Business of Insurance Podcast

Insurance conversations about what it is like to work in the industry. We talk with professionals who work in all aspects of the industry from direct writers to excess and surplus lines brokers and everyone in-between. If you want to learn more about the insurance industry, The Business of Insurance is the place to start.

Summary of Success 04/20/2023

Summary of Success 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 people put in a lot of hard work, time, money and sweat equity to get their dream of owning their own business off the ground. For many people it’s trial and error It’s figuring out what to do as they run into trouble or finding answers when they least expect to. Even if you do extensive planning and research before you start your business, you will hit obstacles, but the more you are prepared with your foundation, the better chance of success you will have. In this episode I want to recap the top 5 things I think you should focus on when planning to open your business. I’ve talked about these before, but I’m hoping that if they have their own episode, you’ll pay attention. Quick recap Marketing Plan Focus Business Team Capital Contracts What’s your end game Ideas To Consider Have a plan. You can take courses on how to create a business plan, and your plan can be 30 pages or 3 pages. I’ve even heard of a one page business plan, but it’s hard to get a lot of details on one page! There’s two things I think are essential in your plan. The first is marketing. And I think this needs to be very well defined. Maybe you need to do a little market research to test your idea before you can create a solid marketing plan, but without this, you are doomed. I also think that when you define your marketing plan up front and look at the costs for each tactic you want to implement, then you can budget accordingly which is the se cond part of the plan that I think is essential. I’ll get back to that part but let's talk about marketing first. The second is financial - For someone like me, this is the toughest part because while I understand math and some accounting, financial projections aren’t something I can easily wrap my head around. I see this part as start up costs - what you need to really open your doors, how much capital do you need to pay yourself or a staff for the first year while you are growing your business and how much reserve do you need in the event things don’t go as planned? Map this part out, give it to your banker friends and ask their opinions. This is essential and often overlooked by many startup entrepreneurs. It’s why first year entrepreneurs have such a high failure rate. Focus on what you want to do - It’s ok to pivot down the road as many companies do, but if you are starting as an agency, an insurance company or a related insurance partner, be focused. Don’t try to be all things to all people. It is the greatest component of success for startups. Put together you business team. I’m not talking about staff but the other professionals that can guide you. Don’t hire your family member if they don’t specialize in what you need. For example, you need a business attorney, not the family law attorney. Get a good business accountant, and make friends with your banker, payroll, bookkeeper, human resources and even other insurance professionals that aren't doing what you hope to do. This ties into the financial piece, but having enough capital to get you through is essential. This is really the hardest part. So many people want to start but don’t have the capital. They bootstrap it which can work but it would be so much easier if there was capital. If you are working as you are thinking about starting a business, get your loan while you are working for someone else because once you become self employed, the lending rules change and it’s not easy. In 2023 when everything is out of whack from COVID, getting a bank loan is really difficult so get it before you leave your salaried income. Contracts - Be sure to read all of your contracts thoroughly. I would strongly recommend having them reviewed by your business attorney. It might cost a few extra dollars, but trust me, they’ll see things in a different light than you will and offer good tips for negotiation. If you have a partner, have a contract - the more detailed the better. It needs to discuss what is involved if there is a breakup. Better to get it right before you start then pay thousands when no one is talking to each other. A business breakup is no different than a marital breakup. Your business pre-nup is the most valuable document you can create. Have contracts with business vendors, employees and review your insurance company contracts thoroughly. Don’t sign on the dotted link just because you get offered a contract. This last one is a bonus idea but I think it is essential to set yourself up with the end in mind. It doesn’t matter if the end is 30 years away, be thinking like that. Build a business you can sell if you need to. We don’t know what life will bring us tomorrow so if you set it up right from the beginning, you don’t need to worry about a surprise obstacle getting in your way. If you can’t tell from the past few episodes, this is my passion. I love helping people get started in business. I’m not as good with someone that already has 100 employees, but for the start up, my heart sings! If you have questions, feel free to reach out. You can find me on LI and FB. I have a group called The business of insurance, but it’s not that active. If you want to be a part of it, let me know and I’ll let you in! Thank you for listening to this series on how to start a business. If you know someone thinking about getting started or someone that has been in the business for a short period of time, please share this information with them. It’s free and valuable! SHOW THE LOVE If you haven’t done so already, please follow, like or subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcast player. The terminology for this has been changing, but we want you to get our podcast when new episodes are published, so check the platform where you listen to podcasts and make sure we are in your playlist! We are on all of the platforms including , and .and Google Podcasts. SPONSOR CONNECT WITH THE PODCAST ON SOCIAL ABOUT THE HOST This episode of the Business of Insurance podcast is produced and hosted by Debbie DeChambeau, CIC, AAI, CPIA - an entrepreneur, 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 also works in the health insurance space, focusing on helping people navigate the Medicare Maze. She is the co-author of . Connect with Debbie on , or . /episode/index/show/businessofinsurance/id/26596257

Business Pre Planning Part 2 04/03/2023

Business Pre Planning Part 2 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 your business, you can fast track these ideas. It's the concepts that you want to consider to assist in starting your business with a greater chance of success. Months 6-9 Define business objectives Pick a name for your business Look for office locations Write a business plan Month 10 Decide legal form for your business Set up recordkeeping system Establish a relationship with a banker Open a business checking a account Month 11-12 Prepare cash flow projections Define amount of investment you’ll need Prepare financial statements Obtain license insurance, permits Secure financing Set up office and operational space Purchase business cards, office supplies Hire staff SHOW THE LOVE If you haven’t done so already, please follow, like or subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcast player. The terminology for this has been changing, but we want you to get our podcast when new episodes are published, so check the platform where you listen to podcasts and make sure we are in your playlist! We are on all of the platforms including , and .and Google Podcasts. SPONSOR CONNECT WITH THE PODCAST ON SOCIAL ABOUT THE HOST This episode of the Business of Insurance podcast is produced and hosted by Debbie DeChambeau, CIC, AAI, CPIA - an entrepreneur, 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. With over 30 years in the industry, mostly on the property and casualty side, she currently works in the health insurance space, with a focus on helping people navigate the Medicare Maze. She is the co-author of .Connect with Debbie on , or . /episode/index/show/businessofinsurance/id/26426613

