http://www.sampleinsurancewebsite.com/blog/View Sample Insurance Agency's Website Blogen-uspostmaster@www.sampleinsurancewebsite.comInsurance Website Builder - www.insurancewebsitebuilder.comurn:uuid:2b80b763-cb3b-46df-861c-e060fcb2e389urn:uuid:6bd47835-c148-47d1-937c-2c717bd895d5Hello from the meeting!Mon, 21 Mar 2011 11:13:55 -0500Hello from the meeting!urn:uuid:cba64faa-ed52-4ef8-8334-8fb85edf5dafThe Insurance Website Builder has a built in blog option.&nbsp; The blog system allows you to place unlimited logs upon your site.&nbsp; Furthermore, you can link to your blog via an RSS or ATOM feeds.&nbsp; You can also place your blog to many socia...Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:18:01 -0600<font face=Arial size=2>The Insurance Website Builder has a built in blog option.&nbsp; The blog system allows you to place unlimited logs upon your site.&nbsp; Furthermore, you can link to your blog via an </font><a href="http://www.sampleinsurancewebsitebuilder.com/blog/rss/" target=_blank><u><font face=Arial color=#0066cc size=2>RSS </font></u></a><font face=Arial size=2>or </font><a href="http://www.sampleinsurancewebsitebuilder.com/blog/atom/" target=_blank><u><font face=Arial color=#0066cc size=2>ATOM </font></u></a><font size=2><font face=Arial>feeds.&nbsp; You can also place your blog to many social networking and feed sites like My Yahoo! and Google.<br><br>In addition to your possible blog options you can also enable quote and customer service forms quickly from our easy to use console.&nbsp; In addition to these forms you can send marketing e-mails, provide your customers driving directions and location mapping, employee directories, and company payment options.&nbsp; Any feature you see on this website can be added to your site quickly and easily. Only from Insurance Website Builder!<br><br></font><a href="http://www.insurancewebsales.com/" target=_blank><strong><em><u><font face=Arial color=#0066cc>Learn More Now!</font></u></em></strong></a><font face=Arial>&nbsp;</font></font>urn:uuid:960bd56f-6ac5-4a71-8f4f-1f0a5d4195ab<img src='http://ww1.prweb.com/prfiles/2011/07/08/8810190/tN_75630_itc354x286.jpg' align='left' />December 3, 2008 -- Insurance Technologies Corporation, a leading provider of insurance rating, agency management, and website solutions, announced the inclusion of standard insurance companies into the TurboRater comparative rating system. Added com...Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:24:30 -0600December 3, 2008 -- Insurance Technologies Corporation, a leading provider of insurance rating, agency management, and website solutions, announced the inclusion of standard insurance companies into the TurboRater comparative rating system. Added companies include AIC, Bristol West, Grange, Hartford, Paragon, Progressive, Safeco, and Travelers. <p><img alt="" src="http://ww1.prweb.com/prfiles/2011/07/08/8810190/tN_75630_itc354x286.jpg" style="width: 179px; height: 145px; float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;" />"By enabling real time rating through these companies, we offer agents the ability to retrieve quick and accurate rates through standard companies," says Insurance Technologies Corporation's President Scott Upfield. "When you couple this with a complete offering of non-standard companies, you get a rating solution that will work for any agency."&nbsp;<br /> <br /> Using real time rating interfaces, agents can retrieve comparative automobile rates in less than a minute. Mr. Upfield continues, "Through the use of the real time rating features within TurboRater, an agent can quote new and existing business in less than a minute with the knowledge that the provided rates are accurate." </p> <p>"In addition to these companies, we are actively adding more carriers to our products through the use of real time interfaces," explains Laird Rixford Vice President of Product Development. "As we bring these companies online, rating times will continue to decrease while accuracy increases. Usage of these direct rating services will grow over the next few years as agents begin to expect rates in less than forty-five seconds." </p> <p><img alt="" src="/img/~www.sampleinsurancewebsite.com/iwb_title_prod.jpg" style="float: right; margin-left: 10px;" />The TurboRater Comparative Rating System is available for agencies in Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Company availability varies by state. </p> <p>About the TurboRater Comparative Rating System:<br /> Developed over twenty years ago, TurboRater has become the gold standard of comparative automobile rating systems. With an easy to use interface, agents can rate and store quotes quickly and accurately with a single system. With features such as website consumer rating, online storage, real time companies, credit scoring, and motor vehicle reports, TurboRater provides agencies the ability rate with confidence. <a