LEAD GENERATION STRATEGY Steps: 1. Create your free guide 2. Upload it to your website and grab the URL 2. Create a separate page on your website 3. Create a webform in your list manager and upload to your new page 4. Create a follow up email sequence for prospects 5. Create a personal intro video for your new prospects 6. Create a personal intro page on your website 7. Embed your YouTube video onto your page and write the text Purpose of Lead Generation Strategy Lead generation is about reaching out to people who don t yet know about you or your B&B, offering them something of value to read and enjoy, and then following up with a personal introduction via video and a series of other interesting information emails, to warm them up to book with you. People are looking for someone to lead them and show them what to do. We must step up to that role if we are to become known, liked and trusted, so that prospects will book, and guests will feel comfortable referring us to their families and friends.
The digital free guide to download and the follow up email sequence is the perfect online method for getting your name out into cyberspace and attracting the attention of your prospects, partners and media. Here s how it works: 1. Create your free guide Your free guide is 10-12 things that you know about your area, that visitors don t. You identify those things by researching online and finding out what questions prospects are asking, as in Module 3. The title of your guide has to be something like 10 things you absolutely have to know about (your area) or something similar that makes people feel they are missing something if they don t get your guide. You then add some pictures, information about you and your B&B, and turn the whole document into a PDF to be uploaded to your site. More details can be found in How to Create Your First Free Guide To Your Region PDF 2. Upload your free guide to your website. Go to your WordPress dashboard, and click on media then upload. Select your file and then browse your computer to find your free guide in PDF format. Click Upload. When it has finished uploading, it will give you a URL in the panel on the right hand side. Grab that and copy it to a Word document and save it somewhere safe. We ll need it later. 3. Create a separate page on your website. Go to your WordPress dashboard and click on pages then add new. Add a page title such as your guide to (your area) Create a compelling story around why visitors should let you have their contact details in return for your free guide. Tell them why they need to have it and even a story about what will happen if they don t get it. Add a picture of yourself. Keep this page open for the next step.
4. Add the webform code from your list manager. If you are already using a list manager, go there and create a webform and get the code. If you are not yet using a list manager, we recommend Aweber at http://aweber.com and follow the instructions. There is an investment of around $20 per month, and if you really don t want to pay (and I recommend you do) then MailChimp http://mailchimp.com is free, but obviously not as robust. You will finish up with a piece of html code which you must copy and then paste onto your newly created webpage. Take care to change your page to text editor as opposed to visual before you paste the code in. Save your page and then view it. How does it look? If you re happy, go to the next step. If not, then play around until you have your page looking good. Here s what mine looks like: http://bedandbreakfastinchampagne.com/16-things 5. Create a follow-up email sequence. Once your prospects have entered in their name and email address, your job now is to warm them up with a series of information emails that they will find helpful and valuable, positioning you as the go to person. You will need to upload your own emails to your list manager. So here s how it works (templates are available on the Module 7 page for downloading and personalising): 1 st email goes out immediately on signup thanks them for downloading the PDF, reassures them that you won t sell or share their personal details, and gives them the link to the download the URL from when you uploaded the PDF. Add a photo of you in the email signature.
2 nd email goes out 1 day later and gives them a link to your youtube video, embedded onto a hidden page of your website, which we will create later in this process 3 rd email goes out 3 days later containing an interesting piece of information about your area with a link back to a relevant page or blog post on your website. 4 th email goes out 5 days later containing an interesting event that takes place annually, with a link back to a relevant page or blog post on your website 5 th email goes out after 7 days, containing an interesting event that takes place annually, with a link back to a relevant page or blog on your website 6 th email goes out after 9 days, containing an interesting piece of information about how easy it is to reach you by train, boat, plane or car, giving some travelling times and distances. 7 th email goes out after 11 days containing an interesting event that takes place annually, with a link back to a relevant page or blog post on your website And on and on, until you can t come up with more things to tempt them with. Some people need more touches than others. Then they are now on your newsletter list, where you email them around 4 times a year with quarterly news on what s happening in your area and why they need to book a room now, always taking them back to a relevant page on your website (not necessarily your home page) where there is a call to action ie- book now!
6. Creating a You Tube personal intro video. The purpose of this video is to introduce yourself to your prospects, so that they feel they know who s emailing them. This also builds an emotional connection, when done right, and allows them to feel that they know you, which is the first step in the process of know like - trust. Here s how to do it: Have someone else take care of the video camera, and don t get hung up on having good equipment, an iphone or normal photo camera that does videos will do. Choose an area of your house or garden where you are relaxed and comfortable. Decide whether you will sit or stand. Check out the background, and if you re outside, check the wind as you will hear it on the video. Don t squint into the sun, but use the sunlight or indoor lighting to your advantage. If you want to use props, such as a glass of wine/champagne, your dog, your team, your family, gather them around you and make sure they are in the video too, if that s what you want to show your guests. Make sure the video camera is resting on something stable, or make sure that your video person has a steady hand. Here is your script: Hello and thank you for requesting (title of your free guide). I m (your name) and I m the owner/manager/innkeeper here at (name of your B&B), and the creator of this guide. I hope you find the information valuable, and if you do choose to come and stay with us, I will be personally looking after you. I ve been living here in (your area) for (number of years) and I can help you to plan a memorable stay with us. Please keep an eye on your inbox for more little known tips about (your area) which I ll be sending to you personally over the coming days and weeks. In the
meantime, do let me know if there s anything I can help you with. By for now. If you can t remember all that, then put a story board of post it notes on or by the person holding the camera to remind you of the points you want to cover. Language is very important in this video, as is your energy. Your goal is to engage people and have them wanting to come visit straightaway, knowing that they are in safe hands with you, and that you re going to help them plan their stay. So smile! Here is mine for you to model: http://bedandbreakfastinchampagne.com/personal-introduction When you ve got a reasonable video done that you re happy with (and this could take several out-takes!), upload it to your YouTube account and grab the embed code from the share button underneath the video. Copy this html code onto a word document and keep it safe, you ll need it for the next step. Check out How to Script and Shoot a Personal Introduction Video in the downloads section in Module 7 7. Create a new personal introduction page on your website. Create a new page by going to your WordPress dashboard and clicking on pages then add new. Embed the YouTube code onto your page, again using the text editor, not visual and then transcribe more or less what you ve said in the video onto the page, as some people prefer to read rather than watch. Disable the social shares button, by scrolling down underneath the editing box, and checking the box Disable social bookmarks. Click publish and then view Page. Grab the URL of this page and put this into your 2 nd email which we did earlier. Here s what mine looks like: http://bedandbreakfastinchampagne.com/personal-introduction
And you now have something to talk about on Social Media and to distribute around the web to interested people in groups on Linked In, partners in other industries and to tweet about on Twitter, which we ll cover in Module 8 Congratulations!