It never ceases to amaze me that people don’t make time to go “prospecting” for new clients. It is the fundamental building block of any business and cannot be something you aren’t doing on a daily basis, no matter what business you are in. Learn how to prospect online and you will generate new business quickly.
Every business man or woman should have time in every day devoted to generating new leads. It is the prospects who turn into clients and they don’t become clients without at least three communications from you or between you.
If you aren’t devoting time to looking for new prospects every day, then you are likely not going to have new clients any time soon. You should be adding at least ten new prospects every week. It is the first priority of any business. If it isn’t the first thing on your schedule every day then you need to make it your priority. Without prospects, there will be no clients and customers. Without clients and customers, there will be no sales and without sales there is no business.
Each day, you must set aside 1 – 2 hours to devote to prospecting for new clients. Put down the phone, don’t check the email, and stay away from social media of any kind. This time should never be interrupted or missed and will keep your company moving forward!
If this is all news to you, then follow some simple tips to get started:
- Get online – using the phone is not only passe but will generate far fewer prospects over the same time frame. Get on the phone once you have established some initial contacts through the Internet.
- Set up a Blog – it’s the best way to convey what you do to people searching the Internet for companies who do what you do.
- Get your website prospect ready – ensure your web site can handle new contacts and make it easy for them to contact you. Allow online visitors to sign up for newsletters and become subscribers to your business site.
- Send out feelers – newsletters and press releases are feelers for new prospects. Think about what is going to attract them, set up an email list that can be tracked utilizing such services as icontact.com, constantcontact.com, surveymonkey.com, and others to get your information out to your email list.
- Get noticed – most people are using search engines to find you these days, so make sure you are using all the Search Engine Optimization techniques available to you. SEO is one of the number one items to focus on for your website.
- Go phishing – look through trade websites and association websites to “phish” for prospects. They are in those business trade sites and association sites to be found, so find them.
If none of this makes any sense to you, contact someone who can help you with this. PTC Computer Solutions has been helping businesses get online and make sense of the online business world for companies like yours since 1996. We know what it’s all about and how to reach people. We reached you, right? Contact David W. B. Parker at info@ptccomputersolutions.com or read through our blog at www.ptccomputersolutions.com/blog.
Enjoy the prospecting! Enjoy new business!