Black Entrepreneur Blueprint 548 - Jay Jones - Get Leads Or Die Trying - The Strategy That Saved My Business

[00:00:12] Welcome to Black Entrepreneur Blueprint, the number one podcast and resource for Black entrepreneurs.

[00:00:19] I'm your host Jay Jones and Black Entrepreneur Blueprint was created specifically to educate and inspire Black entrepreneurs to launch, build and grow successful, sustainable businesses.

[00:00:32] Join us as we help build an economic power base in the worldwide Black community by building and supporting Black owned businesses.

[00:00:41] If you're currently an entrepreneur or want to be an entrepreneur, you're invited to join us each and every week here at Black Entrepreneur Blueprint.

[00:00:50] Welcome to the BEB family and get ready to elevate your entrepreneur IQ.

[00:00:56] Welcome to the Black Entrepreneur Blueprint, episode number 548.

[00:01:07] I'm your host Jay Jones and today we have another outstanding and informative show in store for you.

[00:01:13] Today's show topic is Get Leads Or Die Trying, The Strategy That Saved My Business.

[00:01:20] Get Leads Or Die Trying, The Strategy That Saved My Business.

[00:01:26] Now as entrepreneurs, we all know the lifeblood of every business is having more than enough qualified sales leads.

[00:01:33] But unfortunately, most failing businesses have never mastered the art of lead generation.

[00:01:40] Now I talked about lead generation on the previous episode and I want to stress it to you guys.

[00:01:48] If you don't have enough qualified leads, you're not going to be successful in business.

[00:01:54] And as a serial entrepreneur, a successful one by the way for 25 plus years and a business coach for over 20 years,

[00:02:03] this is one of the biggest if not the biggest issue that most failing businesses have.

[00:02:09] You can go back and start looking at your lead generation system if you even have a lead generation system.

[00:02:16] So before we dive in on the content guys, let me just share a few things with the Black Entrepreneur Blueprint family.

[00:02:23] First and foremost, I want to welcome all first time listeners to Black Entrepreneur Blueprint.

[00:02:28] Welcome to the BEB family.

[00:02:31] Please stick around until the end of today's broadcast.

[00:02:33] And I'm going to share all my social media contact information and resource links such as my updated course titled 5dayleadgen.com.

[00:02:44] Go to 5dayleadgen.com.

[00:02:47] That's the number 5-D-A-Y-L-E-A-D-G-E-N.com.

[00:02:54] 5dayleadgen.com.

[00:02:56] It's a short 5-day email course that helps you build a simple but effective lead generation system.

[00:03:03] Now you'll get an email every day for 5 days with the actual course content.

[00:03:09] You'll get workbooks and other materials that are going to help you build a lead generation system within days.

[00:03:16] Now make sure you go to 5dayleadgen.com for more information on the program.

[00:03:23] Also, don't forget to take advantage of the new revised website guys.

[00:03:27] We have all types of learning materials that are free for you on the website.

[00:03:32] So go to blackentrepreneurblueprint.com.

[00:03:35] Hit the learn tab.

[00:03:37] There's a drop down.

[00:03:38] We have all types of resources for scaling your business, mindset strategy, e-commerce, marketing.

[00:03:45] Everything you need to help you elevate your entrepreneur IQ.

[00:03:50] So make sure you go to the website also.

[00:03:53] Blackentrepreneurblueprint.com.

[00:03:55] And if you're looking to build a simplified but effective lead generation system, go to 5dayleadgen.com.

[00:04:03] That's the number 5.

[00:04:06] 5dayleadgen.com.

[00:04:07] Now, let's get ready for today's show content.

[00:04:10] Now, most people like stories.

[00:04:12] So today I'm going to give you a story or actually a case study that happened to me several years ago.

[00:04:20] About 2 to 3 years ago in one of my businesses that I really was getting ready to shut down.

[00:04:26] But I actually turned it around and I'll explain to you everything that happened.

[00:04:31] But remember guys, the lifeblood of every business is having more than enough qualified leads.

[00:04:36] But unfortunately, most failing businesses or businesses that aren't hitting maximum efficiency

[00:04:43] never have mastered the art of lead generation.

[00:04:47] And you're probably saying, damn Jay, your last couple episodes have been on lead generation.

[00:04:52] But that's just how important it is for you to become a successful, sustainable business.

[00:04:59] Everybody needs qualified leads.

[00:05:02] And if you don't have them, my saying is no leads equals no sales equals no business.

[00:05:08] There's a whole cottage industry and I'm not even going to call it a cottage industry.

[00:05:13] But there is a whole industry out there about lead generation.

[00:05:18] So multi-million dollar, billion dollar companies spend millions and billions of dollars on leads

[00:05:25] because they don't even know how to generate enough leads for all of their salespeople.

[00:05:30] So you have to understand how important it is to be able to generate your own leads.

[00:05:36] And if you can generate leads for yourself, guess what you can also do?

[00:05:40] You can learn how to generate leads for other people and you can also sell them those leads.

