Many small business owners and professional services firms have the erroneous belief that if they put up a three or four page web site that duplicates their press kit they will instantly generate new internet leads for their business. Generating leads for a business is not quite so easy or so hands-free. But it also is not advanced calculus.
If you want to get internet leads to grow your business you need a marketing plan, a web site that will convert leads into customers, an investment of time and effort or an employee with the skills to do the work, and a process to lead people from hearing about you to becoming your customers and staying customers.
We live in a time when people want and expect information. They will visit your web site and give you contact information and permission to contact them only if you offer the information they need in a format they want. This means that part of your internet leads strategy must include a content strategy. You must decide what kind of content you can offer and how you will package it. They you must decide whether to offer it free or for a price. Finally you need to decide where you will promote that content package and how you will deliver it to the people who meet your qualifications.
Among the activities that will bring new internet leads to your web site are:
- active social networking
- article publishing
- media releases
- a web site created with the customer in mind
- appearing on the first page of relevant search results
- video content (if appropriate)
- properly structured web site.
- email marketing strategy
- Adwords and online advertising
- lead nurturing process
Whether you launch a strategy to get internet leads or you decide to buy internet leads from one of the companies that sells lists of leads, you need to have everything else in place first – your attractive offer, quality content, information about the products or services you offer, and a way to move people through the buying cycle.
If you own a small business or professional and want to learn more about lead generation, view the free video, “How Article Promotion Can Send 25,000 Visitors to Your Site Every Month – For Free.”