Lead Generation Site Technology (question for MJ and others)

[DustinG]

I couldn't find a similar thread, so if this has been covered before, please let me know.

For those of you that have started lead generation websites, where you collected a fee for each lead you sent/send to a business or individual, what is the technology behind doing something like that?

Did you capture leads through your own backend software (where people would have to log on to view them), or simply distrubute leads via something like email?

How did you track the amount of leads sent to each person to be able to collect the fee (was it a manual process using tracking code, or is there software that helps with this)?

Sorry if these are dumb questions, but thanks in advance to @MJ DeMarco or anyone that replies.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Did you capture leads through your own backend software (where people would have to log on to view them), or simply distrubute leads via something like email?

Distributed via email but reviewable online.

How did you track the amount of leads sent to each person to be able to collect the fee (was it a manual process using tracking code, or is there software that helps with this)?

The leads were accumulated into a bill that was sent every 30 days, then the credit card charged a few days later.

what is the technology behind doing something like that?

Everything we did was custom coded. There was no Wordpress or plug-and-play software back then.

 

[DustinG]

Thanks for the info!

 

[Gepi]

These are very interesting questions and answers, @DustinG @MJ DeMarco !

Did the customers only pay for leads which led to actual contracts? If yes, how did you differentiate between "good" and "bad" leads?

How did you arrive at the prices of your leads?

And how did you get them to sign up when it was all new and no resume was there?

If you could elaborate on that, it would be amazing.

Thanks,
OT

 

[IGP]

These are very interesting questions and answers, @DustinG @MJ DeMarco !

Did the customers only pay for leads which led to actual contracts? If yes, how did you differentiate between "good" and "bad" leads?

How did you arrive at the prices of your leads?

And how did you get them to sign up when it was all new and no resume was there?

If you could elaborate on that, it would be amazing.

Thanks,
OT

If you are selling leads, you are selling them all. A good lead could become bad if the customer doesn't follow up promptly. If the customer is doing proper follow up and the leads are all bad, they will stop buying leads from you. So, it's in your best interest to send good leads.

You get started by giving them a few free leads that end up resulting in business for them. At that point, they should be able to do the math and see that buying leads from you makes sense.

 

[Gepi]

Wow, thanks IGP for the quick answer!
Already love this forum.

So, if the leads need to be good, I
guess this means that the prospects need to have a very clear goal of buying something very specific and probably won't compare prices between 5 or 6 different service providers?
As an example, the prospect who wants to drive in a limo (how cliché) from A to B at time X versus the prospect who wants to buy a custom made, handcrafted piece?

Because if they only compare prices, obviously the leads are worth less.

Or is this a wrong assumption?

How could one overcome this drawback? As you said, the service provider, or customer, better follows up on those leads in a professional and timely manner. But if he is too expensive compared to someone else...?

Maybe this could be compared to Google Ads, where 1 click means cost, but not nessecarily a sale. So the price of leads would have to be lower...

Any thoughts?

 

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[Andy Black]

Wow, thanks IGP for the quick answer!
Already love this forum.

So, if the leads need to be good, I
guess this means that the prospects need to have a very clear goal of buying something very specific and probably won't compare prices between 5 or 6 different service providers?
As an example, the prospect who wants to drive in a limo (how cliché) from A to B at time X versus the prospect who wants to buy a custom made, handcrafted piece?

Because if they only compare prices, obviously the leads are worth less.

Or is this a wrong assumption?

How could one overcome this drawback? As you said, the service provider, or customer, better follows up on those leads in a professional and timely manner. But if he is too expensive compared to someone else...?

Maybe this could be compared to Google Ads, where 1 click means cost, but not nessecarily a sale. So the price of leads would have to be lower...

Any thoughts?

One of my favourite lines is:

“Overthinking is the art of solving problems you don’t have.”

;-)

Get started first, then figure it out as you go along.

If you aren’t generating leads then do that first.

 

[Gepi]

One of my favourite lines is:

“Overthinking is the art of solving problems you don’t have.”