[00:05:47] And I talked about that a little bit on last week's show.

[00:05:50] So if you didn't hear that, go back to the previous episode 547 and listen to that.

[00:05:56] But let's talk about one of my previous businesses that I had.

[00:06:01] I actually ended up selling it off.

[00:06:04] So that was a good thing.

[00:06:05] But let me tell you about it because what I had to do was I had to change my entire strategy

[00:06:11] to even stay in business.

[00:06:13] So the business I own was a commercial loan company where it was a broker company where I

[00:06:19] actually provided funding for businesses and entrepreneurs, including merchant cash advances,

[00:06:26] commercial real estate loans, business funding and receivable funding and loans that any

[00:06:32] business, small or large, would need.

[00:06:34] So if you needed a new building, I could do a commercial real estate loan.

[00:06:38] If you needed a cash advance based on your receivables, I could do that.

[00:06:43] If you needed a merchant cash advance.

[00:06:45] So say you were a restaurant and you bring in $250,000 a month on your credit card, you

[00:06:52] know that you bill your customers.

[00:06:53] You can actually take a loan out against those receivables.

[00:06:58] It's called a merchant cash advance.

[00:07:00] You have to understand because some of them are kind of tricky and you need to have a decent

[00:07:06] cash flow to make sure you're able to pay that back.

[00:07:09] And many of these loan types, well not many, but some of these loan types don't even require

[00:07:15] your personal credit to be that great.

[00:07:17] So with a merchant cash advance, they're lending you money based on what you bring in each and

[00:07:23] every month from your merchant sales.

[00:07:25] Like I said, if you're a restaurant and you're doing $250,000 a month in credit card sales,

[00:07:32] then they'll take those receivables and they'll actually forward or front you money and you

[00:07:37] pay that money back out of your credit card receivables each month.

[00:07:41] They actually take a percentage back each month.

[00:07:44] Long story short, I was doing loans for businesses and entrepreneurs.

[00:07:49] Now because I have so many different projects going on in so many different businesses and

[00:07:54] I don't really want to have a large staff of employees, that's not where I am in my life

[00:08:00] now, I really couldn't focus on the business like I wanted to.

[00:08:05] So I told you the business.

[00:08:07] It was a commercial loan company.

[00:08:09] The problem was I didn't have enough time or bandwidth to generate enough qualified leads

[00:08:15] to be profitable.

[00:08:16] So I was using networking, you know, all of my networks from all of my years in business

[00:08:22] in corporate America and even also, you know, obviously as a serial entrepreneur for 25 plus

[00:08:28] years.

[00:08:29] So I didn't want to spend that much time and effort in the business because of all of the

[00:08:34] projects that I'm working on in the other businesses that I have right now.

[00:08:38] Now obviously BEB, my hot sauce company.

[00:08:41] I have a media company with newsletters and things of that nature and I sell physical products

[00:08:47] with several product brands in addition to the hot sauce company.

[00:08:51] So the business floundered needless to say because number one, I wasn't putting enough energy into

[00:08:58] the business and number two, I wasn't generating qualified leads and I was spending a whole lot

[00:09:05] of time talking to people on the phone who weren't qualified.

[00:09:09] And so let me just give you a little bit more information.

[00:09:12] So I was running social media ads also, but they were not converting.

[00:09:17] So I was getting people to come to my website, but the leads weren't converting.

[00:09:23] And so I was wasting my time trying to contact people that came to the website that requested

[00:09:29] information and I was spinning my wheels and a whole lot of them, most of them weren't

[00:09:34] qualified.

[00:09:35] And once again, being a serial entrepreneur for all these years, even I make mistakes.

[00:09:41] You know, I'm not a guru.

[00:09:43] Everything I talk about on the show, I do.

[00:09:46] Right.

[00:09:47] And I tell you guys about the pluses and the minuses, the highs and the lows, like I almost

[00:09:52] lost it all twice, but I was blessed to be able to come back both times.

[00:09:57] So in the first four months of that business, I invested about $15,000 and only closed one

[00:10:06] small merchant cash advance loan that paid me about $3,900 in commissions.

[00:10:11] So out of four months, I put 15 K in and got like $3,900 back.

[00:10:17] So you do the math, right?

[00:10:19] So if I keep doing that, all I'm doing is wasting money.

[00:10:22] So I had to figure out a way to make this thing profitable.

[00:10:27] And once again, my situation is different.

[00:10:31] Well, everybody's situation is different, but I have multiple businesses.

[00:10:35] So I don't rely solely on one business to make a living.

[00:10:39] So sometimes you may have that one business that you focus on, obviously, and that's great

[00:10:45] because a lot of people, that's their thing.

[00:10:48] You have one business and it's making money.

[00:10:51] Stay focused on that.

[00:10:52] For me, because I'm experienced and the way my mind works, I need multiple things to keep

[00:10:59] me engaged.

[00:11:00] And like I said, on previous episodes of the show, I don't fall in love with a product or

[00:11:06] a service per se, even though I do believe and love the products and services that I'm

[00:11:12] selling right now.

