​I don’t like networking events.

I don’t like the fake smiles, cheesy jokes, overbearing personalities, awkward conversations, and unsolicited advice.

And of course I can’t stand the sales pitches for crap I will never ever buy.

On the bright side… sometimes there’s alcohol.

Although I’m a die-hard internet marketing guy I know these two things as fact:

​I like marketing you never have to think about that happens automatically.

Don’t you?

Your email signature another great opportunity for automated marketing.

If you don’t already know, an email signature is a message that your email system automatically adds to the bottom of every email you send.

​This article is going to disappoint three insurance agents.

That’s because three different agents in the past three weeks asked me for an email template to follow-up with new customers.

And I’m not going to do it.

I was actually going to when I realized I couldn’t make one email (or phone script, letter, etc.) that fit every agency’s unique needs.

​Video marketing is a huge opportunity for every insurance agent to be more successful?

Why?

Video Marketing is Efficient.

You can record one perfect message for clients and prospects to be delivered 1000s of times, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Kelly Blue Book

​There’s probably a lot of ways to use this app on the job, but one instance where it really comes in handy is when you’re trying to help a client decide whether to purchase collision and comprehensive coverage.  Faster than you could do on kbb.com, this app will give you a value for any car super fast. Bonus tip: take a screenshot of your client’s car value in this app by clicking the home and power buttons at the same time.  Then go to your photos and you can email it to them directly.

Life Foundation

This life insurance needs calculator from the Life Foundation is a great resource for helping a client determine how much they really need to keep their family afloat. There’s nothing here you haven’t seen before, but it’s a good tool from a great organization.  Bonus Tip: Recommend this app to a prospective client before meeting with them – it might put them in the right mindset going into the meeting and you don’t have to worry about them being pitched another company’s policy from the app.

Insurance Journal

Not too many bells and whistles with this app, but as one of the largest and most long-standing news publishers in the insurance industry, Insurance Journal is a great resource.  I personally use RSS feeds and Twitter to get information from Insurance Journal and I don’t use this app, but it seems to be pretty simple. It’s basically just news feeds, but I like the way they break down information into regions – since there’s already so much information on IJ it’s helpful to narrow it down in this way.

I love mistakes.

Okay, love is a strong word… but mistakes make me smarter so I choose to embrace them.

Fortunately my wife reminds me to embrace them several times a day.

Insurance agents make two types of internet marketing mistakes:

1. Internet Marketing Errors of Omission – Failing to do something that can help your agency’s online presence.
2. Internet Marketing Errors of Commission – Going out of your way to hurt your agency’s online presence.

​Do you have any resolutions this year?

Planning to lose weight, quit smoking, or drink less?

How about professionally?

It’s too late to make any changes to last year’s results, but now is a great time to make a decision to start a new habit or process to help your insurance agency be more successful next year.

The average American spends 50.2 minutes commuting back and forth to work every day. (Source: U.S. Census)

If your commute is typical you’ll waste:

• 4 hours, 11 minutes next week.
• 18 hours, 8 minutes next month. 
• 9 full days, 1 hour, 32 minutes next year!

There’s many things to do while driving (I see them all here in Miami).

​When’s the last time you made a bad purchase for your business?

Don’t lie.

For me it was just last week.

Last Wednesday I found out a service I used on one of my websites (not this site) had been sending my visitors to a different website against their will.

I felt angry. I felt betrayed. I felt dumb.

I also felt poor because the lost traffic over several months cost me a lot of money!