This was asked by someone who’s on my email list, which by the way I love interacting with folks there. So many amazing conversations are sparked by it.
This person admits that SEO works well, and is in their words “very targeted” but they are often leads with low budgets.
Here's the thing, the tire-kickers aren't good leads and that don't pan out to become clients are a complete drain on the business.
It’s critical to have the leads understand the full picture before you push them into your pipeline. That means budget needs to be addressed further up the chain.
Optimization of the top of the funnel
Assuming that SEO is working for inbound, and you are collecting names and emails as a request for your services, put a few more fields on that form. Budget is one of them.
Obviously, SEO is working to bring folks in. So for your business inbound strategy works. Next is to optimize your content accordingly to bring in the better, non-tire kicker leads.
Josh Doody on Live In The Feast does an amazing job in regards to optimization of his content. He talks a lot on listening and adjusting his content based on the feedback he gets.
Now you need to plug the leak that's causing other leads to fall through the cracks. If it’s just budget related, aside from adding in the field to the contact form, a sentence or 2 within the content around budget may do the trick.
Another option is to write an article on why you are not the best option for them. It may sound a bit counter-intuitive, but best to share that information in black and white, rather than during a call or follow-up email.
Have them disqualify themselves
If it's any consolation, this isn't the first time I've heard this.
Getting any leads is a false positive for your business. In fact, it's a drain on the business.
It’s awesome to be able to notice why leads aren’t a fit, budget and timeline is often the easiest. Other aspects come later and through experience.
As soon as you realize how a lead isn’t a fit, and then it happens again, then it’s time to plug up that leak and move that criteria up the chain. Get it in front of the lead sooner so that they can disqualify themselves.
They don’t want to waste time either. So if you don’t take projects for anything less than $5,000, put that in front of those that only have $1500 so that they can then adjust their expectations if they really want to work with you, or move on to someone else.
Running your freelance business
More episodes in this topic:
17
What do you do when a crisis hits?
18
How to start building an email list as a freelancer?
20
How do you manage time wearing so many hats as a freelancer?
28
What software tools do you use for business? What is best?
32
How do you prevent, manage scope creep in your projects?
34
Do you schedule in time for exploring or reading articles online?
38
What is the best way to get income fast?
40
What happens if you can’t define a scope of work on a call?
41
What do I do first thing Monday morning?
47
How can I focus on my business when I’ve got a ton client work?
53
Do I have to be concerned with GDPR?
65
What are the tools and services that you use and would recommend to freelancers?
70
How do you have time for all that you do?
74
What podcasting gear do I use?
78
Does live chat bring you in business?
81
How do you followup with a lead after a proposal?
84
Did hiring a mentor really help you with starting up your business or your career?
87
What is my writing process
88
What is the easiest way to get a remote testimonial?
91
How do you determine a quality prospect?
115
How do you step away and actually take a vacation?
116
Are job boards reliable?
123
How to decrease the sales cycle or time to close?
127
How would you write a cold outreach email?
130
How to present different services that could potentially diminish your abilities in the minds of clients?
132
Should I bundle projects for clients or keep projects separate per client?
133
What product do you use for your business that you can’t live without?
135
What makes you stand out from other freelancers?
136
Do I drop this client?
142
How do I set a goal?
143
Do you meet leads and clients face-to-face?
144
How do I work “ON” my business and not “IN” my business?
147
What is the best structure for setting a goal?
152
How do you do a review of your week?
156
What do I say when a potential client says I’m too expensive?
159
What is activity based selling?
165
How to get more clients?
167
How to have a productive week?
168
Do you use a CRM for your business?
171
How do you choose the technology for your clients?
180
What is the structure of a weekly review?
181
What is the structure of a monthly review?
191
What are lead generation techniques to get me out of the feast and famine revenue cycle?
193
How do I know if I should buy a course?
198
What’s a polite way to tell existing clients you are raising your rates? And what is a reasonable percentage to go up?
199
How many email follow-ups should I send to a lead?
201
What do I do? I’m afraid to filter the tire kickers coming into my business because they are the only leads I have.
202
How to take the next step from contracting resource to solo business owner?
205
What do you think about Gutenberg? Schmutenberg!
206
How do I get better at sales?
207
How to overcome objections in sales?
208
How do I respond to an RFP?
209
How to respond to “I don’t need strategy, can you just do…”?
210
If you don’t have experience, how to you prove the quality without the education/experience?
212
How do you handle a client that has ghosted?
218
What do you ask during a sales call?
219
How to improve your sales process as a freelancer?
222
How to charge more as a freelancer?
225
How do you push past the imposter syndrome?
229
How do you segment your email list?
236
What to say when a client insists on adding something new?
257
What kind of content should I promote to potential clients?
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