(1) Contact them via Email
Most local businesses have websites that include their contact information including either an email address or a contact form. If this is the case you can send them an email letting about the rankings that you have (show them proof) and then let them know that you have a "limited" amount of ad space on your site that you are selling on a first come first serve basis.
Email is the most efficient method of contact and you can contact people worldwide. It takes a lot of the awkwardness out of cold calling.
(2) Phone them, set up appointment (local or international)
I personally am not a fan of cold calling, but it by all means is an effective method of recruiting local clients. It is a good way to get in touch with smaller business owners, in particular business (like ones in the construction industry) that are always on the road and they are typically not every day email checkers.
Phoning a business is less invasive than visiting the business personally, but can be an important method of attracting local clients for your ranked domain.
(3) If local, walk into business
If you live in the same area as a company, go to the local business(es) that you can help out. Walk in and see if you can talk to the owner or set up a meeting to discuss the opportunity. This will obviously take the most work and may require driving, but it can be an effective way to engage and potentially create a long term relationship.
Make sure you can SHOW them an example on a computer or tablet of yours, it is very tacky to ask them to use their computer (and you will likely get booted out of their shop).
(4) Make use of your contact page for advertising inquiries.
If you think about it, many companies research their competition and frequently visit the top ranked sites in their vertical. These are prime candidates for people that need your help and are either willing to advertise on your site or may even be interested in buying your site. By having an advertising inquiry section on your site, you will naturally get people interested. Don't overlook this, as it is an effortless way to attract new clients!
Tell me your thoughts on it.
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This allows advertisers to come to you (takes a lot of the work out of it).
I was on NameBio.com last night doing some research and i found that the 2 most popular domains i found so far was anything with the word social in it or the word cloud. Some of these domains have sold for as much as 228,000 dollars, I was wondering what makes them so hot.
Then i went to godaddy.com and every domain with those 2 words in it was taken or they was on the marketplace selling for thousands of dollars. That is crazy dude.
Also what exactly is a wiki ? I see a lot of that lately, like when jay did the halo4wiki case study but I'm not sure what it is.
Focusing on the local marketplace with your domain purchases is really no different than buying a piece of real estate that is going to go up in value. :)
I tried e mails, regular mail, phone calls, and everyone was always to busy, and treated me like another one of the annoying calls from salesmen they probably get all of the time. I even did try the methods of ranking my sites before ever contacting them, and it just never got rolling for me. All that rejection got me discouraged.
In saying this, many business owners believe it or not check their Facebook pages more these days than their business email, so you may want to try this as an additional medium of contact. You could also show them a screenshot of where their ad would be and show them some traffic stats.
The more real you make it to them, the more likely they will be to bite.
