50 Best Ways to Generate Leads

3. Stand out from the crowd. You've got to have an idea and presentation that really stands out from the clutter. To achieve that you've got to test it in small numbers and, when you find something that works, send it out more broadly. -Maribeth Kuzmeski

4. Advertise selectively. Your name and what you are offering will be heard or seen by thousands of individual prospects. Couple this with your involvement in community activities and you will develop immediate recognition. When you speak to people, it will be on a warm, friendly basis. -Stefanos Loisou

5. Engage in good deeds. Providing community service and gently letting people know what you do can help create leads that can grow a business. -George Solomon

6. Use co-registration. Internet leads also can be attained through co-registration, where a senior may be looking for elderly housing, for example. He fills out the elderly housing online form, which then prompts him to check any number of other boxes for products he may have some interest in, such as LTCI or annuities. -Chris Pearson

7. Use the 40-40-20 rule. Forty percent of the success of your promotion comes from attacking the right market with your list. Forty percent of your success is from the offer, or the hook, that grabs your readers. But only 20 percent of the success depends on the look of your promotion. Don't worry about artistic perfection—results are what count. -Allyn Kramer

8. The subject matter expert. I've been working with other advisors as their insurance expert. -Don Kuhn

9. Lunchtime. I have found the strongest success from referrals and client seminars or "lunch and learns." -Ron L. Stahl

10. 403. School 403(b) leading to annuity and life sales; leads that I purchase, not rent; ERISA lists. -Howard Burkhart

11. The radio. I have a weekly radio show and radio advertising. Also, there's been success by sponsoring the Mike Huckabay Report three times daily on a local talk radio station. -Dee Carter

12. Target your audience. I have found I am most effective with women. So I developed a plan to do something fun with the women in my database and encourage them to introduce me to their friends. I don't like asking for names during an appointment; instead, I developed the idea of hosting a tea during the birthday month for my women clients. I explain that we are celebrating their birthday and ask them to bring someone who would benefit from meeting with me. -Barbara Franklin

13. Keep it dynamic. Dynamic revolving content: simply adding a teaser headline to our content increased our response rate by 0.5 percent. This may not sound like a lot, but when you send 20,000 pieces of mail a month, it means getting in front of 100 more people. Adding this concept to your marketing strategies does everything from increasing web traffic and response rate on direct mail pieces to branding yourself as an expert in your community. -Christopher Richter

14. The big picture. Annually, I try to take my clients to dinner at a nice restaurant with my wife. We get a good picture taken, then go to Costco, have it printed on a 4-by-6-inch paper and use a stock frame. If there are children I will send them one also. It is not unusual for the client to ask for copies, which I happily provide with a label on the back for who to call for more. -Bob Adams

15. Personal introductions. A person who is "personally introduced" has already been "warmed-up" to me and knows why he is seeing me. -William E. Spar

16. School pays. I work with school employees and work my way through contacts in an entire school district. Historically, I helped some schools raise money for books, and in the process, I became a part of their community, more than just a financial advisor. In schools, one lead generates another. -Joel Cahn

17. Be true to your word. Clients want advisors that will do what they say they will do and do it in a timely way. We provide not only our office but our cellphone numbers on our business cards. -Mark Pruitt

18. Get the word out. I place local ads including those in church and other non-profit newsletters/magazines when targeting prospective clients. Ads in local/city/county business magazines help when prospecting alliances with other professionals, too. -M.J. McDonnell

19. A helping hand. I offer assistance claiming life insurance or annuity policies to all my clients' families. The local funeral home knows that I help people out for free so they send a lot of people my way, too. -Brandie Hunter

20. Just ask. I'm simply asking for them now…both in my emails (when making a recommendation, I conclude by saying "I would like to share this great idea with others. Please let me know of anyone you know that I should send this information to.") and then I ask them when I call. -Scot Shier

