The steps are so obvious when you see them but how many businesses are really doing these 3 steps?

Step 1. Get Traffic

Step 2. Create a Lead Magnet

Step 3. Follow Up

If you have not implemented these steps in your business you are certainly loosing leads to your competitors.

So our advice, go check your systems now and actually implement these 3-steps in your business. You will be surprised at the Sales Leads that result.

You can read the full Press Release below:-

Main Street ROI Simplifies the Lead Generation Process for Small Business Owners

Main Street ROI has introduced three simple steps for creating a lead generation system for local businesses.

New York, NY — (SBWIRE) — 05/14/2012 — Main Street ROI has introduced three simple steps for creating a lead generation system for local businesses. According to online marketing expert Phil Frost, managing partner of Main Street ROI, part of what makes a successful business is a thriving online presence, including a website with high levels of traffic. Many websites miss out on leads because an internet lead generation system hasn’t been created. Frost outlines three critical elements for generating leads.

Step 1. Get Traffic

The first element involves getting traffic by way of pay-per-click advertising. According to Frost, “The fastest way to get started is with advertising, specifically pay per click (PPC) advertising. Google Adwords is the most popular choice, though we’ve had even more success lately with Facebook advertising.” However, according to Frost, traffic isn’t enough to generate leads.

Step 2. Create a Lead Magnet

The second element is about creating a compelling piece of information that encourages prospects to contact you. Frost calls this a “lead magnet,” and recommends small business owners use this method of lead generation, in addition to the the typical “Call Us” or “Contact Us” approach. The more compelling a lead magnet is, the more likely positive feedback will be generated. In most cases, as Frost explains, the best lead magnet is any form of free information including reports, videos and webinars because they’re non-threatening. According to Frost, paying attention to customers’ comments will eventually lead to a valuable asset: “Pay attention to the questions you’re often asked by customers, and use those FAQs as the core content for your lead magnet.”

Step 3. Follow Up

Lastly, the third element is a strong follow up system. This can be done via email, phone or direct mail and generate the most leads when combined with steps one and two. “Email follow-up is a good way to get started because it’s inexpensive to get started and can be largely automated, so it doesn’t take up much of your time. Software tools we use and recommend include iContact, Aweber and InfusionSoft,” says Frost.

About Main Street ROI
Main Street ROI provides online marketing training and tools for small businesses, including The Local SEO Formula, AdWords Success Formula, and Main Street Inner Circle. Since 2010, Main Street ROI has helped hundreds of small businesses create profitable online marketing campaigns. To learn more about Main Street ROI, visit http://www.mainstreetroi.com.

Source: Main Street ROI
Posted Monday, May 14, 2012 at 8:00 AM CDT – Permalink

Ever since Google adverts (AdWords) started appearing alongside (and above) Google SERPS results, marketers have often wondered how the traffic was divided between the two opportunities for the visitor click. If you are in SERPS position #1 what would the point be of also advertising with Google AdWords?

Well it turns out that 50% of clicks generated by also having advertising with AdWords on the SERPS page where you already have the #1 position are incremental.

So it appears that Advertising with Google AdWords, even if you occupy SERPS position #1, can generate even more traffic for you. Futhermore if your position is lower than the #1 slot, the click incrementality is even greater.

50% more traffic than SERPS Rank #1

Here is the full story posted by David Chan, Statistician and Lizzy Van Alstine, Research Evangelist on 27th March 2012.

In 2011, Google released a Search Ads Pause research study which showed that 89% of the clicks from search ads are incremental, i.e., 89% of the visits to the advertiser’s site from ad-clicks are not replaced by organic clicks when the search ads are paused. In a follow up to the original study, we address two main questions: (1) how often is an ad impression accompanied by an associated organic result (i.e., organic result for the same advertiser)? and (2) how does the incrementality of the ad clicks vary with the rank of advertiser’s organic results?

A meta-analysis of 390 Search Ads Pause studies highlighted the limited opportunity for clicks from organic search results to substitute for ad clicks when search ads are turned off. We found that on average, 81% of ad impressions and 66% of ad clicks occur in the absence of an associated organic result on the first page of search results. In addition, we found that on average, 50% of the ad clicks that occur with a top rank organic result are incremental. The estimate for average incrementality of the ad clicks increases when the rank is lower; 82% of the ad clicks are incremental when the associated organic search result is between ranks 2 and 4, and 96% of the ad clicks are incremental when the advertiser’s organic result ranked lower than 4 (i.e., 5 and below).

While these findings provide guidance on overall trends, results for individual advertisers may vary. It’s also important to note that the study focuses on clicks rather than conversions. We recommend that advertisers employ randomized experiments (e.g., geo-based experiments) to better quantify the incremental traffic and lift in conversions from the search ad campaigns and that they use the value-per-click calculations in the original search ads pause study to determine the level of investment on their search ads.

For more information, find the full study here.

Source: Impact of Ranking Of Organic Search Results On The Incrementality Of Search Ads. For Full Study go to research.google.com

There is little value in having website visitors interested in your products and services if you never get to know who they are. Sure some might call you, some might even fill out your Contact Us form. However the reality for many businesses is that they never get to know who these visitors are. Consequently there is no chance of them becoming a Sales Lead. What a missed opportunity. What a waste, particularly if you are paying to get the website visitors.

So how can you find out who is visting your website right now? Read on….

