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STREET WISE Alliance of Insurance Agents of NC “What You Don’t Know Can’t Help You!” … Eddie K. Emmett, Editor / Publisher
100+ Facebook Marketing Tips and Ideas for Insurance Agents In fact the more amateurish it looks the more authentic it will feel.
In This Edition 100+ Facebook Marketing Tips and Ideas for Insurance Agents ................................... 1 Easter Word Search Puzzle 21 Wanted: QA Lead Analyst .. 23 Wanted: Insurance Software Trainer ................................. 24 Daily Facebook Post Ideas 31
1. Severe Weather Alert PostAs their insurance guy or gal, it's important to demonstrate to your clients you genuinely care about their well-being. One great way to do that is to post about pending bad weather. Weather.com has a service that will send you emails automatically to let you know about pending weather danger! 2. Post an Insurance Joke Here's one you can use: Give an insurance agent a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to sell and he will take a client to lunch and drink like a fish every day.
Enjoy the Easter Word Search Puzzle on page 25
AIANC’s STREET WISE
3. Share a Client Testimonial Video - 19 out of 20 clients aren't going to want anything to do with this idea, but every agency has some customers who love what you do and aren't afraid to say it in front of a camera. Make it easy and valuable by asking them a question with a powerful answer. For example, if they just had a positive claim experience, ask if price is the only important factor to compare insurance companies. Use the camera on your cell phone - it doesn't need to be fancy. Page 1 of 33
4. Frequent and Interesting Posts - If you fail to engage your audience on Facebook, nothing else on this page is going to work for you- period. If you don't post often, and your Facebook posts are boring, irrelevant, or selfserving, you WILL NOT SUCCEED at Facebook marketing. Fortunately there is an amazing free resource called The Facebook Content Dashboard that gives new content ideas for insurance agents every day. Just set aside 5 minutes 3-5 times a week to visit the site and look for something interesting, educational, funny, amazing etc. and post it to your agency Facebook page. 5. Local Community Event Announcement - Every community has events going on throughout the year. When you use Facebook to make people aware of events like the farmers market or the Halloween parade, you're not just helping your fans become more engaged in their community, you're helping community organizers get people to their events and they're often great connectors. It's also a great reminder to all your fans that they're supporting a local business by renewing their policies through you. Continued on page 2 April 2015
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100+ Facebook Marketing Tips Continued from page 1 6. Link To Facebook From LinkedIn Your LinkedIn Profile allows three outbound links to any website you choose. Of course you want to have a link to your agency's website, but you should also add one that links to your Facebook page. The more ways people can find it, the better! 7. Caption Contest - Post a funny picture on your wall and offer a prize to the person who comes up with the best caption. You could go find a silly insurance related picture online, but another option would be to do something in the office yourself and snap a picture. For best results, have a couple of your friends post a few funny captions first to get the ball rolling. No one wants to be the first one to post. 8. Congratulate High School Athletes - Pay attention to the local high school sports teams. It's not hard to find information on the varsity schedules and get game results. I wouldn't overdo it, but you can pay attention to playoff results and huge individual performances. Make sure you give the female athletes as much attention as the boys.
11. Get a Quote Page - It sure would be nice if people could actually get a quote on your Facebook page, right? You're still trying to sell insurance. It doesn't have to actually give them a live quote, but you should at least have a form they can fill out with some pertinent information you can use to follow up with them. With this being said however, do not make Facebook posts encouraging people to get a quote frequently. People will block your posts from their newsfeed and you'll tell me that FB doesn't work for insurance agents. 12. Charity Quote Contest - Choose a great local cause and early that morning make a Facebook post that you're going to donate a certain amount of money if a certain number of people call for a quote by the end of the day. The key here is to get the charity in on it so they make a post on their Facebook page too! It might help to make a page on your agency or blog explaining the offer and link directly to that page from Facebook. 13. Try the Likealyzer - The Likealyzer is a free online tool you can use to run an audit on your Facebook page. It gives interesting feedback about what you can change to your page to get more fans and engagement. It's free and only takes a minute to check out. 14. Share News About Local Businesses - If you hear some news related to a local business, tell your fans about it. When the other company finds out that you gave them a shout-out they'll want to pay you back sometime with a referral, renewal, a quote, or a mention on their FB page. It's also a subtle reminder to your fans that you're a local business in their community. 15. Use Facebook In Your Referral Process Facebook is a fantastic place for people to refer your agency because when your clients login to Facebook every single person they've ever known is only a click away! Make sure your content strategy includes asking for online and offline referrals. Of course, it doesn't hurt to use an automated referral system like this one so you can build reviews and online referrals for the agency month after month after month.
9. Post About Major Traffic Jams - Is there an overturned tractor trailer on the major interstate many of your clients use? If you warn them with a FB post around 4:40pm, you just might be the hero of the day. Make it easy on yourself by signing up for traffic email alerts. Just don't become the traffic reporter on the news‌ only post if there's a major holdup. 10. Is It Covered? - Come up with a fictitious scenario about insurance and ask your followers if they think it's covered. Here's a tip though, avoid scenarios that make the insurance company look like a bunch of claim-denying, penny-pinching jerks. You'll get lots of bad comments. AIANC’s STREET WISE
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100+ Facebook Marketing Tips Continued from page 2 16. Get Clients To Post About You - A lot of agencies I know run referral programs. They often include giving someone a special prize or $5 gift card for referring a friend to get a quote. Why not offer the same $5 to someone who posts on their wall that they just saved $300 on insurance? You'll spend hundreds for an ad in the local paper; don't you think a personal recommendation to 500 people is worth $5? 17. Post a Funny Car Accident Picture - It's not hard to find funny car accident photos online but be careful not to cross the line from funny to tragic. No one wants to open up their Facebook feed and see their insurance agent posting pictures of fiery carnage!
