Lead Generation for Small Business Owners – Part I of 5

Do you have a strategy for generating leads? You do realize that without leads you will not have new customers. Attracting and generating leads is a necessary component in growing your business. The lead attraction process is not overly complicated.

In order to generate leads for your small business you must have a lead attraction strategy. There are five primary steps needed when designing your lead attraction strategy.

1. Be visible – you must promote your business. When you send an email your email tagline should contain your business information and a call to action that directs the reader to your website, social media sites, or blog. An email auto-responder or the resource box on your articles or press releases will also generate leads for your business. Your business information must be visible and contain a call to action directing traffic to your website or squeeze page.

2. Offer or Give away – people love free. You will want to offer a free eBook, tip sheet, special report or a coupon on your blog, website or squeeze page. A squeeze page is the preferred method. You do not want your lead to get distracted by clicking on other buttons and then navigate away from your offer. Your goal with your squeeze page and offer is to capture his or her information.

3. Contact information – when your lead clicks to download your free item or makes a small purchase you will want to collect his or her contact information. At a minimum you will want his or her email address. If you are able to capture a phone number or mailing address you will be able to follow up using various methods.

4. Follow up – you must have a strategy for following up with people that receive your free report. You will want to send another report or your newsletter. If your lead purchased something you may want to follow up with a phone call or send him or her something in the mail as a thank you.

5. Continue to follow up – you will want to continue to build rapport with your leads. This can be done using your ezine, print newsletter, or via social media. Do not SPAM their email account with emails. Remember, to follow FTC guidelines. You must follow up after the initial contact. You must make time to establish rapport and build the relationship.

Lead attraction and lead generation are necessary steps in growing your small business. Today, you have many free resources at your disposal to aid in growing your business. When you capture your leads contact information and follow up without spamming you will continue to grow your business.

This article is the first of five and is an overview of the lead attraction and lead generating process. Please read the remaining articles in the series for more specific steps to designing your lead attraction and lead generating system.