Lead generation at its most basic

Internet lead generation can get very complex, and I decided to distil it down to its most basic elements. When you do this, it turns out there are only 4 things you absolutely must do in online lead generation. They are...

1. Get a person to visit a landing page
2. Explain why talking to you is in that person's best interests
3. Ask the person to become a lead
4. Follow up

Each of these steps can have dozens more refinements. For example, step 2 is a whole lot easier if you've thought about your target market, what they're looking for, and why they might want to talk to you (i.e. how you can help the people who visit your landing page).

Despite this, the fact remains that lead generation is a fairly simple process. In my opinion, removing the refinements will help a beginner understand what they specifically have to do to generate prospects.