Fishing for Leads with Information?

by Jim Palmer

If you’re doing a good job of getting known, your potential customer should know a lot about you. They’ll probably contact you when they’re ready to buy what you’re selling. But why leave it to chance? After all, your prospects are being inundated every day with thousands of marketing messages.

Some businesses offer “free estimate” services that connect them with people who are considering a purchase. Companies that sell flooring, remodeling, and similar products and services are examples.

My cousin is in the home remodeling business. He often delivers appliances to homes for local merchants because it gets him into the homes of potential customers. He will often engage the homeowner about kitchen remodeling and leave behind a brochure. A great example of guerilla marketing.

If that’s you, make it easy for people to request an estimate. Mention it in your newsletter. Put a form on your web site. Link to the web site from your email. The easier it is, the more likely people will use it.

Here are some common ways to give prospects some information.

Offer them an article. If I were still in the bicycle shop, I’d offer articles on particular kinds of biking and on specific local trips. I’d write an article for parents about “Biking with Children.”

Offer them a tip sheet. Something like “Six Things Every Homeowner Must Know about Kitchen Remodeling” or “12 Ways to Save Big Money on Your Next Vacation” will do the trick.

Offer them answers to frequently asked questions. You know what these are because you answer them all the time.

Offer them a checklist. It can be something like a “Home Safety Checklist” or a “Small Business Tax Filing Checklist.”

Offer them a guide or planner. Wedding planners and vacation planners and guides to college scholarships or healthy eating are examples.

Jim Palmer is an entrepreneur, author, speaker, and coach. He’s been called the entrepreneur’s entrepreneur and is the founder and president of Custom Newsletters, Inc. Jim is known internationally as “The Newsletter Guru,” his companies include No Hassle Newsletters, NewsletterPostcards.com, The Newsletter Guru’s Concierge Print and Mail on Demand Service, StandOUT Ezines, and Super Affiliate Pages. Jim is a cancer survivor, has been married for 29 years and has four grown children. He lives in Chester County, Pennsylvania with his wife, Stephanie, and their cat, Linus. For more resources and information on Jim, visit www.TheNewsletterGuru.com.

Today’s video review is not about a lawyer video. Rather, it’s about a guy who built a business creating newsletters for people to keep in touch with their customers and clients. Jim Palmer calls himself the “Newsletter Guru.” He clearly “gets” why it’s so crucial to keep in touch with your clients and customers on a regular frequent basis.

In this video we see Jim paddling his canoe on a lake near his home. He is wearing sunglasses, and the camera is sitting in the canoe pointed upwards. As Jim talks, you hear the oar making contact with the water. Jim tells a story about finding a painting he wanted to purchase and the business owner refusing to ship it to his home. The point of the video is to show that the business owner lost a key opportunity to make an easy sell by creating a roadblock.

I like this video for a number of reasons. First, it’s different. Here’s a guy in the middle of a relaxing activity telling a story that is educational from a marketing standpoint. He’s paddling a canoe on a big open lake. There’s no hazard of him getting into an accident, like in a moving car, except for falling overboard and destroying his expensive camera.

To read the full review, click here.