The bottom line is that you need to operate on LinkedIn as you would in the real world. Think of LinkedIn as just a business after hours ... one that has millions of people, goes 24-7, and allows you to learn about prospects before you connect. So do the same. Connect with new people. Reconnect with those you already know. But in all cases, find ways to help others. If you do those things (and are patient ... which is key), things will come your way.
To be more specific ......
1) Really understand who your target market is, so you can recognise them when you find them.
2) Really understand what it is you are offering to your target market - in terms of benefits, not features, so that they can recognise you when they find you.
3) Make yourself 'findable' by your target market:
a) Ensure your profile reflects both of these - who you are, what you are about, what you are offering and who you want to work with - with all the technical details Sian gives - keywords, call to action etc.
b) Participate honestly and fully in groups where you are likely to 'meet' your target market, or they are likely to 'meet' you.
3) Go looking for leads yourself. If you really know who you are looking for, and you are confident in what you can offer them, then use LinkedIn search capabilities to find leads for yourself.
Search for companies, find people you know at that company (or who know people you know - this is why you connect with people you 'don't know'), Find the groups they belong to. Make contact, start proper and honest conversations, send them a direct message.
If you show that you are really caring about your prospect and not just spamming them, then this will pay off.
Of course all of this takes effort and more importantly time .... so take the time to get it right.
Showing posts with label Generating Leads. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Generating Leads. Show all posts
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Monday, December 12, 2011
Tips For Generating Sales Leads
Do you have a marketing budget? That will help you separate the 'possible' from the 'probable'.
Bear in mind that you don't need leads; you need customers. If you just want leads, go to the library and get a local business directory. That'll have lots of names, positions and telephone numbers - there's your leads, now hit the phone and call them.
If you want customers, the first thing you should do is define who your customer is - and who he isn't. For example, we get a lot of calls from people who have an idea for starting a business, and want us to develop their website. We pass on those - our customer profile is a small/medium marketing agency with third-party clients.
We know who we want to contact, so we go to the places they congregate. If you want to hunt ducks, you go to a duckpond, not a local zoo; if you want to find a lion, don't bother looking around the duckpond. Guess what you'll find at a local Chamber of Commerce?
Talk to your customers about things that interest them - giving your spin on it, of course. Get involved in the general conversation, get known for being the expert in your field, and the customers will come.
Bear in mind that you don't need leads; you need customers. If you just want leads, go to the library and get a local business directory. That'll have lots of names, positions and telephone numbers - there's your leads, now hit the phone and call them.
If you want customers, the first thing you should do is define who your customer is - and who he isn't. For example, we get a lot of calls from people who have an idea for starting a business, and want us to develop their website. We pass on those - our customer profile is a small/medium marketing agency with third-party clients.
We know who we want to contact, so we go to the places they congregate. If you want to hunt ducks, you go to a duckpond, not a local zoo; if you want to find a lion, don't bother looking around the duckpond. Guess what you'll find at a local Chamber of Commerce?
Talk to your customers about things that interest them - giving your spin on it, of course. Get involved in the general conversation, get known for being the expert in your field, and the customers will come.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Generating Leads For A Small Business
Generating qualified leads is one of the most challenging processes you can go through in sales. It can be frustrating.
here's a few ideas to mull over for generating leads for your small business ....
• Website - Keep your business website clean, working correctly, and the content fresh. Make sure your Contact Us function works well. Test it. Test it again and regularly. Your website is your business face to the world. Keep it fresh and clean.
• SEO – Make sure to stay up on Search Engine Optimization techniques, which seem to shift over time. Keep your webmaster up-to-date on the latest industry key words that might drive leads on your website. Check your web pages for position in a Google search every so often. Don’t let SEO go stale.
• Conferences – Face-to-face discussions at tradeshows can generate some of the most qualified leads possible. But this can be expensive and is limited to the people you can attract to your booth. Booth graphics, give-aways, and pre-show marketing can help drive those leads. It’s also important to pick the appropriate venue and audience for your product.
