I have a lot of experienced with getting leads online to my website and pretty much any source I want and I want to share the best strategies I use for this.
The idea of lead generation is simple in theory: You “just” have to get someone interested in buying or signing up to something you’re selling.
Unfortunately, most business/sales people never get that far because they simply do not understand how the process works or should work.
Most of the time, lead generation is done in the most unethical manner and unsurprisingly, the results are null. As a person who is a potential lead for businesses and sales people…
I have the following (serious) questions for you:
1) How many spam emails have you ever looked into, clicked on whatever link that was there and signed up/purchased anything offered?
2) And for that manner how many of those emails have you ever even looked at to begin with?
3) How many cold calls have you ever picked up and/or if you did, how long did it take you to hang up on them?
4) How many doorbells of sales people did you answer and if so, how long did it take you to say “No thank you” or just smack the door in their face?
5) How many websites which sell things did you ever look at and actually buy from?
In every instance, I would bet the number is either extremely low or just 0. And it’s no surprise that this is the result. After all…
- The people being sold something feel like their time is wasted and they are being scammed.
- And the people doing the selling feel like they are scamming people and also wasting their time trying to catch as many people as possible.
It’s no wonder people react negatively when sales people try to sell them anything…
In 99% of cases, this is exactly how lead generation and sales in general are done by most businesses and individuals and this is also 99% the reason why it fails.
What I’m about to show you on getting leads online is very different:
- My goal in this article is to show you that lead generation does not have to be a sleazy business.
- You can make ethical sales and have happy customers.
- There are FAR smarter ways to go about this than the 99% of failed ways just about everyone else does.
This is how I get leads online. My 5 rules:
I gather leads daily on multiple websites I run. I have tested and run through a ton of strategies over the years that have failed and have seen that there are 5 basic rules which flip the tables on typical sales strategies, and work well:
1) Empty out the traditional “rules” you’ve heard.
Aka all of the questions I asked above. Those are considered the typical ways to do sales. Forget them.
- Forget cold calls.
- Forget emailing people who don’t know you.
- Forget knocking on tons of people’s doors and harassing them.
- Forget buying or using free email lists.
- Forget typical online lead generation.
2) Pick a subject you’re experienced/good at.
If you know something about a subject, you already have an advantage in selling it to a potential customer. Suppose:
I know a lot about real estate and helping people pick out a good home.
I know a lot about any subject which can help people out (I will call this a hungry niche).
It is important to correctly pick this out.
3) Present yourself as an authority in whatever subject you pick out.
People who know a ton about their craft need not fall to desperate tactics to sell the products in that subject/get leads. They have confidence, they have experience and they can give off that confidence to any potential customer.
If I know a lot about making successful websites that earn money, then anyone I can find or who approaches me who also seeks to make them will see that I know what I’m talking about and then I will not have to actually sell it, they will come to me and see me as the authority.
When you become an authority in your subject and attract people who are interested in that subject, they will more likely trust you.
Remember this: That trust is what does the selling more so than anything else. For example, one of the niche topics I write about is affiliate marketing and I wrote an incredibly long article here which lots of people read and trust.
4) Find the people in your chosen subject through filtered, ethical ways.
Here’s a few examples:
-If you do real estate, put up listings on popular websites where people go to find actual listings. Establish yourself as the person who will help people find the home they will love. Ask them specifically what they seek. The more they give you specifics and see that you actually care, the more they will trust you.
-If you do online marketing and sell things, find your niche first and then find actual products to sell that will help people out in the niche. Then create a website and create content that talks about this stuff and grow it from there. What will happen is that the site will get you visitors from Google. See an example of this here.
-If you do martial arts, go to gyms where people are hitting the bag, advertise yourself there (if the gym will let you) as an authority on the subject and if not, go to where people are hitting the bags, show off your stuff and let them come to you (I’ve had this happen a number of times). Then let those people become your leads by, in a none desperate way showing them how to do things, then perhaps giving them private lessons.
-And for every other topic, you now have 3 examples to use.
And on the point of ethics, do note that when I said to be an authority, it also comes with a price of responsibility. Do not sell people something that will make them angry or worse, scam them. Sell them something that will make them happy.
