Blogs

somarco

GA Medicare Expert
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Atlanta
Quite a few agents have blogs. Some in this forum even link to theirs.

Business related blogs seem to come primarily in two flavors. Those that are geared toward the general public, and those aimed at other agents.

The GP blogs have information that can be useful (or interesting, or both) by almost anyone. The agent oriented blogs seem to be mostly of interest to other agents.

I cannot tell you how much business I have written over the last few years as a result of my blog, but I do know that I get at least a couple of calls or emails a month from a blog that is cohosted by a buddy in OH.

I doubt I would get any prospective client inquiries if the blog reported my life as an agent and how much I made this week.

Not being critical, just wondering what your take is and, if you have a blog, what your purpose is.
 
I just started my blog. I think I have about 3-4 short articles published. I don't quite have the rich content you have, but maybe some day...


I'm still learning about the blog business. Mine is with Wordpress and I think it's called "Ohio Health Insurance Plans."
 
Well I have two blogs one for personal that I started a long time on my poker playing career and saw a lot of agents put on their daily stuff about their business on it. I have been getting a lot of hits lately on that one for people searching poker players health insurance. So I might write a creative article on that to see if it will drum up business. I do get compensated for that blog a little bit from adsense ads and people purchasing ad's on my blog. So to answer your question for this is is more a daily journal for me. Not sure if I should have it or not see your point. I usually do not post how much I make or anything like just how my marketing is going and sales.

On the other hand I see the value of my other blog a business blog where I write articles and stuff relating to the health insurance industry and my business. I will be linking putting a link to the articles on my website. Also use the blog to send people for my email newsletter because I do not like to write a huge article on the newsletter I do a teaser paragraph or two and have them click on the link to view the rest of the article.
 
I also have two blogs, personal and business. In my business blog, my email newsletters are linked so that if a client/prospect wants to see the full article, they can click a link that goes to my blog. The personal one is the link at the bottom of my signiture box. It's more or less a way for me to keep track of what I'm thinking/doing at any given time and possibly help others in similar circumstances. My personal blog is in no way an attempt to make money, just to help myself and others (unless you count the $13.00 total I have made off the google ads the last three months).
 
I am just "wagging" here, but I think Hank said we get somewhere between 500 & 800 visitors a day. Some threads generate a lot of interest (and even comments) while others are silent.

We get a lot of links back to the various articles from various newsletters and publications (including the WSJ and Reuters). We also get a fair amount of traffic from carriers and governmental agencies (including 1600 Pennsylvania Ave).

Hank has done a tremendous job of promoting InsureBlog. We feel our "style" compliments each other rather well and this joint project has been both an outlet, and a resource for both of us.

Blogging for $$$ would be nice, but we do it mostly as a passion to get the word out to anyone who is willing to read.

I tried to get Hank to convert to Wordpress on several occasions but he sticks with Blogspot. His blog, I am just a volunteer.
 
Here's my chance to finally insert a little spam into this Forum. :)

I am the Webmaster of Blogger Forum which has been around since the first days of blogging, even before Google owned Blogger. For detailed information and help on blogging, there is no better source. About Blogging for Bloggers : Blogger Forum

That being said, it is very hard to actually make money with blogging and it really is more a matter of having a bit of fun by doing something you find interesting. The blogosphere has gotten so congested that it has become really hard to be heard over the noise and traffic.

Blogs can be helpful to bring in more traffic to a site you have for your insurance business and can thereby improve the ranking of your existing site. Any element of a Web site that is interactive and encourages people to re-visit is beneficial. Blogs can do that --and forums can as well. Content that is frequently updated gets the search engines back more often and tends to lift your position with Google, Yahoo and the others. So, if someone did search on "life agent chicago" for example, then someone with an active site that maybe includes a blog would likely come up higher in the search results than someone with a static site.

If anyone needs help in blogging matters, I know more about that subject than I know (unfortunately) about insurance.

I agree that Wordpress is probably the best platform. However, for really entry-level blogging for newbies, Blogger can't be beat. Anyway, just visit Blogger Forum since we have many threads the discuss that virtues of different blogging systems and we have some good information for newbies and experts.
 
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I just started getting into online marketing and started my own blog Utah Insurance Basics. I try to write articles about insurance issues specific to my state (Utah.) Last weekend I wrote an article about rental car insurance, since it was a holiday and many people would be using rental cars. I try to use the blog as a way to drive traffic to my site. Even if it doesn't accomplish that goal, I have a lot of fun writing and getting to express myself. Good Luck.
 
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