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It’s easy for agencies—especially smaller ones—to overpay when mailing and shipping. There are steps agency owners can take to prevent overspending and improve productivity. Pitney Bowes has a new online postage stamp service called pbSmartPostage that allows small business owners to buy and print postage stamps online, print exact postage when combined with a postal scale (so you don’t overpay), get discounted USPS rates on certain … [Read more...]
Big companies almost always have someone test websites under development for usability prior to going live. Most agencies never think about this option. It is similar to companies hiring hackers to test the Internet security of their business website or IT devices. UserTesting is a company that pays consumers or customers to pick through your website with the goal of addressing and correcting problems and challenges that consumers are … [Read more...]
As I travel across the country talking to agents, the question I hear most often is, "Can you just give us a couple quick tips on the top things we can do right now to make our agency more profitable and effective?" The answer is, YES! As an insurance technology consultant and editor, I've been able to discover the cool new tools, websites, gizmos and gadgets that can make your life easier, more productive, and more competitive. I have … [Read more...]
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 … [Read more...]
Getting your message through to clients and prospects takes creativity. Anything you can do to make your message stand out in overloaded Outlook inboxes is a good thing. Eyejot is a Web-based service that allows you to quickly and easily send video e-mail (v-mail) to anyone. All you need is a Webcam and an Eyejot account. The best part is that the basic service is free (at least for now). Once you have a Webcam and an Eyejot account, creating … [Read more...]
Traditionally, Web developers only needed to worry about how your Web site displayed in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE). No longer. Multiple Web browsers are commonly used by your prospects and clients. A bad looking page on a non-IE browser (e.g. Firefox, Safari, Opera) could make a prospect abandon your site. Browsershots.org is a complimentary service that lets you test your Web design in 55 different combinations of Web browsers and … [Read more...]
Clients who have been confused or intimidated by the complexity of health insurance now have an easy way to take the first step towards getting the individual medical coverage they need. A new Web site, SimpleCoverage.org, provides information and guidance to help consumers quickly understand the basics of health insurance and how to find and select a health plan that’s right for them. The site was developed by Consumers for Competitive … [Read more...]
