Agency Nation is powered by Trustedchoice.com
Most Mass. agents know that they need to have a website. And to be on Twitter, and Facebook, and Linkedin, and Instagram, not to mention Google +. They also know search and SEO are also vital. The mere weight of all that an agent knows that they should be doing to market their business and improving their on-line profile in addition to running an efficient and paperless agency while providing superior customer service is frankly overwhelming.[pullquote]Agency Nation is designed to shine a spot light on critical issues to agencies and their insurance company partners. We explore tough issues, and help insurance professionals find key concepts in the shortest amount of time – Marty Agather[/pullquote]
As a result, we can sympathize and understand why many agents simply don’t do any of it. Or, that they decided to pay a monthly fee to an on-line marketing firm to help them achieve their dreams of being first on Google. But, for those who can’t do that what should they do?
Enter Agency Nation. The brainchild of the Trustedchoice.com team, Agency Nation is website dedicated to helping insurance agents find and learn the tools to become the best they can be.
We started AN as a resource for independent agencies who are looking to grow their utilization of sales, marketing and automation;” explained Marty Agather, SVP Client Development at TrustedChoice.com. “Having been agents ourselves, we know that the day to day operations in an agency can leave very little time for the vital components of marketing and maximizing the use of agency automation.”
After a soft launch in August of last year, Agency Nation officially launched last Friday, January 23rd. Led by Agather and Ryan Hanley, both former independent insurance agents themselves, the website aims to be more than just another media news site for agents. In announcing the official launch of Agency Nation, Hanley wrote what he sees as the mission of Agency Nation.
From the beginning we wanted the spirit of Agency Nation, not to embody what the insurance industry has been or what it is today, but rather what we, as an industry, want it to be….Agency Nation is not designed as a “News” source from the traditional standpoint. Not that we won’t discuss the issues impacting the industry, but as a media resource for agents we’ve chosen to focus on actionable commentary and “How-to” articles that take insurance professionals away from the “What” and towards “Where” and “How.”
The following is a picture of both Marty Agather and Ryan Hanley using social media to get their message out.
So what are the first three things Mass. agents should do to acquaint themselves with Agency Nation
There are three things Mass. agents should do to get acquainted with this new site, explains Agather. First, Mass. agents should sign up for Agency Nation’s free newsletter at www.agencynation.com. If you are not ready to sign up, sight unseen, agents can check out some of the articles that Agency Nation has published over the last couple of months here. For example, Agency Nation did an interesting article talks about Google’s imminent arrival in the on-line insurance business. To start getting acquainted with the Agency Nation website, click on the image below:
Next, Mass. agents can download the free Ebook that Agency Nation has written for insurance agents. Entitled Local SEO for Insurance Agents for those agents who sign for their free Pathfinder Membership. The Ebook is designed to help insurance agents understand why local SEO is so important and how it can help an agency attract more customers to its website. Download the book for free here by clicking on the image below.
Third, Mass. agents should then check out an interview that Agency Nation did with David Walker of the Hartland Agency in Michigan. Mr. Walker is the new chairman of the IIABA and in the interview he addresses a number of topics that the Big “I” will be working on to strengthen the industry and support the independent insurance agency channel.
More about the Pathfinder Content Library
Agency Nation also has started the Pathfinder Content Library. This will likely become a rich resource for agents, featuring ebooks, interviews and webinars for independent insurance agents. Like the rest of Agency Nation, this library also is available free of charge to agents who sign-up for the Agency Nation newsletter. Click on the image below to explore the Pathfinder Content Library.