ADVERTISING FOR HELP by Al Diamond INSURANCE Licensed P/C agent. Benefits Call Sonja at (856) 555-5555 (Cost $27.36 for Sunday insertion) How attractive is this advertisement? Would you be ...

CHANGE IS A CERTAINTY by Al Diamond Attempting to maintain the same old business practices in a changing environment is as futile as trying to sit stationary in a rising tide. As ind...

The previous article (Creating A Successful Plan For Marketing Commercial Lines Part I), presented information about the matrix of the agency book of business, the review of the book of for account development, and a review of company programs and products. In this second of a three-part series, Jack Fries focuses on selecting a proper market.

On June 22, 1984, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a standard which set a limit on worker exposure to ethylene oxide (EtO) averaged over an either hour day to protect about 68,000 workers exposed to the substance. The standard was amended April 6, 1988, to further reduce the health risk associated with EtO by requiring control of short-term exposure to EtO as well. Workers primarily employed by hospitals and medical products manufacturers will benefit most from the 1988 amendment.

WRESTLING PROFITS FROM SMALL COMMERCIAL ACCOUNTS by Sharon Cunningham This article by Sharon Cunningham will discuss the difference between the agencies that handle small accounts because t...

WHATS YOUR EXIT STRATEGY? by Mitch Axelrod Will you work until the day you die? Have you set a retirement date? Do you even think about it? Some people like the adventure of...

CSR EXTRAORDINAIRE by Mary Beth Bolen Tina Roberts currently works as a CSR for Cosmo Conte at his State Farm Insurance Agency in La Jolla, California-one of the top State Farm agencies in North...

There's nothing better for business than a booming economy. Unfortunately, it often encourages faulty thinking and spawns erroneous ideas. When sales are strong and profits meet projections, we're quick to take the credit. When things go sour, external forces get the blame.
A good economy tends to mask distorted thinking and inappropriate ideas. For example, personal computer sales have been drifting downward, even while prices have been dropping. Manufacturers are petrified. Out of near desperation, they jack up power to a sizzling 500 MHz to try to capture customer attention. Just as this happens, free PCs appear. In the midst of all this, one company rediscovers itself. To IBM's credit, it figured out what business it's in: solutions.

What you want will only get done if you make it an A+ priority. Jack Fries tells you how a business plan can reward you with survival, planned growth, and profit.

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.