[00:11:13] But I enjoy the business of making businesses or creating businesses.

[00:11:19] So I'm not tied to a specific industry.

[00:11:21] I'm not tied to a specific thing.

[00:11:24] I enjoy trying to make businesses work.

[00:11:27] So the way my mind works and don't, don't follow me.

[00:11:31] If your mind doesn't work like this, don't follow me, follow your own path.

[00:11:34] But I need multiple things going on and that's how I work better.

[00:11:39] So I know I, I always talk about entrepreneur ADD.

[00:11:42] I do have it.

[00:11:44] Many entrepreneurs have it and we see all of these great ideas, but I've learned how to

[00:11:48] harness and focus on several projects at one time.

[00:11:52] So you see my problem.

[00:11:53] Number one is that I've invested 15 K.

[00:11:57] I've gotten back 3,900 within four months.

[00:12:00] Can't keep doing that.

[00:12:02] So what was my solution?

[00:12:04] And we're doing a case study and then I'm going to give you guys some actionable steps

[00:12:08] to help you figure out what you need to do to get more leads or more qualified leads to

[00:12:15] help grow and scale your business.

[00:12:16] So my solution was I changed my entire marketing strategy by making my prospects raise their

[00:12:23] hand and ask me for help.

[00:12:26] Okay.

[00:12:27] So I drove traffic initially to my website, which was not a great converting website.

[00:12:34] It had all types of information on it.

[00:12:37] You know about what I did, what type of products and all that people want solutions.

[00:12:42] They want answers to their problems or solutions to their problems.

[00:12:47] So what I did was when I changed my whole strategy, I drove traffic to a quiz landing page instead

[00:12:54] of my regular website.

[00:12:56] Now this interactive page look very similar to lendingtree.com.

[00:13:02] So if you ever have been on lending tree, what it is, it's a website that actually sells leads.

[00:13:08] So you can go on if you want a mortgage, a auto loan, a commercial loan, any type of loan,

[00:13:16] credit cards or whatever, they're going to have a quiz or they're going to ask several

[00:13:21] questions to determine or pre-qualify you.

[00:13:25] So I use that same philosophy.

[00:13:27] So I drove traffic to a quiz landing page instead of my regular website.

[00:13:32] Now the interactive page, like I said, mirrored lending tree and it has several questions.

[00:13:38] And after I got the questions, it recommended a specific loan product along with a short one

[00:13:46] page application.

[00:13:48] So I went from people going to my website page, putting in their name, email, and phone number

[00:13:55] and me calling them back to now where I'm making the prospect raise their hand and jump through

[00:14:02] some hoops to do work.

[00:14:04] I want to find out who's serious and who's not.

[00:14:08] So once they went through and answered the questions, so say for example, if they needed

[00:14:13] cash for their business, I may ask them about your credit card receipts each month.

[00:14:18] How much do you bring in via credit card each month?

[00:14:21] And if they bring in a decent amount, and if this makes the most sense, I recommend a

[00:14:26] merchant cash advance loan now, or if they answered the questionnaire or the quiz, and they said

[00:14:32] that they don't do a lot of merchant cash transactions, but they have a lot of money in the bank.

[00:14:37] They have good, um, they good financials and their credit is good.

[00:14:41] We may look at a small business loan based on personal credit and the business, uh, credit.

[00:14:47] So it is all based on talking to people where they are.

[00:14:52] And so what I did was after I gave them the recommendation, they went through the quiz and

[00:14:57] it's a dynamic quiz.

[00:14:59] So the way you answer the quiz, I'm going to give you a specific outcome.

[00:15:05] That outcome also has an application if you pre-qualify.

[00:15:09] So now once that person went through the quiz, got the short one page after a application,

[00:15:16] after that application came in, I pre-qualified the application and I sent an email for them to

[00:15:23] review their loan options by calling this phone number.

[00:15:28] So I looked at the application and what I did, I set, I set the expectation.

[00:15:32] I said within the next 24 hours, you'll receive a response and you may get pre-qualified.

[00:15:42] Normally I had it done within the next hour or whatever.

[00:15:46] And once they got that, then the next step for them was to make a phone call to me, not

[00:15:54] me calling them.

[00:15:55] Okay.

[00:15:55] And so you have to understand the dynamics of somebody calling you versus you calling or

[00:16:03] cold calling somebody else.

[00:16:05] The dynamics are totally different and that's what I had to do.

[00:16:10] So after that, they called, if they call great, guess what?

[00:16:15] If they didn't call great, because what I was doing previously was I was wasting a lot of

[00:16:20] time on the phone trying to pre-qualify these people.

[00:16:24] And many of them weren't even in the phase where they were ready to get a loan.

[00:16:29] They're just trying to gather information and that's all fine and dandy, but I didn't have

[00:16:34] the bandwidth of time to deal with that.

