From Web Dev to Lead Generation:
In the beginning, Firing Squad was a web design agency, White Space. This was Jason’s first entrepreneurial journey, which he started it with his high school friend Adrian, a designer. They worked nights, weekends and holidays to create enough revenue to sustain themselves fulltime.
Soon the competition became cutthroat and they realized they needed to pivot from web design to email marketing. They looked at what the most profitable practice was for them and decided to change it from the topping on the pizza, to the foundation.
“You get so bogged down in the day to day that you never take a macro view of your business.”
When they pivoted to email marketing, Jason wrote an honest letter about why they were pivoting and shared it with all of their current clients.
This generated a massive retainer for them off the bat with a startup in Hong Kong, but that quickly turned sour. After a series of unfortunate events, he realized the biggest thing he worried about was where was his next sale going to come from because sales fix everything. And everyone has this problem. This gave birth to the new vision for Firing Squad.
Firing Squad is a digital sales company that makes you worry less about where your next sale is coming from.
Generate Sales with Cold Emails:
Jason likes to work with businesses that sell what he calls “painkillers” (immediate problem solvers) rather than “vitamins” (optional enhancers).
“A business that sells a service or product that is a painkiller works unbelievably well in cold emails.”
People are more confident in emailing than calling. It is more approachable and it doesn’t require an immediate response.
Jason’s Cold Email Strategy:
Email 1:
- Decide exactly the type of client you want to work with.
- Narrow in on what kind of company, what size of company, and exactly who you want to talk to in that company.
- Write the email, and remember: it is not about you!
- Get straight to the point about the problem they have, and how you will solve it.
- One liner about how important this is to their business.
- Closer: a specific question like “are you available for a call at 9 AM this Friday?”
- Additionally: use as much personalization as possible – from the company name, the contacts name, relevant industry news, or a recent update you read about their company on their blog.
Email 2:
Respond to your first email with a follow-up, and add an extra benefit like “In addition, we can offer you a free hour of consulting.”
Email 3:
Did you get my email? Just checking in to see how we can help.
Email 4:
We won’t email you again, but let us know how we can help!
He says by giving them 3-4 days between each email, and implementing this over a 2.5 week period, you should garner a response. Jason remarks on how often he will receive an apology and a response by email 3 or email 4.
An alternative to setting up a meeting is to deliver something of value immediately, if possible. Niche down and offer your contact something that solves a specific pain point.
Best Prospecting Practices:
When prospecting, Jason utilizes LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Contactout, and Virtual Assistants to find the companies he wants to work for.
Keep contacting until they ask you to stop (if you’re comfortable with that)
Don’t be afraid to add your personality to follow up emails with tasteful humor.
Maybe even share a gif!
6 Steps for Lead Generation:
- What is your goal?
- What is your offer?
- Who is your audience?
- How will you target them? (run ads, cold emails, landing pages, etc.)
- Where is this traffic going to go? A landing page? An email address? A Facebook lead ad?
- Know your numbers. How much money are you spending, how many leads are you landing, and are they converting? Knowing your ROI is crucial.
Offers that Work:
A free version of your premium product, offering 50-60% of your value brings leads in. People want to know first that the results are achievable, and then what tools you used to get there. They care mostly about the results.
What is Good Content?
When delivering content, remember that it is all about your audience. Speak directly to them with valuable information and take them one step closer to their goals. In the words of Gary Vaynerchuk, Jason says:
“You’ve got to keep giving the jabs, and keep giving the value, and keep giving the value, and keep giving the value, and then eventually you’re allowed to throw the right hook, which is the ask.”
He also adds, don’t be afraid to ask the people on your list what you can help them with.
Firing Squad’s Favorite Tools:
Email Marketing, Newsletter Marketing, Drip Campaigns: Campaign Monitor and MailChimp
Cold Email Automation: Reply.io
Drip Campaigns: ConvertKit
Landing Pages: Thrive Architect and WordPress
API Connections: Zapier
Contact:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jbagley
Firingsquad: http://firingsquad.co.za/
Blog: https://blog.firingsquad.co.za/firing-squad-s-hail-mary-a338fa9d4a9a
Credits:
Hosted by Jeff Large | JeffLarge.com
Produced and Powered by Come Alive Creative | ComeAliveCreative.com
Music provided by Birocratic | SoundCloud.com/Birocratic
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