Diary of a New Business- 7. Generating Leads
by Dr Greg Chapman, MBA
In the last article I discussed the nature of the Website content that would be required for my new online business, which is now located at http://www.australianbusinesscoachingclub.com.au/. But it doesn’t matter how good the content is, unless people visit the website. There had to be a lead generation strategy.
The first port of call for lead generation was the subscriber list for the existing Empower Business Solutions business. This database was getting quite large. This list was predominantly composed of small business owners, include a significant number who were probably too small to be Empower Business Solutions clients.
Newsletters were already being sent to Empower Business Solutions subscribers regularly. So the plan was to start marketing to this database 1-2 months before the launch. I was not concerned if the added marketing caused the unsubscribe rate to increase, as this would cleanse from the list those who were unqualified to be Australian Business Coaching Club clients.
While the existing database would provide a good starting point, it would be inadequate for continued growth of the new business. Pay-per-Click advertising would also be used to boost traffic to the new website, particularly while waiting on the effect of search engine optimisation to increase organic prominence in the search engines. This included both onsite and offsite website optimisation strategies.
A particularly critical lead generation strategy was the formation of joint ventures with colleagues in my network for the purposes of cross promotion. This enabled me to expand my reach by many times my own database range.
My public speaking, previously designed for generating leads for Empower Business Solutions was refocused to Australian Business Coaching Club lead generation. There were also a number of other publicity strategies used. An interesting experiment was a trial viral campaign with a free business tool giveaway at http://www.mission.australianbusinesscoachingclub.com.au/. Please enjoy the tool and pass it on!
But wherever they came from, they were all offered the opportunity to download my Free eBook “The Four Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success” which has been downloaded by thousands.
Ultimately, the goal for all my strategies was to build my list for the new business. As most people who sign up at the website don’t become clients immediately, it is essential to have a way to stay in touch with them until they are ready to buy. The conversion to sales was then by a combination of website copy and email marketing.
Note that the lead generation strategy was not dependent on a single tactic, and I was prepared to experiment. And in every case, I had a way of monitoring the success of each strategy.
What lead generation strategies are you using for your business?
The next article in The Diary of a New Business will be: The Technology
The first port of call for lead generation was the subscriber list for the existing Empower Business Solutions business. This database was getting quite large. This list was predominantly composed of small business owners, include a significant number who were probably too small to be Empower Business Solutions clients.
Newsletters were already being sent to Empower Business Solutions subscribers regularly. So the plan was to start marketing to this database 1-2 months before the launch. I was not concerned if the added marketing caused the unsubscribe rate to increase, as this would cleanse from the list those who were unqualified to be Australian Business Coaching Club clients.
While the existing database would provide a good starting point, it would be inadequate for continued growth of the new business. Pay-per-Click advertising would also be used to boost traffic to the new website, particularly while waiting on the effect of search engine optimisation to increase organic prominence in the search engines. This included both onsite and offsite website optimisation strategies.
A particularly critical lead generation strategy was the formation of joint ventures with colleagues in my network for the purposes of cross promotion. This enabled me to expand my reach by many times my own database range.
My public speaking, previously designed for generating leads for Empower Business Solutions was refocused to Australian Business Coaching Club lead generation. There were also a number of other publicity strategies used. An interesting experiment was a trial viral campaign with a free business tool giveaway at http://www.mission.australianbusinesscoachingclub.com.au/. Please enjoy the tool and pass it on!
But wherever they came from, they were all offered the opportunity to download my Free eBook “The Four Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success” which has been downloaded by thousands.
Ultimately, the goal for all my strategies was to build my list for the new business. As most people who sign up at the website don’t become clients immediately, it is essential to have a way to stay in touch with them until they are ready to buy. The conversion to sales was then by a combination of website copy and email marketing.
Note that the lead generation strategy was not dependent on a single tactic, and I was prepared to experiment. And in every case, I had a way of monitoring the success of each strategy.
What lead generation strategies are you using for your business?
The next article in The Diary of a New Business will be: The Technology
If you would like to post a comment on this article, please click on the Comments link below.
Dr Greg Chapman is the Director of Empower Business Solutions and The Australian Business Coaching Club and is a Business Coach and provides Coaching and Consulting advice to Australian Small Business Owners in Marketing & Business Strategies Planning & Systems.
posted by Dr Greg Chapman @ 8:25 PM
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