It’s all very slogging away at that business blog to drive traffic to your website in the hope of boosting your organic search results. But to rely solely on your blog to sell your products without some form of direct marketing is a high risk.

It can take months before you start to see your traffic increase and the odd lead turn up on your doorstep, and in the meantime you have a business to run which is working out to be far more costly than you first realised.

So how can we speed the selling process up? Let’s take a look at 5 simple tips for generating leads below.

Social Media Engagement – By simply searching through social media platforms/ chat room forums and locating your potential customer market, then engaging in conversation. Is the issue they are discussing the high cost of staffing on a small business budget? Then try to answer their question using your own products and services. Designated PA offers pay  per hour staffing for example.

Balance Inbound /Outbound Marketing – It’s all about the balancing act. So you currently create content, videos and engage with your customers through Twitter. Maybe you’re just about to release an E-Book. That’s all fantastic but don’t rely on these methods to be your sole source of income. Back it up with outbound marketing too. HUNT out potential customers and target them through social media networks, visit trade shows, advertise in a magazine, PPC ads if you have the budget and not forgetting telesales.

Publish Your Posts Through LinkedIn – With over 400 million users, who wouldn’t want to tap into a huge pool of potential leads? Publish your blog posts through here with an added image and catchy headline. Create the benefits of your products in the form of a Q & A style blog post. Use the correct hashtags to target your market and try to publish at least 3 times a week.

Answer Questions On Quora – Quora is a huge question and answer social networking site with over 80 million users….. and counting. In the long-term, Quora can drive a substantial amount of traffic AND leads to your site if you have answered the questions in a concise and helpful manner, thus building a reputation as a trade specialist.

Guest Blogging – The quality of back-links are vital for a sites DA and how relevant it is. Just as a bad back-link seen as spam can be detrimental. Search for business blogs with a high reputation and a great DA and reach out to them, offering a helpful solution to their readers in exchange for a back-link to your website. This can be a time-consuming and frustrating venture but just one great back-link can drive traffic and leads for months at a time!

Confused about inbound and outbound marketing? Not sure which methods would be the most suitable for your business? Do you even have a Twitter account set up? Get in touch with Designated PA today and our business development and social media experts will get you on the right track!