This is an exciting release for us here at ClickPoint Software because it will benefit our LeadExec customers and their relationships with lead sources and marketing partners. The vendor portal is a web-based portal for marketing partners that are working with LeadExec customers. The newly released portal allows these marketing partners to log into a branded web portal that is fully customizable by our LeadExec customers. LeadExec customers can brand the portal, choose their color scheme, and decide how much information is displayed. Typically the portal will show the full lead details but our customers also have the ability to restrict the amount of information a marketing partner can view. Marketing partners can see the following:
1. Internet Leads
2. 800 IVR calls
3. Live Call Transfers
4. Traffic to a landing page
In addition to the new look and feel the vendor portal also has 9 new reports. At ClickPoint Software we want our LeadExec customers to improve the relationship they have with their marketing partners. Complete visibility is paramount and we accomplish this with granular reports that help make invoicing and payouts easy. When it comes time for billing you don’t want to be counting up lead returns, lead rejects, bad leads, etc. and trying to make sense of all of this for each marketing partner. With the ClickPoint Software vendor portal all of these issues are addressed so that there is no guess work. Marketing partners can clearly see why leads are rejected, returned, or never made it into the LeadExec system. If they aren’t able to get leads in they know it right away and don’t have to play detective to figure out what’s wrong with their post or lead format.
Our focus today is on CPC and what a CPC specialist does to create unique leads that have high quality and ROI.
CPC Definition – Cost Per Click (this is a great way to augment your SEO efforts and create more unique leads.
To review there is a set criteria we use in order to decide who we interview. The companies we interview must have a good standing reputation in the industry. We want companies that have a successful model and are willing to share a bit of their success with us in an interview. The purpose of these interviews is to learn from companies that have already put in many hours of hard work to establish themselves as a reputable company. You learn specific marketing methods and companies that utilize them specifically.
On our interview Lead buyers will be able to hear what questions should really be asked of a lead source before doing business with them. Lead companies will hear what it’s like to run a successful lead company that creates their own unique leads. You will learn what challenges a lead company faces in the current economic environment and what opportunities are still available. Tom will be joining us on the call today from Adfuze. Adfuze creates leads using only CPC methods. Adfuze has been very successful in multiple lead verticals and uses the LeadExec lead distribution platform. Their success can be tracked to very specific methods in which they conduct their day to day marketing operations. If you at all interested in CPC have a listen.
Recap:
Things Adfuze is doing right:
1. Front end website is very professional and clean
2. Great call to action landing pages
3. Long tail CPC targeted keywords
4. Doesn’t take shotgun approach, keywords that are truly relevant to your landing page
5. Truly exclusive internet leads
How to keep a visitor on your landing page:
1. Call to action, keep it simple and relevant to your keyword
What to watch out for:
1. Spending caps – make sure they are in place with Google, Yahoo etc.
2. Don’t focus on big keywords like mortgage this is heavily monitored by competition and you will lose money, also very expensive (try home loan in Toledo Ohio instead)
3. Don’t focus strictly on search engines as primary traffic provider, diversify
What search engines work?
1. Google is preferred search engine
(Their user interface is very intuitive / easy to use)
2. Bing is up and coming and starting to gain traction and is cheaper, response rates are higher (Their user interface is harder to use for the novice)
Quality Ranking (5 Stars)
Marketing Method – CPC traffic driven to web form
Click play to hear the interview. Requires Silverlight
(Download)
Tom Steinke
www.Adfuze.com
If you own a website you need to listen to this interview. This interview will save you time, money, and will provide you with practical advice for helping your website rank organically. Nathan has been working in the SEO field for many years and provides some simple rules for success. I will recap the components and all of his tips. To hear the interview go to the bottom of the article.
4 Components to successful SEO campaign for your website
1. Keyword research
a. 1-2 main keyword phrases per page
2. Implement the keyword research into your site (on page optimization)
a. (Text on page, header tags, Meta tags, alt tags etc.)
