I am a huge advocate of multiple lines of online income.

I started putting together a list of ways people could make online income and the list got fairly long – and feel free to add ones I forgot to the comments area.

1. Article and Blog Writing
2. Affiliate Marketing
3. Google Adsense and similar Ad networks
4. EBay
5. Consulting
6. Web Hosting
7. Website Design
8. Selling Themes for WordPress
9. Membership Websites
10. eBooks
11. Selling Video Training
12. Publish a Book (Kindle anyone?)
13. Joint Venture Broker
14. Social Media Manager
15. Virtual Assistant
16. Craigslist
17. Linking Services along with SEO
18. Webinars
19. Copywriting
20. Sales Page Designer
21. Niche Market Researching

The list goes on and on.  I think the key is to build a system for each one and then you can do multiple income sources at the same time.  If you build a measurable, repeatable system it will be much easier.

A few years ago I strictly sold higher end solutions.  No PHP, no open source and no free tools.

I come from a big corporate background and using enterprise tools was the only way to go.

And while there is some use for it still, you really have to get out of this mentality if you are still thinking this way.  For example, there are enterprise blogging systems, but are they really necessary?  Every SEO expert I talk to says WordPress beats any enterprise blogging system – and it is a free, open source blogging platform.

Now you may still want to use a system like our lead generation blogging system to help your WordPress site perform better, but you are still on an Open Source Blogging system you own.

Then there was that whole .Net thing.  I never did think there were big advantages.  Once we switched to .Net everything took longer, things were harder to update and at times we could not debug easily.  I was sold on why it was better but it never seemed better to me, although my programmers liked it.  Now I do everything exclusive PHP.

About 9 months ago a client called me and wanted me to set up Oracle for him.  I was at the library with my daughter, but I asked him what we was trying to do with it.

He needed a simple time keeping system that could be accessed from remote locations.

I pointed him to Google Docs and saved him tens of thousands of dollars – and he loves the solution.

The idea of Enterprise software has changed.  I prefer multiple tools good at specific things instead of complex packages that try to do everything.

I prefer open source.

I prefer things that can plug into other things and leverage the specialty of the initial software.

And I prefer our WordPress integrated publishing and lead generation software to any Enterprise Blog Software you could buy.

What are the best practices for blog lead generation?

I hope you do not question whether a blog can generate leads or not.  It can and does every day.

However, it is not the fact that it is a blog that makes it a lead generator.  It is because it is the perfect tool to develop a content marketing strategy to attract buyers and generate leads.

The first thing you need to do it to decide what your blog lead generation strategy is.  There are two very different strategies, and you can pursue both, but you should do so on two different blogs.

#1 is developing your expert status. This is when you build relationships with your readers and write interesting things frequently.  This is hard and takes time, but the payoff can be big.  People like Chris Brogan have leveraged a blog into a speaking career, author and more.  However, this is a bit of a crap shoot and I do not like to encourage this approach unless someone understands it will probably take years and will take a very steady effort over that time.

#2 is utilizing WordPress as an SEO and lead generation tool.  In this approach, you set up a blog targeting niche keywords and work the system to rank well in search for those words.  When people land on the blog from search engines they get the article and also see your clear call to action and some will become leads for you.

The good thing about #2 is that you can expect faster results normally and you do not have the pressure of writing extremely unique articles several times a week.  This is especially important for people that want leads in areas that are not so flashy.  For example, if you have a steak restaurant or a roofing company, do you really want to become an industry expert or do you just want some targeted, local leads?  Obviously the second option is the best for those kinds of businesses.

The problem with many marketers and Internet consultants is they think one size fits all.  They keep beating the drum of relationships and expert status, when all someone really wants is 10 more inbound leads per month that are worth $200,000 per month in new sales and cost $100 to generate and took about an hour of their time in the month.  (example)

The social media consultants that are selling relationships need to start taking their own advice and listening to business owners.  Most want results, not fluff.  Blog lead generation works if you understand what your goal is up front and focus on it.

I am a big fan of building membership sites.

Some people think of them as only tools to create reoccurring revenue, but they can also be used for other things.

For example, access to a membership site can be a free upgrade or bonus when someone purchases something.

Or it can be a way to train sales people, affiliates or virtual assistants.

WordPress is a great free tool, but it is not the best for managing membership sites.  Unless you buy the WordPress Membership Software plugin called Wishlist Member.

I have use this for years in a variety of ways to increase sales and create products that generate monthly profits for my business.

Now we also build custom applications such as our lead generation membership site, but in the past we used Wishlist Member to quickly build sites that are very effective for us.

The only reason our latest membership site does not use the Wishlist Membership Software is because it has many lead generation tools in it that make it very powerful, but require more than what WordPress alone can do.

But if you are just setting up a site for training or monthly release of digital products, Wishlist Member is for you.

Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs get side tracked by shiny things.

I like to focus on income generating activity.  For me, a business is building income generating systems that are profitable and have long term value.

But I like shiny things too.

Alot!

So to keep myself on task, I have a daily goal sheet that tracks my income each day through various channels.  When I started this I doubled my income immediately (the first month).

Do I still like to get off track and watch launch videos and play with new software?  More than you know – but only after I pass my goal for the day.

The thing is just a nice income tracking spreadsheet I made.  But it really focuses on daily success to meet monthly goals.  I like short term when it comes to income.  I have also created a video for you on how to use it to increase your income by tracking your behavior.

It is just one of the bonuses when you try our lead generation system risk free.

I got the idea from a sales manager that had simple sheets like this he used to track the activity of each sales person.  He said he knew how good they would be in the first month based on the sheet he used, and it was never wrong.

