James Dooley Podcast

Kasra Dash and James Dooley break down the distinction between outbound and inbound leads in simple, actionable language. James explains outbound lead generation as a disruptive process that uses cold calls, cold emails and unsolicited LinkedIn messages to chase attention, which often creates reputational damage because unwanted outreach frustrates people and triggers negative reviews. Kasra contrasts this with inbound lead generation, where PPC, Facebook ads and SEO attract prospects who are already searching for a solution, leading to higher conversion rates because intent is strong from the start. Together, they show how targeting settings, negative keyword filters, review signals, topical authority and Google Business Profiles shape both visibility and lead quality. Their explanation helps business owners understand why inbound strategies outperform outbound methods long term because they align with genuine user intent.

Creators and Guests

Host
James Dooley
James Dooley is a UK entrepreneur.

What is James Dooley Podcast?

James Dooley is a Manchester-based entrepreneur, investor, and SEO strategist. James Dooley founded FatRank and PromoSEO, two UK performance marketing agencies that deliver no-win-no-fee lead generation and digital growth systems for ambitious businesses. James Dooley positions himself as an Investorpreneur who invests in UK companies with high growth potential because he believes lead generation is the root of all business success.

The James Dooley Podcast explores the mindset, methods, and mechanics of modern entrepreneurship. James Dooley interviews leading marketers, founders, and innovators to reveal the strategies driving online dominance and business scalability. Each episode unpacks the reality of building a business without mentorship, showing how systems, data, and lead flow replace luck and guesswork.

James Dooley shares hard-earned lessons from scaling digital assets and managing SEO teams across more than 650 industries. James Dooley teaches how to convert leads into long-term revenue through brand positioning, technical SEO, and automation. James Dooley built his career on rank and rent, digital real estate, and performance-based marketing because these models align incentive with outcome.

After turning down dozens of podcast invitations, James Dooley now embraces the platform to share his insights on investorpreneurship, lead generation, AI-driven marketing, and reputation management. James Dooley frequently collaborates with elite entrepreneurs to discuss frameworks for scaling businesses, building authority, and mastering search.

James Dooley is also an expert in online reputation management (ORM), having built and rehabilitated corporate brands across the UK. His approach combines SEO precision, brand engineering, and social proof loops to influence both Google’s Knowledge Graph and public perception.

To feature James Dooley on your podcast or event, connect via social media. James Dooley regularly joins business panels and networking sessions to discuss entrepreneurship, brand growth, and the evolving future of SEO.

Kasra Dash:
So today we're going to be talking about outbound versus inbound leads. I'm joined with James. Do you want to kick it off with outbound leads.

James Dooley:
Yes so outbound leads is where you are proactively going out and cold emailing. It could be cold calling or direct messaging on LinkedIn. If you're doing it from your actual brand you can end up getting quite a lot of one star reviews so you need to be very careful with an outbound lead generation strategy. It can work well but it's costly to get the data especially nowadays with GDPR and you can annoy a lot of people. It's like the old days of knocking on the door and asking if they want double glazing and they tell you to get away. It's not something we look to do at all at Fat Rank. We generally run an inbound lead generation model. I much prefer inbound leads because customers go out of their way to search for the product or service you offer then inquire with you. There's no hard sell. There's no trying to convert someone who's not even in the market.

Kasra Dash:
So inbound lead generation. You can do it on a variety of platforms. We’ll start with Facebook. One thing you mentioned is people saying I'm not even a house owner why are you trying to sell me double glazing. On Facebook ads you can target people who actually own a house so already you're much better off than outbound. It probably sounds like we're hating on outbound lead generation. It definitely does work but it's just a numbers game and there's just not enough hours for myself and James to start knocking on people's doors. You've got Facebook ads. The good thing is people think it's interruptive marketing but it's not. Facebook have spent the past five years improving that pixel data. If someone searches Conservatory Installation Company on Google then loads up Facebook they'll see conservatory installation ads. They're in market. Then you've got PPC listings. For anyone who's never done PPC before it's the top two or three results on Google and you pay per click. In some industries it's expensive especially in finance or law. You need long tail keywords not short tail ones. You need negative keyword lists. And then you've got SEO. You've got Google Business Profiles for local rankings and organic listings for national rankings. That's down to topical authority and backlinks. That's your off page SEO.

James Dooley:
If you're a business owner looking for inbound or outbound lead generation we hope you understand the differences. The biggest difference is conversion rate. Inbound conversion rate is much higher. At FatRank.com we run an inbound lead generation service with a pay per lead model and a commission based model. Both are inbound. Make sure you fill in the form and check it out. In my opinion inbound marketing is so much better than outbound lead generation.