You need Leads – names and contact info of prospects to help you develop qualified sales opportunities – You need Lead Generation Strategies. Leads will be added to your database for future Lead Nurturing. Once you get in front of a prospect on the phone or in person, you most likely have a pretty good chance of closing business. The big question is “where can I find leads?”.
First, Define what a ‘lead’ means to you
Is it someone who gives you their name and email only? Is it someone who has filled out a qualification form indicating their buying timeframe and interest? Perhaps you will create different levels of leads, depending on how qualified they are.
Create great content and get it promoted
Blog about it, post it on your website (great for SEO as it is keyword rich and relevant), share it on your social pages. Link to a registration form on your site to capture contact info. Prospects will willingly share their personal contact info, but typically only in exchange for something of value. (Check out these High Value Content ideas!)
Create Landing Pages with Registration forms on your site
You’ve created great content and have promoted it, but how do you intend to capture contact info from interested prospects? You must create a landing page on your site which provides an overview of the available content and a link to a registration form.
Keep your Registration forms short and simple
Ask for the basic business card info: Name and eMail (critical), Phone, Company, Address, City, State, Zip. Perhaps ask one or two qualifying questions. Or, keep it real simple – just Name and eMail address.
Do speaking engagements
With other related/synergistic businesses, at trade shows, with your Chamber of Commerce. Use their subscriber/customer lists to promote your event.
Host an educational Webinar with a media partner – (i.e. trade publication, industry website, etc)
Where you can tap into their subscriber database/eList as part of your investment. They will not give you their eList, instead, media partners will actively promote your webinar event for you with eBLasts, banner ads on their site and in their newsletters.
Exhibit at an industry trade show/event
Offer some type of compelling give-away to direct prospects to your website. If the trade show offers a lead capturing scanner, spend the few dollars for the scanner rental, it will make your life so much easier when entering leads into your database system. You do have a database system, don’t you? Review good trade show etiquette so your putting professional foot forward.
Be VERY careful about Buying “Leads”
We do not recommend this – these are really just “contacts”. Alternatively, a lead is someone who has knowingly given you their contact information in exchange for something of value (education, knowledge, entertainment). They have raised their hands and indicated that they would like to hear from you in the future.
