Position first, then two jobs — win listings from owners, then find their buyers. Budgets, channel economics, and copy you can use today. Swap the [brackets] for your city and niche.
*CPL badges are national B2B benchmark ranges (Sopro, 2025) — not measurements for your metro. Same rule as your market dashboards: treat them as directional and validate with a small test budget. Each closed deal is worth tens of thousands in commission, so even premium channels stay profitable — keep 8–15 live owner conversations at all times.
What to run first
Week 1–2
Lock your position (Step 0) · build the owner list (200 names) · book your first 5 CPA / attorney / lender coffees · start 10 LinkedIn connects a day
Week 2–4
Launch the website (Step 1) · start the cold-email sequence and 25 letters a week to the owner list · guest-visit 2–3 owner rooms (BNI, Chamber) and commit to one
Month 2+
Turn on Google Ads once the valuation landing page converts · keep referral touches monthly
Always on
Publish the 5 SEO pages and let them compound · weekly floor: 20 owner touches + every buyer inquiry logged
Step 0 — pick your position
[narrow niche] + [one city] + a face people remember
Everything on this page gets cheaper and faster once you commit to a position. Pick a niche you can learn deeply and one metro you can drive across, put your own face on all of it — and lock the choice into your domain, your website and your business model before you spend a dollar on channels.
The generalist route
Feels easier to start — any listing counts, no commitment to make, and every mistake still teaches you something
But entry is expensive: you're relevant to no one in particular, so you compete with every broker in town on every lead
Expertise stays random — each deal is a new industry learned from zero
Lower ceiling: interchangeable brokers end up competing on commission rate
The niche + city specialist
Slower first weeks — then every conversation compounds inside one small world
Marketing costs less: one list, one message, one room to work
You learn one industry's economics deal after deal — your valuations and your buyer list get sharper every time
The market is winnable: within a couple of years you can know every serious owner, lender and competitor by name — and be the first call when one of them wants out
Then name it — two ways to go
SEO-descriptivebusinessbrokerbangkok.com
Says what you do and where. It captures searches that already exist, needs zero brand budget, and works from day one. The trade-off: it's a category name, not a brand.
Personal brand[yourname]advisors.com
The stronger moat long-term — but a unique name means nothing until you've spent years and real marketing money making it mean something.
Solo default: take the descriptive domain and put your face, name and phone on every page. You get the search traffic and the personal trust — without the brand-building budget.
Your domain is Step 0 spelled as a URL — a name that says your niche + city ranks on its own and tells owners what you do before they click.
Pick a name: businessbroker[city].com or [niche][city].com — short, .com, no hyphens/numbers (e.g. businessbrokerbangkok.com).
Go to Cloudflare → Domain Registration → Register Domains, search your name.
Buy it — Cloudflare sells at wholesale cost with free WHOIS privacy, and auto-sets up DNS.
Reuse it for your site (below) and a branded email (you@yourdomain).
Put the niche + city in the domain — it's free SEO and instantly tells owners what you do.
Download the website template (4 pages, SEO)
The modern broker site: four SEO pages built around the money keywords — Home, Sell Your Business, Buy a Business, Business Valuation. Every CTA is WhatsApp click-to-chat: owners tap and talk, no contact forms to maintain. Built as a New York example — adapt it to your city.
What's inside
4 HTML pages + one styles.css — no builder, no dependencies
SEO title + meta description per page, keyword-named files
WhatsApp buttons throughout (set your wa.me number once)
Process, objections, pricing-logic and FAQ sections pre-written
Read-before-publishing checklist at the top of every page — the stats are example data; replace them with your real numbers
Hand the template + this prompt to Claude Code — it customizes the site and deploys it free on Cloudflare Pages on your domain.
Claude Code prompt — copy
Adapt the attached 4-page business broker website template to my market and deploy it free on Cloudflare Pages.
Context: I'm a [Niche] business broker in [City]. Brand: [Brand]. Domain: [yourdomain.com]. WhatsApp: [+1XXXXXXXXXX].
The template (broker-website-template.zip) is a New York example: index.html + sell / buy / valuation pages + styles.css. Adapt it:
- Find & Replace "New York" and "NYC" with [City] everywhere, including every page title and meta description.
- Rename the *-new-york.html files to my city and fix all internal links between pages.
- Set my number in every https://wa.me/ link.
- IMPORTANT: the stats (200+ sold, 500+ buyers, 15+ years, 3.4x, 5.0 rating) are example data — replace them with my real numbers below, and delete any stat I leave blank:
[my real numbers here]
- Weave [Niche] into the H1s and copy where it reads naturally. Keep the design and page structure as is.
Then: create a Cloudflare Pages project, deploy the site, connect my domain [yourdomain.com] (it's registered at Cloudflare), and give me the live URL + the exact steps you took.
No coding needed — Claude Code edits the template and pushes it live for you.
