Pacific Northwest prospects: don’t mess with me, man. I grew up somewhere else in the country, and managed to make it here and survive. Stay off my wagon trail, I’ll call you if I’m interested.

[quote=Spaceman Spiff]

Why would you want to have an office in the foothills when you can have an office in a wonderful strip mall in the burbs of St. Louis like me?

Vegas!! 340 days of sun a year, no state income tax, more silicone than LA, and free-flowin alcohol, what more can ya ask for.

...and to answer your question, I'm not sure if I EVER cold-called someone.  I've stopped in and visited a few business owners, but in general, I've been blessed (and consider myself lucky) to work from a referral-based angle pretty much from day one.  When I moved to the retail side of the business, I'd been a trust dept. investment manager for about nine years, so my rookie status was atypical.  Thus, bank employees were probably more comfortable sending referrals and helping me grow my business.  I also come from a local family with a good reputation and I think that's also been good for my business.

When I went independent in summer 2005, it was the CLIENTS who really took ownership of what I was trying to do and sent me a ton of referrals.  I also get some word of mouth advertising.  A new $235K rollover prospect today told me that he'd heard me on the radio and asked his insurance agent if he thought I could help him.  I guess I'm at a stage in my career where my reputation is sufficient for business to come in without a lot of effort.  That being said, I also understand that complacency kills, so I work hard developing client relationships and taking care of those I've brought on over the years.

I know, I know...long post and no help on cold-calling.  I almost cleared the whole thing a couple of times, but I thought you deserved to know that  what success I've had came mostly from a different source, which unfortunately, isn't a realistic option for many.

I feel for those of you building a business from scratch by cold-calling.  In my world, that looks like a tough way to make a living, although many before us have made it work successfully.  At the same time, If you can make it work, there should be nothing in this business that is out of reach for you.

I'll apologize for the quality of this post...it's been a long (but thankfully fruitful) day and it's not over yet...back to the salt mines...

[quote=BondGuy]

Northeast

Lots of people with money which we need to pay the highest in the nation property taxes.

Top of the food chain when camping, swimming in lakes or ocean.

Cleanest beaches in the country.

Biggest area of undeveloped, protected land on the east coast between Boston and Myrtle Bch starts ten miles from my front door and sits atop on of the world's largest underground fresh water supplies. This water bubbles up to create clean wilderness rivers. Yeah, hard to believe that it could be NJ.

Most snow changes to rain before we get hit, ocean effect. Still, we got a little last night. Good skiing about three hours north.

NE business is all I know. I prospected Fl for a while. I thought that was tough.

[/quote]

Why would you want to work by undeveloped land?  And I disagree, I'm from the SE, all the NE people are moving here for our clean beaches (and lower taxes).

[quote=entrylevelFA][quote=BondGuy]

Northeast

Lots of people with money which we need to pay the highest in the nation property taxes.

Top of the food chain when camping, swimming in lakes or ocean.

Cleanest beaches in the country.

Biggest area of undeveloped, protected land on the east coast between Boston and Myrtle Bch starts ten miles from my front door and sits atop on of the world's largest underground fresh water supplies. This water bubbles up to create clean wilderness rivers. Yeah, hard to believe that it could be NJ.

Most snow changes to rain before we get hit, ocean effect. Still, we got a little last night. Good skiing about three hours north.

NE business is all I know. I prospected Fl for a while. I thought that was tough.

[/quote]

Why would you want to work by undeveloped land?  And I disagree, I'm from the SE, all the NE people are moving here for our clean beaches (and lower taxes).

[/quote]

Did you miss the New Jersey part of the post? In the three county area sounding my house there are 1.5 million people. Lots of them with M-U-N-Y. 10 miles to west is Philadelphia. Look it up, it's a big city. 10 miles to my east is the undeveloped land. Except we don't call it undeveloped land. We call it by it's name, The Pinelands National Reserve. And we use it for recreation. The best part is that you can boat and swim in pristine, just bubbled up from the aquifer, water without worrying about gators, poisonous snakes, bull sharks or other top of the food chain predators. Camping can be done with out worrying about Bears, wolves or other predators. It's the big outdoors without the wildlife threats.

