E-mail added 500 million users in 2010.

An article in Econsultancy.com’s blog reported:

“According to Royal Pingdom, 107 trillion email messages were sent in total last year. That works out to 294bn per day. There were nearly 2bn email users and 3bn email accounts, and the ranks of the emailing grew by nearly 500m. In other words, last year, email grew a Facebook last year.”

Royal Pingdom, a monitoring company, recently posted numbers about e-mail, social media, Web sites, etc.

The bad news: An estimated 90 percent of e-mail messages are considered spam. That points to social networking sites’ big advantage over e-mail: The people who post spam-ish things get un-friended and otherwise shunned.

What place does e-mail still have in marketing communications and branding? It’s changing, I think, but not going away.

“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.

“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.

Ryan Hanley, is an independent agent with the Guilderland Agency in Albany, NY.

Just two short years ago Ryan started his insurance career and at the same time started to “dabble” with the social Web. While the agency wasn’t yet ready to jump “head first” into social networking they gave Ryan the freedom to do so.

Being new to the industry he started researching insurance issues, and then writing about his experience on his new blog, Albany Insurance Professional. Ryan also set up Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn accounts.

Has it been a valuable and profitable experience? According to Ryan, “social networking is how he builds and strengthens relationships and generates new business – it is no longer an experiment.”

Listen to Ryan as he shares his experiences with Rick and Peter.

The podcast was published Monday, May 24, 2010. Run time is 24 minutes 7 seconds.

We at Aartrijk have been working on our client’s Web sites—using the very new and very cool social networking and site-building tools available. So we thought it was high time we brought a fresh look to our site. Please let me know what you think about it (peter@Aartrijk.com).

As we pause to celebrate 11 years in the branding business, I’d like to say, “Thank you.” It has been an enjoyable ride—even in this stormy sea of an economy. If you don’t know me well, I’m a glass-half-full kinda guy.

I love the Allstate TV ad with the comment, “Is this the Great Recession, or has the recession made us great?”

I believe the recession has made us great. When money is tight, you’re likely to question what truly brings value. In my mind, relationships pay the highest dividends—but like going to the bank without anything in the account, you can’t remove funds. You must invest wisely. So now is the time to build up equity—you must communicate with your prospects and clients!

We know our Web site is our most important office, so we hope it reflects how we love working with our insurance, financial services and trade association friends.

Here’s to a super 2010 for your business.

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