This kind of advice would be odd coming from me. I’m hardly the tree-hugging hiker type. My tolerance for technophobia is not much lower than that of an Apple evangelist. Plus, I’m a city slicker at heart.

So why am I telling you to find software leads outdoors? It’s because you don’t necessarily have to go on a hiking trip to find your next client. Today, so many in the industry are caught up with the online marketing trends of social media, email, and SEO. But just given the new definition of SEO these days, it can feel like the online frontier has grown increasingly difficult to survive in. So what’s the answer? Going out of doors and finding the leads yourselves.

This isn’t as manual as it sounds. You just need to take a second glance at the advantages of relying less on the online front. With so many influencers warring for attention, just hoping that your content is good enough may not be enough in of itself. Take action by taking it outside!

  • #1. Define a new target market – Start redefining your target market. If a majority of your software leads came from the internet, changing to a more offline approach sounds incredibly difficult. The good thing though is that you don’t have to roll it out right away. Start slow by looking for other avenues that attract prospect attention (e.g. their phones, particular tradeshows, publications etc). Identifying a new target market by channel is what spurred online marketing. Who’s to say it can’t spur anything else?
  • #2. Get local – Google itself has suddenly made changes to its local ranking algorithm that SEO experts have begun giving it the animal name: pigeon. Then again, surely you can find additional way to find local businesses or attract their attention? Ask for referrals in the area. Go attend some of their own tradeshows. Heck even just paying a visit to the establishment or striking conversations with its people can get word around.
  • #3. Find new ways to solve problems – So you figured out a way to solve a commonly Googled problem. Guess what? You’re not the only expert in the room. That’s why they’re common. No brainer guides may have already beaten you to the top rank in Google. So instead of just putting up the solution in the hopes of snagging first-time readers, find other ways to deliver relevant content. Be active on forums and don’t be shy to redirect links to your site. Better yet, use events for more active demonstrations to save your customers even the trouble of Googling.

You know what’s also synonymous with the great outdoors? Activity. That doesn’t always mean camping or rock-climbing. You need to be more active in getting people’s attention. Trusting that your content is relevant enough to please Google can result in a less satisfying return compared to actively getting people to visit your site.