Monthly Archives: February 2010

What Is Your Strongest Learning Modality? Take Advantage of Your Visual Learning Strengths

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By Shelley A. Gable

How do you learn best?

Do you have a knack for remembering things you’ve read? Can you recall every word of a conversation days (or even months or years) after it happened? Or are you one of those people who needs to get your hands on something to learn about it?

All of these may be true for you in different situations. But for most of us, one of these items will be true most often. Knowing which of these learning modalities is your strongest can guide you in reinforcing what you’ve learned from an online continuing education course.

What is a learning modality?

Many learning researchers suggest that we learn through three sensory modalities:

  1. Visual (learning through seeing)
  2. Auditory (learning through hearing and/or speaking)
  3. Tactile (learning through doing)

Each of these sensory modalities is stimulated in different ways in an online course. An awareness of your strengths and how to take advantage of those strengths can make online learning feel easier.

This post will look at the visual modality in more depth so you can determine whether you’re a visual learner and find out how to leverage that strength in online learning.

(A future post will dig into the auditory and tactile modalities in more depth.)

Visual Learning

If you’re a visual learner, you may be an ideal candidate for online learning. Researchers estimate that 70% of the population learns best with the visual modality.

How do you know if you’re a visual learner?

If the majority of the statements below are true about you, you’re probably a visual learner.

  • You prefer to read a story rather than listen to someone tell it.
  • You can easily make sense of maps.
  • You prefer diagrams, flowcharts, and concept maps to text.
  • You have a knack for solving jigsaw puzzles and mazes.
  • You try to recall difficult-to-remember information by attempting to visualize where you encountered it.

How can you leverage visual learning in an online course?

This is an easy one. Nearly all online courses are heavy on visual stimuli. You’re constantly presented with slides that outline the main points of the course, highlight important points (through visual cues such as bolding and color), and display information in graphical form such as flowcharts and diagrams.

That said, there are additional steps you can take to reinforce your learning visually.

Take Notes

Writing notes about the content of an online course reinforces learning by displaying that information in a new way. An earlier post on this blog (How Can Note Taking Help You with Online Learning?) offers advice on how to take notes effectively.

Associate Images with Textual Information

If you’re taking a course in which most of the slides are dominated by text, you can make a conscious effort to associate images with that text to help you remember that information later. For instance, if you’re presented with a list of statistics, envision them and write them down as a graph.

Decide Whether to Read the Audio Narration

Many (although not all) online courses include audio narration. Sometimes the narrator simply reads the text that appears on the slide. If this is the case, you may find it beneficial to turn off the audio and read the narration transcript. Sometimes very little text appears on the slide, so the narrator provides critical information that you must hear rather than read. While you could still opt to focus on the transcript, you’d likely benefit more from looking at the graphic while listening to the explanation.

Suppose you’re completing an online insurance continuing education course. If you’re a visual learner and you’re trying to remember something from the course, you may try to picture the specific slide where that information appeared. Taking advantage of the suggestions above will provide you with additional ways to visualize and recall that information.

Are you a visual learner with other tricks for recalling information?  If so, please share!

And remember…more about the auditory and tactile modalities next week!

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If you appreciate these ideas, it’d be swell for you would share them (button below) or subscribe via the feed.

Click here for 5 reasons why you should subscribe!

Interested in sales?  Perhaps Insurance, Real Estate, or Finance is your calling..  Click here to get licensed.

Need your Insurance Continuing Education?..Click here to take your continuing education classes online.

___

Shelley A. Gable is an instructional designer and freelance writer. She has developed training for functions such as financial services, call centers, and engineering education. Shelley has written articles on topics related to training and management for print and online publications. Visit Shelley’s website at http://shelleygable.webs.com.


A Case for Critical Illness Insurance

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Study quantifies the risks for critical illness

By Cathy Miller, Business Writer

The age group with the highest percentage of individuals with no insurance is also the most likely to have a critical illness before age 65. That’s according to a recent study published by the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance (AACII).

