The “Awkward Holiday Party”

At our company we are doing a web series called, “Save a Seat for Foremost.” The idea is to feature real employees communicating various insurance related messages to our agency force. The subject of this month’s video was home safety, and the setting was an “Awkward Holiday Party.”

I had a great time working on this project. Video is obviously taking a more and more prominent role in social marketing. I think you will see a marked increase from larger companies looking to venture into this more informal area of video marketing.

You can watch the video here.

http://youtu.be/wvb960D6JhY

Barely One in Three Pass Auto Insurance 101

According to Paul Eisenstein’s(thedetroitbureau.com) article, the public has a lack of even basic knowledge when it comes to auto insurance.

This should be a wake up call to the public that view insurance as a commodity, and to the insurance carriers and agents that think there will be less of a need for insurance counseling going forward.

13 Traits of an Outstanding Salesperson

I like this list:13 Traits of an Outstanding Salesperson from @Inc

I think this is something a hiring manager could save and reference when looking for new people.

Go Out for Coffee First

According to Jeanne Hopkins of HubSpot, contacting a lead without first offering them content, is the same as asking someone to marry you before you’ve had your first date.

This article does a good job of explaining inbound marketing, and how small businesses are using it to maximize sales.

Managers: Your Performance Review is Coming Up

The author is not who you think it is.

We have all been there. Your performance review. You and your boss alone in a conference room. It can be a stressful event for both parties.

@LinkedIn asked the question today, “Should we invert the performance review?” This question was raised in response to a great post written by Daniel Tunkelang, Director of data science at LinkedIn. He suggests that for the overall health of the organization, companies need to take another look at how they organize their performance review process.

Wanna Make $10K? Allstate is Looking for Referrals

Allstate Insurance Company is offering $10K cash if you refer them an exclsuive agent.

Being Anti-Social(Media) May Cost You

Can Social Media Influence Lead to Investment Opportunity?

Take a look at how the startup, Frostbox, is using Klout scores to give social media influencers investment opportunity.

Want to Impress your CEO?

Here is another very informative article from Hubspot on the data to present to the head honcho: The 6 Marketing Metrics Your CEO Actually Cares About [Cheat Sheet]

Want to Know How to Use Linkedin to it’s Full Potential?

If you are like me, you have at times wondered how to fully engage your network on LinkedIn.

From the great minds at HubSpot, here is an amazingly helpful and informative article on that very subject.

Is your Company Being Annoying on Social Media?

I found this article by @augieray amusing.

3 Corporate Social Media Trends That Should Die in 2013: Last call for you to add any you’d like to kill!