Insurance Agent Vs Insurance Company: Which Is Right For Your Business?

When it comes to buying insurance, the first step is to figure out whether you want to purchase through an insurance agent or direct from a company. While the two may seem one-and-the-same, the differences between the two can majorly impact your trucking business. This article aims to help you decide which option will work best for you and your trucking company.Coverage.When you choose to buy trucking insurance direct from a company, you are also choosing to buy one of the standard insurance packages. These packages were designed with a “one size fits all” mentality, so you might have to buy a package with coverage you don’t need in order to receive coverage you do need.Contrary to popular belief, insurance agents do not have the ability to negotiate a policy rate. However, the agent will be able to provide you a list of options at different price points. By being independent, agents also have access to other carrier policies and are able to tailor the policy to best suit your needs. Additionally, the agents may reach out to insurance companies most people have never even heard of, or don’t know provide commercial trucking insurance, which allows them to find even more coverage options for the insured (you) to review.Pricing.As mentioned previously, when you choose to buy a standard insurance package direct from an insurance company, there’s a chance you’re overpaying. Since the package is not tailored to your needs, there may be coverages within it that you don’t necessarily want or need. Additionally, when it comes time for renewal these agencies will only show you rates from their employer since it’s their job to keep you insured with that company.Agents own their own business, thus must generate income by charging the insured for the service provided. However, even with the additional fee, going through an agent usually results in a cheaper premium-sometimes up to 25%-due to their ability to price shop. Furthermore, when it comes to renewal, independent agents are able to reevaluate your premium based on new rates from multiple insurance companies. Therefore, the chance for cost savings increases.Experience.One of the biggest differences between buying direct and buying through an agent is the experience. On one hand, when you call an insurance company to talk to someone about your coverage, odds are you’re going to get transferred to someone in a call center. Yes, you will be speaking with an individual who has passed the same exams as personal agents, and therefore can address all of your needs. However, the biggest difference is that the next time you call you most likely will not be speaking to the same individual you spoke to previously.On the other hand, working with an agent allows you to form a personal relationship since you know that when you call you’ll be talking to either the agent or someone on their small team. These individuals will be familiar with your policy, instead of simply reading general information off a database. More importantly, insurance agents will be there to advocate for you during a claim.Time.We’ve all seen the commercials guaranteeing an insurance quote in 15 minutes or less, so for some it seems logical to go online and purchase insurance. If you are shopping for your best price though, it means you are spending 15 minutes on EACH insurance companies’ websites. Not only is this time consuming, but it results in multiple companies gaining your personal information (phone number, email address, etc.).When you work with an independent insurance agent, the agent does the searching for you. So while it may take some time, it’s the agent who puts time into reaching out to all the insurance companies, not you. Agents also realize time plays a significant role in a trucker’s career, which is why they’re oftentimes quicker when it comes to certificate processing and binding.When you’re shopping for trucking insurance, maybe you don’t necessarily care what’s in the package as long as you’re covered. In that case, shopping direct from an insurance company may work for you. However, if you want more insight into your policy and a more personalized experience, then finding an agent to create your optimal insurance coverage plan is your best option.