href="http://www.turborater.com/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #800080;">http://www.turborater.com/</span></a>. </p> <p>About Insurance Technologies Corporation:<br /> Insurance Technologies Corporation is a leading provider of insurance rating and management software to the insurance industry. Founded in 1983 and operating nationwide, ITC has quickly grown with a philosophy of providing quality solutions. Currently Insurance Technologies Corporation serves more than one-hundred insurance companies and over five-thousand agencies. <a href="http://www.insuranceproonline.com/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0066cc;">http://www.insuranceproonline.com/</span></a> </p> <p>### </p>urn:uuid:737ccac9-b2d4-4492-98e7-cb95e2f7087fIt's not an easy thing to talk about even though it's been several years and I've shared the story many times.&nbsp; I'm still embarrassed and feel guilty that I didn't have a better system in place to see the warning signs sooner. I had been in bus...Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:22:31 -0600<p>It's not an easy thing to talk about even though it's been several years and I've shared the story many times.&nbsp; </p> <p>I'm still embarrassed and feel guilty that I didn't have a better system in place to see the warning signs sooner. I had been in business about five years.&nbsp; We just opened our third location and I was keeping myself busy tending to getting it off to a good start.&nbsp; Cindee had worked for me over the course of four years.&nbsp; Working side by side with someone for that many years, you tend to feel as though they are part of the family.&nbsp; We attended social and family functions and our children often played together.&nbsp; She was a friend, or so I thought. </p> <p>Since the day I opened my agency, we had used handwritten receipts.&nbsp; It was a system I had become accustomed to from the time I started my career in the insurance industry.&nbsp; But is was that manual process that allowed her the freedom she needed to forge the books and pocket my customer's premiums.</p> <p>I had made two fatal errors - I put too much trust in her and I did not utilize my agency management system to its fullest extent.</p> <p>I was aware my agency management system had a way to issue customer receipts and also a way to reconcile deposits, but I was too busy to sit down and take the time to learn the system and to develop a new workflow process.&nbsp; If things aren't "broke", why fix them...right?&nbsp; Wrong.&nbsp; Of course, when I caught on, Cindee was fired and later prosecuted.&nbsp; Now I had to set about making things right for my clients and for my agency.&nbsp; </p> <p>It took about six months to do a complete audit and come up with an estimate of how much damage was actually done.&nbsp; In the end, I was able to identify that one-hundred of my customers had been affected.&nbsp; It certainly could have been more.</p> <p>It took a lot less time to learn the accounting features in my agency management system and to develop new procedures for handling customer premiums.</p> <p>First and foremost, I developed a written policy for employees to follow when handling monetary transactions.&nbsp; The key points of that policy included:</p> <ul> <li>All monetary transactions, Customer Premiums, Commissions, etc would be recorded in the agency management system.</li> <li>At the end of each day, every employee was required to balance against their Daily Transaction Report.&nbsp; With this process now being automated, it just took a few minutes out of the day to complete.</li> <li>As long as everything was in balance, the money and the Daily Transaction Report was turned into the Office Manager to be verified.</li> <li>If things didn't balance, the bookkeeper and/or agency principal was to be notified immediately, prior to anyone leaving for the day.</li> <li>A separate employee was charged with reconciling the bank statement.</li> <li>Surprise audits were made randomly and employees were made aware they were happening.</li></ul> <p>There is no fool-proof method to avoid employee theft.&nbsp; However, after I made full use of my agency management's accounting features, it was enough to deter future employees from following in her footsteps.&nbsp; <br></p>urn:uuid:4408c47a-e0ae-407e-b34d-2aed83130b88The local editions of your favorite search engines provide your customers the ability to look up your agency from a phone book like feature on the search engines.&nbsp; Some of the newer Local Search systems as found upon Yahoo, Google and Live Searc...Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:14:12 -0500<span class=style3><font face=Arial size=2>The local editions of your favorite search engines provide your customers the ability to look up your agency from a phone book like feature on the search engines.