Astonishing - PDF document

Astonishing Monthly Newsletter September 2012 Ln this aonth’s bewsletter: VPC 2.5 Are you certified? NEW Blogging Infog raphic Blogging Tips Astonish Social Media Winners! System Templates - Agent Summit Webinar Calendar And much more! Welcome to the new Astonish monthly newsletter! Astonish Help Desk for items such as: Recorded Webinars: o VPC 2.5 Roll Out o Astonish Updates in Q3 with Adam and Tim o How to Find a Social Media Blogging Ninja MMC Videos: o Finding your Blog Inspiration o Astonish University Blogger Courses & Blogger Network o What’s your .log suppose d to do? o Blogger Toolkit Announcement o Who should be blogging for your agency? New System Email Templates Social Media Tip of the Week And so much more! Need help finding the Astonish Help Desk? 1. Log into the Astonish VPC using your username and password www.astonishvpc.com 2. In the left navigation, click on Training Lab 3. Click on the top button, Astonish Help Desk Product & Technology September 2012 Tips for an Effective Roll Out of VPC 2.5: Step 1: Ownership & Management Understand the New Features Take time this week to meet with managers and leaders in the organization to understand clearly the updates that will be released on 9/10/12. This will ensure the agency leaders are comfortable with the upgraded VPC and are equipped to handle questions. ( See Resources to the right.) Step 2: Communicate with the staff Now that the leaders within the agency are familiar with the new VPC 2.5, make sure to communicate these changes with the staff. This is an opportunity to get excited and have fun! Anew upgra ded software allows you to really work with team memb ers that have been slow to adopt the VPC Step 3: Launch Day Lt’s aonday, September 10 th and your team is logging into the new VPC 2.5 for good! Step 4: Certification VPC 2.5 has launched but there are still a few things you focus on! Resources to learn about VPC 2.5:  Watch this Video Tutorial on VPC 2.5  Check out VPC 2.5 now, click here to start using it today as your main VPC!  Watch out BETA Webinar to learn more about the new VPC features  Connect with your RFM on any remaining questions  Log in any additional VPC feature requests into the Astonish help desk  Check out lead assignment engine to test and refine the business rules that best fit your agency  Test out the new text message alerts!  Make sure your team signs up for at least one of the following webinars on 9/10/12: o User Level: @9am EST Click Here to Regis ter o Admin Level: @10:15am EST Click Here to Register o User Level: @1pm EST Click Here to Register o Admin Level: @2:15pm EST Click Here to Register o Password for all: astonish  Confirm that your team is VPC 2.5 certified  Review the agent activities report to see who is using VPC 2.5 and make plans to work with team members who are not using VPC 2.5 VPC 2.5 Launches Monday, September 10 th “Fall” in Love with September Blog Topics! #1: September 3 rd is Labor Day great for grilling safety, party safety, & other tips for homeowners. This is your chance to bring up a home insurance policy, too…. #2: September is National Baby Safety Month --- great time for safety tips, baby - proofing advice, etc. You could even write a blog such as “Baby on the Way?” to remind expecting parents to update their insurance policies. #3: September is also Self - Improvement Month. This would make an interesting post seeing as there are plenty of directions you can go with this, from healthy eating to personal self - improvement. If you are looking for a way to connect the post with insurance, you can do so with health or life insurance. #4: It may be nice to take a moment to dedicate a post to 911 Remembrance. #5: September 22 is Business Women’s Day - not bad for a business insurance po st! #6: Back to school posts are great around this time of year #7: Summer may not be completely over but fall is on its way. Now is a great time to blog about autumn decorating ideas for the h ome (your lady customers will love it!) #8: All boats, watercra fts, and summer toys should be stored away for next summer. This would make a great post to offer tips, advice and insurance. #9: The Emmys will be airing on September 23 rd ! This would make a fun and shareable blog post. #10: Is your son or daughter leavin g for college? It may be time to update their auto insurance policy! So are you ready to fall