Targeted Data Lists are a commodity, make no mistake about it.

You may ask yourself, does it matter where I get it? And more importantly, what do I do with it? The goal is to reach your target market and get the most direct response “Juice” to close as many customers as you can.

This is easily done with one of two methodologies, or a combination of both; Direct Mail or Telemarketing. Each has its hot points, the main differentiations are you would wholesale direct mail to those who are on the DNC (Do Not Call) list and use a predictive dialer on those you are allowed to call.

Targeted direct mail campaigns mostly generate a better quality lead as the target client is the one initiating a phone call, but mail is most likely more expensive.

Either way you decide to go, most likely based on how your list was generated, keeping control of your list data is essential.

For both styles of marketing you need a high quality Inexpensive list. Your list filtering is vitally important for performance. Businesses need companies who care enough about the results to have in-depth conversation about the data, data targeting and how to best monetize that list. There are many top companies out there like The Leads Warehouse, Info USA, and of course the company I work for.

The best part of finding a solid list provider is that once you have this, you will never need anything else. The hard part is done! Once you turn on the marketing machine and work with the right company you have more profitability, more sales, higher agent moral, and most importantly, have you generating leads like the big players out there - almost instantly.

Long awaited, here are the Top 5 Hot Tips for getting the right company on your side:

1) Is you sales representative a Student of the Data Game? (Hint: They should speak about thing like Granularity, modeled Vs. Credit File, and Data Points)

2) What are their lists geared for - quality mail lists or quality telemarketing lists? Not all lists are developed the same.

3) Which business verticals are they strongest in? Just like a lender, every provider has their own strengths.

4) Do they have Stats and Numbers for your review? A good provider will have ballpark response ranges. (Hint: If they say it all depends on the client - then you are on the wrong track)

5) Are they giving you a free list as a test? You get what you pay for, any solid list will be inexpensive, but not free. If you get a free list offer then they’re using your time and effort to test a black market list.

To finish this up, using the wrong list provider can be a trying experience, using the right one can give you targeted prospects who want what you have. Make sure you pick the right person for your data needs!

Why Read This Article?: Robert Brack manages Wholesale Discount Lists for Inc. 500 Companies. Be sure to chat with a pro before settling for second best about your Quality Lead List.

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Insurance salesmen have to be on their toes at all times and are always looking for life insurance leads as most agents are not salaried and only earn commissions once they have made a sale. In order to get a decent salary they need to sign up customers meaning they need enough leads to reach their target each month.

Here are some suggestions that you’ll use to get yourself life insurance leads and earn a decent commission every month:

The primary thing you need to try and do is have a look at the life changing expertise folks have as this alone can offer you with additional leads than you’ll imagine.

When people take out a mortgage loan they need to secure this debt with life insurance in the event of death. These types of leads are good as these people are motivated to take out life insurance.

Every parent needs the best for his or her kids and that they need to make sure that if one thing happens to them the children are taken care of and they usually get rid of additional insurance policies to hide education etc. These are excellent life insurance leads that you should not pass by.

You can also look into areas where marriages break up or where a spouse has died and there was not enough coverage. Job losses are another avenue to look at when people lose their jobs they are no longer covered. New businesses need insurance cover.

As you’ll be able to see there are a number of ways in which in that you can get yourself leads as there are new avenues opening continuously you only need to be prepared to work hard and find on top of things. Build friends with staff at the banks and raise them to pass away leads. You can earn a large commission each month all you got to do is simply place yourself out there.

The author has been writing articles online for over 4 years now. Not only does this author specialize in health, fitness and relationships you can also check out his latest websites on Facial Scar Treatment and Life Insureance Leads

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I took my kids to a county fair, here in Ohio, recently It was a large fair with a many things to do. My kids had a great time. As out family walked through the fair, we heard an advertisement playing over the loudspeakers. The ad offered us an opportunity to see Myrna the Mermaid. Myrna is part human, part mermaid and lives in a little golden fish bowl.

The price was only $1.00. So I slapped $4 down for my family to see Myrna. I did it because I thought it would be great to write about in my blog. My wife thought I was the dumbest guy in the place.