3. Original content
4. Getting other websites to link to that content
Additional Requirements:
Ongoing content is a must. You must keep supplying new and fresh content.
Quote:
“What are the search engines in business for? They are in business to deliver the most relevant content to their users per their search query. They are looking for new content and websites that are updated. If they come to your site and see that nothing has changed they take more time to visit your site the next time. They are looking for relevancy. How new is this content? Was it updated recently?
Recommended Tools:
1. Google Free Keyword Tool
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
2. Word Tracker – Software that helps with keyword analysis
http://www.wordtracker.com/
3. Website: Blog with lots of tools
www.SEOBook.com
4. Finding good developers, writers, and SEO consultant – Get Referrals
http://www.searchenginewatch.com
http://www.seomoz.org
http://www.searchengineland.com
Link Building Tips – Submit your site to main directories (Yahoo and MSN)
1. Contact your associates and business contacts (FREE)
2. Association you’re a member of (FREE)
3. Develop great content (FREE)
4. Guest blogging (FREE)
5. Online press releases
a. www.OnlinePRNews.com ($12 per release)
6. Paid Link Builders
www.TextLinksAds.com
Traps to watch out for:
1. Link exchanges
2. Anyone who promises you immediate results (results take time)
3. Make sure you have a referral
Click play to hear the interview. Requires Silverlight
(Download)
Nathan Hall
On Target SEM
Ask Nathan a question on our blog or e-mail him he is available as an SEO Consultant
480-495-2204
aznhall@gmail.com
I am going to make this really simple. The faster you can speak with someone interested in your product or service, the better off you are at closing the business. In some industries this varies. If you’re an electrician, plumber, or hazardous waste removal service you can bet if you don’t talk to a lead quickly they will get someone else that can help them instantly. When we designed our pull based method of lead delivery we thought of these types of fields where it is crucial that the consumer speak with the service provider instantly or very quickly. In most cases we have been able to help our customers reduce the time between a lead applying on their site or being received by a lead source and contact.
How do we do it?
1. We setup real time delivery even with a ton of lead verification
2. We track open rates
3. We utilize our own lead management systems that use pull based delivery methods
How much can we improve your overall response time?
I can’t give specifics, but I can tell you some of our customers were as bad as 8 hours on open rates and 24 hours on contact rates before we started working with them.
I can tell you that some of our customers have median response times around 6-8 minutes on average across the entire company. These times will vary based on a couple of factors.
1. How many leads are coming in over an hour
2. How many agents you have working that hour, day, week
3. How good the agents are at responding to the leads
#3 will get better as you are able to use our reporting to see who is working the leads in an acceptable time and who isn’t. The whole goal is to adopt the system and then work with the data to staff up or down as necessary. You will also need to train employees that are not performing as well as you would like.
Bottom Line:
You will close more business more consistently by adopting a lead management system that has a focus on contact times. You will be able to work more leads, work the best leads, and make better use of the 8 hours in a day that you can call leads.
This is Gabriel Buck CEO at ClickPoint Software with my continuing interview series of guests I think can bring value to ClickPoint customers and anyone who reads this blog. I often interview experts in the online marketing industry and successful lead based businesses owners. Today I am interviewing someone who can tell us about something I find to be instrumental in the success of many entrepreneurs.
I am interviewing Sylvia Brekke of Phoenix Youth at Risk. If you are wondering what that has to do with technology or running your own business I will tell you. I believe it is imperative that you have a mentor when you start your own business. I had several mentors and they were instrumental in the success ClickPoint software has enjoyed.
I believe mentoring to a youth also gives you valuable skills in dealing with customers, employees, and a great feeling that will help motivate you while you are starting your business. It will also teach you valuable lessons about resilience, perseverance, and that anything is possible. When you are starting your own business these are lessons you need to weather the storm.
