How do I sell lead generation services to local businesses?

47 replies
Hi all,

Apologies for the way the title reads, I'm not looking for a blow by blow account of how to sell. I'm in a bit of a dilemma as to how to do things.

After much research and procrastination I have decided that for me the way forward in my career as an offline consultant (which, after several false starts, hasn't as yet got off the ground) is to sell leads to local businesses. I like the idea of creating assets online and earning income from those assets, without having to deal with P.I.T.A clients wanting to know what's happening all the time. I just want to deliver an end result and be paid for that!

I've bought various WSOs on the subject and understand the 'how to' of generating leads etc.

My dilemma comes with my approach. Of the many WSOs I've read, and various threads throughout the forum, it would seem that common practice is to build the lead gen site first, get it ranked, or on Adwords, generate the leads and then sell them to a local business.

One or two threads have indicated that clients have been found first and then the website and lead gen campaign follows, and the leads are then sold to an in situ client. I would prefer to do it this way, then I can build a targeted campaign around the needs of the business, rather than a generic campaign and hope to sell the leads to the first taker, if you see what I mean? Unfortunately, I haven't yet come across the ways in which those who are getting the clients first are actually selling the concept to those clients without anything in place.

I understand that having tangible results (ie, already generated leads) can be attractive to businesses because you've already proved you can generate the leads. In principle it should be an easier sell. But I want to know how people who are getting their clients first are doing it?

I've already thought of perhaps pursuing potential leads through LinkedIn or networking groups etc., but not really sure how to get the point across.

I've also thought of taking the 'educate the potential prospect' route, like providing a pdf/ebook/video to educate on the benefits of lead gen vs having someone do your seo for you with no guarantees approach, but feel like I'm clutching at straws here. I've been looking around the forum and online generally for plr materials I can use for such, but haven't come across anything directly related to selling lead gen services, so if you know of some or have authored such I'd appreciate it if you could point me in the right direction.

I'd really like to hear how others are selling the concept of selling leads to clients without the upfront evidence.

Many thanks
Lorraine
#businesses #generation #lead #local #sell #services
  • Profile picture of the author vndnbrgj
    You can contact business onwers and tell them what your plans are.
    "Hey, I was wondering if you could handle some extra work this month? Great, well my name is Lorraine and I am building a lead generator, and need someone to send the leads to until everything is set up. Is that something you would be open to?.... Great, which kinds of leads would you like most? What are some of your highest profit services? Blah, blah, blah."

    Replace work with the niche.... Some extra furnace installs, roof installs, siding jobs, etc.
    Get the info you need to setup the site. Then you have leads, and a ranking site that you can take to a business owner.
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    • Profile picture of the author CageyVet
      I have tried both ways...I have found that it is quite a bit more work to get get clients first, then build the assets to get them leads.

      There are a few reasons for this..

      Starting to prospect for clients without actually going through the process of the actual lead generation can be tough to start.

      Getting clients first can lead you down the road of PITA clients because you are setting expectations and then having to deliver on them. If you state you can get them leads, sell them on a Lead Gen System for their specific business, then for "whatever" reason you do not live up to their crazy expectation, they all of a sudden turn into a PITA...

      After you find the client, you can either send them semi targeted leads or ultra targeted leads. Semi targeted is like sending a plumber "toilet unclogging " + city keyword traffic, which has low competition. The thing is, the plumber wants leads for "toilet install" + city keyword traffic because that is the service that they want to advertise for but that keyword is high competition in their local area. Now you might be put in the position to try and rank for a high competition keyword which takes 3-4 months to get decent traffic. Can be hard to explain to the client and not easy to gain revenue if there are no leads coming in.

      Last thing, contacting clients before starting the asset creation seems to make the client think that they "own" something sometimes. They feel that you are creating the assets for "them" and they have some entitlement to them. This can again turn some into a PITA....

      This might not be the case for everyone but it is just what I have found.

      To do the research and build the online lead gen assets first, then go get clients seems to be quite a bit easier for me. I find it easier to get clients because I can say, "Hello perspective client, I have x number of leads being generated by my lead generation system that is targeted towards you business...are you interested in them? bla bla bla".

      The expectations are quite different when you have an assets that you already own in place. The client does not have the entitlement factor since they are obviously "your" assets and not theirs.

