Written by: Clare Tries, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Lead generation for new business owners is tricky. Your digital presence is just starting to brew, and your resources are understandably tight.
Many marketing agencies will try to persuade you that big investments in lead generation outreach are the only way to start scaling; that the only way to get the high-quality leads you’re after is to pour your savings into their lead gen services.
This isn’t necessarily true. Yes, there is a point in your marketing roadmap where investing in outreach and lead generation will be the next step to continue to scale. But as a baby business, there are other more lucrative ways to save your resources while increasing engagement.
These pointers come from experience – my baby, Clash Copy, is only 11 months old! When I first started Clash Copy, I thought that the only way to gain quality marketing leads was to throw outrageous amounts of money at it. Thankfully, I didn’t have outrageous amounts of money! This was a lifesaver – it granted me the opportunity to do research, learn by trial and error, and find three rewarding ways to grow your business on a budget.
Here are three great ways to generate leads without spending a bunch of money:
Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile
Perfecting your LinkedIn profile boosts your digital presence, which in turn attracts more prospects. This is a simple yet often overlooked method for lead generation, so it is likely easy to make your business’s profile stand out.
One of the easiest ways to optimize your LinkedIn profile for lead generation is to optimize your content for search engines. LinkedIn functions as a search engine, so using keywords, getting recommendations, and filling in all of the information impact whether potential clients find you or not.
Partner With Complementary Businesses
Growing a business is all about creating quality relationships. There really is no way to sidestep this. So, consider partnering with other business owners in an industry that’s complementary to yours. This can help with building relationships, networking, and client-sharing. For example, say you own a coaching business that focuses on nutrition and wellness. It could be incredibly beneficial to partner with a local health food store that offers the kinds of products you want to recommend.
Taking this relationship-building further, you could even offer to feature this health food store in a podcast, on your website, or in a blog post. In turn, they likely have clients on their mailing list interested in your services; you could feature your products/services in their monthly newsletter.
Make Yourself Easy to Find!
Yes, this sounds too simple to be valuable advice. But the number of new business owners we work with that have not accurately set up their website, LinkedIn, or Google My Business so that people can quickly get in touch is surprising! It is often the first thing we do when acting out their marketing roadmap; we make it effortless for potential clients to find and contact their experts.
You can do this by having your address and contact information updated on all platforms. Also, include a consistent call to action button across your website that links to an updated booking calendar. That way, leads can easily book a time to chat and will be prompted to do so often (this repetition is surprisingly persuasive). You want to make it irresistibly easy to take action on all of your web pages, shared resources, outreach messaging, and platforms.
Personal experience is most valuable when shared with fellow entrepreneurs; I hope you find my confrontation with the best budget-friendly ways to kick-start lead generation helpful. Clash Copy works with IT companies and small businesses to strategize the most resourceful and rewarding way to scale quickly. If you’re curious about what your marketing roadmap could look like, book a free consult with one of our experts.
Clare Tries, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Clare Tries is the Founder and CEO of Clash Copy Corp. She is a creative copywriter and passionate marketing professional with over a decade of experience in IT industry. Her company provides collaborative and rewarding marketing solutions for the IT industry and small business professionals.