She might have been right. There was no line to see Myrna, and I wondered if I had been the only one suckered all day.

After paying to see Myrna, we were ushered up some steps and told to look into a little window. To my surprise, we saw little Myrna sitting in a fish bowl waving to us. She waved every time we peaked in at her. I couldn’t figure out how they did it. It must have been some kind of reflection projected on to the fish bowl. I guess it really doesn’t matter.

Why?

Because it was great marketing.

After we left Myrna, we started hearing another message on the loudspeakers, this time for The Amazing Gorilla Girl.

It was $2 each to see the Amazing Gorilla Girl, but my wife absolutely refused to go to this attraction. She still couldn’t believe we saw the mermaid. Too bad; I really wanted to check out the gorilla girl.

The Gorilla Girl marketing was magical, too. “See her change right before your eyes!” “Beautiful Girl” “Terrifying Gorilla!” It reminded me of the legendary P.T. Barnum!I read about book about P.T. Barnum years ago. It was very informative.

The speakers at the Amazing Gorilla attraction blasted comments like: “Don’t enter if you have a history of fainting.” Don’t enter if you are pregnant.” This was tremendous stuff! Everything they said made me want to see her more.

I didn’t know when the day started that I would end up getting such an outstanding marketing lesson at the fair. Maybe I can write the day’s expenses off now.

There is a great deal to learn from this type of marketing. The biggest lesson is how to get the attention of your prospects. I’m sure everyone at the fair heard about the Amazing Gorilla Girl. I’m not sure how many paid to see her.

Does everyone in your market know you? If not, why not?

Look, unless you have no competition, you have to find a way for your marketing to stand out. You can have the best service around, even a compelling message in your marketing, but if you don’t first get people’s attention, it’s wasted.

You have to have a mermaid.

Unfortunately when most people get into the career of selling they are typically instructed to make sales by cold calling. They are taught to call on people they don’t know by using the phone or by going door-to-door talking to strangers.

Because sales trainers insist on this approach it is no wonder why sales has such a high turn over and why so many people despise salespeople.

This creates some major problems like unsuccessful and unhappy salespeople and customers who end up hating salespeople and the companies they work for because they aren’t bugged relentlessly about products they aren’t interested in.

I have people still tell me today thought that cold calling works for them and their business. And while I believe you can still make sales by that method that’s not my point. The issue is time. For example you can drive across the country in a car but if you could take a plane you would do that if you wanted to get there quicker.

So it’s not that cold calling doesn’t work at all, it’s that cold calling is no longer effective when you consider the time it takes to do it.

But what do you do if you give up cold calling? Well you need to find activities that have leverage. Meaning you do them once and they continue to provide you with leads and sales forever.

You also need a system for getting sales leads automatically so you don’t waste your time on prospecting and trying to find new clients and customers.

So what do you do? Well you need to find out where your customers are hiding and then provide the right bait to bring them to you. It’s like in fishing when you put bait on a hook and wait for them to come to you instead of jumping in the water and chasing after a fish with a spear. Except when you have an effective system in place you can actually have hundreds of hooks out there and only take the time regaling in the lines with fish on them.

So if you are in sales that’s exactly what you need to do so you can focus on your customers instead of cold calling prospects all day long.

So remember to devise a system that has the right bait to attract your target market and only spend time on selling the people who take your bait. It’s easier than it sounds and a heck of a lot more fun than cold calling.

At a recent mastermind meeting with real estate entrepreneurs, I asked the following question:

What lessons have you learned from the real estate market bubble-burst and this recession?

I was surprised to hear that many of the real estate agents haven’t learned their lessons. I’ve learned many. In fact, I started a little notebook in which I detail new lessons as they are delivered to me - which is just about every day. I’m hoping to keep this notebook at the ready for the next recession, whenever that may be.

I thought I’d share with you some business lessons I have learned.

1. Credit lines CAN disappear. This includes both business and personal lines of credit. My lender, for example, froze my home equity loan. I’m sure your lender might have, too. The BIG lesson here is that it is necessary to build large cash reserves. Even in good times, don’t be lured into thinking that your credit lines will be available when you need them. They won’t in the worst of times. Maybe borrow from your credit lines when they are available and put the money in a savings account, making the interest payments.