23. Get a Vanity URL - Your URL is the actual webpage address that gets people to your Facebook page. By default, when you create a page in Facebook, they give you a really long URL with lots of numbers in it but you can change it to something much shorter. If you haven't already done it, you can do so right here. By the way, you can only do this once so be classy and stick to using a short combination of your name, your location, your brand, or the word insurance. Do not call it something cheesy like "cheapestinsurancequotes4u"! Click here to do it right now!
18. Share an Insurance Commercial - Looking for some easy multimedia content? Go to YouTube and search for the brand names you sell for. If they do commercials on TV they probably have ads on YouTube. It's as simple as copying the URL and pasting it as a link. Facebook will do the rest. A funny video is best. 19. Share an Infographic - An infographic is a visually appealing graphic that's intended to explain a complex idea or reveal statistics in a powerful and easily absorbed way. Want some insurance examples? Check these out: Life Insurance Cheat Sheet Insurance Speeding. Perhaps an even better idea would be to check out the daily insurance infographic on this great resource. 20. Movie Quote Contest- Post a quote and see if anyone can guess what movie it's from. It'll be a little more relevant if you choose a movie that has something to do with the time of year or current events but whatever, people like that kind of stuff and interaction with your fans builds your Facebook page strength. Need some help coming up with some popular?
24. Hold a Caption Contest - Post a funny picture on your wall and offer a prize to the person who comes up with the best caption. You could go find a silly picture on Google, but another option would be to do something in the office yourself and snap a picture. For best results, have a couple of your friends post a few funny captions first to get the ball rolling. No one will want to be the first one.
21. Give Vehicle Maintenance Tips - Remind your clients of best practices for keeping your vehicle well maintained and safe. Try not to be too obvious and see if you can come up with something that people have never heard before. Why not call up your local mechanic and ask him for a tip. Then you can mention his business in your post!
25. Provide Fire Safety Information - What says insurance agent more than fire safety pamphlet? Little do they know we're also trying to keep our loss-ratio down! Everybody knows the most basic stuff, but I'd look for something that adds more value like an article about safety myths. Here's an example: lightning safety myths
22. Always Add Value - With everything you do on Facebook it's important to ask yourself, "Does this provide value to my fans?" Value can mean a lot of different things, but most importantly if you're not giving them something they want, you're going to lose their attention and all the benefits that come with it.
26. Hire a Social Media Expert - There are plenty of companies that offer social media management services right now. With a reasonable monthly fee you can make sure your page is always updated with fresh content, cleaned of any spam or negative comments, and monitored for customer service and sales opportunities. It's a good idea to go with marketing. Continued on page 6
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April 2015
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100+ Facebook Marketing Tips Continued from page 4 27. Play the "Which Insurance Pays" Game - Post a scenario that sounds like it could involve more than one insurance company and ask fans to try to decide which one would pay. Here's an example: "Your tree falls on your neighbor's fence, which insurance pays?" You'll have to be careful not to elicit any negative responses and make sure you're 100% confident about the answer. Maybe even get your favorite adjuster to chime in. 28. Upload A Video of a Client Telling a Joke - If you can take a video with your camera or phone, record one of your clients telling a joke. You can give them the joke to read. Keep it very simple. This can be especially entertaining if you can get one of your older customers or a child to deliver the punchline. 29. Like Our Facebook Page - If you've read this far I'm sure you've come across at least a few new ideas that you can implement. In fact, I'm betting that many people reading this have already bookmarked the page so they can come back when they need ideas. Well guess what; on our InsuranceSplash Facebook page we post all kinds of great information just like this all the time. Don't forget to click the Like button. 30. Set Up a Listener Account - This is some James Bond stuff... Want to know what other agents near you are doing on their Facebook page without them knowing it's you? Although this is against Facebook's user policy, if you use another email address to set up a fake user account with Facebook, you can like all your competitors' pages to build a dashboard of content ideas.
32. Email Signature Link - Make sure there's a link to your Facebook page in your email signature. If it's not there you're missing hundreds of opportunities every month to grow your fan base. I recommend including some benefit of visiting the page within the text. 33. Use Tools - One of the biggest differences between humans and other animals is our ability to use tools. Here at InsuranceSplash we've created a free service that compiles over. It's free and if you don't use it, you're probably a caveman. 34. QR Code Desk Sign - Get one of those clear plastic frames that stand up by themselves on your desk and put a picture of a QR code that points to your Facebook page. When people are sitting at your desk, it'll give them something to do and can be a great conversation point. Anyone who uses it and gets to your Facebook page is practically guaranteed to like it at that point. Plus when you speak to customers about the page and they agree to like the page, you can use it to take them right there. Here's a resource for creating. 35. Post Funny Client Pictures - Be careful not to make fun of anyone, but get your "jokester" clients to make a funny face or pose and snap a shot of it. Once you post it, they're won't be able to stop themselves from sharing with all their friends to show how even at their insurance agency they still can't stop being funny! Not only will they send their friends to see the picture on your page, but you'll also entertain your followers and come off as a fun place to do business with. 36. Explain an Insurance Coverage - Take a few sentences to explain a certain coverage that a lot of people don't understand. This is good because it shows how knowledgeable you are, might make people think twice about their own coverage, and reminds people how important it is to work with a knowledgeable agent. If you can relate the coverage to a current event or interesting local story that's even better. 37. Complete Your Profile - Take advantage of all the different questions Facebook asks you about your business and make sure to include your address, website, and write keyword full descriptions of your business. Make sure you use the exact same address and phone number as you use on your business website and your Google Places Profile. Consistency in those elements is one of the factors that get you on top of Google rankings. Learn exactly how Google ranks insurance agencies here on our website.
31. Share Pictures of Clients' New Cars - When a customer comes in to insure their new car, ask if you can take a picture of it and post it to the Facebook page. Because they're proud of it you'll probably get a yes and every time people see pictures of others who buy from you it reinforces their faith that you sell a great product. AIANC’s STREET WISE
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100+ Facebook Marketing Tips Continued from page 6 38. Explain an Insurance Law - Explain an interesting insurance law, like no-fault laws, comparative negligence, or what happens if you're in an accident and you don't have insurance. Try to make it short and interesting to the layperson. It'll be more interesting if you can relate it to a story in the news. 39. Ring My Phone Contest - Take a picture of your phone and upload it to Facebook with a comment that says, "This is a picture of my phone, the first person to make it ring and get an insurance quote gets a five dollar gift card!" Include your phone number and give it closure a little while later by posting a picture of you with the phone up to your ear and congratulating the winner.
