To Blog Or Not to Blog - An Insurance Agent's DilemmaMost insurance agents approach blogging with these thoughts:
"Great, something else to do.""What a pain."
"I need someone technical to do that"
"GRRRRRRR..."
I can TOTALLY understand. I was told about two years ago to create a blog and I just flat out refused for a long time. Even my 15 yr. old would tell me that if I want more business online that I need to blog and get into social networking (I really need to hire him someday!). I finally decided that 2009 is my year to get my mind around reaching out to my clientele through the internet and I realized that blogging and social media is really very similar to the same things I do every day. They are just in electronic format.
I enjoy journaling. My business coach tells me to journal and all the business ownership conferences tell you to write down your vision for your business. I take notes at conferences and when I attend any educational opportunities. I take notes when I am on the phone with clients. I write emails over and over explaining insurance and what all the sections of a policy will cover. If you are like me, blogging is just doing all of this on the internet. When I realized this, I started pulling out my old journals and it encouraged me to start publicizing my writing for my clients benefit. When look at blogging from this perspective it makes sense and you realize that it really can be easy.
1.Do you answer the same questions over and over again every day? You can create a tag (label) in your blog specifically to link your entry with "education" and you can address these questions that you answer every day. Tag all auto insurance articles with the appropriate tag of "Auto Questions" and your clients will have a section to read about all their auto insurance questions online. Refer your prospects and clients to your website and they can find answers to their questions at their own convenience. Most agents would have 20 blog entries at minimum just from the questions most frequently asked.
2.Do you keep up with industry changes and information? This information is important for your clientele to keep informed about. State minimums for auto insurance changed last year in the state of Texas and it was important information for our clients when their coverage's changed. A great idea is to send out a newsletter every month highlighting these changes as a resource for your prospects and clients to read and refer to their friends which will increase your agency's exposure.3.Announce changes in your office or any community involvement: Use your blog to update clients about changes going on in your office. Post notices about personnel changes, any speaking engagements, and community activities, changes in operations or changes in office hours. I have some agents that get their staff involved in 5K's for charity and they post links to these online and post pictures. The activity builds community in your office, the blog adds to your connection between your office and your community. If you participate in your local chamber of commerce you can post your participation there and a lot of these businesses will link to you in return. This will increase your exposure in your community as well.
4.Don't think that a blog has to be really long: Effective blog entries can be short and to the point. If you are updating announcements or making one brief point or linking to something of interest the entry should be short and sweet. Feel free to post articles (like this one) that are more lengthy, but even articles should be no more than 3-5 points of interest and easy to scan to get the highlights.
5.Attract more business to your agency: This is a no brainer. We all want more business. These days consumer's shop for everything online. People research cameras and computers online before they buy them, we can check our kids grades online and shop for tickets to various events. The internet isn't going anywhere. We need to access this market to generate business for our agencies as well. Agents are paying $15-$20 per lead that they receive from online lead sources but they see $500 and maybe 2 hours a week to invest into their own website as too much of an investment. Blogging is not "playing around on the computer". Embrace the internet as a communication and marketing tool for your agents. I know MANY agents who are using social media, blogging and taking leads online who are writing over 30 policies a month just from online business. Your online presence isn't going to be an option for long and to neglect the ability to generate business online will eventually cost your agency a lot of money because otherwise you will end up paying someone to do it for you.
Seriously consider blogging. It isn't difficult and it's an easy way to develop connections within your community. Once the set up of the blog is complete, the rest is just making two or three entries a week for consistency and keeping interest in your site. Consistency is the key in blogging and blogging is the key to reaching out online to your clients.
