On a foggy night, one driver is thrilled to spot two glowing red tail-lights creeping along in front of him. He decides to stick right behind those lights.

All of a sudden the car he is following makes a turn and comes to a stop.

Wham - he rear-ends the guy.

He jumps out, hotter than a pistol. `How could you do something as dumb as coming to an abrupt stop in this fog?` he bellows. `Well,` the other guy says, `I usually stop when I get into my garage.`

Like this drive, one of the biggest mistakes that agents and advisors make in their advertising is blindly copying what other people in the industry are doing without really knowing whether it is working or not.

Our goal is to dispel a lot of the bad information that is going around and give you a clear picture of what is really working right now.

We’ve been working feverishly on a new book for advisors all about marketing using direct mail.

Yes, you heard me right.  Direct mail.

Many believe that direct mail is dead.  

We say: Not by a long shot!

We’ve had great results with direct mail and we want this new book to answer all of your questions.

So would you do me a favor and let me know what questions you have about direct mail?

I’ve set up a special page for your questions here.

Just enter your questions in the comment section and we will answer them on this page and…

We will pick the best questions and give a free copy of our new book to the 5 people who asked the best 5 questions.

We’ve been working feverishly on a new book for advisors all about marketing using direct mail.

Many believe that direct mail is dead.

We say: Not by a long shot!

We’ve had great results getting Insurance Leads with direct mail and we want our new book to answer all of your questions about the subject.

So would you do me a favor and let me know what questions you have about direct mail.

If you haven’t had a chance to download the handout for
today’s webinar you can get it here:

Download Handout

Remember, the webinar is today (Thursday) at 1pm EST.

You can check to see if there are any slots available here:

Webinar Registration

As you can tell from the handout, it’s going to be a great
one.

See you there..

Even when it comes to retirement, their are distinctive
differences between men and women.

A retirement planning report just released by Ameriprise
Financial, Inc., found that men tend to focus on setting
aside money, while women put greater emphasis on health
and proximity to family.

Fifty-four percent of the men said that they were setting
aside money in their own investments, such as stocks and
IRAs, while only 46 percent of women reported having taken
that action. 

Men are also more likely than women to have determined the
amount of income they’ll need in retirement (31 percent of
men and 20 percent of women have made that determination).

Men are “significantly” more likely than women to say they
feel on track for retirement (41 percent versus 34 percent)
and express confidence in their overall financial futures
(22 percent versus 16 percent).

On the other hand, 41 percent of women respondents said
they plan to spend more time with family during retirement,
compared to 34 percent of male respondents. 

Women also reported a greater emphasis on maintaining their
health as they age and put greater importance on proximity
to family while determining where they will retire.

What does this all mean to you?

It means that you need to take a different approach when
dealing with men or woman.  You need to focus on what
matters most to them, rather than treating them all the
same.

With most men you should spend more time on the numbers,
while you may want to focus more on lifestyle goals when
dealing with women.

If you ask questions and focus on what is really important
to them you will have a much better chance of helping them
solve their financial challenges.

Another stat to remember is that only 22% of men and 16% of
women expressed confidence in their overall financial
futures.

It is more important than ever that we get our message out
there and help the vast majority of people that are
wandering in ‘financial fog’.

P.S. Tomorrow we will talk to an ex-contractor who used two
simple steps to generate $104,000 in three months, and is
having the funnest time of his life selling life insurance!

 So go here and register (and make sure you get on early)
while spots are available.

One of the important elements of our system is how to 
effectively market to affluent prospects.

In fact this will be one of the topics of our upcoming
webinar on Thursday.

Register For It Here

Obviously, the more you understand the mindset of your
target prospects the easier it is to market to them.

That’s why I found the recent survey by Spectrem Group
quite intersting.

Especially when affluent investors answered this question:
“What is the news story that most impacts your portfolio?”

43% said that ‘Internation Problems’ had the biggest impact.
Only 18% said the political environment and Unemployment was
a mere 7%.

In other words, explaining to your prospects how you can
help them protect their from international problems
should be one of your main areas of focus right now, 
followed by the political environment.

If you can show prospects how you can solve their biggest
concern you are well on your way to your next happy client.

A couple days ago there was a rare sight near our office.

It was a DeLorean DMC-12

You know, the car that was turned into a time machine in the
‘Back to the Future’ movies.

It’s a rare sight, because there were only about 9,000 ever
made. And that was 30 years ago.

To me they really seem like a time machine because seeing
one of these cars is like stepping back in time.

Going back in time is a common desire.  

I know that there are a lot of agents and advisors that
would like to turn the clock back to when older marketing
strategies still worked and getting business was a less
complicated job.

Unfortunately, there are no time machines. We have to face
the fact that times have changed and we need to change
with them to survive and thrive in this industry.

One of our members, J.T. is a good example of this.  He was
a contractor for 17 years before becoming an agent.

Rather than getting stuck on wanting to do things his way
he was willing to find new ways to accomplish his goals.

