How This Medicare Agent Went From Zero to Generating His Own Exclusive Leads for $6.26

Today I am talking to Paul, who started learning how to generate his own leads at the age of 66 years old.

And I had nothing, no prospects, empty pipeline. I had absolutely nothing. And it was either I was going to have to hire someone or buy leads. I saw some for $25,000 to $30,000 just to do this, and they wouldn't even give you any information. But when I found you, I looked in more into your program, and then eventually I thought, you know, the lady's very consistent, it's clean, the message is steady all the way through, the price doesn't change. I own my own campaign, and I'm going to learn So I signed up and I saw that ads for less than $20, I thought that'd be pretty cool. I was like, well, if it's real. Well, I can tell you now, today it's real. I have an ad that just one lead from this person, what I will generate from that one lead will pay for your whole course and then my entire ad spend up to this point. When you factor in the lead form and the Messenger leads, your cost per lead, I think it was $6.26. This morning. I mean, I didn't even have Facebook. If I can do it, they can do it.

If you've ever questioned if you are capable of learning how to truly market yourself online and generate your own exclusive high-quality leads, then this interview is for you. Because today I am talking to Paul, who started learning how to generate his own leads at the age of 66 years old. Now, when he first started learning how to generate leads, he didn't even have a Facebook page. And when he first created a Facebook page, he only had one And now today he's confidently generating his own leads, looking at his campaign data, and it's completely changed the way that he thinks about marketing and lead generation. So I hope his story encourages you as much as it's encouraged me. Paul, I am so excited that you have chosen to join us today, and I'm so happy that you're going to be sharing your story because I know that there are so many agents in the Medicare space and across all lines of business That your story is going to be so inspirational to them because they're going to see themselves in you. Now, just a quick little background. You went from not having a personal Facebook page, not having any social media, to you going through the process of learning how to generate your own exclusive leads, brand yourself, grow your brand online. And I would say that is Such a drastic transformation. So tell me a little bit about how you got here. How did you get to the point where now you are marketing yourself, generating your leads, moving around in the Ads Manager like a pro? How did you go from not even knowing how to log in to getting there?

Well, basically I sat here last summer after AEP and I had nothing. I had no prospects, empty pipeline. I had absolutely nothing. And I did have— I just signed up. My son told me, get a Facebook page, Dad. And so I did. It's a personal Facebook page. And being my age, I started getting a lot of ads at me, people wanting to sell me Medicare. But then I also joined some Medicare agents' Facebook pages, and I started seeing, do this, buy my program, you'll, you know, you'll be successful, follow this, buy your leads, do this, do that. And so I just started checking on all of them, and I'd get all the information. I'd do Zoom calls with them. They'd email me all kinds of stuff and all programs, and some were just really sleazy. I mean, really, really bad. Some were very good, but it just didn't fit. I eventually found you, and I thought, okay, this looks pretty good. I mean, I saw some for $25,000 to $30,000 just to do this, and they wouldn't even give you any information. Just trust me was what the guy told me. Like, no, I don't trust— no. Anyhow, so at the same time, my, my FMO placed an ad for a Medicare 101 seminar that I was doing. And I had about 40 people respond to it. And I thought, okay, this works. Then I placed, uh, just posted in my neighborhood group, uh, that I was having a Medicare 101, and I filled the room with people. And I thought, okay, this is where it's at. So I looked in more into your program, and then eventually I, I thought, you know, the lady's very consistent. It's clean. The message is, is steady all the way through. The price doesn't change. I own my own campaign. And I'm going to learn how to do it. So I signed up.

Did. And for everyone that's listening, so you enrolled in my course Insurance Click to Close, and then you joined my optional membership, which is the Inner Circle, where we have monthly meetings. We have 3 where we go into breakout rooms with different ads coaches or myself. You have a Facebook page to get help. So that was the path that you chose. Before you chose that though, what else did you consider? What— I know you said that you evaluated 7 other options. What was kind of the thing that made you decide these aren't the right options for me? And then did you ever consider just hiring someone to run ads for you, or did you look into that as a solution? And did that seem to make sense?

Yeah, what I was looking at, I was just trying to grasp the expense of it and then how complex it all was. And it was either I was going to have to hire someone or buy leads. But when I found you and I saw that, you know, ads for less than $20, I thought, That'd be pretty cool. And I was like, well, if it's real. Well, I can tell you now today, it's real.

You're meaning that you can start with a small budget, that I say you can start at $5 a day, $10 a day?

