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A History of Blood – Vol. 4, Chapter 23

How I got started

I got started in the Insurance business on April 16, 2018. It all started when a fairly well dressed man complimented me for my attire and invited me to an event at a nearby office. I didn’t know anything about insurance but I had a little sales experience, and I was deeply interested in both learning more about running my own business and the income potential of the business, especially on a part-time level.

I started with a really simple goal: establish a career for myself. I wanted to do something that I could see myself doing for 20 years, that had the potential to both turn me into a millionaire and make me a better person. Plus I wanted to wear a suit everyday.

For the most part I’ve been an Insurance Agent part-time but it’s had a massive impact on my life. At first I didn’t notice since a majority of the money I make usually comes from other sources, but my career as an Insurance Agent has grounded me, the same way a supportive partner or spouse does.

Laying down the foundation

Right now, I’m still in the early stages of my career, despite being so many years in, mostly because I spent the first few years without a fundamental understanding of what makes me a successful insurance agent or agency owner, let alone what makes me a successful business owner in general. Since then, I’ve learned that the secret is in documenting systems.

My day job, an Account Executive at a promotional sales and marketing firm, involves me going Business to Business (B2B), hosting or attending events, tracking my conversations, while also learning and applying the sales and marketing strategies that are used both in the field in a sales setting and in the office in a recruiting setting. I’ve been really big into the sales aspect of business development, but I haven’t really gotten into recruiting until recently. It wasn’t until I gained a full understanding of how the Insurance Business worked, let alone any business, that I realized I need to spend more time recruiting and building a sales organization, more so than personally selling in the field.

The importance of tracking sheets

If I’ve learned anything over the last few weeks, it’s that if I have a concrete sales process, a clear idea of how much time it takes, and either a schedule of events or a zip code of businesses— that I pretty much have a cheat code for creating personal relationships. Once I have enough personal relationships, then I can begin the process of asking for referrals, once I’ve given out more samples of my work.

Samples of my work is mostly going to be case studies of different clients or agents whom have had the luxury of working with me. For the sake of privacy, the case studies will use fictional aspects but the idea is for them to be as realistic (and as visceral) as possible. The Insurance Business is quite literally life or death, so the content does get kind of heavy, but honestly that’s my favorite part. My day job makes me feel like an idiot so having something with emotional depth really helps to ground me and keep me focused.

Operational Costs

Right now, I don’t have a printer at home, and I don’t have a printer at work, so I’ll have to be a bit more creative when it comes to handling my printing needs. While it might not be required in the literal sense, my performance tends to be better when I have physical printouts of my work materials. When I lived and was licensed in Maryland, I would frequently get a lot of my printing done at the library or the FedEx downtown (both of which doubled as a place to meet prospects) but it’s a bit different in Florida. The library isn’t as popular as a social spot and I don’t have to go downtown for work anymore so I need to figure something out.

Not only do I have to print out my tracking sheets, I also have to print out my new license, print out new business cards, and get some general stationery such as a portfolio, legal pads, envelopes, copy paper, etc. Outside of printing costs, my only real overhead is meals, travel, licensing, and E&O insurance, so I should be able to start working part time again in the very near future. Moving to Florida was a bit more expensive than I thought it would be, and I did a poor job of planning the move, although I’m very, very satisfied with the way things turned out.