Sloppy notes SOP for outreach based link building concept I had in draft for 7 years but never really edited but I felt like just getting it published with minimal effort.

Create Parallel industry research document

Open Google Sheets

For each client open a tab and list out ALL the parallel businesses and business services that are part of your “Nexus” or your business marketplace.

I.e. Poop scooper = Dog .   Dog = Dog walker, Dog sitter, Dog Groomer, Vet, Toys, Food

Key part is to get that out of your head, and into the sheet

You’ll be REALLY surprised at how many industries touch on home – landscaper, exterior lighting, chistmas light guys,exterior designer, tree trimming, lawn care/mowers, tree removal guys


Step 2. Brainstorm TWO solid link building concepts that can cross AS MANY of those businesses

[I DO NOT recommend guest posting – it sucks to write/get that much content!]

A. Expert roundup with guesto-graphic link generating finale

B. Infographic embeded into money page in a tab, anchored using #topic-infographic in the URL

Step 3a. Expert roundup with guesto-graphic link generating finale

Come up with a general topic that is NOT right in your clients expertise, but is in the “nexus” and touches as MANY of the parralels as possible

Come up with 3-5 easy questions 

Write 2 short TEMPLATES  pitching them (ego baiting) them – Phrasing it as an “email interview” works pretty well, that way they don’t freak out about getting on the phone asking for okay to send questions

Create a template for a FOLLOW UP email with the actual questions

Once you have questions, plug into the blog postTake their answers to  pablo by buffer, piktochart, canva or visme.co and turn it into a graphic

Create template “thank you for contributing, loved what you had to say! BTW I turned this into a graphic that you could add to your own blog post (link to the one you want ’em to link from”) or share on social media

Step 3b. Use aHrefs to mine for the experts
So you can mine for those targets either via their industry name+ location 

OR
Look up variants of the topic, what currently ranks, look at backlinks to it and then mine those domains for prospects

So don’t just go after an inspector, but rather a “tech savvy” inspector.

A 2%-10% response rate is good, and a 1%-5% follow thoughset your expectations LOW and be surprised pleasantly when you exceed them.

Here’s a GPT organized SOP version of these sloppy notes:

Outreach-Based Linkbuilding SOP

  1. Create a Parallel Industry Research Document
    • Open a Google Sheet and create a tab for each client
    • In each tab, list out all the parallel businesses and services that are part of your client’s “nexus” or business marketplace
    • This could include industries like dog walking, dog grooming, veterinarians, lawn care, exterior lighting, etc. – anything that is complementary to your client’s core business
  2. Brainstorm Linkbuilding Concepts
    • Come up with 2 solid linkbuilding concepts that can cross-promote across as many of the parallel industries as possible
    • Avoid relying on guest posting, as it can be time-consuming to produce that much content

Concept A: Expert Roundup with Guest-Graphic Link Generation

  • Come up with a general topic that is relevant to the parallel industries but not your client’s core expertise
  • Develop 3-5 easy questions to ask the experts
  • Write email templates to pitch the experts (positioning it as an “email interview” works well)
  • Once you have the expert responses, turn them into a shareable graphic
  • Follow up with the experts, offering them the graphic to add to their own blog or share on social media

Concept B: Infographic Embedded into Money Page

  • Create an infographic on a relevant industry topic
  • Embed the infographic into a money page on your client’s site
  • Anchor the infographic using a unique #topic-infographic URL
  • Prospect and Outreach
    • Use tools like Ahrefs to find relevant industry experts and influencers to target for the expert roundup
    • Aim for a 2-10% response rate, and 1-5% follow-through – keep expectations realistic
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