Natalie Morris Morris MC

Not just another insurance guy

February 27, 2010 at 10:14 pm · Filed under Social Media, Get involved, how to

So I go to a lot of networking events, and I meet a lot of people. The truth of the matter is most people go to networking events to do one of two things.

Catch up with people they already know
Meet people who want to buy their products.

Of course there are different types of networking events, some are designed for passing referrals, others are educational, others are purely networking. I try to balance mine out.

When I first started going to networking events my goal was to sell my services, however I really hate selling, so I decided to be lazy and just go to meet new people. Once I started meeting all these new people and since I didn't have an agenda I was able to really get to know them. I started listening to their needs and found that I had all sorts of connections that I could make.

Of course that's what everyone says! I know that I have heard that 100 times, there are even those people who will set up an appointment with you to "get to know you better" only to have you trapped in a Panera's to listen to their sales pitch!

Even though I am suspicious of this "trick" I completely believe in getting to know people better. So I am willing to take the chance.

So here's my story. In my Grow NEO networking group one of the insurance agents asked if we could get together to "get to know each other". I must admit the flags went up, but we were meeting on my side of town and only for an hour so I figured it was worth a try.

Well I was pleasantly surprised! Jeremy Soditch is an insurance agent for New York Life who really does understand the meaning of customer service. He was completely interested in what I had to say and didn't push his services on me at all. We spent the vast majority of our time together discussing how he can use Social Media to help his clients.

The tag line on the bottom of his e-mail says "I am passionately committed to protecting families, and increasing the standard of living and the quality of life for my clients" and I can honestly say I believe him. So if you are in need of a great insurance agent who really does care, I would recommend Jeremy J. Soditch an agent for New York Life jsoditch@ft.newyorklife.com.

Natalie Morris
Morris MC, Ltd
nmorris @morrismc.com
www.morrismc.com
www.myteamsocialmedia.com

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Looking For A Change?

February 17, 2010 at 2:57 pm · Filed under Social Media, Get involved, Change your life, how to

Every few years I find myself itching for a change. Each change ends up enhancing my life and making me happier, however often the courage required to make that change takes me weeks, months, or even years to build up! It sometimes requires that I do a lot of research, some times I need to talk to everyone I know to get their opinion, sometimes it's just lengthy conversations with myself. Sometimes its obvious that the benefits will out weigh the risks, but sometimes it's not.

But no matter what, I know that "I need a change".

Let's focus on Jobs. So often we find ourselves going from opportunity to opportunity, without ever really being in control of our destiny. Yes you may be great at selling insurance but is that where you want to be in 30 years? Yes, you may be making great money at your job, but do you really want to spend 80% of your time traveling? Yes, you may have great benefits and a stable income but do you really want to be behind the scenes forever?

Do you like your industry?
Do you like your company?
Do you like your job?
Do you like who you work with for/with?
Do you like who you are?
Do you like who you are becoming?

If you don't know, consider joining our Career Launch Spring Workshop Series.

Fast Focus Career's spring workshop is a three-session workshop series that helps people identify well-suited careers tailored to their strengths and interests.

The Career Launch Workshop Series runs Feb.27, March 6 and March 13. It is designed to help professionals go from underemployed to super-employed. You will dig deeper to explore and uncover different possibilities and new job fields matched to YOU.

By matching skills, interests and passions to a person’s job, one can dramatically: Accelerate career advancement, derive real joy from work, work effectively within organizations, increase sales, service, technology performance, find a meaningful career.

I will be speaking at the last seminar on using Social Media to enhance your career goals.

http://events.linkedin.com/Career-Launch-Spring-Workshop/pub/222030

Starts:	Saturday February 27, 2010, 09:00AM
Ends:	Saturday March 13, 2010, 09:00AM
Event Type:	Training/Seminar
Location:	Corporate College East 4400 Richmond Rd Warrensville Heights, OH 44122 US
Price:	http://www.fastfocuscareers.com
Website:	http://www.mimivanderhaven.com/boutique/307
Industry:	professional training
Keywords:	employment, careers, workshop, advancement, jobs
Intended For:	Professionals
Organization:	Fast Focus Careers

Hope to see you there!

