EXCITING NEW PRODUCTS FOR UK INSURANCE BROKERS

Nice 1 Ltd, the providers of the popular Theft Protect policy, are delighted to announce that we have secured some really exciting new and innovative products that I think might be of interest to UK Insurance brokers.

We have attached our product brochure to this link, that provides a brief outline of 18 new products for brokers. Please feel free to download the brochure, have a look at the innovative products and contact us if any of them would be of interest to your customers. The brochure can also be obtained by clicking the link in the side bar to your right.

Here is a brief resume of the product range we can now offer:-

• Lifestyle Protect - Income and Payment Protection Insurance – Accident, sickness, unemployment & life cover – standalone income replacement product.
• Cash Protect - Single & monthly premium designed to cover monthly bills such as mobile phones, car insurance, gym membership.
• Excess Protect – A must for brokers requiring competitive rates. Designed to ensure customers are not left financially disadvantaged should they be unfortunate enough to have to pay an excess on one of a range of policies.
- Motor Excess Protect : Cars, motorbikes, owner/user taxis, driving instructors and motor homes, cover levels £300, £500 & £1000 excesses.
- Commercial Vehicle Excess Protect : Covers vehicles up to 3.5tonne and fleets up to 30 vehicles
- Tradesman Liability Excess Protect : Refunds excess under Tradesman Liability insurance policy.
- Home Excess Protect : Refunds excess after a claim under buildings & contents policies. Cover levels from £50 to £2500 per year. A perfect “add-on” for your home insurance customer.
• Lifestyle XS Protect – Covering any excess on motor/buildings & contents/travel/pet & medical … really good for brokers that hold more than one policy per customer, with cover options from £250 to £2000 per year.
• Multi Appliance Protect – Covers white & brown appliances for repair or replacement with no depreciation.
• Gadget Protect – Gross rated, excellent monthly and annual rates with 20% commission for the broker. Worldwide accidental damage, extended warranty & theft cover for mobile phones, laptops, MP3 players, Ipods, MP4 players, portable sat navs, cameras & games consoles. 3 & 5 item cover, monthly and annual rates.
• Home Emergency Protect – A range of home emergency cover for the cost of a tradesman to attend in the event of an emergency. Includes labour and cost of materials. Options include increasing levels of cover from £150 to £750 per call out and can be taken with or without an extension for central heating systems.
• Garden Protect – A stand alone policy providing £1500 or £2500 cover per year against theft or damage to the customers’ garden.
• Briefcase & Handbag Protect – Cover and assistance when a briefcase or handbag is lost or stolen, including contents & a wide range of support services included.
• Concierge Protect – Access to a personal assistant with countless uses – see the brochure for more information.
• Vet Protect – A uniquely simplified approach to pet insurance stripping out the non essentials, proving cover for vets fees only. No postcode rating or loading for breed of animal, with simplified age rating – under 5 and over 5 years old.
• Premium Waiver Protect - Protecting the customers’ monthly motor or buildings and contents insurance premiums. Can be sold as an option or included on a mandatory basis, providing up to 12 benefit payments of up to £250 per month should the customer be unable to work due to accident, sickness or unemployment. No exclusions making for a speedier sales process.
• Car Protect – Includes : car warranty, Gap & Multi Gap, Key Cover, Tyre Insurance, MOT Cover, Roadside assistance.
• Licence Protect – Providing benefits covering alternative travel costs if prevented from driving as a result of disqualification following the accumulation of 12 or more penalty points, disqualification for single offence speeding. Monthly benefits from £500 to £2000. Excludes drivers under 25, drivers with more than 8 points on licence, drivers who have held licence for less than 2 years, drivers convicted of alcohol or drug abuse offences.
• Mis-Fuel Protect – underwritten and supported by the AA’s fuel assist specialist service to drain, flush and replenish vehicle fuel systems on the spot after misfuelling.
• Scratch, Dent & Alloy Protect – Protection against day to day damage of vehicle bodywork and alloy wheels. Cover per claim between £250 & £1000 with aggregate limits between £500 & £3000. Particularly popular with customers acquiring a new vehicle.
• Total Loss Protect – Exciting this one… pays 25% of motor insurers settlement on top of that received from insurer, really cheap excellent benefits, no restrictions.
• Theft Protect – The pride of our stable. Theft protect provides a like for like replacement vehicle for up to 28 days in the event of a Theft or Write off incident. For brokers wishing to offer the service on a mandatory basis to all customers, we now have a guaranteed courtesy vehicle product providing a replacement in any eventuality where a courtesy car policy fails. Ask for details.

