5 Facebook Tips For Insurance Agents
These days, if your business isn’t using social media, you’re missing out on an important opportunity to strengthen your relationships with policyholders. This is especially true for industries that have a longer sales cycle such as insurance. Acquiring a new customer can cost five times as much as retaining an existing customer. But retaining people in the digital age is even more difficult. It requires regular communication that is relevant, engaging, and valuable. Facebook is one of the best platforms to do this. If you’re just getting started with Facebook, it can be overwhelming. Here are a few tips to help insurance agents use Facebook in the most effective way possible:
1) Look Over Your Profile Information
Most people and companies fill out their profile information when they first sign up for Facebook and don’t look at it again for years. Read over your profile information to make sure that it is personable and current, and that it shares pertinent information about your business.
2) Choose Your Profile Picture Carefully
A profile picture is extremely important because it will be connected to everything you post. Make sure to use a professional-looking photo that is high quality. Both personal headshots and company logos work well as profile pictures. If you use a headshot, make sure you’re easy to recognize, and if you use a logo, make sure any text is legible.
3) Include Images In Your Posts
Facebook posts with images receive 2.3 times more engagement than text posts. What’s more, posts with images are 40 times more likely to be shared. To find images for your posts, either use stock photographs or take your own photos. Just make sure the images are high quality.
4) Post Important Information
One thing that you have that your policyholders want is knowledge. You’re an expert in insurance, an area that many people find complex and confusing. Your Facebook page is the optimal place to share bite-sized pieces of insurance information. This will make people feel as if they’re learning something new and getting the inside scoop. These are the types of posts that many people like and share. If they ever need someone who knows a lot about insurance, they’ll turn to you.
5) Keep Track Of Your Peers
If your page has 100 likes or more, you have the option of seeing the page insights of your peers and competitors. Click on the “Insights” tab and scroll down to the section titled “Pages to Watch.” Then, click “Add Pages” and choose at least five pages that you want to keep track of. Then click “Watch Page” for each so that you can compare your number of posts, likes, and engagement on a weekly basis with each of these pages. If you notice that one of these pages has had a very engaged week, visit their page to see what they’ve done and what you can do differently. Another way to stay on top of your peers is imply to like their pages, as well as relevant organizations and publications. This will help you finds articles, videos and other content to repurpose.
Using Facebook for professional purposes can be tricky. But if you follow these steps, your insurance company will be looking great on Facebook in no time.
Hurricane Season, How to Make Sure You’re Prepared
Coastal residents all over the country are bracing themselves for what is thought to be a rough hurricane season ahead. This years season is predicted as slightly above average. With many named storms predicted it is essential that homeowner’s are protected financially and physically. Here is a list of things to double, maybe triple check before taking the summer by storm.
At Home Checklist
- Stock up on non-perishable food items prior to storms notices to avoid chaos at the store. Canned goods and bottled water are great items with a long shelf life. In the event of a power outage, candles and battery powered lights can be of great value
- Prepare a list of emergency phone numbers with long distance contacts to be used after the storm has passed.
- Formulate a safety plan with your family to assure everyone is informed and on the same page during the storm,
- Be sure to check the physical structure of your house and minimize vulnerabilities during the storm.
- Doors, Windows, Sheds, Garages, loose belongings. Etc.
- Have trees assessed each year to assure they are stable and safe. Trees can cause the most damage to your home during episodes of high wind.
- Determine a safe area in your home to occupy during the storm. Stay away from windows and near stable structures. Community based safety areas are highly recommended.
- Stay informed using the National Hurricane Center each week for updates and other hurricane prevention tips.
Insurance
Prior to Hurricane season it is essential to review your homeowner’s insurance policy to find out how you are being covered. In most basic homeowner’s policies damage from hurricanes is partially covered. You are going to want to ensure that your policy has enough coverage to rebuild your home in the event that it is destroyed. Pay mind to the fact that this is the cost to rebuild your home, which differs from what you paid to purchase your home. In regards to water damage from hurricanes, many basic homeowner’s policies cover water damages from internal sources like plumbing but fail to cover larger water damages from flooding. Flood insurance policies can be purchased through just about any insurance provider. Also, in many specific hurricane and flood prone areas many insurance agencies offer hurricane and wind damage deductibles that are calculated through a certain percentage of the home’s value. In addition to protecting your home as a structure, be sure to review insurance policies pertaining to belongings and personal property.
Do College Students Need Life Insurance?
There are many different reasons to consider getting life insurance while you are a college student, but we want to highlight two big reasons below. If these reasons don’t apply to you, it doesn’t mean that you don’t need life insurance, but you still may want to consider it based on your individual needs.
You’re Getting Married
One of the biggest situations where you may want to consider getting life insurance is marriage. In fact, about 9% of college students are married, while another 15% on top of that are engaged. And while insurance may not be the first thing on your mind when it comes to your significant other, insuring a new marriage or engagement can help protect a couple against financial hardships.
The amount of life insurance you need should be based on how much you need to protect your spouse and any expenses that you may have together. This includes things like rent, mortgage payments, or other debts. In the event of your death, you don’t want to burden your spouse any more by leaving him or her with a pile of bills that they can’t pay. That is why it is important to make sure that you are both protected as you take this big step forward in life.
