Little is Better than Big!

Bigger isn’t always better.  When it comes to ads in the paper, you are much better off with a small ad… repeated over and over and over.  The cost is the same, but your results will be much better.

Here’s what your smaller ad should look like…

  • Your Headline should take up at least ½ of the ad
  • Your Headline should be your Unique Selling Proposition… don’t have one?  See above for the free Elevator Speech Manual
  • The rest of the ad is your contact information and website

Then, run the ad continually for at least a month.  If you have a killer USP… you are going to get results.

Also, think about using the same ad in church bulletins… garden club newsletters… non-profit newsletters… and any other organizational newsletters you can think of in town.  Their ad rates are usually dirt cheap… and they get read cover-to-cover.

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Make It Easy for Your Clients to Refer to You!

Even clients who love us are skittish to give us referrals.  Here’s an easy, low-key way for your clients to make an introduction to you and their neighbors.

We all feel more comfortable doing something when we know others around us are doing the same thing. Consensus is the principle behind the “Neighborhood Mailings” technique.

Every time you bring on a new client, you send a postcard to their neighbors (with the clients’ permission) announcing you have helped another person just like them. The postcards call to action is for the neighbor to request their own FREE “Personal Organization Kit.”

You can see both the postcard and how to put together your own Neighborhood Mailing program in the 3-page guide you can download here.   Courtesy of 5Q Group.

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Where is the Best Place to Advertise?

As in everything in life… there is no best.  Everything has advantages and disadvantages.  The following table gives you the pros and cons of each.

oct-nl-table-2

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Meet in a Surprising Place!

People remember different.  They seek out different.  So, if you want to get in front of a group of people, try something different.   Restaurants are worn out, expensive and boring.  Why not try something different?  Try “destinations.”  Places where people could come see you and then spend the rest of the day there.  They can make a day of it.

Here are some possibilities:

  • My biggest event ever was held a meeting room in Cabela’s Sporting Goods store. And catering was cheap!
  • I’ve also held a couple of huge events at a local plant nursery that had a place for gatherings and had a BBQ.
  • My aquarium meetings were always a big hit as well!
  • Arboretums work terrific during the spring or fall.
  • Check with local museums and art centers to see if they rent out any space or allow events.
  • Many historical sites will also have rooms for you to rent.
  • Check with sports stadiums and speedways… many will rent out their boxes when the facilities aren’t in use.
  • Use your imagination! If it sounds fun to you… it will probably sound fun to your clients and prospects.

When you think outside the box, chances are you’ll attract more people and spend less money!

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This Sales Letter Netted 4 Big Clients

In today’s “Don’t have time to read no sales letter” environment… it is still possible to grab someone’s attention and get them to call you.
Here’s an idea from an advisor I know who closed 4 big cases using it.  He had a list of 800 people that fit his target market.  He then wrote a sales letter as if his 7-year-old daughter wrote it.  He wrote it as she spoke… with all of the wonderful things that make us smile when a child speaks.
Now here’s the kicker… he then went to the internet and searched “child’s handwriting font” and found dozens of different fonts that look like a child writing.  He downloaded the font and wrote the sales letter using that font.
The letter started with…
Ever since my daddy started helping people with their money, I’ve got to meet a lot of nice people.  My daddy said that we are growing our family by helping people keep their piggy banks safe.  I’m writing you to see if you would like to be one of our family.
Dorky? Yep. With that said… how many sales letters have you sent lately that brought in 4 big clients?
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This Tool Can Close Large Cases… it’s been around for hundreds of years… and most advisors ignore it

What is the tool?  A handwritten note.  The year I made $967,000 I sent out over 200 handwritten notes a month.  In fact, many of my large cases I credit to those handwritten notes.  Not sure of how handwritten notes close business?  Or, exactly what to write on those notes?  Why not download this simple 4-page white paper that walks you through it…courtesy of 5Q Group.

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3 Ways You’ve Never Thought About to Leverage Morningstar for More Sales

We’ve all used Morningstar for years… but you’ve probably never seen it used this way!  I suspect it’s almost the polar opposite to how you’ve been using it.  Find out how leveraging just 3 obscure parts of the Morningstar can catapult your closing ratio!   Watch the 6-minute video that walks you through both the items and the scripts you use with them.  It’s pretty eye-opening!

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Bump People into Your Office

This is probably the most off the wall and successful marketing I’ve ever seen.  The advisor spent $4.00 with Vistaprint… and made over $120,000 (and counting because it’s still working).  What did he do?

He came up with a great elevator speech—and he printed it on a bumper sticker.  Yep, you heard me right… a bumper sticker.  And then he got people calling him, in what I think is a genius twist!

Get the 6-page white paper that walks you through how he did it… and an example of the bumper sticker he used.

Get it here, courtesy of 5Q Group.

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Become an instant EXPERT!

We’ve all done it… we go to YouTube to figure out how to do something.  It’s truly hard to beat a YouTube video when it comes to learning something really fast.  So what do YOU know… that your best client WANTS to know?

Spending time on this question could make you a ton of money.  Figure out the thing that your best prospect is dying to figure out… then, do a YouTube video on how to do it… Presto!  Instant phone call or email to talk with you!

Some examples to get your creative juices going…

  • Information or tips for a large local company’s benefit program… e.g. “How to squeeze an extra $150 a month from XYZ Enterprise’s pension!”
  • A great one is talk to organizations of networked professionals. People like teachers and nurses… e.g. “How Fairview Hospital nurses make their 401(k) match work twice as hard.”
  • Talk about a hot button… e.g. “Look at these 3 blanks on your tax return to reduce the tax on your Social Security by $2,700.”

Again, spend time figuring out what your dream clients want… figuring that out is where you should spend all your time!   The video will come easy once you know what they are looking for.

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Simple Guide to Having People in Your Area Find You Online

Almost nothing is better than having someone find us online.  It’s free.  It means they are actually looking for help.  And they are reaching out to us… instead of us reaching out to them.  That means they are already leaning towards us, which is much better chemistry than when they respond to marketing.

But figuring out the internet, Google and getting our name out there is complicated, right?  Ends up, it’s a lot simpler than I first thought… and extremely effective.  Phil Frost, an expert and writer for Target Marketing wrote a simple 2-page guide called, “A Beginner’s Guide to Local SEO for Small Businesses.”

I’ve shared it with advisors and they implemented it in a weekend. One was getting calls within a month!  Now that’s effective!  You can access the free guide here: http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/post/beginners-guide-local-seo-small-businesses/

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