Three Powerful Lead Generation Strategies For Self Employed Professionals

You have a great product or service; youve set up your business website and navigated

all the official tasks needed to create your business profile and presence online. Now what? Im sure you didnt quit your day job to sit back and hope that business comes to you, because it wont.

In order to be successful in business these days you must sell yourself first, and then market your product or service as being better than your competition. Potential customers wont magically find you online and this means you have to develop a marketing strategy for bringing people to you. Lead generation is a process of locating or attracting people who are interested in what you have to sell.

There are 3 powerful strategies that can help you generate leads:

1) Article Marketing

2) Press Release Distribution

3) Social Media

Article Marketing

Creating informative articles about your business, products, services, etc. is a powerful tool that can create interest, inform consumers, describe what sets you apart from others in your field, and most importantly drive traffic to your site or business.

The first place you will want to use articles is on your website, of course. Create interesting article content that informs your website visitors what your product is, what it does and who its targeting. One article per product or service is best. If you have an articles section on your site, make sure to categorize articles in such a way that a consumer can easily find what they are looking for.

But successful article marketing is really about getting your content on other sites, linking back to you. When you post your articles with other sites, you can include your company name, address, website address, phone number and other bits of contact information that will make it easy for the reader to find you.

Utilize sites like EZineArticles.com and GoArticles.com to post unique article content about your company. You can hire a writer to create interesting and unique content or you can write your own articles, but make sure they stand out. You can do this by creating a great title, simplifying complicated topics and offering practical examples of what makes your company different. The ideal article for posting on these sites is 400 to 600 words, condense multiple items or concepts into bullet points and have a strong call to action in the closing paragraph.

Make sure to set up a great author profile for your article accounts in any of the article submission sites so that your name, phone number, website address and company concept is very clear to the reader.

Press Release Distribution

Developing a press release is important because you can submit your releases to many different resources in the internet. Your very first press release should introduce your company to the world. It should include who, what, when, where, how and why of your company concept, products, ideas and location. Again, hiring a writer who knows how to write an effective press release is probably a good idea for anyone who has never written one.

There are several places online that distribute press releases for free and again, they include your company contact information and a link back to your website. This drives interested traffic to you and that is always good. Use sites like prlog.org, prnewswire.com, prweb.com and many, many more. If you search for press release distribution, you will find 100s of sites that you can submit to.

You should also create a new press release when you have a special sale or promotion. You can create a special release for new staff additions, changes in location, new product lines, and philanthropic news associated with your company. People love to read how and how much a company donates money to charity. There are thousands of reasons to create a good press release, but make sure it is information that people want or need.

Social Media

Social media is one of the best ways to marketing your business to a very wide range of consumers. Because of the popularity of online social media, your efforts in this arena can bring you the most lead conversions. A conversion is when your marketing efforts convince someone to purchase; and the goal of marketing is conversions. If you have no prior social media skills the best place to start is Facebook, Twitter and a blog.

I like to think of Facebook as an online social meeting space where you can create a company profile outlining your products or services in an informative way. You can post pictures, descriptions and details about your company. You can join groups and network with others in your industry along with potential buyers.

Twitter is a real time updating portal. You can build a profile and link with others and send up-to-the-minute updates on your products, services and announcements. Twitter has a very comprehensive user base and many companies use this venue for promoting everything from industrial waste management products to the latest fashion industry news.

Creating a company blog is a great way to attract those interested in your product or service. Your blog should be used to describe your products, update on company happenings and allow people to provide feedback. Giving consumers the power to rate, comment and interact with your company will draw popularity and create loyal customers.

Being self employed doesnt mean that you have less of a chance to compete in the marketplace, these days. There are many ways an independent business owner can market products and services. The most valuable asset you have is an open mind. Research your options and take full advantage of all free services that can put you in front of potential customers.

by: Anton Pearce

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