Lead Generation on Autopilot

By Vernon Appoo

Have you ever asked yourself, how can I get more business for free?

As a Business Owner, building a list of prospects should be step one in your marketing plan. The more focused and targeted your leads are the greater your chance will be of getting more sales.

Another way to bring in business with little money is to set up an automatic lead generation program by simply offering something valuable to your target audience.

Of course, you can't get effective results by just offering just any freebie, such as a $25 visa gift card; otherwise this would attract everyone on your block and their hairdresser.

The most economical method would be to create an eBook filled with useful information that would be of interest to your target audience.

For example, in December, 2007, I wrote a book called Business Credit 101. After writing this Book, I was then faced with the task of finding qualified leads.

To generate leads, I took 10% of the content of this book, turned it into an eBook and offered it for free by placing ads on craigslist in every major city such as Boston, San Francisco Bay, Philadelphia, Atlanta etc. for a free EBook which simply read.

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I then used the automatic responder feature in my email to automatically deliver the eBook, and of course, I now have the contact info (email address) of the requestor.

Using this technique, I was able to get 167 leads in just 11 days and didn't cost me a dime, except the time it took me to write the small eBook, and post a few ads on craigslist.

To generate more than 167 leads in an 11 day period, of course you will need more ads on craigslist.

The task of posting ads on craigslist can be time consuming; however there is also a way to systematize that process too by using custom software such as ADBomber. This software can automatically post your ads for you.

Once you have your leads in-house, you don't want your marketing material to be peppered with a bunch of self praises, such as, "You're #1 in your area", "Your website received 1000's of hits in the past month". Etc. Make sure your marketing communication is benefit oriented.

If done correctly, Craigslist and other similar websites can be utilized to set up your automatic lead generation machine for your business.

Vernon Appoo, Business Credit Sources http://www.BusinessCreditSources.info

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