If you can generate leads for local businesses, then you’ve got it made. You can consider lead generation to be your personal ATM machine. Seriously – businesses will pay hand-over-fist for lead generation. Why? Because it’s the lifeblood of all business.
You’re not going to provide just any leads, either. You’re going to become known as someone who provides valuable, targeted leads that actually mean something. I hope you’re excited right now, because you’re going to be doing something wonderful for yourself and for the businesses you help.
In fact, this is a win-win-win. You’re going to be able to generate a great income, so this is a total win for you. You’re going to provide a great service to businesses in doing the work that they can’t do or don’t have the time to do themselves. And, you’re going to do a great service to the LEADS themselves because you’ll be connecting them to businesses that can actually help them.
I think it’s that last part that so many people often forget, and that’s what’s going to set you apart. The ‘leads’ are really people. If you remember that, you’ll automatically have a leg up on the competition. Because you’ll know how to get these REAL people to actually respond to the businesses who hire you.
The businesses who hire you will see better results. They’ll see real results. They’ll be stunned that you’ve been able to pull off what no one has been able to help them pull off before and certainly what they haven’t been able to pull off on their own before.
What Are Leads?
First, let’s talk about what ‘leads’ are so we’re on the same page. In this case, leads are people who are potentially interested in a product or service a certain business has to offer. Or, they’re interested in a certain topic or piece of information someone has available to share.
That’s not how all businesses view leads or even how all service providers (what you’ll be) view leads. Many (maybe even most) view leads as email addresses and phone numbers and that’s the extent of it. Again, you’re going further than that.
You are going to gather the names and email addresses (and possibly phone number and other information, depending on what the business who has hired you needs and wants) of people who are interested in the product, service, and/or information the business who has hired you has.
Why Can’t Businesses Gather Leads for Themselves?
So, why can’t business owners just gather leads for themselves? Well, in many cases they do… or at least, they try to. Sometimes, they run into some unfortunate problems. Maybe you’ve even run into some of these problems for your own business.
For example, have you ever heard of buying leads in bulk? Ugh, that’s often the worst. There are ads online and offline for “buying leads!” The problem is that these leads are generally completely untargeted or only loosely targeted. Or they are very old. or they are completely used up. In any case, they are nearly 100% worthless. Many business owners get discouraged in wasting their money this way.
Other business owners just don’t know how it’s done. They know it’s important. They know they need new customers and to spread the word about their business, they just don’t know how. They aren’t sure how to go any further than they are right now. So, they don’t even try. Or they try a little bit and give up because it doesn’t work.
Sometimes, it comes down to time. It can be very time consuming to generate leads. These business owners are focused on other things– namely, the day-to-day operation of their business. They know they need to generate leads, on the other hand, they just don’t have the time to spare.
Many local business owners are stuck in the old way of doing things– the way they know best and are familiar with. That might be phone book and local advertising, for example. They just don’t know about getting leads online, like you do. That holds them back– they’re waiting for you.
How You Can Help Local Business Owners Generate Leads
Here’s where you come in. You can help local business owners generate leads as a service. You’ll mainly do this by using the basics of list-building online. You’ll combine online list-building with offline list building. The name of the game is getting emails onto a list.
You want to capture the email address of everyone who physically walks into their store. You also want to physically capture the email addresses of everyone who might respond to the other advertising methods they’re currently using. As a smart marketer, you can think of ways to combine their current offline advertising methods with smart lead generation and list building. Capture those leads and don’t let them slip away!
Even those in their local area are probably turning to the web to research them and learn more about them. Many local business owners don’t even realize this. Does that business have a website? You’ll need to set them up with one as part of your services, if they don’t.
If they do have a website, you’ll need to really focus on their list building funnel (and get them set up with one if they don’t). They should have clear, attractive opt-in forms and an incentive for opting in. They should have a squeeze page to send ad traffic to– possibly more than one for differently targeted ads.
Get them traffic via targeted social media pages and ads. Consider paid Google ads. Think about SEO and targeted on-page content.
Get those who hire you up to date with list building and lead generation online. Capture their physical traffic and online traffic– get those email addresses! Entice the traffic with incentives. Target that traffic and help the businesses start building relationships right away.
This involves great content and great emails and follow ups. Businesses can hire you for all of this or part of this. You can really specialize in all areas of the offline and online lead generation strategy.
I hope you’re excited by this, because there are some great possibilities here. You can earn a fantastic full-time income generating leads for local businesses. You can really set yourself apart if you approach your business in the way I’ve described here.