Less than $10, I'm getting them today. But I had like a stale Facebook, a brand new Facebook page with one friend, and I didn't have anything else. I had a LinkedIn, stale LinkedIn account from 20 years ago that I visit once a year, maybe. That's it. That's all I had. That I had nothing else. So this was like climbing Mount Everest for me to, to do this.

So that's what you saw it as. You were like learning it. So did you look at the done-for-you first before deciding this Mount Everest? Which I hope that when we get to that part, you're gonna say it wasn't as bad as climbing Mount Everest. But—

Well, I'm a slow learner. So, um, I looked at some others and they just, they just didn't feel right. And they weren't very specific. You were very specific to Medicare. And so it was like, and you sent me some samples or some, you know, I got, I, I received some things and it just sold me that this is where I need to be. And so I signed up.

Hey friend, if you are enjoying this interview and this is the time that you are ready to learn how to generate your own exclusive leads without ever purchasing from a lead vendor again, without the expensive overhead of a marketing agency, check out the link in my description for my free live training. During these free trainings, I walk you through the 3 keys to a successful insurance lead generation campaign. I demystify why some ads work and other ads don't work. I give you real examples of insurance lead generation ads that are converting at a very high level. And I walk you through the exact system that I teach Paul and all of the other agents that are enrolled in my course. So I hope to see you there. Bring your questions. There's always a live Q&A and grab that link in the description.

The challenge for me wasn't so much your program, it was me learning Facebook, learning how Facebook worked. I didn't even know what Meta Business Suites was.

I don't think a lot of agents do though. So I don't think you were starting, maybe you didn't understand like the newsfeed and stories and reels and these different placements. But I think a lot of agents don't understand kind of the backend of the way that the ads manager works, which I think a lot of beginners don't.

And then a business page, how do you do that? I had just, so my learning curve was rather greater than many other people would have. So it was the technology, it was the learning curve. And once I got into it, and like you said, I signed up for the program and I did my 5,000 likes. I got that right away. That was easy. I look at it now and I just kind of cringe, like, how did that even work? But it did. And at the same time when I started the program, I think you had said in one of the coaches— I joined the Inner Circle Facebook group and then the weekly Zoom calls. That weekly— between those 2 things is where I learned by watching others and listening to others and hearing where they make a mistake or struggle or where they have their success. And it's like, okay, I wanna do that. But that's really where I started to learn. And I remember telling my wife the first times I did the Zoom, weekly Zoom call, I thought, oh, I'm in so way over my head. I have no idea. I couldn't tell you the difference between a campaign, an ad set, or an ad, or what is a creative and what is a form of some kind. What is a form? And like, I mean, I know what a form is, but I didn't know what you meant here. And so anyhow, as I kept watching and going through the modules one by one, In order, sometimes repeating some 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 times, cuz it takes me time. It started to piece together. And what's funny is I started this at Thanksgiving thinking, oh, I'll do this during Thanksgiving week and be done. 5 months later, it just took me a long time.

I think that's normal that it takes a different amount of time because I think, and the way that I approach Facebook ads in the course that I think a lot of Other people don't. I come from a very holistic approach. I don't want to just tell you we're going to add these ingredients together and surprise, we're going to get something from it. I like to make sure you understand why we're doing the things. So I think that my teaching style and my course is really only a fit for agents that literally are like, I want to learn the skill set. I want to learn how to bake the cake myself instead of like using a cake mix. And I know that that's not for everyone. But would you say it's worth it and it's learnable to hone in on that skill set?

Well, absolutely. First, I think people need to understand, I like to say this is like a college-level marketing course. To me, it was, it was, and it was a very fast-moving pace. But I had to learn the mistake, I had to learn the system, I had to make some mistakes, and then I started to gain confidence with little pieces at a time. But now I control my own message And it just fits my entrepreneurial way. I control it. I, if I want to this afternoon, I can create a campaign. Uh, I've got ads that I've made that I haven't published yet, but I'm anxious to get 'em out. If I wanted to, I could just put those out this afternoon, but I gotta maintain my budget and my enthusiasm.

Did you realize, and I know I love that you're saying you owned, you own your marketing now, it's your own message. Did you realize how many, for lack of a better word, bait and switch ads that are out there that a lot of the lead vendor industry is running? And what the actual message is that's bringing those leads in. Did you know that that was out there? And did you— do you think that agents understand how much that ad experience actually correlates with what the consultation experience is going to be?