      Also, I get to decide at the start what keywords I want to rank for in the serps. Then AFTER I get the client, I can then go into further discussion about more targeted or desirable keywords and possibly make new assets or expand the current ones.

      Last thing is if the niche, asset or what ever does not produce leads....then it is quite easy to abandon it or turn it into something else and no one but me knows. I do not like having a client that I can not produce leads for and then have to drop them for that reason.

      This is all just from what I have found....
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      • Profile picture of the author AussieT
        Originally Posted by CageyVet View Post

        I have tried both ways...I have found that it is quite a bit more work to get get clients first, then build the assets to get them leads.

        There are a few reasons for this..

        Starting to prospect for clients without actually going through the process of the actual lead generation can be tough to start.

        Getting clients first can lead you down the road of PITA clients because you are setting expectations and then having to deliver on them. If you state you can get them leads, sell them on a Lead Gen System for their specific business, then for "whatever" reason you do not live up to their crazy expectation, they all of a sudden turn into a PITA...

        After you find the client, you can either send them semi targeted leads or ultra targeted leads. Semi targeted is like sending a plumber "toilet unclogging " + city keyword traffic, which has low competition. The thing is, the plumber wants leads for "toilet install" + city keyword traffic because that is the service that they want to advertise for but that keyword is high competition in their local area. Now you might be put in the position to try and rank for a high competition keyword which takes 3-4 months to get decent traffic. Can be hard to explain to the client and not easy to gain revenue if there are no leads coming in.

        Last thing, contacting clients before starting the asset creation seems to make the client think that they "own" something sometimes. They feel that you are creating the assets for "them" and they have some entitlement to them. This can again turn some into a PITA....

        This might not be the case for everyone but it is just what I have found.

        To do the research and build the online lead gen assets first, then go get clients seems to be quite a bit easier for me. I find it easier to get clients because I can say, "Hello perspective client, I have x number of leads being generated by my lead generation system that is targeted towards you business...are you interested in them? bla bla bla".

        The expectations are quite different when you have an assets that you already own in place. The client does not have the entitlement factor since they are obviously "your" assets and not theirs.

        Also, I get to decide at the start what keywords I want to rank for in the serps. Then AFTER I get the client, I can then go into further discussion about more targeted or desirable keywords and possibly make new assets or expand the current ones.

        Last thing is if the niche, asset or what ever does not produce leads....then it is quite easy to abandon it or turn it into something else and no one but me knows. I do not like having a client that I can not produce leads for and then have to drop them for that reason.

        This is all just from what I have found....
        This approach makes a lot of sense to me. Plus you can show them upfront results and even give them a few free leads to test the waters>
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        • Profile picture of the author CageyVet
          Originally Posted by AussieT View Post

          This approach makes a lot of sense to me. Plus you can show them upfront results and even give them a few free leads to test the waters>
          Yes, the upfront results helps quite a bit when trying to get through to clients. What clients wants to say no to having XX number of leads sent to them with proof.

          Another thing with doing the web asset first is that some times they will become much better in terms of leads/value. I have had a few sites that were built around keyword +city with decent search volume. Through organic long tail keywords, I was able to expand the site into 5 sub niches and rent out each sub niche page individually because they performed so well, thus turning a simple lead gen rental site into a 5 times multiplier. It is very hard to do this when you build the site after getting a contract with a client.
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      • Profile picture of the author Brian Blanc
        Lorraine,
        I struggled with this at first as well.
        I agree w/ Cagey Vet .. I'd build the Lead Gen site first. Get that down and then it's a no brainer conversation for the prospect. It takes a lot of pressure off of you and you now are holding the Aces. I hope this helps you.
        You can PM me or reply here if you have more questions.
        I can show you some examples and give you more tips.
        I just started 1.5 yrs ago and it's working well.

        Brian

        Brian
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  • Profile picture of the author Jubu
    I would think the purpose of building up and ranking the website would be to sale space on it or sell the website to a local business.

    If you just plan on selling leads then just do what vndnbrgj said. No, need to worry about building up the site first.

    You can also offer a few free leads to show the quality of them.
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    • Profile picture of the author TimD
      You can also go through linkedin as you were thinking.

      Hey, I want to build up my linkedin recommendations. So I'm offering you a trade. I'll get you on page one/send you a week of free leads/do an sem campaign (however you want to phrase it) for a week in return for a testimonial.