[00:16:36] So what I started doing was people that didn't pre-qualify, I put them in an email marketing

[00:16:43] campaign and based on the answers, I was telling them some of the things that they need to do

[00:16:48] to be able to qualify for some of these specific type of loans.

[00:16:53] And so that way I was still nurturing them and I would follow up with them every couple

[00:16:58] of days through an email sequence.

[00:17:01] Okay.

[00:17:02] So that's what you have to understand when somebody is calling you or, or want something from you,

[00:17:09] you have the upper hand in the conversation.

[00:17:13] It could be an email conversation.

[00:17:15] It could be a text conversation.

[00:17:17] It doesn't matter.

[00:17:18] They want something that you have.

[00:17:20] You've made them raise their hand and say, yes, I'm interested.

[00:17:24] You've made them fill out a short, in my case, one page application.

[00:17:28] That means they were really interested.

[00:17:31] And then you've made them even go one step further and call you to see what they get,

[00:17:37] what they qualify for.

[00:17:38] So now I'm only dealing with people that are serious.

[00:17:42] Now, have I probably discarded a few people that, you know, may have gone through the process

[00:17:49] if I talked to them on the phone?

[00:17:50] Yeah.

[00:17:51] But guess what?

[00:17:52] I don't have that time trade off.

[00:17:54] So the more people you put in the funnel, the more it's going to spit out.

[00:17:59] You want qualified leads to work with.

[00:18:02] So what do you need to get qualified leads begging to connect with you?

[00:18:08] These are some of the things that you need.

[00:18:11] And I'm just going to give you four things.

[00:18:14] What do you need to get qualified leads who raise their hand and want to get on the phone

[00:18:19] with you or want to do business with you?

[00:18:21] Number one, you have to have a real solution to their problems.

[00:18:26] If you don't have a solution to their problems, guess what?

[00:18:30] Why are they going to call you?

[00:18:31] So if you're a business owner and you're having a cash flow problem and you need a loan, guess

[00:18:38] what?

[00:18:38] If I can get you that loan, that's a solution to your problem.

[00:18:43] Do you need that solution?

[00:18:45] Yes.

[00:18:46] All right.

[00:18:46] So the first thing you need, you have to have a real solution to their problem.

[00:18:51] If you don't have a solution, guys, then you might as well be out of business.

[00:18:56] You're in business to solve problems.

[00:18:58] That's number one.

[00:18:59] The second thing that you need to get qualified leads begging to connect with you is make them

[00:19:05] qualify themselves through a lead generation system.

[00:19:09] Okay.

[00:19:10] Make them qualify themselves.

[00:19:12] Remember how I told you initially they were going to my website, putting in their name,

[00:19:16] email address, and phone number.

[00:19:17] I'm calling them back.

[00:19:19] You know, some of these cats didn't even have a business yet.

[00:19:22] They were just trying to find out what they needed to do to get a business loan.

[00:19:26] First thing you need to have is at least a business plan.

[00:19:29] All right.

[00:19:30] To get funding.

[00:19:31] But if you have a business that's active, it's easier to get financing because people can

[00:19:36] see what you've been doing.

[00:19:38] Okay.

[00:19:38] So you make them qualify themselves through a lead generation system.

[00:19:43] This weeds out the people that you don't want to waste your time with.

[00:19:47] The third thing you need, and we're talking about what you need to do to get qualified

[00:19:52] leads begging to connect with you is you make them reach out to you.

[00:19:56] And once again, like I said, it's a totally different dynamic than you chasing them.

[00:20:02] So if you keep calling somebody back, if you're in sales or been in sales or an entrepreneur

[00:20:07] and you're chasing customers down, it's draining.

[00:20:12] It's number one, you can't keep doing it all the time.

[00:20:15] That's like your cold calling.

[00:20:17] You're out there chasing people who you don't even know if they want or qualify for your product

[00:20:22] or service.

[00:20:23] Why do you even want to waste your time with them?

[00:20:25] You don't.

[00:20:26] So number three, make them reach out to you.

[00:20:29] And I'll give you a real life example of that.

[00:20:31] Another real life example that in a second.

[00:20:34] Okay.

[00:20:34] And number four, provide a viable solution to their problem, which we already know we

[00:20:41] want to do that.

[00:20:42] Or if they are not qualified yet, help them help them to get qualified in the future.

[00:20:49] You've already spent the money and resources to generate the leads.

[00:20:54] So even if they're not qualified right then, let them know what they need to do or even help

[00:21:01] them know what they need to do to get qualified.

[00:21:04] Now I use this example, this is a real life example in last week's episode.

[00:21:10] So for those of you who don't know, I have a, another, this is my second mortgage business

[00:21:15] I created.

[00:21:16] It's a smaller boutique mortgage business, but I do a lot of business.

[00:21:21] And so what happens is when people come to one of my pages or several of my pages, there

[00:21:28] is a quiz funnel, right?

[00:21:30] And I only have three outcomes for my prospective mortgage companies.

[00:21:36] The highest outcome, if they pre-qualify based on the quiz information they've given me, it

[00:21:43] would be to set up a phone call.

