Lead generation has to be one of the biggest problems for new online marketers as well as those who have been marketing online for years. The problem for some people may be that they are not comfortable talking or explaining their opportunity or product, but the internet has made this a problem of the past for the most part. You don’t have to go knocking on doors to find new prospects and leads in the internet age.

Simply understanding the sales funnel can help most people realize that online “leads” usually equal “traffic”. In fact it is hard to capture any new leads if you are not getting visitors to your offer.  There are some amazing new tools that make lead generation easier than ever before and social has also make finding new leads a totally different game than it was 5 or 10 years ago. Utilizing these tools smart marketers are able to have new leads automatically sent to them each and every day without even lifting a finger.

So how are you generating new leads, are you doing automatically or working hard for each one?

Old Lead Generation Methods

The old style of finding leads involved a lot of funny business if you ask me. The good news is that the internet makes many new ways of finding, cultivating and growing your leads much easier and you will never have to be put on the spot.

In the past generating leads meant talking to strangers or even worse harassing your friends and family trying to get to your next lead. You don’t have to make a list of everybody you know to grow your business if you are on the net, so you can forget about all those cold calls and nerve shattering introductions.

Lead Generation Using A Mailing List

This is the most commonly used method to generate leads online and is also one of the most cost effective ways to find new people that are interested in your product or service. Sending prospects to a landing page with a short teaser and a email capture form is a great way to filter out those who are seriously interested in your offer and also gives you an easy way to automatically market to your customers later on when you are ready to give them more information or even purchase offers for your product.

Building a mailing list is one of the most basic ways you can grow your business and grow your leads. There are other ways to get new leads, but this is one really where you want to start or you at least want to have a landing page that you can refer others to when you are asked about your business.

Lead Generation Through Social Media

Let’s face it, social media marketing is huge! If you are not using the various social media resources available online you are missing out on a huge amount of business. The secret to social is activity and this does make marketing effectively with social media time consuming if you are not using some of the powerful social media tools on the market. However, the return from having fresh news in your social stream can be tremendous, so this should also be part of your online lead generation methodology.

When it comes down to it, you will find that every type of customer, client or new prospect on the planet are already on social sites like Facebook, Twitter and more. This means if you want to market to these prospects, you need to be where they are and have a presence on these sites. Getting a fan page setup and feeding your web site or blog RSS content to social networks should be the base that you start with and build upon to build a successful social presence for your online business.

Lead Generation And Lead Capture Networks

There are many online networking sites that are there just to allow business owners to find other leads and new referrals. These sites are different than other social networks because their intention is to allow business people to find other business people. LinkedIn was probably the first of this type, but there are many others out there that have huge user bases and these can be a goldmine for any motivated entrepreneur.  The biggest benefit about these sites is that you can connect with other business owners and build long lasting business relationships. If you have been building a network for very long, you already know that the real money is in these “real” business relationships that you develop.

Here is a short list of some of the best lead generation sites and referral generating systems on the net today. These programs are all free to join and the links below will put you in my group, so make sure to say hello to me when you get registered and I would be glad to help you get started.

Lead Generation And Referral Networks

1. Referral Key – This site is huge and it brings a very nice “bonus” system to the mix allowing you to offer cash rewards to those members that send qualified leads to you for your business. A cool way to make money either referring others to legitimate companies or getting all the leads you can handle. If you are ready to start growing your business and are not afraid of giving a small cash bonus to those that bring leads to you, Referral Key may be the the place to start.
2. Branch Out – This business networking and lead generating system has simply exploded on Facebook and is one of the largest and fastest business networks on the web, so you don’t want to miss this one. Branch out offers a very professional site that also allows you to post job opportunities on your Facebook wall as well as internally.
3. My Lead Company – This company is still in the Pre-Launch stage, but they are putting together a huge opportunity for you to get in on the ground level of a huge online lead generation system. This site may be most effective for people looking for network marketing leads, but it sounds like it  has  huge potential for anybody looking for legitimate client leads. If you join now they actually give away 100 free leads, so take a look.
4. Leads Leap – Here you will find a will organized set of tools that will help you promote your existing business and also find new clients. This system offers a credit based advertising system that allows you target existing members and external network members as well.
5. IBO Toolbox – This website, the Internet Business Owners Toolbox, offers a myriad of new ways for you to promote and a wide variety of automatically viral marketing tools to utilize. It also offers a very active community of business owners who are looking for the next best product, program or offer to get involved with.

To Success,

Nick Simpson