Chamber of Commerce already pays off!

I guess two things to note: 1) Join your local Chamber. 2) If your client is close, go see them. I had an appointment with a Century 21 real estate agent literally 5 minutes from me - debated about doing it online. That would have been a mistake.

I went to the office and she bought a plan. She grabbed her friend, got her in the office and she bought a plan! Then said I should talk to the owner since they don't offer health. While waiting for the owner (odd title since it's a pseudo-franchise type of arrangement) I noticed the Chamber plaque on the wall. We shook hands and I said I just joined and got approved. Complete attitude shift from what I've ever seen before; "So you're a chamber member?" We talked about some upcoming events we're both attending and it was an "owner to owner" conversation instead of "owner to pesky insurance agent." You know the normal drill - it would be "well that sounds great....have a card?"

Now he wants me to come in next week and do a presentation in front of the rest of the agents. He also said he can't wait to introduce me to several friends of his since health insurance comes up during conversations. There are five other insurance agencies in that local chamber - none of which offer heatlh. It's outfits like Allstate, Nationwide and other places that focues on P&C, life, disability and employee benefits.

Also, the chamber has a monthly newletter and for $20 to $40 per month you can buy rather large ad space. I'm in - got a 40 buck-er and it'll run next month - so that's every business owner seeing my ad for 40 whopping bucks.

It's worth noting the two agency owners I highly respected told me to go this route in 2004. But I was too smart for that - I'm gonna sign up 28 year-olds online and get rich.

Hey, anyone reading this don't get me wrong. Go buy leads all you want - but use it to supplement your business - don't make it your entire business. It should be one of many sources of business. If it's your exclusive source of business you'll find yourself chasing down leads 5 years from now. And if you stopped the leads on Tuesday, you're out of business on Wednesday.

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