Love this site and forum, but a lot of the message board responses are 5 years old.

Quick question- COLD CALLING: is it still the game it was in 2005?

Anybody that says Cold Calling is totally dead, that has never done it successfully save it- I worked as a recruiter for Mechanical and electrical design engineers up until 2008 and am far from a beginner when it comes to the phones.

Anybody that says Cold Calling is totally dead, that used to use it - Please, enlighten me to other ways I can build my book. I'm in a new area of the country and have no school friends, or family connections for starter accounts.

I'm looking for any sort of methods, perhaps unorthodox, to build relationships with centers of influence that I may not be thinking of.

I appreciate any assistance, and look up to the the guys on here who have made it - and take the time to "drop some wisdom" on somebody up and coming like myself.

-- about me: 25 - had to leave college due to family situation - worked in a restaurant networked into a recruiting company, worked as a headhunter til the company let go of 30 of us. Got into direct mail advertising in the recession in a depressed area - no money, moved to northern florida worked a cydcor campaign for quill selling paper and ink biz to biz in a suit sweating(all commissions no base, SCAM, but pure sales training)- I closed a guy for some toner that was an insurance agent, he liked me, so he hired me in his personal lines department. I liked the work but disliked the area. I moved back north couldn't find work - bartended for a year got a visible forearm tattoo and lived a bit reckless, got my shit together relcoated due to a friend and my ability to interview well working for an independant broker dealer out west. I currently hold my series 7, and my 63. I will be getting my life insurance license next, and then my 66. I understand that I have been given an opportunity most people like me would never see, and -- I will NOT be outworked in my space.

Thanks for your time.