Most financial advisors seem to grow their business in concentric circles. They begin with friends, family and acquaintances...and build outwards from there, with referrals as the best method to make introductions.
At some point, many advisors decide to focus on a niche market. This approach makes infinite sense. However, many advisors aren't terribly creative when they select the niche. They tend to gravitate towards those niches that project an aura of wealth...those professions that our parents wanted us to become, e.g. doctors, dentists, attorneys, accountants, etc. The end result is that the "white-collar professional" crowd is way over-prospected.
An alternative is to uncover a niche that is relatively obscure, and under-prospected.The advantage of under-prospected niches is that the initial sales cycle is shorter...and under-prospected investors are more loyal once they become clients.
Here are some examples of under-prospected niches, and the associations that they belong to. These are just a few examples of thousands of niches that business owners or professionals belong to. By the way, every niche has their respective association. Most of these associations can be found online. Many of them have member directories online too.
The American Land Title Association www.alta.org, the Coin Laundry Association www.coinlaundry.org, the National Association of Truckstop Operators www.natso.com, the National Association of Waste Transporters www.nawt.org, and the Retail Tobacco Dealers Association www.rtda.org.
One final, and obvious, point. If you focus on a niche, referrals are the best way to get introductions. Many advisors arrive upon a niche where they know at least one member...and use this contact as the embarkation point. However, it is completely possible to select a niche where you don't know a soul...yet. The key is to select a niche where you have a strong inkling that you will "like" the members...or at least understand and value the contributions of that industry.
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