Insurance Journal Forums

Does anyone know of a source where I can purchase an insurance specific newsletter and customize it with my name, logo and etc? In a perfect world I would love to find the time to manufacture one myself but for now that is a distant dream.

Thanks.

Smart Publishing puts out a good product. Both email and snail mail. www.smartpublishing.com.

The trouble with 'canned' or purchased newsletters, whether for email or print, is that by their very nature, they are so bland and generic, they seldom get very much attention.

Articles about saving money by raising deductibles, safety measures like installing smoke detectors and home fire extinguishers, combining home and auto for multi line discounts, doing a life insurance check up and making sure the swimming pool has a fence are prescriptions for sleep aids , not value added contributions that make you and your agency presentation stand out.

Truely, if you're going to try and differentiate yourself, you'd be much better served by finding the time to put together an agency specific letter, focusing in on the segments that you have success with and keeping it local with references to items that will really help you stand out.

Think about it...in this crazy,busy world, how much noise and clutter do you take the time to really read? Your clients are no different. The kinds of people who actually read and care about the 'same old, same old' broad generality news deliveries are most likely not the kinds of demographics you're going after anyway.

If you're going to try and add value, then add real value.

Your mileage may vary.

Thanks johnhoefer and I agree with you d's insurance store wholeheartdely but I was "hoping" to find a publishing company that allows me to pick the industries/segments and the stories I want making it somewhat of a customized newsletter.

That is what SmartPublishing allows you to do. I will say I don't use them anymore and don't send out a newsletter at all, so take it for what its worth. I got two responses from sending out the newsletter though. One turned into a quote for LTC and one was someone that knows us well that thought we should be putting out something more substantial and less canned. The Smart Publishing ones still take time to put together and you can have them ghost write articles for you too. I would say that a combination of canned and local, self written news/content would be best.

From a client's POV, I would agree with not using canned newsletters - they're so bland & generic that I don't read them. We get newsletters all the time from carriers and you know that, for the most part, those are just filler with a few carrier specific things tossed in. I barely glance at them - it's always the same old, same old.

One of our surplus lines brokers, though, really stands out. WN Tuscano sends a fantastic newsletter every month - it's topical, well written and personally done...by the president. I make a point to read it every month and find it great reading. It's part of the reason that I go to Tuscano first. Here's a link to this month's newsletter:

http://www.tuscano.com/articles.aspx

CSRQueen...I just read the last 4 of the Tuscano newsletters and reviewied their web page. I am pretty sure that the original poster had newsletters to retail agency clients in mind. But this is a great example of a newsletter not necessarily being used to convey specific info, but to enhance a relationship.

Noticed that the newsletter is mostly about the writer with the ending being a short message about the companies abilities. One thing I noticed in the news letters was a lil box to the right side "Did You Know?"...one of those boxes mentioned that they can deliver docs via mail, cd or email...and even mentioned DOWNLOAD! That is a great item for a wholesaler.

What was also interesting is the "Meet Our Teams" page...every picture is a bit off kilter and not staged. Then each person apparently was given the opportunity to answer a few basic questions...not a single one of which related to how good they were at their job...but clearly very well designed to create a relationship.

However the absolute most interesting thing...on teh Meet Our Teams section...was the order of the listings. Departments are listed alphabetically...but the "Owners" were last. I am guessing that this was done on purpose...and judging by the newsletters, perhaps the owners realize that they are dependent on their staff to make them a success.

If I were in the PA area, they surely would see business from me based on these issues!

Agreed. The Tuscano newsletters has a nice spin to it to where it is not necessarily talking about insurance but it is still interesting to read. I must admit I am now re-thinking my newsletter approach altogether.

Don't forget about Foresight Publishing either. We offer print and email newsletters and give agents the ability to customer their newsletters completely. http://www.insurancenewsletters.com

I have used Foresight publishing as well. I forgot to mention them before. They are very good and also do commercial and risk management newsletters. The risk monitor is especially good and you can pick and choose your articles from past articles.

Orange County Insurance

I'm not a big fan of the "canned" newsletter as you lose the personal touch. We use constantcontact.com and create our own. Have had great success. It takes me about 30 minutes a month!
Cindy Donaldson - Director of Marketing, Founders Insurance Group

It's been brought to my attention by users of this forum that the URL for our website mentioned in the posts here is incorrect. It's not smartpublishing.com, which domain is for sale. It is http://www.smartspublishing.com With an "s" after smart. Also, our name is Smarts Publishing. Thank you. I hope this is helpful.

Use MailChimp or something like it, keep it to one topic, something relevant and personal. Write like you're talking to your clients one on one. The goal should be to make connections. Also keep insurance related information out of it. Yeah, I know...sounds ridiculous, except that more people want cat videos than want insurance safety tips. My open rates prove that.

I have a solution...better than anything else. I have no stake other than it works.

try Ready To Go Newsletters http://www.readyinsurancenewsletters.com/