Study Findings

Prepared by Milliman, Inc., the study reported the likelihood of men and women under age 65 of suffering a critical illness before the age of 65. The following highlights key findings:

  • 25-year-old male – Non-smoking: 24% chance; Smoking: 49% chance
  • 25-year-old female – Non-smoking: 21% chance; Smoking: 36% chance
  • 35-year-old male – Non-smoking: 24% chance; Smoking: 49% chance
  • 35-year-old female – Non-smoking: 21% chance; Smoking: 35% chance

For purposes of the study, the definition of critical illness was life-threatening cancer, heart attack and stroke. Most critical illness insurance policies cover those same illnesses.

Why Critical Illness Insurance

The first critical illness insurance policy sold in the U.S. was in 1996. AACII reports that today approximately 600,000 individuals have critical illness insurance policies. Recently, there has been a resurgence in sales for this type of insurance. There are a number of reasons for the increased popularity of this insurance product.

  • Advances in medical treatment increase the likelihood of surviving a critical illness
  • The high cost of recovery drains savings
  • Out-of-pocket costs are not covered by health insurance

Another strategy gaining popularity for critical illness insurance is their use as a supplement to a Health Savings Account (HSA). Critical illness insurance pays a tax-free, lump-sum cash benefit for covered illnesses. The benefit helps defray the out-of-pocket expense of the high deductible associated with HSAs.   

How the covered individual uses the cash benefit is totally up to the individual. Surviving a critical illness has a high cost. Rehabilitation, caregivers, expenses not covered by health insurance all add to the financial strain for the survivor and his or her family.

How Critical Illness Insurance Works

Offered to groups and individuals, critical illness insurance helps fill the gap between traditional health insurance and the out-of-pocket expenses incurred from a critical illness.

Originally, most of these policies covered three critical illnesses: cancer, heart attack and stroke. Many agents think of critical illness insurance as cancer insurance. Cancer insurance is still available but the coverage is for a cancer diagnosis only.

Today, many policies expanded the covered illnesses beyond cancer, heart attack and stroke to include coronary artery (bypass) surgery, kidney failure, major organ transplant, paralysis, loss of sight, multiple sclerosis, heart valve replacement and surgery of the aorta.

It is important for agents to understand the coverage for critical illness insurance. When first introduced, misunderstandings regarding pre-existing conditions, survival periods and reoccurrence of diseases left some very unhappy clients.

Common characteristics include:

  • Considered an accident and sickness policy
  • Coverage for most range from $10,000 to $50,000 (lower and higher coverage available)
  • Rates are generally guaranteed from three to five years
  • Pays a lump-sum, tax-free cash payment
  • May be tax deductible for businesses (for example, when purchased for key executive)
  • Typically has a guaranteed issue for group policies
  • Contain a survival period – number of days insured must survive following diagnosis to receive benefit
  • May have an option for return of premium that pays to survivors if the insured dies while the policy is in effect and no claim is made (for example, the insured dies during the survival period)

Insurance carriers recognize the increasing popularity of critical illness insurance. As a result, many of the newer products are more flexible than older policies. New features include a benefit for recurring illnesses and incentives for preventive and wellness treatments.

Critical illness insurance is often a good supplement to health, disability and life insurance for clients. Insurance agents benefit from understanding this insurance product in developing protection strategy for their clients.

If you appreciate these ideas, it’d be swell if you would share them (buttons below) or subscribe via the feed.

Click here for 5 reasons why you should subscribe!

Interested in sales?  Perhaps Insurance, Real Estate, or Finance is your calling..  Click here to get licensed.

Need your Insurance Continuing Education?..Click here to take your continuing education classes online

Product Review: AgentMethods.com – Insurance Agent Websites

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AgentMethods.com hosts insurance agent websites and do a mighty fine job of it!

