Welcome to our Insurance Agency Marketing and Lead Generation Blog

Daily blog entries, ideas, and strategies to assist insurance agency producers.  We hope you enjoy the content.  Thank you for visiting!  –  John Scranton

Agency Web Marketing Methods to Build Producer Pipelines – Complimentary eBook

Join us for this brief, complimentary webinar. Our team of insurance agency marketing experts will review web based methods to build your pipeline and create opportunity for your producers.  We will also explain the Prospect Scorecard system to simply and easily track and qualify your pipeline opportunities.

Attendees will receive a complimentary copy of StartUpSelling’s new eBook, Insurance Agency Marketing 2.0, and a Prospect Scorecard designed for B2B agency producers.

Date & Time: November 16th at 1pm ET

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/224555905

For more information: http://www.startupselling.com/insurance-agency-marketing.html

Insurance Agency Marketing 2.0 – Introduction & Chapter Index

First, there was a man in a cheap suit shouting at passers-by on the town thoroughfare, offering his goods.  Then, there was a man going door-to-door peddling his wares.  And finally, there was a person cold calling through the phone book and canvassing their way to retirement (or exhaustion).  These historical techniques are the origins of sales and marketing.  They were avenues to success in their respective eras.  Now they are extinct.

Enter Insurance Agency Marketing 2.0.  I could have chosen nearly any numeral to illustrate the version of the concepts I will present, as infinite refinements and iterations have been made between the snake-oil-sales days of the old west and the ultra-efficient methods available today.  However, I chose this number as it is indicative of the Web 2.0 methods that fuel the engines of leading-edge, tech savvy salespeople.

The Insurance Agency Marketing 2.0 series will teach you how to effectively develop a multi-dimensional marketing approach that touches target prospects in a variety of ways, identifying those who are interested and moving them into your pipeline.  When properly executed, this strategy will require no more effort than a traditional campaign, but will yield significantly improved results.

Assuming the proper licenses are in place to write business, very little is required to begin a new Insurance Agency Marketing 2.0 campaign.  In fact, the following article will teach you How to Create a Virtual Business in 72 Hours, so launching your marketing initiatives should happen today!

Here is an outline of what we will review with links to each Chapter that has already been published:

• Part 1: Start Filling the Pipeline
  • Insurance Agency Marketing 2.0 – Chapter 2: Prospect Identification & List Generation
  • Insurance Agency Marketing 2.0 – Chapter 3: Insurance Agency eMarketing
  • Insurance Agency Marketing 2.0 – Chapter 4: Insurance Agency Webinars
  • Insurance Agency Marketing 2.0 – Chapter 5: Telemarketing & Appointment Setting
• Part 2: Become Pervasive in Cyberspace
• Insurance Agency Marketing 2.0 – Chapter 6: Insurance Agency Websites
• Insurance Agency Marketing 2.0 – Chapter 7: Insurance Agency SEO
• Insurance Agency Marketing 2.0 – Chapter 8: Blog Design, Development & Posting
• Insurance Agency Marketing 2.0 – Chapter 9: Insurance Agency Social Media Marketing
• Part 3: Closing Business (Coming Soon)

Please Visit Our New LinkedIn Group: Social Media Marketing for Insurance Agencies

Here is a link to the registration page: Social Media Marketing for Insurance Agencies.

StartUpSelling is Proud to Annouce the Expansion of our Vlog Services

StartUpSelling is now offering a full array of Vlog services. Our expert team can manage your agency blog, and turn weekly entries into professionally produced vlogs. Or if you are effectively managing your own blog, we can turn your existing blog concepts into powerful vlogs!

Many agencies have cultivated a blog presence that expands their interaction with prospects and clients. The next evolution of this process will be vlogging. Clear, concise and professional video messages that your target audience can view at their convenience – conveying your value proposition and delivering a personal touch.

For more information about vlogging, or about StartUpSelling’s video services: http://www.startupselling.com/video.html.

Webinar: Insurance Agency Web Marketing For Insurance Agent Lead Generation – Expert Guest Speaker

Join us for this brief, complimentary web seminar as our expert team explains how to leverage insurance agency web marketing for lead generation. Expert guest speaker Alan Blume will share keen insights into how to develop a successful web marketing strategy that will produce compelling results. Blume is an insurance agency marketing expert and author of Your Virtual Success. Topics include:

* Social Media Marketing
* SEO
* Search Marketing Optimization
* eMarketing
* Webinar Marketing

Date & Time: Wednesday March 30th, 12:00-12:20 PM EST

To register: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/111789776

Charlie Sheen: Web Marketing Genius

Charlie Sheen has recently shown that he is many interesting things – but web marketing genius must be at the top of the list. Concerns about his mental health aside, Sheen has leveraged the power of the web to “epic” proportions.

