Man Loves His Work
January 18, 2011 by Charles Wasilewski · Leave a Comment
In the village of Liberty Corner, N.J. stands a car repair shop on the downtown corner. As I left my office on a recent cold winter evening, I drove past the shop and saw a car up on the lift and the mechanic (one of the owners, either Robert or Michael) underneath. Through the glass garage doors and under the bright florescent lights of the garage it was clear to see the man’s body language: Determined, intent, obviously wanting to solve whatever problem the car’s owner had brought to his attention.
The scene made me grateful for my own work, which usually involves sitting at a desk in front of a computer, writing about insurance in articles, news releases, ads, social networking posts, and the like.
Two days later I got an update e-mail from LinkedIn, the business networking site. It said: “Charles, 65 of your connections changed jobs in 2010.” The e-mail had thumbnail photos of all of them and an occasional question (“Where’s Scott now?). Read more
Guest Blogger Nibby Priest, GoVaughn.com Insurance: “High-Touch Relationships”
August 6, 2010 by admin · 4 Comments
For Aartrijk’s new series of guest bloggers from in and around the insurance industry, we welcome Nibby Priest of GoVaughn.com Insurance Agency, a full-service independent agency headquartered in Henderson, Kentucky, and serving Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois.
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.
On Point with Peter van Aartrijk and Rick Morgan, Episode 19: Having Fun Growing Business
May 11, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
“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.
Linda Rey is a second-generation agent and owner of Rey Insurance in Sleepy Hollow, New York. Frank Rey founded the agency in 1978 to serve bilingual clients in the local community.
Linda discusses how she has incorporated the use of social media into the agency’s marketing strategy. For Linda, it was an “effective way to be present, visible, and increase awareness and exposure.”
Beginner’s Guide to Social Networking in Insurance
April 30, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Peter van Aartrijk
Check out what might be dubbed a “Beginner’s Guide to Social Networking in Insurance.” It’s an audio podcast published by Insurance Journal featuring Peter van Aartrijk, managing director, and Rick Morgan, senior associate of Aartrijk.
Noted van Aartrijk in the podcast: It’s becoming urgent for independent agency owners to experiment with social networking, if they’re not already. Some agencies are using social networking portals as a way to do business.
“What they [independent agents/brokers] do — dispense advice, solve problems … It’s incredibly important what they do,” commented van Aartrijk in the podcast. “This new social media … is incredibly powerful to really bring to light what they do.”
Check out the podcast, Agency Management Done Right, Episode 2: Social Media, at: http://www.insurancejournal.tv/videos/2434/
The “Agency Management Done Right” audio podcast is hosted by Mitch Dunford of Insurance Journal and explores insurance agency management.
April 30, 2009
Web Site: “Busiest Storefront” for Agencies
Peter van Aartrijk discusses the social Web with Mike Wise of IdeaStar.
Agent Web sites are an agency owner’s “busiest storefront” — or at least they can be.
That’s one of the thoughts that Peter van Aartrijk, managing director of Aartrijk, shared during a recent podcast with Mike Wise of IdeaStar. In one of Mike’s “InsuraTech” audio podcasts, Peter discussed the social Web, agent Web sites, and how they can work together for an agency:
– The social Web is “not something to be feared. It’s something to be leveraged.”
– “You’re either LinkedIn or locked out.”
– “We like to think of the Web site as the busiest office for the agency … their busiest storefront.”
– ”I’m worried about the calls agencies aren’t getting” because their Web sites cannot be found by people who get a word-of-mouth referral to the agency and then search for the agency via a search engine.
– “Convert that knowledge [of dispensing advice to consumers about risk management] … into text on a blog.”
– ”There’s a lot of general information out there. But what we bring to the table is the knowledge of how agents andd brokers and carriers can take advantage” of social networking.
Check out the podcast at: http://tinyurl.com/clmo5.
Or visit: http://blog.insurance-technologies.com/2009/04/insuratech-podcast-episode-28-peter-van-aartrijk-on-agent-websites-a-conundrum/
April 30, 2009