Category Archives: cool tools

a potpourri of hardware, software, and website tools

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Creating a Blog

Most agencies should consider using a blog as a communication tool for employees and clients. Essentially, blogs are simple Web sites. They are perhaps one of the easiest—and quickest—technologies to implement.

Creating a blog is simple. Sign up for an account at Blogger.com, TypePad.com, WordPress.com, or another blog publishing tool of your choice. Next, select a name for your blog. Finally, choose a theme. A theme determines what your blog will look like. Each company provides a number of predefined templates to choose from. These templates can be changed later if you decide you want a different look. The three tools listed here allow you to sign up and create a basic blog for free. Here are some additional details:

Blogger.com is owned by Google. If you already have a Google account (a Gmail account) you can use that account to sign up.

TypePad.com is a very popular option. Many insurance blogs  utilize TypePad as their blogging platform.

WordPress is an open-source blogging platform. This means that the software is available for free. Additionally, because Word Press is open source, the developer community continually develops new features for the platform.

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Google Insights for Search

Google provides many tools that can help you understand Web searches. Google Insights provides you with all kinds of information about any keyword/phrase in which you are interested. You’ll find out how searches for that keyword/phrase peak and ebb over time, where geographically that search is most popular, and what other keyword/phrases are used to conduct similar searches.

For example, at the time of this writing, we tested the tool using the phrase “Insurance Agent.” Google Insights revealed that the use of this phrase has been relatively constant over the last several years. This tool also shows by state how much this search term is used. One of the rising search terms is “insurance agent jobs” and “insurance agent careers.” In other words, more people today are searching for jobs in the industry.

How can you make use of this data? By learning what people are searching for, you can customize your Web site by adding these terms. That way, your site will become more visible to these searchers. This information will help you better understand the information your target prospects are looking for.

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Meeting Scheduler: TimeBridge

Have you ever tried to set up a meeting with people who use different calendars? At best, it can be a challenge.

TimeBridge, a PC Magazine Editors’ Choice, helps you set up meetings for those with unrelated scheduling systems. You’ve got Outlook; she’s got Google Calendar; he’s got Thunderbird, and so on. Instead of playing phone-tag and worrying about time zones, you just send out the invites, and TimeBridge handles the confirmations and reminders. You only need to know the e-mail addresses of each person you want to invite. Each person receives a message with the options for a meeting time; they don’t need a TimeBridge account to reply. As the originator, you get a message if your various invitees can’t make it at the proposed times.

Once the meeting is set, everyone gets an e-mail confirmation with links to import the info into various calendars, including Google, Outlook, Yahoo!, and Apple’s iCal. Currently, the service is free but TimeBridge has plans to charge for premium services in the future.

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New iPhone Application for Insurance Quotes Available

OK, so I don’t have an iPhone yet. But many people do.

2insure4less.com has released a new Insurance Shopper iPhone application. It is the first mobile phone application of its kind. Now, iPhone and iPod Touch owners can receive insurance quotes directly through their mobile devices. The Insurance Shopper application helps individuals save time when searching for affordable insurance quotes by storing their information on the company’s Web site and helping them obtain quotes. This iPhone application connects with the Web site to allow searches for a full range of personal insurance policies. The Insurance Shopper is an unbiased insurance quotes finder that locates the most competitive insurance quote based on the information submitted through the application. Within minutes, the iPhone user receives insurance quotes from multiple insurers to compare.

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PDF Readers

The PDF file format is an insurance industry standard for sharing many types of documents. Insurance companies almost always use the PDF file format when delivering client documents to an agency electronically. Originally created by Adobe, many agencies use the Adobe Acrobat software to create and read these documents. One of the drawbacks to using Adobe software is that it can be expensive (especially for a smaller agency) and slow.

The good news is that there are other options. A number of software companies have created PDF readers that have almost as much functionality as the full Adobe Acrobat software. Two programs that offer PDF viewing and creation software are Foxit Reader and Pdf995.

Both of these programs offer polished and complete alternative PDF viewers. The basic versions of these programs are free. They have a smaller installation footprint and are quite a bit faster than Adobe Acrobat software. Best of all, they support most, if not all, of the most important features of Acrobat.

What about creating a PDF file? Again, you could purchase a professional PDF-creation program—or you could just download the version that installs a PDF print driver in Windows. Both companies have programs that allow you to change output settings (resolution, paper size, etc.) through Windows XP’s Printers and Faxes utility. These programs allow you to create PDF files from any Windows program that’s capable of printing.

Both of these programs have limitations and don’t provide all of the features available in the full Adobe Acrobat software. If you need the higher-end functions available in Adobe software, these programs won’t work for you. However, if you just need to view and create simple PDF documents, you may be able to save a lot of money by giving these versions a try.