50 best ways to generate leads: 1-10

5. Prompt your referral source.

I have found much better success when I feed names to my referral source rather than asking for names.  Last week I met with a client who I know through my kids' school. Rather than ask him who he knows at school, I brought a copy of the school directory and asked him which dads he knows well.  He scanned his kids' classes and checked off about a dozen names.  This is much more effective than asking him who he knows, which often results in, "Good question, David.  Let me give that some thought and I'll get back to you."

LinkedIn is a good tool for the same purpose.  Before a client meeting I will spend some time reviewing my client's LinkedIn connections and then present him with a list of 15-20 people who I think I want to meet.  I then ask him to check those who would likely grant me a meeting based on his recommendation.  Again, this leads to greater success than asking him to think up the names himself.

— David M. Johnson, CLU, Associate General Agent, The Johnson Financial Group

4. Be smart about seminars.

My favorite method of generating leads is to hold monthly private client dinner seminars. I invite a few clients to a seminar at an upper-end steakhouse and "allow" them to bring a guest. Although this is not unique, it is the way that I position it which has made them so successful. I constantly gather referrals from clients so I always have names to work with. Here are the steps that I follow in a client meeting to get their friends' names:

1. I discuss how worried I am about the economy and ask if they would be interested in attending a seminar where I will explain why. (They always are!)
2. I get the client to agree that, as a result of working with me, they have peace of mind financially.
3. I get them to agree that they probably have friends who don't have the same peace of mind because they don't know me.
4. I get them to realize that they may not even know this since they don't typically talk finances with their friends.
5. I get them to agree that, if they did know their friends were worried, they would definitely refer them to me.
6. I then suggest that we brainstorm and come up with a list of friends whom they care enough about to invite to a future seminar.

Here is the kicker though; I am not asking for their friend's contact information. I am simply creating a master list of names so that, as I schedule these seminars, I will have an idea as to how many friends they care enough about to invite. When it comes time to hold a seminar, I invite my client and send them several extra invitations so they can invite their friends. It works great!

— Anthony A. Saccaro, ChFC, President, Providence Financial & Insurance Services

3. Stay top-of-mind.

Prepare passive marketing to always steer prospects your way when they are "ready to buy" (just like when you're ready to buy a car, you notice all those billboards and car commercials you ignored before). This means being top-of-mind with an established reputation through content marketing, social media, blogging, press releases, and social proof. This can extend beyond your own copy — many top agencies make a habit of commenting on national news stories simply to get their name in the paper.

— Stephen D. Forman, Senior Vice President, Long Term Care Associates, Inc.

2. Grab your Google Places free listing.

It could be the best five minutes you'll ever spend getting your business listed on Google Places. You'll be found when folks search online. There's no cost for the listing. Be certain to spend the time to provide comprehensive information and use keywords focused on the products you offer. That information is more important than your name. Think about what people are searching for when positioning yourself.

—Jesse Slome, president, Insuranceexpos.com

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1. Get 10 leads in 30 days from 60 minutes of work.

Film an interesting three-minute video on a subject that your ideal client might be searching for online. Nothing fancy needed.  Just be you. The same day, write a 2–3 page article with some awesome content pertaining to the video subject — something so good that they want to share it. Then, create a simple one-page "squeeze page" where any visitors can opt-in to get the report you created.  Finally, post the video to YouTube make sure to put that specific URL link of the squeeze page in the description of the YouTube video so visitors can get the report. Then watch the leads come in. If your video title and description are solid, this will work every time. And the best news is it can be evergreen, meaning always working whether you are or not.

—Joe Simonds, Digital Marketing Maverick, Advisor Internet Marketing

For more lead generation tips, visit www.LifeHealthPro.com/50best