      Then you perform for them. Get the testimonial. And some group of them will want to continue doing business with you.
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  • Profile picture of the author Saito
    What kind of numbers are realistic for local lead gen sites?

    Let's say I get ranked in one of the top 3 results in Google for a keyword with 1000 local searches per month...

    How many visitors can I expect to generate from my rankings...100-500?
    Of those, what is a reasonable conversion rate for phone calls or web form responses...5%?

    This would mean 5-25 leads per month, times $25 each in my niche is: $125-625 per month. Is that realistic? If so, I'm curious what the total cost is the create and rank such a site.
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    • Profile picture of the author skillsforsuccess
      Originally Posted by Saito View Post

      What kind of numbers are realistic for local lead gen sites?

      Let's say I get ranked in one of the top 3 results in Google for a keyword with 1000 local searches per month...

      How many visitors can I expect to generate from my rankings...100-500?
      Of those, what is a reasonable conversion rate for phone calls or web form responses...5%?

      This would mean 5-25 leads per month, times $25 each in my niche is: $125-625 per month. Is that realistic? If so, I'm curious what the total cost is the create and rank such a site.

      Can anyone with experience answer this?
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    Having something "real" is a lot more effective and persuasive than just something to "talk about." Building a leadgen site for a chosen niche first, and then using it as a demo will allow you to bring a lot more credibility to your conversations. Prospects can't argue when you have the thing and its results right there to show them, can they?

    Also, by going through the site building process, you'll learn something. Trust me, after you do it once, you'll be saying to yourself, "Next time, I'll do this a bit differently..."

    EDIT:

    Lead generation is one of the golden "fountain of youth" things that every business owner desires. If you can truly bring someone a steady stream of qualified inbound leads, and prove it, you will have no trouble selling your system. Heck, even I'd be interested :-)
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  • Profile picture of the author tryinhere
    Originally Posted by lorraineb View Post

    but haven't come across anything directly related to selling lead gen services, so if you know of some or have authored such I'd appreciate it if you could point me in the right direction.
    You do not have to sell ( as in the term sell ) most if not all business would listen to any serious proposition that provides a better bottom line in a win win, so this should not be a sell but more an informative meeting where you discuss your ability to provide a strong case for good leads that convert, which leaves them open to buy from you. (not you sell to them)
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  • Profile picture of the author hbteos234
    I'm curious for the folks who do this kind of stuff. How do you price it? How to do you determine how much to charge the local business for your site? And does the PPC price factor into that number?
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    • Profile picture of the author Chris Beatty
      Originally Posted by hbteos234 View Post

      I'm curious for the folks who do this kind of stuff. How do you price it? How to do you determine how much to charge the local business for your site? And does the PPC price factor into that number?
      If you are going to sell leads, I first recommend you think about the markets that you are going to be targeting to purchase your leads. Don't re-invent the wheel. Go after companies that are already adapt to purchasing leads.

      There are a couple ways to "price" these.... you can either do a quick search on google to find out what a lead in that market costs and beat it by a little...... A lot of "Lead Providers" sell leads to multiple businesses so if you can offer exclusive leads, you could get a premium price for the leads.

      Another strategy is to sit down with your client to determine the "life time value" of a customer and base your price off of that.
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      • Profile picture of the author hbteos234
        Originally Posted by Chris Beatty View Post


        There are a couple ways to "price" these.... you can either do a quick search on google to find out what a lead in that market costs and beat it by a little...... A lot of "Lead Providers" sell leads to multiple businesses so if you can offer.
        By price do you mean the average CPM price in PPC
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        • Profile picture of the author DerFreshmaker
          I believe he means the prices places like Service Magic charge per lead.
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          • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
            Lorraine,

            I understand insurance people are of high probability for buying leads.

            Tom and a few others here will know better than me.

            Anyway, you can run Adwords campaigns for very specialized
            areas.

            They could be for those that have high blood pressure,
            and have difficulty getting health insurance.

            Then there are motorcyclists who get discriminated against
            for insuring their bikes.

            There's under 20 car drivers
            who get whacked with high premiums and tough conditions
            for their car insurance.

            See, think of groups of people who are actively looking for a better deal
            because of their circumstances.

            You can target these groups on the Content Network
            because you are able to run ads on sites where they hang out.

            Best,
            Ewen
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            • Profile picture of the author sandalwood
              Originally Posted by ewenmack View Post

              Lorraine,

              I understand insurance people are of high probability for buying leads.