You may wonder why not use a CRM for this.  Well, a CRM is good for B2B sales, but not things like tracking behavior that can generate leads.  Things like posting on your blog, doing a seminar, standing on the street corner with a sandwich board stating that the world is coming to an end….  (not something I do but it might work for you)

The point is the income generating sheet defines those activities and revenue streams that are germane to income generation and sets clear daily goals that are important to you.  And it is dead simple to keep updated.

You can go out and build your own.  It is not hard.  Or you can download mine as a shortcut to increasing your income.  Just find a way to track your income generating behavior and you will be very happy.

Internet Marketing is as diverse as traditional marketing.  So you will not find one piece of Internet Marketing Software that does everything you need for all things on the web.  It is just not practical or possible.

Internet Marketing also changes all the time, so to maintain it would be a nightmare.  Plus, new interesting techniques come out all the time that make older stuff less appealing.  On top of that, because Internet Marketing is reliant on things like search engine rank, and since the search engine companies change their products every week, you can imagine that it is darn near impossible to build one piece of software that would do everything.

Now there are some high end content management systems that try.  Hubspot is a company like that.  It is a nice system and very comprehensive.  But when you move into their system you are getting married with them because your marketing system and website is built on their platform.

I was building platforms like this in 1997 (without twitter and such, of course) and the one thing I found was they grow and grow until they become difficult to support or obsolete.

So a couple of years ago I went back to the drawing board to build a system that had the best interest of the customers in mind.  It was a bit challenging to come up with the perfect solution, but what we decided to do is build a central system that would provide training, content writing, SEO and reporting that interfaced with WordPress.  The reason is simple.  WordPress is not going to become obsolete because thousands of people are working on it and it is some of the most popular software in the world.

Also, people keep adding free and premium plugins to it all the time.

Plus it gets good search ranking with only some minor tweaks.

Plus it is very flexible.  You can start with our lead generation theme and customize it to your liking.

Now the one disadvantage of this is that it is not one piece of Internet Marketing Software that you can learn and use to do everything.  However, it is agile marketing that any serious Internet Marketing Professional will appreciate and want to use daily.  And you will never outgrow it or find the marketplace has left it behind because it is just an important piece of the puzzle and you can still integrate anything else you want.

To see some of the features visit our lead generation page.

Frequently people want to buy a lead generation tool.  What they do not often understand is that it takes more than one tool to build an effective lead generation strategy.

And it is not the same for everyone.  If you want B2B lead generation you are going to invest in a great CRM that is going to help you follow your sales process from initial lead to final close of the sale.  And that could take years to happen.

On the other hand, you may just want to grow your email list and sell affiliate products to those people.  Getting people on your email list is lead generation as well, but does not require the same tools.  In that case, a simple autoresponder will do and will make you money.

What other tools can you use for lead generation?  You can build a lead generation website and use it to attract people that are doing searches and convert them to leads.

You can do keyword research with a great keyword research tool.

And you could use social media and other tools to attract more people into your pipeline of lead generation and sales.

Then there are many specialty products.  Simple things link WordPress plugins and custom tools and exit scripts that can all contribute to successful lead generation if they are made part of the strategy.

I like to tell people that it is never done.  Even if one site becomes a finely tuned lead generation producer, then it is time to set up another site with a slightly different niche market.  There are a lot of tools you can use that can help but do not feel like you need them all at once.

Please note that the offer mentioned in this may or may not be valid at the time you read it.

Yesterday I bought Traffic Zombie – See the LIVE DEMO to get your 50% off Coupon Code

I’d avoided even looking at it because I hate the name.  But something caught my eye and I thought I would take a look.

It did a very good job of getting me to buy – after all it is a small one time fee and a lifetime membership.

But the question is, does it work?  Like most things, it all depends on if you use it properly.

I just launched a fantastic $1 for 60 day lead generation membership trail offer with it – you should take a look and see how it looks in action.

Personally, I do not like to promote something until I have tried it.  However, I set this up in a way that the visitor can pay full price with a 30 day money back offer or they can get 60 days for one dollar if they do two small things to promote us.  Either way I want there to be no (significant) risk to a buyer’s choice.

Results will take a bit of time to see, I am sure.  However, I like the thing so far and if it produces new clients and new links – how can I go wrong?

You can check out Traffic Zombie and our $1 Offer via Traffic Zombie software and see what you think.

Video on Business Blogging Software Benefits for the Buzzoodle System.

You can review the pricing and additional features at the Lead Generation site.

This post will cover some WordPress lead generation ideas for you.

Most of these tips can be used in conjunction with our lead generation program.

1. To generate leads with WordPress you need to think like a first time visitor and make a clear and compelling call to action that is on EVERY page in the WordPress site.
2. You can get more organic lead generation if you target specific lead oriented keywords in your writing.  I suggest you try the free market samurai tool to find out what those are.
3. Lead generation with WordPress is much easier if you write every day or two.  Look at outsourcing or repurpose your writing to keep your WordPress site fresh and full of good content.  Freshness is a big factor in how you get ranked.
4. Use autoreponders to quickly follow up with leads that opt into your list.  I use aWeber as an affordable way to caputre and follow up with leads that visit our WordPress lead websites.
5. If you want phone calls, make sure you put the phone number in the top right where people can see it.  If you are not sure you want calls, use Google voice to set up a number and have it email you the text of messages left for you.
6. Look at plugings – some plugins may not be called lead generation plugins but they can be used for lead genetion outcomes.

These are just a few of the obvious WordPress lead generation ideas that you can use to generate leads with a WordPress site.