1. Email (opt in)

If you're not sending your own personal email newsletter you're missing a huge opportunity. I don't care if you're an employee of a Fortune 500 company or a self-employed consultant. You MUST develop you own email newsletter.

An eZine will allow you to build your relationship, credibility and trust with the people that subscribe. Provide them useful, unique and pertinent information and watch your sales skyrocket.

2. Pay-per-Click (PPC)

Pay-per-click or PPC ads are a very effective and cost efficient way to drive prospects to your website. Whether it be a one-page sales letter or a "squeeze page" for them to sign up for your ezine, PPCs are an easy way for you to build awareness.

By using PPCs you can achieve laser like focus on your target market by using specific keywords. Then run ads for only those keywords. The benefit is when the prospect clicks on that ad they are not going to a general site with all kinds of garbage on it they are landing on your specific, targeted site. Niche marketing at its best.

3. Customer Referrals

This is old school. But if you're not asking every single person you come into contact with, "Do you know of someone who may benefit from my services/product/whatever?" Then you don't know what sales is all about. Sorry but you don't.

Sure, most of the time we won't get a referral. But all it takes is one to make it all worthwhile. Imagine if you made one more sale a month. What would that do to your income? Well, that's easy to attain no matter what industry you're in. If you just ask for referrals.

4. Ask Co-workers

Have you ever thought of asking a co-worker for a business referral? Most people don't. It's amazing. They think that since their co-worker works their they would have already talked to everyone they know about their company.

However, over 90% of non-sales employees have top quality prospects sitting in their brain. You just need to ask them for the information.

5. Ask friends, family and neighbors

Same here. Most people do not want to mix business with their personal life. Get over it! Your friends, family and neighbors have a keg of referrals. They're just waiting to be tapped.

6. Joint Ventures

Who do you know in your industry that is not a competitor but that calls on the same customers and/or companies as you? Great! Call them right now and ask them how you can build a mutually beneficial relationship together.

Remember, they're going to ask, "What's in it for me?" Be prepared with a deal they can't pass up.

7. Flyer Distribution

It doesn't matter if you sell to consumers or businesses. Design a compelling one-page flyer and hire a company or a high school kid to deliver them to your target area. This is a great way to get quality leads for very cheap. Try it. I promise you'll be surprised and impressed.

8. Postcards

This is one of my favorite, low cost ways to drive traffic to my websites. The key is to use a simple, targeted message on your postcard. No fancy graphics or fonts. Simplicity is key here.

You can increase your response rate by up to 200% by using the simplicity formula. The message should be in paragraph form and only 2-4 sentences. If you can personalize it that's even better.

9. Cold calling

Ah yes. Good old fashioned cold calling. You may not want to hear it or like doing it but you can't argue with results. When you do it right of course.

You need an effective plan, technique and outline to make it work best. No cheesy scripts with canned responses. You need to sound genuine, caring and be focused 100% on the prospect. If you can change your mindset into one that you are simply talking to a good friend you will experience tremendous results.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Drew Laughlin helps salespeople who struggle to exceed sales goals and quotas on a consistent basis with his "How to Triple Your Sales in 30 Days" training system. Read sales success stories at his website http://www.GetCustomersFast.com.