Since the internet has become one of the main ways to generate new business for many companies, there are a number of new ways you can generate leads online. The internet allows for the development of targeted lead generation campaigns based on interest groups, geography and demographics. The main objective is to generate qualified leads at the lowest possible cost per lead.

The obvious ways people think about generating leads online include pay-per-click advertising and getting listed in organic search results by optimizing your web site copy for particular search terms. However there are a number of other ways you can generate qualified leads by creating content that appeals to the types of customers you are targeting.

Here are three ways you can generate more leads without major changes to your company website:

• Videos: You can create a video about your product or service and post it on video hosting sites such as YouTube. A well known example of how this can generate traffic is blender manufacturer Blendtec that posted a series of videos titled “Will it Blend?” on YouTube and its own website WillItBlend.com. Each video generally starts with Tom Dickson of Blendtec asking: "Will it Blend? That is the question." Then items are dropped into a blender to see whether they blend. Items that have been blended include a 15 foot garden hose, a golf club, a video camera, and 53 toy cars. Between the two sites, these videos have generated over 100 million hits and generated significant extra sales for Blendtec. If you have a clever idea for creating a video about your products or services, sites like YouTube can be a great way to generate buzz and sales leads.

• Webinars or webcasts: You can create an educational web cast quite easily these days, and even host it for free on sites such as AWCast. You can use Windows Media Encoder or Microsoft Expression Encoder to record  the webinar. The benefit of using an external site to host your webinar is that most of them do their own marketing and search engine submissions, so your webinar may be found by people who wouldn’t necessarily find your web site. If your webinar is interesting enough, you can collect viewer data by asking for registration details before the webcast is watched.

• Create an e-zine or newsletter: The low production cost and easy distribution means that businesses who can’t produce a hard copy publication can design, write and send out newsletters on specific subjects to a dedicated group of readers. You can promote your newsletter on your own web site and in places such as The E-zine Directory. Again, by adding it to newsletter directories, you will be able to benefit from the promotional activities of the directories where your e-zine is listed.

In all cases, be sure to link back to your own web site at the beginning and the end of your presentation. If you have a customer or prospect e-mail list, be sure to e-mail the links to your list.