A Great Friday

I think I need to sleep less.  On Friday's I don't do any cold calls, its my gift to myself.  I reserve Friday's for networking with other business owners and I usually start my day at my favorite networking group.  Today included a great lesson about connecting with others. 

I spent some time with my kids, answering emails, and donating one of my teeth whitening services to an upcoming networking event.  I had just enough time to set up my mailchip banner and then it was time to go!  I spent the evening with others I have met at various events at a concert.  Cool Fred E and the Gang did a stand up job singing a variety of genres.  I was dancing by the end of the night.

When I returned, I completed my very first newsletter to everyone I have ever contacted regarding insurance.  I've been contemplating sending out a newsletter, but I wasn't sure what kind of content I should include.  A local marketing coach warned me that insurance was boring, so I shouldn't talk about it or send any information about it.

I finally realized that I already have great material that I've written that would be interesting to business owners and families.  I added my already made content and using the tips I learned from Morgane Rae, I designed my first newletter.  At 1:35am I sent it out to nearly 400 people.

At 2:00am 4 people had opened it already.  None of them clicked through to my articles, but none of them had requested to be removed from the list either:)  20 emails hard bounced (they were completely undeliverable, and 6 soft bounced (but my server will keep trying to send it.)

I mentioned that 1 person who likes my business page on facebook would win a ticket to a great marketing class.  I listed out the class topics, and linked to the person teaching the class.  She just happens to be a member of my networking group and offered us "buy one get one free" tickets.  I bought mine, and then offered the 2nd for my facebook fans.  I got the idea from a hub.

None of the four people who opened my newsletter have "liked" my page yet, but I did get two new people today.  Before  I left for the concert, I emailed everyone I met networking and offered the same deal.  Two people liked it...I think one actually created a facebook page for the first time, just to like my page!

Ok its after 3am now..and I have to go to a class tomorrow...all about extreme couponing.  I wrote a story about the class and I'm pretty sure I'm going to do a follow-up.

Think I Need a New Plan-making cold calls vs writing 3 articles a day for Hubpages

Hey if you are new here, let me know you stopped by with a comment below!

This has been a good week.  I did two more teeth whitenings and one of the health insurance policies I sold was approved.  So In a day I made about $600 for 3 hours of work.  If I could do that four times a week, I'd be getting somewhere!

I've hit a bit of a conundrum today.  I made a plan to sell insurance during the day, teeth whitening a few times a week, and write evenings and on weekends.  My schedule seems a bit different, I feel like I'm getting something done every day, but its not exactly in that order.

Insurance sales takes a lot of time.  My goal has been to make 40 calls and write 4 quotes per day.  I'm not really motivated to make the calls, but I've been averaging 2 quotes from 20 calls.  I found that when I actually keep track of the amount of dials I make, I can push a little longer..just get to the next set of ten..before I take a break.

It's been a little dangerous though because I forget that when someone actually answers the phone, it will take a little longer than when someone doesn't.  I was late for a movie date with my kids because I was trying to get to the next set of 10 before I left and someone picked up!

The problem in my schedule is that I didn't leave enough room for writing.  My phone calls are most productive between 7 and 9.  After which I need to run the quotes.  So writing is taking longer.

I found that I'm spending my day answering personal emails, studying new topics, or writing news articles for the examiner.  Part of my motivational trouble is that I recently discovered Hubpages.  After publishing just 2 hubs, I had already made $1.67.  That was more than I made publishing 20 articles for examiner.com!

Another thing about Hubpages, is that it is chocked full of great writers who have really cool subjects.  I am spending a lot of time reading and commenting.  I already found several crafts I'd like to do with the kids and if I know my kids, they will want to list them on Etsy.com before they are even complete.

One of the hubs I've been reading lists a whole bunch of ways to earn extra money.  The very first one is to get a Hubpage, and I'm already a believer!  He says that if you publish 3 random but good quality hubs every day, you should be making about $18k your second year.  $18k is nothing to sneeze at, especially when it is doing something I love to do every day anyway!

I'm already writing that often in different venues, but it may be a challenge to write quality articles just for Hubpages and sell insurance and be a teeth whitener and volunteer and network.  I'll keep you posted and let you know how I did.

Networking

My father always told me that it wasn't what you knew it was who you knew.  In the 5 years of teaching, I have met many parents, teachers, and others in education.I never felt like I really "knew" any of them.  In fact, only one has ever invited me to anything outside of the school.

In the 1 month I have spent networking, I have many many more wonderful people who are all very much like me!  I have attended four separate networking events or functions so far and some of the same people spill into each of the groups.  Each group has a very different format but all are centered around getting to know other business owners and finding out what they do.

The very first one I ever attended I found on facebook.  I searched facebook with my town's name.  I was primarily looking for other local businesses so we could share "likes" to our page.  One of the businesses pages was for a networking group.  There was no phone number, just a statement that said they met every Friday morning at a local hotel.

When I arrived my first time, a gentleman getting coffee heard me ask where the group met and offered to take me there.  I was a few minutes late, and they had already started.  It was a small conference room with a U shaped table and almost every chair filled.  I slipped into one in the back and watched everyone with wide eyes.

They had pulled a card from a hat and the lady it belonged to stood up.  She described her business and the room started flooding her with marketing ideas on how to gain more customers.  After words we all stood up one at a time and gave a 1 minute commercial. Finally, we passed our business cards around for people to collect with the idea they would pass them on to others who could use our services. The overall feeling from this group was warmth and lightheartedness.  I was hooked.

I brought my $30 advertising fee the very next week and met even more people at this meeting.  This time the leader gave us a 15 minute class on network marketing.  A week later someone gave us tips on effective branding.  This group is really my favorite.

By attending these functions, I found out about others.  I was invited to a chamber of commerce luncheon (free and yummy!) and found out about InHouston and Third Thursdays.  Now the chamber is something I believe is important, and so does my insurance mentor.  He said he will pay for me to join once I start producing (thats another story.) It cannot and won't be my only networking source.  There were lots and lots of insurance agents there!

InHouston was a refreshing event.  They have meetings all over the city and I went to one close to me.  No pressure, no cost (except for anything you order from the venue where it's held.) Business owners from all over came to meet other business owners, and all had a fabulous time.

Thursdays rock my world.  I have discovered that on various Thursdays, there is a free meal waiting for me near-by.  Here is how it works.  One or two business owners sponsors the meal (served buffet style) and in return we listen to them speak about their business for 20 minutes.  After they have had their say, we all get a 30 second commercial and door prizes are given.  I won a bottle of wine!

As an insurance agent, I now have lots of  local resources to share with my clients.  I can also tell my dad I know lots of people:)