              Tom and a few others here will know better than me.

              Anyway, you can run Adwords campaigns for very specialized
              areas.

              They could be for those that have high blood pressure,
              and have difficulty getting health insurance.

              Then there are motorcyclists who get discriminated against
              for insuring their bikes.

              There's under 20 car drivers
              who get whacked with high premiums and tough conditions
              for their car insurance.

              See, think of groups of people who are actively looking for a better deal
              because of their circumstances.

              You can target these groups on the Content Network
              because you are able to run ads on sites where they hang out.

              Best,
              Ewen
              Ewen,

              You are spot on. Insurance people love qualified leads. Hope the OP will not miss the modifier modifying the word leads.

              Tom
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  • Profile picture of the author sdentrepreneur
    I come at this from a different POV. I will sell a Social Media, Local Search, Google Places/Loca/Maps and include a lead generation system. You take control over the whole program and can collect a steady $1,200 to $2,000 per month for something like this. I found this much better than trying to convince a business owner to buy leads. It may seem like more work but you can know down 4 to 5 of these accounts before having to outsource.
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    • Profile picture of the author skillsforsuccess
      Originally Posted by sdentrepreneur View Post

      I come at this from a different POV. I will sell a Social Media, Local Search, Google Places/Loca/Maps and include a lead generation system. You take control over the whole program and can collect a steady $1,200 to $2,000 per month for something like this. I found this much better than trying to convince a business owner to buy leads. It may seem like more work but you can know down 4 to 5 of these accounts before having to outsource.
      That's a great plan!

      What sort of ROI tracking do you do for clients? Or are they just happy to pay you? I feel like this would be a small step from the adwords - opt-in page - autoresponder - sales letter system.

      Which is sounds like most people aren't even doing.. They're just running adwords to an opt-in page and selling the contact info to the business.. Letting them manage the backend.

      I'm currently trying to figure out how to break into the business coaching/consulting niche... I run a local business and yes I could market it more or develop a bigger back end.. But I want to start selling BIGGER ticket items.

      For all the time, energy and effort that goes into it - why not build something with higher price points and more affluent clientelle?


      This would be a great setup if you're able to recruit a team off odesk or something, manage them and then focus on scaling this business. I love the idea of $1,200-$2,000/month with a pain of disconnect built in.

      Which is why I ask about the ROI tracking. How long do you keep your average client?
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  • Profile picture of the author Craig McPherson
    Hi,
    My name is Craig.

    I developed a NICHE website, hXXp://YOUR-NICHE.COM as a test case for a course I am doing and this site is currently getting leads for YOUR NICHE work around YOUR CITY.

    My question is this. Could I forward those quote requests on to you until such times as I find a reputable NICHE to rent the website off me?
    These are 100% free of charge as you are doing me a favour by accepting the extra work.

    I look forward to your response and only ask that you reply within 48 hours as I have sent this email out to 4 other NICHE'ERS in YOUR CITY.

    Of course, if you have too much work on to handle the extra leads per month, I will certainly understand.

    I wish you and your business continued success.
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    • Profile picture of the author sandalwood
      Originally Posted by Craig McPherson View Post

      Hi,
      My name is Craig.

      I developed a NICHE website, hXXp://YOUR-NICHE.COM as a test case for a course I am doing and this site is currently getting leads for YOUR NICHE work around YOUR CITY.

      My question is this. Could I forward those quote requests on to you until such times as I find a reputable NICHE to rent the website off me?
      These are 100% free of charge as you are doing me a favour by accepting the extra work.

      I look forward to your response and only ask that you reply within 48 hours as I have sent this email out to 4 other NICHE'ERS in YOUR CITY.

      Of course, if you have too much work on to handle the extra leads per month, I will certainly understand.

      I wish you and your business continued success.

      Craig,

      Pretty danged good approach. How many takers do you get from this email?

      Tom
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      • Profile picture of the author Craig McPherson
        Originally Posted by sandalwood View Post

        How many takers do you get from this email?
        Tom,

        It worked for 4 out of six sites I used it for (I rented the other 2 through word of mouth).

        2 of the sites were picked up by sole tradies. The other 2 I rented out in North, South, East and West regions. I dropped the monthly price for these 2 but overall earns me more than the first two.

