Generate Leads: how to generate free leads every day

The year was 1992, and I had just established my first business; offering PR, marketing and printing services. I was going to rule the world, make my riches, and go sunning on a beach in some exotic location. Or so I thought I remember thinking “Things would just work so much quicker for me if I had more leads!” I didn’t have an endless pit of funds to advertise, so I decided I would have to generate my own funnel of leads and new business – for free.

I created informative newsletters with marketing tips and other useful business information, hopped into my old Holden HQ, drove round to businesses (with the car coughing and spluttering!) and started connecting with business owners. I didn’t run into their business waving my business card and gushing about my services; instead, I introduced myself, gave them my free information (that they could start using straight away in their business), and advised they were welcome to call me with any questions they had.

Throughout the week I would collect interesting articles and other information I came across, then every fortnight I would drop by and re-connect. I became renowned as someone who genuinely cared. Before I knew it, I was receiving referrals and generating new leads from those same business owners who, at the time, hadn’t even used my services!

I discovered a powerful formula to generate leads and have applied it in my businesses ever since; and in both online and offline strategies.

So how do you generate free leads every day?  Here is my 8-step formula for success:

1. Align yourself as a solution to people’s problems. Ask yourself: What are their issues and how can I help?
2. Provide value relating to their problems. Offer quality content for free. Life isn’t about holding your wisdom close to your chest; share and it will come back to you tenfold.
3. Connect with others; build relationships. Relationships are the backbone of business, including lead generation and referrals.
4. Demonstrate you genuinely care. If you come across something and someone pops into your head, why not immediately send it to them? You’re welcome to copy the approach I took early on in my business career, as outlined above.
5. Position yourself as a leader. Put your hand up and adopt an entrepreneurial attitude as opposed to an employee attitude. Take initiative and innovate.
6. Systemise, systemise, systemise. Utilise an automated attraction marketing system that works behind the scenes on your behalf. This frees up your time to work on income producing activities.
7. Apply the WIIFM principle (What’s In It For Me). This is a critical question you should be asking yourself, from the leads perspective, in everything you do.
8. Refrain from spamming your opportunity to the world. This isn’t a strategy to generate leads. You may be excited in sharing it with the world, but when approached in the right way, you’ll attract more friends and respect as opposed to immediately prospecting every new person you come across. Remember, your business should be viewed in a long-term light as opposed to a short-term, in it for a quick buck light.

When you consistently use the 8-step formula in conjunction with other free strategies, you develop an attraction marketing system that quickly compounds and results in quality leads for your business.

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