Rusty….we haven’t posted since August of 2009. I find it necessary today to say thank you to a few people who have encouraged and inspired me to get back in the saddle and blog about our insurance agency.
John Bailey Company stopped blogging because we felt like we lost the online yellow brick road. I always thought it would just come to us as we test the waters…but that just was not the case. Not to say that we don’t have good content here, but we don’t want to just blog to blog. I want our readers to be excited about our post, to participate, to become a part of the John Bailey Company experience…so how do you make insurance exciting to the non-insurance guru? Well, you find friends not in the business, who genuinely care about your success and ask them. Below are a couple of folks who have inspired me with their pure dragon-slayer blogging skills, some have given advice, others just do what they do. These special folks are Social Media experts, Bloggers, big thinkers, who bring “it” everyday. Thank you for helping us find our way, please keep it up:
The future of this blog is dedicated to helping our clients, employees, and insurance companies succeed. Our insurance agency is a support system for success, we live that everyday in our business, and the Bailey Post should be an extension of that.
Casey Peters – hyper local wizard of OZ at knoxify who has taught me that a vision is contagious if you know where you are going. Behind the curtain is just a man, if you look deeper you will find the true ruler of Oz.
Jeremy Floyd – the Lion, who taught me “That courage means acting in the face of fear.” If you are going to have a blog, you must become a blogger to succeed…even if you are an insurance agent. You must commit to the realness of the craft, go 110%, and never look back. “A true cowboy wears cowboy boots all the time, what is your identity, your mark?”
Gavin Baker – Scarecrow, “the wisest man in all of OZ,” who told me without a plan, you are just a business online searching for it’s way. He believes you can’t take the credit for the growth, that growth comes from within.
Suzy Trotta – Tin Man, she has a huge heart doesn’t she. Suzy represents the passion in the Knoxville Real Estate market. She taught me you must blog your passion, show the facts, and wrap them up with your culture, you must love what you blog.
Laura Bower – and of course graceful Dorothy wearing the signature ruby red slippers…her words float off the page and always bring the thunderous smile, occassional laugh, and a zeal for living in the moment. From her I learned your business must live, simply live in that place where you are, she has the yin and yang formula for social media and attracting clients.
Alex Oliver – is the special effects the technicolor of Oz, if you will. He is the man behind the camera, who can turn an idea into a script, edit, and pump it out all in the course of 30 minutes. Not only is ORNL Young and Free TN lucky to have him, but I think this kid is the future. His on presence charisma and wit inspires me to do video and be good at it.
Katie Allison Granju – its not The Wizard of Oz without “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” a world reaching mommy blogger who is as real and as they come, the social media queen, who makes me love, laugh, and cry. She represents this culture, this humility, this thing we call life and I respect that about her.
Michael Silence – Emerald City, the capital of OZ. This guy has his ear to the ground, the one with the scoop…he knows what’s going on. I enjoy the facts, the hustle, the art of who, what, when, where, and how.