This article looks at my knowledge of lead generation and how it relates to freelance work. Should I really start a lead generation service? You’re probably thinking that I should, but there’s more to consider here than just the idea that everybody needs leads.
The reason why I am going to write this article is that I have been involved in providing many people with sales leads for their businesses for over 10 years. Over time, I have learned a lot about generating leads myself and then selling them to people who need them. If you are thinking about starting a business offering lead generation services, there are some things you should know before getting started.
| Takeaways |
|---|
| Consider the benefits and challenges of launching a freelance lead generation service. |
| Assess your skills in lead generation, communication, and project management. |
| Research the market demand for lead generation services in your niche. |
| Determine your target audience and the value you can provide to potential clients. |
| Explore different lead generation strategies and channels that align with your expertise. |
| Calculate the potential profitability of your freelance lead generation service. |
| Plan your pricing strategy based on your services and market rates. |
| Build a strong online presence and showcase your expertise through content and social media. |
| Network with potential clients and build relationships to generate leads. |
| Continuously adapt and refine your strategies based on feedback and results. |
First, Look At The Market
You’ve got a service idea, but does the market want it? Before you build any part of your business, do research on what your potential customers want and need. What are they looking for? What are their problems and how can you solve them?
To understand the market, ask questions like:
What services do people buy from my competitors? (If your ideal client has never bought anything from any other lead generation expert, how will they know to trust anyone else?)
What services are people buying in this general area (i.e., digital marketing)? Note trends to see where things are going.
How many people in this niche or industry have paid for lead generation help before? Do they even know it exists or is possible?
Does the competition seem happy with the services they’re using now or do they complain about lack of results or high prices?
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If There’s A Market, Look At Your Skills And Interests
You might want to start a lead generation agency, but you won’t be the only person to have that idea. If you’re considering starting a very specific type of business, it’s helpful to look into whether or not anyone else is already offering that product or service.
If someone has thought of the idea before you, this doesn’t necessarily mean that your own agency will fail outright. In fact, if there are other people who are doing well in your area of interest, this can be an encouraging sign.
The size and growth of the market are important because it gives us insight into how much potential there is for our business idea. A small market means less demand for our product or service, which makes it more difficult for us to obtain clients and grow our business but at the same time, a smaller market also means less competition from other businesses who provide similar products and services.
We can also use search engine results to give us an idea about whether there is enough demand for what we want to do: simply use Google (or another search engine) to check how many results show up when searching for your proposed business plus a few other related keywords (for example: ‘SEO consultants’, ‘SEO services’ and ‘SEO agencies’). This will give you some indication as to what kind of competition currently exists in the SEO space
Find Out If You Have The Bandwidth To Take On More Work
Are you currently maxed out on client work?
If not, do you have any blocks of time during the day that could be used for additional income-generating activities?
Do you have the energy and enthusiasm to take on more projects right now?
Would your personal life suffer if you took on more work right now?
If after taking a look at your daily schedule, it doesn’t seem like you have enough extra time to take on additional clients while maintaining the quality of your current work, then it’s probably not a good time to add another service offering. On the other hand, if there are pockets of free time in your schedule that could easily be filled with new lead generation work, then launching this service is definitely something worth considering.
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Next, Find Out What Kind Of Competition Is Already In Your Area
This information is pretty easy to find online. Check out your competitors’ websites and social media profiles to see what they’re up to, what their marketing looks like, how they interact with clients, and the projects that are keeping them busy.
Although you probably won’t be able to get a detailed price list from other freelancers in your area (this number will depend on a lot of factors), it’s still useful to know what kinds of projects people are jobbing out and how much similar work usually goes for in your location.
Thinking about the ways that you’re different from others in your area can also be helpful: What skills do you have that they don’t? What do you have that they don’t? Are there any gaps in what these other freelancers are doing?
Do You Want To Work On Your Own, Or Do You Want To Build A-Team?
Second, think about whether you want to work on your own or build a team. Teams are more scalable, better at dealing with complex problems, and can be more efficient, fun, and productive. But it can also be harder to build a team and manage it as well.
If you decide to go the solo route, there’s a lot you can do alone as long as you have the skills yourself or are willing to learn them. This includes sales and lead generation!
But if you decide building a team is what you want to do, here’s how to hire great people: Focus on hiring people who love working on teams with others. It’s important to know if they enjoy working in coordination with others versus just focusing on their own tasks.
Once You’ve Figured Out Who Your Competitors Are And How They’re Doing, Ask Yourself These Questions:
Are they getting clients? It’s difficult to get a handle on whether or not your competitors are successful without knowing their client base. Some of them may have a large social media following, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into sales. It’s best to reach out to each of your competitors directly and ask for more information about their client list a question I’ve found works well is, “How many paying clients do you currently have?”
What are they doing to get clients? For each of your competitors, find out what kind of marketing strategy they use. Does one rely mostly on word-of-mouth referrals? Do others use paid advertising or social media? After finding out what methods work for them and what doesn’t, it will be easier to figure out how you can stand apart from the pack.
