You know you need leads, but where the heck do you get them?

Well, as it turns out, there are a handful of tried-and-true methods that most companies use today to get leads, and I’m going to go over the 7 main ones in today’s article.

What is a lead?

Before we talk about how to get leads, let’s first define what a lead is.

A lead is the name and contact information for someone who is at least somewhat interested in your services.

That means the contact information for someone who is NOT interested in your services is not a lead.

So, to get a lead, you need to find people that ARE interested in your products/services and get their contact information. Once you have the contact information, you can follow up and try to make a sale.

But how do you get someone to give you their contact information in the first place?

There are many methods. Some are very old, others (ones that depend on the internet) have been invented relatively recently.

Let’s start by going over the more traditional ways, then move on to modern ones that depend on the internet.

Host a Booth

One common way to find leads is to host a booth at a trade show, a fair, or perhaps a mall. As people pass by, the salesperson tries to get them to come into the booth. He then attempts to get them interested enough in the product he is selling to leave their name and phone number. As soon as he has a name and contact info, he has a new lead.

Ads

Another method is ads. They can be in a newspaper, on the web, or on a flyer sent out to people’s homes. The ad talks about the product/service and invites people to call for more information. If they do call, the salesperson again tries to convince them his company’s service is interesting enough for them to leave their name and phone number. If they do, that’s another lead captured.

Referrals

Another way to get leads is referrals. One way to get those is to ask your past customers to recommend you to their family and friends. Each time you complete a project, leave a few business cards or flyers with your customer. Ask if they wouldn’t mind handing them out to anyone they know that might also be interested in your services. If any of those people contact you, and you get their contact info, you have another lead.

Contests

Contests are a great way to get leads. All you have to do is make sure that you have entry ballots that request the entrant’s name and contact information. That’s important. If your entry ballot is just a ticket stub with a number, then you aren’t going to get any leads.

Webinars

A webinar is simply a talk that is delivered over the internet. The topic is usually about how to do something.

When someone offers a webinar, they are giving away free advice. It gives the participants a chance to get to know the person and their services. During the webinar, near the end, the host will also usually try to sell the participants some of their services. Commonly this is in the form of a “special deal” or sale.

In order to attend the webinar, participants need to register. That means giving the company hosting the event their email address. Each time someone does, that’s a new lead.

Challenges

A challenge is basically an online workshop but with a specific goal to be completed. And, rather than being offered in one block of time, challenges are broken up into shorter sessions, usually one a day, for several days in a row.

Each session takes the participants through one step that is necessary to attain the final goal set by the challenge. Attendees then have to do homework (finish that step) in order to be ready for the next day’s step. By the end of the challenge, they will have completed all the steps necessary to reach the final goal.

Challenges are usually offered by companies that offer services, rather than products. And, of course, in order to participate, participants have to register—with their name and contact information.

Lead Magnets

The topic of lead magnets is big enough to warrant an article (or more) of its own. But I’ll give you a quick overview here.

A lead magnet is something you give away to someone in exchange for their contact information. Contests are a good example. You give away a free ballot, they give you their contact information.

Webinars and challenges are also lead magnets—if you get their contact information in exchange for signing up.

Now that most companies have websites, the types of lead magnets they use have changed. Many companies now use free documents as lead magnets. Ebooks, articles, checklists, templates—just about any type of document can be used. And, in order to download it, the website visitor just has to provide—you guessed it—their email address.

Collect information according to the law

There is one important thing to take note of, however. Whenever you ask for people’s contact information, you have to make sure you are doing it in a way that adheres to laws about privacy and the collection of information.

Many countries now have laws stating that you must state clearly, right on the form you are using to get the information, how you will use that information. The exact laws vary by country, or even by state/province. Make sure you know what laws apply to your business, and what they say.

Commonly, such laws require you to state the reason you are collecting the information. You’ve probably seen such statements yourself. Here’s an example.

Your information will be used to update you on our services

and may be used to send you information about sales and promotions.

Here’s another example, showing how it might be used on a contest ballot.

Go get yourself some leads!

The methods I’ve outlined in this article are not the only ways to get leads, but they are some of the most popular ones. And they’re popular because they work.

So, if you aren’t using any of them, start now. And don’t limit yourself to just one method. Most companies use several different methods to maximize the number of leads they can generate.

How to find leads (7 ways that work today)