Click play to hear the interview. Requires Silverlight (Download)
If you or someone you know is interested in becoming a mentor please call Sylvia.
Sylvia Brekke
(602) 481-0212
Sylvia.brekke@phoenixyouthatrisk.org
www.phoenixyouthatrisk.org
Ok, first question: Why am I doing an interview of myself on my own blog?
I think our customers should know the CEO of ClickPoint Software and understand what makes him tick.
Will you ask good questions or let yourself off the hook?
I think I will ask some challenging questions.
Where do you get your hair cut? Just kidding!
Why did you create ClickPoint Software?
I was working as a marketing consultant with mortgage companies in Irvine, CA. I saw a lot of people in marketing departments struggling to keep up with lead sources. I thought there had to be a better way. I asked myself why there wasn’t software that helped a marketing director manage all of their leads and lead sources. I started development of LeadExec in 2005. I was able to raise $250,000 from an investment firm in Los Angeles. It wasn’t easy the first 3 years. We weren’t profitable and were under constant stress of being able to make payroll. I was fortunate to have a supportive wife, a great programmer, and investors that believed in us. In 2008 we started to turn the corner and built up a stable of customers that believed in us and our mission.
What is your mission?
First, it’s to create software that is easy to use and creates value for the people that use it. Second, it’s to have a work environment where people are as passionate about what we are doing as I am. Third, it’s to create something that I can be proud of. Creating software is a journey and you are almost always reaching for more that makes the product better. Sometimes you stop and look around and realize what has been accomplished in a year and it’s amazing, but often you are so into the moment that those realizations are few and far between.
What would you do differently if you had the chance?
I would have taken more classes in college that I didn’t really care for, like accounting. I hated it and just got by even knowing that one day I would need it. I think I would have listened and applied myself a little better. I would have traveled more before taking on the life of entrepreneur. I haven’t been to too many places. The sacrifice is pretty large and has been since 2002 for me.
How did you get your entrepreneurial start?
Ok, don’t laugh. I used to have my own comic book business as a kid. I used to go to shows and setup a booth next to the adult’s booths. My dad was very supportive and helped me. I used to go these shows and look at the old guys behind the booths and think that for a kid that wasn’t much fun. I recruited friends and setup a booth with video games and talked to the other kids like a friend not a salesperson. I learned a lot and had a great time, but the adults were happy when I called it quits.
Why did you call it quits?
I think I was getting interested in sports. I was only 13 and although having a comic book business sounds almost cool now, it wasn’t if you were getting ready to go into high school. I had to move on to lawn care and shoveling snow.
So you started at an early age?
It runs in the family. My grandmother was CEO of the first women’s bank. Her name was Sally Buck and she was a pioneer for businesswomen. Her spirit was passed down to a lot of my family. My dad had several of his own businesses and now he owns and runs a marina on Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia.
What role does leadership play in your company and where did you learn about leadership?
My first lessons about leadership were in sports and from my dad. In sports I never wanted to quit. I was lucky enough to be on some really bad baseball teams that just couldn’t find ways to win. I was the one that wanted to keep practicing and trying to figure out a way to win. I think this helped me. I was able to lose but I didn’t take it lightly. I learned to work hard for what I wanted and that success doesn’t always come easy. Some are born with natural talent. I was 6’5” so I was one of those that had to work really hard to catch up on coordination. I think this also helped me. My dad and cousin were also a big influence. My dad was in the Navy and integrity was very important to him. I use a lot of the lessons he taught me and he is the first one I call to ask questions when the going gets tough. My cousin taught me to stand in the pocket no matter how bad it gets and my dad taught me to accept responsibility. I also coached little league as a teenager, was a lifeguard, and in student government. I learned some good lessons early on about being a team player and getting a team to rally.
What would you change if you could about the start up business model?