Well there are a number of solutions but the one we would like to bring to your attention is called Live Chat.

In your travels around the internet you may well have come across this. Typicall you will see an image something like this.

This image is sometimes statically displayed on a website and other times will appear after a short time.

If you are struggling to find what you are looking for on the website or you need more explanation the you can click on this image and start a real-time online chat with the website owner.

Now this is really useful for the vistor as they can get instant answers to questions perhaps not provided by the website content.

But here is the Lead Generation opportunity for the website owner.

Guess what! You can ask the visitor to give you their name and email address before they can utlise the Live Chat facility.

So now you have:-

1. The name of your website visitor.
2. Their email address. (For Email Marketing!)
3. An immediate opportunity to engage with the visitor.
4. Some applications even allow an instant voice call.
5. A Qualified Hot Sales Lead on Your Site Now!

So what else can you do with Live Chat?

• Discover what clients needs are
• Point them to places of interest on the website
• Give instant help on your products and services
• Send a transcript of the Chat
• The list goes on…………….

Ok I hear you say but how much does this Live Chat cost? Sure you can buy it but what if I also told you you can get it for FREE!

You can by clicking on this banner link.

So there you are, you now know How To Turn Web Visitors into Sales Leads (For FREE!)

P.S. For those of you who haven’t got the time or inclination to respond to Chat requests. you can even outsource this!

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Trebling Sales Leads at IBM Cognos

Know the single most important thing your website is supposed to do.

“I think deciding what our Website was meant to do was the first and most important step to achieving results.” So states John Blackmore, Senior Manager, Web Demand Generation for IBM. Your website, whether it be government, non-profit, intranet or commercial, requires management. And management requires knowing what you’re going to do and what you’re not going to do. In fact, in an age of endless choice and infinite information, knowing what you aren’t and what you’re not going to do must be the foundation for your web strategy.

For the IBM Cognos website it’s all about lead generation and because of that focus they have moved from an industry average 4 percent conversion rate to 12 percent. “If lead generation is job one, John states, “who is the easiest person to get a lead from? Answer: the warm prospect. Therefore, we could design a Website geared to a person who had a business problem and believed what we offered could solve it. We could “de-focus” from the tire-kickers, the partners, the media, etc. It also meant that content had a business purpose as well as a visitor purpose. It allowed us to have reasonable discussions with people who wanted things on the page — when it didn’t help lead generation we had a defendable rationale.”

If you don’t have focus then practically every request to put a page up on the website, or add a link to the homepage, becomes reasonable. Even responding to ridiculous requests will take up far too much time because there is a lack of overall website focus. “Your Website doesn’t have to be about lead generation,” John states, “but it should have a business purpose. It could be deflecting help calls. Or soliciting online donations. Or providing services to citizens online. The main thing is, and it’s our first principle-know what you want to do.”

Real people use your website. They’re not users. They’re not traffic. They’re not hits. They’re real. REAL people. In a hurry. Trying to get things done. Just trying to get on with their day.

Here are some very focussed comments on websites and Lead Generation we found from Gerry McGovern, a content management author and consultant

“Web visitors are often treated as second-class citizens,” John states. “They’re not serious people. They’re hippies. They’re ne’er do-wells. I like to think of Web visitors in a real-world rather than virtual-world way.

Imagine you’re running a GAP store and five people every minute of every day (even midnight) are walking in the door. You’d be overjoyed! Taking a page from Gerry McGovern, once they walk into your store, would you try to talk to them all about the GAP and why it’s a great store? No, they’re already in your store. You’d find out if they want to buy jeans or a sweater. And then, you’d help them get that pair of jeans and make the transaction.”

“Your fellow marketers may also treat your Web leads as second-class leads,” John continues. “Part of the thinking is it’s too easy to get the lead, therefore there is little value. The person didn’t drive downtown to a hotel in the morning. We didn’t host a breakfast with a speaker.”

You’re running a website. What business are you in? Content? Design? Technology? No. You’re in the business of service. Serving real people. Helping them get stuff done.

“Looking to improve upon your current online lead generation results? If you answered yes this is right where you need to be. Generate better leads for your business by following these three tips.

First remember the importance of clarity. What this means is that you need to give prospects a clear idea of your sites content by having organized clear organization of content. The aim here is to create a site that is easy to navigate to avoid confusion and create leads out of prospects. Make the information you brought them in for easy to find. The more clear you make it for them the better it will be to your lead generation program. Make lead capture forms short and to the point. Prospects aren’t interested in filling out long submission forms. Make it fast and easy at first and follow up later for more information after all your goal here is lead generation and conversion increases.

Last but not the least; realize the value of testing.

If the leads you’re getting do not seem to be consistent, it’s time to make small changes to see if they’ll do the trick. Testing is a system for gauging results that is a fact of life in this line of business. The process of testing is designed to make it easier for you to understand areas where improvements can be made. If you’re interested in continued improvement for your business, it is a good idea to be constantly testing.

Finally being able to get high quality leads is about precision. This will only occur when you know what you have to do. Consistent testing and tracking must be done in order for your lead generation to go the right way. Your landing page will become perfect overtime as you invest your time in making it better. Do not forget the feedback from your prospects. When you get your lead generation program going very well, you will be able to do it again in your other businesses and get the same type of results. So, do what you have learned and see the money pile up.”