Today, I gave their product a test go and it was easy like Sunday morning.  No need to know anything about html or java script or dns or any other type of coding for that matter.

Simply fill in the blanks.

You want an “About Us” page? Cool, click the icon for it.  You want a contact form or a quote engine?  No problem, just click to add it and its done.

The next step was to add the content. Click the page you want to add it to and fill in the blanks.

The site that I built can be had for $39/month, which I feel is a solid deal.

You can check out the brief page I built here.

Visit AgentMethods.com for more information and to get your own agent website.

[vimeo 9482932]

The Study Tips We Tell Our Kids Apply to Us Too

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By Shelley A. Gable

In elementary and middle school, teachers try to help students develop productive study habits. When I think back to my high school days, I remember teachers spending part of the first day of class each year reminding us about the importance of good study skills. If you’re a parent, you’ve likely tried to reinforce these good habits in your kids.

But are you taking your own advice?

The same study tips parents tell their kids can help you if you’re studying for a licensing exam or taking an online continuing education course.

Let’s take a look at how some of the most basic study tips for kids apply to you, too.

  • Schedule routine study times. Scheduling times to study (or complete online courses) can help ensure that you actually set aside time for learning and help prevent it from being one of those “things you’ve been meaning to do.” Making a routine of it helps you work it into your life. After all, there’s a reason parents tell kids to get their homework done right after school or dinner each day.
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  • Reduce distractions during study time. Find a well-lit, quiet place to focus on your learning. Silence your cell phone. Don’t run your email in the background. Tell co-workers or family that you need this block of time to focus. It’s amazing how much more you can absorb when you’re not trying to multi-task.
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  • Set goals for study sessions. When kids sit down to study, they usually have a specific assignment to complete or a certain test to review for. You should attempt to do the same thing. If you need to complete a series of online insurance continuing education classes, decide which you’ll complete in each session. If you’re studying for a licensing exam, pick a specific portion of the exam to focus on.
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  • Review your notes regularly. If taking notes is not your forte, read this previous article on note taking and see if you might be willing to reconsider. If you genuinely want to learn something and you have notes you can review, revisit them frequently. You might spend 5-10 minutes of each study session quizzing yourself from your notes. Even spending a couple of minutes skimming through them is better than not going back to them at all.
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  • Pace yourself. Although attention spans improve as kids grow older, even an adult’s attention span has limits. Attempt to stay within those limits by engaging in shorter, frequent study sessions rather than marathon sessions. If you need to complete a series of online learning courses, plan to complete one a day. Depending on the length and complexity of the course, you may even want to break the course into smaller chunks and complete it over a few days. Taking in new information while your mind is refreshed – and stopping a study session before you start to mentally fatigue – increases the likelihood that you’ll remember that new information later. If you must cram a lot of studying into longer sessions, take frequent breaks.

Are you a parent? If so, you might find it beneficial to study with your kids so you can model these positive habits. Or if your kids have already developed good study habits, then maybe their positive influence will rub off on you!

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If you appreciate these ideas, it’d be swell if you would share them (button below) or subscribe via the feed.

Click here for 5 reasons why you should subscribe!

Interested in sales?  Perhaps Insurance, Real Estate, or Finance is your calling..  Click here to get licensed.

Need your Insurance Continuing Education?..Click here to take your continuing education classes online.

___

Shelley A. Gable is an instructional designer and freelance writer. She has developed training for functions such as financial services, call centers, and engineering education. Shelley has written articles on topics related to training and management for print and online publications. Visit Shelley’s website at http://shelleygable.webs.com.

HITECH For Brokers Is Not Just For Geeks

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Brokers on the Hook for Compliance on February 17, 2010

By Cathy Miller, Business Writer

Brokers may soon be pulling out their wallets if they do not comply with the major changes to the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy and security requirements. New rules for business associates are in effect on February 17, 2010. That includes you – the broker.

