Today was just ok. My phone was out pretty much throughout the day. Every time I made a call I could hear the other person but after about two minutes they couldn't hear me. Didn't get fixed until around 4pm.
The problem is that completely distracted me and when I'm at home with my stay-at-home wife Lisa and son (Ryan) it's just too easy to say "Oh well, call it a wash today." It wasn't a total failure. I did get two confirmed appointments (phone appointments, not physical) set up to sign up two of the leads I generated from Tuesday.
But what today punctuates is not going into an actual office costs me money. There's just too many home distractions. I also thrive in a real work environment with other agents around. Part of my goal is a retail location with other agents. I'm competitive by nature and there's no one to compete with sitting like a turd in my home office. Quite boring actually. I really miss just the general camaraderie that comes with an office environment.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Wasted day
Well, I'm chalking today up as a waste. I went to my Bravo by ElderHealth meeting this morning to possibly sell MA plans to people on Medicaid. What I thought was gonna be 1 or 2 hours dragged on 'till 4pm. This one windbag went on and on for over 2 hours.
The MA deal doesn't sound bad, but they want $25 per appointment and after a few of us grilled them over the quality of leads I get a 6th sense the leads aren't as qualified as I'd like. Plus, they are marketing in 5 counties in MD plus the city and I could just tell that it would be 10am in Harford county, then 3 hours south to AA county for the next. Brings back nightmares from when I sold home improvements.
I could telemarket my own leads and set my own appointments. However, I need to assess the best use of my time. I can spend 2 hours telemarketing seniors on Medicare, probably get 4 appointments out of that, get 2 apps at $300 a pop and make $600. However, if I put those same 2 hours into health that's 6 extra leads.
Put it in weekly terms and it's 10 hours of senior marketing for possibly 10 apps X $300 = $3,000. Doesn't sound too shabby. However, 2 hours of health is 30 leads, close 3 is $4,000 AV X 25% = $3,000. Same money, but with health I'm selling out of my house. Health wins. Let's not forget that my time to run 10 MA appointments is probably 15 or 20 hours total.
Lastly, I think I realize that in order to attain my ultimate goal I need to stay focused and it's just heatlh, health and more health. Tomorrow - back on track!
The MA deal doesn't sound bad, but they want $25 per appointment and after a few of us grilled them over the quality of leads I get a 6th sense the leads aren't as qualified as I'd like. Plus, they are marketing in 5 counties in MD plus the city and I could just tell that it would be 10am in Harford county, then 3 hours south to AA county for the next. Brings back nightmares from when I sold home improvements.
I could telemarket my own leads and set my own appointments. However, I need to assess the best use of my time. I can spend 2 hours telemarketing seniors on Medicare, probably get 4 appointments out of that, get 2 apps at $300 a pop and make $600. However, if I put those same 2 hours into health that's 6 extra leads.
Put it in weekly terms and it's 10 hours of senior marketing for possibly 10 apps X $300 = $3,000. Doesn't sound too shabby. However, 2 hours of health is 30 leads, close 3 is $4,000 AV X 25% = $3,000. Same money, but with health I'm selling out of my house. Health wins. Let's not forget that my time to run 10 MA appointments is probably 15 or 20 hours total.
Lastly, I think I realize that in order to attain my ultimate goal I need to stay focused and it's just heatlh, health and more health. Tomorrow - back on track!
Monday, July 30, 2007
D-Day - The battle begins!
Ok, woke up today and set a goal to generate 10 leads. Next thing I know I'm playing Jedi mind games with myself as I gear up to start making calls. After all, my cat really needs a bath...bad. I also need some stuff at Office Depot and that counts as work...right?
But getting ready to telemarket is no different than an actor before going on stage; a lot of apprehension but once you're out there you have a good time. And that's a great analogy for me since I actually enjoy talking to business owners about health insurance.
In the end I got 11 leads! I got to ten and then "did one more for the Corps." (I'm a former Marine.) When I generate my own leads I close about 1 out of 8 so I should have a deal in there somewhere. Above is my spreadsheet of the leads I got today.
On another note, I finally got my fat ass in the gym again today. I'm 6.0 and 195 now up from 178 months ago when I stopped working out. So I'm not only proud that I got my 11 leads but also that I stuck to my guns and did my work out.
Tomorrow is my meeting at 10am to sell Medicare Advantage plans to Medicaid prospects. If this pans out it'll give me much needed marketing money to take this to the next level.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Let's start with the basics
Can I start an entire business with $200?
First, let's get the basics out of the way. I'm selling individual health insurance, not group and although there's many ways to get leads telemarketing is not only the least expensive but most effective. I cannot stress enough, especially if you're new in this business, not to buy shared internet leads!
