Not every organization is a web-based company. There are lots of companies that perform services (haircuts, gardening, educational consulting, whatever) that have nothing to do with the internet. Still, those companies need a web site. First and foremost, they need a web site to generate leads.

So how do you generate leads using a web site? ”Leads” in salesman parlance are potential customers. People who might want to buy what you sell. People you want to reach and get to know.

To use a web site to generate leads, first and foremost, you have to stop thinking of a web site as a bunch of pages that sit on a web server, deliver contact information, and contain few paragraphs and photos explaining what you do. A “brochure-style” web site will not generate leads. A brochure-style web site is fine for customers who already know you, people who just want your phone number or your address.

But what about customers who don’t already know you? Customers out there…. people you have never heard of and who have never heard of you… people who need exactly what you offer?

Your web site can draw in those people, too.

So how do you get “leads” online? Here’s how.

Step 1: Stop thinking of your site as a brochure

First, you have to start thinking of your web site as a large magnet that draws people into your irresistible universe. Your web site can, and will attract customers.

Step 2: Give people free stuff

The rule on the internet is not, as they said in Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come.”

Oh no.

The rule on the internet is, “If you give them free stuff, they will give you their contact information, and they become a lead.”

What kind of free stuff am I talking about? Free knowledge. Your expertise. Share it liberally and they will flock to you.

Free white papers. Free webinars. Free newsletters. Free How-To’s. Free videos. Free advice. Free humor.

Offer yourself and your company freely to all.

Step 2: Make sure this free stuff is valuable and useful

This above-mentioned free stuff has to be more than just free. It has to be valuable. It has to be worth finding, worth receiving, worth offering an email address for.

Be generous with your expertise.  Here are some examples of valuable information to get your mind going:

• I used to go to a hairdresser who posted on his web site a lesson on how to blow dry your hair.  (Did you know water “wicks” up your hair, so if you have long hair you should blow dry the ends first?)
• A medical research equipment company I work with invites its successful customers, working scientists, to star in webinars explaining how they use the technology. The scientists get some free publicity, and the equipment company gets free webinar content and a whole bunch of leads.
• I worked with some educational testing companies who post an extensive library of white papers on their web sites. The white papers profile successful schools and in the process, promote their products.

That’s all there is to generating leads with your web site in 3 easy steps

Think about what expertise you have and be willing to share it.  Make it valuable. And make it free. If you need help thinking further about these issues, contact Zoyo Branding today.