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...]
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 … [Read more...]
Easily Send Video Emails
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...]
Does Your Web Site Look Good?
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...]
New Web Site Makes Individual Health Insurance Easy to Understand
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...]
Broadband in the Sky
American Airlines has announced the launch of a new mobile broadband service, Gogo,™ provided by Aircell. Customers traveling on American’s Boeing 767-200 aircraft can access complete coast-to-coast coverage on nonstop flights between New York and San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles, and New York and Miami. Aircell’s Gogo service will be available to customers as a fee-based service in all cabins. Aircell will charge $12.95 on flights … [Read more...]
New Search Service: Viewzi
Google is by far the most used search engine. The biggest drawback is that it is text-based. Enter Viewzi, a new type of search site that offers results as visual images. The company is hoping to radically change how people find information on the Web. Viewzi draws its flexibility from its “views,” each of which is essentially a customized search aggregator. After entering a search term, Viewzi tries to figure out what you’re looking … [Read more...]
