Business Idea - thoughts excepted

HI all, I have been an insurance agent in Michigan since 09' and am ready to open my own agency. I will be going independent (offering many carriers). - Currently I sell business insurance, homeowners and auto ins. Life as well (but will not be a large part of my agency) My thoughts are is to brand myself as the commercial insurance expert (which I already do) and more importantly Exotic car insurance expert. I am thinking of getting my 911 wrapped in race like livery (think Gulf) on Mexico blue with contact info and such. "The Rogers Agency" Business - Exotic Car - Home - Auto 248-xxx-xxxx (w/e the number is) The above would be on the doors. The hood will have my agency's sign (thinking TRA in a water mark with The Rogers Agency above it in large print). Does this sound corny to you guys? Please be brutally honest. Is it a good idea? Any changes you would make? Thanks in advance.

I guess better question, would you guys call for a quote if you saw something like the above. Or another idea, is something more subtle with just a few graphics with contact info and what I do.

Although I suspect you might get some disapproving stares from other 996 owners, IMHO the right balance of FLASH to draw attention to your business without being TOO BRASH will work. P.S. Do you have any artist renderings of the design/font style-size/color scheme, etc.

why not....sounds like it might work although the exotic field may be small the idea of using a po could work. you can always remove the wrap. down side you may turn off the regular guy but it will get noticed

My thoughts on things like this always go around the 4 P's of marketing. http://www.xero.com/blog/wp-content/...keting-4ps.jpg Which, if I remember right, is used as a bullseye to focus on your product, service, or idea. And keep in mind I'm a lot better at giving this advice than doing it myself for my business. =) Is there enough of a exotic car market around to keep you busy and make it worth your time as a main focus or one of the focuses of your business? Of the market, how many people would consider switching to you over what they currently have? Remeber you're target market would also include people who spent over 6 figures on cars, do you offer something to them that would be worth their time to switch? Plus, for this, why not get a stock photo of a real exotic and expensive car, or if you want to keep it porsche of a vintage one? I just don't personally think of the 911 line exotic, even the new ones really. Well, and, I just got insurance through the same place as my house, as well as business insurance for my photography - and having a over 100 year old home my options were limited. Maybe I'd switch, but more than likely not. Being a home owner, and not having a ton of money (as in buying a new fun car) anything I do is driven by the house, so I wouldn't be a potential client. All that said, business cars are just super dumb cheap these days. (I recommend Gotprint.com) and may as well try out your idea and then carry regular cards when you run into more traditional clients. [edit] if I switched insurance I'd be more interested in working with someone who shares the same interests than a random person. So having your name is a good thing, and wrapping if done well is a good thing at the track, I just wouldn't overdo it and wouldn't focus on exotic cars.

I have seen such signage that has made me think they did something right about it, but I have never seen a case that made me think I wanted to call them for whatever it was they were selling. I think you also need to take your target market into account. Are exotic owners going to be swayed (positively) by such advertising? The main reason I would think it wouldn't is that those that classify themselves as "exotic" owners are the ones that want their cars to be bone stock and perfect. I would expect wrapping a car (and it doesn't particularly matter what) would be a turn off to them from the "he doesn't get it" stand point. If that is your target market, then I would think your advertising money would be better spent targeting them a little better (how many exotic owners do you expect to even see your car in a given week?) at things like exotic car shows and the like. Just my $0.02

Personally I think it will get you noticed and I understand you've gotta get your name out there somehow, but to be honest I don't think I've ever called anyone based off of an ad I saw stickered on a car. You could probably get better results by sponsoring some local car meets and build a relationship with your target market.

I would stay away from mentioning 'exotic car' - because its a small segment and people may think you're expensive .. I would also add the word insurance to your business name... rogers insurance group ?

I'm not sure a guy with a wrapped 996 is going to appeal to the exotic crowd. for the average person that looks at any 911 as exotic, it may garner some attention.

Thanks guys, I'm for sure do not think a 996 is exotic at all, just an attention grabber to many. Maybe I'll keep "Exotic car insurance" out of the logo. East, Insurance will be in the logo, but Rogers Insurance Group is a good idea too, I still have to check names and such before incorporating. Isaac, local car shows I will sponsor for sure.

Just showcasing your business on a 911 may turn folks away thinking, "this insurance must be expensive if that guy is driving a Porsche". A 911 is a 911 to many and with a nice fresh wrap they are going to think the car is fairly new. As others have said, the 911 isn't all that exotic. I thought of going through the process of starting my own State Farm Agency and I have a Race Red Ford F-150 that would be a great advertising vehicle due to the very bold color that is similar to the State Farm Red. The sides of my pickup are nice and flat (nice billboard) , the color is correct, the color is bold, and the F150 is not an exotic that would indicate that my insurance is expensive.

