Marketing Tips & Advertising Your Insurance Agency:

Which Mediums are Best for You?

Local Movie Theatre

The marketing of your insurance agency is a time consuming and expensive process and it takes an extraordinary amount of effort to coordinate this function. In order to accomplish and gain recognition in this fast and competitive world we live in, you will find more companies trying to find ways to increase their brand to gain that competitive edge. You know the old saying, “you have to spend money to make money.” So don’t fall by the wayside.

To try and help you determine the best advertising medium for your insurance agency we will help show you the most common types of marketing and give you an explanation of each. Most importantly, before we go into showing you the ways to market and advertise your insurance agency you need to think about what your budget is and start from there. As you know, different mediums of advertising all come with a price.

Insurance Agent Marketing – Local Movie Theatres: A local audience and a family type atmosphere is a great way for marketing your insurance business. Many types of insurance come into play here when you and the family are out watching the movie. Think insure your life, insure your auto, insure your health, etc. All these things come into play when parents are out with their kids. Make your ad suited for this audience. Typically these ads come up when you are sitting in your seat waiting for the movie to start. The ads you see are effective as people are constantly seeing your name out there. In 2007 Hollywood drew in over 1.44 billion admissions.

Start Building a Game Plan
Once you see the benefits of each advertising medium, stick with what works. Stay within your budget and find the best approach. Finding the best option for you is going to be trial and error, but it will be the difference in building your agency or breaking your agency.

For more information about advertising on InsureMyHouse.com and registering your exclusive zip code(s), Click here.

It’s Spring Cleaning Time! The weather is getting warmer and it is time to dig through those closets, garages and storage areas and turn your unused items into cash! Traditionally, this is the busiest time of the year for classified advertising. Motor vehicles and recreational vehicles are especially big sellers during the warm weather. If you are considering selling, now is the time. Hundreds of potential buyers are out there reading the Sunday morning newspaper every week, so take advantage of the opportunity to sell your items. Below you will find some great tips to help you get the ball rolling.

1.PREPARE: Determine the items around your home that you no longer need. Once you have collected these items, confirm that they are in working order and in good selling condition. If items have been in storage for a long period of time, you may need to clean them up to make them more attractive to potential buyers.

2.RESEARCH: After all items are collected, do your research. Determine the value of your items and decide whether it would be worth you time and effort to place a classified ad. Some things will do well on their own while others may do better in a garage sale setting. If certain items do not have enough value to justify placing an advertisement and you are not interested in hosting a garage sale, donate these items to a local charity for a nice tax deduction.

3.WHERE TO ADVERTISE: Once you have the items sorted out, you need to decide the best method of advertising. Most items will do best advertised in your daily newspaper since you will be able to reach a local audience. Online classifieds generally do not receive as many local buyers, but most are free so you may want to place an ad there as well just to cover all the bases. If you are selling a larger item such as a car, motorcycle, motor home, etc., you will also want to place prominent for sale signs on the items themselves. You can also utilize bulletin boards in your local community to post a free advertisement.

4.DRAFTING YOUR AD: What are the most attractive selling features of your items for sale? Decide which of these features you want to highlight in your advertisement. Look for classified ads for similar items to get an idea of how they are written. Check out the competition to see how your item is better or different than the items that will be running along side your ad.

5.WRITING YOUR AD: Create a catchy title to get your reader’s attention. This will spark an interest in your classified ad. Always include the brand name when applicable. Price should only be included in the title if it is an obvious selling point. Next, you need to write the body text of your ad and entice buyers even further with the details. Make your description clear and factual. Provide specific details in what it is that makes your item stand out from the others. Be honest in your representation and do not make your item appear better than it actually is. Always include the price in your ad. Take some time to view other classified ads for similar items in your newspaper. This will help you determine a fair asking price for your item. Keep in mind, just because you paid $1,500 for your dining room set, does not mean you will receive that much for it on resale. Be realistic in your expectations. Furthermore, if you will only be available during certain times of the day to discuss your item, make a note of this in your advertisement so buyers know the best time to reach you. If possible, include your email address.

6.INCLUDING PHOTOS: A picture is worth a thousand words. Some local newspapers provide you with the option to include photos with your classified ad. Be sure to include the photos! When buyers have the opportunity to see an article for sale they have a higher degree of interest and are more likely to buy when they follow up by telephone or email to ask questions or to get more information. If your newspaper does not offer photos or the photo option is too expensive, you can use an online classified photo hosting service. Visit http://www.seethisitem.com for information on how to include free digital photos with your newspaper ad.

7.COMMUNICATING WITH BUYERS: Do your best to be available when customers call for information regarding your item. Be polite and helpful and answer all questions to the best of your knowledge.

8.SCHEDULING APPOINTMENTS: If you receive numerous calls for your item, be sure to space out the appointments so that you will have enough time to spend with each buyer and your appointments will not overlap. Safety tip: Whenever possible, have someone home with you when a buyer is coming over to look at your item. You really can never be too careful when dealing with people you have never met before.

