u/Boonie231

Been at this for a few months now and things are genuinely starting to move, so I wanted to share where I'm at and ask for some honest input from people who've been here before.

I work in card payments, selling to SMEs. Our offering is solid, competitive pricing, and we have some decent differentiators like built-in loyalty and merchant cash advance that most providers don't offer. When I get in front of a decision maker, I close consistently. That part feels good.

The problem is getting there.

My current approach is mostly field sales, walking in, introducing myself, explaining how we help businesses like theirs. I've had some organic inbound from the website which has been a nice surprise, and I know I'm not doing enough with email or social yet.

The thing I keep hearing about is referral networks, and it genuinely interests me. Tried reaching out to a few local accountants to explore a partnership angle but didn't get much back.

A few things I'd love input on:

• How do you actually build referral relationships from scratch?
• Is cold field sales still worth doubling down on or am I missing a trick?
• Anyone in a similar space who's cracked the "getting in the door" problem?

Not looking for a magic answer, just what's actually worked for people. Appreciate any input.

Hey all, really looking to beef up our SEO presence for my business (will not promote).

I have been building out strong SEO focused blogs and next is specific SEO optimised landing pages and building out an email list for nurture campaigns/newsletter.

Something that has already started to help with my DA has been registering for free local business services pages/directories.

So far, I have registered for Yell, Google Business, Approved, 112 business directory and a few others.

I am only looking at free versions for the moment but would love to hear if anyone had any other suggestions?

Regarding backlinks, we have one of our suppliers backlink to us but need to try and build this out - all new territory for me.

Local chambers of commerce is down the line and also industry specific federations but these will cost money and take time.

For context, we are a payment business in Manchester with a key focus on SME/Mid sized businesses. The website has been live for about 7/8 weeks now, and Moz domain authority is 3 and Adrefs is 0.8 right now.

I have been getting some traffic and have started to rank for some keywords, get inbound leads, and already have a couple of sales without any additional spend.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Usually more of a lurker but trying to get more involved in the communities I follow, so figured this was a good reason to post.

Quick bit of context: I run a small B2B business in payments and have always relied on outbound to generate pipeline. Cold calls and walking into business mostly.

Started properly investing time in the website and SEO about six weeks back and yesterday got my first customer who found me organically while researching other options. Signed them up this morning. Small win but great way to start a Friday.

I have also been trying to build a presence on LinkedIn and Facebook but genuinely struggle with tone. It is hard not to come across as just another person selling something, which is the last thing I want. Still figuring that one out.

Would love to hear from others who have made a similar shift from outbound-heavy to inbound:

• What actually moved the needle for you?
• What felt like it should work but did not?
• Any channels that surprised you?

Not looking to pitch anything, genuinely curious what has worked for people here.

First time poster but been using Capital One for my business credit card, they have an offer for referrals where both get £75 once you make a transaction. Sign up below.

https://cashback.capitalontap.com/referral/?promo=2REFN643R88&referrer=BOON%20RECRUITMENT