2. New credit will be hard to obtain. Your credit score won’t matter very much. See number one above.

3. Business opportunities change rapidly. You have to be proactive. Spotting new trends and adapting to changes. What are larger businesses doing to adapt in this economy? Copy their strategies within your own business. Where is the money in your marketplace? Look around and pay close attention. Follow the money. Be decisive. Change things on the fly.

4. Clients will become very nervous about buying and selling. Understand this shift in their thinking. Change your client communications accordingly.

5. Always keep your overhead low. Overhead will take you down very quickly. Don’t take on large office space. Don’t take on too many employees. Don’t take on large fixed expenses within your business. Try and keep your business expenses variable. You can reduce these expenses quickly, if need be.

6. Improve your customer service FAST. When the real estate market was going gang busters, we let our customer service slip. It didn’t matter too much. This was a big mistake. Start going above and beyond for your customers. Don’t give them any excuse or reason to go elsewhere.

7. Look for ways to provide lower-priced services or products. When money becomes tight, clients will look more to price than ever before. Be prepared to quickly adapt your pricing in order to remain competitive.

8. Must have multiple income streams. When times are good, take time to create multiple income streams. Try and diversify these income streams so that the loss of one doesn’t impact others. Multiple income streams are like a life raft on a sinking boat. They are required and will save you from drowning.

9. Cash gives you the ability to lock in massive wealth. You’ve heard the saying - “Cash is King”, haven’t you? It’s true. If you have cash in a down market and the courage to invest it, you’ll build wealth very, very quickly. Homes can be purchased for pennies on the dollar. Stocks can be acquired at rock bottom prices. Buy when others are selling and sell when others are buying.

I hope this will help you eliminate mis-steps in your business. This recession will likely continue to deliver important business lessons you. You will learn them, one way or the other, one time or another. Let’s learn them the first time around!

WARNING: What I’m about to suggest in this article is not easy, but it offers three very profitable opportunities for your business. In fact, you’ll have to launch one very challenging business to tap into these three profitable opportunities.

I coach agents all over North America. Some are in small cities. Small cities, unfortunately, come with small populations, and that limits agents who want to build a large, thriving business. In smaller markets, it’s difficult to generate a big number of leads, and leads are what drive sales.

One way to side-step this small-market challenge would to take your business to a national level. You could do this by marketing in national publications. For example, run your best lead-generation advertisement in USA Today, a national newspaper with a subscription base of more than 2 million . Think about the number of leads you would be able generate from just a single ad!

Maybe this doesn’t make much sense to you on the surface; the majority of national readers probably aren’t looking to move to your area. But what if you shifted your marketing toward real estate investors? You might be surprised to find a large group of people who might be willing to invest in attractive income properties in your area.

In order to capture sales to investors outside of your market, you’re going to have to offer property-management services to out-of-town property owners. This is why I issued the warning at the start of this article. Property management is not an easy venture to launch. There are obstacles to overcome and challenges to face.

Challenges and obstacles aside, property management is what allows you to sell homes to investors outside of your market. This ability to take your business to a larger level could be very profitable to you. Think about advertising in the Wall Street Journal or Investors Business Daily. What kinds of prospects could your business attract?

Agents who consider adding property-management services look at the monthly income that could be generated. The steady income is attractive, and you could probably charge enough to cover overhead you’d be taking on. Fifty homes under management contracts at $100 per month would give your business a revenue stream of $5,000 a month without selling any homes. Not bad.

An additional profit opportunity available to you with property management is the ability to sell the homes you would have under management. One agent I coach adds a clause in his management agreements that gives him the ability to sell his managed homes and earn full commissions on each sale. Obviously, the terms of the sale would have to be acceptable to the investor. Think about this: If you 50 homes under management with clauses that allowed you to sell them, you would have 50 listings in your pocket. This would be an extremely attractive asset for your business.