Business Pre Planning Part 1 03/27/2023

Business Pre Planning Part 1 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 you’ll white label a product that is working in another industry. There are a lot of things in between, these are just examples. But give some thought to your direction. Will you set up your business like everyone else or do you have ideas for being innovative? I don’t believe any of this is incorrect, you just need to define what you want to do and make sure you have done the research and have a great plan for moving forward. Month 2-3 Assess the impact on your life and family - I believe this is often overlooked and is an essential component of going into business. A business is like having another child. It is expensive, it takes a lot of your time, it can eat up your resources until you start making sales. Your spouse needs to buy in emotionally and financially. When I started my first agency back in the early 90’s I thought I had my husband's support. We agreed that I could tap into our home equity loan which was $25,000. Our marriage was set up where we each paid 50% of everything so I needed that money to pay my portion for awhile.( 2 kids with childcare, mortgage, groceries, and a car payment, along with the business expenses) 6 months into starting my agency, my husband was freaking out. I was making sales, but not enough to pay 50% of my bills around the house. Since I was home based, he thought I was doing nothing all day and that we could stop sending the kids to daycare and same some money. He just didn’t get it. Ultimately, we got divorced and while it was over a completely different issue, my being self employed weighed into it heavily. When I went looking for another partner, I wanted them to be in sales and understand being in business. I wasn’t going to be with someone else that did not understand you have to make some sacrifices short term for long term success. I can’t stress how important it is to get complete buy-in from your spouse or partner about how the finances and time will be for the next 2-3 years. If you aren’t making money after that then you might need to reassess! Month 3-6 Locate sources of business advice and support - in the last episode, episode xxx, we talked about different members of your team. This wasn’t people that would be on your payroll but people that you would get advice and wisdom to make sure you are successful. If you missed that episode, please go back and listen to it again. THIS EPISODE OF THE BUSINESS OF INSURANCE PODCAST IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY INSURANCEMAILBOXPOWER.COM How will you announce your new business? How will you thank all the people that support you? Consider insurancemailboxpower.com. This great platform lets you send gifts, cards, direct mail and other marketing pieces to your clients, prospects and those that are supporting you along the way. Since we are talking about getting started in business in this episode, once you decide on your company name and logo, you can create a few custom items to see how it feels. Put the name and logon on a coffee mug, order yourself some custom pens. Just test it out to see how it feels before you commit to the final copy. Use my affiliate link and go to insurancemailboxpower.com where you can set up a free 14 day trial account. Send yourself a few products and see how it feels. When you sign up for a pro or executive account, I’ll share some of my designs with you that have been generating results for me! Continuing in month 3-6 Obtain necessary skills - depending on what type of business you are starting, will depend on the types of skills you need. If you aren’t good at sales, take some sales classes. If you aren’t good at leadership, take some classes, if you don’t know what is involved in running a business, take some classes. Do this before you get started, so you have a better chance of finding success earlier, not after you open your doors. You’ll always need to be learning and there are different ways to get the information that you need, but the more you do this before you open the doors, the less mistakes you’ll make when the doors open. Research carriers, IMO’s, Aggregators,industries etc.If you are going on the agency side, who will you write your business with? I think it is really important that you really do your due diligence here. Get the contracts. Read them. Have your lawyer review them. Sit on them and make sure you ask questions. Don’t take anything for granted. It’s easy to sign one, it is not always easy to get out of one. It might mean going to a few industry events to ask people who they are using, getting some feedback from others before moving forward. By doing this part before you open your doors, you will save yourself a lot of time and aggravation down the road. Topics to consider: What are the sales expectations, what technology do they provide? Can you test ride it? What type of support is available? How are commissions paid? What about overrides and contingencies? What happens if you want to leave or move to another organization? What happens if you sell your business? There’s a lot of information you need before you sign up that will help you to be more successful. Since there’s a lot of information to planning to open your business, we are going to stop here for today. We’ll pick up what to do in the next episode. So until then, KEEP CREATING OPPORTUNITIES SHOW THE LOVE If you haven’t done so already, please follow, like or subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcast player. The terminology for this has been changing, but we want you to get our podcast when new episodes are published, so check the platform where you listen to podcasts and make sure we are in your playlist! We are on all of the platforms including , and .and Google Podcasts. SPONSOR CONNECT WITH THE PODCAST ON SOCIAL ABOUT THE HOST This episode of the Business of Insurance podcast is produced and hosted by Debbie DeChambeau, CIC, AAI, CPIA - an entrepreneur, 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 also works in the health insurance space, focusing on helping people navigate the Medicare Maze. She is the co-author of . Connect with Debbie on , or . /episode/index/show/businessofinsurance/id/26348322

Who Should Be On Your Team 03/20/2023

Who Should Be On Your Team 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 guidance on your entity choice. Have your accountant show you how to initially set up your books - Use your accountant as an advisor to different financial decisions you can make with your business. Meet with them quarterly for business planning ideas Bookkeeper - someone that can help with commissions, payroll, balancing your accounts Lawyer Get guidance on your entity structure Let them review and create different documents for you Marketing Let them help with your webite, branding and a marketing plan Insurance - if you aren’t doing commercial P&C on a daily basis, partner with someone that is and let them be your agent. They can talk to you about the newer coverages like cyber and AI but also make sure you know about the other coverages usually offered in a BOP., Banker Get to know several bankers. They can be your best friend. They work with a lot of other businesses, they have their pulse on what is going on in the economy and they know who is lending, who isn’t and where you can find money. Human Resources Find an outsourced HR firm that you can use. Maybe you need them once a month, or once a year, having the professionals at your fingertips is a great way to keep yourself out of hot water with employees. Mentor / Coach They can save you years of mistakes because they’ve been there, done that. Rather than trying to figure it out for yourself, they have the answers. SPONSOR Insurancemailboxpower.com CONNECT WITH THE PODCAST ON SOCIAL ABOUT THE HOST This episode of the Business of Insurance podcast is produced and hosted by Debbie DeChambeau, CIC, AAI, CPIA - an entrepreneur, 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 also works in the health insurance space, focusing on helping people navigate the Medicare Maze. She is the co-author of . Connect with Debbie on , or . /episode/index/show/businessofinsurance/id/26277669

