How to generate leads online for software development projects?

[bscygnet]

Hi,

I am associated with an offshore software development company. I'm in a midst, i working hard to generate leads for my company online but its not working. Can you show me some way as to how can I get in touch with prospects and generate some leads?

Any help appreciated

Cheers!
Boni

 

[pickaweb]

Try to give something away for free.
A free report or similar in exchange for contact details.
That way you can start to build a relationship as most people don´t just buy when they first land on your website.
All the best.

 

[Sam Cowley]

Have you tried using approvedindex? They sell leads for a small price and may be suitable for you?

Cheers
Sam

 

[BGjohn]

Hi,
You should to join some sites through which you can get online projects related to your interest and also try to get some positive feedback from that market and you can do 1 more thing, try to use social media sites through which you can get a brand after some time and when u get a brand name then you can easily pick up any projects online.

 

[Sam Cowley]

Thanks for the advice John! I will do that asap.

 

[XLIN.Ltd]

Hi, there!

Check out sites like Elance and other where freelancers provide services and see which companies post their requirements.

You may then try and contact those companies to see if they would be interested in giving the projects to you.

All the Best!

 

[krishparmar83]

You can also collect emails of companies and send them emails with your offer and see how they converts. I have done that in past and got success.

 

[georgejv]

For small projects for individuals elance and odesk may be good, but for larger projects try

quote4projects

(its a .com website where originators and providers are matched by the site)

 

[Ad Republic]

I run a Google Adwords campaign for a bespoke software developer here in the UK, and the main challenge we have is the competitiveness of the market. There's plenty of traffic, however average Cost-Per-Clicks are £7+, therefore you have to have a decent budget to be able to find the quality leads out there (which there are). Obviously software projects can be worth thousands, but you have to be prepared to spend hundreds per lead to find them.

 

[thetomwhatley]

I find two channels work best for service based businesses when generating early traction - content marketing and sales. This is what I would do:

Before starting anything, I'd build buyer personas. Who are the people you want to do business with? What are their challenges, pains etc? What does your offering do to solve those pains?

Then I'd build content that will interest and attract those personas. These can be directly related to my value proposition in a way that helps them overcome those challenges, OR I'd focus on other topics that they love to consume, find top performing posts and build upon them to make them better.

I would probably have two different offers during this content funnel - an eBook and a free consultation. The eBook offers something valuable upfront and allows me to capture email addresses in order to nurture them. The free consultation is for those who want to take action. Either way, you want to guide all visitors to this offer.

Don't forget - distribution is key. Find where your personas are and distribute your content there. Same goes for influencers - build these relationships as soon as you can.

As for sales, I'd make a list of the companies I'd love to do business with, and email them with hyper-personalised, useful and short emails. The number of emails in the sequence would range from 3 to 8 depending on what I've got to say. Any more than 8 is overkill (some might say the same about 3, but my experience says otherwise).

I would work the hell out of these channels and test several approaches. The content marketing approach is building an inbound engine, which will happen overtime, and my sales system would be looking for opportunities in a proactive manner for quick traction.

Also, if you're been around for some time and already have clients, ask them for referrals. Referrals are gold.

 

[garyk]

I could tell you but....hmmm offshore taking work from UK devs, so nah I won't.

 

[ethical PR]

Why Gary - I bet much what you buy as a consumer is produced in whole or in part abroad from fruit and vegetables to clothes and white goods.

And I know UK developers, marketing companies and the big management companies outsource to developers from developing countries to reduce costs and increase their profit margins.

If you are decent developer (which I am sure you are) your service and approach will set you apart from the service developers in developing countries can offer.