Bringing Life Back to your Marketing Plan

You've seen those movies. The scene is of a desperate and despondent person who has given up. A woman gets into a tub of water. Slowly and deliberately, she cuts her wrists so that her life’s essence flows into the tub water. As minutes pass, she peacefully and quietly leaves life behind hoping for tranquility and peace.

This is a pretty radical illustration of what happens to a practice that either has lost its desire to fight or has never really tried. When you stop marketing (prospecting), you’ve slashed your wrists and it’s only a matter of time before your practice is barely alive or dead altogether. Many an insurance or advisory practice needs its life blood to stay alive and thrive. That lifeblood is marketing and prospecting.

Many firms don't market themselves because they are frozen by the fear of where to start. One potential starting point is a simple newsletter. Nothing complex or lengthy. Just one page on tan or cream paper with a couple of paragraphs on current financial events. Additional topics could include debt retirement, reverse mortgages, banking, commerce and trade, or what 1% can do. The topics and the variations are endless. I get ideas while driving, watching a ball game, mowing the lawn, riding a bike, or just getting the car washed. Ideas flow as long as you will allow them room to congeal. I have been writing articles for over ten years. Sometimes I will be talking to a client or colleague or family member and an idea will come to mind. I type it into my notes on my phone and forget about it until later. Sometimes someone will suggest an interesting topic. If I’m not that well read on the topic, I research for information and data. Then I have article content.

Don’t worry about your writing skills. Writing skills improve as you continue to write. Allow your imagination to be useful. Once you have a couple of paragraphs, end with a simple close not asking for a response or purchase. Just leave it there. People aren’t stupid. They know why they’re receiving a newsletter from you. When they have a financial issue, they’ll call you. Who else do they know? Who else should they call?

Once you have your newsletter written, fold your one-page newspaper in thirds, put a sticky tab on the edge so the post office will take it, stick a commemorative stamp on it and send it out.
How many? Start with clients and prospects and the list will grow from there. Then you can weed out people who are not responding.

How do you get started? Get out of your chair right now. Drive to OfficeMax and buy a ream of colored paper. Drop by the post office on the way back and buy a roll of 100 stamps. Now you’re committed.

Kim Magdalein is an advisor with 30 years of speaking and writing experience about prospecting and marketing in the industry. Co-founder of Seminars for Less nearly 20 years ago, he is a leader in seminar marketing, assisting financial advisors and insurance agents. Contact Kim at www.seminarsforless.com.