&nbsp; </font></span><span class=style3><font face=Arial size=2>Some of the newer Local Search systems as found upon Yahoo, Google and Live Search will even list your location on their map displays!</font></span> <p><span class=style3><font face=Arial size=2>To submit your site to the Local Search for the major search engines, click the links below and follow the prompts as guided. <em>This process takes a combined fifteen to twenty minutes for all three sites.</em><br></font></span></p> <blockquote> <p class=style3><font face=Arial><font size=2><strong>Google Local Business Center</strong><br>To get yourself listed on the Google Business Center, click the following link:<br></font></font><a href="http://www.google.com/local/add/businessCenter"><u><font face=Arial color=#0066cc size=2>http://www.google.com/local/add/businessCenter </font></u></a></p> <p class=style3><font face=Arial><font size=2><strong>Yahoo! Local</strong><br>To list yourself on Yahoo! Local, click the following link:<br></font></font><a href="http://listings.local.yahoo.com/csubmit/index.php"><u><font face=Arial color=#800080 size=2>http://listings.local.yahoo.com/csubmit/index.php</font></u></a></p> <p class=style3><font face=Arial><font size=2><strong>Live Search Local Listing Center</strong><br>To place your site on the Live Search Local (formally MSN) business center, click the following link:<br></font></font><a href="https://ssl.search.live.com/listings/ListingCenter.aspx"><u><font face=Arial color=#800080 size=2>https://ssl.search.live.com/listings/ListingCenter.aspx</font></u></a></p></blockquote>urn:uuid:76029728-c99a-43c5-9e6c-825a4c9f05b5 A fully functional online presence has become a required asset that every agency should possess. By having a website, you enable your agency the ability to offer your products and services to prospects and customers twenty-four hours a day, seven da...Sun, 26 Oct 2008 21:19:56 -0500<div id=body> <p>A fully functional online presence has become a required asset that every agency should possess. By having a website, you enable your agency the ability to offer your products and services to prospects and customers twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Today, a website has to be more than just a business card on the web. It needs to have a complete offering that includes automated customer self-service and informational resources that repeatedly hold the visitors interest.</p> <p><b>Beyond Quoting, Offering Customer Self Service</b></p> <p>Do you remember walking into an airport and waiting in long ticket counter lines? If so, you have seen firsthand how technology has changed the way consumers interact with business. Less than ten years ago, as you entered an airport, long lines greeted you at the ticket counter. Now you are welcomed by self-service terminals that offer a quick check-in experience speeding multiple customers through at a fraction of the time. No longer do you need to speak to a customer service agent, you can simply do it yourself. Not only does it expedite the customer, self-service lowers the employee resources required by the business.</p> <p>This trend of customer self-service has begun to spread to every industry, including insurance. It began with online quote requests, via an online form. Next was the introduction of online rating. Recently, companies began offering customer self-service options to compliment the online quoting. These options included online payments and policy self-service.</p> <p>What started with the carriers has now migrated down to the agents themselves. Whether it be the ability to request an ID card, report an accident or remove a vehicle, your website must offer the customer the ability to service their policy directly. Like the airline industry, this automation of your customer service will appease the consumer's desire for quick service while lowering the overall resources required by your agency.</p> <p><b>An Informational Resource</b></p> <p>Although banks were one of the first industries to embrace customer self-service through the usage of ATM machines, they were slow to develop their online presence. In the recent years, they have made up for it! Banking websites offer virtually everything these days. Buy stamps, lookup ATM locations, view product offerings, pay your bills, print your statements and even request copies of checks, all from an easy to use website. By providing this complete experience, banks customers return often to this one-stop portal.</p> <p>An agency website needs to replicate this breadth of offerings by presenting the client access to any services that your agency offers. A complete website should include online glossaries, driving directions, location mapping, current newsfeeds, payment options, and links to useful websites such as credit repair and partner mortgage companies. By offering more features your website becomes a portal for which customers will return repeatedly.