Declaration of Independents

Jim Schubert

President
Southern States Insurance
Alpharetta, Georgia

Jim Schubert’s digital marketing strategy seems pitch-perfect. But the singer, musician and former English teacher is quick to say: “None of what we’re doing is really, really well-planned. We just experiment a lot and do more of what works.”

So what works?

Blogging sparks big increases in website quote requests. LinkedIn is huge. We teach employees how to use LinkedIn for marketing, so we leverage the power of their networks. Digital marketing supercharges the way we communicate. It spreads our message much farther than the chamber of commerce breakfast. It gets the word out to more people and makes the message more about them, not about us. It starts with changing perspective on how to communicate.

Biggest career mistake?

As a new manager, I failed to articulate expectations for a staff member tasked with training a new producer. As a former teacher, I should have known better: Before class, always write on the board what you’re going to talk about so students know what to expect. I completely missed the mark. Since then, we’ve developed a solid training program. We know exactly what to do.

How do you find time for music?

This is the busiest I’ve ever been in my life. I’m like a lot of independent agents, taking care of our business and participating in community, volunteer and fundraising activities. My wife Meghan and I have three young kids who keep us very busy. I’ve always been a musician and I love all kinds of music. I’ve played mostly rhythm guitar, and I took voice lessons for years. But I never learned to read music. So right now, I’m taking piano lessons along with my son, Oliver, who’s 8. It’s something I always wanted to do. I thought it would be fun to do with my son, and it’s a blast. The funniest part is that my wife, who used to teach piano lessons, refuses to teach me and Oliver. She says she’ll never teach family members because it could be too frustrating and nothing good would come of that.