Google released their SEO Starter Guide today.  It's a great read for those looking to self optimize their site.

Here's a link to the google blog where I took it from: Google Webmaster Central Blog

What is your Legacy?

I'll start off by letting everyone know that I sell life insurance for a living.  My business motivates me because every family has a story and I get to hear them every day. I love working with people who think beyond themselves and care for their families as much as I do. 

Dictionary.com defines legacy as:

1. Law. a gift of property, esp. personal property, as money, by will; a bequest

2. anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor

In my life, when it comes to #1 from dictionary.com's definition of legacy, my family will be well taken care of if I were to pass away.  I'm not a wealthy man.  I own a small home and have a small independent insurance brokerage.  Currently, my home is upside down and my retirement savings definitely aren't going up.  I don't have much to leave behind.  But if I were to pass away today,  my life insurance policy would be adequate enough for my family to continue their same standard of living and pay off the house.

I know in my life and the lives of my clients, making sure that our spouse and children are not left off worse than they are living now is very important.  I believe that if you have a financial responsibility for your family, you must insure it.  Those who care about their legacy look beyond themselves and accept this responsibility. 

The thing is if #1 went without saying, there wouldn't be 50+ million uninsured adults in our country.  With the economy melting down and investments going south, there has never been a more vulnerable time for families who rely on someone's income.  If a family's breadwinner were to pass away, they lose their main source of income and wouldn't be able to keep their same standard of living.  If part of your legacy is financial security for your loved ones, then this can be taken care of with an adequate amount of life insurance.

It's #2 that will be our unknown.

We'll be working on #2 our whole life.  Handing down something from the past doesn't have to be tangible.  It differs for everyone, for me I'd like to be a teacher to my family and also be a student at the same time.  I'd like to instill the same values that was taught by my grandparents and parents.  I'd like my children to have a sense of history.  Be enthusiastic about life.  Have a sensitivity for nature.  

The thing is, we can't decide our #2.  Our #2 is the aftermath of what we've done on this earth.  The only thing we can control is our #1.  When our journey is complete, our legacy will be determined by what we have left behind. 

Has your #1 been taken care of?

What do you hope your #2's will be?

 "To live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy..." ~ Stephen Covey

This write up might surprise some people and AARP members.  AARP is portrayed as an advocacy group for seniors, which they are good at.  But in my opinion they use their “protector of senior rights” reputation to add legitimacy to whatever marginal product that gives them the biggest profit margin.  Bold statement, I know.  Hear me out.

People have the notion that any product offered by AARP has passed some type of integrity or value test.  This is not the case.  AARP was formed by an insurance agent to sell overpriced policies to seniors.  It was split up in the 1980s by the government after it was exposed on “60-Minutes”.  Now it takes bids from insurance companies on who they will endorse.  There is no value test or protection for seniors on the products they recommend.

It has worked VERY well because seniors believe AARP is a group that looks out for the interest of seniors.  Seniors act as though buying an AARP product is the moral equivalent of buying insurance down at the local, non-profit senior citizen center.

AARP pushes a New York Life (NYL) life insurance product. Look through ALL their websites, magazines, TV commercials, newsletters and mailers; New York Life is the only life insurance company they endorse.  This product is overpriced and premiums go up every 5 years and disappear at age 80.  Hardly a good policy compared to what's out there. 

How is AARP getting away with this?  I can name 15 companies that can blow New York Life’s rates out of the water, remain level and last indefinately (if structured right).  I firmly believe that there isn’t one life insurer that’s the best for everyone.  How can a senior rights advocacy group EXCLUSIVELY recommend such a comparatively inferior product?  New York Life is a great company, but there are much better options.

They do the same thing with their Medicare Supplements.  United Health Care secured AARP’s endorsement and they are all over TV.  I can’t watch CNN for 15 minutes without seeing one of their medicare supplement commercials.  I went to the agent launch conference for AARP’s Medicare Supplement program in California.  I got their rate sheet and compared it to others in the industry and AGAIN, there are much better alternatives.