        The first 2 sites that got leased using the email were snapped up 90 minutes after emailing them and all four were gone within the 48 hour period.
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        • Profile picture of the author micalo
          Do you setup a virtual address and use a virtual receptionist when setting up the site to handle calls?
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          • Profile picture of the author YellowGreenMedia
            Originally Posted by micalo View Post

            Do you setup a virtual address and use a virtual receptionist when setting up the site to handle calls?
            No you get a service like Twilio and have the calls you get from your website forwarded to your client, you will record the phone calls so if your client disputes one or more leads you can check it out.

            Dave
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  • Profile picture of the author MLMCoach
    What about setting up an affiliated program. If you could divert the traffic from your affiliate website to the owner, you can get a commission on the work.
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  • Profile picture of the author benbro
    Hi Lorraine, it sounds like the approach I use is identical to

    Originally Posted by sdentrepreneur

    I will sell a Social Media, Local Search, Google Places/Loca/Maps and include a lead generation system. You take control over the whole program and can collect a steady $1,200 to $2,000 per month for something like this. I found this much better than trying to convince a business owner to buy leads.
    Here's what's interesting though...Last week I was talking to a guy and after the usual "how much" he was like, "listen...I'm good on a website. But I'll be straight up with you...If you can sell me leads, I'm in-like yesterday..."

    Admittedly, when he first said it my b.s. o'meter went off the charts b/c how did I know if he was just trying to get me off the phone or not...So I tested him by asking him why he liked buying leads so much.

    He then proceeded to tell me how this Home Advisor company was selling him leads and everything was good until he had a month where he was busy with his own leads and got beaten to the punch by the other contractors who were competing for the same leads (that's right home advisors aka service majic sells the same leads to three or four different contractors, there's your USP) but to his dismay he was on the hook for 2k with the lead company.

    He tried to get out of it but due to their contract he had to pay it and after that he said he wouldnt ever do biz with them again. So after hearing his story I committed to getting back to him this week.

    I said all that to say, just sell ur regular service and down sell to lead generation if you have to. I bet you'll see better responses that way.
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    • Profile picture of the author tigerbait
      Originally Posted by benbro View Post

      Hi Lorraine, it sounds like the approach I use is identical to



      Here's what's interesting though...Last week I was talking to a guy and after the usual "how much" he was like, "listen...I'm good on a website. But I'll be straight up with you...If you can sell me leads, I'm in-like yesterday..."

      Admittedly, when he first said it my b.s. o'meter went off the charts b/c how did I know if he was just trying to get me off the phone or not...So I tested him by asking him why he liked buying leads so much.

      He then proceeded to tell me how this Home Advisor company was selling him leads and everything was good until he had a month where he was busy with his own leads and got beaten to the punch by the other contractors who were competing for the same leads (that's right home advisors aka service majic sells the same leads to three or four different contractors, there's your USP) but to his dismay he was on the hook for 2k with the lead company.

      He tried to get out of it but due to their contract he had to pay it and after that he said he wouldnt ever do biz with them again. So after hearing his story I committed to getting back to him this week.

      I said all that to say, just sell ur regular service and down sell to lead generation if you have to. I bet you'll see better responses that way.
      I would imagine you will come off a lot better if you're able to generate leads for him. I created a lead gen site and I'm still building it out. The past 30 days I've sent a business 18 leads for free because I just needed someone to answer the phone while I build up the site & the volume. These leads sell between 28-42 a pop.

      18X28= $504 in free bidness I just sent this guy.

      So, when I talk to him this week and he doesn't want the leads anymore... which would be moronic on his part, I'm going to pull the plug and just start calling businesses until one wants them.

      On a different note, I set up a different niche site 10 days ago, received 5 leads that were anonymously sent to a business picked at random..

      After the 5th lead, I called him up, introduced myself and asked him if he wanted the leads... long story short, we're doing a 2 week trial run @ $12/lead at which point we will evaluate and if we continue, the leads will increase to $15/per.

      It's a low end lead, but with tons of volume. Seeing that it's a 10 day old site that already generated 7 leads.. it has huge potential.

      Just my 2 cents.
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      • Profile picture of the author benbro
        Very nice, TB! 10 days and already 5 leads - sweet. Just out of curiosity, are these optin or call-in leads?

        I'm actually planning on setting the site up over the weekend and will begin marketing it shortly thereafter.