Understanding The Business Owner Mindset 04/25/2022

Understanding The Business Owner Mindset 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 of hard work, a lot more than they expected. It’s long days, weekends and holidays. Many business owners lose their marriages over their business. As I mentioned in the last business, 90% of business fail in the first year. The circumstances around why they fail vary, but often it’s with the concepts I’m discussing today. In the last episode we talked about why business fail: Lack of a marketing plan Missed market shifts Ignoring the customer Lack of financial understanding Poor management Location Motivation Life’s distractions Lack of planning INTRO FOR PART 2 - RECAP THE ABOVE AND THINKING BIGGER AND W HY YOU WANT TO START A BUSINESS The first thing I want to talk about is Thinking Bigger As you are thinking about starting a business, don’t think about something small to just pay your bills or starting something as a hobby while you raise your family. Think in terms of building something that you can be proud of, that you can expand, most importantly, that you can sell! Think in terms of how you will build a team, how you’ll grow so that it isn’t just you doing all the work all the time. There are a lot of companies that encourage you to grow your business by recruiting - that’s not what I’m talking about. Build a business where you own the business and the people on your team are your employees. While the network marketing concept works, I personally don’t think that is a good business model at all. You don’t have much control and it’s not a model that you can scale and sell! One day I’ll really talk about how I feel about network marketing and recruiting, but for this purpose, I want you to think about a team that supports you, that helps you to be more successful, that you can delegate to and have them expand your brand. Women who start businesses often have a smaller vision. Don’t get mad at me for saying that but after teaching this presentation for over 5 years, it’s something that I’ve witnessed firsthand. Women who start businesses often think about a business that is close to home and around their family and not something that is scalable. I can’t tell you how many women want to start a baking or food business or a party business for kids. I’m not saying that’s a bad idea but after many of them have done their market research they realized that it wasn’t a business that they could really make a profit or build to sell. Insurance is a little different. Since COVID, a lot of people have realized that they can run this type of a business virtually, but I’m not sure if that is sustainable long term. Good market research will help to prove that. There are so many different type of insurance businesses that you can start: i.e. an agency, a brokerage, an FMO, an insurance company, a captive, a direct writer. You can focus on life, health, personal lines, commercial, yachts, tech or international. Under the umbrella of insurance, you have a lot of choices! This is why you need a plan. I talk about having a plan all the time but remember fail to plan, plan to fail. ADVERTISEMENT This episode of the business of insurance podcast is brought to you by insurancemailbox power. Part of being a business owner is implementing systems and processes that can be automated as much as possible. As you are planning your new business, you need to be thinking about your marketing. Insurancemailboxpower.com is a great platform for this. You can send post cards to prospects, regular cards to clients and referralpartners You can test the markets with just an investment of a few hundred dollars and send a mailing to a list of prospects. When you start a new business if you are going solo, there are a lot of balls to manage at one time. The more you can automate, the more time you will have for business development. If you want to learn more, go to insurancemailboxpower.com. Sign up for your free 14 day trial and see how you can automate some of your marketing. Understand yourself better: Why do you want to start a business? This is the most important conversation you need to have. I mentioned it a little in the last episode, don’t go into business because you think you can do it better than someone else….unless you really can. Here’s some reasons why people go into business: Create a career for yourself - while there is plenty of employment opportunities today in 2022, that wasn’t always the case. Back in the 80’s a lot of people went to college and couldn’t get jobs. When we went into lockdown with COVID and a lot of people lost their jobs, and the entrepreneurial type started delivering groceries and filling grocery orders. People will find work when they need to. Starting an insurance business can be a great career - the question is, are you better as a business owner or as an employee or subcontractor to someone? Some people go into business because There’s a demand for what you are selling. Insurance is a product that people need, but not all people know they need insurance. Not all people want to spend the money for something they may never use. If you are connected to a few auto dealerships, it’s easy to get auto insurance from new car buyers.There’s a demand because people can’t drive their car off the lot without car insurance. If you are connected to some mortgage lenders, it is easy to sell homeowners insurance because people can’t go to closing without homeowners. I was speaking to someone recently who couldn’t understand why she had to pay money for automobile insurance all of her life and she’s never had an auto claim. Money spent for nothing is the way she looked at it. So while people need insurance, it’s not always an easy sell like a new iphone or a new tesla! Another reason people go into business is because you want to make a difference - wanting to make a difference can be a good reason to go into business, especially insurance, because you can really make a difference in this industry. But are you setting up your business to make a profit while making a difference? Just something to think about. An obvious reason why people want to go into business it to make money - when you work for someone else, they often determine your salary. If you are on a commission basis, then you will determine your salary but not all commission positions pay fairly. And not every position can be sales…..it’s a good reason to want to go into business, but it is also important to understand what it costs to get started and the ongoing business expenses of running a business. Money for marketing, taxes, general overhead can be more than you think. The expenses are ok so long as you are generating revenue, but there's a lot that goes into sales and business development! Travel - Many people go into business ownership to be able to work from anywhere. Since COVID, I’ve somewhat set my business up that way. In the insurance business that is possible, especially with virtual meetings today but you need to make sure you are in compliance with state laws as you do this. You must also have a strong marketing plan in place where people can find you and send you business regardless of where you work. ABOUT THE HOST This episode of the Business of Insurance podcast is produced and hosted by Debbie DeChambeau, CIC, AAI, CPIA - an entrepreneur, 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 and produces two other podcasts, and Connect with Debbie on , or . /episode/index/show/businessofinsurance/id/22895189

How To Start A Business Without Failing 03/21/2022

How To Start A Business Without Failing 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 business. Every business has similar issues. It doesn’t matter if you are an insurance agency, a contractor or a tech company. If you are running a business you will have similar challenges. So before you open your doors, before you invest in the expansion, give some thought to these concepts and work through them before you take the next plunge! So to recap reasons why businesses fail: Lack of a marketing plan - Before you open your doors, have a marketing plan - if you take nothing else from this episode, it should be plan, particularly having a marketing plan. Missed market shifts - are you entering an area that is shifting? Is this the time to be a flood expert? Is this the time to sell long term care? Is this the time to be a virtual office or to have a brick and mortar location? What is your plan to provide great customer service? If you are a solo preneurer, can you handle 20 calls a day, do your accounting, quoting and marketing? While your clients must come first, it’s essential to have a plan to manage this Are you overexpanding before you are ready? How much more successful can you be if you just have one location? What do you know about your accounting? What is your management style? Poor management is the fastest way to have high turnover and lose business. Are you a control freak? Are you meak and mild? If so, take a look at your management style. If you don’t have the skillset, takes some classes on how to effectively manage or hire a good manager as soon as you can. Location - Can you prospects find you? Does your office feel inviting? Do you need a location? Motivation - why do you really want to open your own business? Makesure you are doing it for the right reasons. Life’s distractions - do you have support if life gets in your way? What does that look like? Lack of planning - I mentioned that you need a marketing plan but you also need a business plan. It doesn’t need to be a 50 page document but you do need a plan. Something to track and measure your success. Would you take a trip without a map? It’s not different with your business. Remember, FAIL TO PLAN, PLAN TO FAIL. Remember, these are all just different reasons why businesses fail. Some of them you can’t predict and some of them with some adjustments you can easily course correct. Having a realistic plan will really help you to see great results. I don’t want you to fail, I want you to succeed. But if you don’t have experience running a business, these are concepts you need to think about to increase your chances for success! UNTIL NEXT TIME KEEP CREATING OPPORTUNITIES 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 platform. My birthday cards are automated. I set it and forget it. The only thing I have to do when I add someone new is to put them into the automation series and the rest is done for me! I have marketing mailings scheduled for several months. I blocked out two days to set everything up and now I just watch the phone ring! Check out and see how you can stay top of mind with your clients and referral partners. Tell them Debbie DeChambeau sent you! ABOUT THE HOST This episode of the Business of Insurance podcast is produced and hosted by Debbie DeChambeau, CIC, AAI, CPIA - an entrepreneur, 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 and produces two other podcasts, and Connect with Debbie on , or . /episode/index/show/businessofinsurance/id/22509167

