Insurance Marketing Articles - Are Your Headlines Hooks Or Sinkers?

Think back to the last time you went fishing for leads. Was your hook sharp enough? If you didn't catch as many as you'd like, your headline (AKA hook) was probably dull.

Do you know that headlines are 75 percent responsible for response rates? Yes, the promise, the offer and the call to action are important but the sad truth is that none of these will ever be noticed without a sharp hook. In fact, a simple headline change can increase response by 200 percent or more! While there's no magic formula for writing winning headlines, there are a few guidelines. Advertising legend John Caples said that effective headlines fall into the following categories:

1. Self-interest: Directly or indirectly communicates a benefit to the reader. Example: "How One Manufacturer Cut His Workers' Compensation Costs by 50 Percent in Just Six Months."
2. News: Evokes urgency with words such as, "Announcing," "Introducing," and "All New."
3. Curiosity: Compels the reader into the body copy. Example: "What's Wrong in This Picture?"

Effective headlines tap into core emotions - fear, greed, guilt, frustration, pride, desire, etc. And, they're believable. They can even combine the elements of self-interest, news and curiosity. Here are some common headline mistakes:

• Featuring your company as the subject of your headlines - Notice that the headline examples above do not include company names. They also shouldn't include the word, "we." Make it about the reader.
• Focusing on a cute theme instead of benefits - Themes should only be used if they clearly illustrate the benefit you're selling.
• Using an "overview" style headline - Companies spend months writing a brochure and then spend five minutes creating a generic title, such as "About Us." They should spend 75 percent of their time on the headline!

Sean D'Souza, an expert in marketing psychology adds a few more items to the sharp headline checklist. He says that high performance headlines often have at least one of these three psychological triggers:

• They ask a question instead of making a statement. For example, "Do you make these mistakes in English?" D'Souza says, "The very sight of a question mark forces your brain to want to know more."
• They highlight a problem instead of a solution. This belief is a bit controversial because many pundits promote benefit-oriented headlines. D'Souza explains that the brain is fixated with solving problems ... it actively goes in search of potential problems that you may be facing. When it sees one in a headline, it zeroes in.
• They use specificity to elicit curiosity. The previous headline, "Do you make THESE mistakes in English?" would be much less effective if it was written as, "Do you make frequent mistakes in English?" That's because even if the reader doesn't really make mistakes, he starts to wonder if he makes THOSE specific mistakes named. It's a subtle but important difference.

By Heather Sloan. Heather Sloan is the President of InsuranceCopywriting.com. Heather has been helping insurance professionals grow their businesses for more than 15 years. To learn more, visit http://InsuranceCopywriting.com/ - make sure to request your free report, "Ten Marketing Mistakes That Are Costing You Sales Right Now!"

Life Insurance - Have You Been Clear in Establishing Your Need and Amount?

Ask yourself, "Is there anyone in this world who would be affected by your death?" This question is all one needs to ask to establish whether or not life insurance is needed. The answer is, "It is needed".

Getting a life insurance policy is really more an issue of personal responsibility. We all come into this world at the expense and joy of the ones who love us. When we leave this world, we each have had the power and opportunity in life to ensure that in death we can eliminate the financial grief that will come with the pain of losing a loved one.

What do you want to make sure happens in the case of your death? At the very least you ought to take the necessary steps to handle your final expenses, such as possible medical bills and your funeral. In addition to the expenses involved with a person's passing, there are the financial questions concerning those family members who have survived you. In addition to taking care of the ones you care for, there may be some other personal goals and plans you want implemented.

Life insurance is a question of planning to protect your interests in the case of your death.

Life insurance is financial planning as finances are an ongoing entity regardless of ones lifespan or when it ends. One must make plans to take care of their responsibilities in life, this takes money. In death, certain responsibilities continue on until they are resolved.

While alive, it is the responsibility of the individual to establish their financial needs and goals. Then come up with a financial plan to address these issues for your family before you pass on.

Perhaps you are a parent; whether or not you are married or single, you have a responsibility to your dependents. In the case that you are married, then your spouse is another consideration. You should ensure that your spouse will be supported financially so that your children can be taken care of as well. Make sure your spouse will not be suddenly burdened with your debt and also make sure your spouse will not be burdened with the responsibility of compensating for the income you once provided. That is irresponsible for anyone to overlook.

Even if there are no children in the picture, but you are married, you still need to evaluate the needs of your spouse. The cost of the accustomed life style, and how much either partner contributes to this should be evaluated and used in the decision process for how much insurance you may want and need.
Say you are a single individual with no children, you should still make sure that your final expenses will be covered so that you will have the peace of mind that your final wishes will be carried out and the cost will not fall on someone else. Life insurance can also be used as a tool for planning an estate which is something independent of marital status or parental status.

Covering children with a life insurance policy is an unpleasant thought, but it is a step that will offer financial protection. And that in itself is "hugely pleasant". So do it. This is an option that will afford the comfort of knowing that any arrangements and medical costs will be covered by a sum of money outside the regular finances of the household.

As a retired individual, the cost of your final expenses should not come out of your retirement fund. You may have a spouse who is relying on the retirement fund for the rest of their life. In a case like this, both partners should be covered to protect the other from the final costs of their loved one. "Have you done this?

