Local Lead Plan Review
Written by Amanda, Posted in Business, Local Lead Gen
What is Local Lead Gen?
This review assumes you know the basics of Local Lead Gen. If you don’t, the first few links in my Local SEO Resources post will get you started.
Local Lead Generation How-To
Earlier this year Chad Frederiksen (CDFNetworks.com) wrote “Local Lead Plan: A Comprehensive Guide to Running a Successful Local Lead Gen Business.” I received the launch email, put it on the back burner while I was doing projects, and totally forgot about it until October.
So, like you, I thought “if I can get a list of 83 niches and Adhustler’s Local Online advertising series free, why would I pay $79 to buy an ebook?”
I would have had an immeasurably more profitable year if I’d done a couple things Chad mentions in his 115-page book, specifically with regard to handling leads, tracking and one really important lead negotiation tip in the first full sentence of page 18.
A few Local Lead Plan Takeaways
- Chad really knows what his stuff. Local Lead Plan is well-researched and aggregates everything you need to know to go from zero to hero with a local lead generation business (minus actually doing it for you) in one place; niches, landing pages (including a template), traffic sources, pay per call, tracking and negotiation is all covered.
- Local Lead Plan doesn’t pretend to be a get rich quick scheme. There are a lot of pieces to the puzzle and “it requires work on your part to implement the strategies in the book,” but Chad provides you his experience, tools, and points you in the right direction.
- He’s not trying to upsell you on anything. The cost is a flat $79; no rebill, no affiliate links, no email list subscriptions.
- The experience-based information is what, in my opinion, makes buying Local Lead Plan a no brainer. For example, in Chapter 7 “Handling Leads- Web,” Chad talks about the concept of lead spoilage- specifically that it is critical your client understands that they have to follow up while the customer is in “buy mode” and certainly no later than 24 hours. I hadn’t read this before but he’s absolutely spot-on; I use this in my client questionnaire now to prescreen potentially disasterous business relationships before they happen. (Nothing like being told you don’t know what you’re doing and only later finding out the client only calls their leads back once a week.)
- Local Lead Plan includes actionable specifics, such as:
- Sample contract/local lead gen agreement
- Sample sales proposal
- Sample invoices
- Local negative keyword list
- PHP scripts to change your landing page based on time of day… to name a few.
So now you know what I liked about it. Here are the things I think could use a little work.
Things I wish were better
The Local Lead Generation forum seems to have been dead on arrival (150 members, 112 topics, 603 total posts since April). Since AdHustler and I are doing a panel at Affiliate Summit West in a few weeks, I’ve had a lot of people start a conversation about Local Lead Gen and Local SEO that I had no idea were even in the niche. I think the forum idea was a good one simply implemented earlier then the market arrived for it, or was more of an afterthought for promotion. By my count I see three sessions at ASW11 on Local Lead Generation, Local Search or Local Affiliate Marketing; so either this forum could stand to be made public or a similar subforum on a larger one (e.g. Wickedfire, WMW or similar) could be built. Or, alternatively, maybe a semi-weekly Twitter chat with a branded hashtag (#llgchat ?) could be a way to share and engage thoughts from the various players in the industry in one place.
The second critique is not a product of Local Lead Plan‘s deficiency as much as the static nature of the content. With Google’s lastest algorithm change, the new Google Places rollout has completely changed the local organic search landscape and some of the information about Google Local in Chapter 14 is dated. If you’re reading Chad, I’d love to see an update about how Google Places have changed your organic lead collection efforts.
Conclusion
99.9% of ebooks are crap. Local Lead Plan is not.
If you are serious about building a web-based business that gets you out from under the rock of your 9-5, Local Lead Generation is the “low hanging fruit” between affiliate marketing and SEO in 2011. Implementing the ideas in this book will help you create a sustainable business.
Thanks for the unsolicited review Amanda!
About the forum. This was never planned when the book first launched. I had many requests from people who had purchased the course for an area to discuss their experiences and questions. I quickly threw the forum together to meet that need, but to be honest I haven’t put much effort into it beyond that, and it shows. I was hoping it would be one of those things that grows and maintains itself, but clearly I need to get in there and start posting more and recruit someone to moderate (any volunteers?). I think it could be a great resource for LLG with some care and feeding, I am just so busy actually doing the stuff in the course that I don’t a lot of time.
Yes, there have been some changes to the LLG space that I am addressing in a Ver 2 coming out probably in early ’11. I will send it out to everyone who had purchased the course for free.
1st, no problem on the review. It’s an excellent product I’ve personally recommended for no compensation to friends for weeks now.
2nd, the forum definitely could use some care and feeding. To be honest, with the popularity of the related posts on Wickedfire I’m surprised a subforum hasn’t been created there yet. Unlike PPC Arbitrage, the business model is infallible against algorithm shifts and I’ve personally used the business profits to reinvest into affiliate marketing campaigns and real estate. The potential is there, it just requires application, testing, and a commitment to building a business instead of fostering a ‘make money online’ hobby.
Excited to see what Ver2 offers when it comes out. Please keep us posted, and continue posting on your blog. There’s great stuff there that I’ve continued to return to and mine over the last year.
Sounds like a nice little ebook product based on your review for anyone looking to get into local lead generation or businesses wanting to boost their existing local lead gen revenue.
Besides the forum, is there anything you think could have been explained better or was left out?
I would like to have seen more ad case studies, specifically w/r/t Facebook Ads for local lead gen.
Better explanation? If I was going to improve Local Lead Plan at all, I’d write more about the acquisition of clients and retention of clients. As Mad Men’s Don Draper says, “The day you sign a client is the day you start losing him.”
While Chad and I both agree on mining your personal and professional network foremost for initial local lead generation contacts… you have to expand beyond merely this and it’s a point I have struggled with.
Chad’s book is total quality.