The BIG Idea of the Week: ICC Solutions

May 23, 2013 by Infusionsoft Contributor Leave a Comment

3 Ways Free Giveaways Will Generate Leads

Guest post by George Nielsen

“Free” is a powerful word in business. It’s how Google penetrates new markets (Gmail, Google Drive, Google Fiber, etc.) and how Burger King showed the world its fries didn’t stink anymore (remember when they gave out free fries? That was a while ago!). But the word “free” shouldn’t just be a word that benefits the buyer, there are powerful ways to use “free” in your own funnel to generate leads, specifically with free-giveaways.

Get Creative with your Lead Magnets

Ever had a booth at a business expo or conference? Having to compete with hundreds of other booths to get the attention of walk-by traffic is no easy task. The Draw Shop, a video production company that specializes in whiteboard animation videos, decided to put their money where their mouth was and offer free illustrations of anyone that subscribed to their list. The illustrations were fast, fun, and completely free. The illustrations were an absolute hit at the conference and all the good feelings were associated with The Draw Shop. Instead of paying for more advertising space at the conference or other marketing mediums – they invested in giving away something free and exposing the skills of their illustrator. It no doubt paid off as they picked up several new clients at the conference and continue to receive referrals from the event. You bet they’ll be attending that conference again.

Invest in Swaying the Fence-sitters

ApplicantPro is more generous than most businesses would be with their free give-aways, but for a good reason. With hiring software as the product and conservative HR professionals us the target market – it can be hard to get them off the fence, so a little more incentive is needed. When a qualified lead signs up for a free trial – they get a free Android tablet (costing $199). Why are they willing to give out that chunk of change? Because they close 80% of their leads when the following criteria are met:

Company of 50 – 5000 employees
Currently hiring
Currently do not have an applicant tracking system
Willing to post a job and get actual applicants

Instead of trying to have the cheapest “lead magnet” created, why not invest more in increasing your conversion rate? Once you know your cost per lead, cost per customer, and the lifetime value of a customer – then giving away a $199 tablet like ApplicantPro might not seem as crazy.

Let Your Free-giveaways Sell You

One of my favorite marketing books is “Free Marketing: 101 Low and No-Cost Ways to Grow Your Business, Online and Off” by Jim Cockrum. I’ve probably listened to the audiobook 6+ times in the car. In the book he tells the story of how one of his clients made a lot of money in the real estate niche. The real estate broker had a lot of success using his marketing methods and decided to create a training course for other real estate agents. After spending $1000s to produce the course, he was ready to market the product. After several months of promoting the course – he only had a handful of sales. Jim recommended he give the course away for free. With all the time and money invested, the broker was extremely reluctant. But after seeing minimal success, he decided to trust the advice anyway. Jim’s client didn’t make any money directly from the course, but eventually landed over $100,000s in monthly coaching contracts. How’s that for a ROI? By giving the course away for free, more subscribers were exposed to his expertise and wanted personal consulting. Instead of selling the training course, “the training course sold him”. Jae Baer, one of the speakers at InfusionCon 2013, calls this approach Youtility – it’s time to start selling less, while giving and teaching more

Effective marketing always takes some form of investment, whether it’s time or money (PPC = Money & SEO = Time). But instead of throwing your money at getting in front of targeted prospects only – why not throw it at converting more leads? With most lead magnets being eBooks, reports, or other digital give-aways – think you can be a little more creative? If you’re thinking: “How do I create the cheapest lead magnet possible?” – are you really maximizing your conversion potential? Think of it in a different way – stop selling and start giving.

How are you utilizing free give-aways in your funnel?

Check out how to generate leads with a variety of methods listed in Infusionsoft’s free e-book.

George Nielsen is an internet marketer who loves writing about lead generation strategies. Find him on Twitter.

Filed Under: Lead Generation Tagged With: generate leads, giveaways, small business marketing

March 20, 2013 by Andrea Parker Leave a Comment

Attract Sales Leads with Demos & Freebies

By Andrea Parker

Part two of a three-part series on gaining new sales leads through effective lead magnets.

InterestingMan Attract Sales Leads with Demos & Freebies There is nothing like going to a Costco on Saturday afternoon. Navigating the wide, to sometimes not wide enough, aisles becomes tricky when people begin clustering at the end, where microwaves, toaster ovens and griddles sizzle and hum, hoping to get their lips on free food samples. It is no surprise that when you bump into a fellow sampler two aisles later, sitting in their cart you often see the comedically large box of food that was on sample.

People love free things – it’s a fact! And people love to experience products and services before they invest in them, whether it’s financially or emotionally, because it helps to instill comfort and confidence in what we’re considering. It should then be no wonder why some of the most proven lead magnets are product demos and product samples.

Product Demonstrations

If you are selling a product, like software, that you can demo online, make sure you include a link to it on your website. Creating a call to action that is clear, concise and visible on the page is critical to the success of click-throughs to your product demo. A demo can be very compelling because it allows people to see how your product works instead of just reading about it – and isn’t seeing something in action far more appealing than hearing a description of its capabilities? Seeing product and services at work not only give prospects a better idea of how your products work, but they also help to foster trust and curiosity from interested parties.