        But you're right, once I get back to him the onus to deliver will be on me.
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    • Profile picture of the author mojo1
      Originally Posted by benbro View Post

      Hi Lorraine, it sounds like the approach I use is identical to



      Here's what's interesting though...Last week I was talking to a guy and after the usual "how much" he was like, "listen...I'm good on a website. But I'll be straight up with you...If you can sell me leads, I'm in-like yesterday..."

      Admittedly, when he first said it my b.s. o'meter went off the charts b/c how did I know if he was just trying to get me off the phone or not...So I tested him by asking him why he liked buying leads so much.

      He then proceeded to tell me how this Home Advisor company was selling him leads and everything was good until he had a month where he was busy with his own leads and got beaten to the punch by the other contractors who were competing for the same leads (that's right home advisors aka service majic sells the same leads to three or four different contractors, there's your USP) but to his dismay he was on the hook for 2k with the lead company.

      He tried to get out of it but due to their contract he had to pay it and after that he said he wouldnt ever do biz with them again. So after hearing his story I committed to getting back to him this week.

      I said all that to say, just sell ur regular service and down sell to lead generation if you have to. I bet you'll see better responses that way.
      Amazing what is uncovered when you engage in genuine dialogue. It seems you called at the right time and a buying signal opened right up for you.

      How did your follow up go?
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      • Profile picture of the author Darren Jones
        Small businesses who do not take advantage of the Internet are missing the boat when it comes to promoting their products and services. Applying local Internet marketing services can turn a small business web site into a lead generation tool.

        More and more people are using search engines to find local businesses.

        Small business owners need to apply these tactics now... before their competitors do.
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  • Profile picture of the author ronrule
    I don't mean for this to sound rude, but it's probably going to come across that way anyway... just spitting out my first thought.

    If you're in the lead generation business, wouldn't you just utilize your lead generation skills to find people who would buy YOUR product? You aren't exactly giving yourself a vote of confidence if you can't even find your OWN leads.
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    • Profile picture of the author tigerbait
      Originally Posted by benbro View Post

      Very nice, TB! 10 days and already 5 leads - sweet. Just out of curiosity, are these optin or call-in leads?

      I'm actually planning on setting the site up over the weekend and will begin marketing it shortly thereafter.

      But you're right, once I get back to him the onus to deliver will be on me.
      It's actually 7, we had 2 more the past 2 days.... and they are call in leads. I use a tracking number from phone.com to redirect the calls.


      Originally Posted by ronrule View Post

      I don't mean for this to sound rude, but it's probably going to come across that way anyway... just spitting out my first thought.

      If you're in the lead generation business, wouldn't you just utilize your lead generation skills to find people who would buy YOUR product? You aren't exactly giving yourself a vote of confidence if you can't even find your OWN leads.
      I'm not sure what you mean here?
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    • Profile picture of the author YellowGreenMedia
      Originally Posted by ronrule View Post

      I don't mean for this to sound rude, but it's probably going to come across that way anyway... just spitting out my first thought.

      If you're in the lead generation business, wouldn't you just utilize your lead generation skills to find people who would buy YOUR product? You aren't exactly giving yourself a vote of confidence if you can't even find your OWN leads.

      For some people is it easier to generate the leads than to sell them, they keep over-thinking the process, it is very simple pick up the phone and call prospect that advertise in the paper, true PCC of billboards and tell then you can deliver a X amount of potential customers and if they are intrested.

      There you have it, the whole sales process in a nutshell
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    • Profile picture of the author Jerry Higgins
      I don't mean for this to sound rude, but it's probably going to come across that way anyway... just spitting out my first thought.

      If you're in the lead generation business, wouldn't you just utilize your lead generation skills to find people who would buy YOUR product? You aren't exactly giving yourself a vote of confidence if you can't even find your OWN leads.
      All ronrule is saying here is, 'why not use the same type of marketing method/funnel you are using to generate leads.... to generate the clients that will be buying your leads.'

