How to Be a Thought Leader in the Insurance Sales Industry

5/6/2014

Hi. This is John Carroll.

Until very recently I’ve been the only writer here on the InsuranceSplash blog and I’m amazed how quickly it has grown.

For example, the article I published last Tuesday was read by over 1,000 people in 24 hours.

One year ago this blog didn’t even exist!

I attribute this incredible growth to two things:

Providing actionable ideas and strategies.
Kind readers (like you) sharing content with colleagues.

If it weren’t for readers like you, this resource wouldn’t exist.

I didn’t learn about the insurance agency business from one person or in one agency. I worked with hundreds of agents and producers for several years getting different perspectives, ideas, and insight.

My intention with this blog has always been to create THE MOST HELPFUL RESOURCE FOR INSURANCE AGENTS but I realize it’s impossible to accomplish that goal on my own.

I need your help.

That’s why I’m reaching out to you, the insurance agents and marketers who follow the InsuranceSplash blog, to ask you to provide your expertise.

I’d like to publish at least one article a week from a member of the InsuranceSplash community.

I want to share this platform and audience with anyone willing to bring value to insurance agents.

I’ve provided some more information below about getting published here if you’re interested.

Sincerely,
John F. Carroll
InsuranceSplash CEO and Founder

How To Get Published on InsuranceSplash:

Write an article.
Email it to me.
If it provides value for insurance agents I’ll publish it.

Easy enough for you?

(By the way, don’t worry about formatting, grammar, spelling, etc. I’ll proofread, edit, and format it for the web.)

A Few Simple Guidelines:

1) Your content must be original.

It must be written by you and not exist anywhere else on the internet. (It’s really easy for me to check this so please don’t waste your time sending anything but original content.)

2) Your content must be helpful to insurance agents.

This is a blog written FOR insurance agents. It is not written for insurance shoppers and the purpose of every article I post here is to help agents. If it’s not helpful it’s not going to be here.

3) Your content must be honest.

Don’t lie about results, make up information, or pretend to be someone you’re not. I have zero tolerance for online scammers.

4) Your content must not be (too) promotional

I don’t mind if a sales rep wants to write about their products for insurance agents as long as it’s done in an informative and ethical way that provides value to agents.

If the product is legitimate, the descriptions are accurate, and the claims are valid – I’m happy to publish.

5) No “X Reasons Why” Articles

Sorry, but I just think these articles suck.

So you have “10 Reasons I Should Open a Twitter Account”… No thanks.

Show me how to do it, a tool that makes it easy, or 10 ways you’ve sold insurance using Twitter that I can copy.

What’s In It For You?

1) Be a Thought Leader

A powerful measure of your professional stature is how you’re viewed by peers. A good insurance agent is seen as an expert by his clients. A great insurance agent is known to be an expert by their peers and colleagues.

Are you a follower… or a leader?

2) Better Search Rankings

If your article is published here on InsuranceSplash, I will include a bio section at the bottom with a followed link to your main website. Not only will people follow this link to your site, a link to your website from one of the most popular blogs about insurance marketing is a strong sign of trust and prominence in Google’s eyes.

3) Build Social Connections

In addition to linking to your website, I’ll also include a link to your LinkedIn profile so other insurance industry professionals who find value in your content can easily connect with you.

4) Good Karma

What goes around really does come around, especially online where everyone is connected. There’s a million ways helping to support the community you’re a part of will come back to help you but here’s one real-life example:

Out-of-state agents will refer clients moving to your area if they know like and trust you from content you’ve published here.

5) $10,000 Cash

Oops, that was a typo. I meant to write:

$0 cash. ;)

And Here’s a Few Article Ideas

1) What’s working for you?

What are you doing right now in your agency that is giving you the best ROI? If it’s working for you I’m sure other agents would love to hear about it.

2) Product/Service Review.

What products, companies, or services are you paying for right now that you wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to other agents? What ones have burned you? (I don’t really want to publish a “revenge” article for a bad product but if I think it can help other agents I’ll publish it.)

3) Business Philosophy

It didn’t take me long to learn that every insurance agent has their own philosophy about just about everything in the business. And I know how much agents love sharing these. If you’ve got something that would provide value to other agents please share it!

4) Agency Processes

There’s a very large gap for many insurance agents between what they know they should be doing and how to specifically get it done. If you have some clear agency processes you think other agencies could learn from send it to me. Even just an outline or a checklist will work.

5) Mistakes and Lessons Learned

I’ve found that mistakes in business are the absolute best way to learn something. What’s the last big mistake you made that had a powerful and universal lesson that other agents could learn from?

6) Insurance Industry Predictions

Do you know where the industry is headed? What should agents be doing now to be in the best position 5-10 years from now? Write a quick explanation of your predictions and find out if other agents feel the same way.

7) Inspiration

You know selling insurance is a tough business. It’s easy to get down and lose motivation sometimes. And I’m sure reading an inspirational story from another insurance agent who’s been in the trenches could really help out a lot of agents.

8) Funny Insurance Story

Insurance isn’t always very funny. If you’ve got a funny story to tell that would resonate with the insurance agent audience here at InsuranceSplash don’t keep it to yourself!

In Conclusion:

If you’re considering getting published here on the InsuranceSplash blog don’t hesitate.

Send your article to me.

If you know someone in the industry who would like to be published on a blog read by thousands of agents worldwide

Send them a link to this article.

And if you don’t know whether you’ll ever send me something but you like the idea of getting more ideas, tips, strategies, and other resources from other agents across the globe…

0 Comments

InsuranceSplash Blog