Looking for new lead generation opportunities?
They’re everywhere.
You can run advertisements, work with influencers, sponsor podcasts or newsletters, and build your website’s SEO — those are just a few ideas.
Here, we’re going to share our favorite lead-gen opportunity. It’s called The Dream 100 and it’s generated hundreds of thousands of leads for us here at ClickFunnels (and for our members).
But before we show you how that works, let’s take a look at your lead-gen foundation.
The Lead Generation Foundation
If I drove a million high-quality visitors to your website, how many of them would turn into leads?
That’s an important question to answer.
Because your lead generation efforts depend on the effectiveness of your digital experience.
And the best way to build a high-converting experience is to drive traffic to a sales funnel instead of a website.
Why?
A website is filled with low-converting practices — lots of options, navigation that allows for browsing, and a lack of focus.
For targeted conversions, a website behaves like a brick wall…
That’s why we created this funny video talking about the death of websites…
Maybe websites aren’t totally dead — they’re still useful for branding purposes and as a general hub for existing customers. But they’re certainly less effective at generating leads than sales funnels.
Where a website is like a brick wall, a sales funnel is like a slippery slide — they are page-by-page experiences that guide visitors toward a single conversion event (giving you their email address or phone number, for instance).
As expected, there are different sales funnels for different things.
There are sales funnels for generating leads or making sales, for hosting online events or accepting applications — just about every conversion event under the sun.
Here, we’re worried exclusively about lead generation.
Don’t just drive people to your website, send them to a sales funnel that systematically turns visitors into leads.
Here are some sales funnels you could create (with links to our sales funnel templates)…
Reverse Squeeze Page
Use this sales funnel if you want to bribe people into giving you their email address with a free lead magnet (ebook, email course, white paper, cheat sheet, etc.) Get your template here and start building it for free!
Application Sales Funnel
Use this sales funnel if you’re promoting a high-ticket offer and want to have people apply before they find out more. This is a great way to generate and qualify your incoming leads. Click here to get your template and start building for free.
Webinar Sales Funnel
The webinar sales funnel is great for generating leads on the front end (during registration) and making sales on the backend (during the replay). Click here to get a template and build it for free. And if you don’t know how to host a high-performing webinar, then go snag our Perfect Webinar Secrets for just $7.
There you have it!
Before you drive traffic, you need a high-quality and compelling sales funnel that converts traffic like clockwork.
So choose one of the templates above, create an exciting offer, and start building.
That’s the foundation that all your lead-gen efforts will stand upon.
The Dream 100 Process For Lead Generation (Plus An Example)
The process we’re going to walk you through in this article is for identifying new lead generation opportunities.
It’s the process we’ve used many times here at ClickFunnels… and it’s the process many of our members use to grow their businesses.
We call it The Dream 100.
Start by watching the video below…
Here’s the gist…
- Get super clear on who your target market is.
- Identify where your dream customers hang out online (ideally, find 100 different places).
- Drive those people to your lead-gen sales funnel by either…
- Buying your way in
- Working your way in
Then it’s just a matter of rinsing and repeating.
As you follow this process, you’ll identify tons of new opportunities. And with practice, you’ll figure out which opportunities to pursue and which ones to ignore.
Here are the steps in more detail.
1. Identify Your Target Market
The first step is to identify, in riveting detail, who your dream customers are.
Here’s how Russell Brunson explains this step in his bestselling book, Traffic Secrets:
“The first step in this process is to become obsessed with your dream customer. Companies that become obsessed with their products will eventually fail… Being obsessed with your customer means understanding them just as well, if not better, than they understand themselves.”
You should know…
- Their dreams and desires
- Their fears and worries
- Their income and demographic
… and lots more.
The more you know about your dream customers, the easy it’ll be to…
- Build a sales funnel that compels them to convert.
- Find where they congregate online.
Check out the video below to learn how to create your customer avatar the right way…
How do you know once you’ve created a clear customer avatar?
You should be able to answer the following questions…
- How much money do they make?
- What are they afraid of?
- What is their dream for their life?
- What are their goals?
- What do they do in their free time?
- Who are their heroes?
- Who are their enemies?
If you can answer those questions, then you’ve probably got a pretty good idea of exactly who your business serves.
In that case, it’s time to move onto the second step.
2. Find Your Dream 100
Now that we know who your dream customers are, it’ll be pretty easy to find the places where they congregate online.
Start by asking yourself these questions…
- What are the top websites that my dream customers already go to?
- What forums or message boards do they participate in?
- What are the Facebook groups they engage in?
- Who are the influencers they follow on Facebook and Instagram?
- What podcasts do they listen to?
- What are the email newsletters they are subscribed to?
- What blogs do they read?
- What channels are they following on YouTube?
- What keywords are they searching for in Google to find information?
Jot down your answers!
You might not come up with 100 places… but 50? 70? Write down as many places as you can.