Because I get fed those ads, so I see them. I see all of them. And I even see the ads from our other members of this group. So I see their ads. But some of the ones real generic. In the course, you show, teach how to research, study, spy, whatever you want to say, on all the other ads. So I do that too. And I go in. I sent you one last week from somebody. Well, whatever. And I said, how does this guy do that? Well, you know, some are just very misleading. So I learned from watching them what I don't want to do, and I learned from watching others of what I do want to do. But one of the things that changed my ads is in one of the calls you told me, you got to put your picture on there. You got to put your face on your ad. You've got to do— and that was a turning point when you said that, because people could see me. They could see, okay, this guy's my age. This guy's been in the business obviously a long time. He looks like somebody I can relate to. People want to do business with people that are like them.

Mm-hmm.

And that's who I attract, people who are like me. My ads say they appeal to a certain emotional trigger for people, and those triggers produce quality leads. Those triggers are the same triggers I have. I'm 66 now and I'm still learning all this. But the biggest trigger out there is that people are confused and they're scared. And they're more afraid of making the wrong decision. And they've, they're flooded with information and they just don't know who to trust.

Mm-hmm.

And so my ad, this is how I have to rethink my ad. My ad is an invitation to you to provide that trusted guidance that you are looking for. And that is some ads that I have now, and they're just hitting.

I love that you said that because there is such a misconception that marketing equals manipulation, and it's about just getting the person in the chair and just getting them to talk.

Yeah.

To you. And I agree with everything that you're saying. That's my approach, is that it's about an invitation. Where with my course, I want more agents to enroll in it. It's like, it's the main thing that I offer in my business and what I focus on now. But I want the right agents to, and it's an invitation. And I would never want them to think that they're getting something that they're not, or overpromise and underdeliver. And I love that you're going from a lot of these Medicare ads that are, you know, you can get extra money from Social Security, or they're false deadlines, or they're things that like are purposefully confusing. You're saying instead you get to be authentic to being the good guy, the advisor, and attract people from the beginning to trust you. That is what I want for every agent, all the good agents. I feel like I attract a lot of the really, like all my agents, they're really good. Like they're people that care about their message and care about their clients. What was your first experience with attracting leads online that it went from stranger to client and how that relationship went?

Well, I can tell you one of my biggest one. Well, I've got several.

I know you do. Give me a good one.

Well, one is I placed an ad. It was in another city. I mean, in Texas, in College Station. It was a former neighbor, baseball coach of my son's baseball coach. He's a financial planner. He saw my ad. He called me up. He said, hey, I know I can trust you with my clients. They need some help. Would you? Absolutely. Refer them? Yes. He said, okay, well, I won't have to do a face-to-face introduction. I'll just let you take it. I had another one. I have an ad that just One lead from this person. Actually, I'm going to see him again this afternoon. What I will generate from that one lead will pay for your whole course and in my entire ad spend up to this point. But these people needed help so badly. And I sat with them the first time and I told the wife, she told me some things. I said, do you realize you have a 5-year penalty right now that's accruing month to month to month? And she didn't know. She had no idea.

And no one, no one helped her and told her. And that's what— when you're marketing yourself online, you're able to build up that trust from the front end. And Carol, who also has her interview on my YouTube channel, she shared the same thing, that the leads that she generates this way generate more referrals and are more like long-term clients and aren't even thinking about going anywhere else. It sounds like that's the same experience that you're having.

It's not the cost of one lead, it's what the total The total return. So one good quality lead can be huge. And that's what I'm looking for. That's the, those are the people that I'm looking for. And it's all the pieces, but there was one other thing. It's the ad, of course, that starts it. And then now the 3 questions. And I have written those questions to continue from the ad. So they build that, starts that rapport.

Let me clarify it before you share. I want, I want you to share it. One of the newer updates that is in Meta ads right now is that you can run a lead form and you can check a box where it automatically opens up a chat in Messenger. It's not going to increase your cost per lead because it doesn't take anything from the user really or ask more from them. But once you complete it, it opens that Messenger chat. So it gives you that lifeline to be able to reach out to them, especially in the day and age of call screening. And now an even newer update is that you are able to add some automated chats where you can actually have questions pop up that might pique their curiosity, where it just makes them want to push it. Like, what are my initial deadlines? Or like, what are the biggest mistakes I could make in Medicare, or whatever your custom questions are, which I give a template for, but I always encourage to customize it to yourself, where the user can push that and start that conversation rolling. And you've really had a lot of success with using Facebook Messenger.