[00:21:45] They would go on my Calendly and they would set up a 15 minute call.

[00:21:50] The next one is if you're not quite mortgage ready, say your credit isn't good.

[00:21:56] You're not quite ready to purchase yet or whatever, or refinance.

[00:22:00] I have a get mortgage ready online course.

[00:22:04] Now I offer them that course and for, for like $97.

[00:22:10] Okay.

[00:22:11] The third outcome, once they go through the quiz, if they tell me their credit is, is, is do,

[00:22:17] do, do, or garbage.

[00:22:19] The first thing that you need to do is start to work on your credit.

[00:22:22] So I have an online credit course that they can take.

[00:22:26] So there's only three outcomes that people that come through that mortgage funnel will

[00:22:32] have.

[00:22:33] If you're ready to go, you know, or you're getting close to, you know, starting to work

[00:22:39] on getting your mortgage phone call.

[00:22:41] If you're not quite mortgage ready based on those quiz answers, I'm going to get you a,

[00:22:47] you know, direct you to the mortgage ready course.

[00:22:49] And if you go through the quiz and you say that your, your credit is jacked up or you

[00:22:53] don't have credit, I'm going to direct you to the credit repair or, you know, how to build

[00:22:59] your credit course that I've created.

[00:23:00] So you provide a valuable solution, viable solution, you know, to their problem, or if

[00:23:08] they don't qualify, help them get qualified for the future.

[00:23:12] So I'm still generating revenues from people who take those offers who aren't ready to purchase

[00:23:19] yet.

[00:23:20] So I've spent the time and money and resources to generate those leads for my mortgage business.

[00:23:26] So now I have three specific outcomes that I can help them with.

[00:23:30] You know, now a percentage of them buy the programs.

[00:23:34] So I'm making money and I'm keeping them in my funnel.

[00:23:38] So once you buy the program, there's a, there's several other email campaigns that you're going

[00:23:43] to continue to get.

[00:23:44] How are you doing with the progress?

[00:23:46] You know, how's your credit?

[00:23:48] Have you checked it lately?

[00:23:49] Bah, bah, bah.

[00:23:50] When you're ready to move to the next step, let me know.

[00:23:54] And what we're talking about now, what you need to do to get qualified leads begging

[00:23:59] to connect with you.

[00:24:00] Number one, have a solution to their problem.

[00:24:03] Number two, make them qualify themselves through a lead generation system.

[00:24:07] Number three, make them reach out to you, which is a totally different dynamic than you chasing

[00:24:12] them.

[00:24:13] And number four, provide a viable solution to their problem.

[00:24:16] Or if they aren't qualified yet, help them get qualified in the future.

[00:24:22] So this is a system.

[00:24:25] Okay.

[00:24:26] And you need systems to leverage your time and to grow and scale your business.

[00:24:32] Now, how do you create that lead generation system?

[00:24:36] All right.

[00:24:36] Well, first, let me just give you this other example.

[00:24:39] I was talking about making people raise their hand and not jump through hoops, but show

[00:24:45] you that they're serious about what you're trying to offer.

[00:24:48] Years ago in a previous life, and I've owned about 17, 18 different businesses throughout

[00:24:54] my entrepreneur career.

[00:24:57] Um, some of them, five of them were abject failures.

[00:25:00] Uh, another four or five was solid businesses.

[00:25:03] I had, uh, four real good businesses, two multimillion dollar businesses.

[00:25:09] And, uh, some, like I said, one or two would, would just total disasters.

[00:25:15] But one of the businesses that I made a little bit of money in and ended up selling was an

[00:25:20] ADT dealership selling home security.

[00:25:23] And so when I was looking to hire sales reps, I was doing it all wrong.

[00:25:29] I would get the resumes.

[00:25:31] I look at the resumes and I start calling people to bring them in for an interview.

[00:25:36] And one day, uh, I met a brother that used to work at a large ADT dealership in, uh, the

[00:25:43] DC area.

[00:25:45] And he answered one of my ads and he became a sales rep and we became pretty good friends.

[00:25:52] And I actually moved him to sales manager.

[00:25:54] And he was telling me, he said, yo, Jay, man, he said, there's a better way to hire people.

[00:26:00] And he said, this is what, uh, you know, our company, how they trained us.

[00:26:04] And what we did was instead of doing the individual one-on-one interviews, we would do a group

[00:26:11] interview and we bring in 10, 20 people.

[00:26:14] We would outline the program, the opportunity, you know, how much you can make by giving away

[00:26:20] a security system.

[00:26:22] And I think at that time we were paying like $250 to give away a free, uh, ADT security

[00:26:28] system.

[00:26:30] And then you start doing the numbers and then you talked about growth and then running a

[00:26:35] team, running an office.

[00:26:37] I had two offices, one in right over the bridge in, uh, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and then one

[00:26:42] in, in Philly.

[00:26:43] And, uh, and I had promoted one of my young, one young boys that was doing well.

[00:26:48] He got that office in Jersey.

