Is June 2006 considered vintage? No? Okay, well this post from Seth Godin is still relevant and a good read for sales and marketing people. Because while the two jobs are closely related, we often work independently of each other—and when we come together, it can be a little terse.

I think the key to staying on the same page starts with understanding each other's roles and objectives. Here are two of my favorite bits from Godin's post:

[From the sales perspective]: Selling is interpersonal. I am not moving bits, I'm trying to change people's minds, one person at a time. So, no, I can't tell you when the sale will close. No one knows, especially the prospect.

[From the marketing perspective]: [...] If you're going to be in sales, you've got to be prepared to measure and predict and plan. You need to give me sales reports and call lists and summaries. It does neither of us any good to keep your day a secret. If you don't plan and organize, I can't do my job of marketing.

It all comes down to communication. Which is a lot easier said than done. But I like to believe the pre-school adage: sharing is caring. The more you share with each other, the greater success you will have. And who knows, you might start liking each other a whole lot more too. :)

Posted by Megan Mahan at 02:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

Will being green help you be a better insurance agent? I wouldn’t go that far, but reducing your carbon footprint may send positive signals to both your clients and potential employees: "You want to be seen as a leader and not a laggard," green consultant Nik Kaestner told PC Magazine recently (that’s PC for personal computer, not politically correct). If prospects sense a forward-thinking bent in your day-to-day activities, they’re more apt to trust that you’ll do right by them down the road.

Turn off your computer each night.
You may think this is a negligible move, but consider that appliances that are on standby are still sucking electricity, anywhere from five to 60 watts. Now consider an entire office full of appliances on standby every night, 365 days a year. Now we’re talking significant energy usage, none of which goes toward getting things done or making money.

Print only necessary documents.
Even if you recycle your already recycled paper, you’re still drawing energy with every Ctrl+P. (Think about what happens to the paper in the recycle bin: its reincarnation is just beginning.) And the by-product of that energy, CO2 emissions from power plants, contributes to global climate change. And then there’s the part in which forests are leveled to sate our need to print silly forwards from uncle Bob. Forests absorb CO2, so without them, more of our emissions go into the atmosphere and contribute to global climate change.

According to Reduce.org, a site run by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, “Americans throw away enough office paper each year to build a 12-foot high wall stretching from New York to San Francisco.” That’s 10,000 or so sheets, or 20 reams, per person, per year. Scary, huh?

In the insurance world, more than other industries, paper is a necessary evil, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to cut down. Print sparingly, and use both sides of the paper when you can.

Reconsider your commute.
You can drastically reduce your carbon footprint by altering your commute. Most of us drive only ourselves to work, an expensive and inefficient way to travel.

According to Stanford University’s Commute Cost and Carbon Emissions Calculator, a person who has a 20-mile round-trip commute and drives a car that gets 20 miles per gallon can save 3944 lbs of CO2 by not driving solo.

If altruism isn’t your thing, consider that that same 20-mile commute will cost you, based on AAA’s estimates of the hidden and real costs of owning a car, a whopping $2,630.88 a year.

And if you work for yourself, you’ve got an even bigger incentive: according to a recent article in Time Magazine, “congestion created by people getting to and from work costs U.S. employers 3.7 billion hours of lost productivity a year, which adds up to $63.1 billion in wasted time and fuel every year.”

Posted by Jeb Foster at 03:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
 

This morning Aaron emailed me asking why we stopped doing our weekly videos. The short, corporate answer to that question is that we shifted gears and the videos fell by the wayside. We still do them of course, just not every week. (YouTube search: InsureMe)

But because it's a slow news day and because our analytics tell us that you still watch the videos, I thought I'd post one for today.

In fact, this particular video, which covers insurance agent fashion, started an anti-pleated pants revolution here at InsureMe! So give yourself a two and a half minute break—click play. And if you like the videos, please let us know!

Posted by Megan Mahan at 03:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

1. Use e-mail less—recently, an Iowa telecommunications company instituted a no-e-mail-on-Friday rule. While it sounds counterproductive, the results have been undeniably positive: with less “cyber indigestion,” employees experience fewer distractions and—gasp!—get to know their co-workers better through face-to-face interaction.

2. Take a siesta—let’s face it, the half-hour after lunch isn’t the most productive part of your day, and there’s a good biological reason for this: the body’s natural sleep/awake cycle—it’s circadian rhythm, if you want to get technical—is telling us to nap when the modern world is telling us to get to work. So, you can fight your biological clock (a losing battle) or you recharge with a cat nap and position yourself for a rested and productive afternoon.

