So who else needs more leads for their small business? You? Do you know how to attract the best leads?
Commonly, we get small business owners saying I need a new website… my website stinks. And then, once we take a look, we often respond, “Why? How is the website supposed to generate leads if no one visits it?”
Bottom line… The main source of sustenance for a website is traffic. Without traffic, the website does nothing. It remains just another best-kept secret.
So what follows are what I consider my four staples of lead generation strategies on how to attract the best leads.
Remember… No leads = No Sales… No Sales = No Business!
Let’s get started.
➀ Have a Formal Referral Marketing Strategy
You’ve probably heard this a million times. I’ll tell you, though, it’s one of the most underutilized (and powerful) ways of attracting new leads.
How do you get them?
You earn them and then you ask for them! Ask your clients for referrals. Ask your friends for referrals. Ask anybody who knows, likes, or trusts you for referrals. It’s key that you get them.
Why? Because what you will find is that the people you land as Clients this way typically end up being better a better fit for you. It is what it is. I can’t explain it. It just is.
So ask… and ask… and ask again. Make asking for referrals a regular practice.
At least you know that if you’re the one serving them, you know the level of service they will get. You can’t vouch for that crazy person who will give them less than stellar service, or at least not to the degree of service you would have given them.
Let's One-up Your Referral Marketing Game
An even better approach, automate the process of asking. This formalizes the process significantly and increases its result.
Tools like Infusionsoft and Keap are perfect for that task.
Why automate? Simple. If you leave it up to humans like us, we forget. We’re bombarded with other things going on in our lives, and we forget… “Oh, I should have asked Susie for a referral.” Automate!
Hit me up here, and we’ll demo it for you!
➁ Have An SEO Strategy
In my opinion, every single business has to have an SEO strategy… period! And a great SEO strategy takes into consideration both where SEO is going as well as where it’s been.
SEO is not the same as it was five years ago. However, there are some things that you may still want to follow suit with.
For instance, you need to know what those keyword phrases are that you want to show up for. What do you want to be known for? So, I recommend you do the following:
- Find your top five to seven keyword phrases
- Create marketing that revolves around them.
Proper SEO creates a natural attraction that pulls the leads in. We call this kind of traffic organic traffic.
And As For The Search Engines?
Search engines like Google, DuckDuckGo, and Bing can help facilitate that process. First, however, you’ve got to show them that you’ve got your SEO strategy down. Prove that you know what you’re doing… at least a little bit. That ‘little bit’ will likely be better than most, as most small businesses tend to do very little here.
➂ Have A Content Marketing Strategy
A content marketing strategy tends to work best once you’ve got the SEO strategy in place. Because at this point, you likely know who/what you are targeting and where the opportunities lie.
Content marketing is huge!
What do I mean by that? I mean blog posts... social media posts… PR type stuff: ebooks, books, videos, or any content you are publishing on the Internet… whether free or paid.
To be effective with your content, you will need a strategy.
Better Strategy = Better Results!
Please don’t follow the follower and proceed to do what most people do, which is vomit all over Facebook. C’mon, man, how many people have done it. It simply doesn’t work. So don’t waste your time. You might as well not even bother.
Whatever you are going to do, either do it great or don’t do it. Have a strategy… create a plan… put together an editorial calendar so you know the 5 W’s + 1 (Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How)… and take massive action. This is how to attract the best leads!
Yes, I know it can sound daunting. Need help? There are so many great resources to learn about generating leads using content marketing. Just Google the phrase ‘content marketing.’ You’ll find a ton of resources for it.
➃ Have A Paid Advertising Strategy
First, We Eliminate The Hang-up Here
Ahh, the Paid Advertising strategy!
This is one wherein my opinion. Small business owners tend to get a bit too frugal. They tend not to want to spend money on marketing. Why? After logging well over 10,000 hours coaching small business owners, it has become clear that they tend to see it as an expense, not an investment. So let’s clear that up once and for all.
Paid advertising is an investment, folks. It doesn’t matter how much you spend; it only matters how much that investment makes you… your ROI.
If you had a machine that spits out five in return every time you insert a dollar bill into it, wouldn’t you do it? I don’t know about you, but I would operate that cash machine all day.
That’s kind of like paid advertising… when it is done correctly, I might add. Get help on this one, folks!
Now Let's Dig In
Two tried and true places for paid advertising… Facebook / Instagram and Google Ads. Yes, there are plenty of others; however, these two rocks!
Traffic isn’t difficult to get. But, you have to be willing to invest the money to get it. These sites are happy to send eyeballs in your direction. But, again, you have to be willing to pay for it.
And… know your numbers! At a minimum, know the following:
- What’s the lifetime value of a Client for me?
- How much can I afford to spend or invest in getting a new Client?
- How many leads does it take to gain 1 Client?
Let's recap Before I Let You Go
So to recap, here are my four best marketing strategies to attract leads… one’s that fit the most significant cross-section of small business:
- Referral Marketing
- SEO
- Content Marketing
- Paid Advertising
And once again, no, they’re not easy. However, they are very doable. We are here for you if needed. Remember, lead generation is an investment in YOU!
Want To View The Original Video?
Yes, I’m several years younger with a bit more hair however, the video is still very relevant. What’s great here is that many years later, we are still promoting the same strategies. Why? Because they have proven to work!
Dean
As always your video pieces are upbeat and have good useful information. Thank you! Have a great Labor Day Weekend. Jon
Thanks Jon! I hope all is well in your world!