[00:26:50] He was making good money, very good money.

[00:26:53] And so we had examples, but what we did was instead of the one-on-one interviews and then

[00:26:59] me chasing these perspective, uh, you know, sales reps, we bought them in as a group and we did

[00:27:05] the presentation and we usually did the presentation on a Monday, I think once on Monday, maybe once

[00:27:12] on Thursday, and we said, if you are interested in this position, I need you to call me Tuesday,

[00:27:21] which tomorrow between one o'clock and three o'clock.

[00:27:25] Okay.

[00:27:26] So now as opposed to me trying to reach out to all these people, what I did was I made them

[00:27:32] raise their hand and say, Hey Jay, I'm interested in this position, you know, uh, whatever.

[00:27:38] And so I would bring them in for training, but it was so much easier for me to actually,

[00:27:44] uh, do this, this way, as opposed to chasing people down.

[00:27:49] I'm chasing 20 people down that have been looking for jobs, you know, for the past couple of

[00:27:54] months or whatever, this way they'll come in and they'll raise their hand.

[00:27:59] Hey, I like the presentation.

[00:28:00] I like the opportunity.

[00:28:02] And guess what?

[00:28:03] I'm a call this guy between one and three tomorrow.

[00:28:06] Cause I need this job.

[00:28:08] And that's how I started building that business.

[00:28:11] So that's what you need to do guys.

[00:28:13] You have to make people raise their hand and provide them with a solution to whatever problem

[00:28:19] it was.

[00:28:19] These people were looking for a higher paying job with flexibility.

[00:28:23] You know, we had people doing, you know, and this was back in the, in the nineties, you

[00:28:28] know, uh, early nineties, mid nineties, we had people selling security systems or giving

[00:28:34] them away.

[00:28:35] You know, they're making a hundred thousand dollars a year back then.

[00:28:38] And so that's how that works when the dynamic is changed.

[00:28:42] Now, how do you create that lead generation system?

[00:28:45] So the easiest way I've found to build a sales system, once again, is to make prospects qualify

[00:28:52] themselves.

[00:28:53] And that was the story once again of ADT when I was an ADT dealer long ago.

[00:28:59] So you want people to qualify themselves.

[00:29:02] And there's several ways you can do it.

[00:29:05] I talked in episode, uh, last week, episode 547 quiz funnels.

[00:29:11] Quiz funnels are a great way to make people qualify themselves.

[00:29:15] It's just like when you are doing an intake call, right?

[00:29:20] Somebody calls in and they want to know about your product or service.

[00:29:23] I'll even take it more granular.

[00:29:25] You go into the sneaker store and you're looking for sneakers.

[00:29:29] Somebody comes up to you.

[00:29:30] Hey, how you doing?

[00:29:31] What are you looking for?

[00:29:32] I'm looking for, uh, you know, this Nike, blah, blah, blah, or something similar.

[00:29:38] And there's a question and answer period where they help.

[00:29:42] They're trying to deduce what you want.

[00:29:44] And then they, they're going to recommend you a sneaker that you want.

[00:29:49] So what the quiz is doing, it's doing that for you.

[00:29:53] And it's able to weed out people that are serious and people that aren't serious.

[00:29:58] People that are ready, willing, and able to make a decision or purchase right now versus

[00:30:03] people that may want to, but might not qualify to make a purchase right now.

[00:30:09] So quiz funnel is a great way.

[00:30:11] An intake form or intake call.

[00:30:15] You know, a lot of times if you're looking for, and I get generate leads for assisted

[00:30:19] living facilities.

[00:30:21] So a lot of times people will call and the assisted living facility will ask a series of

[00:30:26] questions.

[00:30:27] You know, is this for you?

[00:30:28] Or is this for a loved one, a parent?

[00:30:30] You know, how old are they?

[00:30:31] What's their physical limitations?

[00:30:33] What do they need?

[00:30:34] It's an intake call.

[00:30:36] You're gathering data, gathering information.

[00:30:39] Another way that you can create a lead generation system is a phone call qualification, as I just

[00:30:45] mentioned.

[00:30:46] But whatever method works best for your business vertical guys, you have to get information first

[00:30:53] before you spend a whole lot of time dealing with, with qualified or unqualified prospects.

[00:31:01] The biggest waste of time is dealing with unqualified prospects.

[00:31:06] Not that they're not going to be ready to buy at a future date, but you got to eat, right?

[00:31:12] So you want to separate the wheat from the chaff, right?

[00:31:15] So you want to find who's ready to rock and roll right now.

[00:31:19] Those people I'm going to address and try to convert to customers versus somebody that I'm going to have to nurture over a period of time.

[00:31:29] So that's why guys, you have to get leads or you're going to get out of business.

[00:31:35] And for the life of me, I can't understand, you know, why, you know, business owners, entrepreneurs, perspective entrepreneurs.

[00:31:46] The first thing you need to focus on is lead generation systems, systems, systems move big things.

