You can gain a lot of knowledge from Courses. Coursera, HubSpot course, Google Digital Marketing. Social media content on sales, and marketing, Free classes online in sales, and marketing from reputable companies. Researching from forums, networking. When it comes to the finance industry, targeting, branding, persistence, and adapting to changes will make you successful.
You can generate leads for free from most sources, but the problem is the contact information, the time, and the effort you have to research to find the contact information. You will have to go to the DNC List, State DNC List, and Litigation Scrubbing. If you do not have the money to scrub, You will have to email while being compliant with the CAN-Spam Act. Please, do not cold call without scrubbing your data, legal action will happen and it will hurt your reputation.
You can do business-to-business, social media marketing, and engage in forums. You can work with brokers, and referrals, and even hold events to get your clientele. Specialize in certain industries you are targeting, and see where the business owners meet together forums, and events. Learn the industry, and see the pain and woes of the businesses. Build a relationship with the business owners even if they're not your client. You can gain referrals and start building your reputation through genuine, honest business relationships.