If a genie popped out of an old dusty bottle and gave you three wishes for your business, what would you ask for?
How about an endless supply of people presold on doing business with you?
Think of what that might do for cash flow – not to mention how much fun it would be to focus on what love to do rather than beating the bushes looking for customers.
Unless you have a long waiting list of ideal prospects, the attraction of new ones has got to rank pretty close to, if not exactly at “Job One” for you.
There must be at least a blue gazillion ways to attract traffic. For example, here’s a by no means complete list of just 34 to start with:
“Free” Targeted Traffic Sources
- Articles – EzineArticles.com and other more targeted venues
- Facebook (posting to people with interests in what you do)
- YouTube
- Forums
- Press releases – HARO.com, PRweb.com, PRlog.org, etc.
- Google Alerts (per Zappos’ strategy – Google it or ask me if you don’t know how this works)
- Guest posts on relevant popular blogs
- Kindle (lead magnet in first 10 pages of your book)
- Referral Partners (one person at a time)
- Joint Venture Partners (messaging to a list)
- Networking Groups
- Meetups
- Speaking at community events
- Teaching or conducting sponsored workshops, seminars, etc.
- Craigslist, Backpage and other free classified ad sites
- Manta and other free directories
- Flyers on bulletin boards
- Telemarketing – cold calling by phone to a highly targeted list
- Shoe Leather – personal visits to people on a highly targeted list
Paid Targeted Traffic Sources
- Direct mail to a precisely targeted list – – Nextmark, SRDS, etc.
- Endorsed email to a precisely targeted list – – Nextmark, SRDS, etc.
- Direct media buys – – banners, etc.
- Magazine, newspaper and trade journal ads
- Google Adwords (PPC)
- Facebook Ads
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Paid directories – – in your niche
- Paid associations – – Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, etc.
- Paid networking groups – – BNI, GKIC, etc.
- Direct Response Radio, TV and other broadcast media
- Trade shows
So if you’re not getting all the leads you want, it’s not for lack of opportunity.
The question my clients often seem to overlook is how to choose which one to use now.
With constant hype from marketers pitching us on the latest gizmo or gimmick, we’re constantly tempted to pounce on the current thing. Then we abandon it when the next one catches our eye. We’re in a constant game of hopscotch, jumping from one to the next.
Okay, so what’s the solution?
The most successful entrepreneurs I know focus on their target prospect’s needs, wants and desires that they can address better than anyone else. This is much easier than starting with a product or service and then trying to find people to sell it to.
Here are three questions to ask at this stage:
1. What are you really good at?
2. Where is there pain out there you can solve better than anyone else?
3. Is there enough pain there that people are willing to pay good money to make it go away?
Once you’re clear on who to attract, it’s a lot easier to figure out where to hang your shingle.
Example: A very savvy – and rich – real estate agent I know doesn’t bother with signs, business cards or any of the traditional agent gimmicks. He also doesn’t have to beg for listings. He starts with a list. He very accurately identifies who has a need for his specialty, laser-targets that list and positions himself as the obvious choice, rendering any potential competition impotent.
It’s not rocket science. It’s also not what most people do. If you want what most people get, do what they do. If you want amazing results, do what works.
To your amazing success.
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“I cannot give you a formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure, which is: Try to please everybody.”
~ Mark Twain