</p> <p><b>Holding On</b></p> <p>Now that your website offers a complete presence, you want to draw and keep visitors upon your site. Provide the consumer an incentive to come back often. Create quarterly giveaways. Offer gift cards for referrals. Provide links to the latest viral videos. The sky is the limit with a website.</p> <p>Finally, retain your customer's interest, by keeping your site up to date! By updating your site's content, you retain the dynamic and ever changing spirit of the Internet. Buyers will recognize your commitment to technology and will reward you with repeat visits.</p></div> <div> <table cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0> <tbody> <tr> <td vAlign=top> <div class=sig id=sig> <p><font size=2>Insurance Technologies Corporation, Agency website solutions available at </font><a id=link_74 href="http://www.freedemowebsite.com/" target=_new><u><font color=#800080 size=2>http://www.insurancewebsitebuilder.com</font></u></a><font size=2> and agency rating and management solutions available at </font><a id=link_75 href="http://www.turborater.com/" target=_new><u><font color=#0066cc size=2>http://www.turborater.com</font></u></a></p></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div>urn:uuid:34008b7f-9869-464a-bc13-8055431ac13e 89% of e-mails received by insurance agents today are classified as spam. That means that only one out of every ten emails is a legitimate business communication! Over the course of a year, financial losses can really add up through the lost product...Sun, 26 Oct 2008 21:19:20 -0500<div id=body> <p>89% of e-mails received by insurance agents today are classified as spam. That means that only one out of every ten emails is a legitimate business communication! Over the course of a year, financial losses can really add up through the lost productivity of you and your employees. However, the greatest threat to computer networks today is from malicious programs such as trojans, zombies, and viruses, which hitch a ride within many spam. Once upon your network, these programs can potentially mine customer data from your systems sending their confidential data to unscrupulous parties looking to steal the identities of your customers!</p> <p>1/2 the way there.</p> <p>The traditional way to decrease the number of spam received by an insurance agency is by installing an application that contains a spam blocker. Often these applications are bundled within an antivirus program. These programs do help; however, they are not always the most effective solution for curbing the flow of spam into your organization. These programs require constant updates to keep up with the latest spam signatures and techniques. These updates are rarely kept up-to-date after the initial subscription period expires. Additionally, these programs must download the infected spam to your machine before it can classify it as malicious. This download allows the infected item into your organization unrestricted before the program is able to quarantine the item.</p> <p>Stopping the Attack</p> <p>To effectively block spam and other malicious email, organizations are employing a new generation of spam blocking tools. One of the more effective ways being used today is through the use of spam firewalls. Prior to your mail server, incoming mail routes through your spam firewall's gateway which analyzes your mail for spam and other malicious code. Items classified as spam are held for further review within a quarantine folder, thus keeping an infected item from ever entering your organization. Furthermore, the firewall's spam signatures are kept up-to-date upon a single device, no more worrying that all computers are running the latest definitions.</p> <p>For Insurance Agencies with less than fifty email users, many online providers offer hosted spam firewall protection. For larger organizations, your own spam firewall will easily pay for itself through productivity improvements and decreased downtime.</p></div> <div> <table cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0> <tbody> <tr> <td vAlign=top> <div class=sig id=sig> <p><font size=2>Insurance Technologies Corporation, Agency website solutions at </font><a id=link_78 href="http://www.freedemowebsite.com/" target=_new><u><font color=#800080 size=2>http://www.insurancewebsitebuilder.com</font></u></a><font size=2> and Agency management solutions at </font><a id=link_79 href="http://www.insuranceproonline.com/" target=_new><u><font color=#0066cc size=2>http://www.insuranceproonline.com</font></u></a></p></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div>urn:uuid:dd57e5b2-c7ad-4a7b-afa2-c38d35ab55cb Ten years ago, less than fifty percent of the population used the Internet. Five years ago, users of the Internet consisted primarily of business professionals. Today, retirees are the largest growing demographic of Internet users. Seven out of ever...Sun, 26 Oct 2008 21:18:56 -0500<div id=body> <p>Ten years ago, less than fifty percent of the population used the Internet. Five years ago, users of the Internet consisted primarily of business professionals. Today, retirees are the largest growing demographic of Internet users. Seven out of every ten people you meet in America uses a computer at least once a week. Considering this continual growth, agencies across the nation have begun to embrace the marketing potential the Internet has to offer.