The insurance marketplace in 2025 is showing signs of much-needed stabilization—yet, it’s anything but boring. Independent agents who are navigating today’s landscape must stay sharp as markets shift, rates adjust, and competition intensifies. Whether you’re writing main street business or venturing into specialized niches, understanding current trends will help you quote smarter, win more clients, … Read more
Being an independent insurance agent today is vastly different from what it was a decade ago. With new technology constantly reshaping the industry, agents now have access to an incredible variety of tools designed to streamline their workflows, boost efficiency, and ultimately help them write more business. But with so many platforms out there, it … Read more
While there can be benefits to working exclusively for a single insurance company, there are also plenty of drawbacks of being “captive,” and limited to only selling one brand of products. When it comes to serving clients, it’s beneficial to be flexible on product and pricing options. If you’ve been a captive agent in the … Read more
Have you seen the J.G. Wentworth commercial, “It’s My Money and I Need it Now?” It reminds me of all the discussions that I have had with agents about commissions. It’s your money, don’t you want it? You can only receive a commission if your policies are entered into the management system. Every month you … Read more
There is one key question you should ask any aggregator before you join: What type of appointments will I have access to? Varying carrier appointments mean very different things when it comes to access, earnings, and ownership of that business. Before you sign on the dotted line, ensure you understand all the differences laid out … Read more
Your First 180 Days as an Independent Agent: Recommendations for Success In this blog, we are going to cover what you should ask during your introductory meeting with carriers, documents to gather, and a template to keep it all organized. This will be the first in a series of blogs covering different topics that we … Read more
Profit and loss is top of mind for every agency and network as we enter into the fourth quarter. That means now is a great time to revisit your profit and loss ratios with each of your carrier partners. ASNOA wants to continue our profitability trend, paying out agents with bonuses for jobs well done. … Read more
Have You Tried Turning It Off and Back On Again? The latest update from Applied Epic 2019 If you haven’t already noticed, Applied Systems has updated to Epic 2019. While this is exciting news, many new features need to be set up on your end. Whenever a simple update comes through, we always say: “restart … Read more