into the fall blogging season? We are just ge tting started! As always, add your own ideas to the comment s section. We would love to see what you can come up with. Internet Marketing September 2012 Are you Blogging Certified? Find out everything you need to know about the NEW Blogging Strategy Astonish recommends for your agency’s blogging success! Simply log in to the VPC and go here to watch a multi - part video on how to effectively blog for your agency. The courses include: How to find compelling blog topics? How to write effective blog posts? How to distribute blog posts on social media networks? How to upload a blog post to your VIO and more! Get your Blogging Basics Certification today! Still Stumped on what to blog about? Check out this amazing NEW info graphic on ‘Iow to b ecome a C ontent Sensei for Blogging . (See graphic on page 5). Michael Costello has been utilizing the agency’s LinkedIn to create important and stronger relationships for the agency. Costello uses his target market to identify the existing LinkedIn contacts that have a good network and will send those LinkedIn contac ts personalized messages based on their profile. The premise is to revive communication with the contact that is already familiar with the agency and see if they have anyone in their network whom Costello could help. So far, it’s working, and Michael has s uccessfully created opportunities for the agency! E - Agency D ominating in Social Media: Spivey Insurance Spivey Insurance is on Facebook all the time promoting their blogs and events, which has led to a noticeable increase in business interactions. They are adept at using Facebook to keep in touch with clients as well as promoting all of the Astonish Coaching Winners September 2012 Social M edia Idea of the Month: The Weimer Group The Weimer Group has started a 12 week Partner Giveaway Contest on Facebook. Contestants can enter by clicking on the “Enter to Win” tab under the LIKE button. This tab was created using EZPromo, a free Facebook app to design Tabs. Within the first week of the contest, the Weimer Group increased their Facebook likes by 70 people! Every week the Weimer Group will continue to give away goods from their partners to a lucky winner! E - Agency E mployee Exhibiting S uccess in Social Media: Michael Costello, Costello & Sons Web Design & Development September 2012 System Name: Back to School System Name: Teen Drivers This info graphic visualizes the new blogging content strategy we recommend for insurance agencies. You’ll see each of the major content areas and examples of blog topics that fit within those areas for ultimate blogging success! System Templates available to you in the VPC Client Relations September 2012 2012 E - Agent Summit Lf you haven’t already booked your tickets to this year’s E - Agent Summit, taking place October 28 th - 30 th at the Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek, take a moment to think about attending this event - it’s the greatest insurance summit in the world! This year’s line - up includes how to create a world - class sales culture in your agency, how to effectively leverage emai l marketing and social media strategies to grow your business, and secrets of success from some of the fastest growing agencies in the country. Register Now! Trust us… This is an event you can’t afford to miss! Special Events September 2012 September 2012 Calendar MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY 31 3 4 MMC: What’s your Agency Brand CEO Training 5 Webinar: How to Make Social Media a part of your Agency Culture 2pm EST PW: smedia CEO Training 6 Social Media Tip of the Week FL Onsite Training: Social Media 9am - 4pm 7 10 MMC: Social Media Mascots VPC 2.5 Launch Webinars: User Level: 9am EST Admin Level: 10:15am EST User Level: 1pm EST Admin Level: 2:15pm EST Password for all: astonish 11 Webinar: HR that Works 2pm EST PW: hresources 12 Webinar: How to Get a Killer Video Strategy for your Agency 2pm EST PW: astonish 13 Social Media Tip of the Week 14 17 MMC: How to get the Entire Agency involved in Social Media 18 19 20 Social Media Tip of the Week NATIONAL ALLIANCE WEBINAR: Guest Speaker Adam DeGraide Digital Marketing to Reach the Modern Consumer 12:30pm CDT 21 24 MMC: Q3 Recap 25 26 Webinar: Social Media & Blogging Recap 2pm EST PW: smedia RI Onsite Training: Advanced VPC Training 9am - 4pm 27 Social Media Tip of the Week 28