People are moving to the SE for the temperate temperatures, not the beaches. Along the east coast NJ is the hands down winner in the clean beach catagory. Because tourism is such a big industry for NJ the state has invested billions of dollars in beach replenishment. A healthy part of that budget goes to insure highest in the nation water quality. In fact, one of the reasons dirty water in Nj makes national headlines is NJ is one of the few states that actually tests water quality. In season it tests the water quality at every beach everyday along it's entire coastline. Beaches are closed if the water fails to meet standards. During the beach season most of the beaches along NJ's entire 127 mile coastline are swept and cleaned everyday. Outside of a few beaches in MD and Fl, no state does this. Nor do they test water quality. Fact is, outside of NJ and a few other places we have no way of knowing how clean the water is.

Beaches in both SE and SW FL are not nearly as nice or as clean. Same goes for the beaches of, of all places, the Outer Banks of NC. In fact on my last trip to Rodanthe I left early because the beach was disgusting dirty. Personally I don't want to fish or fly kites on a beach so littered with trash that I can't find a clean place ot sit down. Further south in Hatteras, a little better, but still dirty. I pointed Homer the motorhome NW and finished out the vaca trip at Raystown Lake central Pa. 

The SE along with the rest of the country has got us beat on taxes. Lawmakers are working on a 20% rebate or something similar. We'll see how this works out. Still, it takes a lot of money to live here. Hmmm, Morgan Stanley's top producer works in NJ. My firm has over two dozen million dollar plus producers working in NJ. Go figure.

Nothing like Beach Haven on Long Beach Island on the Jersey Shore…

[quote=BondGuy]

People are moving to the SE for the temperate temperatures, not the beaches. Along the east coast NJ is the hands down winner in the clean beach catagory. ........Beaches in both SE and SW FL are not nearly as nice or as clean.  [/quote]

Come on, Bondguy, I agree with much of what you've said here, but I've got family on the NJ S.E. shore and have been going there all my life. There's just no comparison between NJ beaches and the Southeast. None, zip, zero, nada. In fact, fair or not, ask the average American what comes to mind when they hear the words "New Jersey" and "beaches", they're likely to answer "medical waste".

The majority of my clients are transplants from the Northeast and Midwest and almost to the last one they'll tell you they came here for the ocean and the beautiful beaches. Now, if you want some Buick sized mosquitos or some alligators, I have some spares

DESTIN, Florida is the king of all beaches!



The fun thing about NE beaches is the fact that Florida beaches are deserted come May… Once you already have a few months at the beach people want to stay inside by the AC. NJ SE shore is nice. Actually most beaches are nice, but once you get past CT it gets rocky.



Bondguy you seem like a happy guy with all those positives. I also enjoy New England. Would not mind a few more months of warmer weather, but I do enjoy what we have.

[quote=AirForce]DESTIN, Florida is the king of all beaches!
[/quote]

Ugh, just got a chill at the mention of the name. Had a bad experience with an RB-8 there, but I suppose I shouldn't hold it against the beach. 

[quote=mikebutler222][quote=BondGuy]

People are moving to the SE for the temperate temperatures, not the beaches. Along the east coast NJ is the hands down winner in the clean beach catagory. ........Beaches in both SE and SW FL are not nearly as nice or as clean.  [/quote]

Come on, Bondguy, I agree with much of what you've said here, but I've got family on the NJ S.E. shore and have been going there all my life. There's just no comparison between NJ beaches and the Southeast. None, zip, zero, nada. In fact, fair or not, ask the average American what comes to mind when they hear the words "New Jersey" and "beaches", they're likely to answer "medical waste".