43. Refer a Friend Page - There's no better time to get people to refer their friends to your agency than when they're sitting on Facebook interacting with them! The key is that you must make it easy for them to do it. Guess what, Facebook has a button you can use on a custom Facebook page that will pop up a little box and allow people to send a referral to their friends right through Facebook. Learn more and see how it works here. 44. Post Local Government News - Let your fans know about local government events. If there's a town meeting or a local election post it to your Facebook page. Even if you're not involved in those things, clients will think you are and will be reminded that they're supporting a local business. You also might find yourself getting more interested in those events and joining in. 45. Give Health Tips - If you come across information about health and longevity that your fans might be interested in share it with them. Let them know that you sell life insurance, but you don't ever want to pay a claim. Ask your fans to share their tips in the comments. 46. Spread the Word about Local Fundraisers - If you hear about any local fundraising events going on you should post them to your FB page. In addition to helping those in need, you can build connections with the various local organizations and will also reinforce the fact that you're a great person and a trustworthy businessperson
40. Fire Detector Battery Reminders - At daylight savings time remind your fans to change the batteries in their smoke detectors. While you're at it, why don't you offer to give out free batteries for the cause to anyone that comes into your office? I'm not sure how many people with accept, but you'll sound like you really care. 41. Get a Like Box - Put a "Like" box on your website so it'll be easier for visitors to connect with you on Facebook. There's actually a lot of ways to integrate your Facebook page with your actual website. Check out this Facebook Plugin page for all kinds of cool FB stuff you can add to your site. 42. Share Gas Saving Tips - Right now, everyone loves helpful advice about saving money. Share tips with your clients about how to get more miles per gallon. Encourage your fans to make comments about what they do to save gas. It's usually a good idea to get your friends to start the comment ball rolling.
47. Agency Employee Bios - Create a custom page that includes a photo and text about all your employees. This will make your agency appear to have a more personal touch, and it will also make your employees feel as valued as they really are to you. 48. First Quotes Contest - Worried that today might be a slow day? Make a post in the morning that you'll give a prize to the first three people to call for a quote. Don't forget to make a post later showing that you actually followed through with the prizes. It'll help you for the next time. 49. Include Contact Info on Cover Photo - If you add your contact info (address, email, and phone) as part of your cover photo people will have an easier time contacting you if they get referred to your page on Facebook. 50. Share a Funny Video from YouTube - Let's face it, insurance isn't always the most exciting thing in the world. Everything you do on your Facebook page doesn't have to be about insurance, your office or the community. Every now and then post a YouTube video that you think is hilarious or amazing. Make sure it's clean, non-political, and non-religious. Continued on page 10
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100+ Facebook Marketing Tips 55. Wish Everyone a Happy Weekend - Everyone likes to be reminded that the week is almost over. If you're looking for something to say on a Friday afternoon with everyone a happy weekend! Try to use a picture of something that might be relevant to the upcoming weekend like a picture of the beach.
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56. Always Have a Comment - If you're going to share an image, link, or video, never just post it. You should always make some kind of comment about it. This is important because Facebook is more about having a conversation than a one-dimensional message. When you make comments on the content you share you'll encourage other clients to make comments too and it reminds people that you're a human with a personality. 57. New Employee Announcements- Just hired a new receptionist, producer, or sales manager? Make a post on the Facebook page with a friendly photo and his or her information, background, interests etc. Take advantage, it might be the last time they let you put their picture on the Facebook page!
51. Post Client's Motorcycle Pictures - People that are into motorcycles are generally very into motorcycles. They love looking at them, talking about them, asking questions about them etc. If you have a client ride their bike to your agency, snap a picture of it and post it for the others to see. You'll also remind people about another type of insurance that you sell.
58. Ask for Comments - Facebook has a system called Edge Rank that determines which posts show up at the top of people's news feeds. Edge Rank takes into consideration many things, but one factor that will get your content to the top of everyone's newsfeed is having many comments. Try to ask questions and make comments in such a way that people are encouraged to speak up.
52. Comment on Local Business Posts - If you want a Facebook strategy that really delivers for insurance agents, use Facebook as your business and go to other local business Facebook pages and make comments. Just promise me that you'll keep it 100% positive always. Not only will you make them feel better by getting some interaction, maybe they'll return the favor and people on their FB page can follow your link back to yours! 53. Get More Followers - The more people you can get to like your agency's page, the more opportunity you'll have for engagement and referrals. Read this article for a ton of ideas to get more insurance agency Facebook fans. How many Facebook fans should your insurance agency have? More than you do now. 54. Connect to Your Twitter Account - I'm not personally a big Twitter fan and I think a lot of insurance agents don't really get it. However it's not difficult to set up a Twitter account and link it to your Facebook page. This means anything that you do on Facebook will automatically post to Twitter. Check out this tutorial on setting it up. Just in case you have people that prefer to follow you through Twitter they can do so. It can't hurt. AIANC’s STREET WISE
59. Share a Funny Boat owner Claim Picture doing a search on google can render some pretty funny boat accident pictures. This one might be especially good paired with information about boating safety courses at the beginning of the season. There are also online boating safety courses you could just link to.
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More Information about AIANC Membership at www.AllianceInsuranceAgentsNC.com You could even look at the month ahead and put one or two worth mentioning on your calendar.
100+ Facebook Marketing Tips Continued from page 8
62. Always Be Positive - This tip is very important. Many people use Facebook as a mental escape from their daily lives. If you consistently deliver messages with a negative or sarcastic tone, people will grow tired of your messages very quickly. Just remember to always be positive and remember sarcasm is often misunderstood in print. 63. Make a Funny Music Video and Share it Okay, this isn't for everyone, but if you know someone with some decent video editing abilities (try your 11 year old first) it's not hard to lip-sync a funny song. Want a song related to car insurance? Check out this list.