Don't Be Fooled By Entity Structures 03/07/2022

Don't Be Fooled By Entity Structures 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 lines clients were all starting their own businesses and they came to him for advice. We basically learned as we went along what we needed to do to help them. Fast forward 30 plus years, I’ve had many years of educating business owners about getting started. When I first started in sales, I got involved in teaching insurance to a local SCORE chapter. If you aren’t familiar with SCORE, it’s called Service Corp of Retired Executives. It’s a division of SBA, the small business administration which is a wealth of information for business owners, new and experienced. If you aren’t familiar with them, go to sba.gov to learn more. In this particular SCORE chapter, they did a 3 hour program for new business owners. The first hour was on accounting with a local CPA, the second hour was was legal, taught by a business attorney and the third hour was insurance, taught by yours truly! The legal was mostly entity structures and contracts. Since I went last, I always heard the lawyer’s presentation which is how I learned so much! Fast forward 20 years, I started volunteering with the Maryland Women’s Business Center and taught a class called The ABC’s of Starting a Business. This class was 4 hours and went over why businesses fail, entity structures and then the next steps to get started in business. I taught this program for over 5 years. It was my ‘give back’ to the business community. I believe I educated over 500 new business owners in this program. The Women’s Business Center is also a division of SBA, like SCORE, so we have to work within their guidelines. Today I’m sharing a segment of that class, on entity structures. I see so many agents asking about them in the different groups I’m in and I want to clarify things about these entity structures that is essential to understand, especially if you are thinking about going the DIY route. I don’t recommend DIYing this important segment of starting your business, but some people just want to save a few dollars and don’t care about the rest. Before getting started, my advice to people is to always talk to both your CPA and your attorney. Why? - Your situation is different than mine as is your risk tolerance. I can’t tell you what is right for you because I don’t know your situation. So when you take advice from someone in a FB group or a stranger, you are creating potential problems for yourself! Your CPA can guide you better from a tax perspective. Understanding if it makes sense financially to set up one of these entities and getting guidance on how to do it properly from a tax perspective. Make sure your CPA has experience dealing with business owners as well. Some CPAs just do taxes or audits and aren’t up on all the issues relating to business owners. You attorney will guide you from a legal perspective. Understanding the risks involved and how to create the proper documents, how to sign your contracts, how to handle multi states. All of these are essential if you are going to be in business for yourself. Make sure your attorney is a business attorney, not a criminal, divorce or personal injury attorney. Just like with the CPA, you want an attorney that focuses on working with business owners because they are usually more on top of the current laws around business owners and doing things properly. When I started in the business back in the 70’s we basically had 3 different entity structures to choose from. You were a sole proprietor, partnership or corporation. In the mid 80’s the LLC entity structure was beginning to emerge and it really began to pick up speed in the 90’s. Now an LLC common place. There are some variations of different entity structures like a PLLC or an L3C or a B corporation. So, knowing which entity structure is right for you depends. For today, I’m only going to focus on the sole proprietor, LLC and corporation. Let’s start with sole proprietor - this is basically you the individual operating as a business owner. It’s your name trading as (T/A) or doing business as (DBA) your insurance agency. My first insurance agency was Debbie DeChambeau t/a The DLD Group. I was a sole proprietor when I set up my first agency in 1990. Being a sole proprietor allows you to deduct your business expenses at tax time, but it does not provide any person legal protection. You’ll get some protection from your general liability or your professional liability policies, but if you lose your case, you could also lose your house and all of your assets, depending on the court ruling. You’ll want to check with your state, but most states require you to complete a form with the state that you have created your business and you’ll want to get a tax ID number in the name of that business. Once you’ve done those two, then you go to the bank and open a business account and have all of your business income deposited into that account. You can have it deposited into your personal bank account, but that means you are mixing funds which can become an accounting problem, so it’s best to keep them separate and pay yourself when you need to. Again, your accountant can guide you through this better but these are the basics. If you decide to create a corporation, also known as the letters INC, then you are basically setting up a separate entity. I like to think of it as another person, and that’s the business. When set up and managed correctly, a corporation protects the personal assets of the stockholders, president, VP, etc, which is usually you, the business owner. When setting up a corporation, you create articles of incorporation, establish bylaws, appoint directors, have a shareholders agreement. These documents must be set up according to the laws of your state and include the right information about your business. When it comes to taxes, the corporation files it’s own taxes then the stockholders use that information on their individual taxes. This has long been a complaint of corporations, having to do the business return, then do the individual return. It’s where the term, ‘double taxation’ is often used. You might have heard the term, don’t pierce the corporate veil. This is a test if there is a lawsuit that would protect the stockholders and officers personally. It’s essential that everything is done correctly for that protection to prevail. If you are in the commercial / business side of insurance industry, this is something you probably know well., Those of you in other areas of insurance, might have heard this in passing but never really understood it. If you are going ot be in business this is the one of the most important pieces you should understand By everything I’m referring to contracts, agreements, processes, etc. This is where your attorney can fill you in better, but bottom line, if you are going through the expense of setting up a corporation then it’s important to do everything correctly. Before I talk about a limited liability company, let’s hear from our sponsor: This episode of the business of insurance podcast is brought to you by insurancemailbox power.com Part of being a business owner is implementing systems and processes that can be automated as much as possible. Let’s talk about onboarding new employees or team members, especially since we are talking about entity structures today. In an era when a lot of business owners are struggling to find staff, how do you make a new employee feel welcome, make them glad they decided to work with you? Everyone wants to be recognized, so lets talk about how you could go above and beyond to make your employees really glad they are part of your organization. Let’s start with day one - what if you have a coffee mug with their name on it, a box with brownies and popcorn to get them through the first week. Maybe week 3 you send the employee a water bottle with their name on it and a card letting them know that you are glad to have them on board. From there, you could set up a system that something is mailed to your employee every month or every other month. Maybe you send a gift card, maybe you send a phone holder, coasters or or a personalized notebook When you have an account with insurancemailboxpower.com you can set this up and let it run for as long as you want to delight your employees. If you want to learn more, go to insurancemailboxpower.com. Be sure to indicate Debbie DeChambeau sent you. When you sign up for a pro or executive account, I’ll share some of my designs with you that have been generating results for me! Now, let’s talk about LLC’s An LLC is a limited liability company. Many people want to call it a corporation, but technically, it isn’t. As I mentioned earlier, there were very few LLC’s prior to the mid 80’s. When they were first created, many businesses were hesitant to set them up because the corporate veil hadn’t been tested. Business owners were concerned if an LLC would really protect them like a corporation. In the 90’s more and more states allowed them and now they are fairly common place. An LLC designed to provide the legal protections like a corporation but the tax structure is different with an LLC, it’s similar to a sole proprietor. An LLC can elect to be taxed as a sole proprietor, partnership, S corporation or C corporation. This is one of the reasons a lot of companies are attracted to the LLC. It’s also why it is essential to talk to your CPA about this. Some people think an S Corporation is an entity structure….it’s a type of tax filing! An LLC should have an operating agreement which states how the business is conducted and how management and ownership is structured. Not all states allow single member LLC’s so it’s important to understand the rules in your state and the states that you operate in. It’s also important to understand how to run and manage your LLC, not just from an accounting perspective but from a legal perspective. If you aren’t looking to protect your personal assets, then consider being an LLC. This is a good reason to work with a business attorney and not DIY it! Understanding that most people set up an LLC or Corporation to protect their assets is one thing, but why go through the work of setting up the business if you don’t do it properly. Basically, you’ll have wasted a lot of time and money. So do it properly and protect yourself the right way. Work with an attorney and and accountant and understand your obligations and responsibilities with the entity structure you select. A lot of people starting out just set themselves up as a sole proprietorship. It’s less expensive. It’s when the business owner has assets to protect, having the proper entity structure is essential and managing that entity is imperative. I want to reiterate that I am not an attorney or an accountant. This information is intended to give you an overview of your options. To learn more, go to sba.gov for the best information, then seek out a business attorney and CPA for local guidance. It’s your business. Run it like a business, not a hobby. Do it right! Until next time, keep creating opportunities. ….and support our sponsor! 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 platform. Check out and see how you can stay top of mind with your clients and referral partners. Tell them Debbie DeChambeau sent you! ABOUT THE HOST This episode of the Business of Insurance podcast is produced and hosted by Debbie DeChambeau, CIC, AAI, CPIA - an entrepreneur, 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 and produces two other podcasts, and Connect with Debbie on , or . /episode/index/show/businessofinsurance/id/22359686