You might be thinking “How can I afford life insurance if I’m only in college?” Jeff Rose, certified financial planner and founder of www.lifeinsurancebyjeff.com says, “Many consumers are convinced that life insurance is way too expensive which is totally not the case. In fact, for someone in college it should be much cheaper since they are most likely much younger and in good health. A 26 year old could get a $250,000 policy for around $12 per month. I know that when I was in college and even though I was broke I could come up with an extra $12 per month.”
You’re In Debt
Another instance when college students should consider getting life insurance has to do with student loans and debt. If you need to get private loans for your education, chances are you had to have someone co-sign the student loan for you (usually a parent). The trouble with having a co-signer is that if anything happened to the student, the co-signer would still be liable for the debt.
This has happened countless times across the United States, where a child dies, and the parent is not only left without their child, but stuck with student loan debt they have to pay off. If you are getting your student loans cosigned, use a life insurance calculator to also factor in the costs of having enough life insurance to pay off the loans should anything happen to you. In fact, many parents are happy to pay the premium for that insurance just to be protected.
Do you think that college students should consider getting life insurance?
3 Clever Ways To Save On Auto Insurance
If you own a car, you’re going to have to pay for car insurance. Unfortunately, there’s no getting around it. It’s frustrating, but at least there is a way around paying far too much for your car insurance. It is all too often that consumers pay their bill without really knowing all of the ways to save. It is extremely useful to do a little extra research. There are a number of ways that many people can reduce their car insurance rates. Here are some smart ways to save on your car insurance.
1. Shop Around
It is easy to chose an agency and then just stick with it, but you shouldn’t get so comfortable that you’re not looking for the best deals! It’s important to get at least three price quotes, which can be achieved by either researching the information online or calling the company directly. Depending on what state you live in, your state insurance department may provide comparison of the prices charged by all of the leading insurers.
It’s important to remember that in addition to looking at different insurance companies, you should also look at different types of insurance companies. There are some insurers that sell through their own agents, and others that sell through independent agencies that give policies from a number of different insurance companies. There are also a lot of insurers that will sell to consumers over the phone or the internet.
2. Buy Your Auto Insurance From The Same Company You Buy Your Homeowners Insurance From
There are a number of insurers that give discounts to those who “bundle” more than one type of insurance, or those who have more than one vehicle insured with the same company. Bundling shows that you’re a loyal customer, and for that the company wants to reward you. Make sure you take advantage of these rewards. But even with this idea in mind, one should still consider shopping around. Depending on how much your insurer charges, it’s possible you could save more money buying from different companies than from bundling with an expensive company.
3. Reduce Coverage on Older Car
When it comes time to renew your insurance, you should review your coverage instead of just blindly renewing it. It is important to make sure that your insurance aligns with your current needs. If you car’s value is less than 10 times the premium, buying the coverage will most likely not be cost effective. If you notice that this is the case, it is a good idea to drop your comprehensive coverage, your collision coverage, or both in order to save. There are many user-friendly ways that consumers can research the value of their vehicles online. A couple of the free sites available are Kelley, TrueCar, and the National Association of Auto Dealers (NADA).
Auto insurance is something that all car owners have to deal with. But there are many ways that these costs can be decreased that you may not know about. Make sure you remember these tips when you’re paying your auto insurance so that you can save as much as possible!
5 Reasons To Consider A Job In The Insurance Industry
1. Great Vacation Time and Benefits: Most insurance professionals get 15 to 25 vacation days to enjoy away from the office! Just think of all the travelling you can do in 25 days! Insurance professionals also tend to receive great health, life, and dental insurance plans, along with discounts on their home and auto insurance.
2. 401k and Pension Plans: Most insurance companies offer 401k plans, and many still offer pensions, which seem to be disappearing quickly outside of the financial industry. Having the safety of a 401k and pension plan allow you to focus completely on doing a great job today knowing that your financial future is taken care of.
3. The Need for Up-and-Coming, Ambitious Leaders (Like YOU): Because of the aging workforce and many insurance professionals preparing for retirement, there is a great need for strong leaders—which, in turn, presents a tremendous opportunity for career advancement. Insurance is the place to be for young go-getters!
4. A Recession Proof Industry: People will always need insurance. Even with recent years’ downturn in the economy, the demand for insurance professionals has only grown. As long as risks exist, they will need to be managed by the insurance industry, regardless of what the stock market or real estate markets are doing.
5. Not a Flat Industry: There are numerous levels in an insurance company, which means if you work hard, there is ample room for growth and development in your career. For many entry level roles, it is easy to feel like you’re stuck at the bottom of the food chain with no forecast of moving up. However, the insurance industry provides an environment where growth is inevitable.
The insurance hierarchy often looks like this: You → Supervisor → Manager → Associate Director → Director → Assistant Vice President → Vice President → Senior Vice President → COO → CEO. This means there’s potentially 10 levels to get promoted to!