• Linked-In – LI is ripe with leads. If you link-in with the right contact in an industry his or her contacts can be just the leads you’re looking for. This requires looking through your connections’ connection lists (if its public.) Pay attention to who’s linking with whom. Occasionally go through the suggested connection list. And you can join groups on LinkedIn that share common business interests. These group notifications can get overwhelming so develop as system to use them to your advantage. There is also an Answers feature that lets you create and publish interesting questions that might develop leads. Make sure your LI profile has key words that reflect your products, services, and target markets. Always keep your profile clean, professional, and with pertinent content to attract potential leads.
• Buy Lists - Purchase an email or direct mail list in an industry. This process has many variations, because privacy is of primary concern to people on-line. Usually these vendors handle your direct or email messaging for you, so you don’t actually get to keep the list unless someone responds to your message.
• News - Pay attention to news articles related to your customers, products, market or key issues within your industry. Many of these articles will note companies or even decision makers at companies that you may want to target. Get in the habit of quickly scanning articles for key contacts.
• Search Engine - Google or use other search engines to uncover lists of names. Attendee lists, target industry group memberships, or other sources. Google key customers to determine their competitors – your future customers. Use Google Alerts to comb the web news for key business issues.
• Network – Call key players in your target industries and ask them about their business. Tell them what you doing or thinking about and take notes. Usually, if you’re gentle and respectful, they will share some key nuggets and perhaps even list some key contacts. Call or email people you know to share key pieces of information about common business issues. You end up getting more than you give. And always recommend the good service people you know because the favor will be returned. Go to social media events for b2b crowds. Bring business cards, introduce yourself, and have a conversation. Follow-up with everyone you meet with a thank you email and a LinkedIn invitation.
• Advertise – Emailing or direct mailing a list is one way. Banner ads on target industry web sites can work. Make sure you have a viable, comfortable landing page that makes lead feel like they’ve come to the right place – instantly. Collect key contact info at all costs. Print Ads may be effective, but they are very expensive and difficult, if not impossible to track.
If you have other suggestions please feel to reply as a comment ....
here's a few ideas to mull over for generating leads for your small business ....
• Website - Keep your business website clean, working correctly, and the content fresh. Make sure your Contact Us function works well. Test it. Test it again and regularly. Your website is your business face to the world. Keep it fresh and clean.
• SEO – Make sure to stay up on Search Engine Optimization techniques, which seem to shift over time. Keep your webmaster up-to-date on the latest industry key words that might drive leads on your website. Check your web pages for position in a Google search every so often. Don’t let SEO go stale.
• Conferences – Face-to-face discussions at tradeshows can generate some of the most qualified leads possible. But this can be expensive and is limited to the people you can attract to your booth. Booth graphics, give-aways, and pre-show marketing can help drive those leads. It’s also important to pick the appropriate venue and audience for your product.
• Linked-In – LI is ripe with leads. If you link-in with the right contact in an industry his or her contacts can be just the leads you’re looking for. This requires looking through your connections’ connection lists (if its public.) Pay attention to who’s linking with whom. Occasionally go through the suggested connection list. And you can join groups on LinkedIn that share common business interests. These group notifications can get overwhelming so develop as system to use them to your advantage. There is also an Answers feature that lets you create and publish interesting questions that might develop leads. Make sure your LI profile has key words that reflect your products, services, and target markets. Always keep your profile clean, professional, and with pertinent content to attract potential leads.
• Buy Lists - Purchase an email or direct mail list in an industry. This process has many variations, because privacy is of primary concern to people on-line. Usually these vendors handle your direct or email messaging for you, so you don’t actually get to keep the list unless someone responds to your message.
• News - Pay attention to news articles related to your customers, products, market or key issues within your industry. Many of these articles will note companies or even decision makers at companies that you may want to target. Get in the habit of quickly scanning articles for key contacts.
