Business Generating Platforms (TOTW: 9.30.2012) (12 posts)

Topic tags: lead gen, social media, totw
  • There’s a lot of social networking platforms out there: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+. Also, I saw that MySpace is rebooting and you have to request an invitation!

    Plus there’s content creation tools like blogging, podcasting and online video (like YouTube). 

    And don’t forget about Instagram, Pinterest, etc., etc.

    So, what’s your best platform for generating online leads for your business and why?

  • I’ve always believed that creating good content is the foundation for my business growth. Primarily, I do this through my blog, and I promote the articles on many social media sites. 

    By promoting my articles on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, I get people to visit my blog. My goal: to have them like my content so much that they sign up for my newsletter.

    But what has surprised me greatly is that my webinars have been the greatest single source for new business. People attend one (or more) of my free webinars, and they reach out to me to either help them do what I just talked about, or help them with the social media in general.

    I suspect there are a few reasons for this. First, not everyone loves to read, so attending a webinar is a better way for many people to take in information. And with a webinar, they get to experience more of me, hear my voice, and hear me think out loud. It’s a much more personal connection that leads to starting a business relationship.

    I use all of the other tools to cast a net and pull people in. But now I make an effort to invite people to attend a free webinar as my main business hook.

  • @charlene-kingston Thanks for sharing that. I had been contemplating that as a business generating tool, but was worried about the effectiveness. My best ROI is LinkedIn. Just posting articles that I think should impact people’s website experience and posting my own blogs has given me clients.

  • @amyhallbiz  I have been using LinkedIn the same way for my company (I provide Background Check services).  I have found that sharing informative articles (whether my own or not) and posting my blog has really helped me gain a voice in the industry and resulted in “real” connections and business.  I am glad to hear it has worked the same for you!

  • mine would  be  our website….. it gets  seen  all over the  country and   has  brought us   many leads , lots  turning into sales….and when they  get there there is  gps  for directions  and  all the info and lots of pictures to tempt them to come……  our  seo is  good….we are on the first page  of  google  for our  main keywords…antiques indiana….and we have had the site for   several  years…

    next  would  be  facebook…..and  facebook  would be   the  best  in a regional sales   way…..the  website has  brought  lots of people  from  far away  tho…. they work  together…. 

  • @amyhallbiz I think most business people don’t realize how powerful LinkedIn can be because they are overwhelmed with yet another social network to maintain. I get good leads from LinkedIn, also.

  • Guys, how exactly do you manage your LinkedIn to get leads? Do you just connect to people and post updates to your profile or do you also join groups? I’ve tried to join groups, but it’s so much spam there, that almost every post gets lost. Apart from that, a lot of them offer some work, so it looks like Elance…

  • @milan-steskal Peopel connect with me. I always accept all connections and message the new connection to try to get some conversation going. About 25% of the time someone has connected with me because they have a question or need my services. I’m always happy to help!

  • Too be honest my best has always been offline networking face to face.  After that I would then say it would have to be LinkedIn, but that is where I am focusing right now.  I do very little with Facebook and Twitter, except what is automated from my blogs.  I try and build real connections and relationships on LinkedIn just as you would in face to face networking.  Not everyone will respond and it takes time, but I find it is worth it.  I have heard about  article sharing even articles that are not your own and have been wanting to incorporate that more.  I do it occasionally right now, but maybe I should be doing more.  @amyhallbiz  @kimkline I am curious about how often to you share articles on LinkedIn? several times a day or is it more like a couple times a week?   Great to hear others are finding success with this method as well.

  • @vomers I only post when I find something interesting. So it’s not consistent.

  • I would say Podcasting hands down for me.  EntrepreneurOnFire.com gets over 3,000 downloads every day, and results in 15-30 email subscribers every day because of it.  

    I just upped my opt-in offer to 20 Wordpress Video tutorials, and did see a bump in opt-ins from that, but I know it could be a lot better.  Any suggestions?

    http://www.EntrepreneurOnFire.com is where my offer is now.  How can I improve it?  I love constructive criticism!

  • @rich-brooks A little late in my response; however, I believe that Twitter has gained us the greatest visibility so far. As I mentioned in another response on these boards, our directory purchases and paid job postings have seen an uptick over last year. There also has been interest in attending our online university sessions by non-members.


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