Wouldn’t it be nice to wake up to new qualified leads in your email inbox when you roll out of bed each morning that turn into new clients? Instead, many small business owners swipe open their email app and find nothing but crickets…
If your contact form isn’t getting any love, here are a few ways to attract new leads to your business and convert them into paying clients and customers (without the endless hustle).
How to attract new leads and convert them to paying, new clients
1| Invest in Creating SEO-Friendly Content
All content is not created equal. While social media is wonderful for building connections, the shelf-life of an Instagram post is pretty dismal.
“Timeliness,” or how recently a post was shared to your feed, is one of the three main ranking signals that the Instagram algorithm takes into consideration when deciding what posts you’ll see first.
While this isn’t the only ranking signal, it means that a post you shared three days ago probably isn’t getting much attention. And content from last month? That won’t see the light of day.
You want to invest your time in creating content that consistently attracts new clients to your business. That means months and even years after it’s published, you’ll see continued results from the work you put in up front.
What kind of content am I talking about? Evergreen content like blog posts that rank well in search engines.
You want to create high quality, educational content that builds thought leadership for your brand. The goal is to show your potential clients that you have the experience and the skills to get the job done.
You also want to meet potential clients where they are at in the buying process. What questions do people ask before working with you? What problems does your ideal client have that you can help solve?
Outline the main things your business excels at, focus on your expertise, and brainstorm what helpful topics you can teach on your blog based on the needs and pain points of your ideal client.
Don’t forget keyword research. See what the competition looks like in Google and what you need to do to outrank them. You can grab our free SEO checklist here.
Bonus points for sharing the blog posts you create on Pinterest or creating a YouTube video that goes along with your content. These are great ways to reach even more people without a ton of extra work.
Side effects include getting asked to speak about your area of expertise on podcasts or conferences and increased brand exposure as people share your work on social media. Win!
2| Nurture Leads & Stay Top of Mind
While this sounds like a lot of work, the entire process can be automated. My favorite means for staying in touch and creating lasting relationships with ideal clients is email marketing.
Building an email list of targeted leads who aren’t ready to buy now, but may be interested in the future, will save you a lot of time (and energy in the long run).
Warm leads, or people who have already gotten to know your business, are much more likely to convert into clients than cold traffic who has never heard of you.
Some people need a little wining and dining before they are ready to sign a contract.
The good news? You can automate this entire process.
Instead of connecting with each new website visitor or email subscriber manually, you can encourage them to join your email list in exchange for something useful like a free checklist, guide, or ebook.
This is your chance to build a relationship by sending out a series of automated emails that tell your new subscribers a bit more about your business, how you work with clients, and what they can expect to gain by choosing you over the competition.
Your goal is to provide as much value as possible so that these potential clients get that warm, fuzzy feeling when they think of you.
There are a ton of great email marketing apps and client workflow automation software out there to help you build automations quickly and easily. Here’s how I built my email workflows in Flodesk.
3| Follow Up & Make it Easy to Work With You
Once someone is ready to take the next step and work with you, they most likely click over to your contact page and send a message to your team. What happens next?
According to Harvard Business Review, “Firms that tried to contact potential customers within an hour of receiving a query were nearly seven times as likely to qualify the lead (which we defined as having a meaningful conversation with a key decision maker) as those that tried to contact the customer even an hour later—and more than 60 times as likely as companies that waited 24 hours or longer.”
This study was from 2011 and as technology has improved (and attention spans shorten) people expect even more from business owners. In other words, the sooner you respond, the better.
Using a platform like HoneyBook makes following up with leads simple and efficient. Need to send a proposal? It’s ready in two clicks. It’s your one stop shop that allows clients to sign online contracts and pay invoices online.
I also love the ability to schedule meetings with potential clients with HoneyBook’s built-in online meeting scheduler feature. No more going back and forth trying to find a time that works for everyone. Now clients can choose what works best for them based on your calendar availability.
HoneyBook has completely changed how I manage my leads and saves me hours a week on follow up. My clients appreciate how easy it is to navigate documents related to the project and make payments within the app.
Want to Save Time With Passive Lead Generation?
If you want to hop off the marketing hamster wheel and attract new clients each and every day, having a plan is key!
Create a content calendar and stick to it! How frequently will you post and what keywords are you targeting so Google sends you qualified traffic?
Nurture your leads so your brand stays top of mind. That way when someone is ready to buy, they know where to find you and you’ve already built that know, like, and trust factor.
Have a plan for what happens after someone reaches out to you. Use a platform like HoneyBook to make the process as easy as possible for you and your clients so they are more likely to recommend you and work with you again in the future.
Ready to start creating SEO-friendly content that consistently attracts your ideal clients online? Grab our free SEO checklist here.
Ready to start earning passive revenue and scaling your business? Get our Passive Income Ultimate Guide.
