If you’re an insurance professional who uses Facebook, Twitter, a blog or some other form of social media to interact with your customers and prospects, Advisor Today magazine wants to talk with you!

Here’s what the editor is looking for:

Need to interview financial advisors and/or insurance agents for a feature story for Advisor Today magazine that focuses on social media strategies they use to connect with prospects and clients. We will cover best practices, pros/cons, compliance issues, etc. **Note: Advisor Today is B2B. Advisors/agents are “talking” to peers. This is not a consumer magazine.

Leave a comment below with the best way to reach you and we’ll provide more details!

“Stories are just data with a soul.” - Dr. Brene Brown, Researcher Storyteller at University of Houston

As an insurance professional, there’s no doubt you look at A LOT of numbers day-to-day. Keep in mind that those numbers are typically tied to people…and people have stories. When you take the time to know and understand someone’s story, you’re also indicating that you value them.

You have the data. You have the expertise and know-how. Now you have an inspiring quote to get you going. We know you can do it! 

Your friends at HometownQuote

As technology and communications have evolved, there are a number of ways you can connect with insurance prospects and customers.

If you’re an insurance professional who purchases our insurance leads, you may have the notion that, because the consumer was connected with you via an online medium that he or she wants to be communicated with via an online medium.

While this makes sense and is probably accurate for a percentage of the population, it’s likely the prospect completed the form online simply because it was easy and s/he wanted to be catered to. Do not underestimate the importance of picking up the phone and calling the prospect.

While phone and email are the two most effective ways to reach a prospect, it’s also important to make sure you and your insurance agency have a website and that you’re searchable among online networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and so forth.

Read Ryan Hanley’s overview about why he’s established a robust online presence to ensure he’s accommodating to customer’s and prospect’s uniquely varying communication styles.

There are a number of free ways to use the Internet to showcase your insurance expertise. One tool we recommend is LinkedIn – which allows you to connect with more than 43 million professionals in more than 200 countries. Unlike Facebook (which is another great resource for entrepreneurs), LinkedIn is a business-focused environment. Properly leveraging your LinkedIn profile will help you connect with other professionals and prospects. Follow these tips to get the most out of your LinkedIn profile:

1) Complete your profile. Remember that this may be your first impression to some people, so you want to make sure your profile is complete and flawless. Focus on these important profile items -

Headline – This is the information that will appear directly under your name. As a default, your current job information will be listed here. (i.e. Insurance Agent for Farmer’s Insurance) Take this opportunity to be creative and show off your personal brand. (i.e. Nashville insurance professional protecting your assets)

Summary – This should be a brief paragraph about why you enjoy being an insurance professional. What makes you different from other insurance agents? What can customers expect from you? List any distinctions, titles, honors or awards you’ve received.

Custom URL – You can personally brand your LinkedIn profile with a unique URL. To do this, go to your profile and click “edit”. Find “public profile” and click “edit” once more. At the top of the page, find where it says “public profile URL” and click “edit” again. Type how you want your URL to appear and click “set address” (i.e. http://linkedin.com/in/yourfullname) If your name or phrase has been taken, modify it by adding a period, underscore or middle initial.

Websites – List your agency website, blog, Facebook fan page, Twitter information, etc. so your new contacts are aware of the different ways to connect with you.

Recommendations – Use the recommendations area for client testimonials. There’s nothing better for business than letting your customers speak for you!

Stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow!

The conversation about price vs. cost continues. We’ve covered a few different points of view in several posts here and here.

Ryan Hanley over at the Insurance Marketing Professional blog shares his feedback here.

The key takeaway from his post is the insurance professional’s role as an educator. Although many prospects may be focusing on price per month, it’s up to you, the insurance advisor, to illustrate the sheer cost of inadequate coverage.

Need some tips for tailoring the perfect package for your prospects? Join us for our free webinar this Thursday at 2pm central. Click here to learn more!

If you haven’t bookmarked Albany Insurance Professional Ryan Hanley, take a second and go save his RSS feed. Hanley is an insurance agent in Albany, New York and who runs a blog about his experiences as an insurance professional.

In one of his most recent posts, Hanley shares how he personally uses Twitter to market his insurance business. Here’s a quick overview of why he encourages tweeting about your insurance agency:

1) Directing traffic to your insurance blog.

2) Staying up to date on local and national news headlines.

3) Fostering connections with clients and prospects.

4) Connecting with other insurance professionals.

5) Following other insurance industry leaders and staying on top of industry trends.

Thanks for sharing Ryan! Click here to read the full post.

Remember our post last week about price versus coverage? I just read a great post from the Insurance Goddess who urges prospects to weigh the costs associated with the risks. Here’s her closing paragraph:

“Cheapest price does not always mean the best coverage. Yes, there are many out there that will still want rock bottom premium, no matter what. But, for those that have livelihoods and assets to protect, I think the cost of not choosing wisely far exceeds any additional premium paid. And a trusted agent is the person that can provide the guidance and advice to help you make a sound financial decision. I still think this saying holds true- “you get what you pay for.” Don’t find out the hard way.”

Everyone’s situation is different. As an insurance professional, it’s your responsibility to listen to prospects’ needs and navigate them towards coverage that will give peace of mind. Whether you’re looking for the price-conscious consumer or the coverage-conscious consumer, we can help. Click here to connect with an insurance lead specialist and learn about who we can connect you with in your area.

A number of things will determine whether or not a person chooses to do business with you. Your demeanor. The company you represent. The insurance packages you offer. The overall price you quote. Your experience as an insurance professional. The list goes on.

You’re probably not going to close every lead you purchase. An insurance lead is an opportunity to serve a customer, it is not a guaranteed policy. The great thing about an insurance lead is that, once you’ve purchased the information, it’s yours. File it away in your database. Follow up with the prospect in 3 or 6 months to see how they’re doing and see if there’s a way you can assist. Just because they said no the first time doesn’t mean you’ve completely lost their business. Illustrate why they should choose you. Give time to build the relationship.

If you have a genuine desire to help people and develop a routine follow-up system, insurance leads will help your business soar.

As an insurance professional who is trying to build your book of business, retaining customers and closing sales are two of your most important goals.

Are you laser-focused on these goals? Does your to-do list reflect that focus?

With the zing of incoming email, texts and other alerts coming through on your mobile device and/or computer, it’s easy to get caught up in the instant gratification of  “now”.  I recommend refocusing that time spent perusing email, replying to texts, alerts, etc. and make sure your focus is on what is vital to your bottom-line – keeping customers happy, getting referrals and closing new sales.

Never before have we been so distracted. Yes, technology is important and it aids us in furthering endeavors with our insurance businesses, but technology can also deter us from our goals, if we allow it to do so.

For information about refocusing on the goals you’ve set for your insurance business, I recommend reading “Unplugging From Your Addiction to Email”. Unplug and focus on closing more sales today!

One of my favorite blogs of all time is by Seth Godin. You’re probably familiar with his books – “Purple Cow“, “The Dip“, “Tribes” and his newest work “Linchpin“.

You can count on Seth to post a morsel of marketing goodness and/or business wisdom on his blog daily. With short, easy to digest, yet incredibly thought-provoking posts, Godin’s blog is a must-have-bookmarked site for any businessperson, whether you’re an insurance professional or not.

A few weeks ago, Seth posted some valuable insight about finding referrals. We know that referrals are a lifeline in the insurance business. The key point of his post is: To get referrals, you must be a remarkable person. I’m including this line directly: “The only thing that will make you remarkable is being worth remarking about.”

Let that settle in for a moment.

What does it mean to be remarkable?