60. Use Pictures Instead of Just Text - If you're trying to make a simple comment like, "Happy 4th of July", use a picture that says the same thing. You can do a search on Google for images and save one to use. It'll stand out more, get more comments, and show up in more peoples' newsfeeds. 61. Happy Holiday Wishes - Don't forget about all the major holidays, but consider mentioning some of the other ones. Check out this link for holidays on any day.
AIANC’s STREET WISE
64. Post News About Bad Weather Elsewhere Selling insurance is about making people accept that bad and unpredictable things do happen. A reminder of a hurricane, tornado or blizzard somewhere else in the country might be just the reminder that they need to plan ahead with the right coverage before they need it. Try not to go too negative; people don't want to feel bad when they're on Facebook.
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April 2015
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More Information about AIANC Membership at www.AllianceInsuranceAgentsNC.com current customers see new people buying insurance from you it's a confirmation that they should renew their policy. Also, if you've got Facebook fans who don't buy insurance from you, it'll remind them that you've got a great product. 68. Share Insurance Discount Tips - You know that people miss out on insurance discounts all the time when things in their life change and they don't tell you. Remind people how important an annual policy review can be to save money. Get married? Take a defensive driving class? Install a security system? Let us know! 69. Post an Insurance Cartoon - Do a Google image search for "insurance funny cartoon" and you should see many to choose from. Most of the ones you see will be making fun of the insurance companies but that's okay. It'll show you can laugh at yourself.
100+ Facebook Marketing Tips Continued from page 10 65. Tell a Joke on Video - Rather than posting a written joke, why not use your digital camera or phone to video yourself giving the delivery. I can almost promise it'll be funnier that way. Here's a tip: Everyone always says jokes are stupid anyway why not choose a really cheesy one and then it'll look like you're making fun of it. 66. Provide Driving Safety Tips - Search online for some good information about safe driving. Try to find information that isn't so obvious like not using your high beams in foggy conditions. While you're at it why don't you link to an online defensive driver class? That should help your clients save money too!
70. Facebook PPC Ads - You know why Mark Zuckerberg is a billionaire? Because of those little ads. There are a lot of advantages to Facebook ads; you can target people by their interests, age, sex, zip code, and a ton of other metrics. It's also tricky too because if you don't get high click through rates they won't show your ads. Change your ads frequently read a lot about effective Facebook ad strategy, or just hire professionals who do it for a living. 71. Provide Earthquake or Tornado Safety Information - Just because you don't live in San Francisco or Kansas doesn't mean you can't have one of these disasters. No one can argue with information that's provided with good intentions for their safety. If you can find something that's more intriguing than the standard info you'll be better off. 72. Get Your Buddies to Click Like - Facebook uses an algorithm to determine what news and information shows up in people's newsfeed. If your posts never get any "likes" Facebook considers you to be a bad content provider and they don't show your news to your fans. Don't just ask your friends to "Like" your page, ask them to click the "Like" button every time they see your content.
67. Welcome New Customers Publicly - Make a post about a new customer that buys insurance from you. You can try to get them to pose for a smiling picture and write something like, "Welcome to the family!" If they saved a bunch of money make sure the write that! When AIANC’s STREET WISE Page 12 of 33
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100+ Facebook Marketing Tips Continued from page 10 73. Encourage Friends and Staff to Comment The more comments your Facebook posts can garner, the more interesting Facebook will think your content is. The more interesting Facebook thinks your content is the longer they show it in your Fan's newsfeed. In addition to the pure help of your friends' comments on your posts, having comments already on the post will make it appear like a more active community and will encourage other commenters who haven't been bribed. People are much less likely to be the first to comment. 74. Post Emergency Info During a Catastrophe Taking the time to post on Facebook about the FEMA website or roads that are closed will not only be helpful to your fans, you'll also reinforce the idea that you're generally concerned about their well-being. It's not hard; you'll probably be looking for the same information at the time!
75. Share Employee Related Events - If there's something interesting going on in one of your employee’s lives, make sure to mention it online. Birthdays, new babies, promotions, whatever! It's a great reminder to your employees how important and valued they are to you but it also shows your fans that they're buying insurance from a family, not a company. 76. Guess How Much He Saved Contest - Have a new customer that just saved a boatload of money buying insurance from you? If they're willing to let you take a smiling picture of them, post it to Facebook and ask people to guess how much money he or she saved. Offer some prize for the winner and you can comment "higher" or "lower" to make it more interactive. 77. Avoid Politics - Whether you're a republican, democrat, or somewhere in between remember that your Facebook fans are most likely a combination and it can turn really ugly really fast if you make comments that lean in one direction, the other, or even in-between! Remember that everyone buys insurance; even those stupid (insert political party here). Continued on page 15
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100+ Facebook Marketing Tips 80. "Like" Other Local Business Pages - If you're not aware, Facebook gives you the ability to like other businesses as your business instead of as yourself. You can go around and like all the other local car dealers, real estate agents, etc. It's also cool because you'll have a news feed to look at that gives you information about the community. Check that newsfeed frequently and like other businesses content. If you're the only one to like their comment, your businesses name will show up right below their comment on your page. It'll say: "John Doe Insurance Likes this" and people on that page can click through to your Facebook page.
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78. Throw a Millionth Customer Celebration -Want to have some fun? Next time you sign up a new client, throw a big party and pretend that their policy holds some symbolic significance. No one will know they're not really the 10,000th new customer and you can post pictures of balloons, champagne, and cake on the Facebook page. If you really want to be devious, you could wait for someone you know has tons of Facebook friends. Make the party a big deal and you know they're going to blab about it to everyone they know!
82. Announce New Products - If there's a new product that you think some people might be interested in, let them know about it. Even if it's not new, if a lot of people don't know about it go ahead. Just remember two things. You must present it in a way that sounds interesting to your fans and remember the whole feature/benefit thing. Don't tell them what this product does; tell them what it does for them.
