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To excel in this profession, it's essential to develop a specific set of skills that will set you apart from the competition.

Explore the insurance industry's path to recovery and expansion, driven by Excess & Surplus Markets. With a projected premium market of $170 billion by 2030, learn how to outshine your competition, carve a lucrative niche, and leverage technology to establish yourself as the ultimate insurance expert.

The support of an insurance agency network can be vital to helping independent agents grow their agencies, but some network partnerships can quickly become venomous. Beware of contracts that undermine your long-term success, cut into your profits and restrict your autonomy.

Express Markets: Unique Solutions for the Hard Market

Selling an insurance agency is a significant decision that requires careful planning and execution. If you’re considering selling your agency, you aren’t alone.

Kevin Krupka knows what it takes to grow an insurance agency. He’s the owner of Mountain Insurance Brokers in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Over the years, he’s learned that if he wants to achieve real success, he needs to give his clients what they want. By leveraging a network partnership, he’s been able to do just that.

After years of working for other agencies, Becky Cates founded Cates Insurance Agency, LLC, in 2021. Before doing so, she had to overcome the fear of not having a reliable paycheck – an uncertainty that stops many agents from pursuing their entrepreneurial dreams. Fortunately, Becky had the courage to make the leap...

As independent insurance agents, we face competition from all sides. The battle for business is tougher than it has ever been. The same old strategies won’t yield the same reliable results. Growth requires a new approach. 

Kim Winningham first opened the doors of Altamaha Agency in October 2020. Although she had more than a decade of experience in the insurance industry, she was building her agency from the ground up, and she was doing it in less-than-ideal times thanks to the Covid pandemic.

Discover how insurance agents can thrive in the challenging hard market by leveraging the advantages of independent agency partnerships, E&S markets, and innovative solutions provided by Smart Choice's Express Markets division. Explore the key factors driving premium growth and the diverse range of carrier partners in five vital insurance segments, including non-standard auto, artisan contractors, and niche markets, to secure policies and opportunities even in turbulent times.

If you’re partnered with, or have ever considered partnering with an agency network, alliance, aggregator or cluster, you have – no doubt – had to evaluate what it’s going to cost you and your agency.

When you start a new independent agency from scratch, you’re probably going to need some help getting carrier appointments – no matter how long you’ve been in the industry. Letisia Aguirre, better known as Letty, is the president of Capital Insurance Services of Florida, Inc.