Risk Management Basics 02/27/2022

Risk Management Basics 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 titled this episode Risk Management Basics because you might find these ideas fairly basic. The reality is, someone new might not even know these things and a few of them it might take a few years before someone figures them out. Personally, I think they are essential, so if you are new, figure out how to incorporate them into your business and if you aren’t doing these things as an experienced agent, now might be a good time to start! Maintain All Licenses Understand the value of professional development Don’t promise more than you can deliver Verify Fax Transmissions Use Coverage Checklists Use Standardized proposals Checkall policies and endorsement for accuracy Document coverage rejections Avoid giving recorded statements Fire Bad Clients 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 platform. My birthday cards are automated. I set it and forget it. The only thing I have to do when I add someone new is to put them into the automation series and the rest is done for me! I have marketing mailings scheduled for several months. I blocked out two days to set everything up and now I just watch the phone ring! Check out and see how you can stay top of mind with your clients and referral partners. Tell them Debbie DeChambeau sent you! ABOUT THE HOST This episode of the Business of Insurance podcast is produced and hosted by Debbie DeChambeau, CIC, AAI, CPIA - an entrepreneur, 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 and produces two other podcasts, and Connect with Debbie on , or . /episode/index/show/businessofinsurance/id/22271963

Making An Impact 02/14/2022

Continuing Education Thoughts 02/07/2022

Continuing Education Thoughts 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 been scrambling for a few years to get my 24 in the allotted time. In the past, I just did my update every year and there were my CE’s. I never thought twice about it. Over the past 10 years, I’ve found myself scrambling at the last minute! Before COVID they were all in person. It was great, you could go to Florida for an update, make a vacation out of it, learn something new, meet some new people and it was an experience, not something that was dreaded. Not everyone likes to travel, or to be out of the office for a few days at a time, so many people do their updates close to home. After doing them for so many years, you get to know a lot of the attendees and it becomes a little like old home week! I’ve seen people I worked with in the 80’s, 90’s and even people I coached in my business development groups in these updates. One of my earlier podcast guests, , was scheduled shortly after seeing her at a CIC update! Listen to for that conversation! In my area, we had one instructor, Jerry Milton, who was a mainstay. He told a lot of jokes and stories around insurance, keeping us entertained as we talked about business auto exclusions (I know, boring right) or is it an inland marine or business auto exposure! Sadly we lost Jerry a few years ago just after his retirement, but for anyone who’s older listening to this and has taken a few CIC classes, will remember Jerry. RIP Jerry Over the years, the CIC society has updated things a little bit, taking them from 2 ½ days to 2 days but always in person. The classes usually start at 8:00 am and end at 5:15, allowing 10 minute breaks in between and also an extended lunch break because the hotel restaurants often had difficulty feeding 400 people in 60 minutes!. During the morning session and the afternoon session they send around a form to sign that you are there….if you miss signing the form, you don’t get credit, so everyone is always watching out for the form. You never know when it is going to be passed around. If you had to get up and take a phone call or use the rest room, you could. If you needed to be out for more than 10 minutes, often you could get an ok from the educational coordinator. Basically if you weren’t there, they didn’t notice it! Last week with COVID, I did my first virtual CIC update. It’s also about time for me to renew my state license, so I needed to get 24 hours of CE’s. (or so I thought, but I’ll elaborate on that later) Since CIC updates are only 16 hours, I needed two different classes. I decided to do a basic update on life and health, thinking it would be a refresher but hoping they would talk about a few topics that I’m not as confident about (annuities and LTC). I cleared my calendar, no appointments, nothing to do for 2 days but watch my computer monitor and listen to someone talking. First, I need to say that I don’t really watch TV, so watching my monitor for 8 hours a day felt a little challenging. When I’m working, I usually have 20 tabs open, looking up something I don’t know or doing some other type of research to get answers to my questions. The thought of sitting at my computer for 8 hours was concerning but I had to get the CE’s. What caught me by surprise was the pop up quizzes. The three pop up an hour quizzes that apparently if you miss one, you don’t get CE’s. Seriously! Contrast this with the in person events where you can come and go to the facilities and still get credit but if you miss one pop up quiz you don’t get CE’s. I wasn’t liking that but I really needed my CE’s so I was determined to get through it, plus it was a topic I really wanted to know about. I made it through the first 4 hours before lunch and I heard the instructor say that several people hadn’t responded to the pop up questions so a lot of people were going to be disappointed when they found out that they weren’t going to get CE’s. OMG, how did people miss them……I was (or thought I was) glued to the monitor. I wasn’t doing any work, I wasn’t talking on my phone. I didn’t have any background distractions. Heck, I even held off going to the bathroom until an assigned break. I did look at some of the handouts as they were referenced, which meant looking at a different monitor. But it was fairly close to the main monitor, so I thought I would see any pop up questions or a change in the screen. ln my mind, I wasn’t (or so I thought) I wasn’t one of those people. But the instructors comment about missing the quizzes stuck in the back of my mind. Before I tell you what happened, I wanted to mention our sponsor, insurancemailboxpower.com 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 platform. Depending on how many I send, I only have to pay for postage. I’m using a plan that has unlimited postcards, both 4x6 and 5.5 x 8.5. All I pay for is the postage and I send a lot. I am also in the process of setting up a birthday club. It’s a great way for me to stay in touch with people and have their birthday…..think about it…how many birthday cards do you get as an adult? Probably not that many and you probably remember the people that send you a card! Check out Insurancemailboxpower.com and see how you can stay top of mind with your clients and referral partners. Tell them Debbie DeChambeau sent