You should estimate this cost at a minimum of your current annual income multiplied by five years to provide a basic level of transitional financial support for the beneficiary. You could estimate this cost at a maximum of your current annual income multiplied by at least ten years to provide a more comprehensive level of transitional financial support for the beneficiary. Make sure to take into account all your financial responsibilities. For example, if you handle the payments for an elderly parent's living costs, the costs of your children's schooling, including college and annual costs of clothing and books; then include an amount that will be sufficient to cover any emergency situations your family survivors may encounter.

With so many things to consider, each individual must take great care to plan out their finances on all fronts during life, so that they and the surviving family is taken care of after their death. You are the only one who can decide what you need taken care when you die. In this light, do not leave anything to chance. Just make sure all your needs are correctly, accurately and sufficiently covered.

Homeowners Insurance

If in the near future you are intending to buy a home, then it is essential for you to know everything about homeowners insurance. A good home insurance policy would not only help you to save your hard earned money, but would also give you a complete peace of mind. There are numerous of things that have to be considered while buying a home insurance. Let's take into account a few important ones.

• Know your home inside out- To get the right home-insurance premium quotation, inspect your home carefully to ascertain the construction material used, age of electrical and plumbing fittings, and so on. If you have a wooden home in a wildfire prone area or if you have a masonry home in an earthquake prone area, then you would have to pay higher premiums.
• Familiarize yourself with the neighborhood- You can claim discounts, if the fire station is near your home or if the emergency vehicles are able to reach your home within a few minutes. Hence, take a look at your neighborhood.
• Take into account the geography- The cost of homeowners insurance also depends upon the geographical location for your home. If your home is located in areas that are prone to earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods or wildfires, the annual premiums automatically increase.
• Install various safety and security gadgets- By installing security gadgets like burglar alarm that is connected to the local police station, and smoke alarms, you can drastically reduce your home insurance premiums.
• Plan for the future- If you intend to expand your home, then before selecting the homeowners insurance, plan for the future. Certain things like wooded frames, swimming pools, trampolines, and so forth can increase your home insurance costs by 10% to 15%.
• Regularly maintain your home- Keep your homeowners insurance for major disasters only. Deal with minor problems on your own. Repairs, replacements and plumbing needs are easy to handle; so, do them on your own. In this way, you would neither jeopardize your insurability nor would you end up paying higher premiums.
• Compare, contrast, look for discounts and shop around- There are lots of options available. To select the best one, conduct in-depth research. Take the help of internet or ask your kith and kin for recommendations. Check the license, credibility, financial ratings, customer service index and complaint records of the insurance company before going for it. Often, insurance companies give about 10% discount to those people who maintain several policies with the same company. Give this option a serious thought and save money.
• About deductibles and replacement cost coverage- Deductible is the amount of money that you need to shell out at the time of any mishap. A high deductible will significantly lower your annual premiums. With time, the value of your home will appreciate significantly and so will the construction costs. Hence, replacement cost coverage is essential. It's an additional coverage that the home insurance company provides besides the insured amount. With this coverage, you can easily re-build your home without worrying about the increased construction costs.
• Keep your records up-to-date- Always be ready to tackle the worst scenario. For this, keep all your home insurance records up-to-date. If you have recently got your home renovated or made any structural changes in it, note down, in detail, the amount of money spend. Also put together the pictures or the video clippings of the changes. Lastly, keep all these record outside your home.

Homeowners insurance has become a necessity because many mortgage companies ask for it before sanctioning you a loan. The above wholesome tips will certainly help you to buy a superlative home insurance policy. Once you get that, you have nothing else to do than to sit back and relax as your dream home is fully insured.

Insuring Your Fish and Chip Shop

During the 1980's, the insurance industry developed packages specifically for fish and chip shop owners. Given that many retailers were interested in purchasing the most dollar-conscious policies, there became known something called the "bundle" policy. This type of insurance policy puts a number of types of coverage together specific to the takeaway fish and chip shop industry.

The product available is far more attractive to the purchaser and sold at a much more competitive rate. Regardless, the most important factor to consider is that given the inherent potential risk to goods and property on the site of a fish and chip shop, some insurers will only offer limited coverage. The following will therefore provide a breakdown of this particular type of insurance and where one may purchase same.

Specific to a policy for a fish and chip shop is coverage for damages to store materials and property. This damage can come in the form of theft, fire, loss or other accidental damage. The most important item to make sure has substantial coverage attached to it is the deep fast frying fish range. Since fires are most common around these ranges, a significant portion of the policy will focus in on the potential risks of this mechanism. And dependent upon the street value of the frying range, the cost of the policy can swing dramatically higher or lower depending.

Further, your Fish and Chip Shop insurance should include the following specifications:

Coverage for all the contents and stock against potential fire, storm and flood damage;

Coverage should the proprietor experience any sort of business interruption, such as would occur following a valid claim against the policy. One would want to be sure business was not interrupted during this period of time;

Coverage towards any records that could conceivably be lost due to any potential fire, flood or other disaster. The policy should adequately cover for money that is owed you. These records clearly could not be accessed because of this damage.

Coverage against profit loss after the potential loss of an alcohol license for uncontrolled reasons.

Coverage for any damage or injury to the public while on the premises.

After all research has been accomplished as to which insurance policy to purchase, the most important factor is to be assured that the type of policy purchased is one specific to the fish and chip retailer. Although this seems to be an obvious point, it bears repeating. Fish and Chip Shop insurance is a specific package. Standard retail business insurance will simply not suffice. Given the built-in risks to customers and employees both, you will need to be sure to protect everyone and everything on the premises. This will aid in fostering a healthy enterprise for many years to come.