To see the product brochure now, click here

http://www.theftprotect.co.uk/library/brokers/Nice%201%20Product%20Pack%20May%202010.pdf

It may be useful to arrange a meeting to run through which of the products you think might work well for your business. Alternatively, feel free to contact us to discuss these exciting new products.
Nice 1 Limited – Providers of Theft Protect

e mail : enquiries@nice-1.co.uk

URGENT INFORMATION FOR UK INSURANCE BROKERS - DONT LOSE YOUR THEFT PROTECT FACILITY

HSBC Platform 24 to be replaced on 31st January 2010

Brokers who are users of the HSBC Platform 24 product portal will be aware that the facility is due to be replaced with "IM Online" on 31st January 2010.

The HSBC technical support staff will be working on the new site over the coming weeks and this will involve some product providers dealing directly with the broker to ensure serve levels are not interrupted.

Theft Protect is available to all brokers directly via our website http://www.theftprotect.co.uk/

All of the functionality of Theft Protect on Platform 24 is mirrored on the back office of our own site (as our site captures the data and delivers all of the documentation, management reporting and billing), so brokers are guaranteed seamless use of the facility. 

DISGUISED BY FUDGED CRIME FIGURES

CAR CRIME IS ON THE INCREASE!

As we are discovering, with the surge of brokers contacting us to access Theft Protect for their customers, there has never been a better time to ensure your customer is covered in the event of a theft or write off incident.

EXISTING BROKERS

For the convenience of brokers already selling Theft Protect, we have set each of your businesses up to immediately transfer over to our own portal, with passwords and all of your gross and net rates pre set into the system. We will e mail each brokers seperately to advise passwords.

NEW BROKERS

The process for selling Theft Protect immediately is simple. 

• Log onto http://www.theftprotect.co.uk/
• Front end is for consumer awareness only
• For back office administration ....
• Click Agent Login
• Complete the registration page
• Create a username and password
• Click the online Terms of Business
• Explore the functionality
• View the default net rates
• Edit the Gross rates to set your desired commission levels
• Remember to set the Gross rate for "Fault Write Off" as this is an additional income opportunity
• When adding a customer and selecting the required replacement vehicle and hire period, the system will auto populate the certificate from the tables you have edited.
• 5% IPT will automatically be added to the gross producing a customer total price
• Having completed the customer detail and selected the vehicle choice, click submit
• A checklist will appear. If you are happy, click view certifcate.
• The customer certificate and key facts will print automatically together

The system was designed with broker assistance and kept simple and fast for your convenience.

CUSTOMER BENEFITS

• Immediate like-for like replacement vehicle for up to 28 days
• Theft , Attempt Theft, Unauthorised Take, Vandalism & “Fault Write Off” cover
• 10 passenger car (2 prestige), 3 cv, 3 motorcycle & 7 Private hire vehicle groups
• Avoid exposure to car hire costs, typically £300 for 14 days hire of a Group A vehicle
• Can be purchased in 1,2,3,4 or 5 year multiples
• Stand alone, not tied to buying other products (Now generating significant interest for aggregator brokers)

To see the full customer AND broker benefits click here 

Brokers share their success stories and strategies with us. To see a few of these click here and for top tips click here

 

Every day we witness the relief and pleasure experiences by Theft Protect customers assisted by the service. To read a few of their experiences click here  

 

ADDED VALUE

 

Theft Protect isn't just about providing replacement vehicles for customers in need. For brokers and consumers alike, we provide current information about all aspects of crime in the UK. Naturally, we are particularly keen to provide regular bulletins about car theft hotspots, the most vulnerable vehicles and vehicle security advice from the experts. Our exclusive contacts with the 43 police forces of England and Wales provides us with first hand knowledge of the current and growing "modus operandi" - or means by which criminals steal vehicles. The most popular browing trend by far is Car Key Burglary, where the offender will break into houses solely to steal car keys. We have conducted extensive research and produced a number of revealing reports on the subject. Click here to see a sample article.