The majority of my clients are transplants from the Northeast and Midwest and almost to the last one they'll tell you they came here for the ocean and the beautiful beaches. Now, if you want some Buick sized mosquitos or some alligators, I have some spares

[/quote]

Sounds like you and I are in the same market!

[quote=blarmston]Nothing like Beach Haven on Long Beach Island on the Jersey Shore...[/quote]

Absolutely! Always a great place. And go one Island north to Island Beach State Park and you have 10 miles of undeveloped beach. Both LBI and IBSP are seperated from the mainland by Barnegat Bay. Barnegat (Burning Place in Dutch, or so i'm told) is a 40 mile long bay good for anything water bourne. Fish in the morning, sail in the afternoon once the dependable SW winds kick. Windless, darn, break out the sea kayaks and explore the sedges. There is a reason NJ is one of the biggest boating markets in the country.

How far SE are we talking?  I lived in VA Beach for three years and couldn’t go swimming several times due to unsafe amounts of fecal matter along the coastline.  I’m from Maine - pristine coastline.  People move south because the water is warm enough to actaully swim in not because it’s cleaner. 

MikeB clean out your PM folder, I can't reply to you.

Further south than VA Beach.  The water ain't clear, but it sure ain't sewage.  I'd eat anything caught in the water by our city...it's that clean.

[quote=mikebutler222][quote=BondGuy]

People are moving to the SE for the temperate temperatures, not the beaches. Along the east coast NJ is the hands down winner in the clean beach catagory. ........Beaches in both SE and SW FL are not nearly as nice or as clean.  [/quote]

Come on, Bondguy, I agree with much of what you've said here, but I've got family on the NJ S.E. shore and have been going there all my life. There's just no comparison between NJ beaches and the Southeast. None, zip, zero, nada.

I agree. After travelling to many if not most of the beaches along the east coast none are as nice as NJ. Almost all our recreation involves being on the water and/or being on the beach (Catamarran racing for example).

Not counted in above statement are beaches along the Redneck Riviera or Padre Island. We haven't gotten there yet, so I'll let you know.

In fact, fair or not, ask the average American what comes to mind when they hear the words "New Jersey" and "beaches", they're likely to answer "medical waste".

How about that? To find medical waste you actually have to look for it. Not only does NJ look, but when they find it they publicize it. Full disclosure. Jersey is one of the few states that cleans its beaches and extensively checks water quality. Interesting how many people draw the wrong conclusion from that effort.

So how clean is the water on your beach?

The majority of my clients are transplants from the Northeast and Midwest and almost to the last one they'll tell you they came here for the ocean and the beautiful beaches. Now, if you want some Buick sized mosquitos or some alligators, I have some spares

The mosquito is the Jersey state bird. But the far more painful experience is the Greenhead fly. Like mosquitos, it's only the females that bite. Absolutely agree that the SE has some beautiful beaches. And who can argue with that ocean? Yet, the water quality is unknown. Jersey closes beaches because of runoff contamination after heavy rain. Is NJ the only place where runoff presents a risk? In case you're wondering, the answer is no. NJ is one of the few states that proactively protects swimmers. As far as clean beaches go, I've yet to find anything as clean as Island State Park in NJ.

Then there's the usability of the beaches for swimming. In SW FL, Sanibel Island area, too many Bull Sharks around to comfortably swim or kayak. Of course it's the Caloosahatchee River mouth that is the major attraction for the big fish. Move inland an it's the reptiles that call for caution. SE Fl and it's Hammerheads and Bulls. Keys ,Bulls, whites and Hammerheads. Georgetown thru VA Bch, Bulls. This doesn't keep us out of the water, NJ has sharks too. Just much less of a factor in Jersey.

[quote=entrylevelFA]

MikeB clean out your PM folder, I can't reply to you.

Further south than VA Beach.  The water ain't clear, but it sure ain't sewage.  I'd eat anything caught in the water by our city...it's that clean.

