The Real Deal Offline Series: Should I Build My Offline Business Using ONLY Free Lead Gen Methods?
Hey Offliners,
The other day I bought this really good wso about using free online resources to find clients.
Now, the content was solid. I've used a couple of the techniques to get some clients, so I know that they work.
However, when I first started ramping up my business over a year ago, I discovered that many of the free lead gen methods have some really significantly negative limitations.
For example, using classified ad websites to find local businesses that are searching for online marketing pros, while at the same time posting my own online marketing ads is a strategy that I've used for a while now.
But some of the limitations are that browsers have the ability to flag your ads and get them deleted, you can only post a certain amount of ads or the companies are looking for true employees and not marketing companies.
Although after having dozens of my ads flagged and not getting a good response from clients I was contacting, I finally decided to go with a professional classified advertising expert to manage my craigslist marketing campaign.
Then, as I begin to examine my other freebie marketing strategies, I begin to realize that many of the strategies that I first started using have little to no startup cost associated with using them.
However, in order to make the freebie lead gen strategies work effectively, I had began to invest money into maximizing them, which put them right back into the paid marketing strategies bucket.
Now, the low startup cost is a good thing for most offline marketers, but here's the inevitable reality about using many of the free lead generation strategies for getting clients:
They get saturated really quickly.
Why?
Because every offline marketing guru is teaching their wso buyers to use that strategy. By the time, you get to them, you're the 372nd person to "try" it out.
Do you think that hurts your conversion rate with prospects?
But, in my offline journey I also discovered that there's a group of lead generation strategies that work really well and have a much lesser chance of becoming saturated.
Strategies like:
- Hosting local seminars teaching small business owners about marketing online.
- Creating a meetup group for local business and meeting physically each month.
- Writing a book and building a back-end funnel system to get clients to apply to work with you.
- Creating niche home study courses for specific industries and building a brand name in that industry.
So, after months and months of tweaking "free" marketing strategies and turning them into paid marketing strategies, I encourage every offliner to be will be willing to invest money into their own marketing campaigns just like we advise our own clients to do.
After all, it is a business.
Hope this helps,
Chris
The other day I bought this really good wso about using free online resources to find clients.
Now, the content was solid. I've used a couple of the techniques to get some clients, so I know that they work.
However, when I first started ramping up my business over a year ago, I discovered that many of the free lead gen methods have some really significantly negative limitations.
For example, using classified ad websites to find local businesses that are searching for online marketing pros, while at the same time posting my own online marketing ads is a strategy that I've used for a while now.
But some of the limitations are that browsers have the ability to flag your ads and get them deleted, you can only post a certain amount of ads or the companies are looking for true employees and not marketing companies.
Although after having dozens of my ads flagged and not getting a good response from clients I was contacting, I finally decided to go with a professional classified advertising expert to manage my craigslist marketing campaign.
Then, as I begin to examine my other freebie marketing strategies, I begin to realize that many of the strategies that I first started using have little to no startup cost associated with using them.
However, in order to make the freebie lead gen strategies work effectively, I had began to invest money into maximizing them, which put them right back into the paid marketing strategies bucket.
Now, the low startup cost is a good thing for most offline marketers, but here's the inevitable reality about using many of the free lead generation strategies for getting clients:
They get saturated really quickly.
Why?
Because every offline marketing guru is teaching their wso buyers to use that strategy. By the time, you get to them, you're the 372nd person to "try" it out.
Do you think that hurts your conversion rate with prospects?
But, in my offline journey I also discovered that there's a group of lead generation strategies that work really well and have a much lesser chance of becoming saturated.
Strategies like:
- Hosting local seminars teaching small business owners about marketing online.
- Creating a meetup group for local business and meeting physically each month.
- Writing a book and building a back-end funnel system to get clients to apply to work with you.
- Creating niche home study courses for specific industries and building a brand name in that industry.
So, after months and months of tweaking "free" marketing strategies and turning them into paid marketing strategies, I encourage every offliner to be will be willing to invest money into their own marketing campaigns just like we advise our own clients to do.
After all, it is a business.
Hope this helps,
Chris
Happy new Year 2019