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Local lead generation for businesses????

by aceshigh888
4 replies
I was talking with a friend. He was explaining to me how I should do lead gen for local businesses as my new biz.

Funny thing is I actually use to do lead gen. It was working too but my method had a flaw too it. Regardless it was still making 2k per month. But stupid me, back then to me that was peanuts so I eventually decided to just let the thing fall apart.

Now my situation has changed and I need income big time. And now that my friend explained to me sort of the missing puzzle piece it would seem like a logical step.

The only thing I could see though that's still a bit of a problem is stuff like....

1) Biz doesn't get the client then they're not gonna wanna pay for the lead so it's gonna be an endless back and forth with the biz, plus biz's dropping off from tiem to time and then having to replace them. And then ongoing billing hassels, and finding new businesses to join. That's the issue I ran into last time. Essencially this was no online vending machine where you set it and forget it. It was ongoing work.

The issue with that becomes the larger you might grow the more ongoing work you have. Not like setting up a bunch of online vending machines but rather this is a real biz that requires ongoing maintenance and customer service. That was the one issue I ran into before with it. But I suppose that's life.

I don't know I'm just debating my options. I was thinking even if I could make like 5k per month I'd be more than happy with that. Anyway just thought I'd get people's feedback. The main thing is I got to try something and get serious about it, which I want to do, but I just don't want to run off in the wrong direction.

What do you think of this idea?

:rolleyes:
#businesses #generation #lead #local
  • Profile picture of the author jgant
    I do what I call local affiliate marketing. I don't sell leads. Instead, I get paid for every new customer I send to my clients. Basically I earn commissions, hence I call it local affiliate marketing.

    I avoid leads for the very reason you point out - haggling over quality, etc.

    Commissions means client is happy and will pay. My commissions range from $250 to $650+ (I tie in a % on some types of referrals). Average commission is $450. I generate about 7 to 10 commissions a month right now, hoping to double it in 2013.

    I focus on SEO, which is risky, but it converts like crazy and it's not hard to rank small sites. I'll be implementing email marketing this year as well.

    I track referrals via a call center I hired to intercept all calls and take names. The calls are then patched through to my client's business. It flows perfectly. If a site visitor fills out a contact form, that data is stored and the inquiry goes directly to my client who handles the call.

    I invest very little time each month on this. I'm still honing the system and once I'm done honing, I'll go out and get more clients. By honing, I mean outsourcing the entire site development and SEO process. I have more fun in my other niches so I prefer outsourcing and supervising this stuff.

    Also, if you negotiate decent commissions, Adwords is profitable. I use Adwords along with SEO and it works great.

    There's a bit of legwork in finding clients - but if you approach them and say they only pay you when you send them paying customers, it's an easy sell (easier to sell than offering leads). Ensure your clients can close the deal though and that they can handle increased volume.
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    • Profile picture of the author aduttonater
      Originally Posted by jgant View Post

      I do what I call local affiliate marketing. I don't sell leads. Instead, I get paid for every new customer I send to my clients. Basically I earn commissions, hence I call it local affiliate marketing.

      I avoid leads for the very reason you point out - haggling over quality, etc.

      Commissions means client is happy and will pay. My commissions range from $250 to $650+ (I tie in a % on some types of referrals). Average commission is $450. I generate about 7 to 10 commissions a month right now, hoping to double it in 2013.

      I focus on SEO, which is risky, but it converts like crazy and it's not hard to rank small sites. I'll be implementing email marketing this year as well.

      I track referrals via a call center I hired to intercept all calls and take names. The calls are then patched through to my client's business. It flows perfectly. If a site visitor fills out a contact form, that data is stored and the inquiry goes directly to my client who handles the call.

      I invest very little time each month on this. I'm still honing the system and once I'm done honing, I'll go out and get more clients. By honing, I mean outsourcing the entire site development and SEO process. I have more fun in my other niches so I prefer outsourcing and supervising this stuff.

      Also, if you negotiate decent commissions, Adwords is profitable. I use Adwords along with SEO and it works great.

      There's a bit of legwork in finding clients - but if you approach them and say they only pay you when you send them paying customers, it's an easy sell (easier to sell than offering leads). Ensure your clients can close the deal though and that they can handle increased volume.
      I also did local affiliate marketing. Great way of explaining by the way. I would receive 30% commission on every paying job that was generated through my lead system.

      All I do is advertise, then when I get the phone call, I take down the information and forward it to the client either by text message, email, or both. Then it's up to me to check on each lead to make sure if income was generated or not. I usually just ask the client how much they charged for that job. Then I charge them 30% of that price.

      If I ever get suspicious I could just ask to see the invoice, or if there is no invoice then I can just call their customer/my lead and ask them how much they paid for the yard service? I could also ask them how the service was, to make it appear more of a follow up call for service then for the amount of money.
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    • Profile picture of the author edwardca
      I do what I call local affiliate marketing. I don't sell leads. Instead, I get paid for every new customer I send to my clients. Basically I earn commissions, hence I call it local affiliate marketing.

      I avoid leads for the very reason you point out - haggling over quality, etc.

      Commissions means client is happy and will pay. My commissions range from $250 to $650+ (I tie in a % on some types of referrals). Average commission is $450. I generate about 7 to 10 commissions a month right now, hoping to double it in 2013.

      I focus on SEO, which is risky, but it converts like crazy and it's not hard to rank small sites. I'll be implementing email marketing this year as well.

      I track referrals via a call center I hired to intercept all calls and take names. The calls are then patched through to my client's business. It flows perfectly. If a site visitor fills out a contact form, that data is stored and the inquiry goes directly to my client who handles the call.

      I invest very little time each month on this. I'm still honing the system and once I'm done honing, I'll go out and get more clients. By honing, I mean outsourcing the entire site development and SEO process. I have more fun in my other niches so I prefer outsourcing and supervising this stuff.

      Also, if you negotiate decent commissions, Adwords is profitable. I use Adwords along with SEO and it works great.

      There's a bit of legwork in finding clients - but if you approach them and say they only pay you when you send them paying customers, it's an easy sell (easier to sell than offering leads). Ensure your clients can close the deal though and that they can handle increased volume.

      02-23-2013, 03:57 AM
      That's really interesting. Thanks for sharing. I'm curious - how long does it take before you can get a site ranking well enough to get decent traffic to it?
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  • Profile picture of the author asiriusthoth
    Leads is a very tough business. I use to be the national marketing manager for a very large lead generation company and it always boils down to "Lead Quality." What makes it even harder is if you're in a very tough industry.

    From my experience (and in my opinion) it's more profitable to sell a service rather than sell leads. Sell the client Exclusive Branding. Instead of selling a person 20 leads at $15... sell them a service at $1,000 (one time) that they can cultivate their own leads... using your service.
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