Win listings — get owners (your clients)
The tempo rule
This job is conversations. If you're at a desk scrolling listings and polishing spreadsheets, that's procrastination dressed as work — the best brokers are rarely in the office; they're on a call, at a coffee, or in an owner's back room. If you don't enjoy talking to strangers about their business, fix that before you spend a dollar below. Every channel on this page has one output: the next owner conversation on your calendar.
Build Your Owner List
$0–$150/mo toolsthe asset — not a leadFast
The asset every other channel runs on: a named list of owners in your niche + city. The 90-day plan's first outreach task starts here.
Where the list comes from — copy
Target: 200 owners in [Niche] + [City], 55+ where visible.
Sources (combine 2–3):
1. State licensing boards & permit registries for [Niche] — public, current, owner names
2. County / city business-license records — filter by category + years in business
3. Google Maps: every [Niche] business in [City] → cross-reference the owner on the state corporate registry
4. Data tools: Apollo / ZoomInfo / D7 Lead Finder — filter owner/founder + employee count 5–50
5. Industry association member directories for [Niche]
Columns to keep: business · owner name · years established · est. size · phone · email · address · source · last touch.
The highest-trust channel in brokerage: accountants, attorneys and SBA lenders hear “I want to sell” before anyone else. Your 90-day plan asks for 5 of these intros.
Intro script + the ask — copy
Email to a CPA (same works for attorneys / SBA lenders):
Subject: Your clients who ask about selling
Hi [First], I'm a [Niche] business broker here in [City]. When your clients ask what their business is worth or how an exit works, I'm the person who answers that confidentially — and I always send them back to you for the tax side. Could we grab 20 minutes? I'd like to understand what your clients ask so I can be useful to them.
The ask (in the meeting):
“When a client mentions selling — even years out — I'll run them a free confidential valuation and keep you in the loop. Who's the last client who asked you about it?”
Monthly touch: one useful email — a sold-comp in their clients' industry, a tax-season note, or a market update from your dashboard.
One good CPA relationship produces deals for years. Give first: send THEM a client before you ask for one.
Business Communities (BNI, Chamber…)
dues vary by chapterwarm introsMedium
Owners sell to people they've already met. Standing rooms — BNI, the Chamber of Commerce, your niche's trade association — make you the [Niche] broker everyone in the room can name.
Room intro + where to show up — copy
Your 30-second intro (BNI format — works in any room):
“I'm [You], a [Niche] business broker here in [City]. I help owners — usually 55+ and thinking about retirement — find out what their business is worth and sell it confidentially. A perfect referral for me is an owner who has mentioned retiring, burnout, or ‘what would I even get for this place?’ And it cuts both ways — when your clients want to buy or sell a business, I'm your back office.”
Where to show up (pick 1–2, be there weekly):
1. BNI — one broker seat per chapter; visit 2–3 chapters as a guest before committing
2. Chamber of Commerce — owner-heavy mixers, low dues
3. [Niche] trade association meetings — your whole niche in one room
4. Rotary / local business meetups — the long-trust game
Rooms pay in months, not weeks. Commit to one for six months and keep score in owner conversations booked — not business cards collected.
Direct Mail to Owners
$1–2/letter$80–150/lead*Medium
Letters still reach the 55+ owner who ignores email and LinkedIn. Low volume, high signal — the classic broker channel.
Owner letter — copy
Dear [First Name],
My name is [You], a business broker here in [City] specialising in [Niche] businesses. I'm writing because buyers regularly ask me for established [Niche] companies like [Company].
Most owners have no idea what their business would actually sell for — and the number is often a surprise in both directions. I offer a confidential, no-obligation valuation for [City] owners: about 20 minutes of your time, and the result is yours to keep whether you ever sell or not.
If the timing is years away, the valuation is still the starting point of every good exit plan.
Call or text me directly: [phone]. Everything stays between us.
[Signature]
[You] · [Brand] · [website]
Hand-address the envelope, first-class stamp, follow up by phone within a week. Mail 25/week from your owner list — not 500 at once.
SEO / Content
$0–$500/mo$25–45/lead*Slow
Own the searches owners type when they think about selling. Slow to start, then nearly free leads forever.
Pages to publish — copy
Build these pages to own [Niche] + [City]:
1. "Sell My [Business Type] in [City]" — money page
2. "[City] [Niche] Business Valuation" — lead magnet + form
3. "How Much Is My [Business Type] Worth?" — calculator
4. "[Niche] Businesses for Sale in [City]" — attracts buyers AND sellers
5. 3–5 "recently sold" / case-study posts for trust
Internal-link them; add your face, phone and a valuation CTA on every page.
One sharp niche+city beats 100 generic posts. Rank for the exact phrase, not 'business broker'.
Google Ads (PPC)
$1,000–$3,000/mo$60–90/lead*Fast
Buy the top of 'sell my business [city]' today. Fast, controllable, red-hot intent — and the whole campaign is a download away: import the pack into Google Ads Editor and launch.
