Generating leads is one of the most important aspects of any business, yet it can be difficult to know where to start.

Fortunately, a lot of people have gone before you.

Other marketers and entrepreneurs have already tested thousands of different methods and proved what works… and what doesn’t work.

All you’ve got to do is apply their lessons to your business.

So without further ado, here are 9 awesome ways to generate leads for your business.

Click below if you’re ready for a challenge!

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Use Lead Magnets

This is at the heart of most lead-gen strategies.

And it’s something you should definitely adopt.

A lead magnet is a freebie or some other type of incentive that you offer to people in exchange for their email addresses.

And it’s one of the simplest (and most effective) ways to generate leads from your website.

The key is to find a lead magnet that’s relevant to your target audience and that motivates them to take action.

For example, if you’re a nutritionist, you might offer a free eBook on healthy recipes. Or if you’re a personal trainer, you might offer a free workout guide.

Use Lead Magnets

Your lead magnet should appeal to your target market and be so compelling that they can’t resist opting in to get it.

Once you have a lead magnet, the next step is to create a sales funnel to promote it.

A sales funnel is a series of pages (usually 3-5) that are designed to promote your lead magnet and get people to opt-in.

The first page is typically a landing page with some copy and a button for people to click.

When they click the button, they’re taken to a second page where they’re asked to enter their email address to get the lead magnet.

And once they enter their email address, they’re taken to a “thank you” page where they can download the lead magnet.

In the next tip, we’ll show you how to build a sales funnel that revolves around your lead magnet!

Leverage Sales Funnels

Sales funnels are the most effective way to generate leads for your business.

What is a sales funnel?

Where a website is sort of like an aimless digital brochure, a sales funnel is an experience — it’s a series of pages that are built to guide the person toward taking one specific action (in this case, opting in to become a lead).

Here’s what a webinar funnel looks like, for instance…

Leverage Sales Funnels

A lot of people drive paid traffic to their website, crossing their fingers for more conversions.

But what they don’t realize is that every button on their website that allows people to navigate away from the primary action they’re supposed to take will decrease conversion.

Sales funnels don’t have navigation…

…because they only want the visitor to do one thing.

That single-minded focus results in far higher conversion rates than traditional websites.

But…

How do you create a lead-gen sales funnel?

First, create a free ClickFunnels account.

Once you’re in, click on “Build a Funnel.”

Build a Funnel

You’ll then be asked some questions about the type of funnel you’re wanting to build. Click on “Collect Emails.”

Collect Emails

Then give your sales funnel name! I gave my example the name of “lead gen”.

Give your sales funnel name.

Once you’ve entered that information, you’ll be able to choose from a ton of different free sales funnel templates.

Don’t overthink it.

You’ll be able to customize whichever template you choose to your heart’s desire. So just pick one that you think fits the style you’re wanting to convey.

And if you don’t know where to start, just choose the same one as me!

Customize whichever template you choose.

You’ll see the steps for your lead-gen funnel on the left side of the page. All you really need for this simple funnel is an opt-in page and a ‘Thank You’ page.

Opt-in page and a ‘Thank You’ page.

Click on “Edit Page” and now you can turn your sales funnel into something special (without hiring an expert designer.

Edit Page

I just changed the heading to make it relevant to the lead magnet I want to offer — I could also change the image to be of my lead magnet so it feels more tangible!

I could also change the logo, colors, and fonts if I wanted to.

Change the sales funnel logo, colors, and fonts, if wanted.

Once you’re done designing, you can easily attach a custom domain, upload the lead magnet you’re giving away (to get people to give you their email addresses), and create an automated email sequence to deliver your lead magnet to new subscribers.

Now… what’s a lead magnet?

It’s just a resource that you’re giving away for free in order to get people’s email addresses.

Because once you have their email address, you can follow up with them and offer your services.

If you want help with this process, check out our complete lead magnet guide over here.

And if you want more step-by-step help building your sales funnel… take our One Funnel Away Challenge.

Product-Focused Quiz

I love quizzes.

Every time I see one on social media, I end up taking it and giving the company my email address.

As it turns out, I’m not the only one.