I've got a dialogue going with a gentleman, it's going on 5 days now. And it's— we have back and forth 2 or 3 times a day. He's asking specific, very specific questions. And also in there, you can When they pop into the inbox there, you can see that it says click here for their profile. So you can actually see if they're a real legitimate person, not a fake Facebook page. So I always kind of look to see who am I talking to and try to learn a little bit about them, see pictures. Do they have grandkids? Do they have what? What do they have? So I can at some point bring those into the conversation and build rapport. Those questions, I don't have to call them. The Messenger is doing it. When you factor in the lead form and the Messenger, leads, your cost per lead, I think it was $6.26 this morning. So, and these are people I'm having dialogue with.

Yeah.

And just filling the pipeline, just filling the pipeline.

Yeah. And that is such a different experience from the lead. I think a lot of agents aren't really taught to think about the lead's journey. And I know especially Medicare people are concerned about, well, how can I be compliant? Well, our ads aren't going to say, do you need Medicare? Here's the Advantage plans I can offer you. Let me list everything that's involved. That's not what your ads are about. It's meeting people with whatever struggle that they might be having. Like if they're overwhelmed, maybe they don't know about the initial deadlines. Maybe they don't know that there could be penalties. Maybe they don't realize that there are different plans available in their area and they need to have someone review it come an AEP. There's people that don't know that. So you're hitting from that point, talking about the pain points, the benefits, how you can help them as an agent. And we're not getting into the specifics until you're actually like moving them forward and having that private conversation with them.

Absolutely. And I've learned the time of day. I've learned the day of the week because I watch when they're getting viewed and I'm analyzing them. And I'm— you taught me how to do that. So I found a little secret. I just tried it in May and I tried it again this month. And it's like, okay, that's my gold day right there. That's the day that it's hitting. That's when the pain points are real.

Yes.

That's when people have the time and they see And they see my ad and they say, yes, that is a concern that I'm worried about, that this guy can help me. He looks like somebody I can trust.

Exactly. And there's a lot of agents that don't realize that if you are running ads from a third-party tool, like maybe a GoHighLevel account or something like that, there's a lot of things that are kind of like riding a bike with training wheels where you can still pay Meta to serve your content. Or even worse, when they work with these marketers that are done for you or that set things up, they actually Set up the assets in their account. So it would be like if you hired me, Paul, and I'm like, sure, I'm gonna generate exclusive leads for you, but I run it from my Facebook page, from my, uh, ad account, and then I just send you their contact information. So if we break up, I get to keep all of it and you're no, you're in no better position than when we first started. It's just a different type of hamster wheel to sign up for. A lot of agents don't realize that. And then when you get in the backend of the ads manager, there are some very specific metrics. That will tell you exactly how well your ad's performing. It's not just throwing spaghetti on the wall for your cost per lead. So many agents, what would you say to agents? Because one of the most common questions that I get is just like, well, if I start it now, like how much will my cost per lead? They're very impatient. They want the instant. And I understand like the lead industry in insurance is like a 1990s like weight loss commercial where they're like, drink this beverage and you're going to get skinny or Like, put this little electrode thing on, you're gonna get abs. It's like all these shortcuts. So I understand that's why agents think that, but what would you say to agents who want the instant fix? And then those who are like, well, I wouldn't even know what to do when I get into the— how would you even know what to do whenever you're looking in the Ads Manager?

I would say this is a full, complete program, and but it's, it's at a very fair price, but it's also more than that. It's you're joining a group of people And it's like, I talk with Emily in Jacksonville and we exchange emails back and forth. Like, what do you think about this and that? And I met her through the group. And then Carol, of course. And, and so it's— I mean, people all around the country and we're sharing ideas with each other. And I don't take criticism really well, so it's— but in the group I do because I know that it's, it's good information, it's good stuff. And so the thing about it is, is for somebody looking at the program is Don't look at how much it costs because you're going to get that back. But if you invest your time, it does take time. Took me a lot more time than I think it would take other people. But if you will spend the time and commit to it and just work the modules one at a time, just follow the program. I like to skip. I'm smart, you know, I think. And so I skip around and I just had to go back and just follow it one module at a time. Simple. Just do it. Do what she says and and just follow it and join the groups. You got to participate if you just back and don't do anything or listen, which I listened the first times and that was good. But the more you participate, the more you get out of it.

Yes.

So it's kind of like going to church. If the more you participate, the more you get out of it. So it's a commitment, but it's not ten hour a day commitment. It's just you know for other people they go through it a lot quicker. But if you just follow the Oh, great.