• Search Engine - Google or use other search engines to uncover lists of names. Attendee lists, target industry group memberships, or other sources. Google key customers to determine their competitors – your future customers. Use Google Alerts to comb the web news for key business issues.
• Network – Call key players in your target industries and ask them about their business. Tell them what you doing or thinking about and take notes. Usually, if you’re gentle and respectful, they will share some key nuggets and perhaps even list some key contacts. Call or email people you know to share key pieces of information about common business issues. You end up getting more than you give. And always recommend the good service people you know because the favor will be returned. Go to social media events for b2b crowds. Bring business cards, introduce yourself, and have a conversation. Follow-up with everyone you meet with a thank you email and a LinkedIn invitation.
• Advertise – Emailing or direct mailing a list is one way. Banner ads on target industry web sites can work. Make sure you have a viable, comfortable landing page that makes lead feel like they’ve come to the right place – instantly. Collect key contact info at all costs. Print Ads may be effective, but they are very expensive and difficult, if not impossible to track.
If you have other suggestions please feel to reply as a comment ....
Friday, June 17, 2011
I told them why they should buy but nobody bought-Why?
What you think folks want and the reasons you offer to attract paying customers are often incorrect and unfortunately fail in its objective because of those assumptions you have made.
Missing this mark is preventable as is getting it right very probable with a little up front homework. You can, with a few easy steps and ways of thinking get your messaging right so it does connect with and gain customers.
Try these steps and ways of thinking so you can,when reaching out, get paying Customers
1. People do things for their reason's not yours
If you have not done the in depth homework to see how a target audience thinks, what it cares about and how to link what you want to what they want so joining in makes sense, you probably will be disappointed in your results.
2. Its hard to “hear” folks with a background in messaging and connecting for getting results trying to tell you that.
That's because your Belief in your direction is so strong in you that you think that everyone will agree and want to join in. You get blinded by that belief and it prevents you from being objective about how best to get followers and participants.
Even hearing the communication "experts" saying things like "folks just do not care about that" referring to your pet project, being so caught up in the value of your idea, you resist their expert advice.
Its just too hard on you and your deep seeded beliefs, values to accept what they say.
3. You can not just wish things into reality
If the audience has or sees no real buy in nor reason that, to them, resonates and says "that's me-that's exactly what I need to do and I am doing it" your message and recruiting efforts will fail.
There's just to many "you need to do this" messages bombarding us so its critical that you do what is suggested in this step in the way you reach out to folks.
4. Looking at our core traits and what we are really good at, we should see what we are good at and not good at and accept it. Then farm out what we are not good at to someone who is.
If we are not marketing types and we want our idea to connect, get the marketing type to figure out how to do that.
5. Its not ego, its pragmatism that should govern how you and your strengths and weaknesses are played out in trying to make something happen.
Why go it alone when you don't have to?
Why risk failure trying to do what you know you are not good at, especially something as important as gaining willing participants?
This is especially true when you want to influence people, their thoughts, manage your messaging so you do gain traction for your idea or project amongst the many different types of audiences out there.
Knowing precisely how to do this with differing approaches that resonate with differing target audiences is how you get to "yes, that's exactly what I need and I want to do it" from the members of the target audiences you have identified as folks who could benefit from participating.
If you are not good at that, be brutally honest and let someone who is great at that help you by doing that part for you.
Failure is a learning experience but you can, especially if you want to create active participation in something, avoid failure if you can adopt the thinking of what's been suggested here in this post.
And remember very simple but useful way of thinking as you try to go and gain joiners and participants:
- 1."People do things for their reason's not yours
- 2. Imagine the prospect or target audience has a sign on their forehead that says so what!" ( copywrite-Neil Licht, Axioms for success in selling, motivating and getting to yes)
Living those two axioms when charting connecting, influencing and getting participants goes a long way to realizing success for gaining acceptance of your idea,event It goes a long way for you in getting folks to participate and willingly join in with your "vision" and, for their reasons, not yours, make it theirs as well.