The next best thing, if you can’t take a nap after lunch, is to leave your simple, low-stakes busywork for this time, because you’re much more likely to make cognitive blunders after lunch.

A word of caution: before you start lobbying the boss for sanctioned nap time, know that short snoozes work only for some—others need a couple hours, says business columnist Phyllis Korkki. If you’re lucky, you’re in the former camp and can quickly recharge with a cat nap.

3. Work less—have you even been faced with a thorny problem and heard the advice, “Walk away from it; an answer will come to you”? This sage advice can apply to the work/life balance. While some foolishly equate productivity with never-ending work, the reality is that you need time off to fully realize your workplace potential. It shouldn’t be news that burnout is pretty bad for productivity. If you’re stuck in the “It’s a race” mindset, then try on this metaphor: work is an ultramarathon, not a sprint.

4. Exercise more—speaking of sports, they can be the best diversions from work. And getting some aerobic exercise during the weak can boost your immune system, reducing the chances you’ll lose working hours to illness.

Even better, according to the Institute for Brain Aging and Dementia at the University of California, exercise can increase levels of important chemicals that stimulate brain growth and improve learning and mental performance. That’s right: exercise can make you smarter.

5. Limit caffeine intake—many people regard caffeine, particularly coffee, as the fuel of the industrialized world. Indeed, coffee and other stimulants (tea, soda) can help with alertness and productivity. But the law of diminishing returns starts to apply by the second or third cup, when you’re not so much alert as totally wired.

Since coffee artificially stimulates the body’s adrenal glands, after a while your body begins to burn out. Eventually, after repeated days of heavy intake, the body is unable to secrete adrenaline as readily. This is why coffee habits tend to escalate—you need more and more in order to trigger the chemical release. The takeaway? Save coffee for when you really need it and it will work wonders for you. Abuse it, and it will lose its effectiveness.

6. Eat smarter— if you’re like most people, you forgo breakfast, choosing instead to eat a larger lunch. Bad idea. By eating smaller, less-sugary meals, you can avoid the dreaded post-prandial dip.

If you do eat a big lunch, avoid the temptation to reach for a cup of coffee afterward. Afternoon coffee will likely affect your night’s sleep, setting in motion a cycle in which you need greater and greater amounts of caffeine to stimulate your overtired body. A good way to beat the lunch hangover is to take a quick walk and drink some ginger or peppermint tea, which will help your body digest your food.

Posted by Jeb Foster at 03:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
 

In the spirit of keeping Agent Blog readers up to speed on the latest internet happenings, I present you with Bacn: email you want—just not right now.

From the official bacn press release:

Bacn has been said to be the “middle class of email.” It’s notifications of a new post to your Facebook wall or a new follower on Twitter. It’s the Google alert for your name and the newsletter from your favorite company.

Bacn. I like it. Looks like I'm going to have to create a new email folder to keep my e-meat products separate. :)

Keep an eye out for more bacn-related marketing posts here!

More bacn:
The t-shirt (money goes to charity) | The bacn blog

[via]
[photo source]

Posted by Megan Mahan at 03:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

I hate to say it, Agent Blog reader, but your job just got a little harder. Maybe it’s time to get into law. Or journalism. Perhaps you ought to run for that open congressional seat next November.

If you’ve noticed that people are already suspicious of you and your insurance industry ilk, then the news that Progressive used a private investigator to spy on a couple in a church support group will just make them more wary.

Here’s a sample of what will likely be a constant refrain for the next few days:

Just when you thought insurance companies couldn't get any sleazier, Progressive Insurance got caught sending private eyes to infiltrate and secretly record an Atlanta area church support group in hopes of digging up dirt to discredit a church couple involved in a car accident lawsuit. [Consumerist]

It’s not fair. You’ve got integrity. You help people protect their livelihood. You don’t spy, nor do you decide when to deny coverage or a claim. But as someone on the front lines, you must deal with the rampant skepticism that surrounds the entire enterprise of selling insurance.

And stories like these just add to that cynicism.

It’s tough, because it doesn't have to be that way. The lawyers out there who are defending the disadvantaged must feel the same way. Same with the dogged reporters trying to open the doors to the smoke-filled rooms. And the lawmakers who are actually trying to do good instead of get rich.

It’s the slimeballs that get all the headlines…

Posted by Jeb Foster at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

This is the final installment of The ABCs of SEO, as published in the May issue of the TAAR Report. Read part three of this article here.