21. Saturday Morning Golf. During the summer months, if you golf, don't be afraid to schedule yourself a tee time around 9 a.m. for one. Get paired up with a couple or maybe three other guys; it's an opportunity to meet two to three new prospects per week and you already have one thing in common. At the end of the four hours I'm sure you'll know if you're going to do business, and if not, you enjoyed a round of golf. -William Voyles

22. Share a meal. Small, private client celebration dinners work for me. The client invites two to three couples, celebrating retirement, a new home, bon voyage on an extensive trip/vacation, new grandchild, birthdays, anniversaries, holidays or other personal events. The introductions are much more relaxed and intimate. Bonding with the new prospects (the clients' guests) is much easier, and the request for a referral need not be mentioned. A personal invitation can easily be made to the attendees at these functions. -Virginia Wright

23. Hot topics. Pique the interest of others by touching on today's hot topics in your marketing material. Then offer a commercial describing the solutions you can provide. Be clear that more data would be appropriate to be discussed, and ask when a meeting could be held. -Jeffrey Cornell

24. Keep in touch. I send birthday cards to my clients' kids, and call them myself. It goes a long way toward getting clients to think of referring you to family and friends. -Rick Waldman

25. "Don't Miss the Boat" event. One of the most successful strategies I've seen for raising the awareness of referrals and bringing in a stream of new business is called the "Don't Miss the Boat" event. Yes, it may be a little gimmicky, but this is an event we've never seen fail—it has consistently produced referrals and results. This event is similar to a client appreciation event, however, the only people that are invited to this event are clients that have referred others to your firm. -Maribeth Kuzmeski

26. Co-op your talents. For those of us that offer financial workshops or would like to start doing so and may have limited funding, offer to stage a workshop at a local Council on Aging. If you can convince the council director that you are sincere and knowledgeable, he or she will be very grateful to allow you to offer a valuable informational service to their senior community. This way you will not have to pay for any cost involved except for refreshments. -Stefanos Loisou

27. Build upon proven relationships. Fifty percent of your new business should come from prospects that you initially met within the last three to six months. Just check in with a call, a direct mail piece, an article of interest or anything that reinforces that you're still thinking of them. -Michael Stewart

28. Get the church bells ringing. Visit churches to inquire about how you can help them set up seminars with their congregation. -Ernesto O. Ward, Sr

29. The open door policy. I have discovered new leads by going door-to-door in the community. -Tom Moriarty

30. The Golden Rule. Take excellent care to service your clients because you never know who they will refer to you. Believe that what goes around comes around. -Glenn Miller

31. Emotional marketing. I've been using this to get prospects. Gear your marketing pieces from the emotional point of view, not simply targeting products. -Carlene Damba

32. Ask for introductions, not referrals. Provide all clients with an "introduction kit" consisting of your personal brochure, newsletter and business card, plus a postage-paid envelope and blank note, so the client can write a note on your behalf. -John Graziano

33. Work the phones. To any new person just starting out, work the phones 20 hours per week. And with your first commissions, buy direct mail leads for health, life and LTC. Have a continued lead purchase program for the first two to five years you're in business. -Charles H. Baldwin

34. Listen to your "board." When I began my insurance-selling career I had a "board of directors." These folks were my friends; they were in other lines of business and were willing to refer prospects to me. I made a habit of touching base with these friends once a month. -P.A. Dunfee

35. Create speaking opportunities. Your best client can host a breakfast featuring you as the guest speaker. It's a deposit in their client relationship account; it's an opportunity to get you in front of prospects. -Colleen Stanley

36. Ideas old and new. I rely on such things as referrals from my existing book of business. I also have found success with Internet leads. -Virginia Lee Kintz

37. Do the right thing. Always do what's right for the client. Always offer help and support for CPAs and attorneys to make their lives simpler/easier. -Steve Hyett

38. Brown bag it. My best marketing idea so far has been a monthly program called "Women and Invest-ing Brown Bag Lunches." One day each month I hold a free, no-sales meeting for women only, who want to learn more about investing, in my office conference room. They bring their own lunches and we meet for an hour on a specific topic that I briefly "teach" and then we all discuss. It's very interactive. They bring their real-life examples and questions. It's easy to put together, it's low-cost and helps the public view you as an expert. I never know how many I will have but since it's in my office, that's OK. The women bring their friends and help with spreading the word. -Drue McCracken

