Back in 2007 when I graduated from college and got my first job selling financial products, the main process to get leads and customers was to go to networking events and ask clients for referrals.
I would go to numerous weekly or monthly networking groups to build relationships with other professionals who could refer business to me. It took time to build these relationships and there was never a guarantee of getting any business from a particular group.
Once I had a few clients, I would ask them to refer me to several other people they knew who could benefit from the same type of products they purchased. It was a little awkward asking for referrals at the beginning (how many professionals you work with ask you for referrals? Probably not too many).
At the time, none of the sales and marketing training I participated in discussed any of the online opportunities to generate leads and clients.
I sought help outside my normal training program to find new, fresh ideas to grow my sales business. Amazingly, most of the training programs and books I discovered talked only about online, internet-based ways to grow a business. It was rare for network events and client referrals to be discussed.
In one book called The Iceberg Effect by Dean Holland (as a side note, four or five years after reading this book for the first time, Dean became a mentor of mine), four core areas of making money online were introduced. This one section changed my mindset about the process of building an online business. I wish I had known this and implemented it many years earlier.
Here they are (all credit goes to Dean):
Core Focus #1: Traffic- this is all about how to get potential leads and customers to see your content and visit your web pages. There is organic traffic such as posting content online through a blog, forum, or social media app where people can read or watch your content and click on a link if they are interested in learning more. There is also paid traffic such as paid online advertisements that get people to click your ad link and visit one of your web pages. No matter what you do, this is the #1 area of focus. Without traffic, you do not get enough people to check out your content and purchase products and services.
Core Focus #2: Capture- this focuses on a process to capture prospective buyers’ information such as their email address so you can follow up with them (Core Focus #3). This turns traffic into leads. The more leads you have, the greater the chance of making a sale.
Core Focus #3: Follow up- Many people need to see and hear about a product multiple times before they decide to buy. If someone visits your web page and then leaves, that person might be gone forever. There is no way for you to directly follow up with that lead. However, if you capture some basic information like an email address, now you can directly follow up with more information about a product and build a relationship. At some point, you can send leads a special product offer they can take advantage of (Core Focus #4). Having a follow-up process helps convert more leads into buyers.
Core Focus #4: Sales System- as you build your follow-up process, start to incorporate a sales system into this. If you create an email follow-up sequence, for example, add a product offer into it for something the lead might be interested in. The more offers you make, the more sales you typically get. However, there has to be a balance to ensure you do not lose rapport with the leads.
These four areas of focus have been a game changer for me in my pursuit of making money online and building an online business. I come back to these four Core Focus areas over and over as they are considered the basic ‘blocking and tackling’ of making money online, building an online business, and affiliate marketing.
Whenever I am confused or have doubts, I think about these four areas and ask myself if I am doing them. In particular, am I doing Core Focus #1- Traffic as best possible? Traffic is the engine of any business. I know from experience with sales that if there is no traffic, regardless of whether traffic is online or offline, there is no money being made. It is that simple.
If you want to check out Dean’s book, click here to get it for free (just pay a shipping and handling fee)