Property management is a difficult business, and you would have to consider all the challenges before getting involved with it. Another option might be to find a great property management company and refer your clients to this company. This would still give you the ability to take your business national without having to provide the management services yourself. However, you would lose two of the sources of revenue available through property management: the monthly management income and the automatic listings you’ hold for the homes under your management. You would still have the ability to generate leads at a national level, though.

When I first became a licensed real estate agent, I went to work for a very small brokerage. Our office consisted of my broker, who was a fantastic salesman, an administrative assistant and some mysterious agent whom I never saw. I heard about him, but he never seemed to stop into the office or sell any homes.

My broker also owned a printing business. His real estate company shared office space in his printing business. There was no sign on the door for the real estate company. In addition, he didn’t have his real estate business listed in the phone book. In addition, my broker wasn’t a fan of marketing. His entire business was built around referrals.

During my years with him, he never once ran a lead generation advertisement. He never sent a customer newsletter. In fact, he never promoted himself in the public. He simply waited for referrals to come in from past clients, friends and his large network of business owners. I believe he would meet the definition of “old” school.

His procedures were similar to other brokers in that he handled any listings and turned over buyer referrals to me. I improved my skills and became good at working with home buyers.

This was all OK until …

One morning he stopped in the office and said, “Cancel any meetings you have today and grab your golf clubs!” We left the office and played 18 holes of golf. As always, we had a few beers as we played. My broker was an excellent golfer and he always beat me by a wide margin. I didn’t really care because golf was never that important to me.

It was still early after we finished, so we headed to a bar that had an outdoor boccie court. We continued drinking and began to aggressively play boccie. I couldn’t believe it, but I was actually beating him. I won the first game. So he challenged me to a second and I won again. He became very irritated because he never liked to lose, especially to me.

I started to trash talk a little bit because I was finally beating him at something. This must have been when the alcohol kicked in because he said the following to me:

“Who changes your kitty litter?”

In an instant, my life was forever changed. This sentence was one of my life-defining moments. He was saying that he was responsible for all my sales and commissions because he provided me with every one of his buyer referrals. Honestly, he was right. I was dependent on him.

But I was angry anyhow, to say the least. I promised myself right then and there to start my own business and show this guy that I didn’t need anyone to “change my kitty litter.”

Immediately, I began looking for an office of my own. I found a run-down old location that I rented for $425 per month. I had a meeting with my broker and negotiated a higher commission split because I would no longer accept any of his referrals, nor would I be using his office, supplies or administrative assistant. I was going to change my own kitty litter from now on.

I began to study marketing and slowly but surely began selling homes on my own. Within a few short months, I finished the required classes to obtain my brokers license and started my own real estate brokerage.

Fast forward…

When I sold my real estate business, we were selling an average of 30 homes a month. This was the same number of homes my broker would sell in a year. My company had been ranked 4th on the fastest growing companies in Northeastern, Ohio. I proved that I didn’t need his referrals and that I could build a business on my own.

Looking back, I now realize how important this “Kitty Litter” comment was for my personal development. It forced me to go out on my own and make things happen all by myself. Had he not said this to me, I probably would have continued working his buyer referrals. Who knows where I would be today. I’d probably still be working in a spare desk somewhere in his printing office. Or more than likely, I would be out of business because his business model wasn’t sustainable.

I now believe that we all have “life defining moments” like the one I shared within this article. In fact, I believe the recent real estate market crash has been a major life defining moment for many in our industry. Life defining moments are critical for our success because they force us to do things we wouldn’t have done otherwise. I desperately wanted to beat my broker in the number of homes sold. I wanted to prove myself.This desire forced me to get out of my comfort zone and do things that I had never done before.

Pertaining to this recent market crash, some experts are saying we probably have hit our bottom. This is where you now get to decide how you are going to handle your life-defining moment. If you have survived this crash, you are working your business with a clean slate now. The market is at or near the bottom and will improve going forward.

So will you get out of that comfort zone and do what it takes?

Will you prove to the world that you can build a sucessful business?

I hope you answered “Yes.”

Don’t let someone else change your kitty litter.