The bigger your list, the more opportunities you’ll have to get in front of your dream customers!
If nothing else, try to identify…
- 10 top websites
- 10 active Facebook groups
- 10 influencers
- 10 podcasts
- 10 email newsletters
The easiest way to find these places is by searching on Google or asking your customers about their favorite podcasts or newsletters (you could even send out a survey!).
Check out the video below to learn more about this process…
3. Infiltrate Your Dream 100
You’ve identified your dream customer and you’ve found a ton of different places where those people congregate online.
Now it’s time for infiltration.
We’re going to spend the first couple of months trying to work our way into those environments to attain free publicity.
For the places where that doesn’t work, those are the places where you’ll pay to get attention.
Let’s dive in!
Work Your Way In
There’s a common saying in entrepreneurial circles: dig your well before you’re thirsty.
Because it’s going to take time to finish digging the well. If you start digging once you’re thirsty, you’ll be dead by the time the well is finished.
The same is true for the Dream 100 process.
Don’t wait to start this process until your product is ready to launch… start working on it now. This process takes time and the sooner you start building relationships with influential people, the easier it’ll be to leverage those relationships when the time comes.
The goal is to build relationships with key decision-makers.
Here’s the first thing Russell Brunson does…
“First, I subscribe to everything that my Dream 100 are publishing. If they’re on your Dream 100, they probably publish on at least one, if not many, different platforms. I’ll listen to their podcasts, read their blog, watch their stories on Instagram, and join their email newsletter because there will likely be a chance in the near future that I’ll have to actually speak to them.”
That’s the first part of “working your way in” — follow everyone and everything associated with your Dream 100.
Seems like too much to manage?
Here’s what Russell does…
For Newsletters — “I create a new email address that is set up specifically for my Dream 100 campaign, and I use that new email address to join everyone’s list. I make a filter that pushes each person’s email instantly into a folder so my inbox stays clean.”
Social Media — “I only use my social apps for two reasons: to produce and publish content, and to spy on my Dream 100. I don’t use them to be “social”… from this point forward, you should never look at yourself as a ‘consumer’ of social media but as a ‘producer’ of it. You produce content and pay close attention to what your Dream 100 is doing on each of those platforms. That’s it.
Then Russell Brunson buys some of the products of this Dream 100 and looks for opportunities where he might be able to serve each of them.
Because he knows that if he helps them out, they’ll be more willing to help him out — maybe that means offering his expertise as a funnel hacker… or maybe it means sharing their content on social media.
Seems like a lot of work?
“This process may seem like a lot of work — and it is — but it’s the foundation for getting traffic, it’s also the best way to figure out your place in the market’s ecosystem.”
Here’s the complete “work your way in” process in a nutshell…
- Days 1 – 14 — Follow all of your Dream 100 and pay attention to their content. Comment on it or share it when there’s a good opportunity to do so. Over this two-week period, you want the person to start becoming familiar with your face and viewing you as a fan.
- Days 15 – 30 — Message each person on your Dream 100 and simply try to open up a dialogue. Don’t ask them for anything. Just introduce yourself and tell them how much you appreciate their content or products. Periodically stay in contact with them over this period.
- Days 31 – 60 — Pitch each person on your Dream 100 a collaborative idea. Ask them if they’d like to become an affiliate, or if they want a free copy of your book, or if they want a free subscription to your service. Whatever the case, make sure you offer them something before you ask for something in return.
That’s it!
That’s the process.
Follow it with the people on your Dream 100 list and you’ll be surprised at how many of them you get to work with for free.
Buy Your Way In
Of course, when you’re trying to work your way in, some of the people on your Dream 100 won’t respond or they won’t be interested in your collaborative proposal.
If you still want to get in front of their audience, then “buying your way in” is the next step.
This is a much simpler process.
Here are some options…
- Pay For Sponsorships — On podcasts and newsletters, you can just pay for sponsorships. This is as easy as asking for a price and then paying to get sponsored.
- Run Ads To Their Audience — With Facebook or YouTube, you can run advertisements to a person’s audience without even asking for their permission. If you know your dream customers follow a certain person, then this is a great option.
- Pay Influencers — You can pay influencers to get them to promote your products or services. Just negotiate a price.
- Google Ads — Have a list of high-value keywords that your dream customers regularly type into Google? You can run ads targeting those exact keywords rather than creating content and waiting for it to rank.
Set your budget and get going.
Although it might not be as attractive as the “working your way in” process, it’s certainly a whole lot less work.
Final Thoughts: Do What Works!
Throughout the Dream 100 process, you’re going to find what things that work… and things that don’t work.
Stick with what works — keep doing it! And ditch what doesn’t work.
Experiment, track your results, learn, and try again.
That’s the process.
All that’s left now is for you to get started! Click the link below to start building your lead-gen sales funnel for free!