THE lsquo;IM NOT A COMPUTER PERSON AGENCY OWNER by Jack Burke Anyone in a leadership position walks a fine line everyday, balancing the needs of clients and emplo...

You are not in control.
Your employees are volunteers.
There's no such thing as a long-term carrier relationship....

Are independent insurance agents on the verge of extinction? On the MisFortune 500 list of endangered occupations? You might think so after reading some of the press. For a different perspective, Kevin Stipe offers his observations of current and past trends and market conditions to prove that we’re not necessarily going the way of the dinosaur and the door-to-door encyclopedia salesman.

THE INTERNAL CYBERTHREAT by Lorelie Masters Cyberthreats from employee actions, whether accidental or intentional, can cripple a business just as surely as a fire...

THE INTERNET AND THE ARRIVAL OF THE CITIZEN MARKETER by John Graham All the signs point in every possible direction. Even at huge eBay, the quintessential Internet portal, revenues are sl...

The growth of E-commerce is driving a fundamental change in selling mentality.
E-commerce changes selling. Driven by E-commerce, a fundamental and far-reaching change is taking place in professional selling. The salesperson who’s emerging might well be known as a “customer evangelist.”
Apple Computer and other companies employ evangelists as enthusiastic representatives of their best interests. Taking that imagery a step further, customers will enjoy the benefits of doing business with a new type of sales rep.

THE ROLE OF AN OWNER: IS IT ABOUT YOU OR THEM? by Jack Burke Leadership means a willingness to embrace chan...

THE VALUE OF A SATISFIED CUSTOMER by Chris Burand Every agency has three types of customers. First are those who will leave for a lower price. Second are those on the fence; they're not tr...

TRIED AND TRUE MARKETING PRINCIPLES by Jack Burke The Internet is changing the way we do business. Thats true. Unfortunately, the hoopla over the Internet has caused people to forget t...

USING SOCIAL NETWORKS TO MARKET by Steve Anderson Steve loved to dazzle his high school science students with cool and unusual experiments. One of his favorite experiments was to drop a c...