      This gives you massive congruency and credibility in the eyes of your prospective clients.
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  • Profile picture of the author benbro
    Phone.com I've heard of them before. Will check them out. Thanks.
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    "Everything you can imagine is real." – Pablo Picasso

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  • Profile picture of the author ItsmeChris
    I've just heard about Lead Generation Services, I don't know if it can really helps you but I think if you're just starting out a business you'll be able to benefit from those. Production services and even the financial services can be found on market if you're willing to pay leads for them to generate.
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  • Profile picture of the author BasilInc.
    Great discussions here guys....
    Lead gen IMHO is a fantastic, sustainable, long term business model. I run a Mastermind Group from my CL Crusher course and we have had several members active in lead gen gen.
    We are doing a special Pay Per Cal Mastermind training webinar with Mark Helton ho has been doing some amazing stuff with PPC

    The Webinar is this Wed 9PM EST. We have a few open spots left so if anyone from this thread would like to attend, there's going to be a lot of great info.
    Here's the link. Meeting Registration: CL Crusher Pay Per Call Training Mastermind


    -
    Basil
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Rivers
    Like many things in life, when it comes to selling leads to business owner, the grass always seems greener on the other side of the fence.

    There are those who are tired of fighting for small $300 deals and working like a dog. Which makes selling leads for $20-$50 each very attractive.

    Then there are those who are struggling with contacting business owners to ask them if they want to buy the leads. So, having a few clients who pay them thousands each month sounds attractive to them.

    No matter which way you go, you still must have a real marketing plan to generate that lead and sell it to a business owner. Sure, you may get lucky and scare up a few leads or semi-interested business owners. But, producing day in and day out like clockwork takes a real plan.

    It's always going to come down to the same thing every time.

    You must get on the phone or meet with business owners.

    It will take work and planning.

    That's what I've learned by doing both lead generating and traditional consulting.

    Chris
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    [AGENCY OWNERS & MARKETING CONSULTANTS]
    Want to target Chiropractors? Grab this FREE DFY Chiropractic Back Pain Funnel
    and generate new patient leads for your trial or recurring Chiropractor clients!
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  • Profile picture of the author binker
    Some great ideas in this thread.

    I am looking to begin local lead generation for either repeat businesses or high ticket 'one off' businesses here in Brisbane, Australia.

    Have a list of around 30 industries all up that this will work for & probably many more I haven't even considered.

    I will be working on one vertical at a time & perfecting the system.

    I'll be building a separate website for each biz I work with then using places, adwords, classifieds, seo etc to send leads to the sites.

    Looking at using a company called Dealacon to get tracking numbers. Around $20/month for each number plus call costs.

    I am still flying a bit blind with this as I have no idea until I do it if the numbers will stack up & still unsure what to charge certain industries for leads. Planning on just getting stuck into it & will know over time.

    If anyone in Brisbane or Australia is currently doing similar or want to partner up to from a mastermind in order to do this I would love to have a chat.

    There is so much opportunity for this its not funny & once I have the whole system streamlined, systematised & outsourced adding new businesses into the funnel should be a breeze.

    Any feedback on my planned approach would also be appreciated.

    Cheers
    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author zoobie
    cold calling, set up adwords campaign, distribute flyers, attend local business networking events, send emails to potential clients, join Lindkedin, trade shows, attend local business conference etc.
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    • Profile picture of the author midasman09
      Banned
      Look! NOTHING is MORE Convincing that RESULTS!!!!!!!!!!!!

      As a long time sales guy, I could probably sell "IGLOOS to Eskimos" and, if I went to Alaska and held a seminar on "How To Build an Igloo"........
      ....I would HAVE TO CONVINCE potential attendees on why "I", little ol' Me could bring up enough DESIRE in them to sign up for my Info Seminar!

      So.....after YEARS of "IF-COME" sales intros, where I presented "IF...I DO THIS....WOULD YOU PARTICIPATE!

      I've changed to; "I'VE DONE THIS! Do YOU want to participate?

      NOTHING ....is MORE CONVINCING than the REAL THING!

      So....regarding this thread; Place one of Dave Cisnero's or Nick Mann's PLR Videos on YouTube! Put a CallFire phone number on it, and upload to YT....and start getting Calls from LEADS!...that you send to your Prospect (with the Whisper effect)

      Then..... send your prospect an email telling them YOU have made this "Lead-Generating-Video" designed to bring them more Customers/Clients/Patients.....and THEY...NOW have the opportunity

      You kidding ME! Show me ONE biz owner in "todays" economy who would NOT want.....what YOU are offering!