 

IGNORE GOVERNMENT HYPE - WE HAVE THE FACTS!  - CAR CRIME IS ON THE INCREASE

 

A useful free online toll is provided to check the secutiry level of vehicles. Click here to see it.

 

For brokers, we are happy to provide a bespoke reporting service that provides current crime information by post code to assist with your marketing efforts. Brokers report that this greatly assists their customer targetting.

 

You may also wish to visit our sister sites :-

• http://theftprotect.blogspot.com/ where we keep consumers appraised of car crime news in their area,
• http://carcrimeuk.blogspot.com/ where we provide statistical analysis of car crime, both geographically and by vehicle types.
• http://thinbluelineuk.blogspot.com/ where we have strong links with police sites throughout the UK.

BROKER SUPPORT

 

We like to share useful experiences and business benefits that we discover with our business partners.

 

Here are a few for you :-

• Accelerate your business success with Linked In  Over 100 broker contacts have joined us on Linked In, the professional business networking site that actually works. Entirely free, it's a must for anyone serious about growing their business.
• A thorough grasp of the internet is an essential pre requisite for brokers. We share some of our search engine optimization experience with you. Click here to view the article.
• E Mail is rapidly becoming a successful means of maintaining contact with customers. We are pleased to introduce you to Chili Shot, an experienced team with excellent software to assist you with your customer management campaigns. Click here to learn more.
• We love blogs! As you can see from these pages, blogging tools have greatly assisted us to grow our business and stay in touch with our cusromers and contacts. We are happy to help you get started with a few tips and pointers. Click here to find out more.
• At the foot of this page, you will find free short tutorial videos on Linked In and successful business Twittering.

 CONTACT INFORMATION

 

So, if you are new to Theft Protect and would like some assistance setting up your online facility, have some questions you'd like to ask, feel free to ring us on the telephone number provided below, or e mail us at enquiries@nice-1.co.uk (Nice 1 Ltd administer and deliver the Theft Protect product).

 

If you are already selling Theft Protect and need some help moving over to our site from Platform 24, please do not hesitate to call us on :-

 

0844 414 2286

 

 Looking forward to working with you!

From the Team at Nice 1 Limited

Providers of Theft Protect

Telephone : 0844 414 2286

E mail : enquiries@nice-1.co.uk

Web : http://www.theftprotect.co.uk/

Twitter : http://twitter.com/niceoneuk

LinkedIn : http://www.linkedin.com/in/theftprotect

Write : Nice 1 Ltd, Nice 1 House, Broad Lanes, Bilston, West Midlands WV14 0RQ

Nice 1 Ltd are Authorised & Regulated By The Financial Services Authority. 

POLICE AND CRIME IN THE UK

The team at Nice 1 Ltd, providers of Theft Protect replacement vehicle solutions, are delighted to announce the blistering launch of their new site "The Thin Blue Line", whose aim is to support the front line police officers of the UK. To visit the new site click here

The site collects valuable experiences about real life crime and policing issues, and combines them with the crime analysis efforts of our sister site "Car Crime UK" to raise consumer awareness about the true picture of crime.

To see a few of the new articles posted on The Thin Blue Line click the link(s) below :-

• Crime Statistics Hide The Truth - click here
• Focus report on police resources - click here
• Recent articles by police from the frontline - click here
• Police strength disputed - click here

Please feel free to visit the sites and share your thoughts about crime and policing.

