How to Generate Thousands
of New Leads on the Cheap
(And a little contest)
Dear Business Builder,
Wow, it’s hard to believe another week has passed us by. Happy Friday and welcome back to In the ‘Net Trenches. I hope you have plans for an excellent weekend. But before you head out, let’s take a look at some lead generation tactics you can implement on the cheap.
Last week, a reader sent me an e-mail and asked “how can I generate thousands of new qualified leads without paying a ton to do it?”
This is not an uncommon question especially for people that are just starting out in their own business. But, with that said, it is also a challenge for long standing offline businesses that are just starting out marketing on the ‘Net. And, the tactics I’ll explain today should also be standard practice for businesses that are already established web marketers.
So today, everybody wins!
Before You Get Started
There are three things you’re going to need before you get started with the lead generation tactics I’ll explain next:
1. A bonus report: You’re going to need to prepare a short, but informative bonus report. This report should offer valuable and actionable information that applies to your market or area of expertise. So for instance if you sell lawn mowers or lawn care products, you could create a bonus report that explains step-by-step how to have the greenest lawn on the block. The point here is to showcase your expertise, not sell a product. Your bonus report should offer value. It should not be a sales letter. Your report should include your resource statement at the end.
2. A resource statement: A resource statement simply states who you are, what you do, why you’re qualified to do it and how to find out more information about your business. It also should include an offer for your free bonus report and a link to sign-up to receive your e-newsletter, a series of tips or notices of sales, special offers or any information that is pertinent to your marketplace.
Here is an example of a resource statement for the lawn care example:
Homer G. Hayseed is a lawn care professional with over 15 years experience. Homer holds a bachelors degree in horticulture from the University of Florida. He is the owner of Hayseed Lawn Care in Apopka, Florida. Hayseed Lawn Care is the largest lawn mower dealer in Apopka and has sold and serviced thousands of mowers in their 10 years in business. To learn Homer’s prized lawn care secrets, visit www.hayseedlawncare.com to claim a copy of his free report – Hayseed’s Secrets to the Greenest Lawn on the Block.
3. A Squeeze page: A squeeze page is a web page where you capture your new lead’s name and e-mail address. Your squeeze page should include the following: Copy that re-sells your bonus report, an image of the bonus report cover, sales copy about your e-newsletter, more information about you and your business, any testimonials you may have, a privacy and opt-out statement and it also should disclose what they’ll receive after they give you their e-mail address.
Here is an example we just created for a client you can take look at.
Your bonus report should be set up to be delivered automatically after someone signs up. Look into auto-responder services such as www.aweber.com to get it setup quickly and easily.
After you have these three things in place, you’re ready to start your lead gen.
Five Lead Gen Tactics
that Will Cost You Next to Nothing!
You ask and I answer. Last weeks reader was looking for ways to generate thousands of qualified leads on the cheap. There’s an inherent problem with this question … the more you can spend the more leads you can generate. And cheap leads don’t always equate to qualified leads.
But with that said, these five tactics if implemented in tandem can bring you a steady stream of highly qualified leads and for the most part they are absolutely free. That’s right; they won’t cost you anything but your own time.
1. Existing customers – The first place you should start in any lead generation campaign is with your own customers. Look for ways to get your free bonus reports, e-newsletter offer or savings and discount offers in front of them. All of these things will be delivered via e-mail.
Include a sign-up sheet at your point of purchase and make a point to tell every customer about it. Include information in your product catalog, in your fulfillment packages, on the phone when you’re taking new orders or doing customer service, in your advertising, in your hard copy newsletters, in your direct mail, in the signature line of all your business e-mail, on invoices, receipts, statements and on your letterhead. Look at every thing you do that ends up in front of a customer and incorporate a short punchy offer statement with your web address and incentive for existing customers to give you their e-mail address.
2. Referrals – After you’ve incorporated your lead gen offer into everything that ends up in front of your existing customers, look for ways to get those customers to then refer you new leads. Include a forward to a friend button on all e-mail correspondence. Include a reprint rights statement on your bonus reports (as long as they don’t remove your resource statement) so that customers are free to pass it along or offer it to their own customers and leads … encourage this and consider this free publicity. Reward customers that refer leads that become new customers … offer discounts on future purchases, free products or services, prizes or even cold hard cash.
3. Reciprocals and Swaps – This is a great way to get your lead gen offer in front of tons of qualified people. But, you must have generated at least a small list of your own for it to work properly. Look for synergistic opportunities to swap e-mails or e-newsletter ads with another business. Going back to my lawn care example, a lawn maintenance company could do a swap and e-mail an offer for a lawn care store. And in turn the lawn care store could promote the lawn maintenance company. Since they are not competing it is a win-win situation for both.
4. Forums and Blogs – This next tactic involves becoming a part of a web community and positioning yourself as an expert. My guess is that for every market and interest you will find an online community of people talking about it. Become a frequent visitor and participate in the conversations that take place. Offer good solid information to people seeking help and advice. Include a short tag line and your web address in your signature line. Drive people that are interested in finding out more information about you and your business to your squeeze page. Consider starting a blog of your own to further position yourself as an expert.
5. Online Article Directories – Now that you’ve written your free bonus report, get in the habit of writing short 300-500 word articles and post them to article directory sites. A quick Google search will turn up tons of them but, some of the most popular are www.ezinearticles.com and www.goarticles.com. Article directories allow you to post your articles for free under many different business categories. Publishers can then go to the article directories and pick up your article and reprint it to their own e-newsletters as long as they include your original resource information. If you offer good, informative and well written content, it is not uncommon to find your articles (and your contact information) reprinted all over the web. Make sure the web address you include in your resource statement takes people to your squeeze page so you can capture all those new leads.
Where you are in the stage of your business will determine where you can begin with these five tactics…
If you’re just starting out, start with blogs, forums and article directories. Make a list of everyone you know that works in your market and send them a free copy of your bonus report. Let them know you’re looking for feedback and appreciate their opinion. Ask them to forward the bonus report to people they think might benefit from it. After you’ve generated a small list of leads, then start to look for opportunities for reciprocals or swaps.
If your business already has an established customer base, then start with #1 and move down the list. The goal is to implement as many of these tactics as possible in tandem and keep them going … together they’ll start to generate hundreds, if not thousands of new leads for your business on an ongoing basis.
Hope that Helped the Contest!
The truth of the matter is this is by no means an exhaustive list of ways to generate free or very cheap leads. I’ll bet our savvy readers could come up with dozens of other ways to generate new leads on the cheap. And, we’d love to hear them… post a comment and give us your best cheap lead gen tactic. If I get enough quality suggestions, I’ll pick one and the winner can write an article explaining their tactic, with their own resource statement (can you say lead gen opportunity) … and I’ll publish it in an upcoming issue of In the ‘Net Trenches!
Until next week,
Julie McManus
Editor, In the ‘Net Trenches
THE TOTAL PACKAGE
And Web Media Goddess
P.S. Are you in the ‘net trenches? Do you need help? Send
me an e-mail to AskJulie@MakepeaceTotalPackage.com and
I just might answer your question in an upcoming issue.
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