The government needs to break this incestuous relationship up.  It’s a fraudulent misrepresentation and seniors are getting taken advantage of.   I'm okay with them lobbying on behalf of seniors, I'm not okay with the way they use their name to sell to seniors.

Do you really want an advocate that looks out for you?  Talk to an independent insurance agent.  They will give you UNBIASED advice and are not advocates for any specific insurance company.  They are on your side, not any one insurance company.

I'm new to Active Rain, but have helped many Realtors get guaranteed issued health insurance.  After reading Jason's blog where his friend went through his last months alive inundated with medical bills because he didn't have health insurance, I was inspired to show those who can't qualify for health insurance a way to obtain guaranteed coverage. 

 **Did you know that medical bills are the cause of half of all the bankruptcies in the US?**

DISCLAIMER:  I have been doing this successfully in California for years.  I'm not familiar with other state's guidelines.  Call an independent health insurance agent in your state and ask them...or ask me and I'll refer you to an agent.

In a nutshell, you need to create a small group and structure your real estate practice as a legal entity.  In order to form a small group you must have at least 2 people on the legal records or have at least 1 employee. 

There are 4 key factors under which this can be done :

1.  Type of Business

A business must provide a good or service.  Real Estate is considered a valid business.  So you're good here.

2.  Organization of the Business

This is the most important.  Depending on how you structure your business, there are different requirements which I'll list below.

Sole Proprietorship -This is the most difficult in terms of small group qualification because by law, you can have only one owner/officer. So only one person would be on the business license and any spouse or business partner would have to be an employee and placed on payroll. This would require the spouse or business partner to be paid a wage, appear on a DE-6 and file payroll taxes.

Documentation required for small group coverage :

*Fictitious Business Listing or California Business License
*DE-6 Quarterly payroll tax report (if in business long enough) or 30- days employee payroll records
*Sole Proprietor/Partner/Corporate Officer Statement Form
*Owner's Current Schedule C (if in business long enough)

Partnerships (General & LLP) - this is the most common approach to forming a small business, especially spouses, life partners and business partners. The advantage to this arrangement is that spouses and/or partners can all be owners/officers in the business without need for any additional employees.  So no payroll is needed. 

Documentation required for small group coverage:

*Partnership Agreement and Federal Tax ID Appointment Letter or, if in business long enough:
*Current Schedule K-1
*Sole Proprietor/Partner/Corporate Officer Statement Form
*DE-6 (if available and any employees on payroll)

Corporations and LLC's - The advantage to a corporation is similar to a partnership, in that all business partners or spouses can be corporate officers without any need to retain additional employees.  So again, no need for payroll. 

Documentation required for small group coverage:

Limited Liability Company (LLC)

*Articles of Organization with Operating Agreement, or, if in business long enough,
*Current Schedule K-1
*Sole Proprietor/Partner/Corporate Officer Statement Form
*DE-6 (if available and any employees on payroll)

Corporations (S-Corp, C-Corp)

*Articles of Incorporation filed and stamped listing names of all officers
*Statement of Domestic Stock (if in business long enough)
*Sole Proprietor/Partner/Corporate Officer Statement Form
*DE-6 (if available and any employees on payroll)

3. Amount of Time Working in the Business

Each owner/partner/officer must certify on the Sole Proprietor/Partner/Corporate Officer Statement Form that they are working at least 20 hours per week in the business. This demonstrates to the health insurance company each owner's commitment to the group. (This form is provided by insurance company you are applying for)

4.  Business Timeline (For California)

The last key element of creating your qualifying small business has to do with date of establishment and waiting period for guaranteed-issue health coverage under AB 1672.  In short, if you're in business for 45 days, you can qualify for guaranteed health coverage.

