203 North Moetz, Milltown N.J.

Here’s a picture of my house where I grew up in small-town America: Milltown, N.J., near New Brunswick and my alma mater, Rutgers University (photo credit to my home boy Charles Wasilewski).

I remember as a kid helping my dad build the garage addition to the house—off to the right there. The old garage became his office. I remember building snow forts in the front yard to ward off the neighborhood bully. We’d wait for the ice cream truck. We played hide-and-seek and army with stick guns in the yard.

This was the 1960s, man—no Internet, cell phones, computers. Although we did have The Munsters and The Addams Family on beautiful black-and-white TV. Milltown is where I got my start in reporting, working for The Sentinel, a weekly newspaper. That was cool—although the long hours (on, ahem, a typewriter) are what drove me to a somewhat-more-sane business called public relations.

Good old Milltown—one square mile of happiness, we used to say. Complete with a huge Fourth of July celebration, small-town gossip, ice hockey on ponds, and a cute girl in grammar school who would not give me the time of day.

What is it about the hometown that reminds me about great brands? Well, a few things, actually. The hometown was easy: On my street you went outside to play. All your friends were already there—or they were easily accessible. You just knocked on the front door. Or you could toss a rock against the house near the bedroom window. (I never actually did that.) It was comfortable: It wasn’t fancy, but we didn’t know or care.

Great brands should be comfortable, just like old friends. It was fun: Great brands should be destinations or things you like—things that bring a smile to your face, and warmth to your heart. It was safe: Great brands are places you trust for a consistent experience. I feel fortunate to have grown up in such a safe house in a safe town.

What are you doing with your brand to tap into these sorts of emotions? Is your brand easy, comfortable, fun and safe?

Why do we sometimes complicate things? Why do we over-think what otherwise could be simple?

Why do we sometimes make it so hard for folks to get to us?

What can you do to with your customer or member experience to take down some barriers and obstructions?

Think about it. Here’s to your Milltown.

Too often agency principals find themselves facing a forced sale as a result of not having a proper perpetuation plan. In this podcast, MarshBerry president John Wepler discusses the many difficult and “uncomfortable” decisions required of an owner seeking to properly–and profitably–perpetuate the firm. Listen to this frank conversation as John offers some good news: It is never too late to start to implement a perpetuation strategy but it takes a “burn the ships” commitment. That is, once you start down the path there is no turning back. Get some good ideas for your firm from one of the industry’s best-known management consultant.

The podcast was published Monday, August 23, 2010. Run time is 25 minutes 43 seconds.

Our CEO, Peter van Aartrijk, regularly brings his gigantic labs, Molly and Betty, to the HQ office, where they welcome visitors with a lot of licking and pleas for petting, and then they settle in at Peter’s feet. Guinness, one of my two prison cats (they were part of a Pets for Prisoners program, which explains a lot), is almost always on the sunny spot of my office floor, while the other one, Harp, forces me to mute calls because of her caterwauling.

And while all that may sound like a distraction from the work we do for our clients, it actually is quite the opposite: Our animals calm us and amuse us, which enables us to focus and enjoy our work. And that’s not just us: In a nationwide survey by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, 73% of responding companies found having pets in the office created a more productive work environment among—and  27% had a decreased absenteeism rate.

But if you don’t have your furry favorite by your side at work, we’re happy to share ours. Just visit the Aartrijk Zoo.

In this Podcast Doug Pullman, a member of the Parker, Smith & Feek marketing team, describes the planning and process this top 100 broker went through to prepare for their launch into the world of Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and blogging. Doug discusses the very deliberate and measured approach the brokerage took, the importance of getting not only support but participation by senior management, and how success is tied to having a unified and comprehensive strategy.

Doug explains that the agency goal was to use social networking to help customers and prospects build a personal and emotional connection with the broker. They knew that they needed to be where 25% of their customer base was – the social Web. His advice to other agencies wanting to tap into the opportunity the social web offers: Take it slow, learn from others, and add your own voice.

The podcast was published Monday, August 9, 2010. Run time is 21 minutes 11 seconds.