Kind Regards

The Crime Analysis Team
Nice 1 Ltd

NICE 1! - Theft Protect Comes To Aid Of Expectant Midlands Mum

Check out this article on our sister site by clicking here

Nice 1! - A USEFUL FREE RESOURCE TOOL FOR BROKERS

FREE ONLINE CAR SECURITY CHECK

The team at Nice 1, providers of Theft Protect Replacement Vehicle Insurance, are delighted to provide access to a great new resource for UK motorists that is totally FREE.

Type a postcode and registration number into this free online tool, confirm the vehicle make and model, and you are then presented with a security rating for that car and the location it is kept.

This solves the age old mystery for UK motorists – how to get free access to information about how safe from crime their vehicle is, or how safe the vehicle they are planning to buy is, according to the area where it’s parked in and the type of vehicle it is.

This unique tool also provides the ABI security ranking, and explains how that system rates male and female drivers according to age. Few people know that a female under 24 or a male under 30 will get discounts for driving vehicles between one and 20 ABI groups. Insurance will go up rapidly after ABI 20, and most insurers will decline above ABI 33. Females over 24 will get discounts for driving vehicles between one and 33 ABI and insurance will go up rapidly after ABI 33. Males over 30 will get discounts for driving vehicles between one and 33 ABI and insurance will go up rapidly after 33.

The security rating is an estimate based on government and industry vehicle crime data. The data is combined to take account of where the vehicle is kept overnight, the vehicle's theft desirability and manufactured security. Scores range from 'excellent' - nine stars or more - to 'extremely poor' - one star. An 'excellent' score has an approximate probability of less than 1-in-1000 chance of being stolen, broken into or vandalised over the year and 'extremely poor' has a greater than 1-in-10 chance."

The tool draws its data from the ABI and the Thatcham vehicle security site. Thatcham is the research and development unit owned by the UK insurance industry.

So, whether your customer is thinking of buying a new car, getting or renewing their car insurance, or simply want to find out how secure their car is, click the link below or to the right of the page.

Brokers should do this on behalf of the customer, as the link directs to an alternative insurance portal.

Click the back button once you're done to return to these pages.

With compliments & kind regards

The Theft Protect Team at Nice 1 Limited

CHECK CAR SECURITY NOW – CLICK THIS LINK

Car Crime UK - "Car Key Theft" - First Of A New Series With Sir Trevor McDonald

In case you missed it, Trevor McDonald presented the first of a new series on ITV last night, which takes a look at the work of specialist police car crime teams, focusing on two areas - Manchester and Devon and Cornwall.

To watch the program, click here or the image of Trevor above. A 6 minute highlight video of the program is featured lower down this page.

The program presents a front row seat into the work of the police fighting the battle against car crime in the UK.

As regular readers of these pages will know, the team at Nice 1 provide regular updates for the UK motorist on car crime in your area. This includes information about the most popular cars stolen by car thieves, top tips to keep your car secure, and choosing your car insurance provider.

CAR KEY THEFT

Following the release of the latest crime figures by the Home Office, Nice 1 are busy analysing the report so that we can keep you informed over the coming weeks. "Car Key Theft" as it has become known, is an increasingly worrying development in the modus operandi of the UK car criminal. Improvements in car security have made the theft of newer cars more difficult, so they take the dramatic next step, breaking into your house to steal the keys.

The trend is more worrying than the crime figures reveal though.

18,599 cars were stolen last year by stealing keys. However, these numbers are reported as "Burglary Dwelling House" or "Robbery" (for incidents such as car jacking).

This has the effect of artificially supressing the car crime numbers. One of the Home Office reports suggest car theft has decreased by 7.4% in 2008 against the 2007 incidents.

When the 18,599 incidents are added back to the car theft numbers, it reverses the trend to a 4% increase.

A copy of the Nice 1 analysis report has been sent to the Shadow Home Secretary, the Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP for his comments.

Nice 1 are the providers of Theft Protect, a unique like-for-like replacement vehicle insurance policy designed for victims of car theft.

Cover is available for up to 28 days, with a wide range of replacement vehicles to keep you mobile in the unhappy event that your car is stolen.