39. Associations. Working with associations (State of Michigan Retirees, Credit Union, American Legion Auxilary). -Nick Shaheen

40. Social Media. People want to do business with people they like and trust. Connect with friends, colleagues and people you've done business with. Set up the app "Job Change Notifier" (www.jobchange notifier.com). The app sends you an email whenever your connections change their employer. Great for those working with 401(k) rollovers or simply a great way to congratulate them and keep your network engaged. -Todd Greider

41. Adult literacy. I teach an adult financial literacy evening class. -James R. Veal

42. Centers of Influence. I get referrals from COIs (Centers of Influence). I try to identify those people in my community that have a lot of influence on my boomer target market. I build a relationship with those people. -Paula Q. Wallace

43. Ask everyone you see. -Jodie Bishop

44. Client trust. In my opinion, it all starts and ends with being referable. Getting a client is easy. Being the person your client trusts and is ready to enthusiastically hand out your business materials to everyone they know is the least expensive and highest result marketing a producer can use. -Mark Valentich

45. Walking and Talking. The old style of prospecting that is walking and talking, handing out business cards, asking for referrals. It is an excellent social event with great results! -John T. Corbin

46. Facebook. Once you have a Facebook page, if you don't have an adequate amount of "friends" your posts won't be seen by many potential clients. I began posting and liking other pages and adding friends on a daily basis starting in 2012. I've accumulated 300 friends. -Jane Rowley-Bowen

47. Rollovers. If you have done rollovers, ask your satisfied clients if they know former co-workers who will be retiring soon. They are normally pleased to help out. -Bob Armstrong

48. Direct response mailers. If you have the budget, I would highly recommend doing direct response mailers. When I started my career, I didn't have any extra money and I printed some fliers and simply went door-to-door. As much as I would not do that now, if I hadn't done it, I wouldn't even be in the business. -Anthony A. Saccaro

49. 10 steps to video leads. Fortunately, there is a work-around to get your video up and running, and it's called "Behance Creative Portfolio Display."

1. Follow these steps to make use of this helpful application:
2. Make a short video.
3. Upload it to YouTube or Vimeo.
4. Log in to LinkedIn and choose "More/Get More Applications."
5. Find the "Portfolio Display" application and click on it.
6. At the bottom, click "Add Application."
7. Create a free profile on the Behance.net website.
8. Create a new project.
9. Specify a title, upload a cover page and click "save."
10. Embed your YouTube or Vimeo video into your profile and click "save."

You're done!

If the video does not show up on your LinkedIn profile, use the "Portfolio Display" application in LinkedIn to make sure that:

• You have linked your LinkedIn account to your Behance.net account, and
• You have ticked the box to display the project on your LinkedIn profile (via the Portfolio Manager screen).

A word of caution regarding content: Use only videos (or slideshows or documents) to share tips and help people. Do not include marketing material on your profile. Get people to "know, like and trust" you first by sharing information and helping them. If you share tips that demonstrate your expertise in your video, it will help establish you as a trusted resource. (It will also demonstrate how progressive and creative you are since very few people use video in their LinkedIn profiles.) -Jan Vermeiren

50. The multi-marketing approach. Many advisors in this business depend on primarily one marketing "spoke," and they suffer challenges when that spoke gets weak. In late 2004, this is exactly where I was in my career. I was depending primarily on public seminars, and I saw a future that could make those seminars less effective. So, I set out to create a much more multi-pronged marketing plan.

• Radio presence
• Community education and teaching
• Referrals from other professionals
• Introductions from current clients
• Web presence and social media
• Media relations, including radio, TV and print
• Community and charitable initiatives

As you develop your marketing plan, analyze how many ways you obtain clients. Are you the best-kept secret in your hometown? Who are your most preferred clients, and how can you duplicate them? -Jim Brogan