If you’ve been reading my newsletter for a while, you’ll know I’ve found that people often don’t need more leads; they need better systems and processes for nurturing those leads and closing sales, or they need to follow up more. But sometimes you really do simply need more leads. I’m sure you can find places to generate leads, so I’m not going to laundry-list media sources. Instead, I want to talk about lead quality and catching those leads. First things first: Not all sources are created equal, and one mistake I’ve watched people make (and have even made myself in the past) is trying to simply take what worked somewhere else and duplicate it for a new media source of lower quality. Years ago, when I made this mistake, I was trying to take a working book funnel that was getting warm traffic from website visitors and JV partners and use it on Facebook for very cold traffic. I did get opt-ins — 500 in a single month (full contact details like name, address, and phone number). Unfortunately, around 400-plus of these were bad leads.
the right people before committing to any long- term business strategies. Simply put, you have to get everyone seated on the bus before you decide where you’re going. Collins and his research team also investigate how leadership qualities factor into greatness. Through what they’ve labeled “The Hedgehog Concept,” they point out that most great leaders share a quality ancient Greek myths attributed to the little spiny critters: Rather than knowing many small truths, they know one great Truth. The ability of leaders to see how every facet of their business fits into the bigger picture is an invaluable part of finding success. The ultimate message of “Good to Great” can be boiled down to “Look before you leap.” Greatness is not accidental and it’s not guaranteed. Making the leap takes conscious effort, a great team at your back, and savvy leadership. For the small percentage of business owners who don’t already have this seminal work on their bookshelf, get reading. Most people have one lead magnet, if any. I read a study about a year ago, and although I don’t have the exact results anymore, it said that companies with five or more lead magnets generate 200 percent more leads than companies with one lead magnet. Even if you only got 100 percent more leads, that would be worth figuring out how to get five working lead magnets, wouldn’t it? work, or that it doesn’t work for my business, but the reality was that I was using the wrong bait (lead magnet) with the wrong nurture and follow- up system. When switching to a totally cold traffic source like Facebook, I should have known to switch my lead magnet and follow-up system. I needed bait that would allow me to call out more targeted leads and a system to better filter good leads from bad leads. Once I filtered the good from the bad and warmed the leads up a bit, I could drop them seamlessly into the warm funnel I’d already built. I was fishing in the ocean but trying to use the same bait I’d use to fish in the stream behind my house. It didn’t work. Same goes for whale hunting. You can’t use bass bait to hunt a whale.
If you’re stuck on what bait to use, I get it. That is the hard part. I wish I had a formula that said, “Use this bait to be flooded with new customers.” If I did, I’d be happy to sell it to everyone, but the problem is that it takes a ton of trial and error to find what works. Here’s the best advice I can give you: Don’t fall in love with the lead magnet you create. If the market doesn’t like it or it is attracting the wrong prospects, you have to change it. Sometimes you have to show the market what they think they want and then also give them what they need. By the way, changing your lead magnet doesn’t always require a whole rewrite. Sometimes it’s just the headline or copy that needs to change. Sometimes that bait will work well, just not with the type of media you’re trying to use it in. Whatever the case, all is not lost just because you don’t knock it out of the park the first time. P.S. I’m going to be discussing lead generation at the Scale Your Business Bootcamp at my offices on Oct. 25 and 26. Make sure you grab a ticket if any are still available: NewsletterPro.com/scaleup. –Shaun
The whole campaign was a failure. It would be easy right here to say Facebook simply doesn’t
Have You Heard the Good News?
1 Corinthians 16:13-14 — ”Be on your guard, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong. Your every act should be done with love.” Matthew 11:28-30 — ”Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” 1 Peter 3:10-11 — ”Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it.”
Armed with this data, Collins presents us with seven key factors shared by companies that “made the leap” to greatness. One such valuable concept is the idea of “First Who, Then What.” Through blunt, often humorous prose, Collins argues that entrepreneurs must focus on hiring
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