Often it is easy to assume that getting more of something requires spending more money. Luckily, that is not always true. When working with a company that would like to generate more leads, I start by reviewing what they are already doing. In almost every case, there are a number of improvements we can make without spending a penny more.

Here is a short list of places we can all look for “free” leads that saw our bait but just didn’t bite.  These tips can apply to websites, brochures, advertisements, emails, and even our business cards.

Headline.  Almost everything in marketing starts with a headline — the subject line of an e-mail, the top of a datasheet, the header of a website and more. How are your headlines? The best ones connect with the underlying, burning issue that our best prospects face at an emotional level (be sure to check out my prior post on Breaking the Preoccupation Barrier) . We can also think of a headline as a “promise.” To what new state we can deliver our clients with our product or service? Paint the picture of the place they want to go in the headline and we have a winner.

What they get, not what we do. With a headline that grabs attention, the content of our message (be it a video, text and an advertisement or e-mail, images, etc.) will produce better results for us if it describes the benefits our clients get, not the content of what we do or the methods of how we do it.

Testimonials.  “Social proof” is a powerful force.  No one wants to be the “sucker” who experimented with an unproven product or service and got burned.  Demonstrate that we have helped others get what they wanted or where they wanted to go, and new prospects will feel more comfortable.  Have our happy clients or customers tout the benefits of doing business with us, and we will have even better results.  Testimonials about our product or service can go on the home page of our web site, on a brochure, in an email newsletter, even in our email signature.

Next topic, taking advantage of these principles with an effective call-to-action.