[00:31:58] It's like a door, you know, a lever lifts something heavier than what you can lift on its own hinges, move big doors.

[00:32:07] You need a system, guys, not some crap you're throwing up against the wall.

[00:32:12] Well, I'm going to a networking event today.

[00:32:16] I'm going to send out five emails tomorrow.

[00:32:19] I'm going to go knock on doors on the next day.

[00:32:21] That's not a system.

[00:32:22] That's a hodgepodge.

[00:32:25] So when in order to grow and scale, guys, you need systems.

[00:32:30] Before we hit to this last segment of the show, let me just share my contact information and resource links before we hit this last segment of the show.

[00:32:40] I mentioned at the top of the show, guys, if you're looking to build a lead generation system, go to five day lead gen dot com.

[00:32:50] The number five D.A.Y. L.E.A.D. G.E.N. dot com.

[00:32:55] Five day lead gen.

[00:32:56] It's a short five day email course, meaning every day for five days straight, you're going to get an email lesson with with things to do for the next course.

[00:33:08] It's going to actually take you through to help you create and build a simple but effective lead generation system within five days.

[00:33:16] Five day lead gen dot com.

[00:33:18] Also, don't forget to utilize the resources on the website.

[00:33:22] Go to black entrepreneur blueprint dot com.

[00:33:25] Hit the learn tab and all of the resources are going to drop down or all the all the categories of resources are going to drop down.

[00:33:33] Click on what you need to help on and go there and utilize it.

[00:33:38] It's free, guys.

[00:33:39] Also, anybody that wants to connect with me, I'm going to give you all my social media contact information real quick.

[00:33:46] But anything long hit me on my email.

[00:33:49] Jay Jones at black entrepreneur blueprint dot com.

[00:33:52] J.A.Y.

[00:33:54] J.O.N.E.S.

[00:33:55] At black entrepreneur blueprint dot com.

[00:33:58] Facebook black entrepreneur blueprint.

[00:34:00] Instagram.

[00:34:01] I have two I.G.

[00:34:02] accounts.

[00:34:02] The first one is Jay Jones for real.

[00:34:05] J.A.Y.

[00:34:06] J.O.N.E.S.

[00:34:07] The number four.

[00:34:08] R.E.A.L.

[00:34:10] Second one is black entrepreneur blueprint.

[00:34:12] Twitter or X.

[00:34:14] You can connect with me at Jay Jones zero zero one.

[00:34:17] J.A.Y.

[00:34:19] J.O.N.E.S.

[00:34:20] Zero zero one.

[00:34:22] LinkedIn.

[00:34:22] Go to LinkedIn and type in Jay Jones black entrepreneur blueprint.

[00:34:26] Connect with me there.

[00:34:27] Also YouTube.

[00:34:28] Make sure you subscribe to the YouTube channel.

[00:34:31] Go to YouTube.

[00:34:32] Hit black entrepreneur blueprint.

[00:34:33] Hit that subscribe button.

[00:34:35] We have additional content on YouTube that is not on the show.

[00:34:39] And for all you first time listeners.

[00:34:41] We drop every Monday morning 5 a.m.

[00:34:44] Eastern Standard Time on all your major podcast platforms and YouTube.

[00:34:49] So wherever you watch this or listen to this episode.

[00:34:53] Make sure you hit that subscribe button.

[00:34:55] So you can be alerted when new episodes drop.

[00:34:58] Now let's get back to the last segment of the show.

[00:35:01] And today we talked about get leads or die trying the strategy that saved my business.

[00:35:07] And I'm just going to sum this up real quick guys.

[00:35:10] You have to have a lead generation system.

[00:35:14] It's no ifs.

[00:35:15] It's no ands.

[00:35:16] It's no buts.

[00:35:17] If you do not have one.

[00:35:20] I guarantee you.

[00:35:21] You will be struggling.

[00:35:23] If you're still in business.

[00:35:25] Okay.

[00:35:26] It doesn't make any sense not to have a formalized lead generation system.

[00:35:32] And my five day lead gen.com that teaches you how to build a simple lead gen system.

[00:35:39] If you don't know what you're doing or you need help.

[00:35:43] Okay.

[00:35:44] Lead generation is the key.

[00:35:46] It's the fuel.

[00:35:47] It's the blood that keeps your business running.

[00:35:52] Every business guys needs qualified leads.

[00:35:56] I mentioned at the top of the show.

[00:35:58] There is a cottage industry.

[00:36:01] And like I said, I shouldn't even say cottage.

[00:36:03] There is a billion plus dollar industry called lead generation.

[00:36:10] Solar companies need leads.

[00:36:13] Software companies need leads.

[00:36:15] All businesses need leads.

[00:36:17] I was just talking to one solar company.

[00:36:19] They said that they spend over two million dollars a month from leads to buy leads from lead generation companies.

[00:36:27] Mortgage companies.

[00:36:28] Real estate companies.

[00:36:29] Financial advisors.

[00:36:31] My God.

[00:36:32] How many financial advisors, insurance agents, and mortgage loan officers do you know that are starving?

