Mountains of Arizona
Sunny 90 Degrees
3:55 p.m.
At some point, every business that hopes to stick around needs to figure out a predictable way to generate leads.
I had a (very) brief career in the world of the joint venture game, where you get people in your “network” to send their people to you. But that’s really not a viable solution to the problem in my opinion. And the “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” is not smart when you’re in the TRUST business. Period.
But worse than that, those temporary fixes just kick the can down the road.
At some point, you have to figure out how to generate leads using a method that is under your control.
That means, you put energy (money, time, effort, whatever) IN and you get something “predictable-ish” out.
I gave up thinking about lead generation in the traditional way long ago. Self-liquidating leads are supposed to be the Holy Grail of lead generation. If you could just get your leads to pay you enough to cover the cost of lead generation, how many leads would you buy?” That’s the question you’re supposed to ask.
Except I don’t begin relationships with, “What would you like to buy today?” So I need a smarter approach.
Figuring out the lead generation answer is something that usually takes me weeks and even a month or two with a client. Usually it’s about the same for my own enterprises.
It’s 99% failure, but you get used to it. The secret is not to expect anything. Because if you go in with big expectations, then it’s downright demoralizing.
If you want to be smart, I recommend you work on this problem starting YESTERDAY. It’s worth it.
Yes, I have the Lead Lab starting next week, but frankly, it’s not for most people. That’s why I don’t pressure anyone about it. (In fact, I probably won’t even mention it again.) The Lead Lab is just too much work for most people. Most everything I offer is too much work. Really. There’s a lot of thinking we do and it can make your head hurt.
But it’s worth it when you get it right. Like yesterday… one of the businesses I’m involved with… we generated 53 new email optins for $.57/each. So far, the campaign has generated 7,908 email optins at $.79/each.
What would you do with 8K more human beings to talk to and solve problems for? Depending on your business, that could be worth a lot.
Lead generation is not something that’s supposed to pay you back TODAY.
Lead generation is a direct investment in the future of your business.
Investments carry risk.
They may or may not work out. And you have to put in the effort either way.
Anyone who hears those odds and jumps in anyway is called an entrepreneur.