In fact, Active Campaign points out, “Adding a lead form to a quiz can average up to 55% opt-in rates. That’s jaw-droppingly good – 25X better than other online lead forms like pop-ups (1.95% average).”

The key, though, to creating quiz lead-gen funnels, is to make the quiz focused around your product.

Warby Parker, for instance, has a quiz to help people determine what types of frames they should order…

Product-Focused Quiz

Beardbrand has a quiz to help men determine what type of “beardsman” they are (and thus which products they should order)…

Quiz to help men determine what type of “beardsman” they are.

Stitch Fix has a quiz to help people determine their personal clothing style, which naturally leads to their subscription box offering…

Quiz to help people determine their personal clothing style, which naturally leads to their subscription box offering.

See a trend?

These quizzes work very well for certain eCommerce brands. But they can also work well for SaaS companies or even service-based businesses.

BetterHelp uses a quiz funnel to help generate leads and match people with a personalized online therapist…

These quizzes work very well for certain eCommerce brands.

If you can find a way to create a quiz funnel that will simultaneously…

Provide your target market with some value.

Point them toward your products or services.

… then it’s worth a shot.

Create one and see how it goes!

Stay Congruent

Someone arrives on your website.

But… your website is probably a big place.

Maybe they’ve landed on a blog post. Or maybe they’re on your “About” page. Or maybe they’re reading through your homepage.

Here’s the good news…

Where they are tells you what they want.

Let’s pretend, for instance, that the person is reading an article titled, 9 Ways To Get More Real Estate Listings In Any Market.

What do we know about this person?

Well… they are probably a real estate agent who is looking to grow their business and get more listings. They might be just starting out or they might be going through a dry spell.

Either way, they want more listings.

So offering the following lead magnet makes perfect sense!

Offering the following lead magnet makes perfect sense!

That’s the lead magnet inside of an article from Ballpoint Marketing…

Lead magnet inside of an article from Ballpoint Marketing.

Notice how the lead magnet matches the topic of the article?

That’s important.

Because if the person is reading an article about getting more real estate listings… they’ll most certainly be interested in a resource to help them get more listings!

But Ballpoint Marketing doesn’t just serve real estate agents.

They also serve real estate investors.

In another article titled, 5 Proven Ways To Estimate Rehab Costs Like A Pro, they discuss tactics that real estate investors can use to determine rehab costs on a property.

Tactics that real estate investors can use to determine rehab costs on a property.

Obviously, the “get more listings” lead magnet wouldn’t work for real estate investors… because they don’t want more listings.

What do they want?

Well… they want to do more deals, make more money, and increase their net worth!

Fittingly, here’s the lead magnet that Ballpoint Marketing offers in this blog post…

Lead magnet that Ballpoint Marketing offers in this blog post.

What’s the point?

That it’s important to create congruence between where people are coming from, what they’re doing on your website, and the lead magnet you’re offering them.

One of the main reasons that lead-gen strategies fail is because there isn’t congruence between why people are on your website or landing page… and what you’re actually offering them.

Attract people for the right reasons.

Give them what they want.

And your lead-gen efforts will flourish.

Run a Giveaway

This is a tried-and-true lead-generation strategy that will likely never go away.

People love getting free stuff. And if you’re giving away something that they actually want, then you can bet they’ll be willing to give you their email address or contact information in exchange for a chance to win it!

There are a few things to keep in mind if you’re going to try this strategy…

First, it’s important that the prize is something that your target market actually wants.

Run a Giveaway

A good rule of thumb is to give away something that’s worth at least $100. But it could be worth much more than that.

In fact, some companies will give away big-ticket items like vacations or cars. Obviously, those take a lot more time and effort to put together. But if you’ve got the budget for it… go for it!

Second, make sure you set up the rules of the giveaway properly.

There are a few different ways to do this… but the most important thing is that you make it abundantly clear what people need to do to enter the giveaway.

If you’re not clear about the rules, you’ll likely get a lot of unqualified entries. And that will just waste your time.

If you’re not clear about the rules, you’ll likely get a lot of unqualified entries.

Third, use a tool like KingSumo to actually run the giveaway.

