3 Lead Capturing Ideas for Your Website

It’s a well-known fact that people love to get stuff for free. As a website owner you can capitalize on this phenomenon in order to capture leads for your business by giving away something for free on your website in exchange for the visitors name and email address. And before you start to hem and haw about them not being quality leads, there is a way to cater your free offer in order to attract the right leads.

Whether you give away your free offer on the Home Page of your website or you create a special landing page that you drive website traffic to, the first step is to make sure that you have a subscription box or form that allows visitors to opt-in to receive your free offer. In exchange for their name and email address they receive your free gift.

You may also want to include one or two questions that they have to answer. These should be qualifying questions to help you understand your visitors better. The questions you pose should be very strategic—allowing you to gather information that is helpful for your business.

CDs
One free offer that people love is information CDs. It doesn’t necessarily matter what your industry or business is, there are CDs that you can create for any type of business. For example, a wedding planner may offer visitors that sign-up to receive information from her a CD that offers them the top ten tips for planning the wedding of their dreams on a small budget. A car insurance company may offer a CD that covers the 20 things you should check on your car to prevent accidents. To keep production costs down, you can also offer the audio file as a free download online after they subscribe.

Special Report
Along these same lines, another option for your free giveaway is a special report. A special report is generally a written version of what you may record as an audio file. This helps you to gather those that are more visual than auditory. For example, a business coach may offer a special report that covers how to manage your business through the tough economic times using less company resources.

e-newsletter
Probably one of the most popular free offers in order to gather lead information is free e-newsletters. E-newsletters are popular because they receive free information on an ongoing basis.

Whatever you give away there are two staples of making it a successful lead fishing expedition. First, you have to provide free information that is attractive to your target audience. What kind of information can you provide them that relates to your business? If you offer relevant information to them and they accept, then you know that they are potential clients for your business. Second, you have to provide valuable information without giving too much away. Think long and hard about the information you’re giving away and make sure that it is rich enough to intrigue the recipients. It’s like a first date, you want to put your best foot forward and then see where it goes from there. Once you gather their information and show them what you can do, then you can move on to trying to up-sell them into one of your products or services.

About the Author
Copywriter and marketing consultant, Kristie Lorette, is passionate about helping entrepreneurs and businesses create copy and marketing pieces that sizzle, motivate, and sell. She is also the author of Action Marketing: A Step-by-step Guide to Launching Your Business Marketing Plan. For more information, visit http://wp.me/ptLrh-1.