Lead Generation Archives

Successful Advertising in 7 Easy Steps

I was reminded this week of Sir Alan Sugar’s comment “I have written books on advertising – Cheque Books” which probably sums up most business owners experience of advertising. It’s expensive!

Does it work?Well, did you know that a single advert, properly targeted, with the right headline and offer, costing say £200, can bring returns of perhaps 1000% or more within days?

Advertising can be one of the most cost effective ways to generate new enquiries. Or it can be a complete waste of money.

What makes a successful advert? Quite simply – one that gets results.

I advocate that EACH advert has to be accountable – i.e. if you place an advert it must do one of two things:

1. Make a sale

2. Get someone to contact you to find out more

And, if your advert doesn’t do either of those you are wasting money.

Take a look at most adverts. They are all very similar. They have a big headline (usually the company name), a great logo, they list the products or services on offer, there might be a photo or two, maybe a strap line – something like “you can always be assured of a great service”, “a superb range”, “free quote”, etc

Have a look at your local newspaper now – am I right?

I know that most of these adverts do not work. I know that, because when my clients start to monitor where their enquiries come from, they realise that most of their new enquiries are through referrals or from the sign writing on their vans. The sales they do get from the newspaper or magazine advertising do not even cover the cost of the adverts – let alone make a profit. Now, I’m not advocating that you go out and cancel all your adverts. However there are some simple steps you can take to make your advert more effective:

1. Before placing your advert, decide what you want your prospect to do. Do you want them to: buy something from you, call for more information or visit your website? An advert which is trying to sell something will be very different to one simply asking a prospect to call for more information.

2. Your entire advert should be devoted to getting your prospect to take the next step. You need to give them all the information they need to do so. If you want the prospect to buy something you need to highlight all the benefits of your product or service, and overcome all the likely objections so that they can make an informed decision. Won’t it be too wordy? Well, would you tell a sales person to go and visit a prospect and say you’ve got 20 seconds to persuade this person to buy your product? No, of course not, you wouldn’t put him or her under that much pressure. So why put yourself under that pressure in trying to sell something in a tiny advert.

3. People do not buy newspapers or magazines to read the adverts – they buy them for the news and articles. The more your advert looks like an editorial feature – the more it will be read. So disguise your advert – make it look like a news article.

4. Try a 2 step approach. Advertising can be very expensive – so don’t even attempt to sell in a tiny advert – offer your prospect some free information in exchange for contact details – e.g.:

Homeowners Decorating Guide. For your FREE guide to choosing colour combinations of paint, tiles and wall paper Visit www…

How to sell your house faster and for more money? Call 0800 … for your free report and audio CD.

Then, when you send your free information – include your sales literature detailing all the benefits of your product or service. You now have a qualified lead and have plenty of time and opportunity to follow up and make a sale.

5. Have a compelling headline – your company name is not a headline – people don’t care what you are called or how long you have been in business – they just want to know what you can do for them. Your headline should be the biggest benefit you offer prospective customers.

6. Test & Monitor each and every advert you run. Most businesses don’t monitor their adverts or sales promotions – they continue to run the same advert over and over – regardless of whether it pulls for them. Did you know that a change in headline has been tested to increase the response of an ad by up to nineteen times?

7. Once you’ve found an advert which works continue to run it until it stops generating a profit. Don’t stop it just because you’re bored with it and want to change it. Remember that you may see your advert every day – but your prospects are seeing it for the first time.

There you have it – 7 steps to successful advertising. Good luck.

Click this link to get my FREE E-Book to tie it all together!

Local small businesses have shoestring advertising budgets and can’t afford to spend thousands of dollars on yellow page advertising or on Google pay-per-click Ads. So here are four free advertising tips to help you save thousands of dollars a months and still get more value from each dollar you spend.

You can use these Four free advertising Tips as much and as 

you need to.

Free Online Advertising Tip #1 – Register for a free http://104inc.com business account .

When you register you can take advantage of their ”Free” basic listing.  This will allow your business to be listed on over 2000+ websites for free.  Registering on 104inc.com alone will help your website/store increase online and foot traffic; generate quality leads from targeted local customers.  They also offer 45 day free trial of the upgraded package if you fully want to take advantage of their powerful lead generating tools.

Free Online Advertising Tip #2 – Send a press release or newsletter.

You always have the opportunity to write a newsletter or press releases monthly to promote your business.  This is one of the best free advertising tips for you to take advantage of.

