Top 5 Ways to Generate Qualified Leads for Your Small Business

Do you ever wonder if you could be doing a better job marketing your small business or professional service firm? Successfully marketing a small business is hard work. There are several key skills required to consistently develop new business that you, as a small business owner, must master in order to succeed.

The first skill you need to have is the ability to regularly generate qualified leads. You must consistently build your list of prospects if you are to grow your business. Your business will not grow if you market to the same, stagnant population over and over again. While there will be a certain percentage of people who choose to buy from you after repeated contact with your marketing material, the amount who buy will always be limited by the size of the list to which you market.

How often do you add to your list of qualified prospects?

Here are five steps you can take to improve your prospect building skills.

Focus On Client Needs

Whether you print a brochure, advertise in industry periodicals or use search engines to generate traffic to your web site the first thing your marketing materials must do is get noticed. One of the best ways to have your future clients notice you is to use words in your marketing materials that focus on their needs. By using such words your clients will immediately associate your ad with their problem or unmet need.

For example, if you are a patent attorney your ads will have a much better chance of being noticed and acted upon by those who need your service if you use the words, "Get paid for your invention" instead of "Patent Attorney". Getting paid is what an inventor wants. You may be proud of your status as an attorney but your clients are interested in the results you provide that solve their problem.

Be sure you use words in your marketing material that focus on your clients' needs. They will get noticed more often.

Eliminate Waste

Another step you can take to improve your ability to generate leads is to eliminate unproductive marketing methods. Marketing takes time, money and effort. If your tactics are not generating the results you want stop using them and try something new. Of course, in order to separate the good tactics from the bad you need to measure the effect of individual marketing efforts.

Perhaps you run the same ad in two different newspapers. If you don't know that the ad in "paper number two" is generating 95% of your prospects you will never know that it would be a smart move to reallocate the money you spend in "paper number one".

What steps can you take to measure the effect of individual marketing tactics?

Once you know which tactics are lead generators and which are not you can improve your ability to generate new leads simply by reallocating the resources from unproductive tactics to ones you know work.

Use Your Web Site Properly

Another way to maximize your ability to generate leads is to use your web site properly. The purpose of your web site is to generate leads. To maximize the number of leads your web site generates make sure your site has information your prospects want, is easy to navigate and maximizes the opportunity for your prospects to get in touch with you, either by calling you or by providing you with their contact information.

Clearly let your visitors know you're there for them and they will be much more likely to reach out and get in touch, especially if your site's content demonstrates that you understand and can solve their problems.

Cross Marketing

Cross marketing is the process of establishing marketing relationships with companies whose product or service complements what you sell. For example, a company that helps web site owners track the traffic to and through their site would do well to develop relationships with web hosting companies. There is a natural symbiosis here ? anyone who has a new web site needs to (or should) measure their site's traffic so they can make well-informed decisions to guide the evolution of their site and any web hosting company wants their clients' business to succeed so they can keep them as a customer. Companies don't need web sites if they're out of business. It therefore makes sense for web hosting companies to promote web statistics companies and vice versa as each can benefit from the other's service.

What cross marketing tactics do you use to promote your business?

Ask Questions

Regardless of your favorite marketing mechanism the goal is the same: to generate interest in your products or services. Whether you use a web site, a brochure or newspaper ads to generate leads the first thing you must do is get your future prospects thinking about the problem that you solve and they have. A great method for invoking this type of thought is to use questions in your marketing materials.

If you are a dentist, questions like, "Do you have tooth pain?" or "Are your teeth sensitive to heat or cold?" will do a much better job of drawing in your prospects that marketing materials that say, "Do you need a dentist?"

What questions can you ask to get your prospects thinking about the problems that they have that you solve?

Move Your Marketing Forward

Take some time to examine your marketing efforts with respect to the notions outlined in this article. Is there room for you to improve your ability to generate leads? Most likely, there is.

Copyright 2005, Better Marketing Results and Jeremy Cohen. All rights reserved.

