The part of marketing that probably the most people struggle with is “first contact”. That magical moment where you make your very first connection with an ideal client, or ideally, they make a connection with you.

That could be them visiting your website. It could be you sending them a Linkedin connection request. It could be them hearing you on someone else's podcast. A whole myriad of things.

Which one will work best for you?

That's the wrong question really. 

You don't need the best method. You just need something that will work and that you can do.

And if you have a great lead magnet, the method you use to get it in front of people becomes less important.

You can use a lead magnet to get more referrals. You can use a lead magnet to attract web visitors via paid advertising. People will share a great lead magnet they get value from. You can offer a great lead magnet at the end of a live talk.

Great lead magnets make lead generation much, much easier.

How many lead magnets and methods of generating leads do you need?

For an established business it's best to have a few. But when you're getting going, one is the magic number.

I can't tell you the number of people I've seen going round in circles trying to build all sorts of fancy funnels with multiple lead magnets for different market segments. Add in flip-flopping between different ways of getting website visitors and trying a few offline methods too and you have a recipe for confusion and heartache.

Start with one method. Get it working well enough that you don't have to focus on it all the time. Then add another.

And don't get distracted by “experts” telling you that you need the next big tool or technique they're selling. If you can't get clients using the same core marketing methods that have worked for years then a fancy new method isn't going to save you: your problem is that your offer simply isn't attractive enough.

How many different ways of generating leads are you using right now?

How many would you say you've truly mastered?

If the answer to the latter question is zero, you need to cut down on the quantity and focus on quality.