Natalie

http://www.morrismc.com
http://www.myteamsocialmedia.com

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Making a list and checking it twice

February 11, 2010 at 8:53 am · Filed under Social Media, Change your life, Why?, how to

Ever wonder how Santa visited all those children in only one night? It's because he made a list and stuck to it!

Often I get into conversations where I find my self explaining to people how easy it is to manage their time. All you need is a list and a little commitment and you will be able to get anything done. The conversation goes back and forth between their argument that they don't have enough "time" and my argument that with a list you "make" the time.

Unfortunately I have to admit that there are times that I do the same thing! My snag is my customers' needs always come first. If they need an article written, and update made, or they just have a question then I drop what I am doing and work with them…. even though their problem was not on my list. I find myself checking my e-mail every 15 minutes to be sure I'm not missing anything. Then the next thing I know the day has gone by, I have been working frantically all the time, and nothing on my list is done.

I usually pull myself back in-line when I have 10 things that NEED to get done NOW and seriously I don't have the time. But I put it in my list, and I stick to only completing those items and nothing else, and it always amazes me how quickly, and easily things get done! Now don't get me wrong, my action item list is probably 40-60 items long at any given day. However many of those items are not critical, or urgent so they can be done at a later date. The items that are critical and urgent are the ones that get put on my #1 list. This list then sits right next to me on my desk and every time I look over it's there.

The same thing works for Social Media. If you need to get started here's what you need to do:

Create a 30 day Social Media Plan- now this isn't necessarily something you will get done in one month, if you update your social media 3 times a week it will take you 2 and a half months, but at least you will always know what the next step is. Each "day" should be a manageable amount of time. I recommend 10-40 minutes for people starting out.
Create a Social Media Calendar- When are you committing to doing each step? Remember it's only 10 minutes, you can do it.
Find someone who will "follow up" with you regularly so that you feel accountable. Missing one day, or being a little late is acceptable, not doing anything for a month… well that's whey your buddy will give you a hard time.

Go ahead and make the time to write your plan. Make the time to put it in your calendar. Be accountable. And most importantly have fun!

Natalie Morris,

http://www.mysocialmediateam.com
http://www.morrismc.com

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Social Media Seminars

February 4, 2010 at 11:57 am · Filed under Social Media, Facebook, Get involved, LinkedIn

picture out my window So every time I go to a social media seminar I have waves of emotions. When the presenter stands up and starts talking about how easy social media is I think, "maybe I shouldn't be in this business"… "If anyone can do it why would they hire me?" When they talk about all the free tools… I think "why would someone pay me?" Then as the presentation goes on and he or she starts getting into the nitty gritty and starts really diving into some of the details and I look around and see the blank stares, looks of utter confusion, or sometimes complete fear I feel better! "People DO need me!"

I went to a COSE seminar today where Sage Lewis gave a very energetic presentation on Social Media. I learned allot, and was reminded of the importance of many other things I had put on the back burner.

The two points he stressed most - even if you decide NOT to use social media in your business are these:

Set up a Google Alerts to monitor what other people are saying about you and your business http://www.google.com/alerts.
Get a Social Media Policy in place so that if something happens you will at least have something in place to fall back on.

A few other points he made that I found helpful are here:

People buy from people they know - Social Media makes that possible over the Internet
Social Media is primarily used for branding and customer retention, however with proper management it can lead to sales
You MUST be excited about what you are doing for social media to work
If you don't want to do Social Media then don't - there is no moral obligation to being connected

If you want to read some of the tweet notes and get the links go to Twitter and search #COSE or go here http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23cose

If you want to see some businesses that are using Social Media check out Sage's Delicious Social Business Page http://delicious.com/sagerock/social-business

Have a terrific day!

Natalie

Natalie Morris/McAninchMorris MC, Ltdnmorris@morrismc.com www.morrismc.com www.myteamsocialmedia.com Cell: 440.552.0131HO: 440-247-7117

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Not just another insurance guy

Looking For A Change?

Making a list and checking it twice

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