Blame It on Health Care Reform

With so much focus in the last year on health care reform, this particular legislation may have gone unnoticed. A part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the “Stimulus Bill”) signed by President Obama on February 17, 2009, created the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (the “HITECH Act”).

To reduce health care costs and improve care, the goal is for the creation of a national health technology infrastructure. Securing protected health information (PHI) is a critical component.

HIPAA With Teeth

Up to this point, many covered entities and business associates likened HIPAA to Y2K – much ado about nothing. Well, not anymore. HITECH significantly expands the HIPAA privacy and security rules. These are just a few of the changes:

  • New HIPPA rules for Business Associates (BAs) – subject to the same privacy and security rules as Covered Entities (CEs) including civil and criminal penalties
  • Stricter Enforcements – Civil penalties for privacy or security violations increased to a range of $100 to $50,000 per violation, with annual caps ranging from $25, 000 to $1.5 million
  • Legal Action by State Attorney Generals –  allows legal action for violations of privacy and security regulations –Note:  Connecticut has already taken action against Health Net
  • New Breach Notification Requirements – requires CEs to notify an individual within 60 days of discovery of the breach of privacy or security (BAs also have notification requirements for a breach)

HITECH created additional privacy requirements that affect both CEs and BAs. Like any legislation, final regulations are a work in progress.

BA Agreements

You or your brokerage firm may have already received revised or new Business Associate (BA) Agreements from insurance carriers. Legal counsel should review the Agreements for interpretation. It is likely that the new Agreements contain greater liability for brokers.

If you have BA Agreements with self-funded clients, more than likely, they need revising. Have your legal counsel review them for compliance.

With the introduction of HIPAA, many brokers signed BA Agreements without much thought on compliance. In the past, breaching the obligations of the BA Agreement meant only a breach of contract. Noncompliance under the under the new requirements can jeopardize your business.

February Deadlines

The February deadlines are interim final regulations and something brokers need to know. The first deadline is February 17, 2010. That is the one-year anniversary of the Stimulus bill and the date the monetary penalties go into effect. The second date is February 23, 2010 and is the deadline for the new breach notifications requirements.

Don’t Ignore Compliance

This is a very brief highlight of the impact of the HITECH Act. If you have been like many brokers who take a passing glance at your Business Associate responsibilities, read the fine print and take action. With the new legislation, there is a financial incentive for prosecuting HIPAA privacy and security violations. Don’t think this applies only to the “other guy.” That “other guy” might be you.

Cathy Miller, Business Writer/Consultant has over 30 years of professional writing with a specialty in health care, employee benefits and wellness. Cathy also has an active Life/Accident/Health insurance license. Visit Cathy at her business writing blog, Simply stated business to Keep it simple, clear & uniquely yours.

Notice of Disclaimer –Cathy Miller and InternetCE are not attorneys and cannot provide legal advice. The information provided is for your general background only, and is not intended to constitute legal advice as to your specific circumstances. We recommend you review legislation with legal counsel.

If you appreciate these ideas, it’d be swell if you would share them (buttons below) or subscribe via the feed.

Click here for 5 reasons why you should subscribe!

Interested in sales?  Perhaps Insurance, Real Estate, or Finance is your calling..  Click here to get licensed.

Need your Insurance Continuing Education?..Click here to take your continuing education classes online

InternetCE and the Professional Insurance Agents of North Carolina (PIANC) form Partnership

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

InternetCE and the Professional Insurance Agents of North Carolina (PIANC) form Partnership.

Exclusive offer provided to PIANC Members.

Raleigh, North Carolina — February 10th, 2010 — InternetCE, a nationally approved provider of continuing education (CE) for insurance professionals, announced the immediate availability of an exclusive offer of its online CE courses for PIANC Members.  Please visit the continuing education section or benefits section of the PIANC website for the coupon code and more details.

Founder of InternetCE, Cliff Davis, believes continuing education should not be a requirement that agents dread. Cliff explains, “Everybody has to get their continuing ed. There is a difference in how you obtain it. At InternetCE, we try to make it a meaningful experience.”