For Aartrijk’s new series of guest bloggers

About Nibby: Nibby began his insurance career in August 1983 as a part-time employee in his father’s business, then joined the agency full-time in 1986 after graduating from Eastern Kentucky University. Nibby is known nationally for his insurance agency automation consulting work with the AGENA Corporation and National Users of AGENA Systems. He has also worked extensively with Henderson Community College as an instructor in various computer-related classes.

1. What has happened in the past year with your agency/firm now in the area of branding? What changes or initiatives have you been working on? What is the top challenge right now for companies like yours?

We are trying to brand more with our online name GoVaughn.com Insurance, instead of our old, long name Vaughn Insurance Agency Co.

We have dropped our Yellow Pages, TV, radio and newspaper advertisements. Our biggest challenge is making sense out of it all, even though we know that the time we are spending in social media and new media (online advertising) is really the right way to go.

We also are looking more to referrals for new business. We really feel high-touch relationships (referrals) are where some of our best business is coming from.

With Internet leads, the good news is that consumers are ready and willing to talk insurance, but their eagerness to share information and buy gives us pause about writing the business.

2. It seems like 2008-2009 was a watershed time for social networking for consumers, while a few insurance practitioners were getting ramped up on social networking. But by and large, there was fear and loathing of it. What do you see as the status (of opportunity and implementation) at the moment for independent insurance agents and social networking?

Agents are seeing the benefits. Just this week I downloaded and installed Microsoft’s add in for Outlook that meshes my Outlook Contacts with Facebook and LinkedIn. I created a separate contacts list for my clients. I couldn’t believe how many of my existing clients are on Facebook and LinkedIn. This is just another way we can reach out and touch and be real to these people.

Many agents are educating themselves about SM [social media] and just a sense of awareness leads them to acknowledge how productive and interesting social networking can be. I don’t see as many totally ‘dissing’ the idea as were 12 months ago — which is good since many were dishing because they simply didn’t understand or know about SM.

3. The insurance industry has long been known for collaboration and idea-sharing among peers, especially independent agents. What are your best sources and inspirations for branding, marketing communications, social networking, etc. within the industry?

My Twitter friends! Peeps like Pat Alexander, Steve Anderson and Laura Toops. The quick little tidbits of information and links that they and many other insurance agents share, specifically on Twitter, are most helpful to me.

4. Now a word from our sponsor. Tell us one thing that you learned at Aartrijk Brand Camp 2009, and how you have implemented it or changed your branding since then.

Collaboration needs to not only be between likes (agents to agents) — but also company people, brand marketing people, large agents, small agents, new agents, old agents.

I have been trying to network more and be more open to those who might do business differently from me. I have a lot to learn from my perceived competition. I’m paying more attention to trends and reading more about the insurance-buying public and trying to adjust our agency to catering more to the different age groups and how they want to do business.

Being able to meet in person many of the relationships that I have created by using Twitter and other social media tools was really worth the entire [Brand Camp 2009] conference. The synergy that was going on during the conference was fresh and new unlike any insurance trade conference that I have been to in over 15 years. I felt like I was attending my very first insurance systems users group meeting — which I did in 1987 when we started NUAS (National Users of AGENA Systems).

Listen to agency owner Claudia McClain explain why even in today’s social media world success involves more than just putting up a Facebook Fan Page. Claudia explains how her agency has continued to grow and prosper even in this difficult economic time. Her secret – an agency culture built around strong customer service and a blend of traditional marketing and social networking. While the agency has a blog (two actually), a Facebook Fan Page, a LinkedIn account and is on Twitter, it also touches each customer 12 times a year with traditional print media.

The message Claudia drives home is that social networking is not a Silver Bullet to success. Rather, she sees social networking as providing her with a new set of tools that has enabled her to expand the way she communicates with prospects and customers. Yet, the foundation of her success is rooted in traditional marketing principals and practices, and the understanding that building long-lasting trusted relationships not only takes time, but is hard work.

The podcast was published Monday, July 26, 2010. Run time is 27 minutes 26 seconds.

Pat Alexander, founder of InsuranceEcosystem.com

The Aartrijk team is pleased to welcome — for the first time — guest bloggers from in and around the insurance industry, starting this month.

To kick off this occasional series, we welcome Pat Alexander, founder of industry blog InsuranceEcosystem.com and a Brand Camp 2009 alumna.

