There was once a poor guy named Stu. He bought 500 leads and couldn’t even sign two. Now his pockets are empty and he can say goodbye to his dream vacation. All because poor Stu never learned about free lead generation.
Poor Stu. And poor me for that matter. My first go around with a home based business I was buying leads for $250 a month!! That was a little over 7 years ago. If I knew about free lead generation back then I’d be retired by now.
What is truly perplexing is the amount of marketers STILL purchasing leads when the internet is a virtual oasis of free lead generation tools. These are just 4 of them.
-Social Networking Sites
-Article Marketing
-Blogging
-Emails
The first of the free lead generation techniques are the social networking sites. Choosing only two of the many we have Facebook and MySpace. The advantage of these, obviously, is the ability to reach many many people easily and even chat with them. But a GREAT way to not only get great quality prospects as friends quickly and non invasive is by using the games or apps.
MILLIONS of people of ALL ages play these incessantly. These are people that already spend lots of time on the computer, many are already somewhat computer savvy, and many even spend money to gain advantages in these games. Sounds like good prospects, no?
These games also have forums where you can both send invitations OR have TONS of invites sent to YOU. With a little time you can easily gain 1,000 friends within a week.
My favorite form of free lead generation is just this….the article marketing. Write an article and unless you personally take it down from the article site it’s there forever for all to see. Short paragraphs, informative, use some keywords, post, rinse and repeat. Write and post consistently and in time you will grow to be a lead gobbling machine.
Blogging is another fantastic way to not only create free lead generation but to also hold a captive audience. Websites can be expensive, but with a blog you can let who YOU are shine through and rank on search engines just as websites do. And just like websites, you can post anything you like on blogs. Content and article writing, links, resources, anything you feel might help boost your traffic. Your blog can also be advertised on your social networking sites, but I bet you already knew that, he he.
And now a VERY underrated form of free lead generation is hands down the email marketing. Well, not free, but close enough. Email marketing DOES have a service charge, but the amount charged is so minimal and produces such great results it might as well be considered free. Most also offer an affiliate program which could even help bring in some extra income on the side.
Email marketing is an absolutely FANTASTIC way to hold an audience, build a list, and build relationships. Through the use of properly timed autoresponders filled with the right amount of information your subscribers will view you as an authoritative figure. And as long as they remain a subscriber, there is a very good possibility they well eventually join you.
The key is to have a sort of “bank” of prospects. If you combine all four of these tools together, for ALMOST nothing, you can generate lists of leads that will provide you with new recruits consistently.
