Grow Your Revenue By Getting More Leads Online

Jul 08, 2021
Grow Your Revenue By Getting More Leads Online

Maybe you’re the CEO of a large corporation or maybe you operate a small local service business. You might possibly fit somewhere in between. Despite the difference in size of these businesses no matter which one you operate there’s one thing they have in common – You need customers.

Sure, you may already have customers. They may walk into your store, they may be referred by a friend, or they may have seen an ad in your local high school football program. (Not likely though.)

That’s great you already have customers. But what are you doing to get more new customers to grow your business. Existing business is great, it keeps you running and it is the foundation for your success so far. But, if you really want to boost business you have to reach new customers. The customers that probably don’t know you exist. What’s sad is that you probably offer a service they need which means you could be missing the boat on new business.

It’s time to find that boat and get on it. It’s not too late. If you haven’t already done so, consider creating an online lead generation program as part of your business growth strategy.

What is a lead?

You probably already know the answer to this but let’s just start from the top. A lead is anyone who has expressed their desire to learn more about your products or services. These are the people who have come into your business, talked with a sales-person directly or by phone, interacted with a team member by asking questions about your products and showed definite interest in your service by providing you some information even just an email address. The point is these are potential buyers who haven’t made up their mind yet.

You and your business want more of these. More leads. More business. More revenue. All you have to do is convert them once you get them.

What is online lead generation?

Simply put, online lead generation is a marketing technique used by some of the most savvy successful companies on the planet. But, it can be simple enough that even little ol’ mom-and-pop businesses can take advantage of. By utilizing the one digital platform that we all have access to, the internet, businesses of all sizes have an opportunity to be discovered by potential customers all over the world. Literally.

How can you capture leads online?

The internet provides you with a variety of different channels to market through. There are social media sites, video sites, and chat forums just to name a few. But, the first channel you and your business should be generating leads with is your website.

Do you have a website? You better. Today it’s the equivalent to the yellow pages in the phone book – if any of you remember those. If you don’t, the yellow pages was a directory in the back of the phone book with listings and advertisements of business in your local area. Need a carpet cleaner? Look in the yellow pages. Need to find an exterminator? Look in the yellow pages. Looking to take your Friday night date to a fancy steak house but don’t know of any? Look in th……..you get the point.

Think of the internet as an enormous directory, like the yellow pages.  It’s where everyone goes to look for a service or product they are in need of. Websites are kind of like your own ad and if you don’t have one your missing out on a lot of potential customers.

Not only that, websites give your business instant credibility, it’s a way for you to communicate with your customers, you can brand your business the way you want, they are relatively inexpensive and most importantly it will attract new customers.

Your website is the first place you can begin your online lead generation. It’s the hub that links all your online marketing activities together and drives new customers right to your front door.

How can I use my website to generate leads?

Glad you asked. Your website should be turned into a lead generation machine if it isn’t already. To get leads you need to offer your visitors something of value to them. For example if you are carpet cleaning service you could offer a 30% discount coupon just for signing up for your mailing list. Offer a free carpet cleaning estimate when they complete a form indicating the number of; and size of each room. You might even create a free downloadable resource with “Five Professional Tips For Getting The Toughest Carpet Stains Out” if they provide you their name, email, and phone through a simple web form.

Each of these site visitors has initiated contact with you. They’re interested. You just need to follow up with a plan to convert. You know your business best and what is valuable to your customers. You can surely come up with a handful of offers that fit your target audience.

In one of our businesses we collect information from potential home buyers in need of a mortgage from our website. Visitors come to our website everyday. Everyday we get new leads.  We offer free mortgage consultations and also free loan approval and loan comparison information.

One of the tools we use which is currently designed for mortgage companies, insurance companies and real estate agents is called LeadPops. At the time of this writing they were only a few months away from having a platform that can be used with virtually every other type of business. One of their biggest selling points is that all captured data is stored and can be downloaded into spreadsheets. This is a great way to start building and maintaining an email list.

LeadPops is a 3rd party form collection tool that we love and highly recommend looking into it if you are in need of a great functioning and user friendly lead collection tool for your website. We’ve integrated it into our website and each day it collects lead information from interested borrowers and delivers them directly to our inbox. After that, our job is to follow up and convert.

There are also other 3rd party lead capture forms you can use for free if you are just starting out. Check out Wufoo and JotForm. You can integrate both into your website.

The best part about online lead generation is that it works while you sleep, and even on vacation. Also, once you have your site set up, amazing customer offers, and lead capture forms set up there isn’t a lot of maintenance.

What’s Next?

Once you’ve turned your website into a lead generation machine your next goal is to bring traffic to it. There are a number of ways to do this and we’ll discuss some of these topics in upcoming blogs. But for now start thinking about these ideas and how using them can reach potential customers and draw them to your website.

Consider:

  • Content creation
  • Blogs
  • Video
  • Webinars
  • Ebooks / How To’s
  • Your social media pages/posts
  • Paid social media advertising
  • Facebook
  • Google Ads
  • Direct consumer mail
  • Email database

Get started with online lead generation. Don’t be scared to try. To be honest there isn’t a fixed formula but it begins with you and a little bit of elbow grease. By coming up with valuable offers that your customers will bite into you can start finding new business, today! But, don’t make plans to upgrade your office space or warehouse – at least not yet.

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About The Author

Megan Marsh is one of the top mortgage brokers in the country, with her brokerage being named 2023 Regional Mortgage Broker of the Year.  Read Megan’s “About Us” story “From Fired to Financial Freedom.”

Feel Free to send Megan a message to [email protected].