This is tough. I believe there should be more resources for entrepreneurs that have at least shown they can run a company or manage people. I pitched several VC companies and angel groups before finding funding. It’s tough. I mean really tough. Imagine the most uncomfortable you have ever been and multiply that times 3. Pitching is tough especially to angel groups. Imagine you and maybe one more person in a room with 8 guys that are all millionaire businessmen picking you apart for an hour. I would make more classes in high school and college that prepare you for this. I joke with my wife that my kids will one day get allowance only after submitting their business plans to me. Seriously, there is nothing that prepares young people for the VC pitch or angel pitch. It’s brutal and takes serious courage, especially for younger people. If you don’t have a lot of experience this can be a major turn off for young people and I think this aspect of getting seed money needs to change. America needs innovation and young people can deliver. A lot of the time VC is only looking for billion dollar ideas and I think that is a bad way of looking for value. There is something to be said for the guy that knows how to manage people and a company that has an idea that takes something and makes it better. His idea might not be a billion dollar idea but he will be successful and I think America needs more of that.
What advice would you give young people trying to start their own company?
Don’t waste time on a 200 page business plan. I had my business plan literally thrown across a desk at me and was told to condense it to 2 pages. Keeping it simple is key when first pitching family, friends etc. It’s important to pitch family and friends, although I don’t recommend taking money from them. Pitching family and friends is great for practicing and it also opens doors. My door was opened by pitching a family member. Start cheap and think profit not eyeballs. This whole billion dollar idea is a big part of what I think is wrong with the Tech buyouts you see today. Your business plan should be focused on profit, plain and simple. That doesn’t mean you run your company on a pure profit philosophy. It means you get profitable, and then you can run your company any way you want. If you want flip flop Fridays your investors won’t care if you are profitable. Don’t waste money on anything other than payroll and necessities. If you haven’t learned how to get by on Raman Noodles in college, don’t expect to be eating steak for three years into your start up. Find a mentor as fast as possible and mentor to someone if you can. Youth at Risk and Big Brother Big Sister will help you find a mentee. The lessons you will learn from being mentored to and mentoring are invaluable and will serve you well throughout your life and business. Try to find balance and stay away from energy drinks. Those things are horrible for you. Have fun and make sure you treat your employees well and let them know that you appreciate them. You will make mistakes, everyone does. Own up to them and get over them. Don’t cover your tracks or hide from your failures. One last thing you will need is patience. This is something I really struggled with. There is no immediate satisfaction, you will need resilience and patience to weather many storms. Prepare yourself for the long haul and find that mentor to help keep you motivated. What most people don’t realize that have day jobs is that there is no pat on the back for a job well done until the sales start coming in. This could take a long time, even years.
What do you do to stay organized and on plan?
I don’t like a ton of meetings. I believe in hiring people that believe in the mission and are here to work. I don’t like to micro-manage, but with certain projects, I sometimes need to. I run Monday morning meetings and Friday wrap up sessions. I submit a development plan to our team after our Monday meeting. Our weekly dev plan keeps us on track for the week and we have a 4 month dev plan that helps us see what’s up the road. I keep my e-mail very organized and I delete anything that is not important. I will take a refresher from time to time from a local organization that helps with tips on staying organized. Honestly, I live for Mondays. That’s the thing I love about software. On Mondays we have updates which always keep me excited. I love seeing what our programming team has done and what new tools they have implemented that will help our customers.
How do you handle customers that want to quit or have problems?
I told you I wouldn’t let myself off the hook. This is another tough one for me. As a software business CEO you take a lot of pride in your software. It is very difficult to not get defensive when someone tells you they don’t like a feature or if they point out issues. We have multiple processes in place to minimize errors, downtime, and issues but they are going to happen. It’s the nature of the business. It goes back to owning your mistakes. If you have downtime, communicate immediately with your customers and keep them informed. If a customer is unhappy and even beyond saving, at least find out why. There is always something to learn. In the worst situations when a customer is beyond help I always ask what could have been done differently to keep them on board. This doesn’t happen too much these days but it did when we started out. There have been customers that have come back after leaving purely because of how we treated them when they left.