He’s gotten pretty good at it too.  

In a 3 month period he’s earned over $100K in commissions.

He was able to do this because he was willing to learn
new approaches and find techniques that work in this new
age and the current economy.

You can hear how he’s doing it this coming Thursday at
1pm Eastern. (12pm Central, 11am Mtn, 10am Pacific).

Just register here

A few of our topics will be:

- How to get qualified interested prospects to actually
meet with you.

- 5 words that guarantee attention & action from clients

- How to leverage the trends in the economy to create
massive growth

We only have 150 spots available so register now.

See ya there

We just interviewed a million dollar producer today on our Member Team Meeting call and it proved once again…

The habit that makes advisors and agents high producers is that they fill their schedule with appointments.

That’s why our Las Vegas event in May is all about systematically getting 3 to 5 first appointments every single day.

http://www.massleadattraction.com/event/

We only have about 30 seats left before the event is sold out so if you want to learn what wealthy agents use to  generate massive leads for their business you should register now.

Yesterday one of my staff members slid off the highway on his way to work.

Fortunately he didn’t hit anything and was able to get his van back on the road without too much trouble.

If you’ve driven much in icy conditions you probably know that unpleasant sensation when you feel the back end of your car trying to pass the front end of your car.

You try to correct with the steering wheel but the car now has a mind of its own and you have just become a passenger.

Until the car stops or regains traction with the road there is nothing you can do but brace yourself.

Often, our prospects and clients feel the same way about their finances.

They feel like things are out of control and that there is nothing they can do to change the situation.

This is when we can step in, be the hero and help them get back on track.

Never forget that what we do is help people solve some of the most critical and long-lasting challenges they will face.

That’s why we are so determined to get the Safe Money message out there and change the way Americans save for retirement.

You can provide solutions that will help them right now and long into the future.

You have a solemn duty to make sure they are aware of the benefits you can offer to them.

P.S. More than half of the seats are already sold to our Mass Lead Attraction Event in May.  If you want to learn how to systematically get 3 to 5 first appointments every single day you should register here right now.

http://www.massleadattraction.com/event/

In the book The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes
Everything, author Stephen Covey comes to the conclusion that trust is the one thing that can build or destroy every human relationship.

A lack of trust can bring down governments, bankrupt the most profitable companies and allianate fans (just ask Joe Paterno)

The ability to build trust with your customers is critical to your business success.

One of the primary ways to develop trust and credibility is to help people realize you aren’t just in it for the
money.

There’s a higher calling…a real purpose for good.

That’s what I love about our industry. It’s what I love about helping people fix one of the biggest problems they have.

I think the “WHY” is more important than the ‘what’… and when people can feel your ‘WHY’ is sincere, they trust you.

Each of us has our own personal story…our reason why we do what we do the way we do it.

When you are able to incorporate your story into your lead generation campaigns it will naturally attract people to you.

This is one of the topics we discuss in this next Extreme Business Makeover.

The Replay Is Here

The important thing to remember is affluent people and retirees are still out there searching for an advisor that they can trust.

With the recent economic chaos retirees and future retirees are in fear of the worst.

There may never have been a time in recent history where there was a greater need for good financial advice than right now.

They need direction and guidance.  They need your help and you owe it to them to get your message in front of them.

P.S. Tomorrow we are opening the doors to our Mass Lead Attraction event, May 4-5 in Las Vegas.  Watch your email for the announcement.  

We only have room for around 85 people so check your schedule and be ready to take action when the doors open

One of the most under appreciated principles in marketing
is the power of marketing leverage. 

In my estimation there is no where else you can create as
much leverage than in your marketing.

When you purchase a piece of real estate you can use
leverage. You can put a small amount of your own money
down, borrow the rest and create a reasonably good
return on investment.
 
Let’s say, for example, you put $5,000 down and sell
the property a year later for a $10,000 profit.
(Of course, that’s a lot harder to do these days)

That’s a 200% return on investment.

Not bad.

But let’s take a look at the leverage we can create
with marketing. Let’s say you are running an
advertisement that is costing you $800 resulting in
10 leads which turns into one closed deal with the
average income of $3200. (Just to keep the math simple)

That’s a 4X or 400% return on investment in a matter
of a month or two.

But here is where the real leverage can occur…

By simply testing different copy you should be able
to improve the results of that ad over time. That
means, you can get more leads and more deals without
spending a single extra dollar.
 
So for instance, with better copy or a better offer
let’s say you increase the response rate of your ad
to 18 leads and 1.5 closed deals.

You are still spending the same $800 but now your
income is $4800 or a 600% return on investment.

Where else can you get that kind of leverage on your
money? As far as I’m concerned, good marketing is the
best investment of them all.

P.S. Have you watched the Extreme Business Makeovers
we did at our last live event?  You can watch them at:

http://www.massleadattraction.com/busmak-vid2.php

Plus we will be adding another one real soon.