This monthly newsletter or press release can be mailed or e-mailed to your customers and update them on a unique product or service you offer.

Make your release interesting and offer discounts or sales to

your business clients.

People love success stories so make sure to spotlight a success story from the past month or quarter.  You might talk about a new product or a client who found success using your product or service.

Then once it is finished, you can submit it to local

news outlets or you can publish it online.

The best place to release your story is by using the website at http://104News.com.  When you visit the site click on “feedback” on the top right hand side of the website and submit your story.

These first two tips will really help in your quest for free online advertising.

Free Online Advertising Tip #3 – Write an article.

This is the most commonly used free online advertising

tips because it simple and works very well.

There are hundreds of places you can post your articles online on a variety of topics.

All you have to do is find a few that deal with your business.  You can find a complete list of domains at 104Articles.com then click on the “tab” (More 104 Sites).

Then you simply write up a 100-400 word article and submit

it to the editors of your chosen 104Articles.com or any other website in the 104inc community.

You will be able to put a link to your website at the end

of your article or the link to your free advertisement profile at 104inc.com (refer to free online advertising tip #1 to set up a profile).

This is where you will put your contact information for

your business.

This is a favorite of the free advertising tips and has

been used for years by many successful small and large businesses.

Free Online Advertising Tip #4 – Use your vehicle.

One of the most unused free advertising tips is by using

your cars, trucks or vans to advertise your small business.

If you think about it, you or your employees drive around for many different reasons.  If you have a sign or window sticker, you can attract many new potential clients without much effort.

All you need to do is put your company logo on a license

plate or just place a window sticker at the rear of your vehicle.

Please make sure that your logo and contact information is clear and simple.  You need to make sure to put this window sticker where it easily can be seen.

One of the benefits of advertising with you car is the potential tax deductions involved.  Make sure to talk to your tax advisor or visit 104Accountant.com to find one near you.

Hope I have been able to save you some money with these free advertising

tips.

Put them to use and save as much money as you can!

Network marketing is a system in which marketing messages are transmitted through a network of distributors. Each person in the network is a marketer who attempts to find customers as well as other network marketers to expand the marketing net.

The compensation system in the network marketing is such that a network marketer earns not only from sales initiated by him but also from sales brought in by his sponsored network marketers. Therefore the sponsor has a vested interest to see that his sponsored networkers perform well.

Network marketing is also known as relationship marketing or referral marketing. For a network marketer the most important part of his business is recruiting new network marketers or prospects and ensuring that they are able to earn well from the program.

How can a network marketer ensure that more and more prospects join his business?

Here are some tips on prospecting effectively.

1.Shift your Focus from Yourself to Your Prospect. This is perhaps the most important step and calls for a basic change in the mindset. Every network marketer wants to earn and grow his business. However, while communicating with your prospect you should completely forget about your earnings. Instead, you should only think of helping your prospect to earn for himself.

2.Build a Rapport. Building a rapport is the basic prospecting principle. This opens up the prospect and establishes a channel of communication. Present yourself as a friend and not as a salesman.

3.Understand What Motivates the Prospect. Any prospect will be inclined to join network marketing business only in the hope of meeting his unfulfilled desires. He may be looking for financial security, additional income, freedom from daily grind, business ownership and so on. While communicating with your prospect you should try and understand rather quickly what he is looking for and what motivates him. When you focus on your prospect rather than on your business you are in a better frame of mind to get this information.

4.Listen to Your Prospect. It is important to listen to the prospect in order to understand him. As a general rule you should allow your prospect to speak for more than three-fourth of the time.

5.Ask Open-Ended Questions. This is a way to encourage your prospect to speak. Without being offensive you can ask open-ended questions to keep the interaction going, such as why, what, where, when. Your prospect will feel more involved.

6.Match Expectations of the Prospect to Your Offer. Ask yourself honestly this question. Can your offer be used to satisfy the expectations of the prospect? If yes, then you may be on the right track. Just show the prospect how your program is going to help him.

7.Respect the Decision of the Prospect. The prospect will make decisions based on his reasons, not yours. There is no point in trying to force your decision on him. Respect his decisions and you will remain friends even if he does not join you immediately.

8.Build Credibility. Be honest, whatever may be the outcome of your interaction. Your prospect should develop faith in you and trust you to help him in growing his business.