;-)

Get started first, then figure it out as you go along.

If you aren’t generating leads then do that first.

Haha, oh I knew I would regret chosing this name. But this was literally what happened when I tried coming up with a cool name for the forum. So, I guess being called out on that had to happen at sometime, and funny that it came so quickly.
Thank you, Andy Black, for pointing this out so clearly. And providing this cool proverb.

 

[Andy Black]

Haha, oh I knew I would regret chosing this name. But this was literally what happened when I tried coming up with a cool name for the forum. So, I guess being called out on that had to happen at sometime, and funny that it came so quickly.
Thank you, Andy Black, for pointing this out so clearly. And providing this cool proverb.

Sorry man. I couldn’t resist.


Anyway, listen to this and let me know what your takeaways are:

• AndyTalks with @Contrarian about starting his side hustle in local lead gen

 

[Gepi]

Hi Andy Black,
just finished your podcasts while doing the dishes (made it a whole lot more interesting )
Okay, so I took the following with me:
1. it is so cool how you just started out with an idea and build the simplest website around it.
Sometimes it is not a big budget, not the grand planning, it is having an idea that works and the execution in the most straight-forward way possible. I mean, our ancestors didn't meet for half a year and hired expensive strategic consultants, they took a stick and a stone and started a fire.

2. Some things you said really resonated with my own journey. Like the part where you talked about quitting gaming. I love it, and sometimes it is just great for relaxing and getting your mind off some gnarling problem, but there just comes a point when more than a few rounds of Quake feels like a giant waste of time. You really start thinking: "What else I could do to push things forward right now?"

3. For the things I did not quite get yet: Sometimes it was really hard for me to distinguish between the voices of you and @Contrarian. Of course this does not take away from the message.
And how did it start, how did you generate the first leads? Did I not pay attention or could you elaborate on that a bit more?

Thank you for pointing me to this, enjoyed it!

Greetings
Gepi

 

[Andy Black]

Hi Andy Black,
just finished your podcasts while doing the dishes (made it a whole lot more interesting )
Okay, so I took the following with me:
1. it is so cool how you just started out with an idea and build the simplest website around it.
Sometimes it is not a big budget, not the grand planning, it is having an idea that works and the execution in the most straight-forward way possible. I mean, our ancestors didn't meet for half a year and hired expensive strategic consultants, they took a stick and a stone and started a fire.

2. Some things you said really resonated with my own journey. Like the part where you talked about quitting gaming. I love it, and sometimes it is just great for relaxing and getting your mind off some gnarling problem, but there just comes a point when more than a few rounds of Quake feels like a giant waste of time. You really start thinking: "What else I could do to push things forward right now?"

3. For the things I did not quite get yet: Sometimes it was really hard for me to distinguish between the voices of you and @Contrarian. Of course this does not take away from the message.
And how did it start, how did you generate the first leads? Did I not pay attention or could you elaborate on that a bit more?

Thank you for pointing me to this, enjoyed it!

Greetings
Gepi

Thanks for the feedback. Glad it made doing the dishes more interesting. I like your biggest takeaway of just doing it and to stop over complicating things.

The first radio interview in my signature will explain the mechanics and mindset a bit more.

The local lead gen thread in my signature will go into more details, as does the list of AdWords posts in my signature.

 

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[Tom.V]

Check out Boberdoo. Expensive, but literally has everything you will need to sell leads. Multiple merchant processor inputs, CRM for lead buyers backend to review and score leads, ability to build custom IVR's, have different lead prices for different service types, time of day, have lead routing based on zip code, and much, much more.

This is of course if you want the fully automatic solution. Semi-auto while scaling up to be able to afford Boberdoo works too, but it really is a powerful piece of technology.

 

[ari_ari]

This thread is old and I'm not that active anymore, but if I was starting new I would do:
Form -> Zapier -> Email -> Google Spreadsheet and then just tabulate it all up at the end of the month and bill via quickbooks and CC.. Quick, Dirty but your primary goal is traffic and leads not evaluating enterprise software systems