Referral Marketing Secret 4: Generate Leads and Referrals With Articles!

Here is Referral Marketing Secret Number 5. Articles and Free Press:

An easy way to get referrals and leads is to write articles foryour local newspaper, local newsletters, local websites,and even article directories that are worldwide.

Write an article that covers a certain subject that isrelated to insurance or financial planning.

Make it compelling and interesting. If you have troublegetting started hire a ghost writer at guru.com or elance.comand then edit the article.

Send this article along with a cover letter to the editor of several newspapers and magazines that cover your local area.

Consider calling the editors of each publication and askthem if they can use an article in the financial planningarena first. Give them the title of the article to chew on.

Titles are important so make sure it is compelling (see the last to secrets for titles of reports as examples).

You may want to write a separate article for each publicationbecause if more than one picks it up you may have a conflict. But it would be unusual (I used this exact technique and sentan article to 4 magazines. I only write one article banking thatonly one would pick it up. One picked it up and gave me threemore articles to write for their magazine).

After you mail it, if you don't get a response call them andsee about getting them to publish it. It may be in their'to do' file.

You may even get a column out of your efforts.

Articles instantly increase your credibility and it's the bestform of advertising because the leads and referrals thatresult from it are the highest quality.

If they do not use your article go to online article directorieslike ezinearticles.com and goarticles.com and publish it. Makesure you include a link to your site. This will boost your rankingsand get traffic to your site.

Secondly, once you distribute a few articles on EzineArticles.comyou will be recognized as an 'Expert Author' (other articledirectory sites provide that designation as well. You can now usethat in your marketing to improve your credibility as well...

'John Smith, Expert Author EzineArticles.com'

If your article does get published now you can leverage it. Sendcopies to your clients and include it in your newsletter. Also, use the 'As Seen In...' in your marketing to increase credibility.

Keep trying until you get published because you can then writemore articles and send copies to editors proving that you havebeen published and have experience in article writing.

And don't forget about radio and tv! Send articles to radiostations and tv stations as well. And if you do get publishedsend a copy to them for proof that you are for real.

If you are thinking you can't do it, or they only want experts,you are wrong. You just need to deliver information that isinteresting and compelling, and that is all that editors are looking for. Sure, it helps to have some expertise. Being a licensed agent, CFP, or LTC expert is all you really need.

Editors are desperate for good content. Especially for printnewsletters and magazines. So get going. The worst thing that willhappen is you can use the articles for your online efforts andturn them into reports and bulletins to use in your articles.

Tip: Expand your article into a report for use as a lead generatorin your advertising, or send it to clients and prospects as aspecial gift. Use it in your newsletter.