The other day I was speaking with a colleague who was complaining about lead generation.
He was lamenting about how much time he spends chasing new business compared to the time he has to work on client projects.
I could feel his pain.
Lead generation isn't my favorite part of running a business either.
I started asking around and heard the exasperated refrain of "Ugh - who has the time?" from many other small business owners as well.
In fact, it started to sound like whining.
Focus On Your Strengths Small business owners are happier and more successful when they spend their time doing what they're best at-focusing on their core business and providing great service for their customers.
Their secret? They understand the importance of delegating and they spend their marketing budgets on lead generation strategies that actually work.
Sounds simple, right? It is, but it also means giving up some control-which can be scary at first.
Simple or scary, the vast majority of small business owners who delegate their lead generation to an expert reap the benefits of-you guessed it-more and better prospects coming to them.
Improve Your Lead Generation Content marketing is changing the game of lead generation.
Costly, less effective outbound methods are (mercifully) being abandoned in favor of the proven benefits of content/inbound marketing.
In fact, research compiled by Kapost in partnership with Eloqua shows that online display ads have a click-through-rate of less than one-tenth of one percent.
In stark contrast, per dollar, content marketing produces three times more leads.
The hard data and business testimonials supporting the performance of content marketing are seemingly endless (if you want more stats, just ask).
More and more businesses are cashing in on the benefits of content/inbound marketing by providing their customers with valuable information they want and are looking for.
Advantages of content marketing for businesses include: • Building their brand and reputation as industry experts • Driving more qualified prospects to their websites • Improving their visibility in search results • Creating positive engagement with customers More and more business owners rely on the expertise of content marketing specialists to run their content marketing program.
Why? They save precious time and reduce marketing costs, and they don't have to worry about doing the work themselves-all while generating more and better leads.
Content marketing simplifies the entire lead generation process and makes prospecting a more engaging, effective, and enjoyable process.
That means no more wasted time, money, and energy.
And no more whining.