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One of the most common questions I am asked is how do I market my business online and get customers automatically?
The answer is simple, targeted traffic. The more targeted visitors who come to your site and are interested in what you have to offer, the more sales you will make. That’s all good and fine they say, but how much does that cost and how long do I have to wait to get results? I tell them there are two types of traffic, organic and paid traffic. Organic traffic is where people seek you out, usually by finding you on a search engine like Google. Paid to traffic is where you pay to be easily seen online through different types of advertisements. As far as costs, if you have a professional agency handle your online promotion it averages around $2,000 a month for each. The difference is that organic traffic will take around 3-6 months to show real results through SEO, plus if you add social media management, then you are adding another thousand or two per month on average. The other route is paid traffic. This is immediate and can get you sales within a few hours or days. A professional agency will usually charge around $2,000 for a setup fee and then charge you between 10% to 15% of your ad spend after that. This is why most agencies have minimum ad budgets of between $5,000 to $20,000 per month, per client. With paid traffic, you are looking at an investment of $7,000 to $22,000 the first month. Unfortunately, there has been a rash of people starting their own media agencies with absolutely no experience except for the online course they paid thousands for from an online “guru” to become an agency owner. These are well meaning and ambitious people who have absolutely no idea what they are doing, but know just enough of the lingo to get business owners to buy in and then lose vast amounts of money through wasted advertising and ineffective SEO. And after all this has happened is when I usually speak to the business owner who finds me through a referral, or on LinkedIn. What I have found from speaking with thousands of these business owners over the years is that they would not mind paying if they knew for sure they would get quick results with a good enough ROI to grow. In other words, they do not want to wait months to see results, or make a substantial investment on something they are unsure of and I do not blame them. What I suggest is that they start out with something small that will get results quickly and with a far smaller investment. If they are a company which sells high ticket products or services to other businesses, then I suggest a LinkedIn campaign. Even with LinkedIn’s new limitations, cold outreach campaigns are still highly effective for high-tickets items of $10,000 or more if done correctly. If they are a company which sells lower cost products or services to consumers, or other businesses, then I suggest a Facebook campaign to start out with. These are campaigns where I build the ad and set it up for them and then they spend whatever they feel comfortable with. I may also suggest a pay per call campaign to certain clients if they are a good fit. This would be when they pay me for a certain number of calls to receive over a period of time with the guarantee I would refund them for any difference if I do not deliver the number of calls ordered in the specified time. If you are a beginner, do not offer this method unless you really, really know what you are doing. This is nothing that can be easily outsourced because you are the one making the guarantee, not your supplier. If your supplier takes you to the cleaners, then you are stuck with paying the client back, not them. Once the client sees results from the initial campaigns, then we gradually go in to other areas suited for their business. Each time we increase the amount of money they spend; we make sure they are getting back more than they put in. If you know what you are doing, then this is a great way to shorten your sales cycle and bring on more clients. This shows the prospective client you are willing to partner with them instead of trying to get the most money you can get out of them. Even though that may not be the real case, perception is everything. If you are a beginner, be honest and upfront about it and start out with very small and easy projects to get your foot in the door. Once you gain the client’s trust and you get to know them – very, very important, then they will be willing to take a chance on you because they know and trust you. If you are looking for the easiest ways to generate leads online, be sure and check out my Linkedin page or The Visibility Store page for Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn.
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 I just got an invite from a colleague to join Webtalk. This is an invite only social media network designed for professionals and business owners. Since LinkedIn has new limitations and Facebook, Instagram, etc. is really not an ideal fit for what I am trying to accomplish, I decided to give it a shot. It's free so no harm, no foul right?
