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Thursday, March 26, 2009 3:28 AM
Local Search Replaces the Yellow Pages When it comes to pure Internet Marketing genius, the insurance industry doesn’t have anyone more knowledgeable, skillful or innovative than Lucas – OUR resident Internet genius. So frequently, I’ll turn the pen over to him. Credit goes to Luke for most of what follows: Beginning in 2008, Google changed the search engine to detect when people are searching for local companies or organizations. When a local search is detected, Google displays a map with the top 10 listings in that region. This is called local search. From this point forward, when a local search was detected, the local search results…
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Wednesday, March 25, 2009 7:29 AM
We recently completed an industry-wide survey on effective Internet Marketing Practices…and the conclusion is straightforward. Internet Ignorance. (Even – I’m embarrassed to admit – many of my own clients and Quantum Club members are two laps behind the mega-marketers who are hungry for your business. GEICO, Progressive, Esurance – and a growing cadre of niche players in the commercial arena.) Compare your agency…but PLEASE, do not…
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Monday, March 16, 2009 5:56 PM
It took the telephone 89 years to reach 150 million users. TV, 38 years. The cell phone, 14 years. iPod, 7 years. Facebook: 5 years. And adding up to 600,000 per day. Today I want to start sharing the most basic tips on getting started on your Facebook Marketing System.
#1. Make the critical strategic decision. Do you want to use Facebook to communicate with clients? If so – and this is an important decision – be very clear on this: mixing up casual communications with strategic business communications can confuse, and even turn off, your business audience. There are strategies to keep them separate (Groups, etc.) which we’ll talk about later. But for now, beware, if you’re going to be positioning “the reason to do business with you” on...
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Wednesday, March 11, 2009 3:25 AM
Remember the good old days?
When the best “networker” won the most clients. You know, the agent who hung around the Rotary and service clubs and spent his time “prospecting” was the one who dominated the market.
Well, those days really weren’t all that good…unless you like selling one-at-a-time and trading time for money. A lot of agents were thrilled to trade in those old, slow methods for marketing. I know that…
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Friday, March 06, 2009 4:07 AM
 Can you market insurance with webinars?
The answer is a resounding “YES.” And it solves many of the problems agencies face today. It makes it easy to sell in MULTIPLES. It gets the market to chase you, instead of the other way around. It optimizes the use of your time.
But…you MUST know what you’re doing. Here’s a quick check list that I use when…
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Tuesday, March 03, 2009 7:42 AM
Recognize the bubbly brunette in the picture?
Nah? Why that’s actress and comedian Stephanie Courtney (Mad Men, Kath & Kim, The Heartbreak Kid, Blades of Glory, etc.). Still doesn’t ring a bell?
Dip into the blog-o-sphere of contemporary culture and you’ll quickly discover she’s the unassuming ICON of a growing cult following. A quick Google of her name will alert you to discussion groups dedicated to her commercial (and romantic)…
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Tuesday, February 24, 2009 8:12 AM
They used to be a staple of the industry. Back in the “good old days,” it was part of the usual recipe of insurance agency marketing. Take out a Yellow Pages ad. Hang around the service clubs. Hang a shingle outside your office. All of which worked pretty miserably. But, let’s face it, the competition was lazy, complacent and untrained. So the threats were minor.
Those days are long, long gone. YP ad revenue has been slip-slidin’ away. about 3 points per year. The Kelsey Group – an independent research firm – predicted a 10% erosion this year. According to a new study by TMP Directional Marketing, “online search” finally edged out print yellow pages as the #1 consumer research tool.
Of course, this isn’t news to most insurance agents who used to (or still do)…
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Thursday, February 19, 2009 11:24 PM
I just finished the first of our two ”Internet Marketing for Insurance Agents 2009” webinars.
We had SEO Expert Brett Smith of Worldwide Internet Publishing and Marc Bujold of EpikOne join us to discuss two very important topics for insurance agents.
Watch the webinar, for free! (This will be removed before the next training, so watch now!)
As I’ve said before, the massive drift of the consumer base to Internet research, Internet comfort and Internet PURCHASING poses the biggest threat to the insurance AGENT (not the industry) – as well as the biggest OPPORTUNITY, that we’ve seen in decades.
I had two of the top Internet marketers in the country as guest experts on this training - and they were SWAMPED with live questions from agents who were on the call.
I strongly urge you to not to miss out on it.
We covered critical issues like:
- What to do about the Internet if you're not "technical" - even if you understand how important marketing is
- Why and how to use Search Engine Optimization to drive traffic to your website
- Why most insurance agents websites are "death traps" for converting prospects to clients
- Where to find reliable internet marketing help when you need it
- How Google Analytics can help you MASTER everything you must know about what's working and what's not working on your Internet Marketing Strategy
- How to use Ad Words in your Internet Marketing Strategy
- And - most important - why the time has PASSED for Insurance agents to ignore the Internet as part of their Business Strategy
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Saturday, February 14, 2009 8:59 AM
 Many years ago, when I first ran an agency, I did what most agents do when they want to grow their agency. Look around. See what other agents are doing. And copy. Of course, when you’ve got five kids, your bank account can hungry as a black bear in April. And I wasn’t getting the kind of results I was looking for from the “copy other agents” method. Turns out, most of them were as clueless as I was. Growth rates of 7-10% just didn’t cut it for me. And I ended up getting the answers…
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Thursday, February 12, 2009 2:36 PM
Nobody’s been accusing the insurance industry of creating an artificial “bubble” of growth. It ain’t the housing marketing. Ain’t the credit market. In fact, it’s starting to look like the deflated balloon the morning after the birthday party. According to AM Best, P&C sales just skidded through their second straight year of decline, for the first time since the ‘30’s. Rate reductions added to the industry’s “misery index” along with…
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