Theft Protect is available through a network of UK Insurance brokers, motor manufacturers, dealers and car finance companies.

INSURERS ENTER CREDIT HIRE ARENA - HOW WILL IT IMPACT BROKERS?

"A NEW DAWN FOR CREDIT HIRE"

An article in the Insurance Times today reports that AA/Saga plans to take its credit hire arrangements in-house in an attempt to save millions of pounds. The move could trigger other insurers to follow suit as frustration grows at the level of expenses incurred in the process.


To read the full article "A NEW DAWN FOR CREDIT HIRE" click here

The insurance industry has opposed the activities of credit hire firms since the emergence of the industry in the eighties. For over twenty years insurers have adopted an adversarial stance to the existence of credit hire as a concept, with both sides entering into protracted and expensive litigation on points of law. A number of legal precedents have been set down from the High Court and Court of Appeal as a result of the arguments between the two industries.


An insurer owning its own credit hire company is an interesting business concept, something which insurers have looked at for some time, and now AA/Saga has taken the plunge.


It will be interesting to see how this affects the AA/Saga relationships with other insurers. Will negligent insurers pay the AA/Saga credit hire claims any faster than the existing credit hire operators?

In a seperate Insurance Times article on the subject, Ai Claims Solutions commercial director Chris Shaw countered that not all credit hire companies had adversarial relationships with insurers. He said: “The issue was not about referral fees but about hire durations".


To read this article click here


On the face of it, this comment seems to be somehwat naive. Of course it's about referral fees, they are part of the problem the insurers want to remove. Insurers have been applying pressure to brokers for many months now regarding their relationships with accident management and credit hire companies. Insurers have threatened brokers with reduced commission levels if blacklisted credit hire and accident management companies are being supported.


The arrival of the comparison site aggregators, a prolonged period with soft rates and the current economic climate has forced brokers to seek alternative sources of income to supplement diminsihing margins from motor insurance. The accident management sector has become fiercely competetive in its search for non fault accident victims, offering increasingly lucrative inducements to brokers for such referrals.


Insurers have cashed in on the deal too, with many millions being paid in referral commissions to insurance companies by credit hire companies for the introduction of non fault accident policyholders. Commissions are paid for credit hires and personal injury cases, with referral fees as high as £800 being paid per case.

There have been instances of large insurer organsiations writing motor insurance premiums with 0% commission to increase market share. The business model of a number of these companies includes owning their own accident management company. Let us look at why such an organisation would write premiums at 0%.

Assume 1000 motor policies are sold with average commission of £75.00 = £75,000
A 20% claim ratio = 200 claims. Assume £500 income per claim = £100,000

These organisations have learned that there is a greater income opportunity from claims income than from policy sales.

Insiders from within both industries have long since speculated that this level of referral rates were not sustainable in the long term.

The same insurers receiving generous credit hire referral fees have also been exerting pressure on brokers for supporting credit hire companies!

These factors are undoubtedly part of the rational behind the development of the AA/Saga credit hire operation. With such a business, they will control their own exposure to such claims and undoubtedly generate significant income streams from those cases where their customer is the non fault party.


BROKERS

Of greater interest perhaps, is the potential impact insurers providing credit hire will have on insurance brokers in the UK.


The success or failure of the AA/Saga credit hire venture will either encourage other insurers to follow suit, or seek alternative strategies to combat the growth of the sector.

One thing is certain. The credit hire and accident management organisations will not take the competition lying down. They will use their considerable resources to protect their business models. The non fault accident market has become a race to see who can capture "First Touch" of the customer. The accident managers have become adept at the practice, which is undoubtedly why the insurers are now considering "playing them at their own game".

Other insurers may follow the lead of the AA/Saga team and develop their own credit hire solutions. This would have the effect of restricting the size of the potential accident marketplace, reducing income opportunities for brokers working with accident management companies.

Prudent brokers will not have put all their eggs in one basket and become over reliant on accident management referral income.

The more successful brokers have quickly recognised the benefits of adding value to the customer experience.