A bit about me: I'm 40 with a fantastic wife and five year old son. My wife is extremely supportive but truth be told I've been coasting in this business for a long time. Be it fear of success, fear of failure or just pure laziness I've been putting in - at best - 2 to 3 hour work days. Although that sucks to admit it's also what's exciting about deciding to pull my head out of my ass. If I can make good money being a lazy bum, what can I do if I actually work? I am extremely driven but like a lot of people "something" is blocking me mentally. I have a feeling that as I undertake this task my inner fears are going to constantly mess with me.
Telemarketing: I use Goleads - http://goleads.com single user account with is $.9.95 per month. This gives me unlimited leads around the U.S. and I can tweak them to businesses with less than 10 employees - which is key since I'm selling individual health.
Companies: I represent Assurant Health, Golden Rule, Coventry, Aetna and Carefirst Blue Cross. I get a commission advance from both Assurant Health and Golden Rule.
Office: Right now I'm home-based.....but that will hopefully change!
Failures: In the past I've tried to hire. I'm a general agent for Assurant and can get overrides if I put agents under me. The short of it is the time and effort it takes to train and support people destroys your ability to write personal business and pay goes in the crapper. I've also hired telemarketers which does work to a point, but you have to replace 'em like fry cooks at McDonalds which gets old fast. There is no worse way to make money then depending on others to write business. This doesn't mean I'll never hire again, but those plans are far off.
Goals: Even though I've done very well over the past 4 years I'm in tax trouble all the way back from 1998 and 1999 when I was an independent contractor and regional manager of a marketing company. The IRS didn't even contact me until mid-last year. Come to find, I didn't file proper returns and long story short, I'm on the hook for a crap load of money and currently have an installment arrangement. After paying my bills, current taxes and my installment payments I really don't have much left over.
Starting tomorrow, I'm going to start telemarketing myself using my $9.95 Goleads account. I also have a meeting set up on Tuesday to possibly sell Medicare Advantage plans through Bravo for dual eligibles. That could give me much needed advertising money.
The goal is simple, yet ambitious. I want to brand the "State Farm" of health insurance. No one has done it. While some agencies offer health it's by no means advertised or pushed. Instead, they concentrate on auto, home and life.
How will I accomplish that? Name branding in my area - ads plastered all over the place; print, billboard, local cable spots, local events. I eventually need a prominent store front location where clients can walk in and sit down with me. How expensive will all that be? I think my son says it best "one thousand hundred million dollars."
First, let's get the basics out of the way. I'm selling individual health insurance, not group and although there's many ways to get leads telemarketing is not only the least expensive but most effective. I cannot stress enough, especially if you're new in this business, not to buy shared internet leads!
A bit about me: I'm 40 with a fantastic wife and five year old son. My wife is extremely supportive but truth be told I've been coasting in this business for a long time. Be it fear of success, fear of failure or just pure laziness I've been putting in - at best - 2 to 3 hour work days. Although that sucks to admit it's also what's exciting about deciding to pull my head out of my ass. If I can make good money being a lazy bum, what can I do if I actually work? I am extremely driven but like a lot of people "something" is blocking me mentally. I have a feeling that as I undertake this task my inner fears are going to constantly mess with me.
Telemarketing: I use Goleads - http://goleads.com single user account with is $.9.95 per month. This gives me unlimited leads around the U.S. and I can tweak them to businesses with less than 10 employees - which is key since I'm selling individual health.
Companies: I represent Assurant Health, Golden Rule, Coventry, Aetna and Carefirst Blue Cross. I get a commission advance from both Assurant Health and Golden Rule.
Office: Right now I'm home-based.....but that will hopefully change!
Failures: In the past I've tried to hire. I'm a general agent for Assurant and can get overrides if I put agents under me. The short of it is the time and effort it takes to train and support people destroys your ability to write personal business and pay goes in the crapper. I've also hired telemarketers which does work to a point, but you have to replace 'em like fry cooks at McDonalds which gets old fast. There is no worse way to make money then depending on others to write business. This doesn't mean I'll never hire again, but those plans are far off.
Goals: Even though I've done very well over the past 4 years I'm in tax trouble all the way back from 1998 and 1999 when I was an independent contractor and regional manager of a marketing company. The IRS didn't even contact me until mid-last year. Come to find, I didn't file proper returns and long story short, I'm on the hook for a crap load of money and currently have an installment arrangement. After paying my bills, current taxes and my installment payments I really don't have much left over.
Starting tomorrow, I'm going to start telemarketing myself using my $9.95 Goleads account. I also have a meeting set up on Tuesday to possibly sell Medicare Advantage plans through Bravo for dual eligibles. That could give me much needed advertising money.
The goal is simple, yet ambitious. I want to brand the "State Farm" of health insurance. No one has done it. While some agencies offer health it's by no means advertised or pushed. Instead, they concentrate on auto, home and life.
How will I accomplish that? Name branding in my area - ads plastered all over the place; print, billboard, local cable spots, local events. I eventually need a prominent store front location where clients can walk in and sit down with me. How expensive will all that be? I think my son says it best "one thousand hundred million dollars."
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