Critique My Postcard

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Okay Forum. I decided today I want to send a postcard out to, obviously, try and make more money.

It's from a JVish deal I put together that hasn't gone as well as I hoped. I am willing to try this out and see if I can make some money off of this thing.


This is going to be sent to insurance agents. They all have to do continuing education every 2-3 years but usually every 2 years.

The bullet points were given to me by an insurance agent who rejected the first offer we had because it didn't answer all his questions that these bullet points answer. He was helpful enough to give me a critique.

FYI I need to pull 1.2% to break even. 2.0% would be a home run.

Also, I am planning on sending 1,000 of these on 4.24 X 6 postcard.

Please any help is appreciated. I am laid up after surgery and would love to find a new income while I am still recovering.

Thanks in advance.
#offline marketing #critique #postcard
  • I would work on maybe getting a design off of Fiverr or odesk. That way it looks more polished and it gets a higher response rate.
  • Hi Evan,

    Hope you recover quickly.

    I mightn't be able to offer any advice in regards to the design or message of the card but I took a look and then I thought I better find out what the Insurance CE is all about so I googled "what is an Insurance CE course?"

    First few results were from a CE authority course site. I've pasted a graphic below.

    The thing I noted was they offer courses for $19.95 so it was less than the $34.99 you were saying was less than the average course.

    The other thing that bugged me was the combination of the offers.

    Firstly someone wanting business cards may not need the certification so why bother. Secondly if you needed the CE wouldn't you already have a place you went to to get them in the past and if your required them now you would already have booked and done a course.

    It also felt strange to have a physical offer and a bonus for the digital course.

    Maybe it is me but if I was registering for a course and they gifted me 500 business cards it seems like a better offer than the other way round.

    "Free" always gets people looking for "where's the catch?"

    I'd sort of expect a stronger headline maybe fear based and then offer the solution.

    That or just make an offer related to business cards. It doesn't work for me.

    This is a screenshot of the CE page that popped up when I searched



    Best regards,

    Ozi
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
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    • Thank you for taking the time to look into this.

      On CE Authority - I actually talked to them about doing this with me. They charge $19.99 per course and at least 3 courses are needed to reach the 24 hour requirement so they are at least $60.00 so I have them beat on price but I'm obviously having trouble communicating that on the card.

      On not needing the cert and the cards at the same time - That's a very good point and I don't have a great answer for that. I am looking for a list of agents coming up against their CE requirements but I haven't found it yet.

      Most states require continuing education every two years and most agents do it in a near panic up against the deadline. I guess my answer would be if you need one or the other it's a pretty good deal to hop on. You have two years to complete the course and you know that you are going to need the course in the next two years. That's as good as i got so far.

      On giving away the cards with the course - I think that is a good idea. Perhaps I'll see if I can go that route. The issue I have with that is more logistic as I am fulfilling the cards and I want them to buy from me. If I can find a list of agents that need CE then I think your idea would definitely pull better than offering the course with the purchase of the cards.

      You've given me a lot to wrestle with. Thank You.
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • What are you really selling?
    Business Cards or Insurance course?

    I think you're really selling a trip to your website.
    And nothing on that card is compelling enough to make me stop and go to the website.

    Perhaps think in terms of Ewan's ad, "Warning don't buy business cards until you get answers to these 5 questions" or "Warning don't buy an Insurance CE course until you get answers to these 5 questions".
    Or maybe a question, like "Are your business cards driving customers away?".
    Something compelling enough to get someone to drop everything and go to your website.

    If you're offering a bonus, you need to sell that just as much as the main product/service.

    Benefits: To me, these are answers to questions which haven't been asked. It's more compelling to state the problem first, then agitate the problem, then provide the answer (the benefit). Damn near impossible on a postcard, so focus on getting them to the website, where you then have plenty of space.
    Or better still, use the website to get them on your email list where they'll find the answers...
    And maybe have the actual offer on the thank you page and in followup emails...

    Are you brokering a deal between two parties or do you sell business cards or insurance courses?
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • "What are you really selling?" - I think I'm selling the course as it stands. Most of the feedback I got from agents were questions regarding the course. The bullet points answers the questions I got. But I see that my selling of the cards is now lacking.

      "I think you're selling a trip to your website" - That's something I haven't considered. My thought was it's a fairly cheap, straight forward offer that doesn't need more steps. You've given me something to think about and test though.

