Learn the Power of Your Subconscious Mind

Feb

7

Coaches: 3 Easy Steps to Online Lead Generation

February 7, 2010 |

I’ve been blogging since 2007. In my first year of blogging I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I spent the first 12 months writing content about once a week. The writing was very fulfilling and I enjoyed it, but I still didn’t have a clue as to how to generate online leads for my coaching business.

Nowadays it’s much easier. I easily get between 1-5 new leads each day, which is mainly from a steady flow of organic and RSS traffic to my blog. If you don’t understand those terms, then not to worry - you’re not alone. I didn’t know what the heck those terms meant when I first started out either :)

Now it’s taken me almost 3 years to perfect my lead generation process, but it’s been worth the effort.  Now I don’t have to do very much to keep it going; just write a couple of articles each week - and the best part is that the leads keep pouring in because I’m using a proven process.  That’s one of the beauties of blogging.

Over the years I’ve met quite a few coaches who like the idea of generating leads online, but they’re unsure about how to go about doing it.  Here are a few of the obstacles that seem to surface:

  • they don’t understand what a blog is or how to operate one.
  • they don’t know what they should write about once they setup their blog.
  • they don’t know how to upload content in alternative formats (audio, video, etc).
  • they have a blog but they don’t have the skills to drive traffic to it.
  • they have a blog but they don’t know how to convert traffic into new coaching leads.

So in reply to these concerns I created this article for Coaches: 3 Easy Steps for Online Lead Generation.

Step #1: Setup a Blog

I can’t believe how many people spend $1,000 to $10,000 to setup a website.  If you ask me, it’s a waste of time and money because having a website is only the first step.

If you’re a coach and you don’t have a blog, then go set one up.  You don’t have to be technical, web savvy or even a webmaster to do it.  If you can type with a keyboard then you can setup a blog.

It literally takes you less than 5 minutes to setup a blog.  It won’t have any pretty designs but it will make you money if you know what you’re doing.  All you have to do is go to WordPress.com/Signup and follow the steps on that page.

Step #2. Drive Traffic to Your Blog

This takes a bit more patience and skill, but anyone can learn how to do it.  Instead of rehashing a bunch of techniques, I strongly suggest you read my earlier post:  Blog Mastermind: How to Earn $5,000 per Month From Your Blog. In this article I reveal the #1 traffic technique I recommend for anyone who wants to send more people to their blog.  Go read it.  You’ll be glad you did.

Step #3. Convert Traffic into Leads

Continue reading…

Feb

2

5 Tips to Quickly Build An Email List of 1,000+ Leads

February 2, 2010 | 5 Comments

Everyone knows it. The money is in the list. The problem is never knowing what to do - it’s knowing how to do it. Although building an email list is a huge area and covers a broad range of topics, there are a few things you can do today to start building your list.

Here are 5 Tips to Quickly Build An Email List of 1,000+ Leads:

#1. Give Something Away

You’ve probably heard the saying before that, “givers gain.”  Well that saying is 100% true when it comes to building your list. The best thing you can do to generate leads is by giving something away.  When I say give something away, I’m referring to a free electronic report, an ebook, a video series or whatever is easiest for you to create.

You see what you’re really doing here is an exchange.  Your giving your ideal prospect valuable information in exchange for their email.   Do this often and frequent enough and you’ll start to quickly build your first 1,000+ leads.  This is the same formula I used to build an email database of 2,400 people over the course of a year.

#2. Don’t Be Everything to Everyone

You don’t want to be everything to everyone.  When you’re creating your free offer focus on a niche. When you focus on a niche you become the expert in that area.  Not only will this help you build a list of targeted leads, but it will also help you eliminate your competition.

You don’t want to offer an ebook called 7 Tips to be More Successful because it’s too vague.  You’re trying to be everything to everyone.  Focus your efforts into a niche.  Maybe create an ebook called 7 Tips to be More Successful as a Blogger.  That’s more specific.

Continue reading…

Feb

1

3 Keys to Living a Purpose Driven Life

February 1, 2010 | 3 Comments

Living a purpose driven life is the last thing on your mind when you’re doing work that adds very little meaning to your life.  When I used to work as an engineer it used to make me feel tired. I remember working a normal 40 hour work week and feeling exhausted by the weekend. I was completely drained and I could barely find enough energy to go and play hockey on Friday nights.

On Saturdays I would sit in front of the TV and completely veg-out. I felt like a complete vegetable. I remember sitting in front of the TV on those mornings and thinking, “there has got to be more to life than this.”

I did that for years, sitting there like a vegetable on the couch wondering to myself, “What was I supposed to be doing? Why wasn’t I happy? Why did I feel that I had to pretend when I was at work? And why was everyone else pretending?”

It was at this point that I knew engineering wasn’t for me so I started to share it with people.  I told my friends. This was back in 2005.  We were all hanging out and getting wasted in my buddies garage.  I remember saying, “I hate my job.  I don’t even know why I’m there.  I’m wasting my time doing something that doesn’t even make me happy. It’s like I’m living a lie.”

My friends would laugh when they heard that,  but I don’t think they were laughing at me.  I think it was in reaction to what they saw in themselves; recognition that they too felt that their life was empty and meaningless.

During those talks in the garage I realized that other people were unhappy and that I wasn’t alone.  In fact there was a part of me that realized that there was more to life than working, getting wasted and watching TV.  There was a real part of me that felt my life had meaning and I was here to do something special.

Those talks with my buddies in the garage really helped me because I started be honest with them; and more importantly, I started being honest with myself.

This isn’t the easiest thing to do.  To let it all out and admit to the world that you don’t have it all figured out - that you don’t have your life together. That maybe in fact, you’ve been pretending that everything was ok, but deep down you knew that it wasn’t.

Exposing yourself like this is probably one of the most difficult things you’ll ever do - to share yourself openly, freely and let the people close to you know how you really feel.

But you know what’s even harder?  Pretending to be something you’re not.  Pretending to be happy when you’re not. Pretending to be someone that you’re not.  That takes so much more energy and effort.

If you’ve ever thought to yourself, “there has got to be more to life than this,” or “what am I here for?” then follow these 3 keys to living a purpose driven life:

3 Keys to Living a Purpose Driven Life

Key 1: It’s not about you, it’s about your contribution.

Living a purpose driven life means making a contribution.  This in itself can be a hard one to swallow; more for some than others.  The way to live a purpose driven life is to realize that you’re here to contribute something, to bring something to the world.  You’re here to contribute and make the world a better place.

You can’t just sit at home in your pajamas and expect the world to have a sense of purpose and meaning. Just because you don’t enjoy what you’re currently doing doesn’t give you a reason to do nothing.  There is something that you’re here to do.  George Patterson once said,

“…we came from some place and we’re going some place - so we should make our time here an exciting adventure.  The architect of the Universe didn’t build a stairway leading nowhere.”

Find a way to contribute to others and do it in a way that ignites you. Continue reading…