subject: How To Generate Leads For A Small Business [print this page] If you are a small business owner or if you are responsible for generating sales for a small business then I think you are going to like this very cost effective lead generation strategy. It revolves around the concept that if you can market your product or service to the same type of people who have previously bought things from you then there is a very high likelihood that you will make a higher percentage of sales from your marketing efforts.
The more specific you can be about your target market the more sales you should make. So, the first thing you will need to do in order to implement this strategy is to define your market as narrowly as you can. Since you are going to use this information for a direct mail campaign, the better you can narrow down your target market the fewer people you will need to mail to.
One of the most effective ways you can accomplish this would be to analyze your existing client base. And the best way to get the demographics you are looking for is to contact people who previously bought something from you and get the information directly from them.
How Many Leads Do You Want?
The beauty of this strategy is that you can then use this information to meet very specific goals. For example, if your company sells a high end product and you only need ten or twelve additional clients next quarter then a list of 500 highly targeted prospects should suffice.
However, if would like to get 100 new leads then you will need to mail out approximately 5,000 mailing pieces. The idea is that if you gain the trust of this targeted list the sales will flow naturally.
Since you have a list of existing clients to contact that will help you to define your market, the more challenging part of making this work is finding a list of potential prospects. There are a couple of ways you can do this. You could track down a list owner and rent the list from him or her. However, most direct marketing professionals would advise you to work with a list broker.
List brokers sort and resell lists from various sources including organizations and publications. A good list broker will have a history of the lists that work the best, and will know how to get the best rental prices for you. The list broker you are looking for will get you the best list for your specific needs.
Thanks to the Internet you can find a ton of list brokers that you can interview. When you contact them make sure you let them know what you intend to send to your prospects, what your marketing goals are, and, of course, as much as you can about your target market itself.