Internet CE courses provide comprehensive, relevant material with everyday examples insurance professionals understand and relate to.  Key points, highlighted for easy reference, assist insurance professionals in preparing for course tests. The engaging material has many associations, groups and companies returning to InternetCE for all their insurance continuing education.
Course fees include an online course, exam, grading and certificate of completion. IntenetCE offers filing to the North Carolina Department of Insurance (NCDOI) at no additional cost.

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If you would like more information, please call 800-835-5314, email InternetCE at info@internetce.com or visit the website at internetce.com.

About InternetCE

Founded in 1991 by Cliff Davis, MBA, CLU, InternetCE has grown to be one of the top providers of Insurance Continuing Education in the United States. InternetCE’s clients include prestigious associations, groups and companies looking for steadfast professionalism and top-level expertise. Thousands of students and professionals have benefited from InternetCE’s convenient course offerings, including a wide variety of public and private training classes. More information is available at the company’s website, www.internetce.com.

Motivate Yourself to Learn through Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction

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By Shelley A. Gable

At some point, we’ve all had to go through a training course we weren’t interested in. Maybe you found the content to be boring, or you felt it didn’t apply to you. Either way, it’s challenging to learn something new when you’re not motivated to learn it in the first place.

Of course, when you’re required to complete a particular course, you have to find a way to make it work. And if you’re going to be tested on the information presented in that course, then you also need to make sure you actually learn something along the way.

How can you motivate yourself to learn?

Try applying the ARCS model when you’re completing an online course. John Keller, an educational psychology researcher, proposed ARCS as a motivational model for educators to follow to motivate students to learn.

ARCS is an acronym for:

  • Attention
  • Relevance
  • Confidence
  • Satisfaction

Let’s take a look at how each of these pieces can help motivate you when you’re completing online training.

Attention

One of the most demotivating feelings you may experience at some point during a course is boredom. The attention piece of the ARCS model is about capturing and maintaining your interest and curiosity in a topic.

So how can you overcome boredom?

  • Take breaks throughout the online course. Completing a course in bite-size chunks will help keep your perspective fresh by breaking up the potential feeling of monotony.
  • Quiz yourself periodically. When you reach topical transitions in the online course, take a moment to recall as much information from the previous section as you can. This can help keep your mind active and engaged.
  • Take notes with a purpose. If you’re focused enough on the content to take meaningful notes, you’re more likely to remain attentive. An earlier post on this blog (How Can Note Taking Help You with Online Learning?) offers suggestions for taking notes effectively.

Relevance

Nobody likes to have their time wasted, which is why relevance is an important component of learning motivation. A course is relevant when you feel like you’re actually going to benefit from what you’re learning, and you believe that the course will help you meet your individual needs and goals.

How can you create a sense of relevance, when it might not be immediately obvious?

  • Start with a positive attitude and attempt to anticipate how the course content will benefit you on the job. Take a moment to consider this before digging into the course, and make it a point to continue pondering this throughout the course.
  • Ask a manager or your peers why they feel the topic is important. If you’re required to take a course and you’re held accountable for learning its information, someone must think it’s important!
  • If you’re struggling to pinpoint how the content is relevant for you, figure out who it might be relevant for. If the topic is applicable to others you interact with, you may be able to draw conclusions about how learning this information can help you build your relationships with those people.

Confidence

Although we may be reluctant to admit it at first, sometimes we lack the motivation to learn about something we think will be difficult. Confidence is part of this motivation model, because we tend to be more eager to learn something when we believe we can do so successfully. And I think most of us can agree that there are some complicated topics that can come with insurance continuing education.

So how can you boost your confidence during an online course?

  • Think about your peers who have successfully completed the course (or one like it) and mastered the content. If others can master the content, then surely it’s not an impossible task. You might even ask your peers for suggestions to help you be successful.
  • Pace yourself. Trying to process too much information (especially complex information) in one sitting can be overwhelming. Break the course down into logical chunks, mastering each chunk individually. This will help build a sense of accomplishment as you complete the course.

