Great article by Susan Friedmann, The Tradeshow Coach on Guruknowledge.org.  Tradeshows that are properly planned for and executed can return incredible ROI.  If you know what you’re doing.

Key points from Susan’s article:

• Follow-up begins before the show
• Develop a follow-up system
• Accountability

The key to tradeshow success is wrapped up in the lead management process.  It starts with knowing at the outset what you want to achieve, then continues through establishing a strategy that is user-friendly, and finally the actual follow-up operation leads to bottom-line profitability.  With a little forethought and planning the results will speak for themselves.

We couldn’t have said it any better.

Read the whole article here.

I read a really great case study on Marketing Sherpa titled “How to Launch a Lead-Gen Campaign on a Tiny Budget: 7 Steps for Using Blogs & Social Media“. It’s a great story and a lot that can be learned.

For those of you who couldn’t make the LinkedIn Power Users Webinar that we had today really missed out. I have to admit that I thought I was pretty good with the LinkedIn stuff - my profile, invites, etc. I easily learned a dozen new things that have already made significant improvements.

Check it out for yourself. Go to LinkedIn Search and search for “product launch”. Who comes up first? ;-)  That was just from the changes I made during the webinar.

I am absolutely convinced that the changes I made (and a few more still to be made) are making a huge difference in how others find me and Launch Clinic. We’re planning to deliver the LinkedIn webinar again at the first of the year. This time don’t miss out!

Thanks again to Chip Lambert at Network2Networth for his time and expertise.

The analogy of a funnel is almost universally used to visualize how leads go through a process of qualification that eventually results in a sale. But everyone knows that not every lead result in a sale. A funnel implies every lead is squeezed and smashed through the bottom of the funnel. Wrong analogy.

Think of the lead qualification process like a series of rooms connected by doors. Some doors lead to other rooms but some lead outside. If a lead continues to have an interest in your product and the qualification criteria determines that they are still qualified, then they get to go on to the next room. Eventually the last room is where they purchase.

Now if the lead loses interest in your product or it is determined that it is no longer a qualified lead, it’s time to go outside. See ya. You got nothing to bring to the party. At least not for now. Those leads that bail or get qualified out may turn out to be qualified leads at a later time. Keep track of them for later cultivation. Mystery of the unqualified leads that are magically squeezed into a Funnel is solved.

What is your lead qualification process? What are the most important characteristics that define a qualified lead? Given those characteristics, how many actual qualified leads does your marketing efforts generate?

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