“I’d love it…but I’m on a strict budget and cannot buy a thing right now!” All sellers have heard this line (or one just like it). Maybe a prospect wants an expensive item, but settles on the cheapie item because of budget. How can you get the higher sale?

A super simple tip can solve this. It’s to offer a a gift registry. They are used numerous events (bridal, showers, etc.) events. How can you make them work in your business?

Be sure to let all your party guests know about it so during the party they can choose those they want to take home today and those they want to add to their personal registry.

Your prospects should fill out a form with their important dates (gift giving dates) and the names of those whom are expected to be giving gifts. Husbands, boyfriends, girlfriends, etc. are usually the natural suspects for this list. Get their contact info (addresses are best). After the sales event, you can send out the lists to the contacts and even send them out on a reminder calendar. For instance, when January 12 rolls around, have it set up for Sally May’s husband to receive a reminder email from you about her favorite perfume from her “gift registry.” Make it easy for him to buy it and have it delivered (gift wrapped would be an awesome suggestion), and voila! You’ve likely made a simple sale!

Of course you would add the husband to your regular prospect list and market to him regularly. You never know…even if he isn’t interested, he probably has a sister that would love your line-up of products. He could be come your best customer!

Using creative techniques such as this is one way to get the initial sale, a back-end sale later and build your mailing list. Be sure to use the list to contact prospects for the gift registry as well as for prospecting for your business.

One of the questions I receive on a consistent basis is “Where can I find good agents to join my team?” This is a very important question because your team will ultimately dictate the success of your business.

Bad Team = Bad Business Average Team = Average Business Great Team = Great Business

Isn’t it odd that this little secret is the key to success in real estate, but nobody bothers to tell you? I didn’t learn this in my licensing or continuing education classes, did you? I learned it the hard way. At first I recruited “bad” agents. And my business suffered. Then I started to recruit “average” agents, and things got a bit better. Finally, I began to recruit “great” agents, and, honestly, my business exploded.

“Bad” Agents

Bad agents are the ones who take up a ton of your time but don’t sell any homes. This makes your business worse because you’re not making any more sales, but you’re dealing with their complaints, problems, issues, etc. When you ask them why they’re not performing, you almost always get some kind of excuse.

How do you attract bad agents to you? Easy. Run a “Help Wanted” ad in your local paper or on Craigslist. You might not believe me, but I’m telling you it’s true. If you stop and think about it for a minute, you’ll realize that a great salesperson wouldn’t be looking at the help-wanted section. Why? They’d be too busy selling.

Average Agents:

The average agents are the ones who get by. You know what I mean. They can be counted on for a sale every so often, but they don’t get after it. They take the cream off the top — making the sales to the easiest prospects to convert, but not doing a good job following up with other prospects. Sales kind of fall to them. They go through the business without much effort.

Average agents can easily be recruited from other companies. I still remember a meeting I once had with an agent form another brokerage years ago. This agent wanted to join my team, but the timing wasn’t right to leave the brokerage she was with. This was because she owed them $7,000 in commissions that had been advanced to her. Would a great agent be $7,000 to the negative in commissions? No.

The problem with average agents is that we always hesitate in letting them go. We think about the sales they do bring in and calculate the commissions generated. We worry that if we let the average agent person go, we’ll lose out on the commissions they do generate. This thinking is incorrect because it comes from a scarcity mindset. For some reason, we look at what we stand to lose instead of what we stand to gain. It is always better to replace average agents with great agents.

The Great Team Members

Great agents turn dirt into gold, converting the most sales. They rarely make excuses, they consistently perform at high levels, and they have the ability to hear what a prospect really wants and deliver on it every time. They adapt to the prospect they are working with, and they always self-correct. They are closers.

The challenge with great agents is that they aren’t easy to find. You can’t find them running “Help Wanted” advertisements. You also can’t find them working in other real estate companies. If they were already great agents, they wouldn’t be interested in working on your team. They would have their own team…

In order to find great agents, then, you have to look outside the pool of real estate agents. The trick is not really a trick. Just find great people, not great agents. My best team members came to me as:

Past clients of mine

As I would go through a transaction with a client, I’d get to know them better and ask myself if they had what it takes to be a great agent. Once our deal was done, I would set up a one-on-one appointment with them and discuss my opinion that they would be excellent in real estate sales. I would then explain my business, explain the opportunity to them, and offer to help them through the process of getting their license.

