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

Editorial

Steve Anderson

Strategy First; Technology Second

In last month's editorial I stated the case for why an agency that wants to grow must have a comprehensive marketing system. I ended that editorial with this paragraph:

Technology is available to help you manage your marketing system. The first step is to understand the need for marketing. Then, create a marketing strategy for the agency, implement that strategy, and monitor its effectiveness. If you do all of these things, you can't help but become more successful.

As a result of recent conversations I've had with various people within the insurance industry, I want to emphasize that creating an effective and engaging Web site is only 25% of what's necessary to be successful in growing your agency. The questions I'm receiving now from agencies include, "Can you recommend a Web designer?" or, "Can you help me with search engine optimization?" The first question should be, "What marketing strategies can we implement that will help us grow a profitable book of business?"

Technology doesn't market. A Web site doesn't ...

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