[/quote]

My biggest complaint with the Outer Banks was the condition of the beaches. Trash strewn is the only way to describe it. Even the cleaner beaches in that area were dirty when compared to the standard I'm applying, which is the average NJ beach in mid season.

The fish are safe to eat all along the eastern seaboard. Shellfish may or may not be due to local conditions. It takes some shell fish generations to recover from pollution.

so what you are saying is, you like the beaches in jersey.

[quote=skolbrother]so what you are saying is, you like the beaches in jersey.[/quote]

Actually I hate the beach. However, it's a necessary evil when getting to the water.

Give me points for making the beaches sound so good that everyone here wants to change their vaca plans and come to Jersey this summer.

Did I mention that NJ has the largest clothing optional beach in the country? For that all over tan, join 5,000 to 10,000 other like minded people any weekend day. Things are calmer during the week. Legal skinny dipping. Everything from drop dead gorgeous to get out of the way you're blocking the sun. So I'm told.

Always a salesman.

People are moving to the SE for the temperate temperatures, not the beaches. Along the east coast NJ is the hands down winner in the clean beach catagory. ........Beaches in both SE and SW FL are not nearly as nice or as clean.  [/quote]

Come on, Bondguy, I agree with much of what you've said here, but I've got family on the NJ S.E. shore and have been going there all my life. There's just no comparison between NJ beaches and the Southeast. None, zip, zero, nada.

I agree. After travelling to many if not most of the beaches along the east coast none are as nice as NJ. Almost all our recreation involves being on the water and/or being on the beach (Catamarran racing for example).

Not counted in above statement are beaches along the Redneck Riviera or Padre Island. We haven't gotten there yet, so I'll let you know.

Like I said, I've had life long experiences on NJ beaches (Southern coast) and just don't agree.

In fact, fair or not, ask the average American what comes to mind when they hear the words "New Jersey" and "beaches", they're likely to answer "medical waste".

How about that? To find medical waste you actually have to look for it. Not only does NJ look, but when they find it they publicize it. Full disclosure. Jersey is one of the few states that cleans its beaches and extensively checks water quality. Interesting how many people draw the wrong conclusion from that effort.

I'm sure NJ does fine work these days and the "medical waste" issue is a legacy of days gone by. When I lived in the NYC area 1989-91, thereabouts, medical waste washing up on NJ beaches was as common as rain. It was a running joke.

So how clean is the water on your beach?

Perfect, thanks for asking, and it draws retirees and vacationers by the ton. (literally, you should see some of them)

The majority of my clients are transplants from the Northeast and Midwest and almost to the last one they'll tell you they came here for the ocean and the beautiful beaches. Now, if you want some Buick sized mosquitos or some alligators, I have some spares

The mosquito is the Jersey state bird. But the far more painful experience is the Greenhead fly.

Hey, I was trying to throw you a bone. Thanks for reminding me about those flies, they make our no-see-ums look beautiful by contrast. As to the NJ state bird, you're right, I owe the part of my dead brains cells not killed by alcohol during my mis-spent youth to riding behind the sprayer trucks when I was a kid.

Like mosquitos, it's only the females that bite. Absolutely agree that the SE has some beautiful beaches. And who can argue with that ocean? Yet, the water quality is unknown.

Nah, not unknown at all. Constantly tested and we don't have the large urban centers or industrial threats to the ocean near our shores that NJ health officials have to deal with. That's the run-off danger source.

Then there's the usability of the beaches for swimming. In SW FL, Sanibel Island area, too many Bull Sharks around to comfortably swim or kayak.

Sharks are nature's way of culling the human herd, don't you know?

This doesn't keep us out of the water, NJ has sharks too. Just much less of a factor in Jersey.

We also have near year-round access. Seriously, I've lived on/near both, and there's just no contest. OTOH, we don't have AC or the Eagles here, so perhaps it's a much more even score.

Nothing funnier than a guy in jersey trying to tell us how great new jersey is.