In a marketplace is dominated by price driven consumers, innovative thinking brokers will always succeed in securing and retaining business by providing enhanced service that the internet cannot compete with, qualified advice and quality products.

Brokers that have developed successful "Add On" strategies for such quality products are booming even in the midst of an economic downturn.

Related Broker Articles :-

"When choosing add ons it pays to go cherry picking" click here

"Top Broker Tips For Selling Add Ons" click here

UK SCRAPPAGE SCHEME IMPACT ON MOTOR & INSURANCE SALES

The Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT) have this week published the latest UK Scrappage sales. Much has been reported about how the scheme has had a positive impact on the UK Motor sector and this is most welcome.

To download the latest car registration figures for June and 2009 to date, listing all the manufacturers, click here.

In this article we examine the precise impact those sales have had on individual manufacturer performance and the sector as a whole.

To read the article click here As a UK insurer, broker or intermediary providing car insurance, you can significantly enhance the customer experience and your add on income by offering your customer Theft Protect Replacement Vehicle Insurance.

Details from http://www.theftprotect.co.uk/ and via the links on our blog http://brokerinfocus.blogspot.com/

Police warn drivers not to hide car keys at home... to avoid violent clashes with burglars

Drivers should not hide their car keys when at home because it risks a violent confrontation with burglars, a policeman has warned.

The controversial advice was given after a case in Clifton, Lancashire, where a 16-year-old burglar murdered a pensioner for his car keys.

Speaking after the killer was jailed for life, a vehicle crime specialist from the Metropolitan Police said: 'I'd rather they broke in and found the keys and nicked my car than have them wake me up in the middle of the night because I value my life and like a good night's sleep.'If we say hide the keys then we are actually putting people at risk of ending up in the sort of situation which happened in Lancashire.

'However, an official spokesman for the Met said the comments did not represent their official advice, which was to keep car keys out of view.

It is estimated that more than 50 people a day across the UK have their cars stolen by burglars who ransack their homes and drive off with the spoils in their victim's vehicle.

A total of 15,741 cars were stolen last year by burglars who got hold of the keys after breaking into victims' homes while a further 2,858 were taken by force in robberies and car-jackings.

According to insurance and car crime experts that figure is rising at more than 15 per cent a year.Around 11 per cent of the reported stolen every year are as a result of the keys being taken during a house burglary or violence against drivers.

In recent months police from forces as far a-field as Warwickshire, West Yorkshire, West Mercia, Northampton, Kent and Manchester have all released car key burglary warnings.

'The amount of car key burglaries we have been dealing with has increased significantly,' said Asmar Chaudry, a spokesman for Greater Manchester Police.

'It's because security systems in cars have improved so much that the only way you can actually get into them is by using the keys. It's not a problem that's restricted to one place, it's a nationwide phenomena.'

HOW WOULD YOU COPE IF YOUR VEHICLE WAS STOLEN ?

We sincerely hope that it will never happen to you, but the fact remains that no matter how much money is thrown at vehicle protection, the determined vehicle thief continues to ply his trade.

In the time it takes to read this page, three more vehicles will be stolen or taken without the owners consent.

MYTH: Every customer who has their vehicle stolen will be provided a replacement vehicle by their insurance company.
FACT: It is remarkable that only a small number of insurance companies offer any kind of solution, leaving the vast majority of the 30 million UK motorists exposed.
MYTH: But surely I will get a courtesy vehicle?
FACT: No courtesy vehicle will be provided whilst your car remains un-recovered (typically 10 - 14 days) and NOT when your vehicle is written off.

We are pleased to introduce you to Theft Protect, not previously available in the UK, protecting you in the unhappy event of your vehicle being stolen.

For a small annual premium, you can now obtain a like-for-like replacement vehicle facility for up to 28 days, allowing you to get mobile again with the minimum of fuss should the unhappy event of your vehicle being stolen.

Theft Protect is available from a UK network of insurance brokers. When buying your vehicle insurance, insist they include Theft Protect.

