We get it—being a small business owner is hard. Keeping the lights on, ensuring customer satisfaction, and managing a staff are all things that eat away at a small business owner’s time and wallet. Add to that the burden of generating and converting leads into business can make the odds of running a successful small business almost insurmountable.

The importance of generating leads is a no-brainer: quality leads can convert into sales that convert into revenue for the business. But how do small business generate quality leads? According to a 2013 inbound marketing report, the best ways for businesses—either small, B2B, or B2C—to generate leads are through social media, SEO, and email marketing. While those terms can read like a foreign language to some small business owners, it’s a key component to running a successful business in a digital age.

Whether you’re a flower shop owner on Main Street, a tech-startup, or plastic surgeon looking to increase your client base, generating leads holds the key. HiveMind Strategies has pulled together our biggest and easiest tips on how to generate leads without blowing your time or budget.

• Online Business Listings

Sometimes the biggest problems require the simplest solutions. Ensuring your business is correctly listed on listings sites like Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Manta go a long way in ensuring your business and its website are visible online. How is a potential client or customer going to patron your business if you they can’t find you? According to a leading SEO website: “There are very few people who still search for a service using the traditional Yellow Pages directories. So besides being listed in the traditional Yellow Pages, businesses should also consider getting listed in online directories and in Google Places, especially if the business caters to a local audience.”

Want to get started? Click here to view how to claim your local listing on Google.

• Optimize Your Business Website

It’s not a dirty word. In fact, optimizing your website can be as simple as ensuring the correct address, phone number, and hours of operation appear on the site.  Optimization can also mean making sure your written content speaks to what your customer wants to see. A recent client of HiveMind saw a 23% increase in revenue after correctly listing their services on their website. Why and how did this happen? Consumers are constantly searching Google, Yahoo, or Bing for products and services that speak to their needs; and this particular client’s services, when listed, was the magic touch.

• Get on Social Media—Duh!

Sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram aren’t only for sharing baby photos or stalking an ex-flame. Social Media sites can also be used to generate leads and revenue. A 2013 study by Manta showed that nearly 40% of small businesses get a return on investment when using social media—that means social media actually can generate leads and revenue for your business, imagine that? We recommend starting small; create a Facebook and Twitter page for your business posting content 3-4 a week for a month and then gradually increase your posts.

Read our free guide on how to attract new business using Facebook.

• Market your content across platforms

Blogs, Newsletters, Social Media Posts—oh my! How is a small business owner supposed to find the time to draft content for a blog, newsletter, and social media posts? Easy, use cross content marketing. That blog post you spent HOURS putting together can also be used in your monthly e-newsletter to clients, and it can be used to make at least half a dozen posts for social media. Work smarter, not harder; content is king in generating traffic and leads to your website. A recent case study by a leading marketing agency found one company saw an 87% increase in leads over a six month period by adding consistent and fresh content to their website, blog, and social media.

• Chase Those Leads Down

Okay, so tip number five isn’t actually about attracting leads but making sure those leads convert. So you’ve done everything we’ve suggested in tips one though four, and those emails and calls finally start pouring in. It always crucial for small businesses to respond as quickly as possible when leads are generated to increase the likeliness of converting them into a sale. A study by Hubspot, an inbound marketing platform showed that businesses have a little as 15 minutes to return an e-mail or a call from a generated lead—wait any longer than that and the probability of converting into a sale plummets.

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