The 2 Step Lead Generation Machine

Cold calling doesn't work, it's no fun and often you end up with leads, or worse yet, clients, that don't really value what you do.

Having said that, leads are the lifeblood of growth, without a lead, there is no client.

Set-up a 2 step lead machine and you can say goodbye to cold calling while generating all of the qualified, permission based leads you can handle.

The basic idea behind the 2 step approach is to create one or more valuable reports, workshops, evaluations, trial products, checklists, newsletters, courses or tip sheets. You know, something like, "How To Tell If Your Roofing Contractor Is Lying To You" or "What Every Senior Must Know About Bush's Social Security Changes" or "101 More Things You Can Do With Your iPod."

Now that you have your value packed written report or audio CD, every bit of your advertising ? that's Yellow Pages, direct mail, back of your business card, letterhead, email signature, web site ? should focus on getting people to pick up, request or download that report. Don't try to do anything else with your advertising, let the report sell you. See, that's step 1.

There are several reasons that this approach is so much more effective for the small business owner than the traditional "image" type advertising.

First off, if you only buy a 2 x 3 ad or send a 4 x 6 postcard, can you really tell your story very well?

Secondly, this approach allows you to demonstrate your expertise in a non-threatening, on the prospect's own terms, way. Nobody likes to be sold to, but if they take the time to read your report, understand what you do that has value, have an 8-10 page conversation with you, the relationship and trust has begun.

A person who has requested your free information in officially a hot lead. When a prospect visits your web site they are effectively raising their hand and identifying themselves as someone who is very interested in what you do. Half of your sales job is done!

If your advertising is focused on gathering the lead into the free report funnel, then your sales efforts are focused on taking that group and only that group that raised their hands and taking them to the next step in the process. That may be an appointment or just a series of more advanced mailings. By the way that's step 2.

So let's recap.

Create a free information product that your target market would see as a valuable read or listen.

Advertise the free report in everything you do

Capture the names and emails of those who request the report

Follow-up on those leads

If you take this advice to heart, everything about how you market your business will change. Finding new business will become a much more rewarding and valuable experience.

A couple bonus ideas:

Once you create your free report you will find other uses for it.

Referrals ? Give the report or the web page where the report is found to your referral sources and tell them to introduce you by way of your free report or newsletter. This makes it easy for them to refer you and assures that your story is told.

Cold-calling ? I know, I know, you shouldn't ever need to cold call but, if you do, do it this way. Call up those prospects on your list and instead of trying to convince them to give you 5 minutes of their time a week from Tuesday, offer them the address of your power packed free info and then shut-up. Your prospecting time will be much more productive if you can use it to turn cold calling into 2-step prospecting.

Copyright 2005 John Jantsch

John Jantsch is a marketing consultant based in Kansas City, Mo. He writes frequently on real world small business marketing tactics and is the creator of "Duct Tape Marketing" a turn-key small business marketing system. Check out his blogs at http://www.DuctTapeMarketing.com/weblog.php and http://www.bloggingbusiness.com

---

Why Niche Marketing Yields Good Profits

Have you ever been told to find your niche? In... Read More

The Secret Of Focused Responsive List

Once you have decided on your ideal business to create... Read More

Convey Website Credibility Authentically!

Your prospects want one thing and one thing only! They... Read More

The 10 Commandments of Guerrilla Marketing Design

Guerrilla Marketing Design is more an attitude than a system... Read More

Website Sales: 10 Exploding Ways To Intensify Your Website Sales

Are sales at your website weak?Have you tried different types... Read More

10 Things You Should Try To Barter For Before Buying

1. Information Products - it could be ebooks, "how to"... Read More

Profiting from Articles - A Step-by-step Guide

"Content is King" - that's a given, there's no debate.... Read More

The Numbers Dont Lie!

It's true. They don't.That's why you should look at the... Read More

7 Incredibly Simple Ways To Profit Wildly From Public Domain Material

If you're in the business of marketing online, a major... Read More

How to Set Up a 7 Day E-Course

Be a Winner! Answer the Challenge! An e-course is a... Read More

Why Real Estate Agents Need Their Own Website

It is difficult to for a real estate agent to... Read More

How To Get Qualified Visitors to Your Site

Having an eBusiness isn't just about getting gobs of people... Read More

Keywords are the Key

Niche marketing is focusing your business efforts to a target... Read More

It Really is only early Days in the Internet Gold Rush....

One of the questions that I am getting more and... Read More

Is Internet Marketing Saturated?

Is internet marketing and the potential for it saturated? I... Read More

How to Earn at Least One Dollar for Every Website Visitor

The path toward success in Internet marketing can be a... Read More

The Power of Buzz

How did Hotmail gain over 12 million subscribers in 18... Read More

10 Resourceful Ways to Recycle Digital or Small-ticket Products

Have your product sales slowed down? Do you want to... Read More

Creating Your Internet Marketing Plan

For large corporations, a marketing plan is a huge document... Read More

Niche Marketing: Broker Your Way To Profits

If you haven't started your own niche business yet because... Read More

How to Get $250,000 Worth of Free Advertising for Your Business

You and I know that whenever you have a business,... Read More

The Yin & Yang of Internet Marketing

Westerners believe opposites flow in a natural cycle always replacing... Read More

Internet And Network Marketing

How do you start a business on the net? Well,... Read More

Local Search Makes Your Business a Big Fish in Your Local Community

The Internet Contains Billions of Website Pages - All Clamoring... Read More

All Along the Digital Watchtower

It's no secret interactive (web-based) marketing has arrived. The IDC... Read More

This Here Web Aint Big Enough For Both Of Us! Can You Corner Web Market Share With Negative Action

If you're a fan of Western movies I'm sure you've... Read More

How To Come Up With New Product Ideas

Have you ever wanted to add new products to your... Read More

Differentiate and Grow Rich: The Importance of a Strong USP

"With 50 other companies selling the same products and services,... Read More

To All Internet Marketers - How To Get My Business

More and more people are realizing that the Internet offers... Read More

The Internet F-Word

For the last several months I've been collecting and organizing... Read More

Does Your Internet Marketing Pull?

"Pull Marketing" has always been, and will continue to be... Read More

The Easy Days

The easy days are gone when you could build your... Read More

Three Ways to Get Top Quality Content for Your Niche Websites

Three Ways to Get Top Quality Content for Your Niche... Read More