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:)

$60/Hr

Just before new years, I invested in a teeth whitening business.  I spent a couple of weeks asking various salons to allow me to whiten people's teeth in exchange for a percentage of my fees.  I also posted an ad on Craigslist.  I had a few takers from the Craigslist account right away but I had an entire month with no customers at all.  That's when I realized I needed to do something else as well.

I started reading books, investigating business opportunities and writing this blog.  Aside from reposting my ads on Craigslist, I haven't done anything to market the teeth whitening business.  Instead, I spent a lot of time and energy cleaning up the rarely used loft room of my house, converting it to my insurance office.

Although my attention and energy was with the insurance business, I started receiving calls for appointments with the teeth whitening.  Each appointment only takes about an hour so I don't mind leaving my office (and my home) to go into the "real world." It also doesn't hurt that even after paying a commission, I'm making about $60 an hour.

My favorite part about the teeth whitening business is that I get to meet new people.  They have already decided to purchase my service by the time I meet them, so I don't need to sell them anything.  I just help them get whiter teeth and learn a little bit about them.  The lady I met on Friday was pretty special.

She was 85 years old.  Some people have real trouble getting the cheek retractor into their mouth, but this lady was so anxious to have her teeth whiter, she had no trouble at all.  I could tell that she didn't like having to sit there for so long, but she knew what she wanted and didn't complain. 

Her friend told me that she had been a pastor's wife here in Houston for many years, that she was a published author and also a public speaker.  For the 45 minutes that she was in the health food store getting her teeth whitened, she was a brave lady relaxing in my chair.  Her teeth were 8 shades whiter when we were done, and her smile was huge.

My Yiyi passed away earlier this month, and this lovely lady reminded me of her.  I couldn't help but ask her for a hug before she left.  She gave me a wonderful hug and I left with warm fuzzies.  I'm not just a stuffy insurance sales person working from home.  On occasion (like tomorrow morning) I get to go out into the world and brighten people's smiles:)

Putting My Plan Together

The book I blogged about the other day really gave me permission to explore every angle that I want to explore.  I decided to go ahead and make a last Hail Mary attempt to make my primary source of income from the insurance industry. 

I've been busy putting together a twitter page, facebook page, and blog spot for my "new" business.  My coach has already talked to me one on one once and got me started with all of this homework.  Aside from getting all of my pages together, he has given me access to his quoting software (worth a bunch of money every month), given me a source for free database management, and gave me the name for much more cost effective errors and omissions insurance.

Still on my list of things to do is filling out the paper work for the new insurance carriers and setting up my home office. I'm typing all of these blogs from a 10" screen netbook so I've been scoping out a more grown-up style that I can work on for 8-10 hours a day.  I also purchased a headset to use with my magicjack for outgoing calls.  When it arrived today, I discovered it doesn't work on my netbook or on my cordless phone...I'll re-list it on Amazon.

Without guilt, I've been able to continue to explore the idea of becoming a coach.  I'm not sure how it will fit into my life just yet, but I've been very interested in attending the Fowler, Wainwright International Institute for Professional Coaching.  Because of I Can Do Anything If Only I Knew What it Was, I know that it's o.k. to maintain my interest in this field.

I had to giggle out loud when I listened to a webinar about becoming a coach.  One of the very first slides said "You don't need to have all the answers to be a great coach.  You just need great questions." Helllllllooooo? That was the ONLY thing that others told me I was good at...asking questions.  I am very excited to know that this career is out there. 

I an determined to make this insurance thing happen...and I am going to be a coach.  Maybe my niche will be coaching teachers about what kind of life they will have after teaching!!!!:)

Thinking A Bit Clearer Now

I've been really frustrated trying to figure out what to do next.  When I first stopped teaching, I immediately picked up the phone and tried to make insurance sales.  I also signed with a group company so I could have someone local to help me.  My "help" wanted me to work in a phone bank 40 minutes away from my house, and it was difficult to make the drive.  I also found out very quickly that I really HATE cold calling.

I started to get some referrals from local property and casualty seeds I had planted earlier in the year, but when I tried to get help from my general agent for individual sales, no one would return my calls.  I felt stranded.  Even when I could hot leads, I didn't know how to efficiently work with them.  I was days away from giving up on the business when I saw something listed under one of the franchise ideas.

I went a little nuts last night debating whether or not I should continue in the business with this "new help."  Then I went more nuts trying to figure out why I was having so much trouble deciding what I wanted to do.  I've been working for 20 years now but I've got another 27 or so years left.  I was really beating myself up for being interested in so many areas and not having "one passion."

I picked up one of my books again, this one screamed my name from the clearance section of Half Price Books.  The title is I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was but it might as well have been called "Brenda, Read This!" I got to chapter 6 yesterday just as I was feeling bad about myself for not having any clear goals. The title of the chapter convinced me someone was sending me a message: "I Want Too Many Things; I'm All Over the Map"

It was this chapter that has really helped me take a breath and release my stress.  According to chapter 6, there is a reason I don't know what I want to be when i grow up.  I have a title! I'm what this author calls a scanner.  It's wonderful to have a title!  This new title of scanner even explains why (as I blogged yesterday) my aptitude test came out with no highs and lows. 

