Busting The Myths About Lead Generation
One of the most important secrets to generating leads is getting your mindset right about it.
So today, I'm gonna bust some of the most prevailing myths that are out there, when it comes to lead generation.
The lifeblood of a business
Generating leads and getting sales from the sales and marketing part of your business is the lifeblood of a business.
Because without marketing and sales, which leads to lead generation, there is no business, right?
Because that's what it takes to get clients to pay you and a business without paying clients is not a business.
So it's something that's on the forefront of everybody's minds.
It is something that, even when you're successful, you have to constantly think about.
And because of that, there are a lot of stories and mindset ideas out there that I find are really holding people back from doing lead generation well.
And I want to share three of those myths today, because I want you to get them out of your mind from now on.
And you can come back to this post and read it when you're thinking about lead gen, because it will remind you to get your head out of the clouds, put your feet on the ground and do what works.
Myth #1 - There’s a ‘magic’ secret
So the first myth about lead gen is that there's some sort of magic secret to it.
That there's some magical way to generate leads that other people know that you don't know.
The reason that this myth is out there is because it feels like literally all of Facebook exists just to tell us that that's the case, right?
Every ad that we get served up on Instagram and on Facebook is telling us “Hey, you can get leads for no money, no time, no effort, you can get them quickly.”
I saw an ad the other day with this video that said “I got 5000 clients and generated $10 million in sales…” something crazy like that.
And when I see that, it seems like there really IS something that people know that I don't know. What is this magic thing that I don't know?
I've been around long enough, I've bought enough programs and I've worked with enough coaches to know that there's always more to that story.
There is no magic. There's no magic bullet to getting leads.
Now, that said, there's a lot of great strategies, and there's a lot of things you can do that will produce no results.
And there are a lot of things you can do that if you're strategic about it will help you get more leads, but they all come down fundamentally to the same basic idea, which is that you need people to know, like and trust you to get clients.
And to get leads, you need people to know you exist. And you need to be clear about what you offer and who you help.
It really does just come down to that.
So whether it's networking, showing up to events, connecting with people you know, showing up on social media, creating content online, paying for ads, speaking at events, having a podcast, writing a book, giving out flyers on the street, giving your card to everyone you meet, whatever it is, all of those things are just letting people know that you exist and telling them what you do and how you can help. That's it.
So there's no magic to it. And it's really not about finding that thing that's going to change everything for you.
It's about committing to one of those strategies, and then getting really good at it.
So if I were to say that there was some magic to it, the magic is really in the application of the strategy of whatever you're doing.
Because you can write a book that can sit on the shelf or sit on Amazon and do absolutely nothing. Nobody will see it, nobody will read it.
People who do read it won’t like it because it's not good, right? The book itself doesn't do anything.
Or you can write a really good book that has a really strong point of view, that speaks to your ideal clients and changes their mindset about something. It makes them go “Holy shit, this person is brilliant. I want to learn more from them.”
The magic is in the execution.
You can spend a ton of money on ads and get absolutely nowhere with them. Facebook is happy to take your money to get in front of people.
But if your ad isn't saying something interesting, if it's not hooking people, if it's not getting attention, and then if it's not actually taking people to the next step, or nurturing them or putting them into an email funnel…
If it's not doing all of those things, even if your ad is great, it’s not going to do anything for you.
So you see that the magic is not in the idea. It's in the execution.
Something that I hear a lot inside my program, No BS Agency Mastery, is that the whole Lead Product system, (what we use to close prospects into clients and upsell them) is magic.
And it is, or it feels like it is when executed well.
But I also see a lot of other people do this Lead Product system - they may read my book, and then try to do it themselves and nothing happens.
People don't upsell, and then they go, ‘Oh, this doesn't work.’
Well, the magic is in how you execute it.
Yes, it's a great idea. But if you don't know how to sell it, don't know how to position it, and you don't know how to deliver it, so that the client is eye-popping blown over by how amazing their experience is, it's really not magical at all.
Actually, the idea isn’t in and of itself going to do anything for you.
So that's myth number one. There's no magic to it. It's all about execution.
Myth #2 - You can generate leads without showing up
The second myth is that there's some way to generate leads, where you don't have to show up or there's something you can do that won't require you.
Bullshit.
If you're reading this, and you’re selling your services, your strategic thinking, your design services, your branding services - you're selling you.
There is no way that there is something that can be done where you aren't a part of the lead generation.
Because when it comes to very high value, high profit, high priced services, you want to find the clients that are buying trust in you.
And they're not going to buy that unless you're there.
So again, whether it's connecting with someone in real life, building that trust with them and building that rapport, or it's connecting with them online and building trust through sharing your ideas and your point of view, whatever it is, you are the magical ingredient in that process.
So if you're somebody who's going, ‘Yeah, I want to have a branding agency, but I really wish somebody else would find me the leads and close them’ you're in for a rude awakening, my dear.
You have to be a part of it.
Myth #3 - You can hire it out and forget about it
Myth number three, which may sound the same but has a different spin, which is that you can hire out lead generation and then forget about it.
I do talk to some people who say, ‘I really just want to hire a salesperson to go find me the leads and close them.’
That’s not going to happen, because, again, people are buying you.
So when it comes to high touch services, they are going to be buying from you because they trust you.
So talking to a third party salesperson that isn't you, that doesn't know you, that isn't intimately involved with what you have to deliver and who you are is going to be almost impossible.
But let me put it another way, as somebody who's done a lot of sales in my business and also has tried to hire salespeople many times over the years.
That unicorn that could come into your business and sell your services, sell what makes you incredibly special without actually being a part of the team and being intimately involved in it.