If you do, the odds that the happy customer then talks to their friends and/or others who are also in need of something the original customer was in need in will increase and you will be recommended to them and that will also give you a new lead.
5) Put yourself in the position where leads come to you, not the other way around.
If you put the other 4 rules together, you have a scenario where people will approach you. When they approach you, that already omits any reason for you to come to them.
When you come to them, you will most of the time come off as a sleazy sales person. If they come to you and you establish yourself as an authority than can help them, you will exponentially increase the odds that they will trust you and pay you money.
Here are examples:
I managed to get leads to sign up to my email newsletter because I targeted them using ad networks. Here is how I build a quick email list via a hungry niche audience.
My final thoughts:
In my personal opinion, the easiest way to implement the 5 rules is through having a website. It provides the potential for the most exposure and most money to be made, however, it also takes a lot of hard work at the same time.
However, the same 5 rules also help out just as well in an offline manner. And if you have a current situation where you run an offline type of business and need leads, and you require more detailed advice, let me know below and I’ll suggest a more precise strategy that should help you.
But on a final point, if you’re more interested in an online type business, the type I run where I get leads daily, I would recommend you do the following:
As a final note, look at past experiences where you purchased something from someone. I’ll bet you whether or not you know it, that the people followed at least a few of the rules I stated above.
If you’re going to be a successful seller and have leads buy from you, understand that the key is to sell in a way that if the tables were flipped and you were the buyer, that you would feel comfortable buying the product being sold to.
If you fall into the trap of selling in the same way that 99% of the people I said above do it, then do not be surprised if you fail. You have to implement at least a few of the 5 rules I stated above, because trust me, if someone were implementing those rules on you, I think you would absolutely be more comfortable buying from them.
So become the same type of seller that helps people with their problems.
Interesting! I recently listened to a podcast by Robert Cialdini and his book he previously wrote talked about a lot of these ideas. One idea I find most interesting, but also most difficult is presenting yourself as an authority. So often I feel that I have to be doing something for years before I can consider myself an expert. What are ways you feel you can convey yourself as an expert in an area?
Well first off, this guy and I would completely agree on the authority part, but the thing about that is, you do not necessarily need YEARS of experience to become this Austin. Sometimes people get the type of knowledge to be that authority in less time than most.
Let’s take something very general: Weight loss. Suppose you did a specific type of diet for a month or so and saw results, then when you’re speaking to someone whose complaining about not being able to lose weight, you tell them about your experiences and that would be enough for them to see you as the authority, despite you only having a month’s worth of experience. At the same time, you would have to speak to the person with the problem in a way that shows them you are confident in what you are telling them.
Obviously, these types of circumstances vary and clearly the longer you have experience in something, the better it will be for your “resume” in the minds of people who listen to you. Here’s something to also consider: I wrote an article about this sort of stuff here and how people may be far more knowledgeable than they think in fields they never thought they could make money off/get leads through. I would recommend that read.
I enjoyed this a lot since I myself have had bad experiences with getting leads when I was just starting out. This a great article for beginners who have not dived into the realm of online marketing/affiliate marketing. The potential of having good leads is limitless really. It allows you to promote to them similar offers in the same niche, letting you have long term profits. Again, great post and loving your site lots of useful information especially for those starting out.
Thanks Gustavo, you are right that there are “endless” leads out there, but the truth is, if a person can find their niche and learn how to get leads within that one niche, they can create a really profitable income from just that.
I don’t want to end up like everyone else in the race of getting up and going to work five days a week. So this article is very relevant to me.
Anyways, this is good advice for me. I’m starting with making money online and I want to get into real estate. I do have one question about your five steps though:
I once went to a real estate brokerage and they claimed that the best way to find leads and get clientele is to just get into conversations with anyone you see and towards the end just ask if they or someone they know is looking to buy property. Is this not a very good way of going about this?
Well it’s not a bad idea, but you’re playing a guessing game that the stranger you’ll talk to will:
Even speak to you. You would have to have some really good communication skills to get a random stranger to be open with you.
That’s why I think if you go through more specific areas where people looking at real estate happen to be, such as on a website where listings are put up daily, then after that, if you can get into a conversation with them and show them you are the right person to find the home/apartment they are looking for, it’s the better way to get that hot lead.