Are you generating leads from your web presence yet?

Are you generating leads from your web presence yet?

I've found that some business owners with the best of intentions place a website or online listing on the Internet and then only remember that it's there when the time comes to pay the bill.

This isn't a slam on business owners; I'm pointing to a situation you might or might not be in right now.
The Internet is still an evolving medium. Some read it like a magazine, others watch it like Television. Still others listen to it like radio. It's kind of hard to keep up with the trends when you've got a business to run.

Ever flirted with the idea of direct mail? Maybe you gave it a try but found it too expensive and didn't get the return that you expected?

You've worked hard to get where you are and probably have developed a great base of clients to keep you busy. That's great, let me ask you a simple question, when was the last time you doubled your annual revenues? For most businesses in your field that was around year two or year three.

It seems pretty crazy to think about doubling your revenues when you seem to be working more hours than you want to already, doesn't it? For most business owners, the thought of that kind of increase usually means adding another round of sleepless nights to make it happen.

What if we could use the power of targeted direct mail with the speed and efficiency of the Internet to help you double your business income? What if we could set it up to work in the background so that you only think about it when the time comes to make the deposits?

The secret to the strategy is in the list you develop. Who would you rather work with, someone who is convinced that you can help them overcome their problems, or someone that you have to convince after spending time and money, that you can help them?

The goal then is to find the people who are easy to work with and who really want to get help and can afford to be helped by you. That means offering something to the general target audience that will separate the ones who are already interested enough in your offer to take action. Those are usually the 30% of the market who are qualified to do something about their problem now.

Your next step is to collect the information of these prospective clients and begin to help them through the process of working with your product or service. Take them through the steps of becoming your valued clients.

You can create a simple turn-key system for lead generation by creating special pages on your website that prospective clients can sign on, to receive their free offer. The free offer then leads to a steady stream of the information to the prospects that contains sales offers with a regular call to action.

You can then develop your list to find out what they really want, get referrals from your list as well as test new products and services through your list.

The very best way to keep the list fresh and keep the list growing is to send out a weekly email newsletter. Perhaps a few tips on the subject of interest to your prospects. You can include an offer at the bottom as the sponsor of your email tips of the week.

Here's a trick that can double your list in 30 days. Send out an email to your list letting them know of a special offer for those who will refer three friends to a special sign-up form. Include a special form for those persons to send an email with the standard information about your subscription to their three friends email addresses. Once the special form is filled out and submitted, your subscriber will be sent to a special page to receive their online gift.

If only 25% of your list responds to your offer, you've significantly increased your list overnight. You may want to try this at selected intervals throughout the year.

Imagine that you've taken the time to invest in a list and after awhile, you've accumulated a following of say, 8,000 or 9,000 emails. Let's say that you wanted to test market a new product or service; how easy would it be to send out a survey to your list and get a response?

That's the power of a great list.