What does 2010 look like for ClickPoint Software?
I am excited about 2010. It’s a breakout year for us. We have a great programming team on and reliable customers. This is the year we bring some really exciting features to all of our software products. My favorite so far is the 800 IVR call routing. Our flagship software can now deliver offline leads, online leads, and live call transfers. Having so many options for just about every customer is awesome. I am also really looking forward to our new customer loyalty system being used in casinos. Our lead management system is also getting a version update which means all kinds of new user interface updates and functionality. I can’t tell you everything, but I can say that this is the year for ClickPoint Software to really stand out and gain recognition for providing quality software products.
What books have you read that have helped you along the way?
I have read all the standard issue sales books and marketing books. I consider myself to be someone who learns by doing and by listening to those who have gone before me. Business books always have seemed so general to me. I always wanted them to get specific on how to start a tech company. Experience is the best teacher. Start young, mowing lawns, shoveling snow, selling things on E-bay and you will get the basics of what it’s like to manage a little business. Next, go work for any company out of college in sales or marketing, and then try on management. By the time you are done you will know 3 out of 4 main skills you will need to run a company. Oh, and take that accounting class twice if you have to in college. The best way to learn business is to try and try again. You will fail, you will succeed, and then you will have experience.
Last question, what do you in your spare time to gain balance?
I like to get outside as much as possible. I play tennis 1-2 times a week and run. I also like to work in the yard. Something I used to love doing as a kid with my grandfather was working in the back yard. We have a huge backyard so it keeps me busy. I also like to cook and enjoy having friends over and making my famous pork porterhouse. I had this dish on my first date with my wife at a great restaurant in San Diego and it’s been my favorite ever since. I love to stay busy, but it’s important to find balance and be around people that love and support you. Without it you will find the journey all the more difficult. Some people turn their work into their life, and that to me is not healthy. I am very grateful for the people in my life and so for me I like to spend my off time with them.
This is the question everyone asks me and there are so many answers it’s hard to keep it simple. It really comes down to knowledge and risk. There are many ways you can create your own leads leveraging existing technology. To do it on a grand scale you need money, knowledge, and a healthy amount of courage. It can give you an anxiety attack putting your hopes in a marketing method without knowing a predictable outcome. This is where experience, knowledge, and trial and error come into play. I will summarize the main ways that you can create leads and the benefits and risks for each.
1. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
SEO is the art of getting your website to rank for a given keyword or range of related keywords across major search engines without paying for clicks. What you are paying for is the building up of one way links pointing to your website. This makes your website seem relevant to the major search engines.
Method
The equation is simple:
1. Website that is content rich without a lot of images
You need a professional web developer that understands what is needed in site design
2. One way links pointing to your website
You can rent or buy a service to build these links
Note: Find a good service to build them it is much cheaper than renting
3. Original content that you or your writers create
You should not take articles from other sites or article dumps
4. Website age
If you just buy your domain and expect it to hit right away think again. It could take months if you have an older site. Or if you can buy a site with some age, then do that.
Risk
Money and time are the main risk. If you do it right, it’s just a matter of time before your site ranks.
Google and most search engines will sandbox your website, meaning they won’t let you rank until a given amount of time has passed. Building a site, buying links, creating or buying content is all very costly.
Cost
For a given site expect to spend a good $7,000 to $10,000 to get it to rank for less competitive keywords.
Benefit
Good leads from people who actually are seeking out your service are the reward for your patience and commitment. Most big companies invest serious coin to be number 1 for their keywords. If you are trying to compete with major companies for a keyword you are better off buying leads.
Bottom Line
Do your research. If you find some keywords that have little competition you may have a shot at climbing the ranks. With anything it takes a lot of reading and research before you should ever spend money. Test your skills with a blog first and then move up the chain. Get used to writing lots of content or finding someone who can.