What's in the setup pack — copy
One seller-leads campaign, ready to import (Google Ads Editor → Account → Import):
5 ad groups: Sell My Business · Business Valuation · Business Broker [City] · Retirement Exit · Sell My [Niche]
28 keywords — exact + phrase only (no broad until conversions flow)
5 responsive search ads — 12 headlines + 4 descriptions each, all inside Google's 30/90 character limits
90 negative keywords in 9 categories (jobs, courses, stock brokers, real estate, buyer-intent…)
Launch guide: settings that decide everything (Presence-only geo, Search-only, bid caps), conversion tracking BEFORE spend, assets, launch QA checklist, and the week 1–4 search-terms routine.
Sample headlines (≤30 chars): Sell Your [City] Business · Free Confidential Valuation · What's Your Business Worth? · Success-Fee Only
Sample description (≤90): Most owners don't know their number. Get a real valuation before you make any decision.
Send clicks to a single valuation landing page with one form — not your homepage. No launch without conversion tracking: 'Maximize Conversions' with no conversions optimizes toward nothing.
Connect with local owners 55+ and stay top-of-mind until they're ready to exit.
Scripts — copy
Connection note:
Hi [First], I specialise in [Niche] business sales here in [City]. Always glad to connect with local owners — no pitch.
Follow-up (a few days after they accept):
Thanks for connecting, [First]. Quick one — if you ever wonder what your [business] could sell for, I run free confidential valuations for [City] owners. Happy to send a no-obligation estimate. Either way, great to be connected.
Filter Sales Navigator by geography + 'owner/founder' + company size. 10 thoughtful connects/day beats blasting.
Cold Email
Tools ~$100/mo$30–60/lead*Medium
A 3-step sequence to your owner list. Cheap volume — but deliverability and compliance are the whole game.
3-email sequence — copy
Email 1 (Day 1) — subj: Quick question about [Company]
Hi [First], I help [City] [Niche] owners understand what their business is worth and what an exit could look like — confidentially, no obligation. Would a quick valuation be useful? — [You]
Email 2 (Day 5–7):
Hi [First], following up. Even owners not selling for years find the number useful for planning. Want me to run one for [Company]? ~10 minutes of your time.
Email 3 (Day 12–14):
Hi [First], I'll close the loop here. If the timing's ever right, my calendar's below: [link]. Wishing you a strong year. — [You]
Warm the domain, plain-text, ≤80 words, one ask. Compliance: include your postal address and a working unsubscribe in every email (CAN-SPAM), and honor opt-outs immediately.
Sell the listing — find buyers
Marketplaces (BizBuySell etc.)
$60–$130/mo per listinginbound buyersFast
The classifieds where active buyers search. Confidential teaser only — never the name.
Listing teaser — copy
Headline: Profitable [Niche] Business in [Region] — [Asking Price]
Confidential summary: Established [X]-year [business] generating $[SDE] SDE on $[Revenue]. [Recurring contracts / prime location / trained staff stay]. Owner retiring; smooth transition. Real estate available / lease assignable.
Call to action: Sign NDA for the full Confidential Information Memorandum.
List on 2–3 marketplaces. Lead with the financials in ranges; gate everything identifying behind an NDA — use the two documents below.
Where Main Street buyers actually browse: “business for sale” groups, Marketplace, and one boosted teaser from a Business Page. Set up right, one post format works across all three — and it cuts both ways: owners watch these groups too.
Setup + post format + lead form — copy
Setup (once):
1. Create a Business Page as [Brand] — never post listings from your personal profile
2. Join every active “businesses for sale [City / State]” and business buy-sell group; read each group's rules before posting
3. Where your region's Marketplace allows business listings, list the same teaser there
Post format (groups + Marketplace — blind teaser, always):
Profitable [Niche] Business — [Region] — $[Asking]
• $[SDE] SDE on $[Revenue] revenue (ranges are fine)
• [X] years established · trained staff stays · owner retiring
• SBA-financeable / seller financing considered
Confidential — name and location shared after a signed NDA. DM me or [link].
Ads (once a post format proves itself organically):
Boost the best teaser to [City] + small-business / investing interests + lookalike of past inquiries.
Use an Instant Form: name, phone, email + one qualifier (“Funds available for a purchase this year?”).
Auto-reply every lead with the NDA link the same day.
The groups surface sellers too — a professional teaser with real numbers is a silent listing pitch, so expect “what could you get for mine?” messages. Never name the business in a public post: blind teaser first, NDA before anything identifying.
Your buyer list + other brokers. Free, fast, and how a lot of deals actually close.
Co-broke message — copy
To your buyer list:
New [City] [Niche] listing — $[Asking], $[SDE] SDE. Confidential teaser attached. Reply to sign an NDA.
To other brokers (co-broke):
I have a [Niche] listing in [City] at $[Asking], $[SDE] SDE. Open to a 50/50 co-broke if you have a qualified, NDA-ready buyer. Teaser attached.
Post to your IBBA / M&A Source groups and local broker network.
Build the buyer list from day one — every inquiry, every NDA, into the tracker. It becomes your fastest channel.