For example, if most people in your area rely primarily on referrals: consider targeting other avenues (such as email marketing or networking at local events) that aren’t being used as much by others in this niche.
How can you measure success? If none of the competitors in your area are tracking metrics accurately (or at all), take this opportunity to set new standards! Make sure that any numbers shared with potential customers include an exact definition so there’s no confusion when comparing them later down the road
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Start Small, Then Scale Up And Gauge Interest
I recommend that you begin your journey into lead-gen for freelancers by testing the market.
You can do this by creating several landing pages (i.e., single-page websites) to promote your services and running Google Ads to drive traffic to these sites. This will give you a sense of how much demand there is for your service and how much it costs in advertising dollars to land a new client.
If you get a good response, then you should be able to start building out your service with some confidence that people are going to be interested in hiring you, but if the response isn’t strong, then I’d recommend looking elsewhere or trying a different approach with what you’re offering.
If it’s successful, scale up!
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Track Everything You Do And Measure It So You Can See Exactly What’s Working Or Not Working
You need to know what’s working well for your business, and what isn’t. This will help you make the best decisions moving forward, enabling your business to see continual growth.
Whether your marketing efforts are working well or not, use Google Analytics or something similar and track all of your traffic. See where each lead is coming from, and then find a way to measure leads into customers (or potential customers).
Set up analytics tracking specifically for Facebook ads using the Facebook Pixel if you’re running paid ads on Facebook. You want to be able to track how many times an ad was shown, how many clicks it got, how much money was made from those clicks (or how many sales came from those clicks), and more. Basically, it’s just going to give you all the details so that you can truly analyze whether or not those ads were effective at getting quality leads that turned into sales for your client(s)
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If You Think There May Be A Demand For Your Services, Then Try It Out!
Before you get too deep into your plans for launching a lead generation service, it’s important to find out if there is indeed a demand for it. You could try talking to potential customers about your idea and asking them what they think. Or, if you want to take things a step further, you could set up a simple landing page that describes the service and see if any leads come in through the website.
This can be done with free tools like Mailchimp or Constant Contact. If you want to get even more serious, then you can set up an ad campaign on Facebook or Google AdWords and start driving traffic to your landing page.
You may find that there isn’t as much demand as you thought there would be—or at least not enough demand to justify the time and money it would take
to launch this type of freelance business. However, if it looks promising then go ahead and start building out your business plan!
Further Reading
Explore more resources related to freelance lead generation and starting a lead generation business:
Are Lead Generation Freelancers Better Than Lead Generation Agencies?: Discover the pros and cons of hiring freelancers versus agencies for lead generation.
Hire a Lead Generation Freelancer: A Practical Guide: Learn how to effectively hire and work with lead generation freelancers to boost your business prospects.
Starting a Lead Generation Business: A Comprehensive Guide: Dive into the details of launching your own lead generation business and set yourself up for success.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Long Does It Take To Get Started?
Starting a lead generation business can be done in as little as one day. Although it will take longer than that to establish your reputation and begin making money, the upfront effort required is minimal.
How much does it cost? It’s free to start a lead generation business, but you’ll likely want to spend money on some tools for finding leads, such as Hunter or LinkedIn Sales Navigator. Additionally, if you’re interested in starting a website for your business, you’ll need to pay for hosting at least.
What Are The Benefits Of Starting A Freelance Lead Generation Business?
The cost of getting started is low, the learning curve is relatively small, and there’s lots of opportunity for growth. If you’ve always wanted to start your own small business but were intimidated by doing so from scratch and had no idea how much would be involved this could be an excellent option for you.
Should I Launch A Freelance Lead Generation Service?
Yes. The freelance lead generation industry is booming, and there’s plenty of room for you to get in on the action. But before you launch, it’s important to be prepared. You’ll need to know what your target customers want and how you’ll deliver it.
What Is A Freelance Lead Generation Service?
Lead generation service is an online tool that helps you discover new leads, convert them into customers, and expand your business. It’s a bit like LinkedIn in that it connects you with people who might be interested in working with you, but it’s much more specific than LinkedIn. It helps you find the right person to work with based on their interests and how they use social media. Lead generation services are typically used by businesses like marketing agencies and SEO companies who want to find potential clients.
How Does It Work?
First, you sign up for the service. Then, when someone signs up for your lead generation service, they’ll get a notification from someone in your network whose job is to connect them with relevant people for their business. You can choose which types of leads you’re looking for (like clients from a specific industry or location) and filter out those who aren’t a good fit for your company.
Let’s say someone wants to hire an SEO company; after signing up for our service, they’ll get matched with three companies that provide that service in their area and have been rated.
I am a content writer, and I love what I do! Writing makes me feel like the words are flowing through my fingers, and then onto the keyboard, like magic. My experience as a writer has taught me that writing makes me feel good, as well as helps others to feel better too!