How web developers can generate leads
· 7 min read
Developers usually treat lead generation as an emergency activity between projects. It works far better as a small fixed routine you never stop running.
The routine
- Monday: build a list of 40 prospects in one category and city.
- Tuesday to Thursday: 15 first contacts per day, phone or WhatsApp.
- Friday: follow up everyone who did not reply, send proposals to those who did.
- Repeat with the same category for two weeks before switching.
Realistic numbers
For local businesses with no website, a decent first-contact message gets replies from roughly one in six to one in ten, and a meeting from a fraction of those. Forty-five contacts a week is usually enough to keep one or two small projects starting every month once your pitch settles.
If your reply rate is near zero, the message is wrong, not the channel. Change one thing at a time: the opening line, the sample image, or the question at the end.
What to say
Name the business, name the specific gap, show one image of what you would build, ask one question. Nothing about frameworks, awards or 'digital solutions'.
Tracking without building a CRM
You need three fields: who, when you contacted them, and what happened. Zertex records this automatically for every lead you call or message so your Friday follow-up list writes itself.
Common mistakes
- Contacting a hundred businesses once instead of thirty businesses three times.
- Switching category every day, so nothing ever improves.
- Pitching a price before establishing the problem.
- Sending long messages that need scrolling on a phone.