Hiring a Pro to Optimize Your Site

If you’ve gotten this far, you may be thinking that, technical as it may be, this SEO thing might be worth a shot. And because of the technical challenges involved, and, undoubtedly, the constraints on your time, you might be thinking about hiring someone to optimize your site for you.

Thankfully, InsureMe’s James Omdahl has some experience in this area and recently wrote a blog post on outsourcing SEO.

The first thing you need to understand, says James, is that the SEO landscape is a dangerous one. “While there are many people out there who know what they are doing, there are many, many more that don’t.”

To avoid working with unscrupulous SEO consultants, James recommends:

Asking for references and proof of past success. “It might take time, but doing so will save you from a lot of heartburn in the future,” James says.

Finding a consultant that only takes one client per vertical. It wouldn’t make much sense for an SEO company to take on two clients trying to rank well for the same keywords. “Just like in Highlander,” James says, “There can be only one number one.”

Working with someone who doesn’t make promises. “SEO is in state of constant flux—and change is the only guarantee,” James reminds us. “You are not going to be number one in Google overnight, and if someone tells you they can make you number one overnight, run.”

Hiring an SEO consultant or firm isn’t always easy and doesn’t guarantee search engine success, James concludes.

“Truth be told, many of the fundamentals of SEO can be learned by reading blogs, eBooks and attending conferences.”

Nonetheless, you are the only one who understands the limitations on your time, so if you decide to outsource SEO, make sure to do your research and keep your expectations in check.

You Won’t Know If You Don’t Try

Search engine marketing in the insurance space isn’t exactly a walk in the park. It’s crowded, littered with the occasional crooked marketer, and can sometimes leave one feeling unrequited and alone.

But jokes aside, employing SEO in combination with PPC advertising is a no-brainer for those looking to generate leads and prospects online. As long as you do your homework and stay realistic about your optimization efforts, you’ll be well on your way to improving your web findability.

Posted by Megan Mahan at 04:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

A great post at Signal vs. Noise [see photo] yesterday got me thinking about contextual advertising for the insurance industry.

But first thing’s first: What is contextual advertising?

Contextual advertising, a term used primarily for online marketing, is when a web advertisement is targeted to a specific individual who is using the web site on which the ad appears.

How it works: contextual ad systems scan web pages for keywords relevant to the site a person is using.

For example, if you’re checking Chicago Bears’ scores (sorry, Broncos!), you may see contextual ads on that web page for sports stores, gear, or memorabilia.

Google’s Gmail is infamous for contextual advertising, in fact it’s almost creepy. Google’s contextual ad system scans your emails (whoa, big brother!) and places ads in the right navigation bar that are related to your topics of conversation.

But of course, contextual advertising doesn’t just apply to online marketing. It applies to offline marketing, too. It can be simple things like using your relationship with an auto parts dealer to display your business cards on the counter. Or posting a flyer about your health insurance policies in public health centers and clinics.

It’s true that I’m not a huge fan of traditional marketing. That’s because most people don’t use it contextually.

Next time you post flyers, business cards, or drop off schwag, think about doing it where it makes sense. That way you can cut through the noise and put your services in front of the eyes of people who are more receptive to seeking out what you have to offer.

Posted by Megan Mahan at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

Many thanks to Dan Tudor at Top Lead Generators for reminding us of this age-old, low-tech, and low-cost way to reach prospects.

It’s tempting to dismiss the bulletin board as a quaint relic of our pre-digital past, but if my experience is any indication, this platform is alive and well in the internet age—and not just at college campuses and the laundromat. I don’t know about you, but every time I wait for coffee at my local shop, I scour the ads. Sometimes I find something I didn’t know I needed. (Most recently, a purple Peugeot bicycle.)

Why not tack up your business card? Better yet, why not print a decent-looking flyer with handy peel-off tabs that include your contact info? It’s cheap, easy and effective.

It’s nice to know that there’s still a place for old-school marketing.

[Photo source]

Posted by Jeb Foster at 12:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
 

Landing the Deal author Dan Tudor mused about insurance sales today, in which he calls out agents for leaving business on the table.

I go to church with an insurance agent, and he's never asked me about my home, auto or life insurance. Why not?

Two college friends are insurance agents, and they haven't ever asked me about buying insurance from them. Why is that?

[...] My office is right next door to a small insurance agency...I watch their four insurance agents walk right past my office several times a day...and in the year that I've been there, not one has come next door and checked to see if I needed an insurance quote (business insurance...health insurance...supplemental insurance...they've never asked).

At InsureMe, we've dealt with the same quandary. We've had people come to InsureMe.com requesting to be contacted with quotes—people who are actively looking to buy a new policy—and hear nothing from the agents they've been matched with.

