Inside this month's issue:

In addition to being easy to use, LinkedIn is well adapted to the needs of an insurance agency. Sign up today!

A successful marketing program is vital—but you must have a strategy before you implement any new technology.

If you’re thinking about passing your business along to your kids, make sure to avoid common traps.

Introducing GoToMyPC, DropBox, Mozy, and Jing—4 Web-based services you may find useful.

Is your brand and message being tarnished by sloppy e-mails, faxes, letters, and proposals?

Ready to move? Take note of some lessons learned before you travel too far down the wrong path.

In part 5, learn to succeed at e-business by measuring progress, setting milestones, and purchasing gear.

LinkedIn makes improvements; BCBS suffers $7 million data breach; insurance industry launches personal lines initiative.

Quickly find missing contact information using LeadResearcher, an intelligent research tool.

March 2010

Web Trends

Steve Anderson

LinkedIn—The New World of Networking

Social networking is exploding, nearly doubling in usage in the last year alone. Luckily, the leading social networking tool for business is the easiest to use and maintain of all.

LinkedIn is the leading social networking tool for business. A LinkedIn executive once described their growth succinctly: "One new member a second." In fact, that was in 2009; growth is even faster than that today.

Your agency's LinkedIn page should be the foundation of your social networking presence. You may also wish to use other such tools, such as Facebook and Twitter, but LinkedIn is a great place to start.

In addition to being easy to use, LinkedIn is well adapted to the needs of an insurance agency. In its simplest form, it's like an online resume. It's very easy to get a detailed description of your expertise and your agency into LinkedIn, and it will be presented in an attractive, professional manner.

The good people at LinkedIn know that business is their reason for being, so they keep the site easy to use and police it carefully. You're unlikely to find risqué photos or celebrity g...

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