you! Ok, back to my CE rant….. I made it through the first day but it was hard…..there might have been a moment or two where I started to day dream, after all, how much can you absorb about annuities and long term care in one sitting? Day 2 was a little better…at least the instructor made reference to the pop up or would pause in his talking so it was a signal to look at the monitor. Day 2 was about Medicare and Medicaid, which is what I do everyday, so listening to him, seeing if I could pick up a few new nuggets was easier. However, it is also easy to daydream when you could be the one teaching the class! On Monday I received an email from the National Society that I did not answer all of the pop up questions and therefore I did not earn CE credits! What! I was shocked. I’ve been doing my CIC update for over 20 years (actually 30 this year plus the 5 years it took to earn the CIC designation) Not once did I not get CE credits when the classes were in person! How is it that my first virtual update and I don’t get any CE credits? Ugggggg I was pissed. I immediately sent an email back asking which pop up questions I missed. I think this virtual pop up system is flawed. I get that a lot of people will sign on, go play golf then come back and think they should get credit so they have to do something to keep you honest. But I think there should be a little grace in missing one or two or maybe 3 over the course of 2 eight hour days. I feel bad for anyone that had something happen to their stomach and a child needed a glass of water and they missed the pop up question. I’m sure I’m not the only one that hasn’t earned their CE’s because they missed a pop up…..but that stinks. I did some serious soul searching after getting the letter. It was $500 down the tubes….I would never go to the casino and spend that kind of money, I hate throwing it away on CE’s! Then I looked into my state account about how many credits I needed. How was I going to get 24 CE’s in less than 30 days? And how much more was I going to have to spend? In my state account, I knew I had a few credit hours because I took my LTC certification in 2021 and paid for the credits when I did my AHIP certification for Medicare. So I knew I had something and maybe didn’t need the entire 24. Well, as I did this, good things began to appear that I either didn’t know about or I had forgotten. For producers in MD that were licensed at least 20 years prior to 2008, you don’t need 24 credits, only 8. Ethics was 3 and then I needed a few for life and health and a few for P&C. Whew….was I relieved. I have an ethics scheduled in a few weeks and am doing another CIC update with the society where I’ll get the rest of the P&C credit hours. Or at least I hope I will!. This next update is what the society calls their Mega - in the past it was a week long session of classes that you could take and pick the ones that were of interest to you. I did a MEGA about 8 years ago in Colorado and it was fascinating. This was right as Marijauna was being legalized in CO and one of the sessions was on issues employers faced with the legalization and the impacts with employment liability and workers compensation policies. Another session I took back then was on cyberliability. That’s a topic that has always fascinated me. I remember them talking about a claim where a pizza restaurant had been fined over 50k for sending unsolicited texts messages as a marketing campaign. This was tied to the CAN SPAM ACT which I was well aware of from all the teaching I’ve done on email marketing with Constant Contact. I hate when I get unsolicited text messages knowing they are violating the CAN SPAM ACT. One day I’ll find the time to respond…but if you aren’t familiar with it, do your homework. As usual, I digress! Since COVID, the Mega has pivoted to Virtual and different classes are now offered over the course of 12 months. So you can take 5 classes of your choosing. I took one yesterday on current events and their impact on insurance. For example we talked about WCAG compliance (do you know what that one is?) (think ADA for your website!) and the apartment building that collapsed in FL and different types of claim situations, outside of the obvious. It was a great class. The instructor told a lot of stories that were engaging and relevant. This class was 4 hours, with two in the morning and 2 in the afternoon with a 2 hour break in between. I was prepared for the pop up questions this time. I wrote down the times of each. After the first 2 hours, I realized that I might have missed one of the pop up questions because I didn’t write down the time. I was there, I was engaged, how did this happen again. I reached out as soon as the second session started only to be told they don’t have that information. Ugh…now I have to wait to see if I really did miss one. I hope not, because I was there and I was paying attention….but I did look up WCAG and I’m hoping I didn’t miss the question when I was doing the research. I’m talking about CE’s because I think virtual is really hard. I don’t know how people can love this having to be glued to the monitor for 8 hours straight. It’s crazy! I can’t wait to go back to in person when I can doodle when I’m bored and not feel like I have to keep my eyes on the screen so I don’t miss a pop up! But here’s the good news…..remember earlier I said that I sent an email to the alliance asking which questions that I missed in the Life and Health CIC update. Well, upon further review, they said that I only missed one (which I had notified them about) and I am getting my CE’s. The one that I missed didn’t go through. I had hit submit but then my screen froze and it didn’t go through before it left the screen! So now I just need to get my ethics completed and I’m good for another 2 years. When it comes to CE’s virtual is more convenient but I think in person is really the way to go. We need to be with other people, hear the conversations, build connections because one day the person sitting next to us could be our co-worker, boss or we could be their boss! You never know! Thanks for listening as I rant about CE’s and I hope your journey with CE’s is more enjoyable! Until next time check out our sponsor, insurancemailboxpower.com and keep creating opportunities! SHOW THE LOVE If you haven’t done so already, please follow, like or subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcast player. We are on all of the platforms including , and . If you are listening to this podcast online and don’t know how to listen to podcasts on your phone, reach out to our host, Debbie DeChambeau and she'll help you. SPONSOR This episode of the Business of Insurance Podcast is sponsored by com Stay top of mind with your clients and referral partners by landing in their mailbox, not their inbox where you might get lost in email jail! CONNECT WITH THE PODCAST ON SOCIAL 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 and produces three other podcasts, and and Connect with Debbie on , or . /episode/index/show/businessofinsurance/id/22043330