2. CPC, PPC (Cost Per Click or Pay Per Click)
Method
You have simple call to action websites that you know can convert consumers looking for your product into a lead or a sale. You setup an account with Google, MSN, or Yahoo search marketing. You will be provided with an interface that allows you to pick keywords you would like to target. You will bid for the top spot and pay more for a top spot for a given keyword. Each search engine has paid placement at the top of each search and to the right of each search. See example:
Risk
The main risk associated with CPC is lack of conversion due to your form not converting. If you lock in daily spends you can see within a couple of days if your form is actually converting. Most people fall into the trap of paying too much for their bids and then don’t convert what they expect. It breaks down to Cost per Lead. If it takes 10 clicks at $2.00 per click to equal one lead, you are creating an organic lead at $20. That’s actually not that bad depending on the lead type. If it takes you 20 or 30 clicks to convert, you are in trouble. If you don’t set daily spending caps you also open yourself up to a big expense.
Cost
You need forms built that are call to action. This should cost about $300-$500 based on the skill set of your programmer. You can start testing your account with a spend level you are comfortable with. Just be careful to monitor your account. Some search companies are real time while others are not. You won’t see results for 24 hours which could be bad if you are just starting out.
Benefit
CPC is a good way to augment your existing volume and can even help with SEO. It’s not a bad idea if you’re promoting a particular site via SEO to also do some CPC along with it at first. Scale back once you really get your SEO going. CPC should not be relied on, it should be a way to supplement your current lead volume.
Bottom Line
Don’t make CPC your ace in the hole. Use CPC to supplement your main marketing methods. If you’re an expert at CPC by all means make it your winning marketing method but for anyone starting out take it slow. Don’t go crazy because you start seeing traffic and you think you’re going to make it rich. It boils down to cost per lead or sale created. Sharpen your pencil and stay on top of it before it gets away from you.
3. E-Mail
Method
There are two methods to e-mail. There is compliant e-mail which is basically e-mail solicitation to people who have already visited your site and opted in. Ok, so how do you get people to your site in the first place? It’s hard and this doesn’t yield a ton of leads. The second method is to buy opt in data from a reliable source and send a million e-mails out to prospects advertising your product. E-mail is by far the hardest to do and stay compliant. You not only have to follow the letter of the law but you have to be pretty savvy with technology or have someone on staff that is. I caution anyone getting into e-mail, this is by far the riskiest of all the marketing methods.
Risk
You could end up getting a call from the attorney general of your state or other states you sent e-mail to, so you better make sure you are 100% compliant in case that call ever comes. You can also spend money on lists that don’t pan out. You can have networks like Hydra do it for you and then the risk boils down to your form. If it doesn’t convert you’re stuck paying upfront for the service. If you have a great form, product, and money to test the waters you can win at this method.
Cost
Outside of building a good call to action form you need to research compliance. Knowing what constitutes compliant mail vs. non-compliant is going to take time and energy on your part. You will have to pay up front for mail services or you can purchase your own servers and give it a go. I would advise against this unless you are trained and have industry experience.
Benefit
Many will tell you that e-mail leads are the highest quality. For whatever reason people who are solicited and actually take the time to go to your site and fill out the form, yield a higher interest level than those that are surfing the web, solicited via phone, or click on a banner. It has been proven, take my word for it.
Bottom Line
Don’t buy leads from some guy who calls you and says he can generate a thousand e-mail leads per day. The last thing you want is to be liable for some third party that is spamming. Do your homework and either work with a reputable company or do it yourself. Don’t risk your company or your career because some guy tells you that they can turn on the juice and send you thousands of leads. Be smart and do your research on the people you decide to work with.
4. TV / Radio
Method
You place an advertisement on a radio station or television commercial with an 800 number for the potential client to call. Based on the 800 IVR system you are using, you can then route and record the call to your potential client. ClickPoint boasts an advanced 800 IVR routing system that can route calls to any client based on rules like round robin, price based, zip code, and voice prompt.