There is no better feeling than helping others and when you work in the insurance industry, helping people is what it’s all about. In insurance, you have the opportunity to help people file their claims, repair their vehicles, get their medical bills taken care of, and rebuild their lives after major catastrophes. You are making a difference in people’s lives — and there are simply no words for how good that feels.
Questions to Ask Before Buying Auto-Insurance
If you’re thinking about purchasing auto insurance, which we highly recommend you do, there are many factors that determine the price and what you are getting. Here are 5 questions you should always ask yourself before you decide on auto insurance, that may actually help lower the insurance rate:
How much do you drive each week?
This plays an important role in deciphering whether or not you should be taking public transportation to work or wherever you go on a consistent basis. Taking public transportation often helps lower your car insurance.
Can you offer a higher deductible?
Often times, if a person can pay a higher deductible, he or she will pay a lower price each month, which can end up saving you a lot of money in the long-run.
Do you have a good credit score?
This one probably doesn’t come as a surprise to you – bad credit often means you will be charged at a higher rate. This is mostly because auto insurance companies predict that if someone has bad credit, they will probably file a claim after an accident.
How old is your car?
Older cars will generally have higher insurance costs due to safety reasons. If you drive a car that is over 15-20 years old, you might want to think about dropping collision coverage because the monthly premium will most likely be more than the replacement value.
Do you work for a professional group or organization?
Check to see if your company has insurance discounts to offer you – this can save you a lot of money. Most companies will have some sort of employee benefits that you might be able to use for auto insurance. Always double check.
Auto Insurance: Why You Need It
Each year there are over 6 million car accidents in the United States. Though you may think that you’re a great driver and haven’t even been involved in a small fender bender before, accidents happen. And you should be insured when they do. On average, according to the National Safety Council the property damage cost of a car accident is around $9,300. If you were to add the amount of money spend after accidents that cause major injuries, you’re looking at around $80,000 each crash.
Simply put, auto insurance protects you. Accidents happen during the most unexpected times, and there is a large chance that throughout your life, you will be involved in one. Not having auto insurance puts you at risk for not only your bank account, but all of your other assets as well.
Car insurance will help you throughout the entire process of getting into an accident, specifically throughout unpleasant paperwork, finding repair shops, and getting claims settled. In the event that you get into an accident with a driver who is not insured, your auto insurance company can help you recover a multitude of expenses. Auto insurance is there to help you and acts as guidance, which you will be glad you have if an accident happens to you or your family.
In addition, car insurance policies protect you from other drivers who are at fault. Everyone knows the uncanny amount of distractions there are on the road. From cell phones, to crying babies, applying makeup, road rage, or even a beautiful sunset. A reliable auto insurance policy will protect you from those kinds of reckless drivers so that you can drive with a peace of mind. The road is full of surprises, that’s why auto insurance exists to aid with each unique driving scenario.
Another great reason for you to have auto insurance is because it can supplement your health insurance. According to Esurance.com:
“Even if you do not have health insurance, car insurance can help pay for things your medical coverage might night – possibly including care for accident-related injuries, dental work, funeral costs, or extended nursing care during your rehabilitation,” (5 Reasons Why You Need Car Insurance).
Though it should not be advised to not have health insurance, if you do find yourself in that situation, it is comforting to know that many auto insurance policies will be more than helpful.
Last, you need auto insurance because it’s the law in a majority of states. You should research the specific state you reside in to find out more details on liability coverage and financial responsibility bonds in relation to the minimum amount of car insurance that is required.
In conclusion, you need auto insurance. You won’t want to run the risk of not being insured. Insurance is protection, and we all need to be protected by the unpredictable road.
The Importance of Personal Insurance
Navigating the world of insurance can be a tough one. No one likes the idea of losing their valuables to the unplanned curveballs life throws. How do you know what’s worth protecting when investing in personal insurance? Following this handy list can help inform your choices when understanding which insurance is most important, and what a program typically covers.
Simple, important and a necessity if you’d like to go anywhere with four wheels, automotive insurance is paramount. However, it’s not enough to understand your state’s minimum requirements and purchase a plan based around that. Be sure and consult the agent you’ve chosen to purchase insurance from when building a policy. More often than not, they are genuinely attempting to provide you with the best possible coverage for your money, and auto-insurance is one of the few that get utilized the most.
Renter’s or homeowner’s insurance is fantastic for safeguarding what matters most. Renter’s insurance can differ from state to state, and where you decide to rent. Even if your complex does not require the purchasing of renter’s insurance, protecting your possessions from break-in or incidental damage is always a good idea. Homeowner’s insurance is a must-buy for what will possibly be the largest investment of your life. When carrying a mortgage, homeowner’s insurance is a necessity, but keeping a policy intact for when your mortgage is paid off is the best way to protect yourself from fire or natural disaster. Beyond disasters, homeowner’s insurance can and will protect you should your possessions be stolen, or an accident occur on your property.
Lastly, umbrella insurance is an excellent catch-all should the worst happen. All types of insurance have their limits, and should you find yourself in a situation where those limits are met and exceeded, umbrella insurance is designed to cover the overflow. Able to cover you during overseas travel, umbrella insurance is an excellent safety net should your initial fail-safes give way.
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Welcome to the general insurance blog of Amigo MGA.
