Archive for March, 2009

Direct Mail, Business Insurance Leads

Bloody Mess

It was a bloody mess.

Talk about March Madness, my face got slammed into the basketball floor.

I saw the blood all over the floor and grabbed my chin. Walked over to the bathroom mirror…sure enough it was a huge gash. I got about 11 stitches put in.. That was just over a week ago.

Last night I finally pulled out the last of my stitches in my chin.

Oh well, it could have been worse. I could have lost a tooth!

Anyway, let’s get to making you money. Recently someone told me…

“I tried the mail and it doesn’t work!”

Ohh, the foolishness…

In insurance marketing, to say that “Direct mail doesn’t work”… Is like Farmer Joe trying to use a saw to cut a log, but leaving the saw unplugged. Just keep ramming the blade into the wood…”HMM, I wonder why this gosh durn saw doesn’t work?”

Of course saws work to cut stuff, but only if you are using it properly.

(more…)



Marketing For Insurance Without Making A Single Cold Call

Miss Hawaii

Some states allow you to buy x-dates. In other states you have to get out the old yellow books and start calling. That’s how I started out: in a cubicle, pounding the phones for 6 to 7 hours a day. And let me tell you … it was horrible.

I am not too shabby on the phones nor do I mind rejection all that much. However, poor positioning made it horrible. I would call and catch some contractor pounding some nails into a board while I asked him if he wanted a quote on his insurance. Bad positioning.

Or I would call and work my way through the gatekeeper to catch a busy business owner who didn’t really want to talk to me. Bad positioning.  Marketing for insurance was not fun. I don’t know many people who just love to cold call (even those who are good at it). I had to find another way to market, or I would go insane…

Did cold calling work for me? Yes. I made it work through hard work and trial and error. I worked the phones, improving my approach and my sales presentation. Soon I started setting up appointments and writing insurance. The first three years in business all I did was cold call. But then I started to study marketing. I picked up every book I could get my hands on I quickly found other ways to market. I found out how to get prospects to call me.

How To Experience Complete Joy

It’s the coolest feeling to have someone call you and say, “I want to give you my money.” It’s even more amazing to have it happen over and over again.

(more…)