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Marketing Tools Overview
Professional consultants will utilize both direct marketing and networking to generate leads and new clients.  Recent polls show that networking provides roughly 51% of all new business so from a practical standpoint, both are equally important to brokers. 

Website
All consultants must have a functioning website.  For IACFB members, you will either have an Aegis Factors BIZCAP site, a DMS Commercial Finance Broker4Us site, or if not affiliated with those programs, a site based on one of the 4 IACFB website templates. 

Your Business Name / Domain
If you are operating through BIZCAP or Broker4Us, your domain will be one associated with that particular site.  If you are operating through IACFB, you will need to create a domain which references your business.  Associates-styled business names and domains are always acceptable such as the business name "J. D. Smith & Associates" with a domain such as www.jdsmithassociates.com.  Other business names and domains should relate to your industry.  This is a small business financial services industry so the use of words such as "business", "capital", "finance", etc. are preferred.  Also including your geographic location is a plus.  A sample name could be "Atlanta Capital Solutions", for example.  Your associated website domain could well be www.atlantacapitalsolutions.com.

Business Cards
This is such an essential and important item to your business that we have a short training session on their design and use. 

Contact Manager (CRM)
All consultants require a good Contact Management Software or CRM and Commercial Finance Consultants are no exception.  It is not unlikely that after a few years in business you will have something north of 5,000 financing suspects, prospects and sources of referral.  You simply cannot manage that many names without a Contact Management System.  We recommend one of three systems:

•  ACT by Sage (Pro Edition)  $200
•  Goldmine by Front Range $695 (pricey)
•  FactorMax Guerrilla by DMS $395

We recommend ACT if you are part-time or in BIZCAP or Broker4Us.  We recommend FactorMax Guerrilla if you are a fully independent consultant due to its inclusion of the American Directory of Factors and Lenders.  Regardless of which you choose, get your Contact Manager at your earliest opportunity.  You cannot operate effectively without one.  Period!

Email Marketing Manager
Though you will be able to handle a certain level of email marketing through your Contact Manager, we recommend (highly) that you subscribe to an Email Marketing Manager such as Constant Contact. One of your "must perform" functions each month is to deliver a quality newsletter product to your lists of suspects, prospects, and referral sources. 

Your Email Marketing Manager is a powerful tool which will help you in the "List Building" process and this is essential.  Quality list building is a key component to your success and trust us, you can use all the help you can get.  We include Constant Contact "Join Our Email List" forms in all IACFB consultant websites.