83. Respond to Comments Kindly - Facebook is about generating conversations, not one-sided messaging so I strongly encourage you to make as many comments in response to the comments you get as possible. However you must resist the urge to tear someone a new one if they make a comment you don't like. Respond "with a smile" and everyone else will have more respect for you. Or you could also delete the post and ban them. Continued on page 16 Page 15 of 33 April 2015
79. Take a Survey - If you can make a post on Facebook, you can take a survey. Just ask your fans to leave their responses in the comments. Ask something controversial that might get people to share the post with their like-minded peers and try to keep it either insurance-related or locally relevant like: "Do you think there should be a law against driving while talking on a cell phone?" or "Should they install a traffic light here?" AIANC’s STREET WISE
81. Post Q and A Content- Take an insurance question that either gets asked a lot or is frequently misunderstood and answer it. You could even post the question early, ask for responses and then later in the day give the correct answer.
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100+ Facebook Marketing Tips Continued from page 15 84. Share Local Event Pictures - Anytime you're a part of any events within the community, even just as a visitor, you should take pictures and upload them to your Facebook page. Here are a few tips: pictures with people in them are better received, pictures with kids in them are even better, but make sure to ask permission to post someone's picture if they're clearly recognizable. There's a good chance they'll even visit your page to see the picture. 85. Post Local Business Recommendations - If you have a great experience at a local business, go onto Facebook and let people know about it. After you do so, I recommend sending them an email explaining what you just did and encouraging them to take a look. You'll be subtly reminding your fans that you support local businesses and so should they. You'll also make friends with other business owners which will always help.
89. Get Online Customer Reviews - Facebook is a great place to ask satisfied customers for reviews. You can make a post on your page explaining how important it is to you that satisfied customers give you online reviews and post a link directly to your Google Places, Yelp, Superpages, etc. profile. 90. Share a Funny Homeowner Claim Photo - You should be able to find some funny pictures of homeowner claims on Google. But remember with any "funny" insurance claim posts you want to be sure they don't elicit negative feelings. It's important that fans of your Facebook page associate your messages with positive feelings.
86. Have an Agency Dog Day - Have a day in the agency when you encourage people to bring their dogs in. Take a picture of everyone who does and post it to Facebook. Everybody likes a good dog picture!
91. Get Your Facebook Page on Google- If you want your agency's Facebook page to show up in Google search results, it will help if you can get other websites to link to it. This means to add a link on every page of your own site and make sure to include it in online business profiles with websites like: Superpages.com, Yellowpages.com, Yelp, etc. By the way, have you ever wondered how Google ranks insurance agencies in their local search results? Click here to find out.
87. Post Funny Quotes - Everybody likes a good funny quote. Here's one from Woody Allen you're welcome to use: "There are worse things in life than death. Have you ever spent an evening with an insurance agent?"
92. Ask a Riddle - Here's one‌ "Right now there are two customers and three employees alive and present in our insurance agency. However, if you stopped in you wouldn't see a single person. Why?" You'll have to think about it, but I bet you can figure out the answer.
88. Share "On this Day" News - Post some news of an event that happened on this day. Check out on-thisday.com any day of the year for a long list of major news and events on any day. Try to personalize it a bit with a comment of analysis or relevance.
93. Share a Home Inventory PDF - Post a link to a PDF document people can use to identify all the items in their home or apartment. You can probably find one branded with some of the brands you carry but if you're looking for a generic version you could use something like this. Continued on page 18
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April 2015
Giving agents and organizations new products and benefits. Increase sales. All online. Easy to use.
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Questions? Call us at: (Toll Free)1-855-854-7387 or Learn More online at www.goagents.com
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100+ Facebook Marketing Tips Continued from page 16 94. Don't Self-Promote - It never ceases to amaze me how often I see insurance agents over-promoting on Facebook. People on Facebook have a choice to listen to you or turn it off. Why would one person in a thousand actually choose to read your posts if all you ever say is crap like, "Give us a call today for an insurance quote!" If you're not bringing value in the form of entertainment, saving money, or sharing valuable information don't waste your time. 95. Upload Clients' Classic Car Pictures - Post pictures of your clients’ classic cars to your page and watch what happens. They'll go out and tell all their classic car friends to check it out on your Facebook page. Compared to the average American, classic car owners will have more disposable income and are often traditional-minded types that buy insurance through an agent rather than online. Think those might be good leads? 96. Post Flood News - Flooding is one of those things that no one ever thinks can happen to them and most homeowner's policies don't cover it. If you come across news about flooding in an area that wasn't expecting it, that might a good wake-up call for your insureds. 97. Invite People To Join You - If you're going a local sporting event, a local parade, or just out to lunch at a restaurant in town, tell people where you'll be sitting and encourage them to come join you. AIANC’s STREET WISE
98. Post Interesting News Articles - Obviously insurance is not the type of topic that Joe Schmoe wants to read about regularly, but I'd argue that your clients would find value in it if you were able to keep them apprised of important and relevant insurance news. Use the Facebook to identify any news items that are worthy of mass syndication on your FB page. 99. Have Variety - Using a list like this one can keep your content fresh and interesting. If you always post the same type of information people will get bored very fast and so will you. On the other hand if you're constantly doing different things people will be excited to hear what you have to say. 100. Post a Silly Office Picture - You should always have a digital camera handy in the agency and when things get a little boring, have one of your producers make a funny face or pose. Better yet, have them take the picture and put you up there. I strongly recommend using a good caption so that people understand you're joking around. If you can make people laugh, they'll like you, buy from you, and continue to buy from you. 100. Share ID Theft Information- Share tips with your audience about preventing and protecting against identify theft. You'll know the people who are interested in information like that will be good prospects for your identity theft coverage. 101. Share a YouTube Safety Video - There are tons of videos on YouTube that are straight out of Driver's Education class. Make a post and encourage fans to share the information with a young driver in their life. Or ask them to come up with additional tips for driving safe. Continued on page 19
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April 2015
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103. Make Your Producers Handle it-If you're a typical insurance agent, your producers are more techsavvy and Facebook literate than you are. Let them handle it. Just point them in the direction of The Facebook Content Dashboard and have them make updates to the page at a regular interval. With a resource like the dashboard, it shouldn't take too much time.