9.Contact the Prospect Frequently. If a prospect is non-committal or even if he says no first time it does not necessarily mean no. He may later decide to join you provided you remain in contact with him. This is particularly true in email marketing where prospects are convinced enough to join the program only after being reminded several times.

There you have the clue to successful prospecting.

Network marketing provides one of the best opportunities not only for massive earnings but also for personal development. Your life is transformed and you get the power to transform lives of other people. You get a deep satisfaction when you are able to give another person a life changing experience. All you need to do is develop a proper mindset and you are on your way to prosperity.

Youtube Video Codes Provide Marketing Flexibility

In the beginning of the Internet, the only way to customize a website was using only text and pictures. Thanks to the rapid development of the Internet and the fact that costs for server space are lower in comparison to previous periods, video is the new feature that the Internet has to offer. Of course, let’s not forget that the Internet connections are very rapid nowadays so you won’t have any problems loading a certain video.

Take for example YouTube, where you will find lots of videos about everything; think about a topic, I’m certain you will find what you are looking for there. On YouTube you have the possibility to upload your videos and share them with the world; this is the way it has become so popular. But, some people want more than that: they want to showcase video content on their personal websites; they want to find out how they can do it, the solution is: using video codes. 

For example, you have the possibility to search for any video you can think of from YouTube throughout your website and after that get the related codes for those videos so that you can download them to your personal computer in order to see these videos. Blogs are the new thing on the Internet. These blogs are for people who want to write about every topic you could think of, they gossip and also they like to share certain files with other people. When it comes down to sharing videos, YouTube Video Codes will be your perfect solution. It is a very simple procedure: all you have to do is create a playlist of your favorite YouTube videos using this website which offers these services. After that you have the possibility to generate a 3D playlist for others to view.

There are different types of playlists and it all depends on where you will use these playlists. You have the possibility to display your video playlist via text or better, you can use large 3D image or flash links. Such links can easily be used on blogs, forums and other places. Due to the fact that everything is free on YouTube, there are unlimited ways to benefit from what YouTube offers, you can use videos in different ways, and it is up to you what you want to do with these videos.

For those who have blogs, YouTube video codes offer the perfect way for displaying content so that the visitors can see without having to upload these videos on your personal server. Video playlists have a big advance: you can insert as many videos as you want, there are no limitations, restrictions. These videos are the best alternative in comparison to big graphic description followed by text. In a lot of cases, big graphic descriptions and text explain a simple process, a major fuss for nothing if you ask me; uploading videos on YouTube and creating a playlist and after that using simple video codes you will grant access to your users which will visualize your videos and get the whole idea without having to read a very large and boring text. In other words, if you want to express something don’t do it using pictures and text, do it using videos.

As you can see, using YouTube video codes will give your blog, website, forum a new and dynamic look. The best thing about YouTube is that it is absolutely free, everybody can use it. Another great advantage about video codes is that they are very easy to use; this is why YouTube video codes are becoming more and more popular.

Click this link to download my Free Ebook on How to Generate Qualified – Motivated FREE Leads!

With over 25 million members, LinkedIn has grown to become a very powerful business and career management tool. Many are using it, but few have really optimized its value. Here are ten tips for creating a strong online presence.

1. Take the time to create a robust profile. Write a summary section that clearly outlines your personal brand and value add and gets readers jazzed up about what you do. Build out the specialties section and make it keyword rich and industry relevant. Many profiles on LinkedIn are just a shell with a name and an abbreviated chronology. You would never submit a resume to a potential employer that only listed employment, so why would you use this tactic on-line when your information is available for millions of people to see? 

2. Use the endorsements feature to request and offer endorsements. People are more likely to contact you if you can prove that others have been satisfied with your work, product, or services. Adding endorsements can expedite the decision making process.

3. Keep your profile up to date. People who use LinkedIn for a job search campaign often abandon the tool after they find new employment. By keeping your information up to date, you are more likely to keep your network strong and be able to reciprocate to others.

4. Educate your connections. If people join LinkedIn and don?t invite others, they won?t get as much out of the tool and will remain several degrees apart from the people they want to meet.

5. LinkedIn doesn?t replace traditional networking, it facilitates it. Always supplement your on-line efforts with face-to-face networking.

6. Use the questions and answers feature to start conversations, create community, and position yourself as a subject matter expert. By answering questions, you are simultaneously endorsing your candidacy and expertise.

