If you are an independent professional or small business owner, building the
list of prospects you market to should be one of your core marketing
activities. The more people who are interested in your products and
services, the better your chances of growing your sales.
(article continued below ...)
Wouldn't you like to have the contact information for another thousand or
ten thousand prospects for your products and services?
Obviously you want to choose promotional strategies that pay for
themselves. If an ad costs a thousand dollars and brings in fifteen hundred
dollars of business, you've made money. On the other hand if you pay a
hundred dollars for a mi1lion e*mail addresses and they don't generate any
business you've lost money. In addition you'll be stuck dealing with all
those people whose email address you'll need to delete from your system.
How should you spend your time and money to build a list of highly
qualified leads? Here's an overview of common lead generation strategies.
Mailing Lists: Email, Fax and Snail Mail
You can buy hundreds or millions of names to e*mail, fax to or mail to
for just pennies per name. Yes, ten thousand or a million people could get
your marketing message, but if they are not your target market, it won't
help you a bit and instead could create a negative impression.
Some services like PostmasterDirect.com sell one-time use of lists
they've built through opt in sign-ups. These lists are composed of people
who've chosen to receive emails on selected topics. When you have
PostmasterDirect.com send your mailing to this list, you won't be spamming
anyone and there is an increased likelihood the recipients will read your
email.
The problem is that just because people on the list signed up for free
information doesn't mean they are interested in your particular service or
product. You may get a response from use of these third party opt in lists,
but in my experience it may not be worth the expense. Worth a try but watch
your ROI (return on investment).
Co-Registration Services
Identifying people who are interested in the problems you solve and your
services and products is the key to increasing sales. Co-registration
services offer the promise of helping you do this in a cost efficient
manner.
The way these work is that you provide a brief description of your
business, and the co-registration service then distributes your “mini ad” on
their web sites or ezine sign-up pages so people can opt in to your
newsletter. You pay for leads when someone signs up and you are provided
with the contact information. Some services let you target your market by
country.
Your “mini ad” might read something like this. ---- Use these strategies
to attract more clients, and make more Money Sign up for the Free Marketing
Guide and the marketing newsletter, 'More Business' from CharlieCook.net.
Learn how to use the 5 Principles of Highly Effective Marketing to grow your
business. ----
A few services like Hiplists.com and Leadfactory.com actually provide you
with what you pay for. They send you qualified contacts for fifteen cents or
less per lead. Many other lead generation services and co-registration
services just send you junk email addresses. If you're not careful about who
you use for lead generation, your subscriber list will fill up with people
who don't speak English and obviously didn't sign up, children's email
addresses and invented email addresses such as 123456789@yahoo.com.
If the co-registration service says they can provide you with a thousand
opt in names in a day or so for pennies a name, be careful. The services
that deliver quality leads charge more and take longer. Once you get the
names track your sales to see if your purchase paid off.
Advertising
Advertising allows you to reach thousands of people who normally wouldn't
find out about your services and products. But you may be spending thousands
of dollars to put your message in front of people who have no interest. How
should you allocate your advertising dollars?
Radio, newspaper, search engine and newsletter advertising can all work.
The results will depend on how many people who want your services are
exposed to your ad, whether the words you use in your message actually
attract clients, and the cost of the advertising campaign relative to income
generated.
Radio and newspaper ads deliver your message to hundreds or hundreds of
thousands of people, but only a fraction of a percent will be in your target
market. Search engines and newsletters offer you the opportunity to target
your ads based on interests and geographic regions.
Free Publicity
Thousands of on-line and off-line publishers are constantly looking for
content they can use to attract and keep readers. Use your expertise to
write articles that demonstrate your knowledge and ability to solve
problems. Include a free offer at the end of your article, get it published,
and you'll find prospects contacting you without spending lots of money on
advertising.
Unlike advertising, this strategy helps you build credibility and,
overtime, a steady stream of highly qualified prospects. If you're not using
your knowledge to share a few solid ideas and attract prospects for free,
you should be.
Don't Waste Your Leads
Once you have a lead make sure your marketing communication addresses the
problems they want solved. Plan to contact your leads a minimum of six to
eight times. Use the lead generation strategies that work for you, and
produce more income than they cost and you'll see your business and your
profits grow.
The author,
Marketing Coach, Charlie Cook, helps independent professionals and small
business owners attract more clients and increase their earnings with the 5
Principles of Highly Effective Marketing. Sign up to receive the Marketing
Guide and the 'More Business' newsletter, full of practical tips you can use
at http://www.charliecook.net
December 15, 2003
| 
