IF YOU WANT THE SWEETEST MUSIC, YOU NEED TO PAY THE PIPER by Al Diamond 'You get what you pay for.' Can we assume that this is always the case? Al Diamond looks into whether compensati...

INDUSTRY IMAGE IMPROVEMENT PLAN by Mary Beth Bolen How to improve the industry? One day at a time, says the National Association of Insurance Women (NAIW), Tulsa, OK. To mark NAIW Week (...

INFLUENTIAL PERSONALITIES: HOW YOU INFLUENCE THOSE AROUND YOU by Steve Anderson The amount of influence you have refers to how well you are able to convince others to accept your point of...

Many people tend to credit the origin of infomercials to the old, late-night slicer/dicer and Pocket Fisherman commercials. Granted, some tacky infomercials have taken the slicer/dicer format, but the original infomercials began on a higher ground: religion.

Before you haul me off to a padded room, let's define "infomercial."An infomercial is an advertisement for a product or service that has been expanded with information, entertainment, or both to retain the attention of the audience.

Informing clients on their insurance needs.

INTERNAL CREDIT POLICIES: CREATION AND IMPLEMENTATION by Mary Beth Bolen Let's face it-few people enjoy collecting funds for premiums. Collecting on past-due accounts is even less pleasant. W...

IS THIS STILL YOUR FATHER'S AGENCY? by Pegi Flahault To paraphrase an automobile advertising slogan: Is this still your father's agency? Are you trying to run the agency the same way it was ru...

IS THIS WHAT YOU CALL SERVICE? by Pegi Flahault Insurance agents are always talking about service. Service to the customer-what does that mean? There's a huge gap between available technology...

When I ask agency owners this question I get mixed responses that fall mainly into three categories:

“No, but we have not changed our website in years and need to ASAP and get more traffic

“No. We spent a lot of money and time on a recent redesign, but we are not getting the results we expected.”

“Well, we recently redesigned and we like the look of it, it’s cool, but it doesn’t seem to be working for us in terms of traffic.”

The common theme among all of them is this ROI – “We are not getting great results.”

The international insurance market offers a variety of benefits to independent agents and brokers. It provides a perfect tool for solidifying your Commercial Lines accounts and insulating them from inroads being made by alphabet house brokers. International insurance operations also offer an entree to new product lines and markets that will expand your facilities abroad. For example, U.S. agents can introduce their expertise in such lines as Auto, Medical, Surety, and Workers' Compensation to third-world countries that are privatizing these coverages. Canadian brokers can expand their expertise in out-of-country private Medical insurance and, potentially, Workers' Compensation.