      In your experience would people go to a website just to learn more about a $40.00 type offer that is a fairly routine purchase (once every two years in this case)?

      I am fulfilling the cards and found a partner for the insurance education. I am putting up all the money.
      • [1] reply
  • Banned



    Too much niche jargon and all over the place.

    You'll lose some traffic by telling them they have to buy business cards. They won't even visit your site.

    Tell them about the purchase after they optin, that way you get a 2nd chance at conversions later on and still get their contact info.

    On the card, say Learn how to get a free CE. I have no idea what CE is or isn't. Anyways, this gets traffic to your site/optin. You've already payed for the traffic (postcard expense) so up the odds traffic will visit your site.

    NEVER give all the details upfront! That little bit of mystery is enough to get traffic asking you questions.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
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    • I see you and Animal are thinking in the same direction in getting people to a website. I am ruminating on this.

      Thanks to all the feedback I now have at least two more things to test.
      • [1] reply
    • What's wrong with "niche jargon"? That's how insurance agents think and speak.

      Alex
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  • Many years ago, I held a P&C license, and one of the things the full-timers used to grouse about was "wasting valuable selling time sitting in a classroom for their Continuing Ed requirement." This was before there was such a thing as online education. Or "online" anything for that matter.

    Your bullets may address the points from your critique, but you may be assuming that all other agents have the same questions, and that your bullets do indeed address them. Right now it reads more like a list of features. Maybe an abbreviated FAQ style, with more complete answers on the website. (Sensing a theme here?)

    Another thing. This may be one of the ideal times to use the old school e-newsletter or ezine. Since, as you say, most agents have to meet the requirement only every two years and usually do so at the last possible moment, you only have about a 1 in 24 chance of hitting an agent when they need the CE course. If you had them on a newsletter list, you could reach out and touch them once a month with useful content and your offer.

    If I were doing it, I'd use a format something like

    > Quick intro
    > Short article on sales or marketing (hint: how to get more value from business cards for one).
    > Round up of industry news, interesting tidbits, etc. Four or five links would be enough.
    > Blurb about some aspect of the CE course, along with a reminder of your offer.

    Do this right, and your odds of hitting agents when they need either more cards or CE hours goes way up.
    • [ 2 ] Thanks
  • Banned
    [DELETED]
  • Hi eccj,

    I dig the benefits. Good job.

    I'd skip the stock Canva font - may be first one available when you log in - to go for a more bold but clean font.

    Ryan
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • [DELETED]
  • Where do you see the long-term profit center...

    Insurance agents who buy biz cards and other printing?
    Insurance agents buying ongoing training?

    Best,
    Ewen
    • [1] reply
    • Cards and other printing services.

      Insurance agents probably spend close to twice as much on cards alone than on CE.
      • [1] reply
  • Better yet eccj... why don't you offer high-ticket coaching instead of a low-priced info product?

    Alex
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    • If I go the Animal "get them on a list" route I will since I will need other things to sell other than my services.

      The continuing education certificate isn't an info product though. It is state required education that all insurance agents must do every two years. That is why I think it may be a great bonus for this market.

      But now that I am cooking up a more lead gen type approach where they get on a list and then I sell other products, I think a coaching system would be perfect.

      I wouldn't do the coaching, for a multitude of reasons, but there are plenty of people out there who would.
      • [1] reply
  • I think I am missing something here...

    The idea is to sell 500 business cards for $X and the CE testing is then " Free "?

    So you are front loading the offer to pull your " Commission " correct?

    Why not just charge $10?

    Assuming my assumption is correct... I would... create 2 mailer types... one for the agency and one for the agents.

    YOU become a wholesale CE provider that has locked in a deal with company X. You can offer the discounted pricing by leveraging your buying power. You have CE programs for insurance A B C and D and have coverage and same day reporting in these states < list >

    I would then bullet the benefits.
    • full required testing at our low discounted price.
    • testing available 24 hours a day with the use of our partners online testing technology.
    • same day reporting.
    • Can take as long or complete as quickly as needed.
    • < insert your company name > and our partner < insert company name > use your information for the purpose of testing only. your company/personal information will not be sold or given to any 3rd party agencies

    how you could collect data from YOUR site and then pass this to the testing site would make the whole thing that much more legit... It can be done.. you just need a coder to make this happen.