Risk
The risk here is pretty big. You have to put up a good amount of money to test your pitch. The reward is great and can be worth the risk. Many companies are now moving to this medium because of recent advances in technology which make tracking and monetizing much easier. It used to be difficult to move all the calls that came in and get a decent ROI. Now there are catch all accounts and resources for marketers to make use of all the calls that come in on their 800 number.
Cost
Can be pricey but the investment is worth the risk. Expect to spend a good amount on advertising. You can test out Google Radio and Google TV which allow you to set caps and bid for your ads. This isn’t a bad way to get used to how this works. Take the time to properly setup your call scripts and really execute a good pitch.
Benefit
Exclusive calls to a customer are fewer headaches than internet leads or any other type. How can a client argue about quality with a live person calling them? They may complain about debt amounts that are too low or loan amounts not high enough but they can never say the leads aren’t good. If you have sold internet leads you know the quality argument will take its toll and a lot of marketers prefer to send calls straight to their customers where there is little room for debate in regards to quality.
Bottom Line
Don’t attempt this without a good 800 IVR and call routing system. You will waste money, time, and credibility. I don’t care if you use our solution, just use one. If you don’t, you will have calls coming in with no way of tracking and routing them.
5. Telemarketing
Method
You hire a firm or have your own firm that calls people while they are at home eating dinner pitching a refinance right in the middle of meatloaf. Telemarketing was the old way of getting people to respond to ads. Now, companies have gone as far as robo calls. Let me first say I am not a fan and never have been. I personally hate it when someone calls me at home or shows up on my doorstep trying to sell me something. There are a few places that you should be able to be safe from intrusive $8 dollar an hour telemarketers harassing you with an offer you don’t need.
Risk
Your creditability, the quality of this type of lead is sub-par at best. The only way it works is if they are live call transfers, and even then if they are solicited in a way that is intrusive your conversions will be low. If you go oversees throw in an even lower conversion.
Cost
You can usually negotiate a cost per lead so your risk in regards to cost is minimal.
Benefit
If you have technology to create live call transfers it’s not a bad option. You can do it the right way and create some additional leads for your customers. Just be careful who you work with. There are companies like Double Positive and Leads 99 that do create a great lead, but they call on people who have already shown interest. They are not blind calling. If you go this route, make sure you have great data and a list of people who have already shown interest, otherwise, you will create a sub-par lead.
Bottom Line
Unless it’s a live call transfer, stay away from this form of marketing. National DNC laws are strict. One violation could set you back as much as $5,000 to $15,000. Make sure your compliant and not calling people on the DNC list unless they have visited your site.
6. Banner / Affiliate
Method
You create a banner that directs people to your landing page. Often you use affiliate add networks like Commission Junction, DirectTrack, or ShareaSale. These ad networks will put your banner up and promote it to their list of affiliates. The quality of the ad network you are working with is paramount. The ones that are good are often selective and expensive to join. Don’t be fooled by affiliate networks that promote no setup fee and little in the way of making sure your offer is legit.
Risk
Unless you are working with one of the most reputable ad networks, it can be very difficult to monitor quality. Unless you have a system like LeadExec that can filter leads that are bogus. You are basically trusting this network to find quality advertisers to host your banner. This system has been ripe with fraud and the only way to police it is to have quality affiliates. The big networks do have quality affiliates, but still are open to fraud.
Cost
You can usually set spending limits and a cost per acquisition or CPA for each lead created. This is good in terms of keeping cost down.
Benefit
If you can get in to one of the big networks like CJ or LinkShare you might have a shot at creating some quality leads. If you join a network that is not one of these two, be very careful which affiliates you work with. Fraudulent leads will be the quickest way to end your lead business. Phone verify your leads and make sure your quality control is turned way up to ensure bad leads do not make it your customers.