If you get a lead, especially if you pay for it, wouldn't you do everything in your power to follow up with that lead? If you know of people in your life who could benefit from your product, do you not talk to them about it?

Or is business that good?

Fill me in, agents. Fill me in.

Posted by Megan Mahan at 09:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

Medicare will no longer pay for illnesses, infections, or injuries resulting from hospital errors, according to a new rule announced just this month. The initiative is aimed at improving the accuracy of Medicare's payment for hospital patients receiving acute care, as well as to encourage hospitals to improve the quality of their services.

Bob Vineyard over at InsureBlog muses about the decision, saying:

On one hand, I agree. Why should the taxpayer pay for things where the hospital (or other negligent party) is clearly liable.

On the other hand, who is going to decide the liability issue? Are the hospitals going to readily admit their wrong? Will the patient be caught in the middle?

The AP article states that hospitals will be expected to pick up the tab for care related to incidents that could have been prevented. Mismatched blood transfusions, operations on the wrong body parts, that sort of thing. Private insurers are also expected to instantiate the same rule.

At first blush, this seems fair. Taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for medical mistakes—neither should the patient. I guess what isn't clear to me is how the new rule will protect patients from accruing these extra costs. If no one's watching as the hospital charges me $50 for two ibuprofen, who's going to be watching if I'm charged an exorbitant amount of money to cover the vascular damage from a catheter?

Hopefully you experts in the health insurance industry can enlighten me. :)

Posted by Megan Mahan at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

Happy Friday, Agent Blog readers!

We've had some meaty posts this week, ranging from search engine optimization to guerrilla marketing. So for today, I thought I'd post a video from our archives, entitled "The Dos and Don'ts of Selling Insurance."

See you back here on Monday!

Posted by Megan Mahan at 03:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

Tuesday I blogged about viral marketing. But sometimes the thought of marketing on the internet can be slightly overwhelming, especially if you aren't comfortable with that medium. Enter guerrilla marketing.

Guerrilla (no, not gorilla) marketing coined by Jay Levinson in his book by the same name describes a type of marketing that small businesses have been employing for years. In the past, local businesses might have made their mark papering lots or canvassing neighborhoods, but today’s guerrilla marketers make those efforts look amateur. Relying heavily on creativity, innovation and some old fashioned elbow grease, a guerrilla marketing campaign is a low-cost, effective way to drive new business.

Develop the message.

Like viral marketing, developing a clear, creative message is the first step in a successful campaign. Door hangers and flyers are guerrilla marketing staples, but a more innovative approach speaks to the type of business you are. A seafood restaurant in India covered the beaches in front of area resorts with larger-than-life clams. Beach combers opened the football-sized shellfish to find ads for the restaurant.

Pick your passion.

Guerrilla marketing comprises a range of activities. Choose something that you are passionate about whether it’s thinking up advertising stunts or educating the community. You shouldn’t feel stifled; the possibilities are endless.

Seed for optimum growth.

Where is your demographic? When is the best time to reach them? If you write health insurance, come up with a message to reach people at the gym. Chances are they have health on their minds while exercising. Honing in on your target audience is key to your guerrilla marketing success.

A few ideas.

Go extreme. Before prom, schools pull out all the stops displaying wrecked cars in the quad to remind students about the dangers of drinking and driving. Why can’t it work for insurance. Position a wrecked car in a high-traffic area of town, accompanied, of course with your advertisement, and get people thinking about car insurance.

Lend a helping hand. Insurance is complicated and your knowledge alone makes you marketable. Host a lunch in learn in your town to bring people in—you can’t beat the combo of free food and knowledge. If you strike up a deal with a local eatery, you may even get a discount on the grub.

Offer something…other than peace of mind. Unfortunately for insurance agents, the peace of mind that insurance affords is hardly concrete. Offer something tangible to clients once you seal the deal. A take-away pack for auto insurance could include paperwork and relevant information about their policy along with several value items —a coupon for a free oil change, car air freshener, a travel mug.

Just a little ingenuity and you can hit the streets with your own guerrilla tactics.

Marketing tip: Use your community contacts to foster connections and relationships that will grow your business. Augment your marketing efforts by connecting and partnering with local business. The local mechanic might display your advertisement if you promote his service.

[photo source]

Posted by maribeth neelis at 03:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

I’m leery of testimonials in any capacity, whether they’re on a piece of direct mail, television advertising, or web sites. That’s because most of them seem to be doctored, ill-fitting in context, or stuffed with product or company hyperbole.

