Insurance Agent Forum

[Bhains Insurance Broker]

Thought i'd post this article to help others that are in the business or are thinking about going into the insurance business.

Taken from quotesauction.com

Prospecting Is a Key To Success

Even though a lot of people think that publicity and advertising are the same, this is not exactly the truth. There are many different ways that you can get publicity. The basic idea of publicity is to get as much as you can without having to directly market yourself to interested parties. The good thing is that if you are working in a narrow field, you should be able to get the publicity you are after.
What is it that you do? Do you send out press releases? Do you speak to as many large groups that you can? Do you offer your services for free? These are all great ways to get publicity¸ and the list goes on from there.
There are many people out there who carve out their own nice, and in turn garner a lot of publicity. For example, if you are an insurance salesman you may want to look into ways of taking your business to the next level. Instead of simply sitting back and doing your day to day job, look for ways to get your face in front of people. This may include going to special events, or speaking at conferences. Whatever you can do to gain publicity will go a long way in helping you get the recognition that you deserve.
To make yourself appear as an expert you may want to start writing free reports, and then distribute them far and wide. Not only can you send these to your clients or interested parties, but you can also send them off to the local media. When doing this make sure that your story is as interesting as possible. Give the newspapers or news stations something to talk about. Remember, everybody is always looking for good news. If you cannot get a story written about you, try to query a newspaper to see if they would let you complete the piece on your own. The bottom line is that you should do whatever you can to gain publicity.
When it comes down to it, publicity is all about getting in front of people. If you are not visible, you will not get the publicity that you deserve. This is why so many companies spend a lot of time and money making sure that they appear in the news on a regular basis.

[Delta76]

I agree that prospecting is the key to success, however, I don't think the author of the article does a good job at defining it. Here is my simple explanation, maybe too simple:

1. Prospecting - Actively calling a prospect to set a meeting or to qualify.

2. Marketing - Branding your name in front of a specific group of people to make them aware of the problems you solve.

I think you can get by with just prospecting, but marketing is needed to take a business to the next level. Pure marketing usually won't work well enough to have people calling you (without any initiative to make it happen on your end) to buy insurance products.

The best book I've read on marketing is Robert Krumroy's "Please Make Me a Little Bit Famous." He defines marketing as targeting a niche, finding SPECIFIC names, and branding your image into their "shelf space." By having the prospects know who you are before calling and developing a unique perseption of extertise, prospects are more inclined to meet with you when you call (ie Prospecting).

[salpro22]

Good stuff, but not as powerful as his first book aptly titled, "Would You Please Pass The Jelly?"

Who can ever forget that?