If you can satisfy these 4 rules, you can get guaranteed health coverage.   It's not as cumbersome as it looks, but it can be made easy with the help of an independent health insurance agent.  Whatever state you are in, make sure your agent can offer all the insurers in your state.  You will be better served and always have options when your premiums rise every year.  I can help anyone in California with this process, but I'm not familiar with any other states health insurance plans.

Also, I always recommend seeking legal advice on how you structure your business. 

This blog is simply a tool to show you what you need to do to acquire health insurance on a guaranteed basis in California

I hope this helps!  Please contact me or comment with any questions.

Register to vote!  Deadline is October 4th in some states.  In my state of California, it's October 20th.

Watch this PSA and send it to 5 friends please. 

Too much at stake to think you're "just one vote".  There's never been a more critical time to vote.

So you're lazy.  You sit and wait for the phone to ring.  Are you going to meet your personal financial goals?  Probably not, but if you're lazy and market smart you still have a chance.

First thing is you must commit to being lazy.  Marketing is mostly a seed-planting process that requires time to reach its maximum potential. The smarter and more efficiently you work now, the sooner you'll enjoy the benefits of laziness.

Everyone eats, right? Create your own breakfast or lunch group.  I'm not a fan of those organized networking groups that you pay for...you know the ones where they pass out referrals like baseball cards and fling their business cards out like frisbees.  So make sure you make the group serves the same target market that you do - CPAs, attorneys, financial planners or whoever.  Establish good long term relationships and get quality referrals.  It might take a while, but this should be one marketing arm for everyone. 

Create something unique.  Set yourself apart from every other agent out there.  I'm in insurance and I love football.  I get refrigerator magnets every year with my contact info and a football schedule.  It's a huge hit with my friends, local business owners and clients who I know enjoy football.  They are always asking for them before football season.  I ordered 300 this year and they're all gone.  I'll order more next year.  I'm thinking of moving into basketball and baseball also.  Get my name in front of these people 3 times a year sounds good to me.

Just get creative.  What do you like to do? 

Automate your drip campaigns.  I use aweber for an autoresponder that sends emails I created automatically until they opt out.  I also have an email newsletter I send out every month along with a mailing campaign that automatically sends out mailers to clients, centers of influence, people I met networking etc.  I have a different campaign for each of them.  I use activator and they have a real estate version also.  It's a fantastic tool that has increased my sales dramatically.  No one falls through the cracks.  I "set it and forget it". 

Network when you're out and about.  Get in conversations about what the other person does and eventually it will flip back to you.  I never pass out my card unless it's asked for.  I always ask for their card.  From there I put them in my marketing campaign and a slow, steady stream of emails and letters starts hitting their mailbox and inbox, followed up by phone calls to check in.  It's all automated!  And it's not "salesy".  Just touches building up their trust.

Blog! Blog! Blog!  This is a brand new concept to me since joining AR recently.  I mean I've heard of blogging and I have a little personal blog of my own.  Blogging for prospects?  WOW.  My jaw dropped when I read that you all are getting business from blogging.  Fantastic!  I'm on it.

You need to have a workable system designed to produce a steady stream of incoming calls.  Once this is all in place, calls start coming in and you can finally be lazy AND successful.

For the same reasons you're here.  To network, share my knowledge (of insurance and marketing) and learn from others. I may not be in real estate, but real estate agents and insurance brokers have a lot in common when it comes to the struggles of acquiring new clients and marketing.  We all have the tools and knowledge to help and educate our clients, it's just a matter of getting in front of them and developing a trust.

Just browsing this website, I've picked up many idea's of marketing, SEO and interacting with potential clients and I'm sure I'm just skimming the surface.

A little about myself, I've lived in Southern California my whole life.  Grew up in Orange County and graduated college at San Diego State University and have been in the insurance industry since 2004.  I love to travel, I've been around the world and love interacting within different cultures.  I'm a typical Southern California guy - I surf, snowboard and wakeboard.  I mean where else in the USA can you surf, snowboard and wakeboard in the same day!?

Anyways, I look forward to contributing to this community and meeting some new people.