By capturing information and getting a prospect set up with a product demo, you have an excellent opportunity on your hands with a very hot lead. If your product matches the needs of your target audience, your company has a wealth of opportunity on which to capitalize

Product Samples

If you sell something that can’t be easily depicted through a demo, you can still provide prospects with a taste of your product or service. For example, visitors to the Let’s Play Music website who are interested in becoming music teachers can request a sample lesson plan. This is a powerful magnet because music teachers are always looking for material to add to their curriculum that will engage their students. With regards to your product, you might want to consider how you can break off a little taste of your product or service and offer it as a sample. Imagine how little it costs you to offer prospects a free download or link and what the return is from even a small number of prospects becoming prospects thought a specific, targeted marketing effort.

In the final part of our three part series on effective lead magnets, we will discuss blogs and webinars to attract new customers.

Check out “Authentic Marketing” for tips on using customer testimonials in your marketing strategy. Remember that honesty is the best policy!

Filed Under: Lead Generation Tagged With: Andrea Parker, attarct interest, lead magnet, product demo, sales leads

March 13, 2013 by Andrea Parker Leave a Comment

Effective Magnets to Attract Sales Leads

By Andrea Parker

Ebooks Effective Magnets to Attract Sales Leads Chances are that you, a small business owner, have a lot of knowledge about your product or service and potential customers really want in on that knowledge. Why not take that information from your head to the page and give those prospects and sales leads what they’re looking for, but for a small tradeoff? Typically this exchange involves a swap of actionable tips and a prospect’s name and contact information and both parties leave happy. Not only are you seen as an expert in the eyes of those wanting your material, but you provide a powerful lead magnet that helps bring in potential new business.

A lead-generation magnet is anything valuable that you can provide to your prospects in exchange for their contact information, which allows you to develop a relationship. In this three-part series, we will cover the most effective lead magnets for your small business and how to maximize the return on your new leads.

Free Reports, Whitepapers and E-Books

All of these lead magnets are PDFs with varying lengths. Reports are typically 2-3 pages long, whitepapers are about a page in length and e-books can range from as little as 3 pages with no standard maximum amount of pages. As much information as you want to share, if your prospects have given you their contact information, they will want to read what you have to share.

A free report/whitepaper is an excellent and easy way to share your expertise with the masses. Start by identifying a topic that you are knowledgeable about and one that is interesting to your target audience. From there, you get the easy job of writing about what you know, which is the best kind of writing because it’s authentic and authoritative. Even if you’re not a seasoned writer, having a strong understanding of a topic will help you to craft a strong message.

If you have the time and inclination, survey your customers and prospects about interesting topics. You can do this on your website, through email drops or through social media campaigns. The feedback you gather will be extremely valuable in molding the topics you cover with your prospects and leads, so don’t be afraid to ask for feedback.

Once you’ve flexed your writing muscle creating your report, the next natural (but perhaps more Herculean effort) is to write an e-book. Certainly it’s no easy feat, but it is well worth it because you can deep dive into topics that you’re familiar with and that you can explain to an uninformed audience. E-books often prove to be the most strong lead magnets due to their concentration of valuable information and voracious appetite of the masses consuming them.

In part two of our series on getting sales leads through magnets, we will take a look at the benefit of product demonstrations and product samples.

For ways to increase business, check out SMB group’s e-book in partnership with Infusionsoft, “8 Ways to Grow Your Small Business.”

Filed Under: Lead Generation Tagged With: Andrea Parker, Lead Generation, lead magnets, marketing tools, small business sales leads

March 8, 2013 by June Brockmeyer 3 Comments

The BIG Idea of the Week: ICC Solutions

“The BIG Idea of the Week” video series continues. We’re chatting with entrepreneurs and personalities whose areas of expertise can help small businesses succeed. From helping you generate leads, to growing your online presence and becoming the go-to person in your industry, these experts will share their insights in our video interviews.

This week I was lucky enough to chat with one of our very own Infusionsoft Certified Consultants, Alasdair McWilliam from Business Automation Works. He joined me from the UK via Skype and I wanted to ask him about a typical trouble that many entrepreneurs and small business owners face: Lack of follow up, which often means less sales.

“I see so many people spending time and money getting new leads. Whether it be through social media, pay per click or having standard events and just a) not capturing the leads and b) not following up with them. Rather than saying ‘capture the leads, stay in touch with them follow up…so that when they’re ready to buy the will,” says McWilliam.

McWilliam says it’s more about getting more out of the existing leads we have and building a relationship with them. By capturing the leads and having a good follow up strategy, every few days or weeks, you can help nurture hose leads and prospects.

“Just a quick simple example of a local training company…they had somebody in the job center capturing leads… but some people were missing appointments and things,” says McWilliam

“They followed up and said ‘Hey you’ve got an appointment tomorrow, make sure you turn up’ or if they didn’t turn up they’d say ‘Hey we missed you. Sorry please come back in.”

skype 2 shot The BIG Idea of the Week: ICC Solutions

Alasdair McWilliam talks about the importance of follow up.

Another important thing this local company did was host a monthly event. They were then able to network and have one on one conversations with people who may be interested in working with them and others who attended the event. This created a trust factor that helped them become the people to go to in order to meet their needs.

Sitting down and making a physical plan will help you accomplish certain goals and grow your presence. Including clear calls to action in your content is also key.

To get more information on how you can automate and use systems to get through the chaos visit McWilliam’s website; remember to follow & tweet at us @BigIdeasBlog and subscribe to our new YouTube channel: Infusionsoft Big Ideas Channel. We’re also on Facebook so please give us a “like”.

We’re excited to start the conversation with you!

Filed Under: Lead Generation Tagged With: Alasdair McWilliam, june brockmeyer, lead follow-up, networking