Nonetheless, the business world continues to use them—InsureMe included. So I was glad to spot Copyblogger’s 5 Tips for Knockout Testimonials this week, as it provides some great fodder for using testimonials to build the credibility of your brand, instead of undermining it.

Specifically, Copyblogger writer Chris Garrett reminds us that effective testimonials are free of hyperbole and address a “potential sticking point that a prospect might arrive at.”

In addition to specificity, testimonials can also be rendered effective by:

Not over-editing. Testimonials work best when you can tell they’ve come from a real person. Like Garrett says, grammar and diction quirks indicate that the rave review came from a real customer.

Using testimonials where they fit. If there’s a specific point you’re trying to make, place like testimonials on that page. For example, don’t put a testimonial about customer service on a page that details your pricing or credentials.

Not faking it. Garrett reminds us that it’s not worth the risk to fake testimonials: “Most people have a well-trained BS detector and can smell a fake a mile away.”

Include the specifics. Ax general statements where you can. For example, if a client offers a testimonial and says she saved $100 per month on her auto insurance through you, don’t omit that figure in place of “I saved so much money!”

Of course, to publish testimonials on your web site or marketing lit, you'll have to first acquire them. At InsureMe, we try to update our testimonials at least once per year.

Recently, our own Jeb Foster embarked upon the brave mission of contacting agents on our service and asking them to say nice things about us speak about their experience with us. We’ve also used positive survey comments to bolster our repository.

In close: While I agree that testimonials are helpful, I disagree with Copyblogger about their immense value. Remember that consumers are skeptical, and testimonial overkill should be avoided. So keep your expectations in check, and pepper your pages with specific, concise and authentic testimonials, and let the customer evangelism spread.

Posted by Megan Mahan at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

If you have a Hotmail account, have watched a video on YouTube or been copied on a funny article, you’ve been touched by viral marketing.

In essence, viral marketing is word-of-mouth marketing made more diffusive by the networking properties of the internet. But unlike traditional marketing, in which the product or service must have some ‘wow’ factor to entice consumers, viral marketing relies heavily on the content of the campaign making it a perfect match for the insurance industry.

According to comScore, Inc., a global internet information provider, consumers submitted over 70 million online auto insurance quote requests between 2004 and 2006. More households are researching and shopping online every year—now over 75 percent.

And in a recent article, Marketing Sherpa asserted the new prime time is 9 to 5 while corporate America toils away in front of their PCs. Unlike after hours, this is the time that consumers invite interruption in the form of a digital games, amusing videos and desktop distractions.

Develop your message.

Much of viral marketing is “advertainment”. Sites like YouTube and Google video have made the proliferation of video free and fast. Companies give away video games, sometimes called “advergaming”, and create entertaining, interactive web sites. The idea is to engage customers so they choose to send your message to other potential consumers without solicitation. Creating compelling content—therein lies the challenge.

Giveaways have been marketing’s secret weapon since Cracker Jack began promising ‘a toy in every box.’ Whether it’s a t-shirt or downloadable program, an online coupon or a magnet, a freebie can often lead to the sale of a larger item, or at least future brand recognition.

A chance to win money or a big-ticket time always draws a crowd. The idea: when they come to your site to sign up, maybe they’ll peruse your other offerings. Using an online contest in conjunction with a conference or convention can pique attendee interest and increase the ROI of the event.

Make it scalable.

The goal of a viral marketing campaign is to quickly disseminate your message to the masses. Whatever you create should be scalable, so that is doesn’t experience growing pains that may slow it down. Before you launch a campaign, ensure you have adequate bandwidth, server space and customer support, or your lack of resources will squelch your budding campaign.

Placement matters.

The industry jargon word seeding refers to your method of distribution. The internet lends itself to information sharing, so make your content available where audiences already gather—online forums, blogs, and social networks. Like gardening, if you plant your message in the wrong place, it will never have the chance to flourish. Consider your desired audience and where you might find them online.

Beyond the buzz.

The entertaining nature of many viral campaigns can obscure their true intent—to complement other marketing endeavors as part of your overall branding strategy. To get beyond the buzz, track results to hone in on what works. Measure how many people downloaded your program or clicked through to your web site from the email, video or game.

A few ideas.

Be a star. Create a humorous video and post it for free on YouTube, Google video and Veoh. For inspiration, check out the latest commercials from some insurance heavy-hitters. They’ve got it all—elaborate car chases, human snowballs, offended cavemen.

Create a network. If you’ve ever spoken to a misinformed consumer, you know it’s difficult to find unbiased, helpful information about insurance. Create a forum for insurance consumers to ask and answer questions and start a dialogue with other consumers.