100+ Facebook Marketing Tips Continued from page 16
102. Business Cards With Your Facebook Info - I always wonder why nobody uses business cards for anything but business cards. They fit in your pocket perfectly, you can order 1000 of them for $40 and when you hand them to someone they instinctively put it right in their wallet. Get some business cards made with your FB page address and a QR code that takes them right to your welcome page. You can hand them out to clients in your office, people you meet that you want to stay in touch with, or people you take a picture of at an event. Keep it simple and resist the urge to write "Get a Free Quote by calling…” You're handing it out for one reason and if you fill it up with junk it'll soon be in the trash. AIANC’s STREET WISE
If you found this article useful and would like more insurance marketing tips:
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http://www.insurancesplash.com
April 2015
More Information about AIANC Membership at www.AllianceInsuranceAgentsNC.com When it comes to attracting the attention of new customers, photos can both entice them to your agency website when they are browsing online and give customers confidence that they’ve come to the right place. Historically, it was difficult from an interface point of view to add a cover photo and control which photos Google displayed for your organization. With this upgrade, you can add photos to your profile from a simplified single platform — Google My Business. Just log in to Google My Business on the web or in the Android or iOS apps, and visit the Photos section. While you’re there, it would be a good idea to give your agency a fresh look online by updating your profile, logo, and cover photos. The following are some best practices from the Google help files: Format: JPG, PNG, TIFF, BMP Size: Between 10KB and 5MB Minimum resolution: 250px on the longest side for profile and logo photos; 720px on the longest side for other business photos. Aspect Ratio: The longer dimension of the photo should be no more than four times the shorter dimension. Landscape photos look better than portrait photos on Google products. Panoramic photos may use different aspect ratios.
Google Upgrades Business Photos Google My Business is the central hub that allows your agency to appear across all Google properties including search, Google+, and Google Maps. In February, Google announced a major update to their platform that allows you to tell Google which photos and images you’d like to appear when customer search for your agency on their search engine platform. AIANC’s STREET WISE
Quality: The photo should be in focus, well-lit, having no Photoshop alterations, and no excessive use of filters. The image should represent reality. Photos you add through Google My Business can be displayed on Google Search, Maps, and Google+. Having pictures and images associated with your agency are a great way to attract attention. So, make sure someone in your organization logs in to Google My Business and updates your pictures.
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April 2015
Easter Challenge
Find these words: April basket bonnet break bunny candy celebrate cheep chick children
chocolate church color crack cross daffodils decorate dinner dye Easter
Š 2008, The Holiday Zone. All Rights Reserved.
eggs family find flowers grass hide holiday hop hunt jellybeans
Jesus lamb lily March marshmallow paint parade pastels Peter Cottontail pink
purple rabbit resurrection roll search spring Sunday sweet symbol treats
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AIANC Members may download Booklet at www.AllianceInsuranceAgentsNC.com
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April 2015
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Free Animated Video Software for AIANC Members Download Software & Tutorials at www.AllianceInsuranceAgentsNC.com AIANC’s STREET WISE
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April 2015
More Information about AIANC Membership at www.AllianceInsuranceAgentsNC.com DAMAGE TO BUILDING FROM SOIL EROSION AWAY FROM BODY OF WATER HELD NOT COVERED
Wanted: Insurance Software Trainer The Agency Advantage, a 25 year old insurance agency management software company based in northeast metro Atlanta, is looking for an individual with insurance agency experience to train our customers in the use of the software. The ideal candidate will have at least two years agency experience and will be familiar with computer use in an agency. They should be a team player, be proficient in Microsoft Office and Google Drive. Experience with agency management software and especially The Agency Advantage would be a plus.
A manufacturer of ship propellers made claim under flood insurance, obtained under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), for damage to one of its buildings allegedly caused by flood-related soil erosion.
This position would require the trainer to learn all aspects of The Agency Advantage and be able to develop training outlines, create training videos, and revise and maintain a user guide. Remote working considered for qualified individuals. Send resumes to: jobs@agencyadvantage.com
If you have the knowledge to see the problem, you will also have the ability to discover the solution. Your Producer Online subscription from The Rough Notes Company, Inc. can help you find solutions to problems in your current customers’ insurance protection and to use that solution-finding-knowledge in soliciting and gaining new customers. The Producer Online IN ACTION is a monthly reminder of how you can turn the knowledge gained from The Producer Online into powerful sales opportunities. Chesapeake Ship Propeller Company purchased National Flood Insurance but when it presented a claim it was denied. View the April edition of Producer Online IN ACTION at http://www.roughnotes.com/in_action/v100.04.2015/ to see how the courts responded when Chesapeake argued that a drainage ditch should be considered a “body of water.”
The insured asserted that " . . . floodwaters from heavy northeastern storms spilled over into the insured property, saturated the foundation soils and then washed them away." The result, the subject of the claim, was settlement of the foundation and damage to the building. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator of the NFIP, denied liability, contending that the building damage was caused by continuous erosion and not by "flood" as defined in the standard flood insurance policy and federal legislation By mutual agreement of the parties, resolution of the dispute was entrusted to a federal court. The court found that the standard flood insurance policy incorporates the language of federal legislation, which defines "flood" or "flooding" to include "flood-related erosion," meaning:" . . . collapse or subsidence of land along the shore of a lake or other body of water as a result of undermining caused by waves or currents of water exceeding anticipated cyclical levels or suddenly caused by an unusually high water level in a natural body of water accompanied by a severe storm or by an unanticipated force of nature, such as a flash flood or an abnormal tidal surge or by some similarly unusual and unforeseeable event which results in flooding." (44 C.F.R.59.1) The court said that the insured must prove that its loss occurred within the scope of the quoted definition. The insured attempted to show that a drainage ditch adjacent to its property was a body of water as contemplated by the legislation and policy provisions. The insured was unable to present case law or otherwise establish that the ditch was representative of a body of water. The court determined that the subject property was not "on the shore of a body of water." The evidence, including testimony of the insured's expert witness, made clear that the building damage was the result of soil undermining from heavy rains that could not be handled, in large part, because a drain pipe in the ditch was clogged. Judgment was entered in favor of the insurer (FEMA) and against the insured.