Click the links on these pages to find out more, or e mail us at enquiries@nice-1.co.uk

Accelerate Your Business Success With Linkedin

http://www.linkedin.com

The growth of LinkedIn, which has signed up over 41 million members in over 200 countries and territories around the world, confirms there is a distinct business social networking market. The site has over 1.5 million in the UK - a tenth of the professional workforce.

Its average user is 41, with a salary estimated at £70,000.

LinkedIn remains a great way for professionals to strengthen their online brand reputation and leverage their professional network.

Relationships Matter

Your professional network of trusted contacts gives you an advantage in your career, and is one of your most valuable assets. LinkedIn exists to help you make better use of your professional network and help the people you trust in return.

In a global connected economy, your success as a professional and your competitiveness as a company depends upon faster access to insight and resources you can trust.

What is LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is an interconnected network of experienced professionals from around the world, representing 170 industries and 200 countries. You can find, be introduced to, and collaborate with qualified professionals that you need to work with to accomplish your goals.

When you join, you create a profile that summarizes your professional expertise and accomplishments. You can then form enduring connections by inviting trusted contacts to join LinkedIn and connect to you. Your network consists of your connections, your connections’ connections, and the people they know, linking you to a vast number of qualified professionals and experts.

Through your network you can:

• Manage the information that’s publicly available about you as professional
• Find and be introduced to potential clients, service providers, and subject experts who come recommended
• Create and collaborate on projects, gather data, share files and solve problems
• Be found for business opportunities and find potential partners
• Gain new insights from discussions with likeminded professionals in private group settings
• Discover inside connections that can help you land jobs and close deals
• Post and distribute job listings to find the best talent for your company

LinkedIn is free to join. They offer a premium version of your accounts that give you more tools for finding and reaching the right people, whether or not they are in your network. LinkedIn participates in the EU Safe Harbor Privacy Framework and is certified to meet the strict privacy guidelines of the European Union. All relationships on LinkedIn are mutually confirmed, and no one appears in the LinkedIn Network without knowledge and explicit consent.

10 WAYS TO OPTIMISE YOUR SUCCESS WITH LINKEDIN

1. Increase your visibility.

By adding connections, you increase the likelihood that people will see your profile first when they’re searching for someone to hire or do business with. In addition to appearing at the top of search results people would much rather work with people who their friends know and trust.

2. Improve your connectability.

Most new users put only their current company in their profile. By doing so, they severely limit their ability to connect with people. You should fill out your profile like it’s an executive bio, so include past companies, education, affiliations, and activities.
You can also include a link to your profile as part of an email signature. The added benefit is that the link enables people to see all your credentials, which would be awkward if not downright strange, as an attachment.

3. Improve your Google PageRank.

LinkedIn allows you to make your profile information available for search engines to index. Since LinkedIn profiles receive a fairly high PageRank in Google, this is a good way to influence what people see when they search for you.

To do this, create a public profile and select “Full View.” Also, instead of using the default URL, customize your public profile’s URL to be your actual name. To strengthen the visibility of this page in search engines, use this link in various places on the web> For example, when you comment in a blog, include a link to your profile in your signature.

4. Enhance your search engine results.

In addition to your name, you can also promote your blog or website to search engines like Google and Yahoo! Your LinkedIn profile allows you to publicise websites. There are a few pre-selected categories like “My Website,” “My Company,” etc.

If you select “Other” you can modify the name of the link. If you’re linking to your personal blog, include your name or descriptive terms in the link, and voila! instant search-engine optimization for your site. To make this work, be sure your public profile setting is set to “Full View.”

5. Perform blind, “reverse,” and company reference checks.

LinkedIn’s reference check tool to input a company name and the years the person worked at the company to search for references. Your search will find the people who worked at the company during the same time period. Since references provided by a candidate will generally be glowing, this is a good way to get more balanced data.

Companies will typically check your references before hiring you, but have you ever thought of checking your prospective manager’s references? Most interviewees don’t have the audacity to ask a potential boss for references, but with LinkedIn you have a way to scope them out.

