Your Online Business Headquarters

Networking for Potential Customers
Networking may be one of the oldest forms of advertising.  Traditionally, business people would attend designated “networking meetings” where they would meet other people and exchange business cards in the hope that one of the people they talked to would send some clients their way. Continue Reading »

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No Need to Go Broke with Adwords
Whether a novice or an experienced online marketer, anyone can take advantage of Google’s Adwords program - even on a tight budget. Continue Reading »

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Sales Lead Generation and How to Make it Work in Your Business - Part 10 

This is the 10th in a 10 part series

Roll with the Changes

As evidenced by all of the new techniques brought forth by the Internet, lead generation is not a static concept.  It is constantly evolving.  So it’s important to keep up with what’s new so that you don’t get left behind. Continue Reading »

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Sales Lead Generation and How to Make it Work in Your Business - Part 9 

This is the 9th in a 10 part series

How Much Are Your Leads Making You?

One of the most important things to consider when analyzing a lead generation program is how much money your leads are making you.  It is essential that you make enough money from a lead generation campaign to justify the money spent.  A little number crunching can shed some light on things. Continue Reading »

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Sales Lead Generation and How to Make it Work in Your Business - Part 8 

This is the 8th in a 10 part series

Email Mailing Lists

One of the most effective ways to follow up on leads online is through an email mailing list.  This allows you to touch base with your leads on a regular basis, giving you repeated opportunities to make the sale.  There are lots of options for setting up mailing lists, many of which are low-cost or even free. Continue Reading »

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Sales Lead Generation and How to Make it Work in Your Business - Part 7 

This is the 7th in a 10 part series

Hiring a Lead Generation Firm

If you don’t have the time to do your own lead generation, or you don’t know where to start, hiring a lead generation firm is an option.  Campaign costs vary depending on the firm and your requirements, but a good lead generation firm will deliver high-quality leads. Continue Reading »

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Sales Lead Generation and How to Make it Work in Your Business - Part 6  

This is the 6th in a 10 part series

Online Marketing and Squeeze Pages

More and more businesses are finding ways to market effectively online.  It is worth looking into because it can be highly cost-effective.  You can also reach potential customers regardless of their geographic area.

One of the staples of online marketers is the squeeze page.  It is a very simple concept.  A squeeze page is a one-page website that a business uses to generate interest and entice readers to provide their contact information to learn more.  Utilized properly, a squeeze page is a very effective lead generation tool.

The trick to making a squeeze page is providing useful information, but making the reader provide his email and/or physical address, and possibly even his phone number, to get the rest of the story.  There are websites, software programs, and books dedicated to helping marketers make and promote a great squeeze page.  You can do it yourself if you have the time and inclination, or you can hire a copywriter and web designer to handle it for you.  Companies like SqueezePagefiresale offer a package of customizeable squeeze pages for under 10 bucks, so these types of offerings are hard to beat.

Using Affiliates for Lead Generation

Affiliate programs are a great way to generate leads online.  You simply market the program to affiliate marketers, provide them with promotional materials to use, and pay them a specified amount for each lead that results from their efforts.  You set the price per lead, and you can set forth terms that affiliates must abide by in order to earn commissions.

Software is available that can make managing an affiliate program on your own easy.  Most programs automate communications, tracking and payments.  Handling the program yourself is the most cost-effective strategy, but it does require some work on your part.

There are also affiliate networks that you can sign up with that will handle almost everything for you, including much of the recruiting of new affiliates.  These networks charge fees either by the month or year or by the lead.  This option is more expensive than running your own program, but it can also be much more profitable if you run solid campaigns.

Stay tuned for part 7 - “Hiring a Lead Generation Firm”

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A Search Engine Friendly Direct Sales Website - Making Yours a Reality
It’s time to “surf the web”.  What do you do?  You go to a search engine and type a target phrase into the search box.  Within seconds you receive a list of websites.  You begin to click on websites that interest you.  Before long, you’ve found what you’re looking for.  If you’re wise, you’ll make your direct sales website a search engine friendly url in the same way, so that you can be found when someone begins their search.

How do you make your website search engine friendly?  Following are some hints to make your website easier to find.

1.  Submit your direct sales website to the largest directories and search engines.  Concentrate on the Yahoo! and Open Project Directory directories.  Google and AOL would be good choices for search engines to target.

2.  Submit just the main page of your website, not each individual page.  The other pages will be found by following the links from the main page.  Creating a “site map” might help the search engines find all of your links, but there’s no guarantee.

3.  Choose keywords that are as specific as possible.  If your direct sales companies sells educational toys, you’ll do better by using “educational toys” than you would using “toys and games” as your keywords.

4.  The more websites you have linking to yours, the better your site will rank on the search engines.  To get links back to your website, consider a “link exchange” campaign.  Find other websites in your same niche and ask them if they would exchange links with you.  If they do, both websites should benefit.

5.  Your title page tag is the first thing a search engine displays, so you’ll want yours to be good.  Take your time and come up with something that will explain your website.

6.  Search engines, while important, are not the only way to drive traffic to your website.  Consider adding a signature line to your outgoing email that includes your business email address.  Write articles and submit them to various free article sites; make sure to include a bio box with your URL at the bottom.  Find and post at related forums, posting your link in your signature line, if it is allowed.

7.  Don’t forget about offline marketing.  Have pens, business cards, and flyers printed with your direct sales business email and website.  Bumper stickers might be another good bet, as well as magnets.

Creating a website isn’t that hard to do.  Take some time, think things through, make a plan, and then follow it.  If you have problems, you can always ask at different forums for ways to improve your search engine results.  People are generally willing to help make your direct sales website search engine friendly.

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Sales Lead Generation and How to Make it Work in Your Business - Part 5 

This is the 5th in a 10 part series

Finding the Most Effective Lead Generation Method for Your Business

Each business has its own unique characteristics, so what works in lead generation for one business may not work well at all for another.  Finding the right combination of methods and incentives almost always takes some experimentation.  But once you get it all figured out, it will be well worth the effort.

Product-based businesses often do well with direct mail and broadcast advertising.  These mediums can allow customers to make purchases or request information from the comfort of their homes, or they can motivate them to visit brick and mortar establishments to see the product themselves.  The Internet also provides effective ways to generate leads for many product-based businesses, but it will likely take more experimentation to find the best method.

Service-based businesses often do well with telemarketing and online lead generation.  These methods make it quick and easy for customers to get the information they need to make an informed decision.  But many service businesses use direct mail and advertising to encourage potential customers to call, visit, or go online to find out more.

Event marketing is usually best suited to business-to-business product and service providers.  Trade shows attract professionals, so getting in at the right one can put your business in the midst of a highly targeted audience.  Business-to-consumer businesses can also find events that will work for them, but it can be a bit more challenging.

Stay tuned for part 6 - “Online Marketing and Squeeze Pages”

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Niche Markets and How They Affect Adwords Campaigns
Not everyone is a potential customer for a given product or service.  Smart business owners know their niche – the particular, well-defined segment of the population that will have interest in what is being sold. Continue Reading »

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