Lead Generation Site Questions

Hi Bob,

This is the same business model which I have adopted, and it is working relatively well.

In terms of offering a free report - this very much depends on the niche. E.g. if someone's roof is leaking - they won't be interested in a free report - just the most reliable roofer and who can get to them the quickest to do the job!

On the other hand, with other niches e.g. carpet cleaning, there is less urgency involved and someone may well be willing to spend 20 minutes reading a report on say "10 things you must ask a carpet cleaner before hiring them".

However, my experience of life is that generally people are too busy to read reports of this nature and are more interested in just talking to the business owner on the phone and making their mind up whether or not to use them.

The exception is niches where people are spending a great deal of money (E.g. home improvements). I think in this case offering a free report in exchange for the visitor's email address could pay real dividends.

I like your idea of charging a low site-rental fee for the first 6 months or so. I am doing something similar where the first month is free, followed by a year of relatively low monthly fees. But, after a year, providing the site is giving them an excellent ROI via new qualified leads, then the fees will be substantially increased to reflect this.

I have heard about other warriors offering sites for $197 - $1,997+ per month from the get-go. But personally I prefer to show the client what the site can achieve in real time before he or she starts risking quite large sums of money and expect a lot back!

This is not only to protect my reputation, but to also act as an incentive for the client to give me referrals, and have them on my books for the long term.

If the client is paying say $997 from month one, and they see little activity in terms of new customers, then they will be on the phone to me every 5 minutes wanting explanations.

But, if they are gradually moved upwards to say $497 per month, all the while they are getting a decent ROI, then it makes it much easier IMHO.

Feel free to just submit your site. I've seen many people do it before and there's nothing to be afraid of. Here is one of my newer sites that still needs a lot of work.

MMRG Mold Remediation NJ | Licensed, Insured, BBB Accredited!-

I work on it typically 1 hour a day then work on marketing the other 8-9 hours of my work day. Now I have 3 sites that I market on a daily basis.

Since this one is the newest, it gets the least amount of leads right now. Usually only around 1-2 new leads a day. But between all my sites combined, I usually get around 8-10 leads a day.

For contracting services, you just need to look credible and have reviews both on and off your site. Reviews are VERY important and people will always check them I find.

Reports can help but I don't use them on my sites.

Whats most important is to have an elaborate and diversified sales funnel. Google place listings, citations, reviews, SEO on the site for select keywords, youtube videos for many different keywords ranking, facebook fan page with a good following, CL posters posting ads you've tested before. Articles, press releases, anything really.

What I did was bust my ass for 3-4 months, and sure enough leads started becoming more consistent. It takes a lot of work, but once its set up right, its an excellent way to make money.

The thing is though, I don't sell my leads or contract people for 3-6 months at a time. I am friends with all the contractors I give leads to, I know that they employee incredible salesmen (one is my own brother), so I ask for 10% commissions on sold jobs.

Plus I make a lot more money that way too. This type of setup may not work for everyone, but I work within a certain "circle of trust" and it works out well for me. I've had other contractors offer me commissions for selling my leads, and I've said no immediately because I know they can't sell for shit. Plus if a contractor can't sell (which most can't unfortunately) they will complain about the quality of the leads when the real problem is them.

Thats why I only work with people I know & trust. It works out in every manner you can think of. Positioning of your own service, profits, and maintaining long term relationships with people who actually want to work with you long term. In those cases, you don't even need to bind people to long term contracts.

Good luck - Red