Lead generation is the lifeline of any business. It ensures that there is a constant flow of potential customers coming in, so that you can make enough sales to sustain and grow the business. As essential as it is, many female entrepreneurs struggle with how to generate leads. As a business coach for female entrepreneurs, I’ve found that there can be a number of reasons for this. It’s likely that (a) they are looking for them in the wrong places, (b) they have no screening process for potential leads, or (c) they have no idea who their ideal client is.
And let’s face it, finding leads is hard, especially if you’re a female entrepreneur. We have attributes as women that make this task challenging to begin with. We don’t want to be too aggressive; we want to please everyone; we don’t want to over-promote ourselves—these are just some of the thoughts that hold us back.
Sometimes we are also faced with the wrong clients. This kind of clients waste our time and energy selling to them even when they have no intention to buy. They don’t pay enough, or they complain about every little thing. These people are not the type you want to be working with.
So how do you fix this?
Before I give you tips on how to find leads, I first need you to know that:
1. It takes time and lots of tweaking before you find the right strategy.
2. Growing and scaling your business is not only about finding leads and selling to leads.
Now, here are some strategies you can use to find good leads:
B2B means that one business deals with another business, such as in wholesale, where the other eventually sells the goods to the end consumer. For B2B lead generation, LinkedIn is the most effective platform to use. How to generate leads on LinkedIn? Start by connecting with your potential clients and then initiate an inbox conversation. From there, you can get to know the person, plan a meeting, and eventually make an offer.
If you’re in retail and your customers come into your shop, the best thing to do is to make sure that they get connected with you through newsletters or on the social media channels that you use. Once you have their contact information, you will be able to reach out to them and send them your latest offers.
When a client has already bought from you before, it’s easier to sell to them again. They won’t need a lot of convincing if they love your product or service. What you can do is build a relationship with them by keeping them in the loop for new offerings or special packages.
You might think that casting a wide net with your ads will get you more potential clients, but that’s not the case. Location is very important in any business. Use tools such as Google My Business and Facebook to target specific areas that are relevant to your business. And make sure that you use the right keywords. When potential clients search for those keywords in your region or city, they will more likely come across your business.
When you have a website, which I’m sure you do, there are many lead generation strategies you can use. One of these is retargeting. When people visit your website, make sure that they click on ‘Install Cookies.’ This will allow certain contact information to be collected, which you can use when you target your ads. The way this can work is, for example, when they click on a product on your website, they will be able to see that product when they go on other social media channels. They will be reminded of your product or be top-of-mind when they search for similar products.
There are a lot of offers you can give your clients to entice them to buy, or to at least check you out. You can organize open evenings, offer discounts and coupon codes, or have a referral program. How to get leads from these activities?
Social media lead generation works best in platforms where your ideal clients are. Personally, I focus on LinkedIn and Facebook. I’ve been in business for a long time, and they were already there when I started using social media to generate leads. What’s important to know is that you don’t have to be in all social media platforms. Just the ones that are relevant to you and your business. Not everybody is your ideal client. Don’t waste your time and resources promoting to people who are not your audience.
Whichever platform you use (and I always advice people to choose a platform that they love, otherwise outsource the work), the key is to connect and engage your audience. As a business coach for female entrepreneurs, I advise my clients to use a simple strategy: follow people who are your audience, start an inbox conversation with them, and then somehow make sure that they get to your website or to your shop, or schedule a call.
It starts with knowing who your ideal client is. This is important if you are going to pay for ads, otherwise, you will be wasting money. The people who click on your ad, you know right away that they can eventually become your client. For the rest of your leads, you should be able to identify which ones are worth following up on.
Like I previously mentioned, not everyone is your ideal client. Not every lead is a good one as well. What I do as a business coach for female entrepreneurs is screen my potential clients with a short 15-minute call to find out if the person fits my criteria.
You also need to have a client avatar. You need to know exactly who you want your clients to be. If you’re not having conversations, you can scan their social media profile and find the information that you’re looking for. Then you would have an idea if they might be the right fit for you. If you’re still not sure, start an inbox conversation.
If you want to know more about finding your ideal client, I’ve written more in-depth about it in another blog post.
Knowing how to generate leads for business is essential if you want to scale and grow your business. While this may seem like a daunting task, it gets easier if you know where to find new leads, how to connect with these leads, and even how to sell again to existing leads. And you don’t have to do it alone. You can get help from agencies, companies, or even a business coach for female entrepreneurs such as myself.
You must also keep in mind that finding and selling to leads by themselves will not make a significant impact in your business. There are many different areas you must also work on. If you want to seriously scale and grow your business, you need to take on a holistic approach.
My name is Tineke Rensen and I am a business coach for women. I created the system “A Women’s Blueprint for Business Success,” where I work with female entrepreneurs in 9 major areas in their business.
There are many out there who call themselves “business coaches” but have never had their own business. What you need is a business coach who has experience in scaling and growing businesses. And I’ve had plenty. In my 31 years of experience, I’ve become an expert on many areas, and I can help you with whatever topic you need help with. Because it NEVER is about changing just one thing that’ll pivot your business around
If you want to learn more about what makes a good business coach for women check out this article about the 20 questions you should ask a business coach for female entrepreneurs.
Interested to learn how you can work with me one-on-one to build your one-woman gig to a proper business and double your income within a year? Click here now to schedule a quick 15-minute call with me and get started.
Tineke Rensen of Powerful Business Academy has been in business for 31 years. She built an international Outdoor and Survival business from scratch and sold it after 22 years.
Tineke was also a national whitewater kayaking champion.
She now is one of the most all-round business accelerators and mentors you can find. She helps businesswomen to “Scale & Grow, Make More Impact And Work Less.” There are very few topics she cannot help you with in your business. Many people find this hard to believe, but hey, how much do you think you know about scaling businesses if you live it day and night for 31 years?
Tineke created the system “A Women’s Blueprint To Business Success.” She is a multi-awarded serial entrepreneur and is the author of the book “Maximum Business Growth For Women.”
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