Webinar on Social Media for Insurance Pros
I have a webinar coming up this Thursday for insurance professionals that would like to maximize their ability to leverage social media in their marketing. The webinar is hosted by the Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) Western Alliance. It is free for all PIA members and $20 for non-members. The webinar time is 10:00-11:00 am Pacific time and there is still time to join.
Click here to learn more and register.
Here is what you will learn:
- Defining social media and what it really means
- Platform for intellectual property distribution
- Best Practices for maximization
- Time management techniques
Hope to have you join us!
© 2013 Dan Weedin. All Rights Reserved
Extra Points – Transitions
This week’s focus point… 
Transitions
Today is the day my mother moves out of our home and into a memory care/skilled facility. After 2 years of living with us at our home, Barb and I knew the time was now to transition. Her care was about to exceed our pay grade. It will be best for her from a comfort, care, and mobility outlook. It will also be a relief for Barb and me.
Transitions can be bittersweet. They often involve tough decisions and a commitment to the benefit of the most. They also involve consequences. For us, a “hidden” consequence is that the dogs have come to love her and I know they will miss her. They did when she was recovering from a hospital stay. But dogs are resilient and they move on with transitions often better than humans do.
Your career has probably seen transitions. Even if it didn’t entail a job change, your position changes in order to grow, develop, and reward you. It also creates its own “hidden” consequences that you might see right away, or may not manifest themselves for years. That’s part of living and transitioning.
Don’t fear transitions. Most times they are to ultimately change and reward you. You just have to be open to that change and willing to burst through that door.
© 2013 Dan Weedin. All Rights Reserved
This week’s quote -
“When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That’s relativity.”
- Albert Einstein
New Rave Review
“I worked with Dan to re-energize my sales initiatives. After more than 30 years as a Property and Casualty Producer I wanted to brush up on my skills and make sure that I was using all the tools available to me so that I can be successful. My personal goal is to “sprint to the finish line.” Dan was instrumental in helping me to identify resources and technology that have helped me to populate my pipeline and use every available resource and I know that I will be successful!“
- Judy Graf, Area Vice-President – Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services
Many thanks to Judy for her kind words. The results for my clients is what I’m all about and I really enjoy working with sophisticated and successful agents like Judy. If you’d like to learn more about how I can help you accelerate your insurance career and enrich your life, please contact me.
© 2013 Dan Weedin. All Rights Reserved
How to Recruit Talented People to Your Agency #1
Let’s get one thing clear at the start. Recruiting new talent is not the way it was 30 years ago. Today, you are being interviewed just as much as you are interviewing. And, it’s not just you as an agency. It’s you as an industry.
The first thing you need to do to start down the road of hiring talented people for your agency is answering the question – “Why insurance?”
How would you answer that question if you were asked by your “interviewee?”
You need to show these people the rewards and values they receive from being part of the industry. It’s harder than you think. The industry has done a good job of turning insurance jobs into geeky commercials portraying price only. Granted, a few talk about coverages and protection, but the image is overshadowed by kookiness. You need to introduce reality.
- Insurance is truly about protecting lifestyle (personal lines)
- Insurance is truly about protecting blood, sweat, and tears….and money (commercial lines)
- Insurance is truly about protecting sustainable income (life and disability)
- Insurance is truly about protecting dignity (long term care)
You need to use language that promoted the real value to the client…the real rewards received. If they think insurance is only about geckos, goofy insurance geeks, a perky woman who knows nothing about insurance, and things blowing up, you’re off to a bad start. You’re also in trouble if you only talk about yourself and your agency. Focus on the value they will be providing others. That’s job #1 and gets overlooked more often than you might imagine. Practice and prepare for your next interview.
Copyright 2013 Dan Weedin. All Rights Reserved
Extra Points – Catching the Rabbit
Chasing the Rabbit
Captain Jack
I admit to being an NFL geek. I watched the NFL Draft on Saturday as the Seahawks had about a gazillion picks to make. It was worth it when I heard former NFL head coach and ESPN Monday Night Football announcer, Jon Gruden tell a rookie quarterback…
“If the dog hadn’t stopped to take a crap, he would have caught the rabbit.”
Now, THAT is wisdom!
Here’s why. The dog takes off on a mission to catch the rabbit. The rabbit himself is fast and tough to catch to begin with. The dog stops to do his duty and the rabbit speeds on. The dog misses out on the rabbit and the rewards of catching the rabbit.
You start off on a new mission/objective/goal/initiative/dream (you pick one). The objective is going to be tough to attain to begin with. You are going fast and then something distracts or stops you. Seems like it’s important at the time. By the time you get going back again, you’ve lost momentum; lost passion; lost direction; and ultimately lost your rabbit and reward.
You, in your professional and personal life, are constantly setting goals and objectives. Too bad you’re allowing things to distract you and keep you from reaching them. More often than not, these distractions are of your own doing. It doesn’t have to be that way. You have control, you just need to be resilient, focused, and passionate. There’s always time to ‘um…”take a crap” later!
Go catch that rabbit!
© 2013 Dan Weedin. All Rights Reserved
This week’s quote -
“It is even harder for the average ape to believe that he has descended from man.”
- H. L. Mencken
Upcoming Event: Sales & Leadership Conference in Wisconsin
For those of you in the Wisconsin area, I am thrilled to speaking at the Independent Insurance Agents of Wisconsin 2013 Sales & Leadership Conference. My topic is on recruiting talent to your company and maximizing that talent to help you quickly and effectively grow your agency or company. Below is a brief video detailing my program and visit. Learn more about the entire conference and registration by visiting the Independent Insurance Agents of Wisconsin web site. For all of you NOT in Wisconsin, if you’d like me to speak on the same topic at your next conference or event, please contact me at (360) 697-1058 or dan@danweedin.com.
© 2013 Dan Weedin. All Rights Reserved