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April 2015
For 135 years Rough Notes has been dedicated to making you a better agent. Become the coverage expert with the Producer Online-Plus Producer Online-Plus Includes Commercial Lines Risk Evaluation Survey Personal Lines Risk Evaluation Survey Policy Form & Manual Analysis Coverages Applicable The Insurance Marketplace Marketplace Cybercast
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So how well is the staff in your agency measuring up from an ethics standpoint? It is probably best for all to attend an Ethics class at some point to find out.
Ethics: is it the same as E&O loss prevention? At one time, I wondered why many, if not all state insurance departments, didn’t allow an E&O class to count towards the state specific ethics requirement. After all, doing the right thing in many cases is both ethical as well as a solid best practice from an E&O loss prevention standpoint. However, actually it would appear that ethics (defined by some as the moral principles that govern a person’s or group’s behavior) is much more than E&O loss prevention and E&O loss prevention encompasses much more than ethics. There are some similarities however. Take for example, is it ethical to sign a client’s name to a document? I would personally not think so but maybe this issue is not as black and white as one might think. Signing a client’s name to a document is never suggested from an E&O perspective. How about the situation where you, as the agent, stretch the truth in an attempt to get an account written with one of your carriers? I would be the first to state that this does not sound ethical at all and it is certainly not suggested from an E&O standpoint. Dealing with your carriers in a totally honest fashion sounds like it is both a solid best practices and also meets an Ethics “rule”.
More E&O Tips at http://www.agentseotips.com E&O Express Quote & Binding For assistance in our E&O quote/bind process contact Affinity Insurance at 877-843-4553. If coverage cannot be placed through Aggressive, Affinity can place coverage with one of their many carriers. Office hours from 9am - 5pm Mon – Fri EST. Affinity Insurance - Brandi Baggett - Kristin Howland - Martha Klocke Robert Hansen - Joan Mobley Underwriting Referrals For underwriting referrals and/or special acceptances please contact Bruce Jones at 972-827-3681 during office hours from 9am - 5pm Mon - Fri CST. Here's what we offer:
However, not everything related to E&O loss prevention deals with ethics. As the agency CSR, if you don’t document the file noting the rejection of coverage from the client, have you breached some element of ethics? While this is a key E&O loss prevention issue, it does not really deal with an issue of morality. Is it wrong not to enter the information in the system? Yes but that does necessarily make it unethical. Most, if not all, state insurance departments have rules / standards that they expect you to comply with that deal with ethical behavior. It is fair to say that just because you are measuring up successfully with the various E&O loss prevention best practices, this does not mean that you are complying and meeting your state’s ethical standards and rules.
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April 2015
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Go to www.EandOQuote.com for more information
More Information about AIANC Membership at www.AllianceInsuranceAgentsNC.com ● Strong written and verbal communication skills ● Ability to grasp new concepts and technologies Desirable skills & requirements ● some experience in QA ● Knowledge of independent insurance industry
Wanted: QA Lead Analyst
● Knowledge and experience in Agile/Lean (Scrum and Kanban) development a plus
Job Description As QA Lead Analyst, you will be our analytical gatekeeper of quality. Creating test plans, working with internal testers, and evaluating both the functional and subjective quality of projects for the development team. Your willingness to listen and improve, passionate spirit, team¬ first mindset, and problem ¬solving skills, will help us succeed and innovate on our processes. Primarily responsible for finding problems with design and root causes for bugs before they can be discovered by our customer base.
● Some experience with open-source automation tools a plus ● Ability to perform application security audits a plus About Assurance Systems, Inc. Assurance Systems, Inc. has been in business for 29 years writing software used by insurance agencies and insurance companies. We have taken our core products through DOS, Windows and now the Web and grown from one person to 30.
Duties
Excellent pay
● Establish and evolve formal QA processes, milestones, and targets and ensure the team continues to use these practices.
Flexible schedules
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Relaxed work environment
● Oversee all aspects of quality assurance. Include metrics and if needed, find or develop new tools to ensure goals are met.
Health, Vision and Dental insurance
● Engage and collaborate with development teams to effectively leverage test environments and processes
Work remotely or in office
401k with high level of company matching
Privately owned by the original owner Family oriented company.
● Verifying the load, scalability, and performance requirements have been met ● Monitor and communicate with internal stakeholders regarding major issues impacting products and projects. ● Lead and mentor QA team members, as well as manage outside contract testers ● Develop and execute test cases, scripts, plans and procedures ● Produce and prioritize bug submissions ● Create and manage QA workflows to be integrated across multiple projects ● Working with product design and developers at all stages to promote quality
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800-229-2009 http://www.accuauto.net
April 2015
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These sentences actually appeared in a church bulletin or were announced in a church service. Read them and weep! Bertha Belch, a missionary from Africa will be speaking tonight at Calvary Memorial Church in Racine Come tonight and hear Bertha Belch all the way from Africa. Announcement in the church bulletin for a National Prayer and Fasting conference: “The cost for attending the Fasting and Prayer conference includes meals.”
Attention: Insurance Companies, MGA’s, Premium Finance Companies & Insurance Industry Vendors: Check out the rates for the most cost effective method of keeping your message in front of your customers … The Independent Insurance Agent.
Our youth basketball team is back in action Wednesday at 8 pm in the recreation hall. Come on out and watch us kill Christ the King. Miss Charlene Mason sang “I will not pass this way again” giving obvious pleasure to the congregation. Ladies, don’t forget the rummage sale. It’s a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Don’t forget your husbands. The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been cancelled due to a conflict. The sermon this morning: “Jesus Walks on the Water” The sermon tonight: “Searching for Jesus”
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Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.