Networking Tips For Beginners 01/31/2022

Networking Tips For Beginners HOW TO PREP FOR YOUR FIRST NETWORKING EVENT EP 61 - IF YOU ARE NEW TO NETWORKING, THIS EPISODE IS FOR YOU. My name is Debbie DeChambeau, I’m your host, I’m an entrepreneur, business advisor, insurance professional and content creator. I want to inspire you to think differently and explore ideas that disrupt the status quo. When I’m not helping individuals with insurance, I facilitate business development groups. Before COVID, they were all in person. Today, they are all virtual. I facilitate 5 a week and have been doing this straight through COVID! For years I’ve been told I’m a great facilitator, but transitioning the skills to virtual has taken some time. I think I’ve mastered it, but I’m always observing others and tweaking my skills. I create the agenda’s and because I’ve been doing this for so long and I’m a lifelong learner, I usually add some golden nuggets to help with the topic of discussion. Recently we had a discussion about networking and members were asked to share their best networking tip for someone new to networking. I’ve compiled them and added some commentary, hoping these ideas will help you become a better networker. If you’ve been locked down in COVID, if you are new to networking or if you want to be a better networker, I think you’ll appreciate some of these ideas. I’m going to share the tip that was provided and then add some commentary to help you understand the context and how you might incorporate the idea into your own style. For this conversation, let’s assume that you are going to an event that is specific for networking. It could be an event that has 10 people or 100, the number there really doesn’t matter. In my opinion, the number of attendees really doesn’t matter. If you are at the right event with the right people, you’ll get value. In preparation for this event, here’s a few tips that were provided: Networking is a long game and doesn’t happen overnight. Plan ahead what you want to get out of the meeting/ goals/ who are you looking to meet/ engage the other person and get to know them vs. them really getting to know you. If you know who is going to be at the event, research 2-3 people that you really want to meet Set a goal, maybe to meet 5 new people, force yourself out of your comfort zone Try to diversify your network - don’t be afraid to network outside of your sphere Good reason to follow up with everyone! Plan time for follow up - need a plan for this Block time on your calendar Connect on LinkedIn / Social Send an email Send a handwritten note Follow up with everyone Go to the event alone - encourages you to step out of your comfort zone and to talk to people you don’t know. Key to networking is to network, don't stand in a corner alone Get there early, be one of the first ones to pick up the name / tag, there's a few people you know, just in case Force yourself to just show up Save alcohol and food for later Try different type of events at first to see what works best for you and what feels most comfortable - i.e. big events vs. small; lunches or happy hours Initially, you might go to every event, but afterwhile, you’ll need and want to be more selective about the events that you attend. Understand who you are targeting and attend events that are focused on your target market Have your intro prepared so that it sounds polished but not salsey. Have a simple 5-10 seconds/ 30 seconds and a 60 second intro prepared because you never know what amount of time you’ll be allotted. 15 second: My name is Debbie DeChambeau, I’m a medicare broker and I help people navigate the Medicare Maze 30 second: My name is Debbie DeChambeau, I help people navigate the Medicare maze by educating them on their options, answering questions and researching the best plans based on their lifestyle 60 second: My name is Debbie Dechambeau, I am a Medicare broker, working with people that are turning 65, retiring or on disability and in need of Medicare Insurance. I help people understand all of the rules around Medicare and also educate them on their options from original medicare to medicare advantage (you know, those Joe Namath commercials) and everything in between. This includes dental, vision, hearing and cancer. We talk about some of the things they can expect from Medicare and how to plan accordingly. Practicing your introduction NOT SURE WHAT TO TALK ABOUT? Think about the following: FORD - FAMILY, OCCUPATION, RECREATION, DREAMS Try to connect with people on a personal level. If you don't feel a vibe, you probably won't connect professionally Relax and let yourself off the hook. It’s about having a conversation that is hopefully memorable. Your conversations don’t have to be work related. Remember, the first meeting is a starting point. When you meet with someone that you already know, ask them how you can help them ask them to tell you something about what they do that you don’t already know. Be patient, know that it's not going to happen overnight, need to build the relationship; Before you get referrals, people need to know, like and trust you. One way to start that is to see what you can do to help someone else. Try to give more than you receive VIRTUAL EVENTS Virtually, put your contact information in the chat. Save the chat, be sure to follow up /episode/index/show/businessofinsurance/id/21958046

