Internet Marketing Auto Pilot

My parents owned their own insurance agency when I was a kid and when my brother and I grew up we opened up an office as well.  We have always done well enough to get the bills paid and live comfortably but now that consumers have more choices the insurance market has become very competitive.  People no longer feel the need to have a personal agent anymore they are content with getting a quote on-line, issuing a policy, and never speaking with a representative unless they have to.  Unfortunately, we have not changed our business to match the changes in the environment and I am not sure where to begin.

Feeling someone snowed under, I decided not to take on this endeavor without the advice of inside sales professionals.  Our businesses needed a total overhaul from getting started on the internet to getting our staff up to date on sales training.  Therefore, I decided to consult with a telemarketing consultant.  They have laid out a plan that will assist us every step of the way to make a transition to become more competitive. 

The sales consulting we’ve received has helped our business grow, and created greater loyalty amongst the customers we already have. 

Technorati Tags: insurance market, inside sales, telemarketing consultant, sales consulting

No one gets it.  “Do you know Sarah?” “Which Sarah is that?”  “You know, tall Sarah.”

That is the story of my life.  I have had people come up to me and literally just fall over themselves, stuttering that “Wow, you’re tall.  I mean, really, really tall.  Do you know how tall you are?”  I’m only 5′11″!  I am not a freakishly tall giantess and I am not addicted to HGH.  I have never taken HGH supplements and yes, despite the fact that they do not apply to me, I am well aware of the side effects of HGH.  Now, if everyone I ever knew from high school, preschool, grade school, kindergarten and any and all social activities I’ve ever participated in could just get over the fact that I am, actually, quite tall, I would be a happy camper. 

I have enough issues and complexes without everyone making me feel self conscious about my height and the fact that despite meeting the height requirement for such a position, I’m not actually a model.  I don’t even want to be a model!  In addition to which, I think objectifying someone for their height is just as cruel and ostracizing as doing it to those who are overweight or ugly.  Leave us alone!

Technorati Tags: model, hgh, hgh supplements, side effects of hgh

I grew up with a nickname.  At first I thought it was an endearing term since one of my favorite cartoon characters is that adorable tiger named Snagglepus.  My father called my little sister Cricket as her nickname, Sport was how he referred to my brother, and Snagglepus is how he addressed me.   I don’t need years of therapy to deal with father/daughter issues.  My father’s term came from a place of love and when he said the name, it was said with affection and without judgment. 

At school, however, when kids called me that name, they were indeed focused on my twisted front tooth.  I can’t believe it has taken me into my thirties to finally contact a dentist in Washington DC to fix my image.  Truly, the tooth never bothered me too much.  In fact, the fear of dentist outweighed the benefit until I heard of Washington DC sedation dentist.   I spent so much time avoiding any possible Washington DC dental services available that I missed out on the fact that dentistry has come a long way since my childhood.

Cricket it doing well and funny enough, she is actually afraid of bugs.  Sport now has a boy of his own that he calls Sport.  Their passion is soccer and with winter here they have found an indoor soccer arena to continue the game through the snowy months. 

Technorati Tags: dentist Washington DC, Washington DC sedation dentist, Washington DC dental services

One of the biggest mistakes I see clients make is not thinking ahead enough with their marketing.

For instance, I have one client who is always contacting me for a press release after they have already implemented the website changes, started offering the new product, etc.  And then of course they want the press release done yesterday.  They don’t seem to understand that marketing is much more effective if you plan ahead.

For instance, if you sell Halloween costumes it might seem like you want to do most of your online marketing in October, but realistically by October it’s already too late.  You do want to step your marketing up as Halloween approaches, but if you market steadily throughout the rest of the year, more potential customers will already know who you are — making your ads in September and October that much more likely to succeed.

Also, don’t forget that just because your business is in an “off season” doesn’t mean there isn’t any business to be had.  For instance, just because the majority of what you sell is Halloween costumes, doesn’t mean you can’t make some extra money selling Easter bunny costumes in the spring, or Renaissance costumes during the summer when the Renaissance Fair is in full swing.

Technorati Tags: press release, Halloween costumes, Easter bunny costumes, Renaissance costumes, Renaissance Fair

Being a student in Civil Engineering, I do not just study on how to make plans and designs on paper.  I also need to know about physical properties of soils and other things involved in construction of bridges, buildings and other infrastructure.

Last month, we visited a construction site.  It was a big area where a mall and a hotel will soon rise.

Among the many trucks, cranes and other equipment, my attention was caught by an EZ screen machine.  Having visited a construction site in Asia before, I realized the big importance of the gravel screening machine.  In Asia, people had to manually screen sands, gravel and other materials from the soil.  It was kind of like an ancient method they used in some Egyptian construction site.

I can imagine the big savings a construction company can have with gravel screeners.  It’s like you put in soil stuff and voila you separate the gravel from other materials.

Now, I realized that these were the machines I saw along river banks where there were people extracting sand and gravel.  Maybe there are also screening machines that can screen top soils from the rest of the dirt and that way, effective soil management can be easily achieved.

EZ Screen, gravel screening machine, gravel screeners

Technorati Tags: EZ Screen, gravel screening machine, gravel screeners