About Peoples First Insurance

Since 1906, Peoples First has  served the York County community for all their insurance needs. They rely on their clients to spread the word about their positive experiences and most of their new clients find out about Peoples First  from community referrals.   Peoples First is recognized as one of York County’s most prominent independent insurance agencies.  You will often find their agents involved in local business events, participating in community fundraisers.

As an independent insurance agency, People’s First can search the insurance markets for the perfect policy to meet their clients’ needs. Their staff works for clients as opposed to an insurance company.  Peoples First’s goal is to match you with the right policy.  By blending the personal service of a small agency with the reputation and strength of the world’s leading insurance providers, they can provide a “best of both worlds” approach to  clients’ insurance needs. You can get the best options from a variety of companies while enjoying a single point of contact for your entire insurance portfolio.

Nature of the Situation

Peoples First has a strong customer base and an established online presence VISIT SITE.  They approached RevenFlo desiring to grow their presence in the marketplace, inspire contacts and facilitate relationships for existing clients as well as prospects.  In addition to creating a user experience, they wanted to:

• increased visitors to the site,
• increased search engine presence,
• better social media positioning,
• increased prospects
• attract more informed prospects.

Nature of the Solution

We assisted Peoples First in a web build previously.  We approached this project as an redesign and redevelopment of the existing site.   We wanted to upgrade the existing site, create a more comprehensive user platform, enhance the user experience and dovetail the launch with a web marketing program.

We redeveloped the commercial and benefits content of the site to make people aware of the comprehensive services the Peoples provides.  In addition to content, we created portals to insurance carriers that Peoples First works with.  In addition to the content development, we added a “Get a Quote” form to assist in capturing prospect information.  We essentially added to the user experience of the site while making it a more robust and Web 2.0.  The site now offers greater value to prospects and clients.

Web Strategy and Planning

RevenFlo offered a strategy to redevelop and launch an upgraded open source technology web site that would promote the brand and position them as the leader in personalized and local insurance providers.

Web Design and Development

We designed an easily navigable site that outlines the variety of services Peoples First is able to provide.  The site accommodates education marketing and promotional marketing as well, allowing Peoples First to post updates on industry news as well as carrier updates.  The site speaks to the variety of services they offer as well as the professionalism that

Web Marketing Management

We launched a web marketing initiative that has a primary focus on positioning Peoples First in top search engine results for the market place they serve.  Peoples First has a lengthy history with the community and wants a web presence that rivals their word of mouth presence.  The next phase is to segue into the social media foray and to cross promote Peoples First with their website and selected social media outlets.

Web Maintenance and Training

We provide maintenance work for Peoples First on an as needed basis.  We are able to assist them with any update or changes they would like made to the site per their request.  In addition to maintenance we provided training to Peoples First staff on how to utilize the open source technology and how to yield the greatest results from an SEO and web marketing standpoint.

Summary

Peoples First has an enhanced web presence.  They are performing in search engine results and we look forward to seeing their continued growth and success.  Thank you for your business Peoples First.  If anyone is interested in learning more about our practices and methodologies feel free to email us at info@revenflo.com or call 803.328.6033.

There is a public presentation about his work scheduled March 11th at 7:30pm in City Hall’s Council Chambers.  To learn more about the artist go to HIS SITE and check out  the gallery of his previous installations.  Kudos to the groups that worked together to make this happen. Check out the installation when you are in Old Town!

Have you researched what social media sites your target audience spends the most time on?     A lot of businesses have joined the social media marketing world and it is of great benefit to be present, but identifying who is using what medium is important.  According to a study conducted by the University of Maryland, nearly one in five small business owners are integrating social media into their marketing models.  A big part of using social media effectively is understanding your audience, much like traditional marketing methods that many of us are familiar with.

As a business owner you should have an idea of the general demographics of your ideal prospect.  Have you applied that logic to social media?  The paragraphs below dig a little deeper into who is hanging out where on the social media sites available on the web.

Where is your target audience hanging out?

According to The Nielsen Company, global consumers spent more than 5.5 hours on social networking sites in December 2009.  Compared to the 2008 study results, there has been an 82% increase of time spent on social media sites in one year.  Not only are people spending more time on social media sites, but a lot more people are using social media.  The greatest thing a small business owner can hope to tap into is where their target audience prefers to spend 5.5 social media hours.

Social sites

A few examples would be Facebook, Friendster, MySpace and Ning.  These sites can be broken down even further, MySpace tends to attract a lot of teen members and Ning has become popular for for connecting classmates and assisting is setting up reunions.  A recent study from Pew reported that 71% of the younger generation actively maintain a Facebook profile and 75% of the older generation maintain one as well.  Facebook seems to come out ahead of most social media outlets.  This site is relationship driven and people interact with people, groups and pages that they are interested in on a personal and social level.

