The question from a broker starting out is usually whether to put their first thousand dollars into the best leads they can afford. Alex’s answer is no. Real-time leads are better, and a thousand dollars buys very few of them, so the whole budget rides on a handful of calls. Aged leads at a fraction of the price turn the same money into thousands of contacts and a few deals, and the deals pay for the next step.
The ladder
- $1,000 on aged leads. Thousands of contacts at well under a dollar each; ours are $0.35 per lead. You pay with time: dial, text and email the lot.
- Close a few deals. Do not spend the commission. Save it.
- Reinvest the cash flow into live submissions at $10, $20 or $30 a lead: fresher, fewer buyers, less chasing.
- Keep climbing towards real-time exclusive leads, sent only to you the second the merchant opts in. You pay with money.
Each rung moves you from paying with time to paying with money. The rule Alex gives for which rung to stop at is that there isn’t one. The highest-quality lead, at the highest price that is actually accurate for what it is, gives the cheapest cost per funded deal and the lowest effort per funded deal, so the climb keeps paying.
Who should skip the bottom rung
A shop already paying with money, and not wanting to put the effort into each deal, has no reason to go back to aged leads. The ladder is for the broker without cash flow, which is most brokers in their first months. When aged leads are worth buying covers the floor they suit, and the time and effort per funded deal tells you when the bottom rung has stopped paying.
Questions brokers ask
What leads should a new MCA broker buy with $1,000?
Aged leads. A thousand dollars buys thousands of aged contacts, enough to close a few deals if you work them hard, whereas it buys only a handful of real-time leads. Close the deals, save the money, and reinvest it in better leads.
Are aged MCA leads good for beginners?
Yes, as the first rung. They are cheap enough to work at volume while you have more time than money. The point is to use the deals they fund to move up to live submissions and real-time leads, not to stay on them.
How much do live submission MCA leads cost?
In this video, $10, $20 or $30 a lead, between aged leads at under a dollar and real-time exclusive leads at $50 to $90 from a niche provider.
When should I switch from aged leads to real-time leads?
When the cash flow from deals funded off cheaper leads can pay for them without risking the business. Climb a rung at a time and compare cost per funded deal and effort per funded deal at each one.
Is it better to buy a few real-time leads or a lot of aged leads when starting out?
With a small budget, a lot of aged leads. Real-time leads are better, but a few of them put the whole budget on a few calls. Aged leads spread the same money over thousands of contacts.
Alex Makowski
Founder, Infinite Bookings
Runs the lead generation operation behind Infinite Bookings — paid traffic, the funding application, and the delivery pipeline that puts records into brokers’ CRMs.
Reachable directly at alex@infinitebookings.com or 732-609-7182.