Steps to building a successful business in 2015 and beyond [infographic]

After you segment your clients, determine how you intend to market to those clients and prospects. Will you conduct seminars, send direct mail, cold call or work on referrals?

Each one of these marketing strategies has different accompanying costs and different timeframes. For example, a referral is the least expensive with the best potential for a quick outcome. A direct mail campaign is commonly the most expensive and requires the longest span of time to execute.

In my experience, when implementing a direct mailing outreach, it helps to identify 300 prospects in a marketplace where would like to work geographically, occupationally or demographically. However, rather than sending out 300 pieces of mail each month or week, we send out 25 well-crafted, unique letters per week for 12 weeks. Then, somebody in our office will follow up with appointment calls.

If you do this four times a year, these 300 clients will not only be getting a unique direct mail piece from you, but also a personal contact from somebody in your office. The effectiveness of this approach to boosting brand awareness increases substantially over time because the work is both manageable and repetitive. Typically, the sales cycle for such outreach is about and a half, but the results are significantly higher than doing bulk mailings.

In addition to direct mail campaigns, I invite my best clients to lunch and give them a list of businesses in their area. I simply ask them if they know anyone on the list and if they can give me an introduction.

Through time and hard work, I have built strong relationships with my clients and they are always willing to help my business grow. I've found a combination of marketing approaches helps me stay engaged and connected. I encourage you to find what combo of marketing strategies works best for you.

Roof: Attend association conferences

Your work is never done as an advisor, but one of the finishing touches is finding out if your client segment belongs to an association. You can leverage your client relationship to get an introduction to the association and join as an associate member.

This will give you the opportunity to attend their meetings and maybe speak on topics such as estate planning, pension planning, etc.Getting your name out in a favorable way to a group of people who are very similar to your best client will have a dramatic effect on your bottom line.

As an example, I'm a member of the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT), in which top financial advisors gather on an annual basis to exchange innovative concepts and ideas at the MDRT Annual Meeting. Our clients belong to those same types of organizations in their own industry, whether it's the professional roofers or medical association. Associations look for exhibitors and people to share ideas with their members. This is your opportunity to get in front of the clients you want. Over the years this has been responsible for some of the largest increases in my business over a very short period of time.

Choosing the right structure for your business will increase both the quality and quantity of prospects, which, when combined will help you do more business in 2015. Take the time to develop a system that works for you. Everyone's techniques to produce new business will vary, yet if you have a concentrated focus it will ensure a constant flow of success.