It's like you have to almost hit that because, and I actually do remember seeing in you the transition, cuz you did show up to the meetings and you would just listen, which a lot of agents do that and that's great. And in our meetings, for people that aren't aware, typically what we're doing is we go in separate groups and then like I'm working with agents going into their ad account, helping customize things, giving feedback on things, explaining why their cost per lead is and what the next steps could be that could potentially optimize it. Based on what the data says. And you listened. And I remember you being a little frustrated, cuz I know there's that, you're like, just gimme the cake mix. Like, what's the exact thing that I need to do? And my purpose and calling, I feel, is to empower people to do it themselves. I want you to know why we're making that decision instead of me just saying, say this, do this, let's try that. I want you to understand why. You stuck with it. You worked through that frustration. And I, I mean, it completely turned where you just are. You almost have too many ideas of what you wanna do with your ads. You're like, oh, I could do this, I could do this angle, I could do— and you know what? You can, cuz you're in charge of it and you get to make your own grown-up decisions in the ads manager. So that's been, that's my favorite part of doing this is seeing how agents like you go from like, ah, to like, you just like get it.

Right. Well, I watched Carol and she has this ad that she placed last year, last summer. And it's just running and it's just generating tons of stuff. Well, I got my ad. I remember a couple months ago I said, I want an ad like Carol has, and I've got it. And you know which one I'm talking about. And it's like, it's almost, well, it's not even a good ad. It's, but it's, it works.

But it's working. It's, it is a good ad though. It's speaking to your audience and it wasn't your very first ad.

No, no.

It wasn't your very first one, but It was very quickly, like you got there very quickly to have, here's one that I could potentially scale.

I mean, it's got tens of thousands of views and, and I'm getting it. The more it's viewed, the more leads I'm getting. I've had several today alone off of it. And so anyhow, but my follow-up is a little slow now. I'm a little backed up. So, but I actually get leads. I look at some of the leads prospects and I'm like, I'm not, that person's not going to buy from me. So I give those away to my fellow agents and say, here, you follow up on them. And they know how I do it. They— but so I just said, just good luck. You don't have to share anything with me. Just take them because I'm not going to call. They're not going to buy them. They don't go to waste.

I, I mean, honestly, for me, it's such a joy to see you and to see the agents flourish from learning it. And like, when I first launched this program, I had an agent that's a trainer at an IMO that said agents don't want to learn Like, you don't understand. They want, like, you just to give them what, like, they need to get, like, the ad up. That's what they want. That's not how ads actually work. It's holistic. I like to say, not to make it overly complicated, but I like to say that marketing is a science, it's an art, and it's a skill. It's the science of data. When you know how to read the data, it literally tells you things. It tells you what part of your ad isn't working, what part is working. It is the art of understanding your audience. When you really understand your audience, then you know how to speak to them and attract the right people. And it's the skill. of execution, of knowing how to go in the platform and actually do the things. And if you just focus on one of those things, it's like a 3-legged stool that's going to fall over without like the extra leg on it. So that's been my approach, even though I was kind of told in the beginning, agents, they don't want this, Shauna. They want— they just want the easy button.

Well, yeah, I want the easy button, but, but by— but the difference is by owning my own material, I make it mine. And I can target. I have one ad that's running in a 15-mile radius of where I live, and it's for one specific purpose. I live, I've been there for 25 years. People know me and they're my age. The community is my age. So it's like, I'm just letting 'em know this is, I'm here. And that's just one ad. Those lead generation people would never be able to do that.

You're right. And personalize it and brand it. You're absolutely right. So I wanna be respectful of your time. So I wanna end with, what would you say to the Paul before he enrolled or to the agent who has only ever purchased leads, they've never delved into actually marketing themselves online. They've been told focus on closing and selling. You can just get your leads here. What would you say to them if they're considering, should I enroll in this course? Should I try to learn this skillset on my own? I'm not sure. I'm not tech savvy.

You know, you hear this, if I can do it, they can do it. You know, if anybody can do it, I mean, I didn't even have Facebook, so, So, you know, I had a big mountain to climb. Just do it. Just get into it. Jump into it and just follow the course. It's really not that hard. And when you have a question, you can get help. Yeah, from many, many different people, many, many sources. My question is, do you want to grow? Do you want good quality leads that are coming to you because of who you are and what you can offer? Do you love the business? Do you want more of a steady stream of business? If you do, then this is it. If you just want to be lazy or just keep doing what you're doing and having the same results, Then keep doing what you're doing.

I agree, Paul. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us, and I can't wait to see how this AEP goes with you, with you running your own ads.

It's gonna be busy.

It's gonna be busy.