Satisfaction

Have you ever been excited about learning something new, only to have some of that excitement deflate if you don’t get a chance to use that new knowledge right away? Create a feeling of satisfaction with your learning by taking the opportunity to showcase what you’ve learned. Satisfaction is about putting that newly learned knowledge to work.

How do you create opportunities to showcase your new knowledge?

  • Make it a point to do a task the very next day (or maybe even that day!) that requires you to apply what you’ve just learned. It’ll create a sense of satisfaction for the learning you’ve accomplished and give you an opportunity to test your new skills.
  • Talk to others about what you’ve learned. Talking about your newly learned knowledge will help reinforce it in your memory, and you may gain deeper insight into the topic by listening to another person’s perspective.

The thing that’s great about online learning is its flexibility. You can complete it in small chunks, progress at your own pace, and refer back to it as needed. This allows you learn and motivate yourself using the best techniques for you.

What motivates you when you’re completing an online continuing education course? If you have a motivational suggestion not offered here, please share it in the comments!

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If you appreciate these ideas, it’d be swell if you would share them (button below) or subscribe via the feed.

Click here for 5 reasons why you should subscribe!

Interested in sales?  Perhaps Insurance, Real Estate, or Finance is your calling..  Click here to get licensed.

Need your Insurance Continuing Education?..Click here to take your continuing education classes online.

___

Shelley A. Gable is an instructional designer and freelance writer. She has developed training for functions such as financial services, call centers, and engineering education. Shelley has written articles on topics related to training and management for print and online publications. Visit Shelley’s website at http://shelleygable.webs.com.

InternetCE Affiliate Program Now Available

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

InternetCE Affiliate Program Now Available.

Companies and organizations are now able to provide exclusive offers to their members and clients, while earning referral fees for the same.

Raleigh, North Carolina — February 4, 2010 — InternetCE, a nationally approved provider of continuing education (CE) for insurance professionals, announced the immediate availability of its online CE courses for affiliate members.

“We are excited!  For a long time, solid organizations and reputable companies have asked us for a way to offer tangible value and benefits to their members, via our insurance continuing education products, while earning a referral for the new business.  It’s really a win-win!  I’m really excited to partner with groups, far and wide, to learn, grow, and become the best we can be.”, said Aaron Loring Davis, InternetCE.com CTO.

Becoming an affialite is easy. InternetCE handles all customer support, filing, and regulations while you can concentrate on what you do best.

The referral fee is 15% of net profit. Affiliates can view their accumulated referrals via their control panel at any time.  No contracts are needed.

Follow these steps to get started:

  1. Fill out the application to be considered for the program.
  2. Your application is reviewed by InternetCE staff.
  3. Upon approval, a unique ID and link set are provided to you as an affiliate.
  4. Share the link via email, blog, website, social media,  etc. with those you wish to benefit from the offer.
  5. A referral fee for every person that signs up is credited to your affiliate account.
  6. InternetCE pays referral fees, once at least $50 has been accumulated, monthly via corporate check.

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If you would like more information, please call 800-835-5314, email InternetCE at info@internetce.com or visit the website at internetce.com.


About InternetCE


Founded in 1991 by Cliff Davis, MBA, CLU, InternetCE has grown to be one of the top providers of Insurance Continuing Education in the United States. InternetCE’s clients include prestigious associations, groups and companies looking for steadfast professionalism and top-level expertise. Thousands of students and professionals have benefited from InternetCE’s convenient course offerings, including a wide variety of public and private training classes. More information is available at the company’s website,www.internetce.com

InternetCE Editor Featured In State Newsletter

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By Aaron Loring Davis

I am proud to announce that through the partnership forged with the Auto Insurance Agents of North Carolina (AIANC), I have been afforded an opporunity to contribute monthly to their news letter.  A full text version of this month’s published material can be found here.

