Yesterday was Valentine’s Day, but do you know what today is?

It’s Singles Awareness Day! It is an unofficial holiday celebrated by single people.

No, I’m not kidding.

I’m not sure what you do to commemorate.

Go to dinner alone?

Go to the movies alone?

Light a candle and have some, um, “alone time romance?”

Hey, I like all three of those things, and they can be fun on occasion.

What’s not fun if you own a business is sitting alone in your office with no meetings with prospective clients on the calendar. Nervously sitting by the phone, hoping it’ll ring, is an ugly feeling.

The simple two-step formula for never experiencing that feeling is:

Neverending lead generation + consistent follow-up.

Under “lead generation,” you want to get the phone to ring with people ready to do business with you immediately and get people considering working with someone in your profession but aren’t quite ready to meet with someone.

The way to, as my friend Dean Jackson would say, “make your invisible prospects visible” is by offering valuable information about the topic they’re interested in exchange for their contact information. When someone requests your lead magnet, they are metaphorically raising their hand and saying, “This is important to me, and I’m researching before I decide to call someone to help me.”

Lead magnets can take many forms, but not all are equal. You want your lead magnet to set you up as an authority and expert. However, you also want your prospect to consume it further to cement your status as the go-to service provider.

The truth is, most prospects won’t set up a consultation with you immediately. That consistent follow-up is mission-critical to avoid sitting alone n your office with no prospects to talk to.

Tomorrow, I’ll share a simple and effective follow-up system to convert leads into appointments.

Kick butt, make mucho DEEnero!

Dave “Happy Singles Day” Dee