Work from Home - Three Ways for Online Lead Generation
By: Jim Green
Submitted: 2010-02-11 21:30:28 | Word Count: 580
In this article we discuss the 3 best ways to generate leads for a home business venture. In a previous article we made the case for the best home based business being in the field of network marketing. However regardless of the particular business model being used, MLM, or not, the Internet is now very fertile ground for generating sales opportunities.
What are the most valuable ways to generate leads for your home based venture? We cover three main ideas from an exceptional webinar presented recently by Ken Cobb of Next Level Enterprises. Next, we describe the 3 main ways to generate Internet leads::
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1. Paid methods - Within this categorization, there are generally 3 main methods including ezine articles, banner advertising, and pay per click (PPC). PPC includes, of course, Google Adwords among others and is a main revenue source for the search engines. Banner ads have have not been as popular in recent years. Banners are paid spots on the most popular, high traffic websites, using banner impressions as a criteria for billing. Ezine ads are an excellent way to get out your products and/or service message to many subscribers who are already interested in your particular niche.
2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - SEO is becoming very popular, since it is unpaid advertising and also produces the best quality leads. SEO services are time and labor intensive, whether accomplished in-house or contracted, however. Within SEO, the primary methods used are blogging, article marketing and press releases.
3. Closed Social Networks - These include popular Web 2.0 sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. As many Internet marketers have discovered, Facebook is no longer just about reconnecting with old friends. Similarly, Twitter is not just micro-blogging, but an incredibly powerful markting tool. Similarly, LinkedIn initially focused on networking for 9-5 jobs is now a great way to generate new contacts and sales leads.
Generating leads for a work from home business on the Internet is really very similar to generating leads in traditional sales methods, except that online technology now available adds incredible leverage to the equation. With this incredible leverage there are inherent dangers that can completely negate an inexperienced marketer's efforts.
In the Internet's early days many leads could be generated by usine "email blasts." No longer. This, of course, is the quickest way to get your Internet "rights" completely cut-off. Spam filtering has become quite effective against initially effective email tactics as well.
Spam filtering is employed against all three current methods of Internet lead generation as well, whether paid, SEO, or closed social network. For instance, an inexperience marketer may join a social network and begin immediately sending out his links related to his or her products and services. This is the fastest way to lose friends and get dropped from online groups on the planet. Marketing training and education becomes paramount as more and more amateurs enter the world of Internet marketing in a work from home business opportunity.
In this article we discuss the 3 best ways to generate leads for a home business venture. In a previous article we made the case for the best home based business being in the field of network marketing. However regardless of the particular business model being used, MLM, or not, the Internet is now very fertile ground for generating sales opportunities.