Professional Sites

Some of the more commonly known professional sites are LinkedIn, FastPitch and Plaxo.  These sites can be used for business networking, job hunting and many people consider them to be lead generation vehicles a well.  These sites share the common objective of building a business community network and offer a means to strengthen and expand your business community.  Professional sites are fairly drilled own as far as member profiles.  You have the ability to execute very targeted marketing based on personal profiles and individual networks.  In addition, you have the ability to network and communicate with people that you have specific trade and business information about based on their profile.

Industry Specific Sites

Industry specific sites are are all too commonly overlooked.  Take the initiative to surf the Internet and find social media sites specific to your industry or industrie(s) that you serve.  An example is i-Meet, which is specifically geared towards event planners.  There is the ResearchGATE site that connects scientists and researchers for collaboration purposes.  Just to let you know how specific sites can be, check out veggppl.com, the vegetarian and vegan network.  The sites are out there, you need to determine who your audience is, what they are interested in and then look for the social media site that fits the audience.

Twitter Tweet

Twitter offers a lot of value for business owners and can be approached from different angles.  With real time search engine results, your tweets have a great chance of being found by people that are searching relevant content.  Some describe Twitter as a river of information that you dip into and dip out of at will.  People can follow you without the worry of email communication or a high level of commitment and Twitter is easy to use.  You have the freedom to create as many accounts as you want and followers are considered friends. Another advantage is that message boards or “tweets” itself can be viewable in public whether you’re friends or not, and you may include your URL as well which is a direct link to your site.

Twitter also has limitations.  There are  no applications rather than other sites like Facebook.  It does not offer groups, videos, blogs, ads, forums, and other unique and popular social networking menus.  Another challenge to Twitter is that the more you follow and the more followers you have the more challenging it becomes to manage information.

Despite the limitations, research dictates that Twitter is a social media force to be reckoned with.  Pew Internet studies suggest that 20% of 25 to 34 year old’s have used Twitter, with those 18 to 24 only 1 point behind (19%).   Online usage of Twitter is dominated by adults and has attracted far less teens to date.  Suffice to say, if your target audience is primarily teens then you may not attract prospects with Twitter.

Blogging

This is another outlet that relates to social media.  The beauty of blogging is you can create your own blog site or blog on your existing web site and target your content towards your industry.  The web is content driven and the more information and content you produce, linking back to your site, profile, etc, the greater web presence you achieve.  If you post a series of blogs with advice, input or content related to your product or service, interested parties will have an increased probability of finding you.  Another advantage of blogging is you can build a stronger community and attract prospects that are interested in content you publish relating to your industry.  If you want to start blogging, be sure to have the time, energy and creativity to commit.

Social Media Strategy

Best wishes executing your social media inventory and devising an effective and productive strategy.  Figure out where your audience prefers to congregate online and start a conversation with your prospects.  We cannot stress enough the importance of establishing a social media strategy.  Outline your long term plan and identify industry topics that you can speak fluently about.  Commit to a minimum amount of posts, tweets, etc that you will employ weekly to engage your online community.

RevenFlo is here to help if you need someone to navigate the Internet web waters with you.

This months meeting is scheduled for: Wednesday, March 24th.  Join us in Old Town Rock Hill at McHales Irish Pub (122 East Main Street Rick Hill, SC)

Things to discuss, fun to be had and hours to be logged.   Hope to see you there!  To learn more or join the Knowledge Worker MeetUp group go HERE.

Content Management Options from RevenFlo on Vimeo.

1. Blogging

Don’t sneer; sure the word “blog” might be the most overused word of the decade (it’s right up there with “innovative”), but it’s become essential for getting known on the web. By channeling your industry knowledge into a stream of posts on a Blogger, Wordpress, or personal (see #4) blog, you’re sharing valuable content with potential readers, and are given the chance to add your own social commentary on the matter. What are the best and worst aspects of your industry? What are some of the behind-the-scenes aspects that the everyday person might not have anticipated? These are great ways to peak interest and start the ball rolling!

2. Technorati

Technorati.com is the key hub of much of the blogosphere, home to what some affectionately refer to as the bloggerati (think glitterati among bloggers). The best way to use it is to seek out other blogs within your field, and start contributing as a commenter. If you have a lot to offer, consider contacting the blog author to do a guest post. At the very least, be sure to include a back-link to your own site in your comments. If people like what you have to say, they might stop by your site to hear more.

3. LinkedIn Answers

This is an area that is hit or miss depending on the strength of your LinkedIn network. The goal is to seek out questions in your desired area, and provide exceptional answers. Merely posting a reply isn’t enough here: your goal is to be rated the “Best” answer by the questioner to gain what LinkedIn refers to as ‘expertise points.’ The more you have, the better you’re perceived.