[00:36:39] You might be one of them right now listening to this.

[00:36:42] Right?

[00:36:42] Because you don't have a lead generation system.

[00:36:45] How many coaches or consultants or CPAs, you know, tax accountants, whatever, are listening to this right now and are struggling?

[00:36:54] Because you don't have a lead generation system.

[00:36:58] It doesn't matter if you sell socks or hot sauce, whatever you're selling.

[00:37:05] If you sell a physical product, you need a lead generation system.

[00:37:10] Okay?

[00:37:11] No ifs, no ands, or buts.

[00:37:14] If you want to be a successful, sustainable business, you'll heed my advice.

[00:37:20] You have to have a system.

[00:37:22] A lot of times entrepreneurs come in and they're like, oh yeah, I'm doing this, that, and all the other.

[00:37:28] That's great.

[00:37:29] I got to do my standard operating procedures.

[00:37:32] You might not even be operating in three months.

[00:37:34] Right?

[00:37:35] If you don't have a lead generation system.

[00:37:38] The three most important systems that any business has.

[00:37:43] And I don't care what stage you're in.

[00:37:46] Any business ad is a lead generation system.

[00:37:50] A fulfillment system.

[00:37:52] How are you going to fulfill those sales?

[00:37:54] And also a referral system.

[00:37:57] How are you going to generate referrals from the prospects or the people you come in contact with?

[00:38:03] Everything else after that is gravy.

[00:38:05] Because if you have enough qualified leads that are going to generate enough or more than enough sales to generate more than enough revenue, you're going to have the revenues to build all your other systems.

[00:38:19] Focus on lead generation systems first.

[00:38:24] That's what you need.

[00:38:25] No leads equals no sales equals no business.

[00:38:29] I can't put it any more blunt than that, guys.

[00:38:32] So when you're sitting there doing a 300 page business plan, trust me, been there, done that.

[00:38:39] And you don't have a lead generation system.

[00:38:42] Everything else is a moot point unless you just are flush full of cash or financing.

[00:38:47] And even with that, these multi-billion dollar companies with a B and multi-million dollar companies understand how important it is to have a consistent flow of qualified leads.

[00:39:03] You don't make money or build a big business or be able to scale your business if you don't have consistent qualified leads.

[00:39:11] I'm trying to get this through your head, guys, because when I'm talking to some coaching students, the first question I ask them will probably the second is, do you have a lead generation system, a formal one?

[00:39:24] Not a hodgepodge that you're trying something new every week.

[00:39:28] Do you have a formalized lead generation system?

[00:39:31] And I can guarantee you, the ones that are struggling or damn near about to go out of business, do not.

[00:39:39] Even some of the ones that have hit a plateau need tweaking with their lead generation system.

[00:39:45] So this is super important, guys.

[00:39:48] And I'm trying to focus on the most impactful episodes that are going to move you from point A to point B.

[00:39:55] OK, if you have a problem with generating leads, I'm trying to give you a solution.

[00:40:01] Go to five day lead gen dot com for a simple solution that's going to get you up and running.

[00:40:07] Right.

[00:40:08] But if you want to scale, you're going to need to do other things.

[00:40:12] And so we'll talk about scaling later on.

[00:40:16] You got to be in the game to be able to scale.

[00:40:18] Right.

[00:40:19] So if you're struggling just to pay your bills, you're not you're not really in the situational position to scale yet because you probably haven't created that lead generation system yet.

[00:40:30] All right.

[00:40:30] It's I'm telling you, that's where it all starts and that's where it all ends.

[00:40:35] And if you don't have one, you better get one.

[00:40:38] All right.

[00:40:39] I'm not trying to be rude or whatever, but it makes absolutely no sense.

[00:40:45] I get it when you start a new business and it's your first time.

[00:40:50] You may not understand that.

[00:40:52] But once you start struggling to make deals or sell things, whatever you're trying to sell and that money is getting short and that month is getting longer and longer and longer.

[00:41:02] You got to figure it out, man.

[00:41:03] And if you don't, guess what?

[00:41:05] You down.

[00:41:06] You going out.

[00:41:07] You know, you down for the count.

[00:41:09] Cancel Christmas.

[00:41:11] Literally.

[00:41:11] All right.

[00:41:12] So we got to focus on building lead generation systems.

[00:41:16] Now, I say this each and every week, guys, because it's true.

[00:41:19] We get more and more leads because of you.

[00:41:22] The B.E.B.

[00:41:24] family.

[00:41:24] I appreciate you guys so much.

[00:41:26] Please continue to spread the word about the podcast, the books, the online courses, everything designed in this ecosystem to help you build a successful, sustainable business.

[00:41:40] Remember, it's not about me.

[00:41:41] It's not about you.

[00:41:42] It's about us.

[00:41:43] It's about building an economic power base in the worldwide black community by building and supporting black owned businesses.

[00:41:51] Love you guys.

[00:41:52] See you same time next week.

[00:41:54] Peace.