The author, Jeremy Cohen, helps small business owners and professional service providers attract more clients, grow their business and be more successful with his marketing guides and coaching service. Get his free marketing guide: Jumpstart Marketing: More Profits, Clients and Success at:

http://www.bettermarketingresult s.com/marketing-services.asp

---

Business to Business Direct Mail Sales Letters Need an Offer (and Heres Why)

In direct mail, the offer is the incentive or reward... Read More

Develop Your Curiosity And Increase Profits

If anyone was to ask me what my greatest strength... Read More

Your Plan For Marketing Success

The most important, yet overlooked aspect of marketing is an... Read More

Using Purchased Leads

A little advice about using leads that you purchase from... Read More

Why Cutting Prices Is Like Cutting Your Own Throat

Why cutting your prices is like cutting your own... Read More

Explode Your Sales With Free & Exclusive Content

Offering free and exclusive content to ezine publishers and webmasters... Read More

Key Marketing Questions - Planning Your Marketing Campaign

So you started a business. How's it going? Did you... Read More

Discover 7 Hidden Profit Producing Secrets

Would you like to learn the lessons of the businesses... Read More

Secret Marketing Plan

Many people have asked me what was the secret to... Read More

How to Handle Jargon at Your Web Site - and Why

If you sell a technical product or service, you probably... Read More

The Art of the Business Card

Use a business card as a note pad for recording... Read More

Three Alternative Methods On Getting Quality Testimonials with Bonus

Here are three alternatives to increase your testimonial numbers or... Read More

Marketing Strategy - Spell Out Your Unique Value

I attended a "Sales Focus" seminar a few years back... Read More

Easy Marketing Methods with Letters, Post Cards, Referrals and Testimonials

Easy Direct Marketing Methods for Insurance AgenciesThis Month: Strategies for... Read More

Client or Customer? There Really Is A Difference

Some people use the words "client" and "customer" interchangeably or... Read More

Behold the Power of the Tip

You are an expert. You have lots of content -... Read More

6 MUST Have Strategies To Make Big Bucks with Big Ticket Items

Strategy #1: Change Your Mindset That's right, change your mindset!... Read More

Always Sell To New Eyes And New Ears

One of the hardest things for you to do as... Read More

Buzz Word

Offline, it's called word-of-mouth advertising. Online, it's known as viral... Read More

How to Expand Your Target Markets

Are your products or services geared towards only one target... Read More

Heres A Robust, Turnkey, Interactive. Best of Breed, Mission-Critical Solution to Kill Buzzwords

Fellow Publicity Insiders, what does... Read More

Loan Officer Marketing ? How Branding Shapes Your Prospects Perceptions

Social scientists have proven that people experience what they come... Read More

Top Ten Blunders Exhibitors Make in Expos/Tradeshows

Triple your response from expos by avoiding the top ten... Read More

Six Essential Principles for Marketing to Women Business Owners

Marketing to women entrepreneurs is not difficult. You just have... Read More

Don?t Put All Of Your Eggs Into One Basket

I vaguely remember a particular story from my childhood. It... Read More

Are You a Marketing Octopus, or a Marketing Worm?

One of the greatest challenges to effectively marketing a business... Read More

High Response Marketing With Low-Cost Postcards

Postcards can drive a huge amount of traffic to your... Read More

How Much Is Your Popcorn Worth? Powerful Lessons In Marketing & The Psychology Of Selling - Part 5

How Much Is Your Popcorn Worth?: Powerful Lessons In Marketing... Read More

How Your List Affects Postage Costs

HOW YOUR LIST AFFECTS POSTAGE COSTS AND WHAT YOU CAN... Read More

11 Powerful Marketing Tips

Each of these 11 marketing tips is based on a... Read More

Small Business Pricing: Setting A Price For Your Product / Service

The importance of pricing can not be underestimated as incorrect... Read More

John Kerry, Amazing Direct-Marketer!

If you want to uncover a little secret about how... Read More

People Do Business with People They Like

People do business... Read More