</p> <p>To take advantage of these growing marketing opportunities upon the Internet, agencies must first develop an effective and visually appealing website. Your website must be more than just a business card on the web; it needs to be a functional tool that benefits both potential and current customers. To create a successful web presence your website should include the following:</p> <p>Agency Information</p> <p>Include information about your agency such as company origins, community reputations, testimonials and noted success.</p> <p>Agency Offerings</p> <p>What does your agency offer? Why do your product offerings standout from your competitors? Your website should convey your complete product offering such as each line of business and any additional services that would benefit your target customer.</p> <p>Customer Service</p> <p>A website is open for business, even when you are not. Provide your customers the ability to request quotes or policy change requests anytime, day, or night. Include a mailing list feature that allows your customers to receive your agency's newsletter.</p> <p>Contact Information</p> <p>If for any reason your new website cannot fulfill your customers needs you want to make it easy for them to contact you. Your website should include all forms of communication methods including local and toll-free phone numbers, fax numbers, driving directions, and e-mail.</p> <p>Useful Experience</p> <p>Build a useful consumer resource that will repeatedly draw customers back to your website. Incorporate helpful tools such as an insurance terms glossary, a frequently asked questions page, company links, document libraries, and a newsroom.</p> <p>Once your website is up and running you must begin to market it as more than "just a website". Notify your customers that your website is a resource available to them twenty-four hours a day. Advertise the functionality of your website, not just the fact that you have one. To effectively market your website you should follow the</p> <p>Printed Materials</p> <p>Include your website address on all printed materials such as business cards, letterhead, and brochures. Include a brief statement promoting the fact your website is open 24/7.</p> <p>Example: For policy service any time, day, or night, visit us on the web at...</p> <p>Voicemail</p> <p>State your website clearly in your outgoing voicemail - Inform customers and prospects calling your office outside of business hours that information about your agency as well as customer service options are available twenty-four hours a day via your website.</p> <p>Yellow Pages Advertising</p> <p>Maximize your yellow page presence by including your agency website along with phone numbers. By including your website address your yellow page ad opens your business up to possible business, even outside the hours you normally answer your phones.</p> <p>Advertise for a Good Cause</p> <p>Make a donation of school supplies to your local schools and have them imprinted with your agency web address.</p> <p>Storefront Advertising</p> <p>Prospects may drive by your office every day and may see the name of your agency and a phone number, why not your website as well? Many prospects are more likely to remember a website name than a phone number.</p> <p>Search Engine Tricks</p> <p>Include important links on your website. Search engines look for websites that link to other sites. Be sure to include links to the companies you write with, organizations you are involved with, links with information about your community, and insurance industry related news. Make reciprocal agreements with organizations to incorporate your web address on their website as well.</p> <p>By combining these offline and online marketing initiatives with an effective website your website traffic will soar, right along with your business.</p></div> <div> <table cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0> <tbody> <tr> <td vAlign=top> <div class=sig id=sig> <p><font size=2>Insurance Technologies Corporation,<br>Agency website solutions at </font><a id=link_74 href="http://www.freedemowebsite.com/" target=_new><u><font color=#800080 size=2>http://www.insurancewebsitebuilder.com</font></u></a><font size=2> - Agency rating solutions at </font><a id=link_75 href="http://www.turborater.com/" target=_new><u><font color=#0066cc size=2>http://www.turborater.com</font></u></a></p></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div>