KingSumo makes it easy to set up and manage a giveaway. And it comes with some pretty neat features, like the ability to run viral giveaways (i.e. giveaways where people can earn additional entries by sharing the giveaway with their friends).

Host a Contest

This is another tried-and-true lead generation strategy that consistently performs well.

If you’re not familiar, a contest is basically an event where people compete for prizes by completing some sort of task or challenge.

Mcdonald’s does this…

Host a Contest

And so do some other restaurants…

Other restaurants host giveaways.

Another example of a common type of contest is challenging your followers to create Instagram content revolving around your brand or products…

Example of a common type of contest is challenging your followers to create Instagram content revolving around your brand or products.

Or maybe, if you sell software that helps people design better websites, you could host a contest where people have to create the best-looking website using your software.

The prize could be a free year of your software, a gift card, or even just bragging rights.

People love contests because they’re fun, they’re social, and they give people a chance to show off their skills.

And as the host of the contest, you generate leads, make sales, and create a ton of word of mouth.

Funnel Hack

We’ve already given you a good few strategies in this article for generating leads.

But what if there were tons of proven ways to generate leads in your niche… with your type of business?

Like… what if you had access to an entire library of real-world examples of successful doing exactly what you’re trying to do?

You could see their messaging, their copy, their design, their lead magnets, their emails, their offers… all of it.

Wouldn’t that help you create a successful lead-gen strategy?

That’s what we call funnel hacking!

Funnel Hack

It’s the process of studying and imitating your most similar and successful competitors.

Start by making a list of at least 10 companies that do something similar to what you do. Then go to their website and look at all of their lead magnets. Sign up for their lead magnets to see what their sales funnels are like.

This will give you far more relevant information than I could possibly give you in this article.

And it’s perhaps the single most important thing an entrepreneur needs to learn how to do — look at others, learn from others, and then create your own version.

Build an Automated Referral Program

If you want to generate leads on autopilot, one of the best things you can do is build an automated referral program.

A referral program (when done correctly) will help you attract new leads and customers without having to lift a finger.

What’s an automated referral program?

To put it simply, an automated referral program is a system that incentivizes people to refer your business to their friends, family, and colleagues.

Build an Automated Referral Program

In other words, it’s a way of getting people to promote your business for you.

And the best part?

You can automate the ENTIRE process.

There are a few different ways to do this, but one of the simplest (and most effective) ways is to use a tool like ReferralCandy.

ReferralCandy helps you set up an automated referral program in minutes. All you have to do is sign up for an account, add your logo and brand colors, and start giving people an incentive to refer your business.

ReferralCandy helps you set up an automated referral program in minutes.

But… what do you give people to incentivize them to share your business with their friends?

There are a few different ways to approach this.

Some businesses offer a discount or coupon that can be used on a future purchase. Others offer a freebie or some type of bonus content. And still, others offer branded merchandise.

The key is to find an incentive that motivates people to take action.

And once you have your referral program up and running, all you have to do is sit back and let the leads come in!

Use Exit Intent Technology

If someone’s leaving your website, there’s a good chance they’re never coming back.

And that’s a pretty big problem if you’re trying to generate leads from your website.

But what if there was a way to capture those leads before they left?

Well, there is… and it’s called exit-intent technology.

Exit-intent technology is a tool that allows you to detect when someone’s about to leave your website and display a pop-up message before they go.

Use Exit Intent Technology

This pop-up message can be used to offer a lead magnet, discount, or some other type of incentive to get the person to stay on your website.

And if done correctly, it can be an incredibly effective way to generate leads from your website.

One of the best (and easiest) ways to add exit-intent technology to your website is to use a tool like ClickFunnels.

ClickFunnels is a powerful marketing tool that allows you to create beautiful landing pages, sales pages, and pop-ups. And it comes with built-in exit-intent technology that you can use to capture leads before they leave.

ClickFunnels is a powerful marketing tool that allows you to create beautiful landing pages, sales pages, and pop-ups.

All you have to do is sign up for a ClickFunnels account, create a new funnel, and add a pop-up to it. Then, whenever someone’s about to leave your page, the pop-up will appear and you can offer them a lead magnet or some other type of incentive.

It’s a pretty simple process, but it can be an incredibly effective way to generate leads from your website.