Smith and Sher describe me to a T on page 102: 

Scanners want to taste everything.  They love to learn about the structure of a flower, and they love to learn about the theory of music. And the adventures of travel.  And the tangle of politics.  To scanners, the universe is a treasure house full of a million works of art and life is hardly long enough to see them all. 

They go on to say:

If you're a scanner, you have extraordinarily special and valuable skills.  You love what is new, you don't suffer from fear and indecisiveness.  You're highly adaptable to new cultures you're so flexible you can turn on a dime.  You're a lightening-fast learner, curious about anything you don't already understand; you like and respect all kinds of thinking.  Although you may be unwilling to dedicate yourself to one path, you don't lack discipline or have a low IQ.  On the contrary, you're dedicated to learning all that you can, and you're intelligent enough to delight in all that you learn.

After they told me what I was, they told me how to deal.  The book had me list out ten "lives" and then place them into areas of my life.  I felt so good, I knew what to do!  I can still write and act, but my main source of income is going to be from educating people about insurance.

I signed up with my new general agent this afternoon.  I've already attended one web seminar and I'm going to work one on one with my general agent tomorrow afternoon.  I know I'll still be making some cold calls, but I also know its only one small part of my entire new life.  I'm sooo excited! 

Should I Sell Insurance?

Sometimes I feel like I'm tearing myself into too many pieces trying to figure out what to do next.  After three months of nothing, I'm starting to feel more rushed.  I'm ok financially but I was never one to enjoy the feeling of being in limbo.  This was one of the things I disliked the most about teaching.  The window to move to a new position or location was so small.  I only had about 6 weeks to find another position and move.

Now I've been "available" for three months and I still don't know which direction I want to go.  I've been reading several books that are designed to help me find that perfect career and many of them ask what I'm good at.  I remember several years back taking an aptitude test and the administrators were amazed.  They said that all of my results were at a mid-level.  A "normal" person would have peaks in some aptitude areas and lows in others.  I didn't have any lows...but I didn't have any highs either.

A couple of the books asked what others say I'm good at.  The only recurring thing I can think of is that through-out the years people have actually told me they like my questions.  I ask a lot of questions.  Sometimes I think I annoy sales people and other presenters but on several occasions I have been told that people really appreciate my questions.  I haven't yet figured out how to convert this knack into a source of income.

Last night I got the chills because I thought I'd finally figured it out.  Before I got sick, I was working toward my school counseling certification and prior to that I had considered a career as a professional counselor.  I decided not to attend anymore school (I'm still paying off $70k in student debt.)  Counselors definitely ask a lot of questions.  I'd already given up on counseling but something else fits what I've been doing every day.  I thought that maybe I could make use of all of the self-help books I've been reading and become a life-coach. 

I poked around and looked at some plans to become a coach, one of which was at the 48 days website.  I'm just not sure if I can handle the required marketing.  Today it went further into the back of my mind.  I'm nervous about it because I don't know if I could be successful.

Before I started this blog, I had looked at different business opportunities and crossed many of them out as I went along.  Debtaway seemed to take advantage of clients that don't have any money or sense about them.  Vending machines are definitely not my thing and I'm not convinced that an online store is going to make me a few thousand dollars just by being. 

Today I spoke to someone about coaching me one-on one about selling insurance. He wants a reasonable fee and will schedule time to work with me one on one.  He provides a website and a quoting system.  He also starts me off with some leads.

What I haven't mentioned yet is that back in April of last year, I got my life and health insurance license.  I spent hundreds of dollars on leads but I only submitted one policy and it was from a personal referral.  The money was definitely good for that one policy but I had real problems with marketing. I've been paying for errors and omission insurance and an affiliation membership but I haven't been making any money.  I considered giving up the insurance business, but today I was thinking about it pretty strongly. 

It seems like the fee this coach would charge (and reimburse as I made sales) would be worth it if I really want to be in the insurance business.  The problem is I don't know if it is what I want anymore.  Could it be that I've frozen my self so cold that I'm afraid to move?  Something just tells me that this would be a job and not something I would be passionate about.

Things I like about insurance:

• I can work from home.
• My work would be mostly from home.
• There is money from residuals.
• I'm already licensed and could start right away.
• I'd be educating people.
• I believe in the product and have a lot of knowledge about it.
• I can work days, nights, or both.
• I can incorporate my writing "hobby" into the marketing.
• I can be licensed in more than one state at a time and I can work from anywhere in the world.

Wow, I think I may have talked myself into this.  Things that make me uneasy about it are:

• It is selling a product.
• It requires a license (something to fear losing).
• There is a lot of competition.
• I'm not sure how quickly I would "grow out of it."

I think the last one is the biggest.  Aside from not being successful, I'm worried that I might get tired of it in a couple of years and find myself writing a blog about life after insurance!  I'm going to dig a little deeper into these books, then sleep on the insurance idea.