When it comes to running a business – whether it’s online or offline, you know that marketing and lead generation are two of the most important things you need to be focusing on, but it’s not always that simple to find online leads when you don’t even know where to start and it feels like the internet is just overcrowded with loads of noise and everyone trying to sell to each other.
However, generating leads for your business should actually be one of the most simple things you’re doing and it can be easy as long as you have a plan and know where you’re supposed to be focusing your efforts each day, so in this post we’re going to share with you some of the best places you can find leads for your business.
Your website
If you run a business, then although it’s not essential to have a website, it’s certainly going to make things a lot easier in terms of finding clients, communication and being able to display your skill set, so it’s definitely something to consider because a website is a great way to generate consistent and targeted leads for your business and you don’t have to worry about things like your website going out of business as social media could.
Social media
One of the very best ways to market your business and generate leads is through social media. Not only does social media allow you to reach a bigger amount of people than you’ve ever been able to, but it’s free so if you’re on a budget when starting your business and trying to generate leads, then social media is definitelty the perfect way to go about this.
This certainly doesn’t mean you need to be on every single social media platform out there because there are a lot of them, but it’s good to know where your ideal clients are hanging out so that you can connect with them there – for example, if your ideal clients are on Twitter, but you’re trying to market yourself on Instagram, then it’s really not going to work out very well since there will be a huge disconnect.
Networking
Many people will try to tell you that networking is dead, but basically networking is still very much alive, and just because it’s now done online by a lot of people and the name changed, doesn’t mean that the essence of what people are doing isn’t networking. However, when we talk about networking in this post, we’re talking about both online and offline. Networking is simply connecting with others and building relationships whilst showing them what you do, so it’s really not that scary when you look at it that way.
Sure, it may push you out of your comfort zone, but that’s something you should be hoping for because a comfort zone is a dangerous place and that will destroy your business quicker than most things. Even if you make an effort to attend one or two networking events per month, you’re really going to see a big difference in your business.