That person is not going to work for you.
If they can do it, that person can make any money they want.
Because that person can sell anything. And really great salespeople are priceless.
So even if there was somebody in this world that could just plug into your business, and go find leads and bring them to and close them. Even if that person existed, (which I don't think exists), they wouldn't be working for you.
They would go and work for somebody who, for every client they sold, they're gonna get 10s of 1000s of dollars.
I know some amazing salespeople, and they work for huge companies.
Because if you're going to sell something, you might as well sell a million dollar deal instead of a $10,000 or $30,000 deal.
Because on a million dollar deal, you're gonna make way more money and for great salespeople, it doesn't matter if they're selling a $10,000 product or a million dollar product. It's just sales.
So I talk to people who say, ‘I really need to hire a salesperson, because I really can't do the sales and marketing. I just really want to work on the creative work.’ And I get that, by the way. I get only wanting to do the creative work.
But if you're unwilling to learn how to do the sales and marketing of your business, then I have to question whether or not you should be a business owner.
Because, like I said, sales and marketing are a key component of business.
What makes a business valuable? A big piece of it is what that business owner has figured out about marketing and selling the product.
When people sell a business, (and I'm not saying you are going to sell your business) a big part of what they're buying is that the business owner has figured out how to find their ideal clients and close them into a sale.
It's a huge part of the value. So even if it's just your business, you have to understand that is what the business is.
Yes, there's the delivery.
But if you're just about the delivery, go work for somebody.
Ask yourself, ‘Should I be a business owner?’
I feel like there's a lot of talk online about entrepreneurship, touting freedom and all of that.
Yeah, when you're successful, and you crack the code on this stuff, being an entrepreneur can be amazing.
It can give you that freedom and that time freedom.
I mean, that is what I train inside the Mastery Program.
But until you achieve that, business can also be a complete drain - totally exhausting, all consuming, stressful and a constant juggling of too many things.
And you have to learn so many things, wear so many hats, and when you’re owning a business, you have to embrace that, because that is part of the job description.
So I have told this to a few people, and I've actually had people come back and say ‘Thank you for saying that. I don't want to run a business.’
I've said ‘It's cool - go freelance, go get a job.’
There's nothing wrong with getting a job. In fact, if you are seeking security, and you don't want to go find clients, you don't want to market yourself, you don't want to be seen, and you just want to do the creative work, that's called a job.
I'm not saying you have to love doing sales and marketing - plenty of people don't.
But you have to be willing to learn it and figure it out.
And the amazing thing about that is that it will challenge you in so many ways.
It will challenge you to learn a lot of things that you probably don't know, to learn things that maybe are uncomfortable, it will challenge you to put yourself out there, it'll challenge you to be seen, it'll challenge you to be seen messing up.
All of those things can be very uncomfortable, but they're also keys to growing.
So if you're looking to live that kind of rich life where you're doing things that are uncomfortable, but on the other side of that is that glorious feeling of growth, then one of my old business coaches once said, ‘Your business is like a personal growth gym.’
Everything about running a business is just forcing you to grow as a person and to build all kinds of skills.
You think it's just about the design, about the strategy or the copywriting?
No, it's about communication, confidence and all these other aspects of becoming the best version of yourself.
Anyway, I went off on that tangent because I thought it was important.
I don't want to say that just because you don't want to do sales and marketing means you shouldn't be a business owner.
It’s okay to not want to and usually people don't want to because they're uncomfortable, because it's going to force you to do things that make you uncomfortable.
There's such a silver lining to all of that where you’ve just got to be willing to embrace it.
But if you're not willing to embrace it, you don't want to touch it with a 10 foot pole, and you just want to hire a salesperson and say ‘you figure it out’, that won’t cut it.
First of all, if you don't heed my advice right now that that is not possible, then you'll find out soon enough, but also, it's okay.
Embrace it. Go get a job. It's fine, go get a freelance job.
Freelancing can be great, but if you are willing to go into the uncomfortable, you will be handsomely rewarded.
And part of that is embracing lead generation.
It is a vital part of your business and is something that requires your time and attention all the time.
Even as you grow, it's always going to require your time and attention.
It will require less time, and it will probably be more fun as you go along, but it never goes away.
It’s a journey, and wherever you are on this journey, we have a place for you inside the No BS Agency Mastery Program.
If you're the kind of person who's like, ‘Yes, I am uncomfortable, but I want to do it because I'm so excited for that pot of gold at the end. I'm so excited to build that business that has the profit and freedom I am looking for. I'm willing to do uncomfortable things to get it’ go to nobsagencies.com/apply.
Tell us a little bit about your business and hop on a phone call with my team to see if now is the time for you to level up your business to sprinkle magic in the execution.
I don't think there is a successful entrepreneur in history that didn't have to go through a lot of uncomfortable experiences to get there. It's just part of the job. It's just part of the journey.
So if that is you, you might be doing all the right things, but your execution is terrible.
I see that a lot. I would love to show you a better way to do it - proven ways to execute lead gen that will get you the results you're looking for.
Here’s what you need to get…
There’s nothing magic about lead generation. The magic is in the execution.
So you don't not know things right now. There isn't some way to do lead gen that you don't know.
It's just that you might have to sharpen your skills.
When it comes to whatever lead gen method you're doing, you will be involved in it.
And you cannot outsource this to somebody else with reliable results.
And as long as you're okay with that, then I am super excited for you.
P.S. You can always jump on a call with my team if you want to fast-track your lead generation, and learn all my tools and strategies to scale up - just go here to get started!