Streetwise is distributed to Insurance agents in North Carolina, through the AIANC via FYI Express.   It highlights tips, tools, and advice to agents looking forward to making a difference.

InternetCE.com and the AIANC formed a partnership to share business and create tangible value for each other in Novermber, 2009.  Both organizations also pledged to help agents in need complete their insurance continuing education.

I am really looking forward to sharing my experience and thoughts via this new channel.  I feel it is a win for both of our organizations.

Onward  and upward!

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If you appreciate these ideas, it’d be swell for you would share them (button below) or subscribe via the feed.

Click here for 5 reasons why you should subscribe!

Interested in sales?  Perhaps Insurance, Real Estate, or Finance is your calling..  Click here to get licensed.

Need your Insurance Continuing Education?..Click here to take your continuing education classes online.

Aaron Loring Davis is the CTO of InternetCE.com , provider of insurance continuing education, and Editor of this blog.  He holds a Bachelor or Science in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and enjoys just about anything that can be done outdoors. Visit Aaron’s personal website at www.aaronloringdavis.com.

An agent website, a must have!

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By Aaron Loring Davis

When we get our license, there are suggestions for all kinds of tools – a cell phone, business cards, a nice pen..the list goes on and on.  However, as the world looks toward the Internet for everything from wacky cat videos to yes, insurance, it is now essential to have a website.  Read that again – Essential!  The good news for the technically-challenged, it can be had in under 20 minutes and there is tons of support when you get stuck.  A self-managed site is yours for as little as $10 a year or for a bit more, you can have it built for you…seamless!

With staggering rates of websites and blogs created every day, the programmers of said technologies have made it nearly dummy proof.  Plus, when the relatively intuitive systems do not jive with our thinking, there are hosts of free resources to figure things out.  Support forums host a wealth of community knowledge and their members always seem to be willing to lend a hand.

Where does one start? There are two ways to go -

Self-hosted – You will manage your website and configure it yourself.  Don’t worry, it’s less daunting than it sounds.

1.     Register a domain name – Visit godaddy.com or register.com to reserve your address on the web.  Cost – $10 or less

2.     Pick a host – AFMU.com provides free websites and your registrar may as well. Cost – Free

3.     Install a template or blog software. I like to use WordPress to manage all of my sites, because they are so dang easy, but you may opt for Joomla or Typepad.  Cost – Free

Hosted - Tthe site will be hosted and managed by a third party

1.     Register with a hosting site – WordPress.com or Blogger.com. Cost – Free

- Or -

2.     Register with a premium agent website hosting company – Agent Methods has a superior product! Cost – $39 and up

What should it include?

1.     Welcome page with your message and instructions to find other resources

2.     Contact page with all of your contact details.  A lot of folks like to include phone numbers, mailing and office address, email addresses, links to other profiles such as Facebook and Twitter, and perhaps a contact form

3.     Information page(s) – This should include information about you, your company, and the products you provide.  It can be as brief or robust as you choose.

That just about sums it up.  Not so bad, huh?  Remember, it can be as simple as a business card or incredibly complex with calculators and multimedia.  The point is that as a professional salesperson, it is essential to reserve a place for you and your business on the web.

If you need a hand setting yours up, please do not hesitate to ask.  I am happy to help.

Onward and upward!

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If you appreciate these ideas, it’d be swell for you would share them (button below) or subscribe via the feed.

Click here for 5 reasons why you should subscribe!

Interested in sales?  Perhaps Insurance, Real Estate, or Finance is your calling..  Click here to get licensed.

Need your Insurance Continuing Education?..Click here to take your continuing education classes online.

Aaron Loring Davis is the CTO of InternetCE.com , provider of insurance continuing education, and Editor of this blog.  He holds a Bachelor or Science in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and enjoys just about anything that can be done outdoors. Visit Aaron’s personal website at www.aaronloringdavis.com.