About Pat: In 2009, she launched InsuranceEcosystem.com as a resource for the insurance industry and a way to spark more conversation about her areas of expertise in independent agencies, coaching and technology. She describes Insurance Ecosystem as a blog that “provide[s] you with communicators that don’t normally blog but have great views and information to share. Each of these individuals … [has] so much to contribute in their area of expertise.”

1. What has happened in the past year with your firm now in the area of branding? What changes or initiatives have you been working on?

After Aartrijk Brand Camp 2009, I developed a plan to redesign my primary Web site, PatAlexander.com, and give it a fresh look and to develop a blog where individuals of interest to insurance agents could blog regularly or at their whim. Developing this blog included developing a brand for it as well as an audience.

Often watching and listening is a great way to learn how the various social networking tools can work for you. I also follow a number of non-insurance industry social networking “gurus.” One of my favorite is Amber Naslund of Brass Tack Thinking. Amber is director of community for Radian6. Smart young lady providing great thoughts and tools.

4. Now a word from our sponsor. Tell us one thing that you learned at Aartrijk Brand Camp 2009, and how you have implemented it or changed your branding since then.

At Brand Camp 2009, I learned so much about the importance of brand. I have always told agencies that I work with it is important that everyone in the agency delivers the same message about the agency.

I now believe that the brand and message are inseparable. I developed a presentation, specific to insurance agents, on the importance of brand and social media. From this presentation, I have gained a couple of clients, and I am assisting them in developing and implementing their social media plan.

The focus is on providing their clients and prospects with useful and informative information. We develop what they want their brand and message to be — and carry that through the tools that they choose to use.

Pat Alexander’s Web site also has a great resource: a list of industry blogs and other relevant blogs. Follow Pat on Twitter.

Aartrijk’s founder, president and CEO Peter van Aartrijk, recently visited The Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas, to scope out the location of Aartrijk Brand Camp 2010.

He found a comfortable environment, as well as a large animal that is the hallmark of the site.

Peter invites you to join other insurance brand decision-makers and thought leaders at Aartrijk Brand Camp 2010.

But before we start feeling too superior, let’s admit that the insurance industry is not much better. Industry associations, agents, brokers, vendors and companies all use a plethora of acronyms for their products, services, committees and the organizations themselves. Typically it starts as a convenience when typing an internal document or naming a file, but soon enough we’re using the acronym with customers, prospects and partners.

And those acronyms are not helping your brand.

Why? Because brands are built on emotion, and it’s hard to get warm and fuzzy about a bunch of letters. Which is why the National Association of Realtors—in a bold break from the association pack—doesn’t promote itself as NAR, but as Realtors^®. NAR is an anonymous, meaningless entity; Realtors are people.

And there’s a second, more tactical reason to avoid acronyms: Most of the letter mixes used in web addresses are already taken; www.NAR.org, for example, is the home of the National Association of Rocketry. And, finally, some acronyms can be unintentionally offensive, such as Friends University, which never abbreviates its name.

When Aartrijk worked recently on rebranding the AMS Users Group, we gave great thought to how any full name might be abbreviated by members, partners, employees and media. The Network of Vertafore Users was selected in part because most liked the nickname NetVU, and www.netvu.org was available. As we work with other rebranding clients, we’re patently avoiding introducing new acronyms into the soup.

Take a look at your organization’s own communications. Are you using an unpronounceable acronym when one or two words would better convey your story?  If so, you may be holding back the power of your brand. Think about it.

“On Point, with Peter van Aartrijk and Rick Morgan” is an audio conversation with insurance industry leaders who champion change and challenge all of us to think.

Texas agent David Berry has used the marketing lessons he learned from his experiences in the captive agency system to find success as an independent agent. Listen as Berry discusses how he uses traditional marketing practices, combined with the new tools of social media, to grow his business.

Berry understands the importance of investing in technology; but more importantly he understands the need to make sure it’s used wisely. He’s committed to building strong relationships and providing great service as he builds his new business, and credits social media as a powerful tool to help him contain costs and expand his reach. Peter and Rick particularly enjoyed listening to Berry speak passionately about the advantages and value of the Independent Agency System.

The podcast was published Monday, July 12, 2010. Run time is 20 minutes 41 seconds.