One of our favorite insurance industry publications is Agent’s Sales Journal. Their magazine is chock full of up-to-date news and insider tips for today’s insurance professional.

In an article from their November 2010 issue titled “Social Life: How Social Media Can Boost Your Business”, editor Christina Pellett covers 7 of the most popular social networks and how insurance professionals can leverage these tools from a business perspective.

According to a recent study, Pellett shared that 57 percent of insurance agents use at least one social media tool to engage with other insurance industry professionals and 59 percent use social media to connect with prospects and customers.

The great thing about social media (those listed here, anyway) is that it’s free. Yes, for some it can be time-consuming to learn and to integrate into your daily insurance practice. As the world continues to get smaller and more connected, however, the insurance pros who are not creating an online presence will be missing the boat.

Click here to read Pellett’s insurance agency social media tips.

Also, don’t miss their social media boot camp: 20 days to social media success.

Throughout our past few posts, we’ve shared how you and your insurance business can generate more leads and connect with more customers through LinkedIn.

This post is going to share how LinkedIn Groups can maximize your online networking potential.

Participating in LinkedIn Groups is a great way to expand your profile’s network. Here are a few key reasons you should be participating in LinkedIn Groups:

1) You can branch out beyond your network. While you may have 150 personal LinkedIn connections, when you connect with a LinkedIn Group, you have access to the group’s membership. The more groups through which you actively participate, the more recognition your LinkedIn profile receives.

2) Connect with like-minded individuals. LinkedIn offers a multitude of groups across a variety of topics. From insurance and real estate to automobiles and fishing, LinkedIn has a group that fits your interests. Here are a handful of the insurance-related groups we recommend. (Note: Most of these groups are accessibly only if you’re a member. To join, simply click “join this group” and your request will be sent to the group moderator.)

Farmer’s Insurance Group

Insurance Industry Executives

Insurance Industry Professionals

Insurance Journal – Property & Casualty News & Info

Insurance Marketing Professionals

Insurance Professional Network

Insurance Professionals

Insurance Professionals of America

NAIFA Networking Group

Nationwide Insurance Alumni/Associates

Online Insurance Agents

3) Creating your own group is an even more effective way to expand your network of connections. Visit this site to learn how to create your own LinkedIn group.

Are you currently using LinkedIn for your insurance agency? Are your team members promoting your insurance business on LinkedIn? What LinkedIn groups do you find most effective for your business?

You may recall our Twitter tutorials (Part 1 and Part 2) from a few months ago. Four months later, Twitter is still a hot topic for many companies; including those in the insurance industry.

One of this month’s Agents Sales Journal web exclusives includes an article titled “To Tweet or Not to Tweet: Is Twitter Right for You?” Associate Editor Heather Trese interviewed me (@HometownQuotes) and several other insurance industry professionals including Tom Daly (@TomDaly) and Michele Tanico (@InsuranceLadyLV) for this article about effectively using Twitter for your insurance business.

I’m paraphrasing from the article here:

“One of the most important aspects of Twitter is having followers — the users who subscribe to your updates. The more followers you have, the more people are reading what you have to say, and the greater your potential market penetration.

According to Farmer, one of the best ways to get followers is by using some of the various Twitter search sites available to look for like-minded users.

‘I’ll find people that I want to follow, and [that] I hope will follow me back,’ she said. ‘If I notice after a few weeks that they’re not following me back, I’ll watch what they say and I’ll engage them, or I’ll retweet them, or I’ll respond to something that they say. And usually that will encourage them to take an interest in me. But really there’s nothing you can do to make somebody follow you.’

What makes a good follower? You want someone who is active on Twitter, and who has similar goals and interests to your own. A follower who re-tweets — or sends your tweets to their own followers — is a major plus.”

Read the full article here.

If you’re still on the fence about Twitter, check out the full article or visit the Twitter pages of other insurance professionals to get the hang of what it takes to make Twitter work for you.