Ten Points of Marketing

1. Pick up the phone. There is yet to be a better way of "marketing oneself" then speaking with a prospect on the phone -- it's way better than direct mailings and cheaper too.

2. Referrals. The best marketing plan is this: Friends telling friends of your services and products.

3. Identify your target customers. Create a three-tier or dartboard approach to profiling sales prospects. The top tier or bull's-eye of the dartboard represents the prime target audience. Spend the most time with the tier in the bull's-eye and the least amount of time with the third tier. The marketing strategy should focus on a message to address the needs of each group

4. Networking. Much of what we accomplish is by marketing and networking and these organizations offer great opportunities for us as financial professionals to meet more people and promote our services.

5. Speak the language. Poor communication leads to poor sales.

6. Use daily newspapers. Ask the publisher what day of the week most seniors read the paper. That's the day you want to advertise.

7. Find a niche and position yourself within it. If you know a lot about one thing compared to a little about a lot of things, you will be more focused and most likely, more successful.

8. Be creative! Your senior clients will remember the little things that you do if they are original and creative.

9. Review your sales call ... both good and bad. Too many times we play the "ones that got away" over and over in our minds. But what about the sales calls that go right? We can learn as much from them as from those unsuccessful calls.

10. Practice, practice, practice. After years in this business, it is easy to become complacent. Prepare your presentation, prepare your close and prepare your follow-up.