      Don Alm....marketing AND Sales guy
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  • Profile picture of the author cdl512
    why on earth are you limiting the amount of money you can make?
    This is my model:
    $2000 start up costs - it usually takes me $4-5000 to get a niche profitable.
    client pays $1000 to start. I make them $2000 in first 6 weeks they pay me the second $1000 of the start up costs. If I can't make them the $2000 I give them their $1000 back.
    I get paid per lead as well as on avg. 15% of revenue generated from my leads. A carpet cleaner makes me about $8000 a month net. Used car dealer brings in about $18,000 and a dentist brings in about $16,000. I don't really care about SEO, I do employ 4 SEO's full time but my focus is on PPC. It takes about 100 hours of work to get profitable then we spend about 10 hours a month on each client. Our focus is on the clients website, we do create properties for each niche apart from the clients site but use those as additional lead gen and they are not our focus.
    The only thing I outsource is design because it takes time away from marketing work and I like having multiple designers thinking about a client (think in house 99 designs) with the best ideas doing the work.
    We don't enter a niche without knowing exactly what the potential is. I have never given a deposit back because my process is strong. Everything I do is grounded in testing, analytic's and marketing that sets my clients apart from all the me too companies.
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  • Profile picture of the author AussieT
    Wow a carpet cleaner makes you about $8k a month. I guess it must be a large chain or franchise.

    Who pays for the clicks you or the client?

    What do you mean it costs you $4-$5,00 to get a client profitable
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  • Profile picture of the author cdl512
    Aussie - it isn't a large cleaner but when we started he had 4 trucks today he has 9. They are working 7 days a week, 10 - 12 hours a day.
    I pay for everything - I couldn't get the price per lead or the % of total sales I do if I didn't. - this is the exact same way I started in affiliate marketing except now I have control of money collection and can negotiate price on my own.
    What I mean by $4 - 5000 to get a client profitable is that is what I spend on traffic, design and other labor before I start turning a profit on a per lead/sale basis. It def. isn't the cheapest way to go on my end and most people here wouldn't do it because they don't have the skill to do it, they think if they sell a "package" then they out source the work to someone in India. The lack of skill in the industry is the biggest pain in the ass when talking to prospects. They got burned at least once before.
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    • Profile picture of the author Papa Schultz
      Hi everyone!
      This is my first post here, please forgive me if this question has been asked in another thread. I have dabbled with internet marketing for a while and have decided that I am going to build a lead generation website. I understand the basics of building it, SEO, keyword research etc..,but I have one burning question...
      It is about whether or not I should sell leads exclusively or sell the same leads to multiple (up to 4) companies servicing the same area. I've noticed a lot of lead generation sites structure themselves to send up to 4 free quotes. Obviously it is better for the person requesting quotes to get more than one so they can find the best deal, but I'm assuming these leads would be sold at a lower price compared to a lead which can be sold exclusively to one company.

      Does anyone have any experience doing this? I'm trying to build my site at the moment and I'm wondering how I should go about this....

      Any help with this matter would be greatly appreciated....

      Thanks Warriors. ^_^
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      • Profile picture of the author MobiDev
        Originally Posted by Papa Schultz View Post

        Hi everyone!
        This is my first post here, please forgive me if this question has been asked in another thread. I have dabbled with internet marketing for a while and have decided that I am going to build a lead generation website. I understand the basics of building it, SEO, keyword research etc..,but I have one burning question...
        It is about whether or not I should sell leads exclusively or sell the same leads to multiple (up to 4) companies servicing the same area. I've noticed a lot of lead generation sites structure themselves to send up to 4 free quotes. Obviously it is better for the person requesting quotes to get more than one so they can find the best deal, but I'm assuming these leads would be sold at a lower price compared to a lead which can be sold exclusively to one company.

        Does anyone have any experience doing this? I'm trying to build my site at the moment and I'm wondering how I should go about this....

        Any help with this matter would be greatly appreciated....

        Thanks Warriors. ^_^

        Hi and welcome to the forum! Different companies use different approaches. But I guess that it's better to give one lead to the one company, it can work better for both sides. If they don't match they can make a new request for your service.
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  • Profile picture of the author Papa Schultz
    Thanks for your reply, Mobidev. This will be my first lead generation site, so maybe your solution would prove to be the easiest option at this stage. I think I'll go with it. Then I suppose (depending on how the site goes) I can change the structure a bit.
    Thanks again for your response, I'll keep you posted on the results.
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  • Profile picture of the author jorge2006
    [DELETED]
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