Identifying Blogs - Weebly



Identifying BlogsApril JohnsonAET 562May 9, 2016H. Garth BeermanIdentifying BlogsBlog overviewThe word blog is short for weblog, blogs are websites that are continually updated with journal like entries, or posts, usually arranged in chronological order with the most recent appearing first. Blogs are great sources of ideas, information, and experiences about learning, leading, and teaching (Nussbaum-Beach & Hall, 2012). Blogs are participatory of nature and some welcome feedback from users. Many blogs have links to which users can upload their comments to other social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Blogs are written by people who are referred to as bloggers and are used to share information, opinions, or ideas. In addition to other social media tools, blogs have helped change the way the people learn, share, and connect. The advantages to a blog is that it is easy and fast to update. It brings many people together across the globe. This would also encourage and strengthen a person’s writing skills. The disadvantages to a blog are that it is live posting, and not from a resourceful attribute. People of any background are able to post comments of any nature to a blog, thus not ruling out negative or inappropriate commentaries. Just like Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media resource, blogging can be extremely time consuming. This has proven to take up people’s time just as cell phone usage. Saddington?(2011), “I worked at least 3-5 hours a day and sometimes more and sometimes less on the weekends.” Professional bloggers spend up to five to six hours per day on their posts. Training and educating individuals via blog provide useful forms of updating information and operational procedures. In this particular research, insurance professionals are trained on processes and procedures for the company of which they are employed. They are also defining what it takes to start their own business. As an independent contractor in the insurance industry, it is essential for these individuals to conduct market research on their potential clientele. It is equally important for them to learn from the success of others in the field which is where the blogging will serve as a resource for these individuals. An excellent blog is one which will be updated frequently. Another example of a good blog would be one which will provide links of importance to other relevant blogs or articles that will enhance the research gathering process. Blogs that seek feedback and ask questions to the users further the conversations. These ultimately expand the knowledge base on the subject at hand. In the world of insurance, it is crucial for research insurance and blogs and how it will be essential to have blogs. As insurance has and always will be a learning field; the blogging era of information to new and existing agents is crucial for their success.BlogsLink: This blog contained many informative facts about training agents, continuing education courses, and general facts about selling insurance. While it did not seem as though there was much community involvement; there was many informative facts on various blogs from within the main section of the page. The level of engagement was not diversified nor was it highly trafficked by any type of community. The blog was easy to read and it did not look as if it was not updated since 2015. It is the opinion of the author of this research when a blog is not updated in a timely fashion, the credibility of the material decreases.Link: blog was tremendously resourceful with the branding of your own business as a young insurance professional. Even though the information was posted four years ago; the feedback on this site was extraordinarily helpful to someone who would be starting their own business. The author spoke of how social media is changing the insurance industry as well as Facebook marketing ramping up her book of business. This blog had many levels of engagement from the community which offered many comments of value to new agents. In the opinion of the author (of this research paper on blogging) this particular blog is phenomenal for new agents. Link: blog actually provides a deeper explanation of what customers truly desire within the insurance world. The author asks the reader in depth questions which would in turn make them think about the content of their marketing plans. There were many points of interest within this blog which would be of special guidance to new and existing agents who wish to increase their sales. The author spoke of becoming “just another policy” to customers is not the ideal situation. There is an area on this blog to subscribe and it seems as though it is updated quite frequently.Link: blog highlighted retrieving agency management sales from producers. As any new agent is interested in increasing their sales as well as making their business grow; this blog would be a must read. Getting the most from?your salespeople?is one of the biggest?roles of an agency owner?but it’s also one of the most difficult (Carroll,?2015). That statement alone is why this blog would be the highlight of the researching author’s journey on blogs. This particular blog has information for agents which can assist them to gain more sales by something as simple as providing coffee to clients. The way in which the author is writing the material is interesting to say the least. Surprisingly, there are only two comments on this blog, but in further research this author has other social media accounts where he is followed by several users. With the insurance world being such a competitive industry; it is not surprising to see many of these blogs singular. In other words, each agent is an independent contractor. They are selling insurance and building their own business. It is in the opinion of the author that she would want to obtain all of the information possible and network with other successful agents. At times, in a cut throat industry, it does not seem to work out accordingly. Since the insurance field is one of the oldest and most black and white occupations; social media and insurance are still evolving. This blog is not as popular as others, but the author found it quite entertaining.Link: blog was last updated in 2014. The purpose of it is to share marketing ideas for insurance agents. There is a special area in which a user can sign up to receive a daily blog, but if it is not updated it is truly pointless. The comical side to this blog (while sharing marketing ideas) is to “start a blog.” In the opinion of the author of this research; if one is to start a blog and make it successful, it would certainly make sense to keep it updated more often than every two years. Although it seemed the author of this blog was not an insurance agent. It would not be in the best interest of a new or existing agent to follow this blog. There were no followers or comments to view on this blog. It was found by the author of this research to be completely irrelevant and void for any insurance agent. The purpose of this blog is to display a bad blog. ReferencesBalinas, T.?(2014).?Outbound Engine.?Retrieved from , J.?(2015).?Insurance Leads.?Retrieved from , J.?(2015).?Insurance Splash.?Retrieved from , M.?(2016).?Insurance Marketing Blog.?Retrieved from , S., & Hall, L. R. (2012). The connected educator: Learning and leading in a digital age. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.Oh Nataren, E.?(2016).?The Insurance Word Blog.?Retrieved from , J.?(2011).?John.do.?Retrieved from , A.?(2011).?Insurance Journal.?Retrieved from ................
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