In this article we discuss the best ways to generate leads for a home business venture. In a previous article we made the case for the best home based business being in the field of network marketing. However regardless of whether using the MLM network marketing model or not, the Internet has become very fertile ground for the development of sales leads.
What are the leading ways to generate leads for you home based venture? Recently, we heard an excellent categorization on a webinar presented by Ken Cobb of Next Level Enterprises. In the following paragraphs we elaborate on these three main ways:
- Paid methods – The main paid ways to generate Internet leads for you business include pay per click (PPC), banner advertising, and ezine articles or ads. PPC includes, of course, Google adwords among others and is a main revenue source for the search engines. Banner ads have declined in recent years, but involve paid advertising on very popular, high traffic websites (usually based on impressions). Ezine ads are an excellent way to get out your products and/or service message to many subscribers who are already interested in your particular niche.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – SEO is growing in popularity, since it is essentially free advertising. SEO services are time and labor intensive, whether performed in-house or contracted, however. Within SEO, the primary methods used are blogging, article marketing and press releases.
- Closed Social Networks – These include popular sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. As many Internet marketers have discovered, Facebook is no longer just about reconnecting with old friends. Similarly, Twitter is not just micro-blogging, but a powerful markting tool. Similarly, LinkedIn has become a fertile marketing ground for generating Internet leads.
Generating leads for a work from home business on the Internet is really no different than generating leads in traditional off-line methods, except that online technology now available adds incredible leverage to the equation. Internet marketers should be careful about misuse of these powerful tools and adhere to generally accepted Internet etiquette rules.
For instance, the days are over of simply blasting out your business ad to thousands or even millions of unsuspecting recipients whose email addresses have been “harvested” online. This, of course, is the quickest way to get your domain or email account suspended and spam filtering has become quite effective as well.
Spam filtering is in effect for all three methods of Internet lead generation as well, whether paid, SEO, or closed social network. For instance, an inexperience marketer may join a social network and begin immediately sending out his links related to his or her products and services. This is the fastest way to lose friends and get dropped from online groups on the planet. Marketing training and education becomes paramount as more and more amateurs enter the world of Internet marketing for their work from home business opportunities.
Extensive marketing training is available from our MLM Lead System Pro affiliate program, including a complete turn-key marketing system designed specifically for automated MLM lead generation.
