Summary of Success
Business of Insurance Podcast
Episode 72 - If you’ve been listening to the last few episodes, we’ve been breaking down the steps you need to consider before starting a business. The concepts shared in these episodes are the foundation of building a successful business, no matter what kind. Bottom line in business is You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know You see, too many people jump into starting a business without doing any planning. Then they wonder why they aren’t finding success, as if business should just fall from the sky! For some people even if they don’t plan, they might get lucky but the majority of...
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Business Pre Planning Part 2
Business of Insurance Podcast
EP -71 If you haven't listened to episodes 65-71, they set the stage for this final episode on things to think about when starting your own insurance business. Regardless if you are starting an agency, an insurance company or a related business to the insurance industry like technology, claims or risk management, the concepts of starting a business are the same. These are discussed in these episodes and can help with your thought processes and planning. Pre-planning, part 2 provides ideas to implement 6-12 months before you are ready to open your doors. If you don't have a year to plan...
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Business Pre Planning Part 1
Business of Insurance Podcast
EP - 70 This episode provides additional insight into starting your own business in the insurance industry. We'll cover ideas to help you map out the process over the course of several months so you don’t have to do everything at one time. We'll talk about tasks that can be broken down over 12 months or done in 30 days if you don't have much time. Month 1 -2 Define your ideas - what area are you going into? Agency, carrier, claims, Life, health, will you just do something like work comp, airlines or medicare? Maybe you are thinking technology in the form of a CRM for insurance, maybe...
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Who Should Be On Your Team
Business of Insurance Podcast
EP 69 - We get training for being an insurance agent but we don’t get training for being a business owner. They are two completely different hats. If you want to succeed in Business you need to have a team. I was recently listening to another podcast with an angel investor and she said the first thing she looks for is who is on the team and what is their experience. You need a team. It’s nice to think you can do everything yourself, but something will be lacking if you don’t bring on help. So here’s what your team should look like. Accountant Consult with an accountant for...
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Understanding The Business Owner Mindset
Business of Insurance Podcast
Today’s episode is one of several episodes about how to get started in the insurance business. I’m not talking about becoming an agent, I’m talking to those of you that are thinking about starting an agency, an insurance company, or an an insuretech business. There’s a lot more to hanging a shingle that says you are open. As part of the planning process for starting a business there are some concepts to consider, these are about yourself. As exciting as it is to start a business, there’s a lot to consider. It’s not all glamor and glory! Most business owners would agree it’s a lot...
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How To Start A Business Without Failing
Business of Insurance Podcast
WHY DO BUSINESSES FAIL? EP 66 - In this episode, we are talking about the top 10 reaosns businesses fail and what you can do to keep your business from failing. This episode is one of several episodes about how to get started in the insurance business. I’m not talking about becoming an agent, I’m talking to those of you that are thinking about starting an agency, an insurance company, or an an insuretech business. These are real issues to consider. It’s geared for those of you who are thinking about getting started or those that have started and are looking for ideas to build a better...
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Don't Be Fooled By Entity Structures
Business of Insurance Podcast
SET UP YOUR BUSINESS PROPERLY EP 65 - Today’s episode is one of several episodes about how to get started in business. Some of you might be working for someone now and thinking about going off on your own and some of you might just be entering the industry and doing so as an independent. If you are in either of these two categories or if you are someone that works with agents that are working independently, this episode is for you. I started in this industry on the property and casualty side and quickly moved into commercial insurance when I started. Working with my dad, his personal...
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Risk Management Basics
Business of Insurance Podcast
SMALL THINGS MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE EP 64 - Todays episode was inspired by a recent CE class on Ethics. There were many great ideas shared, in a boring ethics class, but the tips I'm sharing today were from the discussion. There was actually a list of 50 risk management tips and I've taken 10 of them and offered my thoughts on them from my own experience in the industry. States didn't always require ethics, it's only been a requirement for about 20 years. When I first entered the busines we didn’t have to take ethics. It’s a good refresher but it can also be boring! I’ve...
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Making An Impact
Business of Insurance Podcast
THERE IS MORE TO THIS INDUSTRY THAN MAKING MONEY EP 63 - Like teachers, social workers and doctors and nurses, you have the power to make a difference. This episode provides three examples of how people have benefited from having a solid insurance policy and an agent that will works for them. It also talks about a few situations where agents need to do a little more to protect the people they serve. CHECK OUT OUR SPONSOR: This is a mailing service I’ve been using for over a year now and I love them. I send all of my birthday cards, thank you cards and marketing post cards from this...
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Continuing Education Thoughts
Business of Insurance Podcast
STAYING FOCUSED ON A MONITOR FOR 8 HOURS EP 62 - This episode is about getting CE credits As a CIC, we are required to do annual updates and the classes are usually a deep dive into a topic that you won’t find elsewhere. I’ve done updates every year since 1992. In 2012 I did an update and received a certificate that I had been a CIC for 20 years. To my surprise that meant that I only had to do my CIC update every other year now, instead of every year. This created CE issues for me because I need 24 hours of CE’s a year in my state and since the CIC updates are only 16 hours, I’ve...
info_outlineEP 48 - WHAT ESP SHOULD YOU USE?