This little method landed me five great agents and a great office manager.

To utilize this approach, you must always be on the lookout for great people. Most team-builders wait until they need a new agent, then go look. You must do the opposite to attract great agents. When you come across someone in your day-to-day journey through life, figure out how you can get them on your team.

Remember “great” team members build “great” businesses.

Recently, I wrote an article about ranking the quality of leads. After the article was published, I received many questions about joint venture relationships. I mentioned in the article that joint venture leads are the second-highest quality leads you can generate. Wikipedia defines a joint venture relationship as:

A relationship formed between two or more parties to undertake economic activity together. The venture can be for one specific project only, or a continuing business relationship such as the Fuji Xerox joint venture.

A great example of a joint venture is the one between AT&T and Apple for the sale of the latter’s iPhone. AT&T derives benefit by gaining a ton of new subsribers without doing any marketing, which Apple handles. Apple, in turn, receives a commission on each new subscriber AT&T signs up. This additional revenue helps offset the marketing costs Apple incurs to sell the iPhone.

Both businesses benefite from the relationship. The main benefit of a joint venture is a lower cost of sale.

As real estate agents, we have the opportunity to engineer joint venture relationships into our businesses to reduce our cost per sale and our cost per lead. This lead generation strategy is very important in today’s market because of the reduced volume of home sales. Many agents are struggling with cash-flow and are looking to generate new leads inexpensively. Joint venture relationships should be an integral part of your marketing plan.

Let me give you an example. I put together a joint venture relationship with my attorney. I drew up a letter that he could mail to his database offering them a free gift, which was a copy of my book. Any of his clients who wanted their free copy had to call my message center and leave their name, address and phone number. I handled the mailing on my end and sent the letter to about 200 clients of his. The mailing generated about 40 leads for a cost-per-lead of about 40 centers. And because this letter was an indirect endorsement of me by the attorney, these clients were “pre-sold” and the leads were consequently high-quality leads.

My attorney benefitted fro the relationship in three ways. First, I referred all my clients to him for asset protection and estate planning, which every investor needs. I also plugged his practice and featured a couple of his articles in our client newsletters. The second benefit for him was the ability to give a “free gift” to his clients without spending any time or money doing so. The letter appeared to be from him, but we handled everything for him on my end. Lastly, he got calls from clients asking him about us. So he got the chance to talk to clients he hadn’t heard from in a while. This win/win relationship generated inexpensive leads for both of us.

Think about this for a second. You might realize that this strategy could be duplicated with multiple partners — lenders, insurance agents, financial planners, accountants, home inspectors, home stagers, interior designers, contractors and other local businesses. Offer to send a letter to your client list, promoting them, and ask them to send a leter to their databases promoting you. Win/win.

Now, you may be thinking …

“But I don’t have my own book!” Well, you don’t need a book to implement the strategy. You do need SOMETHING of value. How about a free report or a free CD? Or you could set up a conference call with your joint venture partner and interview each other. You can market the conference call to your database and to the partner’s database and share the leads that you generate. An example of a great joint conference call right now might be:

“Three Costly Legal Mistakes Buyers Make When Buying a Foreclosed Home”

You both can highlight some of the mistakes buyers make. At the conclusion of the call, both of you could have a special offer for the listeners. You could repeat this same strategy with various joint venture partners.

“Three Costly Mortgage Mistakes Buyers Make When Buying a Foreclosed Home” - Lender JV

“What You Must Know About Insurance When Buying a Foreclosed Home” - Insurance JV

Hopefully you see how powerful joint ventures can be in your business. They do require work, but they are very valuable lead-generation tools. You’ll generate high-quality leads inexpensively, and you’ll be able to attract more “pre-sold” clients to your business. Set a goal to launch one joint venture promotion per month for the rest of the year. Once the first promotion is set up, it will be simple going forward because you’ll just reuse marketing pieces with each new joint venture!