Provide branded, downloadable tools for consumers that make their insurance purchase go more smoothly, like a life insurance calculator or home inventory checklist. In an industry where you usually aren’t able to compete on price, it’s all about the extras.

Get creative and try out viral marketing on a small scale. A fairly inexpensive way to promote yourself, it may be the perfect acompaniment to your other marketing efforts.

Marketing tip: Whatever sort of viral message you create must transfer easily from one person to another. Items should be downloadable, and small enough to email.


[photo source]

Posted by maribeth neelis at 08:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

You're about to embark on a recap of The ABCs of SEO, as published in the May issue of the TAAR Report. Read part two of this article here.

Link popularity is classified as how many inbound links you have to your site. Inbound links are formed when someone else links to your site from theirs.

For example, if ParachuteInsurance.com found a good car insurance article on InsureMe.com, they might link to it from their site. And spiders like links. To the spider, links are like votes (hence the term “link popularity”). They signify that people have found your site valuable, and will then rank it higher when someone enters a search term relevant to your site.

The caveat: link popularity isn’t a true democracy. I talked to James Omdahl, our in-house marketing strategist and lead writer for the InsureMe Affiliate Blog, and he explained it like this:

If you’re looking at link popularity like voting, you have to understand that some voters carry more weight than others. If you have a web site that a lot of people have pointed links to, like CNN.com or some government web site, those sites will pull more weight with a search engine than a site that has gotten little recognition.

In other words, if CNN links to the same auto insurance article as ParachuteInsurance, it will have a more dramatic effect on InsureMe’s site rank.

Other Factors

In addition to keyword relevancy and link popularity, those experienced in SEO have pinpointed a handful of others site characteristics that spiders look at.

These include:

• Uniqueness of content
• Freshness of content (how often the content is updated)
• Title tag (text displayed at the top of a browser window)
• Clean web site code
• Indexible content (words on the page versus images)

As you can see from the list, search engines put quite an emphasis on content. Build a clean web site chock-full of well-written articles, and you’ll be well on your way to appealing to search engines and building links from other web sites.

Posted by Megan Mahan at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

Boy, I'm a sucker for innovation in this industry. That's because:

(1) It's tough not to reinvent the insurance wheel; and
(2) Not very many organizations put enough emphasis on it

Earlier this week, I learned about Safeco's new Teensurance program through Springwise.com, one of my favorite global entrepreneurial blogs, and it fits the innovative bill.

If you're assuming at this point that Teensurance is auto insurance for teens, you'd be right. But Teensurance goes above and beyond the normal auto insurance policy, using:

• GPS technology to keep an eye on youngsters and encourage safe driving
• The "Safety Beacon" that unlocks doors, provides curfew and speed limit reminders, and more
• 24/7 roadside assistance
• Resources for parents and teens

The features and benefits are numerous. I'm impressed. Check it out here and get inspired for new ideas for your agency.

Posted by Megan Mahan at 03:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
 

Are you bland?

I didn’t think so. What about your business card? Yeah, I thought so.

As a not-bland person, you should have a not-bland (spicy?) business card. But if you’re like 99.7 percent (my unofficial estimate) of the professional population, your business card blends into the corporate landscape like gazelle in the veldt.

While a gazelle has a good reason to blend in (that whole predator thing), your motive is stand out—to be more like a zebra. (Yes, zebras have predators too; the analogy isn’t perfect, but you get the idea.)

Not everyone has the leeway to remake their business card, but for those of you who do, ask yourselves this: does my card stand out (in a good way)? Does it reflect my personal brand? Is it really boring?

I’m not suggesting you color your card purple, fill with bubbly lettering and adorn it with pink polka dots—unless that reflects the personal brand that works for you. (Hey, you never know.) Your card should complement your brand.

And while you're looking at your own card and weighing a possible redesign, resist the tired (and false) notion that you have to be bland to be considered "professional."

Think there’s no room for creativity in a business card? Check out this site.

Posted by Jeb Foster at 01:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
 

You're about to embark on a recap of The ABCs of SEO, as published in the May issue of the TAAR Report. Read part one of this article here.

Creating web sites that are search engine-friendly means determining what the search engine likes. Back in the mid-90s, it was fairly easy to figure out what made the search engines happy. As a result, the web experienced widespread SEO abuse, and users couldn’t find the timely, trustworthy information they were seeking.