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I have the same thoughts. The rich guys in the know will think you don't have a exotic but a mere 996 so strike one as your portfolio and experience may only involve mediocre houses/cars at best. The avg folks think your car is hella expensive so you must have some expensive rates or only cater to the rich crowd. Now if you covered part of your taillights and headlights with the wrap to represent a 991...lol Anywho, any kind of advertising is better than no advertising so I'd say go for it. Just come up with a good plan the first time as you don't wanna be redoing a wrap again and again. Plus, you won't have to worry about keeping it waxed or having any paint damage from the elements. Also business write off since it's a "business" car meaning free mods/gas/maintenance/etc.

Sovery that is a great point. I know the 911 is not exotic, but could appeal to the owners. I don't want to turn off,if you will the average joe though, like I consider myself. Living in BIG UAW areas in Michigan also wouldn't help my case much...would an advertisement on my CTT be a better choice?

Alpine that is another good reason, to protect the paint, but maybe I'll just do a full wrap without going crazy on the color scheme and just a small name and phone number on the side.

Well, I'm only 1 data point. However, I have all my insurance, three cars, motorcycle, homeowners and an umbrella policy with one company (Amica). Because we place so much coverage with one company, we get about 20% discount. So I, for one, would not shop auto insurance separately from all the other stuff.

I'm in a similar field (HNW wealth mgmt). My initial reaction to these types of ads (very common w state farm for some reason?) has always been, if the guy needs to advertise to randoms on a car he isn't doing something right and/or isn't very legit, since legit practices build upon themselves thanks to word of mouth, referrals, process, etc. and not taking any joe schmoe who saw my car at the mall With that said, still kind of makes sense as someone needs to start somewhere and get their name out there, but I'm not sure it garners the attention you're looking for or the client base you're looking for. The classic methods of doing business probably will serve you better without pushing the envelope of salesy or corny. You've done the hard part, finding a niche segment (exotic car owners)... Spend your time at events correlating to that niche, advertising specifically to that niche, and so on

I re-reading my reply, to say it another way.... 1) If you simply want to drum up business or make a name for yourself, it's not the worst tactic, so I'd say give it a try it's pretty cheap 2) If you want to dial in to exotic car owners as your niche, 0% of them will call you based on that car wrap. Wealthy people (aka exotic car owners) deal with who their peers recommend or refer them to, and who they already know their peers trust. No one with a few million dollars is going to take a flyer on their family's estate planning and life insurance needs because some guy in a 996 had his phone number on the hood My 2 cents

PGC what you have said is part of my thoughts. A few larger a.i's in my area have SUV's and I think exactly what you are stating. I've built a pretty good book where I am at now, doing it with very little advertisement; it might be best to stick with what I'm doing. On the other hand I know a handful of exotic car owners, so I'm going to run the idea by them as well when I see them next.

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I don't know much about the insurance business and what you have to do to be one, but that sounds like the best plan to me. Keep doing what is making you money now and start adding exotics on the side. Already knowing some people (and hopefully you can convert one or two of them) will help get the word going around. Ideally your exotic business would grow to the point where you can start cutting back or drop the rest, but in the meantime don't kill the cow that is providing the cash

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One of the best things I ever did as a business was take a look at my client base and who was actually paying me. Sometimes we get distracted between what we want to do and what pays the bills, and sometimes those two need to be aligned a bit more. The other best thing I ever did was to stop being everything to everyone. Turns out a lot of the things I was promoting didn't result in any sales and didn't need as much attention (if any) or upkeep (if any) as things that did get me sales. Which is why I'd have another line of business cards ready at the track for cars and then another set in the office for more core insurance work. Although wrapping a car, if done tastefully, wouldn't be a bad idea.

I would never call about INSURANCE because of an ad on a car. I think the car ad is a waste of money. I may buy or call about something else that is advertised on a car such as a body shop ad but not insurance.

Since you already have the business and clientele I say it seems like a great idea. Mobile advertising is a good way esp if you can do it tastefully. Let people know to "save money on insurance so they can afford to buy a Porsche". Anyone with a high end sports car/or tricked out truck (Texas) would appreciate an agent who has like minded interests that "gets" it when it comes to cars. On the car itself I'd come up with a few ideas and bounce em off us Here's a slogan idea Afford "o" Porsche

Keep it Klassy.... a small logo less than 24" on the doors. I could see a "gold seal" or coat of arms looking logo. No phone number, just a web page. Keep your car detailed at all times. Or.... just make a fortune off this website by selling IMSB insurance. I bet if you charged $100/year you would get hundreds of people lining up for it.

Personally I wouldn't buy insurance from somebody that didn't know how to spell accepted. Just sayin.

Km lmao I just realized that...wow I knew it looked funny but was pretty pre occupied RL while working causes problems.

Mods, can you please correct the title to read "Accepted" instead of "excepted" Thanks in advance.