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It’s very rare these days that people just happen to find your business and become a client or customer with no work on your part. Your business has to grab people’s attention, turn curious visitors into leads and then convert those leads into sales.

This means that the more solid leads you have, the greater your chances of making a sale. Solid leads are those contacts who are engaged in your business, fit your buyer persona andare at least somewhat motivated to make a purchase.

Here are four great ways to develop more solid leads for your business this year.

1. Target your ideal clients

You might want your business to be relevant to everybody but the reality is that there is a specific target client who is ideal for your business. Those clients are the ones who are most likely to be attracted to your products or services and therefore the most likely to purchase them.

These are the people to aim your marketing at. Knowing who they are and what they like helps you develop the products and services they’ll use. It also saves you money on marketing because you can target your ideal clients, rather than marketing to everybody and hoping somebody shows some interest.

Even more important, when you get to understand your ideal clients you can build connections with them more effectively, generating leads that can turn into sales.

2. Know your unique value proposition

Your unique value proposition is what makes you different from your competition. Every business has something that sets it apart and therefore attracts a specific market.

Your products or services might be of a higher quality. You might have better loyalty programs or a more specialized staff. Even the size of your business can be a unique value proposition. Smaller business can claim more personal, attentive and efficient service for their clients. Large businesses may be able to handle larger or global accounts.

Determine what makes your business different from your competition and use that uniqueness in your marketing.

Attend networking events

Networking events are a great way to get some face-to-face time with potential leads. Yes, in-person marketing takes time and energy, and you can only talk to so many people at a time. But hearing an entrepreneur speak passionately about their business can be very persuasive.

Meeting people at events gives you a chance to talk to directly to your potential clients and hear what issues they need solved.

Just make sure the networking events you attend are relevant to your business and are functions that your ideal clients attend. Otherwise, you’ll be wasting that valuable time and energy.

4. Create high-value content.

With so many people using the Internet to find companies and make purchasing decisions, you need to ensure your business is easily found. That means developing high-value, informative website content that is compelling and encourages page visitors to submit their contact information.

Make sure you use engaging calls to action. Write blog posts that drive traffic to your website. Develop tip sheets that quickly address some of your clients’ issues and get people to sign-up to receive them. Create a newsletter that clients or customers can subscribe to. The people on your newsletter subscription list become leads.

Make certain, however, that your content is timely, engaging and relevant to your clients and your business.

Final thoughts

Leads don’t just magically appear out of thin air. It takes time and work to develop solid contacts that turn into paying customers. By knowing who your ideal clients are, understanding your unique value proposition, putting in some face-to-face time and developing relevant content, you can easily increase your solid leads this year. Need help growing your business? Get in touch.