Photography Tips: Planning For A Photography Trip

Oh my God! It happened. Again. I went for a photography trip to one of the most beautiful cities in the US, Saint Louis, Missouri. I had my camera in my hand, food and drink in place, and GPS fully charged. The 5 hours driving from Fairfield, Iowa, was really fun. Until I realized that I left my camera battery being charged at home. The photography trip was now just a trip.I’m pretty sure at some point in your career as a photographer, you will be in a situation like this. For this reason, I would like to share some tips with you for when you plan photography trips.1. Months before leavingPlanning for a photography trip starts at this time. As soon as the trip is confirmed, try to look for the highlights of the places you will be visiting. I would do a little bit of research about where to take photos from and what to take photos of. For example, if you are coming to Indonesia in the middle of August, you may encounter independence day events there.Early bird bookings for hotels and flights will cost you less. Book a hotel which gives you easy access to your photography spots. I would write down a list of locations where I will be taking pictures from, and then decide the best location of my hotel.2. Weeks before the dayI would spend more time on planning what photos I want to capture at this stage of planning my photography trip. For instance, if I were to travel to Indonesia in the middle of August, I would be taking photos of the independence day ceremony in the morning, fun events in the afternoon. Then in the evening I would take photos of the local sunset.By properly planning your photography trips, you will be able to dig deeper for more thoughts and ideas. Look at pictures available on the internet and get inspired by them. But not only from the internet, you can also search local photographs from libraries, image directories, photo books, local websites, and tourism guidebooks.This is a process which may take some time because you never know when inspirations hit.At this point of the photography trip planning, I would also check my equipment. I would check if any of my gear is not working well and have them repaired right away if necessary. Servicing them now is the best because they must be ready by the time you depart.3. Few days before the tripKeep in mind that some places don’t provide internet access. Therefore it is much better if you write down, or print, every note you would need, such as local shops, tourist office, and local sunrise and sunset time. Weather forecast is also an important information to be noted.It would be better if you start making a list of what to bring for the photography trip. Sometimes you might forget some items if you think of them 1-2 days before the trip.4. 1 day before the tripI would pack the camera and its equipment first. The last thing you want to discover is missing your spare battery or camera lenses at home. Have a last check on the weather forecast. Print all documents you will need for the photography trip. Make sure you have the memory card(s) ready.5. D-dayCheck and recheck for the last time before you leave. It doesn’t hurt you to have an extra checking, rather than regretting that you left an important piece of gear at home. Camera lenses, formatted memory cards, spare battery, and your travel documents should be rechecked.Insurance, cash money, taxi reservation, flight ticket, and passport are usually the most important travel documents which you should not forget to bring. Other than that you are set and ready to go.I hope these tips will make your photography trip be more fun and memorable. Have fun and enjoy your trip!

Are You Ready to Hire the App Marketing Agency for Your New Application?

App marketing being one of the most important factors deciding the success of your mobile application has to be employed in the right manner, and thus the most right of times so as to hit the iron hard just when it is hot. With the technical expertise and professionalism that most of the mobile app marketing companies claim, the main point of concern remains the right time of the employment of the app marketing strategies.Based on various studies, it is suggested that companies should opt for an early employment of app marketing services so as to get an advantage of creating an audience base prior to the launch of the application. On the other hand, there may be many demerits of early deployment of these services, which may include an unplanned move towards marketing and thus failing to achieve the marketing goals due to lack of readiness. As a result, each organization has its own list of factors that decides its readiness towards the concern of right time of deployment of mobile app marketing services.Effectively tracking the importance of the concern through an explicit analysis, we here guide you through the various parameters that help you know the right time of hiring an app marketing agency for your new business application. These parameters are-1) Market Research:One of the most important parameters that decide the appropriateness of the time you choose to start with your marketing campaign is ‘Market Research’. If without a proper market research of your app market, you opt for an early hiring of the marketing agency, you are likely to face a failed marketing campaign and loss of investment. The market research factor includes knowing the-

Target audience

List of keywords to be focused

Popular categories

USPs of your competitors over you and vice-versa

With this analysis in your hand, you are now ready and can discuss the marketing strategy well with your app marketing service provider.2) Dedicated Centre of Ideas:Before hiring a mobile app marketing company for your business, you need to decide – who will be the main dedicated centre of ideas? Whether you have your list of ideas to be implemented by the marketing agency or you want them to create and implement the marketing ideas for you? These questions need to be well thought and answered before making the hiring process. Here generally the firms with long-term marketing business partners generally let their partner decide and implement the marketing ideas. While if you are hiring a new marketing company your prior market research will help you discuss your marketing ideas with him.3) Readiness of Your Team:Before you go for the mobile app marketing services you need to know whether your team is ready for the change and will support the required marketing operations on their side. With this, you also need to judge the technical expertise required by your team to add a functional support to the marketing campaign and ask the agency to train them for the same.4) Coordination between the App Marketing team and the App Development Team:Often overlooked, there needs to be a strict coordination between the app development and the marketing teams so as to know the effective intervals of promotion and the USPs that needs to be highlighted. Here, businesses providing a one-stop solution for both the app development and marketing services promise a high success rate for your business application.5) Knowing the actual App Release Date:In order to target the mobile app market with a well-scheduled marketing campaign, you need to know the important dates like the actual app release date. A prior decided app launch date can help you with announcements in the Tech World and earn enough space for the popularity of your app prior to its actual release. With this, you can hire the preferred mobile app marketing company at the time of Beta testing, where you can get hold of the customer feedback and judge the values of the app based on the genuine customer feedback. Here a professional team based on the feedbacks can develop the marketing strategies for your business application and implement them accordingly at the right time.