Lead Gen Trick Revealed

I promised a lead gen trick and that’s exactly what I’ll deliver.

There was a team of prospectors in 1849 that found a valley of gold.  They new it was only a matter of time before others found it and they didn’t have the manpower to protect the valley.  They needed time to secure their claim and collect as much of the gold as they could, so they formed a plan.  Two of the oldest craziest looking prospectors in their group took a sack of gold nuggets to the bar that night and proceeded to get drunk. They bought rounds for everyone splashing their gold around and telling tails of the spectacular claim they had found.  As the night wore on and word got out more and more prospectors gathered to find out about their success.  Eventually they let slip that their claim was in the steep ravines 2 days south of the town.  The next day they got up late and loaded their mules with what little supplies were left in town and set out followed by a small band of prospectors that hadn’t already rushed off to the south earlier that morning.  Of course the rest of their team was collecting up their riches to the north where their claim really was.  With a simple misdirection and promise of easy wealth they lead everyone away from the real riches.

Wait, you didn’t think I had some secret to generating leads did you?  This is a warning about lead gen tricks, not a trick to generate leads. 🙂

Marketers are always looking for the next big thing, the easy score, the secret fishing hole.  There’s nothing wrong with always looking for that new low hanging fruit, just be careful you aren’t easily misdirected.  Yes, there are misdirection campaigns designed to get you invest all of your resources in the time share equivalent of a marketing platform and there are misdirection campaigns designed to get you to look in the other direction while they grab up as many of the easy leads as they can.  There are marketers that figure out tricks to be more effective, and these tricks are usually short lived so they protect them.

Experimentation is key.  If you want to find something new you have to find something new.  Don’t burn your resources blindly following the rantings of people promising fortune.  Don’t bet your life savings on a horse because you heard someone whisper that the race is fixed.  When there’s really a sure thing people in the know are likely putting out the word that you should go in the other direction.