December 29th, 2009 | 
Author: We ran into Kathy at several social media strategy events throughout the past year. Kathy has been instrumental in leading NWI businesses through social media consulting, helping their team members serve local consumers. We were lucky enough to attend one of Kathy’s social media training classes that was helpful for beginners. More companies are using social media marketing in attempt to reach more customers and stay connected with existing customers. We will be looking forward to attending more of Kathy’s classes this year.
Last week I met with a group of real estate agents hungry for information on social media marketing. Besides just learning about it, they were curious to know “how much time is this going to take?” and “what return will I get on my investment?”
An effective social media program does require some time. It’s not a magic machine that you set up once and forget about. By definition, that form of media would not be very social or interactive, which are two of the things that make social media marketing such a potentially effective vehicle for connecting with other people.
The social media marketing tools I showed are free. That doesn’t mean that they come without “cost” as time is obviously worth something. What other marketing channels are open to Realtors (or other business people) that don’t cost time and/or money? Realtors spend time putting together print ads that run in home magazines; they pay a lot of money to run the ads and they spend time putting the ads together. The ads don’t magically design themselves, after all. I asked what return they were getting on these print ads and all but one or two had no answer. For some reason, social media seems to be held to a different standard and I’m not sure why, but I think because it is largely because it is unknown and seems unmanageable without a roadmap.
Kathy has established herself as, one realtor put it, “My Social Media Coach” in the Northern Indiana area.
I wanted to hi-lite each person that came through our $25 restaurant gift card giveaway but I’m already behind from the weekend. We had a lot of winners from Hobart and Portage, and still have about 20 gift cards left! Fill out your auto insurance application and it will be on it’s way.VXS4Y2HT8NSB
This has been fun. Gene S from Hobart filled out our online auto insurance quote form and won a $25 dollar restaurant gift certificate. We found three quotes for Gene that were right in line with his current insurer. After some thought he felt he was satisfied with the service at his current agency. Gene we wish we could have saved you a few dollars but thanks for getting a quote and enjoy the gift certificate.
NWI Quotes is giving away $25 restaurant gift cards. They serve over 50 restaurants in Porter County and many more in Lake. All you need to do is fill out an auto quote no purchase needed. To qualify you must fill out a complete app. All apps must be in by the Jan 01. We have over 50 cards to pass out. Enter you e-mail to receive notice of our ongoing contests and giveaways. Merry Christmas from NWI Quotes.
Posted in Auto Insurance | 
Tags: chesterton, hobart, portage, porter county, valparaiso | 
No Comments »
Posted in Auto Insurance |
Tags: chesterton, hobart, northwest indiana, portage, portercounty, valparaiso |
No Comments »
However, not all car insurance companies take the same view of young drivers as there are even discounts available to help you cut costs. Generally, insurance companies use this principle: the higher the risk, the higher the cost of insurance premiums.
Here are 10 suggestions to help lower premiums and keep your teenager’s license free of violations:
1. Enroll them in driver education courses. Discounts are available for teens who take recognized driving classes. But call your car insurance company to find out which schools are covered before paying big bucks.
2. Set a good example. Do you break the speed limit and tailgate? Do you yell at other drivers when you’re behind the wheel? If you do these things, how can you expect your children to act differently? Start watching your own driving long before they get their license and you’ll have a much easier time convincing them to be safe drivers. Remember, actions speak louder than words.
3. Put your teenager on your policy. Rather than setting up an independent policy for your teen driver, put them on your auto insurance policy as an additional driver. In this way, all the discounts applied to your policies will be passed on to them.
4. Pay your teenager to get good grades. Here’s a creative tip — find out how much you save if your teenager gets a good grade point average and pass it on to them. Usually, having a 3.0 or higher GPA will reduce your car insurance premium by 10 percent. Figure out exactly how much this saves you and give that money to your teenager. This accomplishes two things. First, it provides a direct reward for academic performance. Secondly, it motivates them to continue getting good grades.
5. Help your teen learn the laws. By far, the best way to lower car insurance costs for teens is for them to keep their driving record clean. In some states, restrictions apply to new drivers. Parents should know what the laws are and insist that their sons and daughters follow them.
6. Steer clear of sports cars. Don’t try to live vicariously through your teenager by giving them the hot car you couldn’t get in high school. Getting your teenager a safe car to drive, with the latest safety equipment, will lower your premiums. Not only will you save money on car insurance, but fast driving will be less of a temptation.
7. Get their support. Don’t assume that your teenager wants to vacuum clean your wallet. Ask them for help cutting costs and point out that you will share in the savings (see rule #4). Tell them how much car insurance costs and show them how this fits into the family budget. If nothing else, you will score points for treating them as adults.
8. Talk to your kids about drugs and alcohol. This is a tough subject to broach with teenagers, who think they have everything under control. But the consequences of saying nothing can be catastrophic. Take the time to lay down some guidelines in this important area.
9. Take traffic school to beat tickets. Once a ticket is on your teen’s license, it takes months to get the violation removed. Instead, encourage them to take traffic school if the judge allows it. A day spent thinking about the consequences of unsafe driving can bring rewards for years to come.
10. Ride with your teenager. Your teenager was a safe driver last year when he or she got a license. But what’s happened since then? Let your son or daughter take the wheel while you sit back and relax in the passenger seat. If you see them doing something that breaks rules or seems unsafe, point this out in a diplomatic way.
We have been testing about 10 days now. All the behind the scenes programming and security is working as well as planned. Thank you to all the folks that have checked out the site, about 120 unique visits. 13 people from Lake and Porter County have filled out a request for an auto quote and 3 have been happy enough to switch carriers. Not bad for a test run.
In the next few weeks we will be adding a few more insurance forms while talking to a few leading lenders. If all goes well NWI Quotes will be able to connect you to banks and mortgage lenders.
Ran across this article online, explaining how a few states average premiums have dropped. One official attributed the decline to more competition. It’s fun to watch insurance carriers respond to the market. While I haven’t seen posted declines for NWI, consumers still have the option of looking at different auto quotes . One disagreement from some experts, the cheapest policy upfront is not always the best way to go. Poor advice and help from an agents staff can cost consumers more than a few dollars a month in savings.