Bottom Line
Affiliate marketing and banner advertising can be good if you find the right affiliates. I have never been a big fan because I get to see score reports every day on which sources work and which don’t. If you go this route be careful and do your homework just like any other route you may take.
Hello this is Gabriel Buck CEO of ClickPoint Software and we are continuing our interview series with lead companies using the LeadExec platform. Today you will get a question and answer round with Jason Burns of Hurculeads. To review there is a set criterion we use in order to decide who we interview. The companies we interview must have good standing and an excellent reputation in the online marketing industry. We want companies that have a successful model and are willing to share a bit of their success with us in an interview.
The purpose of these interviews is to learn from companies that have already put in many hours of hard work to establish themselves as a reputable company. As a result of our interview lead buyers will be able to hear what questions should really be asked of a lead source before doing business with them. Lead companies will hear what it’s like to run a successful lead company. You will learn what challenges a lead company faces in the current economic environment and what opportunities are still available.
With that said our interview guest this month is Jason Burns of Hurculeads. The reason I wanted to interview him is simply because I have seen what he’s up to and I think personally it’s great. Jason is bringing something new to the table in the lead space that brings value to lead buying customers and I want both buyers and sellers to learn from Jason because I think he has the right idea.
Interview with:
Jason Burns
CEO
HurcuLeads
www.HurcuLeads.com
Quality Ranking (5 stars)
Marketing Method – Exclusive Live Click Transfer System
(similar to live call transfer only using a chat service)
Click play to hear the interview. Requires Silverlight (Download)
Today we announced a really cool new feature here at ClickPoint Software. I always love it when we find a way to take something currently done in the industry and make it better. 800 IVR call routing is not new. It has been around for awhile now but from what we have seen there have been limited routing capabilities. I am excited to see our development team brainstorm and come up with new routing techniques that will ultimately make our customers more money.
You can use your current advertisements like: Radio, Direct Mail, E-Mail, and SEO with your 1-800-Vanity#. Now you can create live call transfers without a telemarketing team, predictive dialer, or annoying telemarketing calls. Create live leads by driving customers to your 800 number. Let the phone system and LeadExec work together to send that caller to your clients in real time.
1. State, City, Zip Code, Postal Code, Country Code
2. Pre-determined prompts like press 1 for a mortgage associate, press 2 for debt settlement services
3. Automation rules like Round Robin, Price, Priority
4. Accept rules (if your client has too many leads and decides not to accept the call it will route to the next available client)
Best of all LeadExec will record every call and allow you to play recordings inside of LeadExec. We can also provide a reverse 411 lookup to include name, address, city, state, and zip information on inbound calls.
Example 1.1
We built several reports that can be exported to PDF, CSV, XLS, HTML, and more. With this new reporting system you can see all the revenue your generating by driving traffic to an 800 number. It’s pretty amazing. Give us a call and I will have one of tech support specialists walk you through a demo.
Making the Grade will be my new series that focuses on one online marketing and lead generation company per month. The purpose of these interviews is to learn from companies that are successful. I want lead buying customers to know what a solid lead source sounds like without all of the hard sell and hype. For the first time lead buyers will be able to hear what questions should really be asked of a lead source before doing business with them. Lead companies will hear what it’s like to run a successful lead company. You will learn what challenges a lead company faces in the current economic environment and what opportunities are still available.
Our first guest is a ClickPoint Software client of three years. Paramount Media has been with our company for a long time and over that term we have seen this company do all the right things. They have a top notch website for the lead buying customers, a great lead management and lead distribution system, great landing pages, and they have a great reputation. Listen to this interview and find out what it really takes to run a successful lead company.
Click play to hear the interview. Requires Silverlight
(Download)
Trent Hackney
CEO
Paramount Media
www.paramountmedia.com
Quality Ranking (4.5 stars)
Marketing Method – Exclusive E-Mail Marketing
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