To curb this abuse, Google built a bigger, better algorithm. The new algorithm took into account various factors and characteristics of the web pages it indexed. Soon, other search engines like Yahoo and MSN adapted similar algorithms to keep organic search results as pure and relevant to its users as possible.

Today, site owners aim to work with these algorithms to increase their site rank. Working with the algorithms is difficult for two reasons:

1. Figuring out a search engine’s algorithm is akin to finding the Holy Grail
2. The algorithm constantly changes, varying the weight of its variables

Nonetheless, SEO experts have determined a handful of factors that search engines look at while ranking sites. A significant chunk of these “on-site” factors have to do with the frequency and placement of keyword and keyword phrases (like “health insurance” or “health insurance quote”).

More specifically, the algorithms analyze:

• Keywords in the domain name
• Keywords in the site’s directory and file name
• Keywords in page headings and subheadings
• Keyword density—the ratio of keywords to other words on the page

Because of the importance keywords play in optimizing a site, some webmasters use an abundance of them to try and trick the spider into giving them a higher ranking. But when it comes to keywords, more is not always better. Search engines are on the lookout for blatant keyword stuffing and have tweaked their algorithms to evaluate a host of other on-site factors—all of which must be considered when optimizing a site.

Posted by Megan Mahan at 01:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

It’s the classic Silicon Valley narrative: two young, talented dudes who like to party get an idea. They start a dotcom. It languishes for a bit until an investor sees the potential. And then it gets huge. The young, talented and suddenly quite rich dudes continue to party into retirement.

Introducing: Yelp
Yelp is a web network that compiles user-generated reviews of local hot spots, including bars, restaurants, financial institutions, and retail shops. Yelp is currently available to residents of a dozen or so big cities across the country, but judging by its current popularity, one can expect its reach to broaden.

Why it’s cool
According to a recent profile of the company in Fortune Magazine, a positive review on Yelp can be a huge boon for a small business that’s otherwise struggling to get known. Consider the example of a San Francisco hairstylist Christopher Hill: after getting some good press on Yelp, Hill, owner of Splitends salon, got such an infusion of business that he had to soak his tired hands in ice at the end of each day.

Yelping the Little Guy
If you’re a small fry trying to compete with the giants, Yelp may be your best friend. From Fortune’s article on the company:

Why do you frequent Starbucks when you’re traveling? Do your really love the coffee, of do you go because you know what you’ll get when you walk through the front door? As Simmons [co-founder of Yelp] puts it, “A brand is a proxy for knowledge.” What if you found out there was a wonderful little café down the street? Would you still go to Starbucks? Maybe, maybe not.

Yelp is all about aggregating local knowledge: the hidden gems, the helpful staff, the funky décor, the unique vibe, the colorful barkeep and, just maybe, the exceptional insurance agent.

Check it out: Yelp.com

Posted by Jeb Foster at 09:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
 

If you sell life insurance, this probably seems pretty silly to you. But hey—I used to be in sales: sometimes you find yourself selling the product with the best commission over the product that best fits the prospect's needs.

It's always good to get back to basics. Click through to read the synopsis of tips for pitching perm v. term.

Pitch your client a term life insurance policy when:

• They need coverage but can't afford a permanent life policy. Even though the cost of a term policy is likely to increase upon each annual renewal, it will likely remain considerably lower than that of a permanent life insurance policy.
• They need basic insurance protection for their beneficiaries in the event that they die prematurely. If your client has two children, INN suggests pitching a 20-year term policy, which would cover the children up until they were adults—and able to support themselves with a job.
• They have short-term needs, like paying off a mortgage, or a child's education. For example, the breadwinner could purchase a policy at the same value as the mortgage.

Conversely, you should pitch your client a permanent life insurance policy when:

• They need coverage regardless of when they die—and can afford to pay the premiums.
• Their estate is worth several million dollars, but most of it is not liquid. The beneficiaries can then use the proceeds of the policy to pay the estate taxes.
• They're looking an avenue for tax-deferred savings or a risk-free investment.
• They're looking for a secured asset, as permanent policies are protected from creditors and lawsuits.

Check out the full article here, and leave your perm v. term sales tips via comments!

Posted by Megan Mahan at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

You're about to embark on a recap of The ABCs of SEO, as published in the May issue of the TAAR Report. This is part of a series of posts recapping my "TAarticles."

Full disclosure: the title of this article may be a tad misleading. The “ABCs of SEO” kind of implies that search engine optimization is an elementary task, akin to stacking blocks and finger painting. It is not. Kindergartners could not optimize a web site in one lazy afternoon and chances are good you won’t be able to either.

But don’t let a little thing like that discourage you.

