On this page
Picking a service, a trade and a town
Start with the gap your service fixes, because the list can show it. Each service below has a column that marks the businesses that need it, and a phrase that keeps only those rows.
| You offer | The gap shows in | Type this in chat |
|---|---|---|
| Websites | Website is empty, or holds only a Facebook page | Only rows where Website is empty |
| Local SEO and reviews | Review Count is low or empty; Operating Hours is empty | Only rows where Review Count < 20 |
| Social media management | The website links no Instagram or Facebook page | Only rows where Website is filled and Instagram is empty |
The social columns come from links on each business's own website. A business with no website has none, so for a social media offer, keep the rows with a website first.
If no column shows your gap, as with bookkeeping or insurance, the list still gives you the trade, the phone and the address. It can't tell you who needs you, so your first message has to ask.
Pick a town you know or can drive to, and one trade in it. In a small town, one search may cover the whole trade; in a city, pick one district. For the first two offers, finding businesses without a website and getting local SEO clients from Maps go further.
Checking how common your gap is
Before you commit to a trade, count how many businesses in it have your gap. Collect the trade, open the list on the results page and ask chat:
- "How many rows have Website?" for a web design offer
- "How many rows have Instagram?" for a social media offer
- "What's the average Review Count?" for a local SEO offer
- "How many rows have Emails?" to see how many you can write to
Each count comes back out of the whole list, in the form "N of M rows have Website." If your gap is rare in one trade, search another in the same town and ask again.
Count the emails too. A trade where few businesses publish an email is a list for calling, not for writing, and that changes how many you can reach in a day.
Building a short list of 50
Collect 100, keep the rows with your gap, put the busiest first, and work down the top 50. Here's the whole thing for a social media offer to gyms, one chat message per step; the gym owner email list covers that trade in more depth.
Step 1: Ask for the businesses
In chat, type "Find 100 gyms in Chicago, IL". With the number in the request, chat starts at once and saves the list in History.
Step 2: Keep the rows with your gap
Type "Only rows where Website is filled and Instagram is empty". Chat opens the list on the results page, with both filters shown above the table, and says how many rows are left.
Step 3: Put the busiest first
Type "Sort by Review Count, highest first". A business with many reviews is busy and established; rows with no reviews go to the bottom.
Step 4: Keep the columns you need
Type "Only Business Name, Phone, Emails, Website, Rating and Review Count". The other columns are hidden, not deleted.
Step 5: Download it
Type "Download this as Excel". The file holds the rows and columns the page shows, in its current order.
If more than 50 rows are left, work the first 50 in the file; the rest are your next batch. If fewer are left, ask for a nearby town in the same chat, combine the two searches with the card chat offers, and filter the combined table again.
If chat says it can't find an Instagram column, no business in the list links an Instagram account from its website. Step 2 then becomes "Only rows where Website is filled". The results page and downloads explain the rest of what you can do with the list.
What to say first, from what the row shows
Name one fact from the business's own listing in your first sentence, and nothing the row doesn't show. Then say in one line what you'd do about it.
The row also tells you how to reach the business. Emails is filled only when its website lists an address, so a business with no website is a phone call. Extracting phone numbers from Maps explains the Phone and Website phones columns.
| Business Name | The row shows | Say first | Reach them by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northside Strength Club | No website; 85 reviews | "Your gym has 85 reviews on Maps but no website for those people to visit." | Phone |
| Lakefront Yoga Loft | A Facebook page as its website | "Your Maps listing sends people to your Facebook page rather than a site of your own." | Phone, or a message on that page |
| Ironworks Fitness | 8 reviews; the search averages 120 | "Your gym has 8 reviews; the gyms in the same search average 120." | |
| Halsted Boxing Gym | A website with no Instagram link | "Your website doesn't link an Instagram account, so visitors can't see your classes there." |
Where the emails come from, and why some rows have none, is on the emails page. Two businesses that share a website, such as a chain's locations, get the same email, so check the site before you write to each.
Keeping track and following up
Track every contact in the file you downloaded. The results page can edit a cell but can't add a column, so add these in your spreadsheet:
- Status: not contacted, contacted, replied, meeting or no
- Contacted on: the date
- Channel: email, phone or a message
- Reply: what they said, in a few words
- Next step: what you'll do, and when
Keep the original in History too. Rename it with Rename this save so you can find it, and pin it with Pin collection; History keeps your 500 most recent lists.
Follow up once through the other channel the row has: call the businesses you emailed, and email the ones you called if Emails is filled. When the first 50 are done, take the next 50 from the same list.
For the next town, run the same request in the same chat, or click the nearby-town card chat offers after a search. Each search is saved as a list of its own, so a town you've worked never mixes with the next.
Before you email or call
Emails and calls to businesses have their own rules, which differ by country: what's allowed when you email or call sums them up, with each regulator's own page. Maps Scraper Pro collects the list and sends nothing itself, so every message is yours.
When the first 50 don't reply
Change one thing in the list at a time, so you can tell what made the difference. These are the usual causes, and what to change.
| What happened | What to change in the list |
|---|---|
| No replies to your emails | Call the same 50, using the number in each row's Phone column |
| Many emails bounced | The extension checks that an address looks like an email, not that the mailbox exists. Check the next batch's addresses before you send |
| Few rows had an email | The trade publishes few. Call them, or try a trade where more rows have Emails |
| The gap wasn't there | Switch to another gap's filter, or another town |
| Several businesses are one chain | Ask for "only rows where Business Name does not contain" and the chain's name |
| Two businesses got the same email | They share a website, which is read once per run. Check the site before you write to each |
| You've worked through all 50 | Take the next 50 from the same list, then the next town |
To build lists for others instead, see lead lists for clients. To keep working one list over months, see selling to the businesses near you.
Questions people ask
How do I get my first client?
Pick one service and a trade where its gap shows, in one town. Collect about 100 businesses from Maps, keep the 50 with the gap, and contact each about what its row shows.
How do I get my first web design client?
Start with the businesses whose Maps listing has no website, or only a Facebook page. Finding businesses without a website shows how to list them and check each one before you call.
How can I get clients quickly?
The list is quick: by the chat card's own guide, 20 businesses take under a minute and 200 about five. Replies depend on the businesses, so start on the first 50 the day you collect them.
How do I get my first client as a freelancer or a new agency?
The same way: the service you sell picks the column, and the column picks the 50 businesses. A new agency with several services can make one short list per service from the same search, and if the list itself is what you'd sell, see starting a lead generation business.
Is it legal to cold email or call local businesses?
It depends on where you and the businesses are, and on whether you email or call. What's allowed explains the rules and links each regulator. This isn't legal advice.