4. Personal Domains

Your name is your first personal brand. If you haven’t snagged it already, go to GoDaddy.com and grab it! Seriously, at $10 per year, it’s a low price to have control over a domain with your name (or some portion/combination) in it. Add on a minimal hosting account, and you’re looking at $60 a year max for the chance to build whatever you like. It can be as simple or complex as you want. Regardless, you should park it today before a less-qualified doppelganger does.

5. Twitter

“Save the cheerleader, save the world.” When it comes to Twitter, it’s more like “Own the Twitter name, own the search.” If you establish control over @<word>, you will come up first in the search results for that word. Google loves fresh content, and Twitter is as fresh as they come! Just remember: think before you tweet. An off-color comment might be missed offline, but with Twitter there are several services that archive everything that gets said. Tweeter Beware.

As with everything online, you get out what you put in. 1 hour or 10 hours a week, it’s up to you. Just remember, the web will respond accordingly.  If you have questions, we’re here to help.  Just call or comment.  Remember~We Are Your Web Team!

1. Your Blog Topic must be Relevant to Your Audience

Ideally, you know your audience – the potential customer you are trying to reach and persuade. You know what they care about and what they need.  Hopefully, your product or service fills a need.  So, if you are blogging to support your replacement window business, please PLEASE focus on that! Energy savings, ease of installation, home resale value, green tax credits, and so on.  If you want to write about politics, religion or movies, start a personal blog someplace else.

2. Your Blog Post Must Have an Attention-grabbing Headline

Your reader makes his first decision right at the top of the page: read on or skip it? So your headline must engage the reader in some way, or the post will not be read.  For a typical service business (the kind RevenFlo serves) some sort of financial benefit to the reader might make a good headline, such as:

Protect Your Investment by…

Save Money with…

Increase your Resale Value with…

Cut Through Red Tape with..

Achieve Greater ROI by…

So what comes after the “with” or the “by”? Ideally, your product or service.

3. Begin Your Post with an Illustration – in Words or Pictures – of the Benefit Stated in the Headline.

This is sort of like starting at the end, but it’s an effective way to keep the reader’s attention. And, as we said, it can be prose or pictures. So, if your headline is something like “Save Big Money with Replacement Windows,” you could begin with something like “Charlotte homeowner Joe Jones never believed his replacement windows would pay for themselves within a year…but they did!”  And if you are talking about home resale values, nothing says success like a photo of a real estate yard sign with a big old SOLD slapped across it.

4. Your Blog Post’s Layout should be Clear and Easy to Skim

It’s pretty much accepted that people don’t have much patience for reading from the computer screen. There is a kind of attention deficit disorder caused by having the whole universe of information at your fingertips. People tend to scan a page quickly and bounce if nothing catches their attention. Poor layout – often in the form of an endless gray block of text – is a sure way to lose your audience.  So break it up. Use headers like you see here. Experiment with white space. And don’t use 100 words when 50 will do.

5. Your Blog Post Should Include a Call to Action

Hopefully, you began with this point in mind. Again, if we look at replacement windows, you began with some remarkable statement about energy savings that helped the homeowner recoup the cost of windows quickly. You probably stepped back in time to recall how the homeowner was paying high home energy bills. You followed him through the process of selecting the right vendor (you) and you wrapped it up with how happy he is today.  All that’s left is to offer that same satisfaction to the reader of your blog. You call them to action by saying “these are the kind of savings you could be experiencing! Lower your energy costs.  CONTACT US to find out how!”

Effective Business Blogging is a Powerful Marketing Tool

We have said before: blogging for your business builds a sense of community with your current and potential customers. It allows you to present yourself as an opinion leader in your field. And it promotes search engine optimization, driving traffic to your website.  Business blogging is an important part of RevenFlo’s social media marketing services. We believe in it, and we believe in doing it right. From simply getting you set up to blog, to full turnkey blogging services, we can help your business “get social.” Contact us to learn more.

If you’d like to read more on this topic, go here.

Jason Broadwater of RevenFlo spoke to Bank of York quarterly meeting on Tuesday, February 23, 2010. The topic was Web Marketing and Meaningful Use of the Internet.  Armed with a few years of analytics data on their site, the bank can now see how the thousands of people each month who use the site are using it, and can then explore ways to provide more value to their customers.

Join Jason Broadwater on February 24, 2010 from 6:30-8:30pm at the Institute for Entrepreneurship to learn more about cost effective strategies to create and maintain a web presence.  How do you get your website to rank high on search engine result lists? Today a web presence is a necessity but to be valuable you must know how to utilize and market your website effectively to boost your business.  if you are curious about search engine optimization, register and learn best practices for small business.

You must register to attend-please call 704.330.4223 or visit: http://cce.cpcc.edu/e-institute

If you are interested in having a RevenFlo Team member speak at your event please contact us at: info@revenflo.com or call 803.328.6033