seeking answers be guided in the right direction. The same goes for Danny overall. Please do not take this as me saying that they are always nice lol, but overall I do enjoy reading their posts.

As for the others in this thread, all have great points and I believe have great potential! I wish Josh the best of luck with the course that he's offering, I hope that many will benefit from it! Take care all

P.S. There is more than one way to skin a cat. You may get the skin, but was it chopped up?

Along the lines of what lunatic was saying let me also say that "the right direction" might not necessarily be the same thing for everyone. (This is me agreeing with lunatic.)

I couldn't agree more with lunatik and Danny! See... we're all becoming friends

Marketing online is in no way shape or form a substitute for other offline marketing.

Obviously, depending on your market the offline marketing activity will differ, but the point is online marketing is just as important as offline marketing.

I like to think of offline and online marketing as the wheels to a motorcycle. Each have their own uses and needs, but at the end of the day they complement one another. Inside each wheel of the online/offline marketing motorcycle there are spokes that give the wheel structure and foundation. Those spokes include PPC, SEO, content marketing, social media, postcards, flyers, "at show promotion," business cards, surveys, on and on.

All these marketing strategies come together to form a powerful machine that drives you forward.

Josh

P.S. I just watched a motocross race on tv - - - could you tell???

I don't want to go too much off topic but I would like to ask Mike Clay something that he mentioned earlier in this thread. He stated that after viewing Linkedin profiles of potential bookers he found that 90% of them viewed his profile in return. Maybe I am doing something wrong (and I strongly suspect that I am since I don't fully understand Linkedin) but I have not found this works in my case. I must have viewed about 30 prospects and only one has viewed me back. These are usually high level executives in companies so perhaps they are too busy to respond quickly. It has been three or four days now and maybe I should wait a little longer. Still, I am getting a strong vibe that they won't be viewing me back. I have a premium paid account with Linkedin so am a bit surprised at the lack of interest. Perhaps he can clarify or comment on this. I would appreciate it.

@Zinser..

your profile has to be optimized

I also have paid to get media citations that I put in my profile picture to get a higher click through rate

If you send me a PM with a link to your profile I will take a look at it ..
Also make sure your looking at the people who would book you and not there boss.
Don't just look at companies, also look into marketing and event agencies (they actively look for entertainment)

Thank you kindly, Mike! I will send you a private message.

Saw this old post while doing some link maintenance and thought I'd share the new url for Flying Solo as its changed: http://clickconvertprofit.com/flyingsolo

Josh London