Let’s look at the facts. By broadcasting a unique and compelling message, he has captured the attention of many who were previously uninterested. And by deploying Web 2.0 technology such as video broadcasts, website updates and Twitter posts, he has exponentially expanded his audience. “Winning” viewers and followers at record pace.

Sheen may be crazy. But from a marketing perspective, he is crazy like a fox.

Insurance Agency Social Media Marketing Webinar

Thank you to all who attended our Insurance Agency Social Media Marketing Webinar yesterday.  This seminar attracted record high registration and attendance.  For those of you who were unable to attend, please feel free to contact me if you would like a copy of the presentation.  You are also welcome to contact me with any questions at johns(@)startupselling.com.

For more information about agency social media marketing, please visit: http://www.startupselling.com/social-media-marketing.html.

March Madness

I read somewhere that throughout this week the average worker loses 2 hours per day of productivity due to the massive distraction that is the NCAA tournament.  2 hours per day filling out brackets in the early part of the week, and obsessively checking scores in the latter part of the week.  For the standard 40 hour worker, that’s 25% of their capacity down the drain.  Imagine a large company suddenly dropping to 75% production.

I am an avid sports fan and I believe that the Big East tournament and the NCAA tournament are more fun to watch and more exciting than the Super Bowl.  I will devote much more time than the average American to the NCAA tournament, but not at the expense of my work.  As a commission salesperson, only my wife is allowed to impede my work.  No other people, hobbies or distractions will stand in the way of my production.

So why am I bothering to post a blog on this subject?  Well first, its astonishing how much time the average person (who is likely no more than a casual sports fan) will invest in this concept of March Madness.  And secondly, it is important to remember that we must not sacrifice our work to goof around with brackets.  For those of us working in a virtual environment, our flexibility makes this very easy.  For those of you working in a traditional format, you must guard your time in the office like gold.  Its irreplaceable and your brackets can be completed at home.

In closing, I would like to go on record as saying that I believe Pitt and Kansas will both cruise to the Final 4, and the winner of that regional final will be this years NCAA champion.  As a Big East homer, I will be cheering for Pitt and selecting the Panthers as my Champion in all my brackets.  Good luck!

Webinar Tomorrow at Noon ET: Social Media Marketing Strategies & How to Use LinkedIn to Build your Presence and Find Prospects

Join us for this brief, complimentary web seminar.  Our team of insurance agency marketing experts will discuss successful strategies for developing your social media marketing strategy.  This includes a detailed review of how to optimize LinkedIn to build your personal and organizational presence, and how to find prospects and build relationships with them.  Topics include:

* Insurance Agency Social Media Strategies 

* Profile Enhancement & Optimization

* LinkedIn Blog Integration & Application Use

* Finding Target Prospects & Building Rapport

* Turning Social Media Prospects into Clients

Date & Time: Tuesday March 15th 12:00-12:30 PM EST

Please use this link to register: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/648060648

Using Insurance Agency Webinars to Fill the Sales Funnel

Let’s say that I am making a micro marketing plan for the ensuing two weeks, and I want to ensure that I have a plan of attack that will yield a certain number of clients in the balance of March.  This process begins with the “closes” but ends with “eMarketing and web seminars.”  Let me explain this basic micro marketing concept.  The numbers and ratios are aggregated, based on information from our clients and colleagues, but represent an accurate representation of many agency producers.

1. You would like to add 3 new clients over the remaining 3 weeks of March
2. You close, on average, 40% of proposals, so you will need 7 or 8 proposals.
3. You have 4 proposals outstanding and need 4 more to achieve the 8 noted above.
4. You convert 60% of your appointments into proposals, so you need about 7 appointments.
5. You schedule 1 appointment every 5-6 calls to eMarketing and webinar prospects.
6. You need to 40 warm leads from eMarketing and webinar campaigns.
7. You typically yield 50 interested prospects from an eMarketing/webinar campaign.
8. You need to run 1 eMarketing/webinar campaign.

When properly executed, insurance agency eMarketing and insurance agency webinars identify vast numbers of interested prospects.  A lead generation campaign like this dramatically simplifies your task of filling the top of the sales funnel, improves conversion and closing ratios, and allows you to reach your sales goals with much greater efficiency.