Like any other online business proprietor, you goal is to position yourself—and your agency—in front of the eyes of shoppers. Accordingly, the higher you rank on a search engine results page (SERP), the greater the likelihood that a shopper will click on your link—dramatically increasing the chances that said shopper will use your site and buy your product.

And with the impressive increase in internet shopping, it has been well documented that unless your site appears within the first three pages of search results, only a small percentage of shoppers will even find it.

When you consider that more than 80 percent of web traffic comes through search engines like Google, it’s no wonder that those in the competitive space of insurance are adding search engine optimization (henceforth SEO) to their marketing repertoire in order to position themselves in front of interested shoppers.

What is SEO?

SEO is a set of tactics used to boost a web site’s ranking on a search engine results page (SERP) for a given search term or set of terms. SEO efforts target organic search engine results—those results that are not paid for.

Online marketers have been using SEO to increase the volume and quality of visitors to their sites, as well as to boost overall site conversion. And for good reason: the 2004 iProspect User Attitudes Survey concluded that users put more stock in organic listings for commercial searches, with more than 60 percent deeming organic search results more relevant than paid listings. (Paid listings are synonymous with targeted pay-per click advertising).

To better understand how SEO can help you increase your site’s rank, it’s important to revisit how search engines like Google work:

1. A search engine “spider” “crawls” though the internet, searching for pages that match the user’s request. (e.g. “Health insurance quotes.”)
2. When the spider visits a page, it studies its content and follows all the links to other pages that are within the site.
3. The spider selects all relevant pages and files them into a web Rolodex of sorts, which stores all the pages the spider has read.
4. The search engine software then sifts though the Rolodex and ranks all the pages therein using a complex—and top secret—algorithm.
5. The search engine presents search results to the user via the sponsored listings and organic listings.

SEO takes these factors into consideration, working with them to improve search engine ranking and position a site or web page in front of searchers who are looking for it.

Posted by Megan Mahan at 01:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

Social networking sites: they're not just for the kids anymore.

Part business card, part resume and part personal press center, personal pages on social networking sites are quickly becoming an integral part of self-promotion.

Note: I don’t use self-promotion as a negative term. As New York Times business columnist Marci Alboher explained recently, tasteful self-promotion is not something to be self-conscious about. In fact, it’s essential in business.

But where should you go? When you think of social networking sites, you probably think of MySpace. MySpace, however, has very little cachet among professionals. Facebook and LinkedIn are the more popular choices for businesspeople. But there are other options out there, so take some time to look around and see what appeals to you.

These sites allow you to show your human side, (humbly) flaunt your credentials and/or accomplishments, grow your web presence, meet new people in your industry, and promote your personal brand! And best of all, they're easy to set up.

Learn more:
Are You on Facebook Yet?
Should You Get into Social Media Marketing?
Are You Linked In?
Personal Branding 101

Posted by Jeb Foster at 04:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
 

This morning I found myself included in my boyfriend's family email. Dan lives in D.C., and I'm planning to go out east for his birthday next month. Coincidentally, his parents were planning a vacation to New York City that same week, so plans are underway for six of us to get together in either city.

After I pitched in my two cents to the group email (hey, one must be proactive about these sorts of things), I immediately got a system generated email from the office of Dan's sister. The email said:

"An e-mail you have just sent to [email address] is
being held until you complete a simple one-time-only registration.

To verify you are a legitimate sender, just click on the link below:
[link]

You will not have to register again for other [company name] addresses."

Now, why would I want to register my email address with a company with no instruction as to what will be done with my email address? Will it be sold to mass information vendors? Will I start receiving unwanted solicitations from the company?

Obviously, my first thought was: Well, forget it. My email wasn't that important anyway. But finally (and because I consider all business interactions to be fodder for the Agent Blog), I clicked on the link. And this is the page I saw:

"We have released your email from Quarantine?" Ouch.

SPAM is annoying. But it's a fact of e-commerce. And the fact of the matter is that you need to pay attention to every customer touchpoint you have, including every system generated email you bounce back to senders. (We’ve done this at the Agent Blog; if for some reason commenting gets a bug, we give you an idea about what the problem is and try to provide a little comic relief as well. You can check it out by posting a blank comment to this thread.)

Having my email quarantined wasn't the best first impression of this company. It made me feel like a reject, and frankly, if my boyfriend's sister hadn't been the recipient, I wouldn't have added myself to their safe list.

The rub: Examine your touchpoints. All of them. We have very little control over how other companies treat us—the best we can do is not replicate their missteps.

Posted by Megan Mahan at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)