Lead, Don’t Follow

Finding leads that will generate the most sales for your business

Fishing for leads is not the most fun way to spend your day, nor is it always the most productive. When you are ready to do your marketing campaign (which could simply be an email blast asking prospects to purchase your new book) you first need to make sure you have leads to send this message to, and they better be qualified. By qualified, I mean they are similar to those customers whom already purchased from you.

But where do you find leads? There are many sources, from advertising to web sites to trade shows to mail list services, and much more. It just takes some creativity and some hard work. Before I take you down that path, I must emphasize how important it is to first understand your customer profiles so that you know what sort of leads to look for. Anyone can drum up a bunch of names and numbers. But if they don’t fit your market or the type of client who would purchase your product or service, the list is useless. Hence, segmenting your existing data to understand the profile of customers who already purchased from you is a critical first step to acquiring leads.

Once you’ve defined your ideal customer segments, you can intelligently pursue leads from the various sources I am about to describe. This list is by no means complete or even thorough. It is mainly an attempt to show you the various sources available to you and perhaps even some creative new ways to find and generate leads....Read More