Fact: Leads are the heart of any business.
But why?
Because you’re in business to make a profit, and you can only make a profit if you provide the products and services that your customers demand.
Wait a second! Shouldn’t advertising bring you clients? This seems like a legit question, right? The inconvenient truth is: marketing and sales are two separate activities that are intended to bring you profits.
If you’re a solopreneur, you probably learned this lesson the hard way. You realize that there are only 24 hours in a day and you need to work on your lead generation activities, work with clients, plus find creative juices to market your business.
It’s exhausting! And when the cash flow is not at the level that you expected, your business starts to bring more stress than joy.
Joy is coming your way, no worries!
Let’s discuss my favorite talk! It’s called 100 Ways To Generate Leads.
I’ve been doing this talk in person and the response has been so amazing that I decided to share my talk with our blog readers– just because you’re wonderful.
And… if you’re reading this during the month of August, you’re primed to sprint over the last 90 productive days we have left before 2020 comes.
You read it right. We have about 13 days before we start thinking about turkey. Once this happens, 2020 is right around the corner. For most professionals and entrepreneurs, the holidays slow down their prospecting activities.
So let’s hook you up with my 100 Ways To Generate Leads. Get ready to implement proven strategies to grow your business!
Common Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make When Generating Leads
A common mistake that many entrepreneurs make when it comes to generating sales leads is to try and use only mass communication techniques.
Some start collecting contacts and add them to their newsletters. Others add their contacts to their social media channels and start prospecting right away.
What Is The Problem With Mass Communication Techniques?
Your contacts are not leads! Just because I accepted you as a friend on Facebook doesn’t mean I’m interested in buying from you or hire your services. Prospecting on social media is possible. But it’s not about spamming people.
Or … another example, with networking events. People show up to networking events full of business cards. They approach new connections and hand out their business cards, simply saying “Hello, nice meeting you, here is my business card, can I have yours?” Then… they add the contact to their email list.
If your email list has contacts that never showed any intention to work with you and you added them just because you thought they should read your content, those are not leads.
During my workshop, I formed a debate with the audience, asking them how they define what a lead is. I got many different answers!
A lead is a sales lead when they have expressed interest in your products or services. For example: they requested an appointment and you have clarified that the appointment is to talk about your products or services (not theirs). Trust me here. I’ve seen this over and over. Especially those coffee invites. This is another common mistake.
I know why entrepreneurs do it. They want to put their name out there.
While getting your message out to as many people as possible can be beneficial in many respects, personal contact is just as important if you are hoping to develop a long-term relationship with your customers and clients.
You need a lead generation system.
First Steps To Build Your Lead Generation System
I wrote an article on prospecting explaining my eight “tags” I use to classify the contacts, with each definition, in case you need more clarification on what is a lead.
For now, let’s get you to review your revenue goals and try to calculate your conversion rates:
- From connections (suspects) to prospects, what is your ratio?
- From prospects to leads?
- From leads to sales opportunities?
About a year ago I hired a sales team so they could help me work with my list of “qualified leads.” While the sales team did an amazing job at following up with the list, we realized that these leads had the wrong classification.
This helped us changing our lead generation system completely.
We decided to clean up our email marketing system, and deleted the leads that came from free tools we offered on landing pages- free book, free PDF, free webinar and only tagged leads when they requested a discovery session or completed a marketing assessment.
Who Is A Lead For Your Business, Anyway?
Don’t just tell me “anyone with a face” if you sell skincare products. Those are not leads! They are not even prospective customers. Come up with a clear activity that will help you filter or “funnel” those contacts further into your pipeline, so you can generate more leads and track your real conversion rate.
100 Ways To Generate Leads
So let me tell you about this list. It has both digital marketing ways and offline marketing strategies. I called them “ways” but there is a strategy for each.
For example, business cards. You can say “oh I have business cards” and check that item on the list! But, are your business cards strategized to turn someone from contact into a prospect? If your business cards just have your contact information, then you are missing a GREAT opportunity to generate leads.
Your 30 second commercial or elevator pitch is another big one. Learning how to communicate in a way that you can promote your business with ease and grace might take some practice, but with some strategies, you can master this skill. I teach a very simple template to craft the elevator pitch: I do ____________ so that ____________.
When you’re describing your services, always keep in mind WITFM = What Is In There For Me, Don’t just say what you do. Features tell what you can do. Benefits sell by relating how the product or service features help the buyer.
The list also includes places where you can have a listing. This is HUGE for small business owners. You want to take the time to explore where can you add your name and listing, to add more opportunities to connect with prospects.
I’m sure you will be able to gather a lot of strategies, just from this list. Let’s get you the full version!
How To Select Your Best Ways To Get Leads
With the list, take an inventory of what you have done to generate leads and which strategies you would like to add.
✔ Those that you have already mastered and have generated results, will stay. Then, add:
✔Those lead generation activities that fit your talent and skills zone. You have no time to lose!
✔Add those lead generation activities that someone else will do on your behalf. Outsource!
You should have at least 15 lead generation strategies to incorporate to your prospecting activities. Take a moment and work on the list!
1) I’ve mastered these 5 Lead Generation Ways: (Networking, Social Media, Nextdoor App)
______________________.
2) I would like to learn how to master these 5 Lead Generation Ways: (Social media, podcasting, LinkedIn)
______________________.
3) I would love to outsource these 5 Lead Generation Ways: (Content Marketing, SEO, Webinars)
______________________.
A Forensic Marketing Expert Makes A Difference
Jessica Campos, JD, BBA is an educator, author, forensic digital marketing expert & strategist. She traded in her law career in order to pursue her passion: helping entrepreneurs build wealth by taking advantage of the thriving content economy.
Jessica‘s 15+ years of experience in entrepreneurship, background in law and business, tracked online sales record, and her network, represent a wealth of resources for professionals and entrepreneurs that want to attain success.
Get instant access to her latest book, The 6 Golden Rules of Social Media at www.marketingforgreatness.com. And while you’re there, make sure to check The Greatness Blog and The Greatness Marketing Podcast.
Book a Free Forensic Marketing Session and let’s get ready to know what I know www.marketingforgreatness.com/assessment
