Insurance Agencies of the Future
You might have been slow to get a client friendly, interactive website. You may not even be there yet. You might have been slow to get into social media. And, again you may not even be there yet. However, you DO NOT want to be slow to get an APP for your agency. Let’s discuss why this is so important to you, your brand and your agency.
Sample Contact Page
Amber Naslund and Jay Baer have hit it out-of-the-ballpark with this publication. It is so much more than a book. I firmly believe that if your firm does social media you should read it as you will learn new information. If your firm doesn’t do social media, you must read it. I know so many firms that are not monitoring their brand or engaging with their customers or have no idea of the importance of social media to today’s business environment.
As I continue to expand my work with insurance agencies further into the social media world, it became clear to me that I needed some sort of touch screen device. One cannot be clear on the why, how, when, etc. unless one is able to fully engage and experience. I also believe that it is important to be able to show people what you are talking about and great examples of good use of technology.
Jane Roberts
When you sit down on the plane you just never know who your seat mate might be. Even though Gene and I were traveling together today from Tampa to DFW we were not sitting together. We had received our American Airlines 1st Class upgrades early this morning and we were sitting in different rows. While I was busy getting settled into my seat, getting out my music and current book The Now Revolution, Jane arrived on the plane and settled in next to me. We exchanged pleasantries. She asked what I was reading. I showed her the book and explained what it was about. The revolution name on the book had caught her attention.
As I found out she is a very big part in a revolution that plays out everyday all over the world. Jane Roberts was the cofounder of 34 Million Friends of UNFPA in 2002 when the Bush Administration first announced they would withhold the $34 million that Congress allocated to UNFPA. She had been in Tampa making several speeches in just two days. Jane travels extensively to spread the word and raise funds for this organization. Jane also has a book, 34 Million Friends of the women of the world. Seems she blogs a bit to at Jane Roberts’s Diary.
Jane is a great example of one individual following her passion and making a difference for many others. Just another great example of the interesting people I meet while exploring “The Glamour of the Road”.
I beg to differ with you. People have actually been using social media since before phones were installed in insurance agencies. I would actually suggest that the written letter (by hand, typewriter, word processor or computer) could also be considered social media. In these “old fashioned” communications, while business was being conducted, relationships were also being built. Many of those letters and phone calls included some personal interaction along with the business communication. The next step up from the phone and letters were teletype communications, then along came faxes and emails.
Thirty-nine years ago two men in Olney, TX were joking around over morning coffee. They were betting on which one of them could kill the most doves. Now both of these men have only one arm. This joking around became the One Arm Dove Hunt. My husband Gene read about the event in George Dolan’s column in the Fort Worth Star Telegram. At that 1st hunt, a few men showed up and went hunting that afternoon.
Left to Right: Jack Bishop, Gene Alexander, Jack Northrup
Over the years the hunt expanded to include lunch and then a hunt. Then it became a 2 day event including such activities as trap shooting, a golf tournament, horseshoes, cow chip chunking, local entertainment and an auction (which can be entertainment in itself). We are now fed 2 lunches, 1 breakfast, 1 dinner and leftovers after the hunt. This small town pulls together and provides door prizes, volunteers and some of the most wonderful deserts you will ever eat. Just throw the diet away so you won’t feel guilty.
I have written before about the use of Google Alerts. When you have a common name like Pat Alexander, you daily alerts may be about you, or a myriad of other people. I wrote previously about my name appearing in an obituary. Also, I frequently have alerts about Pat Alexander, Author. There are others named Pat Alexander that twitter or appear in other articles on the web.
However, the past few weeks I have found that I have a new Pat Alexander in my alerts frequently.
So when this alert appeared yesterday I thought it was time I check out this Pat Alexander. This Pat Alexander seems to be an overachiever as anyone with this name should be. This is the 2nd or 3rd alert I have received where he has been the top scorer on this team. So to check out my new career go to:
S-O improves to 4-5 with Spirit Lake win
You should set up at least one google alert on your name just to see what other people with your name are up to. It might also be beneficial to set up a google alert on your company. What is being said about your company? You might also want to set up alerts about your competitors. What are they up to and what are people saying about them? Do you use google alerts? If so, how? What do you find important about this tool?
One of the lists I have created in twitter is PatAlexander/Influencers. Who is in this list and why is the question. This is the list that I pay attention to through the day. I edit this list from time-to-time. I might try someone new in this list and find that they really don’t contribute information or content that I find useful. Recently someone in this list began posting promotional tweets, around 10 at a time, several times a day. It was difficult to get through the clutter to read everyone else. Thus, that person has been removed from this list. It became so bad that I actually un-followed the individual. As I find new people to follow and as new people follow me, I think it is important to see what they are about. I really appreciate good conversation and ideas.
I was honored to be asked to be the keynote speaker at this organization’s annual convention. I have attended this convention over the years as an exhibitor and as a member. My busy schedule and the dates for this convention have not worked together for several years. Thus, there are a number of people I haven’t seen in those years. When I was asked to do a presentation on social media I was delighted. Wow, how fun would this be.
There are no minuses here in my mind. Well as time went on, some of this changed.
I haven’t thought much about this lately as the offices I have been visiting the last few months seem to have little if any “blue” language. However, in the Parade Magazine in our newspaper this week there was a short piece on “Gordon Ramsay, Meanest Man on TV?” For those of you that might not know this TV personality, his shows are all blue language. I don’t watch his show, however, on one of our recent visits to a hospital emergency room, his show was on. I was surprised and offended. There were a number of children present and felt that it was certainly inappropriate viewing for these young people.
