A great way to build your email prospect list is to offer your website visitors a free newsletter. These visitors to your website may even turn into customers in the long run. But what if you’re looking for prospects that are ready to buy? You could include a quote request form on your website. But like newsletter requests, this approach probably won’t build your database of leads very fast either.
You’ve probably been tempted by offers you’ve received in your email – or more likely your junk email — promising thousands of prospect email addresses for only pennies per name. Unfortunately, the chances are slim that these are true opt-in names that conform to the requirements of the federal CAN-SPAM Act (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003). CAN-SPAM requires that email marketers follow certain rules, mainly
- Recipients must opt-in to receive the emails you send
- Recipients must also be able to opt-out of receiving emails from you
- Your subject lines cannot be misleading
- You must provide a physical address and your sender email address
These are the basic requirements that should concern you — obviously you’re not going to be sending pornographic or other questionable content. The point being that no matter how cheap a questionable lead source may be, if the seller cannot attest to the legitimate opt-in status of the leads for sale you never want to use them. If you do, you will very likely get black-listed and worse, you could be fined several thousand dollars and could even face prison time.
If you want more leads than your opt-in system can provide, there are reputable lead generation companies you can turn to. Though the leads can cost as much as $25 or more each, they are legal and if your closing ratio is good your ROI will still be profitable. Lead generators place ads and host websites that collect inquiries from people who want insurance quotes from agents. These leads are then farmed out. You can purchase leads for many different insurance lines, including Medicare, health, long term disability, personal auto and homeowners, even business insurance. You’ll want to find out how many other agents have been sold the leads you’re interested in. You can also buy seasoned or “aged” leads for less, which may take longer to close but can still yield a solid ROI.
Of course when you’re paying for leads, you want to put your leads to work a little more aggressively than by simply sending them a newsletter, especially since they’ve indicated to the lead generator that they are now interested in buying something. Though a newsletter can be part of your plan, a complete drip marketing system is probably the best way to handle purchased opt-in leads.
I’ll comment on this approach in a future post.
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