You can also check up on the company itself by finding the person who used to have the job that you’re interviewing for. Do this by searching for job title and company, but be sure to uncheck “Current titles only.” By contacting people who used to hold the position, you can get the inside scoop on the job, manager and growth potential.

By the way, if using LinkedIn in these ways becomes a common practice, we’re apt to see more truthful resumes. There’s nothing more amusing than to find out that the candidate who claims to have caused some huge success was a total bozo who was just along for the ride.

6. Increase the relevancy of your job search.

Use LinkedIn’s advanced search to find people with educational and work experience like yours to see where they work. For example, a programmer would use search keywords such as “Ruby on Rails,” “C++,” “Python,” “Java,” and “evangelist” to find out where other programmers with these skills work.

7. Make your interview go smoother.

You can use LinkedIn to find the people that you’re meeting. Knowing that you went to the same school, plays football, or shares acquaintances is a lot better than an awkward silence after, “I’m doing fine, thank you.”

8. Gauge the health of a company.

Perform an advanced search for company name and uncheck the “Current Companies Only” box. This will enable you to scrutinize the rate of turnover and whether key people are abandoning ship. Former employees usually give more candid opinions about a company’s prospects than someone who’s still on board.

9. Gauge the health of an industry.

If you’re thinking of investing or working in a sector, use LinkedIn to find people who worked for competitors—or even better, companies who failed.

10. Track startups.

You can see people in your network who are initiating new startups by doing an advanced search for a range of keywords such as “stealth” or “new startup.” Apply the “Sort By” filter to “Degrees away from you” in order to see the people closest to you first.

[Republished from: Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn via "How to Change the World" -- Guy Kawasaki's blog]

Nice 1 Limited Comment : "We are new to LinkedIn but can see clear advantages of joining already. As our core product Theft Protect traverses the insurance and motor sectors, the benefits of networking and connecting with our business contacts are invaluable. Easy to set up and start connecting"

Carl Brandrick

Managing Director
Nice 1 Limited

To visit the Theft Protect page on LinkedIn click the LinkedIn button on the right of this page.

To Twitter Nice 1 click here

http://www.linkedin.com/

WHO USES THE INTERNET IN THE UK?

If your business transacts business over the internet, this information from the National Office of Statistics may be of interest to you.

To see or download the full report click here.

As the tables are self explanatory, we'll let you form your own assumptions about the relevance and usefulness of creating an internet marketing strategy for your business.

To view or download the full report click here.

For the majority of businesses these days, the increase in internet use is too important to ignore.

Look out for further internet marketing articles from these pages, or explore the previous articles from the archives links on the right side of this page.

Kind Regards

The Team at Nice 1

Broker Feature - Ashbourne Insurance

click the image above to read the newsletter

THANK YOU PETER!

The team at Nice 1 Limited would like to extend a big thank you to Peter and the team at Ashbourne Insurance Brokers, for featuring Theft Protect on the front page of this month's newsletter.

Ashbourne are a great supporter of the Theft Protect product and represewnt an excellent example of a customer focused insurance broker.

If you would like to include Theft Protect in any of your promotional offerings, please contact the team at Nice 1 on enquiries@nice-1.co.uk

In the meantime, to see how Peter is successfully promoting his business click here to read or download the company newsletter in full.

Broker In Focus - April 2009 Bulletin

Click here or the image above to view full bulletin

NEW RESOURCES FOR UK INSURANCE BROKERS

New broker online resources from Nice 1 Ltd, the team behind Theft Protect are proving popular among insurance intermediaries.


This site, and the consumer awareness portal at http://theftprotect.blogspot.com/ contain articles and latest news about UK Car Crime and Car Insurance.

The bulletin details way that the Nice 1 Team support brokers in their efforts with Theft Protect, and provide links to articles on the consumer site where we keep the UK motorist appraised of the need for adequate insurance.

Click the link below or the thumbnail image of the bulletin above to view the full bulletin. We look forward to supporting your business soon.

Kind Regards

The Nice 1 Team