Marketing Results 2021 01/23/2022

Marketing Results 2021 WHAT MARKETING TACTICS WERE EFFECTIVE IN 2021 EP - 60 When I first started this podcast, my plan was to focus on how amazing a career in this industry is. My business at the time was marketing, I helped companies attract new business. My goal was to work with insurance professionals and help them with marketing. Then, my mom got sick and I realized that it was time for me to get back into the insurance business. Ive been licensed for more than 30 years, but I took a detour…..and now I’m back in the insurance business, focusing on individual benefits packages, specifically for those on Medicare. I’ve been applying my marketing skills to my new insurance agency and the phone has been ringing off the hook. The busy season in this space is October 15 - December 7. It’s like tax season for accountants. You have a certain amount of time to help everyone! Honestly, it’s insane! Today I’m going to talk about my marketing experience last fall, what worked and what didn’t. I’ll wrap up with my marketing focus in 2022. TARGET AREA The primary area I focused my marketing efforts on was the eastern shore of MD. There’s a lot of farm area, a lot of retiree’s and as you get closer to water, there’s a few very densely populated areas. I want to work this market because I hope to purchase a home there soon and live there year round! I’ve been traveling this area all my life, but have never thought about living there until recently! You could say that it’s new to me and I don’t know that many people there, so not only am I a new agency, I’m marketing in an area where I don’t know many people. Oh, and we are in the middle of a pandemic, in a state that is fairly conservative with masking and activities! My marketing plan for 2021 included the following: Worked at a retail store - Cost of $1500, but my FMO and upline each contributed $500 so my net cost was $500. Direct Mail - spent about $2000 on postage for mailing postcards. The service I use does not charge for printing Speaking Events - educational events on Medicare - had a $5,000 budget to promote Referrals from clients - mailed a clever post card and asked people to tell their friends and family about me - postage cost included in direct mail THE FEELING OF OVERWHELM 3 weeks in, I began to panic…and for me, panic creates paralysis. Fortunately I found someone to step in and help me with a lot of the back end work, but training someone new in the middle of your busy season, isn’t the smartest idea. One thing I did that kept me so busy is that I put my calendar link everywhere so people could schedule meetings at their convenience. The concept was great,because it kept me from having to do the back and forth scheduling, but the problem was that I was booked from 8 am to 8pm with minimal time to go to the bathroom or get some food. My lesson learned was to modify my schedule somewhat to leave time in between meetings to finish up paperwork and take care of life’s necessities. When I originally set up my calendar, I blocked out the time I would be in the retail store, but not for everything else. Over the 10 week period of AEP, I ended up with over 150 prospects and wrote almost 100 new policies. That doesn't include my current clients who also needed reviews. So, let’s dive into each of the items on my marketing plan and discuss what worked and what didn’t. WHAT WORKED? Worked at retail store - pay to be there, had to commit to 20 hours a week, table at the end of the cash registers (not a lot of privacy) Build rapport When someone sitting with me, 3 people would stop; when I was alone, felt like having to reel them in - Visible to everyone Company branding, not my own; had table top posters, my laptop and mask said ‘ask me about medicare’ Not a lot of privacy - tried to schedule zooms Referrals from pharmacy Several employees purchased insurance Why it works at this retail store - near retiree community, not in the big city, biggest competition is TV ads, and people asking me what the ads were all about. Direct Mail I use a platform called I get unlimited postcards, I just need to pay for postage and I get 250 free cards to send each month, again I just pay for postage. - bought leads; created postcard geared towards veterans Handful of calls - less than 10 - I’ve heard that direct mail wasn’t working as great as it had in the past. I think if I were going to try this again, 1) I would send 3-5 cards 2) it needs to be done more than one year 3) I think advertising workshops might work better than trying to get them to call me! Next year I think I’ll do another postcard mailing to current clients letting them know I’d be at walmart again and maybe a mailing to one community (in real estate they call that a Farm area) but I don’t think I’ll buy a lot of mailing lists or mail outside of one zip code. SPONSORED BY REFERRALS Aside from Walmart where people could see me regularly, referrals is where most of my business came from. The referrals came from Financial advisors Financial advisors do reviews with their clients at the end of the year -when people are thinking about retiring, it is often at the end of the year which coincides with AEP - and November was the great retirement month - ironically I think November was dubbed the Great Retirement Month - where more people retired than any other month in history! My plan when I first started the agency in 2019 was to focus on marketing to referral partners. I had to get past the loss of my mom, but as I did that, I started setting up meetings with financial advisors, positioning myself as a resource and seeing success….then COVID hit and well, we know what happened there. I fell off the wagon of reaching out to referral partners and didn’t do much to build up any new relationships. That stopped January 1 as I’ve already started touching them and letting them know I’m here as a resource. Another place where I was surprised to receive a lot of referrals was from a local list serve. Now, I must be honest, I have no idea how to get on this list serve, but two people posted about me over the past 12 months, and boom, it really made a difference. One of the people that talked about me is someone that was is also a medicare agent. I had agreed to mentor her and show her the ropes, but after a few meetings, she decided the business wasn’t for her so when she hung up her hat, she started to promote me. She’d been promoting her husband who is a hairdresser on the list serve with great success, so when she wanted to thank me for the time I had invested in her, this is what she did. A second person that offered to promote me on his list serve is someone I volunteer with at a local tennis tournament. We've worked together for several years as volunteers and last year he offered to promote me and boom, the phone just rang, rang and rang….. SPEAKING AT EVENTS This was going to be my number one tactic for marketing when I started over the summer Luckily, I met a few wonderful agents who wanted to partner. I had tasks, they had tasks. We both met our obligations, except for execution. I got the funding for mailings, they got the venue, but we never got the mailer designed and sent - part of that was a carrier issue, part of that was my limited time - by the time we got the funding, it was early October - the events could have been anytime in October or November, but at that point I was slammed. Needless to say I put a lot of energy into speaking events, only to not have one from October to December. To recap, most of my business in 2022 came from working at the retail store and referrals. referrals from strategic partners, clients and list serves. It doesn’t matter if you are selling medicare, life insurance, boat insurance or high end homeowners. Figure out who can refer you business and build relationships with them. Referral partners differ for different product lines. You just need to figure out who is ideal for you and start building relationships with them. I did an episode about referrals awhile back, it’s episode 6, so check it out if you want to learn more about building your referral business. As the dust has begun to settle and I’m putting a bow on all of last years business implementing my marketing plan for 2022. My focus for 2022 is my referral partners. I plan to mail them once a month, send them items of value and make sure they feel loved. I want to be their go to partner for their clients with Medicare questions. We really never know what will work from one year to another, but outside of insurance, I have been teaching people how to build their business through referrals for over 20 years. I know what needs to be done and how to do it…… If I do another episode next year on what worked in 2022, I’m confident that I’ll have doubled my referrals from my referral partners. In addition to focusing on my referral partners this year, I’ll also do more public speaking and webinars. I believe it is a good way to get in front of people and let them know they shouldn’t be calling the 800 number! I plan to mail to my current clients and referral partners once a month this year and ramp up my webinars and my podcasts! Stay tuned for updates on the results I’m seeing! Until next time, keep creating opportunities. /episode/index/show/businessofinsurance/id/21867263