9.NEGOTIATION: Decide before you negotiate, the lowest amount you will be willing to accept for your item. This will assure a smoother negotiation process.

10.PAYMENT: Never accept a check for your item. You should only accept cash or money orders. If a buyer decides they want the item, but they do not have cash on them, always take a deposit to hold the item until they are able to come back. Be sure to set a deadline for them to return with the balance due. Even though you have a deposit, do not stop showing your item since the deal is not final until you have the cash in your hand. If someone else is also interested, tell them you just received an offer, but you will be happy to take down their name and number in case the deal falls through. This will give you more options should the original buyer back out of the sale.

That’s it! Keep these selling tips in mind and you will be on the road to a successful sale. Take your time, be thorough and most of all have fun! If you follow the steps outlined above, you will be turning your unused items into cash in no time.

Many people who start a home based business have a limited
advertising budget However, for the life of your business it is
important that you get the word out as quickly as possible.
These tips will help you do just that without breaking the bank.

1. Word of Mouth is one of the best forms of advertising. It is
absolutely free and if done correctly, you will get a great
response. Talk to everyone you know about your business, Ask
your family and friends for referrals. Make an effort to meet
new people while you are out and about. If the internet is a
tool that you use to grow your business visit message boards,
you can meet a lot of people who will be interested in what you
have to offer.

2.Fliers are a great tool to build your business. Leave fliers
at the grocery store, laundry mat, parking lots, and other high
traffic places. If you are able to do this consistently, you
will have a great response.

3. Join a networking group. There are many great sites on the
internet that you can join that are absolutely free. You can
meet people that can possibly be interested in your business. If
you prefer networking offline, contact your local chamber of
commerce. Most hold monthly mixers that you can attend for a
nominal fee. This will give you the opportunity to meet local
business owners in your community.

4.Make use of your email. Be sure that every email that you send
out includes your signature tag. Make it short and catchy so
that it will arouse people’s curiosity.

5.Hand out your business cards. Include one in every piece of
mail that you send out, give one to everyone you exchange money
with, leave them at restaurants with your tip., and any where
else that you can think of

6. Get a web decal. These are great advertising tools and there
very inexpensive. Just come up with a catchy slogan and your URL
address. Every time that you drive, you will be advertising your
business.

7.Wear your business. Get t-shirt, hats or pins that promote
your business. This will promote interest and curiosity.

8.Write articles. Articles are a great form of advertising. Your
articles do not have to be business related. Write about topics
that you are very familiar with and passionate about. Attach a
resource box to every article that you write. A resource box
tells the reader a little about you and your business. Many
websites and e zines are looking for quality articles to reprint.

9.Start your own online newsletter. Newsletters are a great tool
to help you build your business. You are able to stay in touch
with people who have opted in to receive information from you.
Make your newsletter informative and enjoyable to read. There
are a lot of newsletters out there so you must distinguish
yourself from the crowd. Have Fun and be creative when creating
your newsletter.

10.Use postcards to market your business. Postcards are
inexpensive to mail and most importantly they get read. With
postcard you only have a small amount of space to write, so you
want to make sure that you have a catchy headline and an ad that
propels people to act. Offer a FREE gift or a discount.

If you have ever watched American Psycho then you know having a cool business card is VERY important, lol. Business cards are a crucial form of marketing. They are a very cheap and efficient way to increase advertising. Today, many people forget about conventional ways of advertising because everything is done online. However, offline advertising such as business cards, flyers, etc is still a very effective, and sometimes better, way of getting the word out on your product or company.

Designing a card is not a difficult task, but it is important to have a well designed card to ensure you get a customer’s attention.

Here are some tips for things to avoid when creating your own business card.

-make sure it doesn’t blend in with other cards, make it unique!
-make sure it looks professional, a plain white card with simple text isn’t going to cut it!
-don’t make it too big! no need to go over the standard 3.5 x 2 inches
-avoid having a cluttered card, spread your words out and make sure there is no crowding
-make sure the print is not too small! people shouldn’t have to pull out a microscope to read your card!
-same size text, make sure your title is bigger or bolder so that it sticks out from the rest

Now for the best part, I have found a website where you can fully customize your own business card, and they have a promo going right now for 250 FREE cards. Yup, you heard right, check out my website below to get started.

All you do is add a Tip, Article, Joke, Recipe, Picture or what every you would like the world to see. Add you banner or text link. Pick the Category that fits your item and you receive FREE ADVERTISING.

That’s all their is to it…

You can even check your ads stats.

The world is waiting to see you AD !

NEW Just Added.. Now you can add YOUR Picture. Let the world see how Gorgeous you are. Add a picture of anything you like. Don’t forget you can also add links back to you site.

http://www.rcfind.com