Bottom line: every area is different. Learn your market and your potential customers, then you can decide how to reach them.
Thanks.
And to update - i got 2 more phone calls today from people i met yesterday to setup a consultation with me…one of which already had a site and now wants a newer one.
I dont plan on marketing myself this way forever. Im doing it right now to quickly to get more clients to put on my portfolio. Once that is solidly established i can go with what some people above suggested that i send out a mailer.
Im already busy with work. 
One thing I’ve learnt from calling prospective clients, is not to expect them to return your call. I spent a long time agonising over that issue, and getting annoyed about how rude they were etc etc until I realised that what is a priority for you at that time is not necessarily their priority. If your call goes to voice mail, do leave a message to keep you top of their mind, and say you will try calling them again later that day, or the next day, depending on what you think will be more achieveable.
When calling them, always ask permission first - e.g… just a quick call, is this a good time for you to speak? That will give them the chance to let you know that it is not the right time, and you can then ask them what would be a better time for them. Make sure you do call them at the time they specifiy, as if you don’t any trust that has already been built up with your courteous manner will be instantly destroyed.
Ava Lucanus
Edge Communication:D
I’m with joemazz and Unit7285 on this one.
I just walk in. Now granted I’m not pitching to corporate types or I’d never get past the receptionist. I pitch to brick n mortar storefront small businesses.
and I pitch local SEO, not web design.
Other than those distinctions, I’m with both of those guys. Just walk in. You’ve got roughly a minute to impress or bore the owner.
I no longer have to do so much cold calling as people find me from my top ranked google listings, they already have a website but that website does not perform in Google so they search for search engine optimization.
At one point I feared my small business clients would understand the word “advertising” and not understand the word “optimization” but it seems they’ve been doing thier homework.
If you get outranked by a company that hired an SEO, you tend to “go to school” on what happened and learn up on how to reverse that situation
I think the smaller the town / city, the more likely one will be successful in visiting their target market at their place of business like joemazz has done.
Not every marketing technique will work everywhere. So kudos to you, joemazz, for taking a chance on yourself and sticking yourself out there like that!
Wesley Craig Green
I dont see why “walking in” is such a bad idea. When I first started out, this was the best way for me to find clients. I landed a project almost every time I did this.
I’ve done this. It works quite well, but you have to be a good talker and not feel bad about rejections. Some people will be short with you b/c they’re busy and don’t want to be interrupted…in that case just ask when you should come back.
When it comes to business, the aggressive guy will get more deals, period.