    You could jack the $10 to $19.95 or even $24.95 and I am sure blow the offer out of the water.

    Maybe look to JV with an APP builder that could build a simple app for the Agency owners to keep track of their agents renewal dates, with a quick push notice of upcoming agent renewals that need attention. Developing value for the agency goes a long way in developing business from the individual agents.

    Hope that Helps!
    • [ 2 ] Thanks
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    • Yeah on my side of things I am throwing in the CE for free with the cards.

      I have the deal with the CE company.

      I've had success selling this thing locally over the phone. The thing there is that I am talking to the receptionist and it's a good enough offer to explain in a couple different ways to get the point across.

      The thing I would like to figure out is how to do this without me being on the phone or hiring people as the upside is not high enough for that.

      I could make a decent living calling people all day with this offer. It was never my intention to make calls but just a quick way to test out if anyone wants this offer.

      On the phone I do a short introduction, say I have these certificates for the CE, ask if they have anyone that needs CE, ask if they need any printing, make some suggestions on what they should do.

      The crazy thing is that this works pretty well - it's a money maker for sure.

      Now how to get this all across through other means.

      I did something that didn't work well - so now I'm looking at more conventional means.

      But now there is the problem of how to sell this thing in print -

      Free CE is a seller in the insurance agent world. Insurance companies use it all the time to get in front of agents.

      So "FREE CONTINUING EDUCATION" seams like a good lead in for a post card.

      I'm waiting to pull the trigger until I have the timing part down in this. Free CE is pretty strong when you are up against the clock. It also serves as a reminder that you need to get CE before you lose your license.

      When I had my license, I would get postcards from a company that had my name on it with the offer of "24 Hours of CE $39.99 Was $60.00" with a website.

      That postcard is still mailing to my knowledge. It must be worth it to them.
  • I'm kind of lost here...

    What's the deal with the cards? I know you said you are selling them and that agents spend more on business cards than they do on CE. The offer seems very muddy to me, and as such, I would likely pass on it.

    Another thing (and I'm saying this as kindly as I can) - IF I were looking at getting business cards, I would be viewing the postcard as a sample of the cards you might produce. As such, the postcard you've submitted here wouldn't make me want to order business cards.

    There's an excellent book by Michael Masterson and John Forde that I am reading that reiterates the importance of one main idea per promotion. To do this, you should know your audience well. Yet, when someone asked what you were selling, you said, "I think I'm selling the course as it stands. Most of the feedback I got from agents were questions regarding the course. The bullet points answers the questions I got. But I see that my selling of the cards is now lacking." That seems to me that you are not quite clear on your market and what your offer is.

    What is your background, if you don't mind sharing? How did you decide to link business cards and CE together?
    • [1] reply
    • Yeah I am going to do the mailing as one main idea for a few reasons:

      It will almost certainly pull better at getting people on a list. It will almost certainly make me less money up front but that is okay for a few reasons 1. I don't need the money 2. It will increase my mailing universe to once every two - three years for veteran agents to virtually all agents no matter their line of insurance 3. The amount I would make in a good scenario wouldn't be worth my time, at least at this point in my life, by mailing to a smaller universe.

      I'll be sure to update this later when I get some more time.
  • Thanks for sharing this one. I've used Quora for basic marketing and SEO but I never tried Quora ads. Will try looking more into this
  • A little more polishing in my personal opinion.
  • There are many cheap-but-good designer on Fiverr. Go to Fiverr and find someone.
  • Some things I learned from the mailings -

    1. My mailing universe isn't as big as I first thought. Returns were good enough on expiring licenses but not agents in general.

    That means a few big things: mailing to general types of insurance agencies isn't profitable and mailing to agents who are more than likely going to wash out isn't profitable either. That's a huge chunk of the agents.

    Which leads me to.....

    2. The mailings on their own are not home runs but more like base hits. It's going to take a lot of work to make it a big deal.

    So the thing for me to do now is decide what to do from here. It will be more of a personal choice than a business choice.
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    Critique My Postcard

    Okay Forum. I decided today I want to send a postcard out to, obviously, try and make more money. It's from a JVish deal I put together that hasn't gone as well as I hoped. I am willing to try this out and see if I can make some money off of this thing.