A common mistake online businesses make is when they attempt to market their company, web site or product through institutional marketing methods. Institutional or conventional marketing is the kind that simply says "I'm open for business." It really doesn't do much. In essence, it simply advertises the mere existence of a business or web site -- it does not direct its audience in a clear, specific and succinct way to take some kind of action.

Using these types of approaches marketers fail to produce the results that they seek and then usually wonder why. Institutional marketing is what marketer Dan Kennedy calls "GoodYear Blimp" marketing -- like the GoodYear blimp, which hovers over a football stadium filled with cheering fans, the aim is to instill warm, fuzzy feelings about Good Year into the mind.

Obviously, the marketing executives at GoodYear are certainly not thinking that people will leave the stands at half-time and rush out to buy their tires. But, like Dan explains, their strategy is to have people associate -- likely at a subconscious level -- warm, fuzzy feelings with Good Year by flying the blimp during an emotional event. And the next time they are in need of, say, winter tires, Good Year is hopefully the instinctive choice.

When Internet marketers apply institutional marketing however, the problem that they often encounter is the fact that this type of approach tends to generate little or no business because of the "click-happy," direct response nature of the web. Agreeably, it may produce some results over time. But more often than not, the response produced is generally one comprised of curious or unqualified prospects -- or "suspects," in other words.

Because of the hypercompetitive nature of the Internet and the fact that it is constantly bombarding us with information, trying to catch decent fish (i.e., good, qualified prospects) in an ocean filled with millions of minnows can sometimes be worse than trying to find a needle in the haystack. In the end, it can become frustrating and often self-effacing.

Take It Step By Step

However, what I call directional marketing is an approach in which people are asked to do something -- anything, be it to click on a link, subscribe to an ezine or buy a product. However, this goes beyond simply getting prospects to recognize that the business exists on the web or even leading them to a favorable outcome. It also includes the process of finding good quality visitors that isolate themselves from the curiosity-seekers.

The goal here is to generate what I call "expects" (i.e., prospects that are qualified, interested and ready to buy, or in other words prospects that are expecting to do business). But often, marketers think that by selling themselves right in their advertisements they will get not only an immediate response but also immediate business. On the web, this oftentimes backfires and can even take away customers, which is counterproductive.

A concept that's been around for years but has recently become very popular is multi-step marketing. It's a process in which businesses use direct marketing in order to obtain an immediate response from their efforts. However, they use this technique to isolate their expects from their suspects -- and not necessarily to sell their products directly.

They do so by offering a free (or low cost) report, software, ebook, sample, article or service. However, little do people know that the product is part of a gradual qualification process. For example, advertisers will offer a freebie that somehow targets their perfect customer. In other words, those who respond are likely to fall within the advertiser's target market, thereby isolating themselves from the rest of the fish in the ocean.

Often called "lead generation marketing," this process helps marketers to define, identify and qualify their market more clearly. In the end, it is easier and more cost-effective to promote regular, larger or more pricey offers to an audience that has somehow identified itself beforehand as being apt to buy. Moreover, the process alone can help stimulate more profitable sales by increasing a prospect's level of interest along the way.

Having consulted many cosmetic surgeons, I've realized that this process is obviously essential if not vital. For instance, no one can call a person on the phone and outright ask if that person is bald and wants more hair, especially without knowing if that person is bald in the first place. However, doctors will first advertise a free information kit offer, which explains the procedure and the potential results of hair transplantation.

Naturally, people who respond will fit into that specific demographic. More importantly, these prospects are not only demonstrating the fact that they are suffering from hair loss but also identifying themselves as being in the market for some kind of solution to their "problem." Doctors are therefore isolating their patients from the crowd -- people who not only need more hair but also want more hair (since not all of them do).

Tune In With Your Leads

If you offer a specific product online that caters to a certain target market, get your market to come forward before you attempt to sell your product to them. Again, with information being in high demand, products such as ebooks, articles and free reports are quite effective in this regard. They don't have to be product-specific or industry-specific. As long as they target an audience that fits within your target market, you're OK.

An example I often give of directional marketing is the piano business. Pianos consist of a row of metal strings similar to a guitar. When a key is pressed, a piece of felted wood (called fulcrum) hits a string, which in turn produces a specific note. These strings are held both in place and in tune by a series of tuning pegs screwed into a wooden plank. Essentially, the tension applied to a string is what controls a note's specific pitch.

Like the guitar, in order to tune a particular note the peg is screwed a little tighter into the wood until the string itself becomes tighter and creates the desired pitch. Over time however, pegs eventually strip the wood and older pianos tend to fall out of tune considerably. Pegs are then replaced with larger ones until, one day, the piano is too old and broken beyond repair.

Many unscrupulous salespeople will "dope" pianos so that they remain temporarily in tune until these instruments are sold to unsuspecting buyers. They do this by spraying water onto the wooden planks inside, which causes the wood to expand and thus grip the tuning pegs more firmly. But eventually, the water evaporates as pianos return to their original state. And once buyers become aware of the problem, it's already too late.

A piano salesperson ran a small classified ad. It said:

"Beware parents in the market for a piano! Many parents buy used pianos for their kids because they don't know if they'll love music and want to minimize the risk of losing their investment. However, many used pianos are internally broken and temporarily 'doped' in order to be sold quickly -- only to become broken again when it's too late. Before you buy any piano at any price, call for our free, special report, 'Don't Let Piano Problems Put Your Bank Account Out Of Tune: Six Ways To Find Commonly Hidden Problems With Used Pianos'."

His report not only explained hidden faults commonly found in older pianos, but since he was catering to a target market (i.e., parents) it also went on to explain how used pianos fall out of tune quickly causing children to learn the piano the wrong way and eventually to lose interest -- let alone the parents' money. Consequently, parents who responded to the advertisement were naturally in the market for a piano for their children.

Of course, what the salesperson really wanted was to get these parents to buy new or professionally refurbished pianos from him. But the resulting effect was that the report not only brought qualified prospects to his door, which made it easy for him to target his market, but also instilled in his prospects a greater confidence in the salesperson for supplying such a valuable service. Unlike a blatant ad, the report gave the salesperson instant credibility.

In essence, look at lead generation as a form of job search. Like institutional marketing, people often send bulky resumes to potential employers in an attempt to sell themselves when very often their attempts get filed away -- into the round file, that is. However, most career consultants stress the importance of summarizing a resume into a single page because, simply put, a resume is not meant to land a job but to land an interview.

In the same way, try to land "interviews" with your prospects and not just sales. Find ways of magnetizing your site by offering something for free (or something that can be sold for a minimal cost) that, when acquired by your interested visitors, helps you to isolate your expects from your suspects. In other words, think of your lead generator as a sonar that will help you to find the fish you really want rather than fishing in the middle of the ocean.

"It's your unlimited power to care and to love that can make the biggest difference in the quality of your life."

*-- Tony Robbins