This is the continuation of the series that started with episode 45 on marketing. Today we are talking about your ESP - your email service provider.
Maybe you have one that you already love but the question is, are you utilizing it to the best that you can. Maybe it’s time to take a refresher course with them. Maybe it’s time to upgrade to another platform.
I’m not going to tell you which platform to use but I am going to encourage you to make sure you are maximizing the performance of the platform you are using.
There are a lot of platforms to consider. I am very familiar with a platform called constant contact. I’ve used them since 2001. The platform has grown over the years and they've provided me with training modules for the last couple years and I have done probably 100 workshops using their material.
Another popular platform is MailChimp.
A lot of people like it because it is free. It is my understanding they do have some good tools built-in but again I'm still a bigger fan of constant contact. I'm partial I'm not going to deny it, but I'm not here to sell you on it either. But if you want to use it let me know when I can get you a good discount code.
A few other popular platforms are AWeber and Emma. I haven’t used either one of these, but I’ve heard good things about them.
One factor to consider is free vs. paid. Usually a paid platform comes with great support while a free platform has minimal support. So, depending on your tech level, paying for one that has support might be better than spending hours trying to figure out one of the free ones.
I think these four platforms are good for the beginner email marketer, the smaller agency that doesn’t have a CRM. There are many CRM’s that have built in email marketing platforms. Learn how to use them and use them regularly.
Other Platforms
If you listen to other podcasts, you might hear advertisements for Click-Funnels and Convertkit, Active Campaign and Hubspot. These are also good platforms, but they have some advanced features that might not be necessary if you are just going to send out one or two email campaigns a month. If you are a coach, selling digital products or if you are experienced at email marketing and you are ready to take it to another level, then these platforms might be worth considering.
There’s a few new names on the market that I’m not familiar with at all and they include SendinBlue, Omnisend and Pabbly. So use at your own discretion, but in the research I did for this episode, their name came up more than once.
Here’s my advice.
If you just want to keep it simple, if you just want to send emails to your prospects and clients, you don’t need a lot of fancy features. You need a platform that provides the following:
- Metrics such as bounce rates, opens, and click throughs and
- one that has good templates that are also mobile responsive and today a template that looks like a letter is good enough. Not too many graphics because it slows things down and not too many colors because it’s just too much.
- You also want to make sure the platform has the unsubscribe option. (actually that’s essential so that you stay in compliance with the Can Spam Act)
- You want something that is easy to use - if it’s not, you are never going to be consistent with your marketing. One of the CRM’s I used has email built into it but honestly, it was so difficult to edit. It was easier for me to use a separate ESP
- Some other features you might want to consider are tagging, automation, A/B testing, and resending.
If you aren’t doing much email marketing now, if you don’t have a big list of email addresses for prospects, if you just want to send emails, then stick with Constant Contact, Mail Chimp, Emma or Aweber. Don’t worry about all of the fancy features that some of the ESP’s provide.
What you should focus on is a platform that doesn’t frustrate you and that fits the basic bill!
Most importantly, only choose another ESP if your CRM doesn’t give you the features you can get in a different platform for email marketing.
I’m not suggesting that you change platforms but if you aren’t using one, now is the time to do your research.
If you listened to episode 45 where I talked about the special facebook group I’m starting, we’ll talk more about these platforms and if you have any questions, we can discuss them there.
Just keep in mind that nothing is perfect! As one platform adds a new feature that makes it hot, the others usually follow with a similar feature, it just takes time to get it created so there’s a lag time.
Do your research but don’t take too long. The idea here is to get started.
It’s not fun to switch platforms but it's better to do it when your list is smaller.
That wraps up this episode. If you like what you’ve heard, please go to iTunes and leave a review. If you know someone that should hear this content, please share the episode with them.
If you want to learn more about marketing, join the FB group called the Business of Insurance. I’ll link to it in the show notes and I look forward to meeting you there!
If you want to connect with Debbie on LinkedIn, mention you heard the podcast in your request. It helps me identify the spammers from the listeners!
Until next time, keep creating opportunities..
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ABOUT THE HOST
This episode of the Business of Insurance podcast is produced and hosted by Debbie DeChambeau, CIC, AAI, CPIA - an entrepreneurer, business advisor, insurance professional and content creator. Her goal is to inspire you to think differently and explore ideas that disrupt the status quo.
Debbie has an extensive business and marketing background with a focus of helping insurance professionals be more successful.
She is the co-author of Renewable Referrals and produces three other podcasts, Business In Real Life and Divorce Exposed and Seniors We Love.
Connect with Debbie on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram.