Nurturing Leads, Organically!

How long have you been in business or sales?

How long was your 'longest lead'? 6 Months? 18 Months? 2 Years?

What if I told you my longest lead was nearly 10 years, and only recently came to fruition? While 10 year leads are not the norm, there are some lessons to be gained from this organic lead strategy that includes live events, social media and yes, even a LinkedIn newsletter!

Let's do this!

When I first became a business owner in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 11 years ago, I'd just completed an online course to become a social media manager.

I learned. Then I taught what I learned. I went out into my community, connected with fellow business owners and taught those who wanted that same knowledge: 'How To' classes on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and ... LinkedIn.

We met weekly as the 'Hands-On Networking' community at a local coffee shop. We connected our offline and online worlds, following each other and sharing content. This is where I first understood the power of live events, and online networking. I am still connected to many of these business owners via social media, even after my move north to Vermont three years ago.

One of those business owners recently hired me for a social media strategy. That's a 10 year lead time for those who are counting!

Want to know how she finally came to hire me for a strategic plan after all these years? Since we had been connected on LinkedIn during our Hands-on Networking years, she received a notification when I started this very newsletter. While she's not active on this platform, she did subscribe to this newsletter and continued to receive it in her email inbox every other week. I offered value... and Boom!

Can I just say how fun it is that I get to work with someone I've known for that many years and that this timing is... perfect?!

Now, I knew immediately that there were some great lessons in this story. Here they are: 7 lessons learned from 11+ years of organic lead generation using live events, social media and LinkedIn newsletters!

1 Be Generous with Likes & Comments

This might seem like a no-brainer, yet I am always amazed to find people who do not want to give away (free) likes and comments. Feelings get in the way: jealousy, envy and imposter syndrome prevent them from nurturing their online community and relationships.

If you want to stay in touch with somebody that you genuinely like, or even if you sort of like them, why not give a simple 'like' on a picture, or comment on a personal post? Liking and commenting on personal profiles is free, it doesn't require a lot of effort yet it will make that person feel heard and seen. It's the perfect way to keep a lead... warm and cosy.

2 Don't Burn Bridges

Never Say Never! You really never know where your next lead is coming from. Your next lead could be neighbor's sister's aunt who lives next to the teacher your cousin's child has in school this year! (or something like that!)

Agreeing to disagree on a minor issue should not be the cause of never receiving a lead from this person either! Even if you part ways due to a move, a new relationship, a new job, a disagreement or a major life event, keep tabs on where your connections go and what they're doing. They might realize you were good at your job, good at what you do and refer a friend your way! Check in every few months... and never say never.

3 Nurture Those Leads By Sharing What You Are Up To!

Nurturing leads means not just keeping 'tabs' on people, it means sharing of yourself and what you are doing in both your professional world and on a personal level. Remember that people do business with people they know like and trust.

If you're absent from social media yourself, all of your potential warm leads... will grow cold.

Sharing periodically about my family, my kids, my dogs, my move north and how my business is doing even on my personal profiles has allowed me to reconnect easily when the time is right.

4 Upskill To Serve Your Ideal Client

Always keep improving your skills in order to offer higher level services! Scale your business by making a goal to learn a new skill every year.

For example: I started out as a local social media manager - that is how I was first known in the social media industry. I then became a community manager, a social media strategist, an Agile marketer and international keynote speaker.

Most of these titles were earned by learning new skills. These were not skills I had when I started my business! My goal is to add more skills to my portfolio to serve clients even better in the future

?5 Uplevel Your Service Offerings to Attract Your Ideal Client

Alongside up-leveling your skills comes up-leveling your service offerings! Where initially I offered social media management and then community management, I now offer consulting, strategic planning, training, content strategy and much, much more. These are the services this 10-year lead was looking for.

6 Stay the Course

Competition is a good thing. Competition pushes us to compete for greatness and thus pushes us to do more, be more productive and accomplish greater things.

Don't let your competitiveness sideline your efforts with lead generation though! Just because else runs lead gen ads, doesn't mean you should. Create a lead gen strategy for your business, and work the plan, organically or paid.

Don't get distracted by the details and stories of others 'hacking' lead generation tactics. What works for them, might not work for your audience at all. Stay the course...!

7 Throw Long!

At this point you should realize that organic lead generation is a long game. Some leads need quite a bit of time to purchase a product or service. For one of my clients it is an 18-month process. For another it is a 2 week process.

Organic lead generation can be rewarding and fun. Remember this process is more like a marathon than it is a sprint!

More Stories of Organic Lead Generation

I have two quick stories I want to share with you about long leads!

My friend Lisa Danforth was a caterer in a previous life. She was known as the caterer who was able to provide a personalized menu when there were allergies or food restrictions. (Once a caterer, always a chef: she still loves to cook for a crowd. ??)

One day a woman called her out of the blue. It was someone she'd given her business card to during an event years and years ago because she'd told her: 'If I ever throw a party I want YOU to cater it.' True to her word, this woman called her when it was time to plan a wedding for one of her children. She'd been so impressed by Lisa's care for her clients that she just knew she wanted to work with her someday.

Turns out she'd kept Lisa's business card in a cookbook for savekeepig all these years! ??

My second story comes from Sara Munro. While eating in a cafe in Paris, Sara met two lovely American couples seated very close to her. While in conversation, one of the woman asked Sara what she did for a living. The conversation turned to marketing and communication, but Sara didn't think much would come of it besides the coffee and croissants she was consuming. ????

Years later, Sara got a client referral from this stranger she met by chance in Paris. ????

Leads are Leads are Leads.

Whether your leads come after 10 minutes, 10 days, 10 weeks, 10 months or 10 years... don't give up!

Nurture relationships, be generous of your attention, give your time and be genuine in your interactions.

As Maya Angelou said so eloquently:

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Make connections and make people feel special. Your time will come.

Nurture away! ??

Dorien Morin-van Dam

?? Organic Social Media Specialist + Chief Strategist @?More In Media

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