7. Don?t add a connection that you would not feel comfortable introducing to someone already in your network. Having 500 connections doesn?t have much value if you can?t share the love.

8. Don?t use the invitation to connect templates. They lack authenticity and are inferior when compared to a personalized message from you.

9. Create a public profile. This is an easy way to start building an on-line presence for yourself, since LinkedIn ranks high in the search engines. Add a vanity URL for greater differentiation.

10. Take advantage of resources that can help you optimize your Linked In profile including: http://www.linkedintelligence.com/ http://blog.linkedin.com/ http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/01/linkedin_profil.html http://www.happyabout.info/linkedinhelp.php http://www.happyabout.info/onlinenetworking.php

You can keep your LinkedIn presence healthy and strong by reviewing and updating the content frequently, sending and accepting new invitations, offering and requesting endorsements, and posing and answering questions. Try to spend at least 30 minutes per week managing your LinkedIn presence. Your persistence will pay off.

Click this link to get my Free ebook

 

Lead generation is the first step to make a sale. Sellers contact their potential clients to market their products and services and hopefully close a deal.

Here’s how you can boost the number of your leads:

1. Plan ahead. As a marketer, you need to have a solid plan of action as to how you can generate sales leads for your business. Take a day or two and figure out all the things that you need to do so you can connect to as many interested parties as much as possible. Plan each of your days and have specific tasks. By doing so, you’ll make the whole process well-guided and highly targeted.

2. Cold calling. Although a lot of people dislike doing cold calling, it has been proven that it is still one of the best ways to generate leads. You can make this work to your advantage if you know how cold calls should be executed. Remember, you cannot sound too pushy or you’ll drive your prospects to hang up on you. Prepare a compelling sales presentation script that can capture the attention of your target market.

3. Host free teleseminars. Potential buyers simply love getting information for free. Use this to your advantage by hosting free teleseminars that your potential clients can attend. The key to convert your attendees to buying customers is to help them solve one of their pressing issues or offer them with information that they can use in improving the quality of their lives. Once you do, you’ll be able to earn their trust and you’ll easily be able to convince them to do business with you in the long run.

4. Direct mailing. Do your research and obtain the home or business address of your target market. Send these people a letter that is-written and persuasive. Your letters must include a bullet list of all the features and benefits that your products can offer. In addition, you letter must include several ways to contact you should your prospects get interested on what you offer.

5. Website. You can generate enormous leads using your own website. For best results, I recommend that you make it highly informative and content-rich. Make sure that it speaks volume about your expertise to easily impress your prospects. It would also help if you can make it visually appealing and interactive to convince your visitors to stay a little longer.

Leads are crucial for the survival of any business. Buying high quality sales leads or using conventional methods to identify leads can be very time consuming and expensive. Reports suggest that many companies buy leads by running Cost Per Action costing between $0.50 to $30 per lead. Some of these leads are not even qualified leads, they are just made up characters created by some rogue marketers. However, using automated lead generation systems can help you avoid spending thousands of dollars on CPA, Media Buying and Listbuilding. Automated lead generation systems can help you generate your own sales leads and garner a considerable number of sales. It enables you to automatically collect vital information about your potential customers, such as the prospect’s name, address, telephone number and email address. Moreover, employing an automated system can help you save a lot of your time, effort and money. You no longer need to make cold calls or go knocking on each door. Automated Lead Generation: How to Generate Leads Automatically

Two popular techniques used for automated lead generation are:

* Article Marketing: Start investing in article writing, rewriting and submissions. Use the best version of the article on your own website. Then post the rewrites across multiple websites, network of article directories and blog directories. You may use a software package that enables you to upload the articles in high ranking Web2.0 websites. Auto Traffic Monopoly allows you to post your content in up to seven Web 2.0 websites in less than 3 minutes.

* Advertising Campaigns: Another way for automating sales leads is to start running an online advertisement campaign. You can run an ad campaign with Google Ad Words. You just need to sign up for an account and follow the basic steps to set up your account. You can start an ad campaign with Google Ad Words for as little as $10 per month.

When the user clicks on your advertisement, it directs him to your website. You may direct these clicks to a sign-up form that collects contact info and asks for permission for future mailing. Moreover, you may use an auto responder to send out emails to your prospects.

Also, using special tracking software to track the internet activity of your prospects can help you collect more information about them and generate more leads.