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First off, you don't "spend" on marketing - it's not a "cost", it is an investment that needs to be carefully analyzed and monitored for return.
That being said, I would make a list of potential "centers of influence" who can potentially refer, or work on a split commission basis.
Then I would take the money an invest it in lunches/breakfasts with them to begin forming a relationship.
The whole idea is to have potential clients you can work with on a favorable basis...
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Hooters has a casino in Vegas now... kill two birds with one stone...
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well at least now I found where I'm gonna have the IHIAA convention
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Direct mail is the best. I've done newspaper inserts, phone cold calling and telemarketers but like direct mail the best. You can buy lists from Acxiom, Experian, Knowledgebase Marketing, InfoUSA for your campaign.
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If I only had $1500 to invest into my insurance career to get started I'd:
1. Make sure I installed a phone line with unlimited local calls. Use your home phone to start. Zero $
2. Develope a good phone sales script. Zero $
3. Coffeemaker. Use your home one to start. Zero $
4. Purchase 1000 professional looking business cards. $49
5. Purchase stationary, envelopes, and postage for Thank You notes. $75
6. Let your fingers do the walking. Yellow Pages Zero $
Take the $1376 left over, and put it in the bank for next months mortgage payment.
Repeat step 6 daily
1. Make sure I installed a phone line with unlimited local calls. Use your home phone to start. Zero $
2. Develope a good phone sales script. Zero $
3. Coffeemaker. Use your home one to start. Zero $
4. Purchase 1000 professional looking business cards. $49
5. Purchase stationary, envelopes, and postage for Thank You notes. $75
6. Let your fingers do the walking. Yellow Pages Zero $
Take the $1376 left over, and put it in the bank for next months mortgage payment.
Repeat step 6 daily
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BINGOThe biggest mistake business owners make is to confuse marketing with advertising. Advertising can only come after you have set a foundation for your business -- and if you do that right, you'll NEVER have to advertise. It's too expensive, too inefficient, too risky -- especially with a limited budget.
To moonlightandmargaritas' excellent post I would only add this: identify and meet with established professionals who share your target market. Depending on what you're selling that may be senior services pros, business services pros, whatever. Don't -- I repeat, don't burn time with pros who do not share your target market.
Create working relationships with them. Introduce them to each other, and form your own group. Don't make it a leads group, where people are forced to give each other leads. Make it a close but loosely-tied together group of pros who trust each other enough to help their clients. Remember, if I bring you in to help my client, it's making me look better in the eyes of my client. That's what I call a good lead.
Next go to Amazon.com and grab yourself a couple of titles from J. Conrad Levinson's "Guerilla Marketing" series of books. I'm a disciple of his, and write about him in my books and articles (don't worry, I ain't here to sell anything). Read them, love them, live them. They're all about creative, aggressive, low-cost marketing.
Get started on this ASAP, for two reasons: (1) it's a seed-planting process, and while you can get some business quickly, your best results will come over time, and (2) you don't want to look back in six months, one year, and wish you "had done it back then." I hear that one all the time. Regret sucks.
Other than that, in this business, get ready to knock on doors, buy a few leads, and consider the other suggestions on this thread. You've got to do it all. But keep those costs to a minimum and work smart.
Good luck!
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