Since the recession of the late-2000s there has been a distinct change in the nature of the businessperson: the Great Recession has made us distrusting worriers with unmanageable expectations. As the chief executive officer of Franchise Clique, I am familiar with the anxiety associated with starting a successful business. I started Franchise Clique a few years ago during the Great Recession. Keeping this in consideration, I have a three key pieces of advice for all of you who are about to start an online advertising campaign.

First and foremost, don’t be a servant to your checkbook! I am not advising you to be financially irresponsible (wasn’t that a culprit of the Great Recession?) I am encouraging you to adjust your focus. It is a very common (daily) occurrence for clients to be nervous about the amount of money and time they commit to lead generation and an online advertising campaign. Clients should view money spent on lead generation as an investment. Ask yourself how much time and money you are willing to invest in selling your franchise or business opportunity. From that point on, be committed to your commitment. If you have committed to six months (a very reasonable amount of time) do not be tempted to pull the plug on your investment prematurely.

My second key piece of advice is to trust your online lead source and think of him or her as your lead generation expert. Your success is a direct correlation to your online lead source’s strategy. The better your lead generator’s strategy and budget, the better your results will be. However, it is not your lead generator’s responsibility to close the deal for you. We have the skills, technology and experience to do wonders with your investment. Trust us to connect you with great prospects. You come to us for lead generation because this is our trade and we know what we’re doing. To that end, it’s your responsibility to turn that prospect into something profitable.

The final and most important thing you need to know about lead generation and online advertising is to manage your expectations. In the March 2011 issue of Inc. magazine columnist and senior editor Norm Brodsky made an excellent point about the nature of business today, “…the Internet has robbed us of the capacity for patience.” If an advertising effort does not experience instantaneous phenomenal success do not call it a failure. Good things come with time. A colleague in the diabetic supplies industry (historically a very tough lead generation niche) spends millions of dollars and canvasses thousands of leads every year. He is consistently committed to his lead generator, accepting of the nature of the lead generation and online advertising industry and all the more successful for it.