Out-marketing your competitors is easy if you do it right. It takes a combination of work and savvy, but the results can...

Just when we think we've grasped what's happening in business, something changes to disrupt the precarious balance. It may occur in the economy, an industry, a region, a particular market, or technology that alters even the most flexible business plan.

Establishing a strategy, then staying with it, was possible for most businesses until the last decade. Planning a year or more in advance was relatively easy. Ups and downs would occur but with a high degree of predictability. Hitting sales and revenue targets was almost a natural outcome.

But, this article is about the fundamentals of marketing and communications for an insurance agency (or any consumer facing business's marketing). In my opinion, if you can stick to nurturing these fundamentals regularly, then all the advanced and future enhancements will come naturally. It doesn't matter whether the role you play in the agency is Principal, Producer, CSR, Admin or any customer facing role, in more ways than one, these fundamentals should apply to you.

A BALANCED APPROACH TO MARKETING by Steve Anderson Just like you, each week I receive e-mails and read articles from different business and marketing experts. A common theme Ive no...

No matter what their size, many businesses use most of their available energy just keeping things running on a day-to-day basis.
Unfortunately, there seldom seems to be much time for those tasks that can have a profound effect on a company's future, such as communicating the company's message and projecting its image.

A CREATIVE WAY TO SELL 'UMBRELLAS' IMMS Member Wayne Smart of Fry, Jordan & Wilson, Inc., South Boston, Virginia sells Personal Umbrella insurance by the bucketful. Here's how: Wayne tapes a pape...

A FINAL REASON TO lsquo;GUIDE FOR COMMERCIAL LINES REFERRALS by Gil Simonds In the previous article, I promised to provide one last reason to guide for referrals...

A LOOK AT VALUE ADDED SELLING AS AN ANSWER TO PRICE SELLING by Allen Karlin, Ph.D. U...

A NEW LOOK AT THE SALE OF LIFE INSURANCE TO CHILDREN More children die from injuries than from disease, reports a Wall Street Journal item which quotes specialists at the Johns Hopkins Children's Ce...

Trying to get fish into the boat before catching them sounds crazy; it wouldn't make...