Lead generation and sales prospecting got you down? What if you could make friends, influence people’s opinion about your product or company, and boost sales in just 20 minutes a day? (No, this isn’t an infomercial, although I realize that intro may have sounded like one.)
Generating leads and boosting sales is as easy and engaging people in an active dialogue. Social media, blogs, and Twitter have made it not only easy to engage people in conversations but also 100% free. (Which is great for bootstrapping, self-financing, lean startups and other small businesses that don’t have a massive marketing budget.)
But social media, blogging, and Twitter can be hella distracting. How can you focus your lead generation efforts and actually boost sales in just 20 minutes a day? Simple – focus and solid game plan.
When it comes to getting things done online, I’m just as bad as the next person about getting distracted by Facebook or by reading random articles (by other authors here on KillerStartups… obviously), or by shopping for hot handmade gadget pouches on Etsy…
But I have found something that will help. You’re totally going to laugh at me for this, but I use an egg timer. Well, not an actual egg timer. I wouldn’t even know where to buy one of those things. I use an e-egg timer. Obviously.
E.ggtimer is one of the best tools I’ve found to help prevent those lurking online distractions and time-wasters. Just go to the site, enter the amount of time you want to dedicate to work, click “Go!” and start working. Set it and forget it. Until the timer goes off, you are 100% focused on work.
Now, I’m not suggesting you set it for say… 4 hours or 8 hours and “focus” on work all day. For our generation of short attention span theater, gadget obsessed techie geeks, it’s difficult to really focus on anything for more than an hour. (Or is that just me?)
Personally, for general working whatnots, I set the e.ggtimer for 55 minutes. Then I take a 15 minute break (for which I also set the e.ggtimer… just to make sure I don’t go over). During my 15 minute breaks, I check texts, emails, Facebook, and sometimes ever watch some College Humor vids.
Now that you’ve learned the secrets of how to focus on work, let’s tackle the next step in our 20 minutes a day lead generation strategy…
The Solid Game Plan
When: 5 days a week, 20 minutes a day
Why: Generating leads = more sales = more money = awesome
Tools: E.ggtimer, blog, twitter, email
Monday
- Write a blog post (300 or so words is usually a good length) on the topic.Brainstorm ideas for blog posts related to your product or service. Example, if you have an ecommerce shop that sells hiking equipment, you may write a post about the best hiking spots in a certain state or country.
- Search Twitter for prospective customers, follow them, comment on their posts and otherwise engage them in conversation.
Tuesday
- Invite folks on Twitter and anyone who has responded to your blog post to subscribe to your free newsletter for more “great information” on your niche. Tweet the same invite.
- Respond to any responses you get to the newsletter invite personally.
- Tweet a link to your blog post. Interesting Tweets ask a question that people will WANT to answer and respond to.
Wednesday
- Write a newsletter email which provides additional information about the blog post you did on Monday. Don’t just summarize the post – actually provide additional content. Email newsletter length can be 200-300 words.
- Check the blog and Twitter for comments and responses and respond to them. Don’t be too salesy. Be friendly and informative.
- Search for more leads on Twitter and follow them / respond to their Tweets.
Thursday
- Send a Tweet about your free newsletter with a link to a sign-up page.
- Send out the newsletter.
- Reply to blog comments and Twitter responses.
Friday
- Take a deep breath, you’re almost there.
- Respond to blog, Twitter, and newsletter responses and comments.
That’s it! Don’t forget to use an e.ggtimer or other timer to make sure you’re staying on track and focused for those 20 minutes a day. Who knew making friends, influencing people, and boosting sales could be so much fun? (Well… I did… that’s why I’m the writer and you’re the reader).
