The business model behind “local lead-gen” means collecting leads, and then selling them to someone else (or multiple people if selling non-exclusive leads). It’s often a great starting point as it sets you up for selling your own info products or productized services later, but can still pay you 5-10x more than advertising!
Selling leads is a fantastic model, mainly because it is incredibly fast and easy to validate. If you want an introduction and some inspiration on a lead-gen, check out this podcast. The Minimum Viable Product is simple:
- Collect leads on your site.
- Check the AW advertisers that show up for SERPs relevant to your business.
- Call the advertisers and offer them leads for free as a trial (also establish rapport and see if anyone else is doing similar)
- Profit.
Tip on Collecting Leads on your Site
- Have your lead collection form at the top of your page, within the content area, then again mid-way through your content. This is hands-down the best placement.
- Use a multi-step form – your tertiary steps can help segment your leads based on their interests.
- If you offer geographically localized leads, use a free IP database and automatically tag them in your mailing provider
Tips on Talking with Potential Lead Buyers
- Start with people on Adwords because they know what they’re doing.
- Just fucking do it. Accept that you’re a little stressed, but then pick up the phone and dial. You will be a stronger person as soon as the call is finished. The person on the other side will secretly respect you for having the balls to cold-call. Everyone I have coached about this has said it was a major turning point for them.
- Always ask them if they are currently buying leads, and if so from whom. Then do some detective work and R&D their clients (Rob & Duplicate!).
Where to go from here?
If you’re considering moving up the monetization value chain by creating a product, congratulations! There are tons of benefits to product creation, and if you approach it intelligently, you only have to put the work in once you know you’ll be paid for it. I’d suggest you check out what an MVP looks like for my three favorite products: an online course, a productized service, and lead sales.
