I started in this industry 13years ago as a bright-eyed intern at my local independent insuranceagency. To be honest, I didn't know the difference between anindependent agency, captive agency or direct writer. Want morehonesty? I didn't even know what a policy number was.

But I'm not embarrassed, because I was only 15 years old at thetime. Now I'm a 28- year-old Gen-Yer with a unique mix of industryexperience, education (a marketing degree and, in a couple months,an MBA) and youth.

Related: Read a previous exclusive from a young agent: "Instaffing, all it takes is one bad apple."

Surprisingly, the "youth" part of that mix may be the mostimportant part. My age helps me understand the next wave ofconsumers--what I call the "Smartphone Generation."

In 1992, IBM came out with the Simon personal communicator, thefirst smartphone. Since then, our lives have become increasinglycomplicated and the children born into that environment are in aconstant state of motion. This makes me think of our friend IsaacNewton and his First Law:

An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motiontends to stay in motion with the same velocity and in the samedirection unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.

Today's young people know more about a variety of topics andhave access to it instantly. I'm not that much older than thisSmart-Gen, and I didn't have this instant access until veryrecently.

How does this apply to Newton? Data is constantly "flyingaround" and exponential in nature. Information, whether true orfalse, builds mass like a planet and will rip through anything thatgets in its way as it finds an audience, especially the Smart-Gen.While the Internet has put this information in a quasi-orbit, weindependent agents and brokers still don't really have a goodunderstanding of that orbit and finding the consumer. Part of thishas to do with larger "planets" that have much larger marketingbudgets then we do. Just remember that we are local, independent,Main Street agents; we are invested in our communities and they areinvested in us. It's time to leverage those relationships on theWeb.

Cutting through the clutter
The simpleanswer to cutting through the clutter is by using vigilance andenergy. The more complicated answer comes in the form of dotcoms,blogs, RSS (really simple syndication) newsfeeds, smartphone apps,social media aggregators and much, much more, including:

• Web 2.0 - This is the "participatory Web," asBart Decrem, a founder and former CEO of Web browser Flock, said recently. Web2.0 is really about a free flow of information that is commentedupon, refined and shared in an exponential, pay-it-forward way.Optimized searchability, tagging and RSS are some of the keys toWeb 2.0. Be sure you are optimizing! To cut through the clutter,you need to find the consumer or they need to find you. Since youcan't be ever-vigilant, make sure you have quality content on theweb that is searchable, easy to find and will be read, used andpassed along to their friends.
• Social media - At the very least, useFacebook, Twitter, YouTube and WordPress. But remember, socialmedia is about being social. Be sure to give yourfriends/fans, followers, watchers and readers valuable insurancecontent, but also remember to make it fun, especially for theSmart-Gen. Write blogs that people will find valuable and commenton. While you probably want to moderate comments, user-generatedcontent (UGC) is one of the best ways to raise your search enginerankings. Consumers find UGC extremely important as they arelooking to make a major purchase. For example, did you check thecustomer reviews on Best Buy's website before buying your new LCDTV? If you place insurance products into the "major purchase"category, then why wouldn't you attempt to provide the same contentand feedback?
• Social media aggregators - I use Hootsuite.com tomanage our company's social media outlets, but there are many othergood tools out there. Use these so you can sleep at night andstill participate in the online conversation 24/7.
• Smartphone applications - "There's An App ForThat"... I'm sure you've heard this Apple iPhone tagline many,many times before (and probably hear it in your sleep, as I do).It's true--there's an app for almost anything now. I can set afuture Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn post on my Hootsuite app and thencheck my bank account while listening to music on Pandora. When I'mdone, I can book a trip on Kayak, reserve a table at my favoriterestaurant on OpenTable, and check the score of the latest WorldCup game--all while walking from my car to the office. If I'm doingthis, you can be sure the Smart-Gen is. So get into the Apposphere!Take advantage of free/cheap applications right now. If you havethe capability, design one for your agency. This is just one moreway to make sure customers and prospects are keeping you top ofmind.