I know when I started my business, I would do whatever I thought might work to convince people that they should work with me…
Blog post quickly written in 30 minutes? Posted.
Instagram stories pointing people to the link in my bio to book a call? Done.
Emails to past clients asking if they had any referrals for me? Sent!
It felt like I was throwing spaghetti at the wall hoping something stuck, every. single. day.
Over the years, I realized that there are SO many ways that work to generate leads, and you simply need the right strategy and platform that works for you to make this work over and over again.
Whether you’re an introvert like me (yes really!) or you LOVE being with people IRL and making friends that turn to clients, there is going to be a lead gen strategy that works for you when you are consistent with mastering it.
Here are the 5 ways you can generate leads for your online business:
Paid ads are something that you can use to generate leads without spending a ton more time on your end. So many platforms offer this now too, you don’t have to rely on just Facebook and Instagram. You can try Google, TikTok, and even sponsorships on podcasts. You find what works best for you to put yourself in front of new ideal people without having to spend you time. This can get costly, but when you find the right strategy, it can propel you to crazy new revenue levels! When you’re getting into paid ads, make sure that you have an offer that has already been selling, and that you have the capacity in your business to take on the new clients that it can generate. Otherwise, you’ll be wasting money marketing an offer that hasn’t been validated, or you’ll have to turn down clients.
Do you love making friends and meeting new people? Well good news – you can use that skill to generate leads! Relationship marketing is when you collaborate with people and share your business with their audiences in some way.
You can do a guest expert session for someone’s program, do a list swap, speak on stage, meeting people at a networking event, etc.
The goal here is to build a deeper and more genuine relationship with the people you are marketing to and collaborating with so that when people think about your industry – you’re the go-to person they think about or share with others!
This isn’t something that always works asap, but as you build relationships and actively ask for audience-sharing partnership things… it will naturally turn into clients over time!
Love to share your expertise? Are you kind of an introvert? This might be the best lead gen for you!
Here you’re going to create content that will be found, liked, and shared by your ideal clients. There are so many platforms and ways to do this, but you’re either trying to get shared and in front of new people by creating content that is trendy and can go viral.
OR! You’re playing the long-game and focusing on SEO on different platforms and creating content that is the answer to what people are searching for. FYI, SEO is more than just google. Pinterest, TikTok, and YouTube are search engines too! When you position your content as the answer to things that people are looking for, you will generate new leads over time that will seriously add up!
Have friends or clients that love what you do and have had a great time working with you?
They’re going to be your best advocates! When you actively set up a referral fee and let your people know about this, you can generate leads over time with more ideal clients. Setting up an affiliate program could be another great way to generate more leads by having your affiliates actively share about your offers.
You’ll have to set up some material to give to them and continually work with them to share about the offers or specials you have going on. If your ideal clients have an audience of more ideal clients, this can be a great way to generate leads!
5: Outreach
Ahhhh the dreaded cold DM 😂 This is a strategy that you can use (with consent along the way) to generate leads when you have more time than money and are looking to do something proactive to generate leads.
Outreach doesn’t always have to be cold either — you can reach out to past clients, friends of friends, and other people that you’ve been in chats with to see if they are in a place where your offers could support them.
When done supportively, outreach is an amazing way to generate leads where you have a lot of control over the process. Other ways of lead gen can take some time or some serious upfront funds to get going — this one only requires YOUR EFFORT, so it’s a great one to master when you’re looking to make some big impact quickly!
So — which feels like the one you’d like to master? Send me a DM on Instagram
Hope you’re having an amazing day, and I can’t wait to hear from you about your lead gen!
xo Kelsey