NAIFA is intensifying its efforts to grow membership by launching an advertising campaign using the slogan, "It Pays to Be a Member."

The way people engage in the purchase of life insurance has changed drastically - and the industry hasn't kept pace with the change.

There is a whole generation of Millennials (roughly 30 and under) who have grown up with technology. Their lives revolve around connecting with friends and families via their smart phones and iPads, using email, text messaging, Facebook and Twitter. They search online for information and education, read blogs, join groups, etc. The Gen Xers (roughly 30-45 years old) aren't far behind in their use of technology.

Even the Boomers (45-64 years old) are using technology more and more every day. And with 10,000 Boomers turning 65 every day for the next 20 years, it's not hard to see that, soon, even the senior population (65-plus) will be more comfortable with modern technologies. These technologies are here to stay.

In other words, we, as insurance professionals, need to engage with our customers and prospects where they are engaging. If they're online, searching the web, reading blogs and joining in group discussions, we have to be there too, if we want to have impactful interactions. If they're searching online for local agents, you need to make sure your information shows up. If they're getting opinions from friends and family on Facebook, you want your name to be referenced as someone to contact.

Findings in a newly released study by Acxiom on life insurance shopping reveal that 68% of Millennials used social media as part of their life insurance shopping process, and 43% of Gen Xers conducted searches online to find information about life insurance. These groups are still open to traditional methods, such as direct mail and one-to-one contact with agents, but digital channels, such as email and website interactivity, are part of their everyday life.

Ryan Pinney, CSFP

Ryan Pinney, CSFP, is a success story within the industry, having leveraged these mediums to sell over 16,000 insurance policies direct-to-consumer over the internet last year. As a fellow NAIFA member and gifted speaker, he will be sharing his online marketing strategies at the 2012 NAIFA-Texas Career Conference & Annual Meeting in San Marcos, Texas. Connect with him, and he will in turn teach you how to easily connect with consumers over the internet employing search engine optimization, social media, and online marketing.

It is time to embrace (not fear) life in the age of the empowered consumer. After all, we live at a time when sophisticated technology solutions that, when teamed up with a great marketing strategy, can help us better connect with our target audience.

Learn from Pinney to deliver relevant, individualized messaging to specific target audiences as they pursue research and information about life insurance and ultimately and gain the maximum value from your marketing budget.

Registration for the NAIFA 2012 Career Conference and Annual Meeting opened yesterday, March 8. The conference, scheduled for September 8-11, 2012 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, will feature numerous workshops, motivational speakers, and an exhibit hall. Additionally, specialized programming is available for YATs, first-time attendees, and LILI alumni. 

The NAIFA Young Advisors Team (YAT) developed the YAT at Heart Campaign to recognize the rich history and legacy created by NAIFA members and build a secure foundation for the "passing of the torch."

Any NON-YAT that recruits a new YAT member (40 years of age and under or within their first five years in the industry) prior to June 30, 2012 will be recognized as a YAT at Heart. For more information regarding the campaign, click here.

Aside from recruiting a new YAT, you can help young advisors "make it" in the business by mentoring them or even by offering financial support, sponsoring their first year of membership or conference registration. Think back to the early years of your career -- there was probably someone there to support you. Now you have the opportunity to be that person to today's class of young advisors. 

Participate in NAIFA-Texas' MARCH MEMBERSHIP MADNE$$ campaign, and earn back part or all of your membership dues!

Recruit 1 New Member: Your local association dues are reimbursed to you.

Recruit 3 New Members: Your state and local association dues are reimbursed to you.

Recruit 5 New Members: Your entire association dues are reimbursed to you.

For complete contest rules, click here.

Tips for recruiting new members:

Make a Call: Share your personal experience of how NAIFA helped grow your business.

Send an Email:

Sponsor attendance of a local meeting: Offer to pay for your guest to attend a local luncheon.

Be creative. Be honest. Be you. And be rewarded for it, by contributing to the growth of our organization... and earning a commission in the process!

The Securities and Exchange Commission is considering giving insurers a broad exemption from the Volcker Rule, that section of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act which restricts financial institutions from engaging in certain kinds of speculative investing. The rule is scheduled to be implemented on July 21, 2012. Full story.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) will proceed with the amendments to the Annuity Disclosure Model Regulation. Different from the NAIC's annuity suitability rule, the annuity disclosure model rule will require that clients receive a buyer's guide when purchasing an annuity. In the past, carriers haven't had a standardized way of illustrating their policies, particularly those with living benefits.

The most prominent amendment to the disclosure model is the addition of standards for annuity illustrations. For fixed indexed annuities, carriers would have to show how a given index performed over the previous 10 years, as well as the index's best and worst historical performance over a decade. Carriers also would have to include a disclosure form that described the contract, its benefits and how it worked. For fixed indexed annuities, the disclosure would have to show the basis for caps, spread and participation rates. Customers also would get an explanation of the impact of any riders, along with information on the contract's federal tax status and the penalties that applied to withdrawals.

In Texas, the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) adopted Subchapter PP, 3.9701 - 3.972, on March 1, 2011 concerning disclosures pertaining to annuities. Rules that effect section 3.9710 have a compliance date of March 1, 2012 and require that Variable Annuity applicants are given a copy of the Securities and Exchanges Commission's (SEC) "Variable Annuities: What you should know" guide at or before the time of application. 

The primary is officially set for May 29, with a runoff election to be held July 31. The filing period, which opened March 2, will close today, March 9. Full story. 

The percentage of Texans with health insurance would rise from 74 percent to 91 percent under the new federal healthcare law, a state official told lawmakers. Full story.

NAIFA has voiced concerns about the implications of corporate-owned life insurance (COLI) and dividends-received deduction for life insurers (DRD) in President Obama's 2013 budget proposal. Full story.

The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) Commissioner Eleanor Kitzman said that she believes the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association's "present structure is unsustainable." Full story.

Doris Tooley, beloved wife of Ken Tooley, passed away on Friday, March 2 in Austin. Ken served as executive vice president of TALU/NAIFA-Texas during the association's glory years from 1966 to 1996, at which time Ken continued to work as our full-time lobbyist.

Doris was involved in all of Ken's association work, hosting a number of gatherings for board members and association leaders.

 

More photographs...

 

In her memory, contributions can be made to the Central Church of Christ Building Fund, P. O. Box 2343, Pflugerville, TX 78691.

 

NAIFA-Texas expresses our deepest sympathy to Ken, their children and grand-children as they mourn their loss.