Here is what I have found... 1. Joining In order to join, you must be invited by someone who is already active on the platform. Invites are sent out through special links given to you, similar to your LinkedIn profile URL. All you need is that link to serve as an invite to sign up. Here is your personal invite from me https://www.webtalk.co/thelocalbusinesspromoter . Just copy and paste that in your browser and you are good to go. During the process of signing up they ask you to follow 10 people. There are tons of people already on here, so be choosy and follow the ones you eventually want to connect with. 2. Profile Setup Setting up your profile is quick & easy. They take you through the process step by step and it only takes about 5 min. The best way to do this is by having your LinkedIn profile open in another browser to copy and paste from. The one thing you should be careful about is not adding your home address, phone number, etc. And remember the golden rule: always use a throw away email for your login. 3. Personalizing Your Invite Address Once your profile is complete, click on the About button at the top right of your profile and change your Webtalk URL to whatever you like. 4. Inviting & Getting Connected For Free On the free version of the platform you must first follow the person you want to connect with and then send them a connection request immediately afterwards. 5. Inviting & Getting Connected Paid Version For about the same price as Sales Navigator, you can connect and send messages to anyone on the platform, connected or not. You also have tools to narrow your search down to hit your ideal demographic. If you are in sales like me, you will definitely love this feature. 6. Posting Posting updates is virtually the same as LinkedIn and you should have no issues. You can also post photos and videos to your timeline. If you are looking for the easiest ways to generate leads online, be sure and check out my Linkedin page or The Visibility Store page for Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn.  It’s no doubt you’re being very choosy about who you are sending your 100 invites a week to, now that LinkedIn has imposed strict limitations. The absolute worst thing you can do when one of them connects is send them the next great American novel. If you are like me, the last thing you want on LinkedIn is for someone to send you long, boring message begging you to buy from them right now. You know the message I’m talking about. The best examples are the web designer messages. No offense to web designers, but some of you need to step up your game. These are the messages that start out with several paragraphs of nothing, then links to their client websites, then the I work for $25 sentence and then topping it off with an ultra weak close. Instead try this message: Hi (Their First Name), Thank you so much for connecting. I was wondering, if I could (Insert Irresistible Offer) would that be worth a quick chat on your part? (Calendar Link) That’s all you have to do. What I have found is that those who are going to set an appointment with you, will usually do so either right away, or within a day or two of receiving this message. Even with the new limitations, most of my appointments each week come from this exact message. If you are looking for the easiest ways to generate leads online, be sure and check out my Linkedin page or The Visibility Store page for Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn.  This method works very well if you are good at reverse marketing meaning you can take someone pitching you and turn them into a buyer.
It’s really not that difficult, you just tell them you’re good for now and then give them a one sentence elevator pitch in the form of a question. Thanks, I’m good for now, but if I could (Insert Irresistible Offer) would that be worth a quick chat on your part? Now on to the method. What you will be doing is going to Quora, and similar sites, and responding to posts and post comments relevant to your business. Be sure and find the one with the most views. The golden rule is never to pitch, link drop or spam. Instead, you compliment the author, or the person responding to the post and invite them to connect with you on LinkedIn. Be sure and use a throw away email for them to find you on LinkedIn. Side note – You should always use a throw away email as your LinkedIn login. Never use your main email. Once they connect with you, then you can ask for an appointment. But this is not the best part of it. The more views that post gets, the more people will be connecting with you on LinkedIn. You could end up with several hundred high quality 1st level connections just from that post. If you are looking for the easiest ways to generate leads online, be sure and check out my Linkedin page or The Visibility Store page for Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn.  Can you guess what’s the most important thing you need on your LinkedIn profile?
Is it,
Those are all great, but not it. The most important thing you need is one sentence at the top of your summary saying “Feel free to connect glenwearden@hotmail.com”. Obviously, you want to replace my LinkedIn email with yours. Also, be sure to use a throw away email to log into LinkedIn. The Hotmail address above is only used for my LinkedIn and I never check it so if you spam me, I will never know. More leads and sales have come my way using this method, than any other method. If you are looking for the easiest ways to generate leads online, be sure and check out my Linkedin page or The Visibility Store page for Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn.  There are a lot of LinkedIn consultants telling people to start their own groups and then once they have enough people, market to all of them at once.
That’s all good and fine, but if you are lazy like me, there is a better way to work the groups, so hear me out on this. The first thing is to join as many groups related to you as possible. The second thing is to post a tiny little message saying that you want to get to know more about everyone in the group and invite them to connect with you. Be sure to leave the email you use for LinkedIn in the message and as always, make sure that email is a throw away email. This little hack will bring you a flood of 1st level connections. Be sure and check out each profile wanting to connect. If they are a good prospect, then go for it. It’s much easier to get an appointment, or meeting, this way since they are connecting with you and not vice versa. If you are looking for the easiest ways to generate leads online, be sure and check out my Linkedin page or The Visibility Store page for Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn.  Sounds insane I know, but it works like a charm. Never forget the golden rule: one good pitch deserves another. Before you slam the door in someone’s face or not even answer the door, you need to remember they may be a potential referral source for you.
This works for local business owners. Hint; if you use this method outlined below, you will not be wasting your Saturday morning. Step 1: Answer the door. Step 2: Say I’m good for now, but I’ll hear you out in case the need may arrive in the future. Step 3: Ask a ton of questions and get to know the person pitching you. Step 4: Use the information you just gathered to determine if this person is a go getter and if they are, proceed to step 5. Step 5: Tell them a little about your business, if you have not already. Step 6: Let them know that your good for now again, but ask them if they would like to have an extra source of income with very little effort. Step 7: Come up with a referral agreement that works for both of you. Make sure it is on a performance basis only. They get paid well only if they bring you results. Now you not only have an extra salesman working for you, but you have given them an extra source of income. If you are looking for the easiest ways to generate leads online, be sure and check out my Linkedin page or The Visibility Store page for Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn. |
AuthorGlen Wearden is the Founder of The Local Business Promoter and has over 25 years of sales and digital marketing experience. Here are a few tips and tricks I have learned to improve my sales along the way. 
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