Questions? Contact Eddie K. Emmett at eddie@fyiexpress.com or (770) 312-2342. HU
UH
Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community. Don’t let worry kill you off – let the Church help. Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days. A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow. The senior choir invites any member of the congregation who enjoys sinning to join the choir.
www.AllianceInsuranceAgentsNC.com
Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles, and other items to be re-cycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.
AIANC Members may download “How To” Videos & Tutorials on setting up and maintaining a Facebook for Business page.
For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
Join today for only $250.00 per year.
Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person (s) you want to be remembered. AIANC’s STREET WISE
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April 2015
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Daily Facebook Post Ideas The Free and Easy Way to Make Your Insurance Agency Facebook Page Cool and Engaging. Too busy selling insurance, running a business, and making money to waste time finding interesting content to post to your agency Facebook page? We hope so! That's why we added the FB Content for Insurance Agents link to our Member Benefits. Just take a minute a few times a week to find great content to copy and paste or upload to your Facebook page. It's updated daily so bookmark it in your browser and visit the page anytime you want to update Facebook! Join AIANC for only $250.00 per year at www.AllianceInsuranceAgentsNC.com
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April 2015
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NCDOI News www.NCDOI.com Davidson County Woman Accused of Causing Termination of Employees' Health Insurance
Surry County Woman Accused of Insurance Fraud
RALEIGH -- Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin today announced the arrest of Sheila Lynn Warner, 56, of 804 Valley Rd, Thomasville; she is charged with two counts of obtaining property by false pretense, three counts of failing to pay premiums and two counts of failing to give notice of intentions to terminate insurance.
RALEIGH -- Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin today announced the arrest of Amanda Nicole Anderson, 39, of 720 Shoals Road, Pinnacle; she is charged with one count each of insurance fraud and attempting to obtain property by false pretense.
Department of Insurance criminal investigators accuse Warner of failing to pay group health insurance premiums to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, allegedly causing employees' coverage to be terminated in April 2013, March 2014 and August 2014. Warner is charged with failing to give employees notice of her intent to stop paying premiums at least 45 days before the termination of coverage as is required by state law. Warner is also accused of fraudulently deducting more than $3,000 from two employees' paychecks from Sept. 1 through Dec. 3, 2014. The employees believed the money was being applied to their health insurance premiums, but investigators allege Warner did not remit the funds to the insurance company and the employees did not have health insurance coverage. Warner was arrested on March 27 in Davidson County and placed under a $200,000 bond. The Department of Insurance employs 20 sworn state law enforcement officers dedicated to investigating and prosecuting claims of insurance and bail bonding fraud. Since Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin took office in 2009, criminal investigators have made more than 1,000 arrests, resulting in more than 500 criminal convictions with more than 200 cases currently pending court. These efforts have delivered more than $61 million in restitution and recoveries for victims. An estimated 10 cents of every dollar paid in premiums goes toward the payment of fraudulent claims. To report suspected fraud, contact the Department of Insurance Criminal Investigations Division at 919-8076840. Callers may remain anonymous. Information is also available at www.ncdoi.com.
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Department of Insurance criminal investigators accuse Anderson of presenting false documents for an insurance claim related to an Aug. 29, 2014, fire at her previous residence at 1530 Pinnacle Hotel Road. Anderson allegedly submitted a property loss inventory form to North Carolina Farm Bureau that included items not lost in the fire. Anderson was arrested on March 23. She was charged in Surry County and released on a written promise to appear in court. Granville County Man Accused of Presenting Fraudulent Liability Insurance RALEIGH -- Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin today announced the arrest of Ronnie Chris Carpenter, 40, of 2054-C Highway 96, Franklinton; he is charged with one count of obtaining property by false pretense. Department of Insurance criminal investigators accuse Carpenter of presenting false documents in October 2013 to fraudulently receive payment for contract work. Carpenter allegedly provided a fraudulent certificate of liability insurance to a customer on or about Oct. 1, 2013, to secure a contract to perform home improvement work at a Durham County residence and collected an $8,000 deposit for the job. Carpenter was arrested on March 19. He was charged in Durham County and placed under a $40,000 bond.
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April 2015
Answer Key
Š 2008, The Holiday Zone. All Rights Reserved.
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When was the last time you took a closer look at your agency? It all boils down to answering two main questions: 1. How do you get new clients? 2. How do you keep current clients? AIANC is devoted to finding innovative (& usually free) methods you can use to rejuvenate your agency.
FREE VIDEO CREATOR SOFTWARE: At AIANC, we live by two basic philosophies: make it simple, and make it beautiful. And we're proud to offer you the simplest way to create the most beautiful videos online, whether for yourself, your friends, your family, or your business.
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Scan QR Code to see FREE MOBILE SITE: Fully engage your visitors by building a fullyfunctional, smartphonefriendly mobile site in minutes with our Mobile Site Builder. Insert pictures, videos, maps, vCards, contact forms, or other elements. No programming skills required! FREE VIDEO E-MAIL: Software that offers everyone the ability to create and receive video messages in a selfcontained, spam-free environment. With no client to install, you can start using the software immediately with any browser, on any platform.
FREE E-MAIL MARKETING SOFTWARE: This software features and integrations allow you to send marketing emails, automated messages, and targeted campaigns. And the detailed reports help you keep improving over time. FREE WEB SITE: Check out the step-by-step tutorials to create your own free website, browse through the FAQs, and post your own questions for support. FREE EMBEDDED LINKS IN YOUTUBE VIDEOS: It’s no secret that online video is exploding. According to Cisco, more than 90% of Internet traffic is video. Companies today understand they need to do more than just put videos on their website and share them on social networks. They need to find a way to drive more engagements while people are actually viewing their videos – in other words, they need to turn viewers into customers.
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All this and more for only $250.00 per year.
Free Software to find Commercial Insurance Leads Here’s a sample looking for Contractors in Charleston, SC