For more insights from colleagues and others just like you who "sit in your seat" Please join into the discussion and group on this site called "acquiring Paying Customers" 
and lets share thoughts on how to do this in the face of our on line, web and social media "everything's a commodity" sourcing mentality.
Regards, Neil Licht. CEO Hereweare, Chief Advisor Acquiring Paying Customers group
Web Page http://www.wix.com/ndlicht/hereweare
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Small Business Tip ..... Developing A Checklist For Lead Generation
For sake of discussion some things you might include on such a check list are:
1) Cold Calling
2) Email Campaign
3) Flyers
3) Direct Email
4) Networking (e.g. LinkedIn , Plaxo)
5) Connecting through blogs, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook (social media marketing)
6) SEO (optimizing your company website for search engine visibility)
7) Subscribing to Internet Directories (e.g Eguide, Hotfrog ..... Etc)
Unfortunately, developing or using a checklist for lead generation leads to the mistaken belief that if you simply perform the steps on the list, you will achieve the desired outcome. In my opinion, while each of the items listed may be reasonable in the right business setting, you may be trying to spread yourself too thin by gambling in a numbers game.
Instead .....
Ask yourself what you and your staff will do with these alleged leads. Who are these people? Who are you trying to reach?
Left off of the above example (on purpose to illustrate a point) .... are two of the most proven approaches to new business: referrals and repeat clients.
Is your business focused on meeting your existing clients' needs? Is your entire staff on board with this approach? If a new client does come to you because of an email newsletter or a Google search, how will they be treated? Is that truly the kind of customer you are seeking -- and are you developing a relationship or a quick sale?
I can't emphasize enough the importance of focusing on your core market. If you don't know your market well enough to trim your list down to just a few methods, you may want to spend more time on that research first. Then, focus on ways to present useful information to that select audience. Perhaps it really is email, but consider in-person presentations, articles, and other means that reflect how your ideal client will best receive it.
For a complete resource on Lead Generation and a multi-modal approach I recommend you read: "Lead Generation for the Complex Sale" by Brian Carroll, CEO InTouch, Inc ... McGraw Hill 2006.
Lead Generation Book
=====================
1) Cold Calling
2) Email Campaign
3) Flyers
3) Direct Email
4) Networking (e.g. LinkedIn , Plaxo)
5) Connecting through blogs, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook (social media marketing)
6) SEO (optimizing your company website for search engine visibility)
7) Subscribing to Internet Directories (e.g Eguide, Hotfrog ..... Etc)
Unfortunately, developing or using a checklist for lead generation leads to the mistaken belief that if you simply perform the steps on the list, you will achieve the desired outcome. In my opinion, while each of the items listed may be reasonable in the right business setting, you may be trying to spread yourself too thin by gambling in a numbers game.
Instead .....
Ask yourself what you and your staff will do with these alleged leads. Who are these people? Who are you trying to reach?
Left off of the above example (on purpose to illustrate a point) .... are two of the most proven approaches to new business: referrals and repeat clients.
Is your business focused on meeting your existing clients' needs? Is your entire staff on board with this approach? If a new client does come to you because of an email newsletter or a Google search, how will they be treated? Is that truly the kind of customer you are seeking -- and are you developing a relationship or a quick sale?
I can't emphasize enough the importance of focusing on your core market. If you don't know your market well enough to trim your list down to just a few methods, you may want to spend more time on that research first. Then, focus on ways to present useful information to that select audience. Perhaps it really is email, but consider in-person presentations, articles, and other means that reflect how your ideal client will best receive it.
For a complete resource on Lead Generation and a multi-modal approach I recommend you read: "Lead Generation for the Complex Sale" by Brian Carroll, CEO InTouch, Inc ... McGraw Hill 2006.
Lead Generation Book
=====================
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