While the bail industry searches for ways to prove its credibility to the public, there is one trusted network that has had a well-established presence for years. In 2001, AboutBail.com recognized the void in the market for people to be able to make sophisticated decisions about who to hire to write their bond. This glaring need inspired us to develop the original nationwide trusted network of expert bail agents.

AboutBail.com has recently strengthened our screening policy to ensure that members possess first-rate credentials and experience as we strive to bring trust and professionalism to the industry. AboutBail.com visitors can feel confident that they will find a trusted and professional agent, and in the rare event they have a negative experience that AboutBail.com will be responsive.

AboutBail.com CEO Adam Camras explained how the network has long been focused on providing excellent experiences for indemnitors.

“We have never sacrificed short-term gain for long-term value,” Camras said. “If there are complaints about any of the agents who are part of the network, they will be removed because we want to do all we can to ensure a good experience.”

Advancing the bail industry
In addition to ensuring that AboutBail.com network members are qualified, we take a proactive approach to supporting education and encouraging discussion within the bail community.

Our dedicated staff members and experts on various topics write informative articles in Collateral Magazine and our bi-weekly electronic newsletter called The Bail Report. AboutBail.com’s marketing team and executive team can be found at most conferences and bail association events, offering seminars, education and training. And our social media groups inspire productive conversations about bail news and legislation.

We use our various channels to inform the public about the effectiveness of the private bail system, as well as empower bail agents to become more professional and successful.

Driving customers to our members
We have always focused on getting in front of indemnitors and criminal attorneys who need to find local bail help. Many of them can be confused, embarrassed, and even scared, and our efforts to eliminate the unknowns from the bail process are highly appreciated by users.

AboutBail.com has streamlined the search process dramatically so that a couple of mouse clicks leads potential customers directly to our members. And because AboutBail.com is one of the most highly ranked sites for keywords related to bail bonds, tens of thousands of people visit us every month. We also regularly disseminate phone and e-mail referrals to members as an additional source of leads.

Simply put, our comprehensive approach to marketing and lead generation adds up to increased business for members.

Affordable marketing for businesses of all sizes
The shaky economy has placed a new emphasis on small businesses needing affordable marketing avenues. With our low monthly rates, members can reach thousands of potential clients locally and around the nation for a cost that fits their budget. And AboutBail.com membership is an even better deal because it can easily pay for itself; one new bond from AboutBail.com can pay for years of advertising.

Learn more about joining AboutBail.com
We are experts in the bail industry, and we look forward to discussing the prospect of your membership with AboutBail.com’s trusted network of bail professionals if you are not already. We offer a valuable opportunity to grow your business while also learning and interacting with your established industry peers.

In the event you have questions or would like further information, AboutBail’s helpful marketing consultants are available to speak with you. Simply call (866) 411-2245. Alternatively, you can visit us online at www.aboutbail.com/contact to sign up for a free marketing consultation.

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Bankers

Despite being the second largest company of its kind, Bankers Surety Services maintains the friendly culture and personal touch of a much smaller business. Assistant Vice President Lisa Basta explained how establishing personal relationships with bail agents is one of the aspects that separates Bankers from other surety companies.

“Everyone that works here tries to keep things personal with our agents,” Basta said. “They (agents) have all of our cell phone numbers. We shy away from large corporate cultures where you can’t speak to the man on top.”

Bankers Surety Services has been insuring bail agencies and helping them grow for more than 30 years. Including its sister company, First Community Insurance Company, Bankers is licensed to write bail in 41 states.

The company has built a wide array of services and resources to give bail agents plenty of reasons to write bonds with Bankers. Bail agents writing bonds for Bankers enjoy benefits including:

• Flat execution fee and 24-hour service for transfer bonds
• Excellent transfer bond coverage through Bankers’ large network of more than 545 bail agents
• Free bail bond tracking software for Bankers agents called BB Tracer, which enables agents to keep track of clients send reports to the surety company and generate automatic letters
• Creative Build Up Fund investment options including CDs and security portfolios
• A separate recovery division ready to help bail agents who call needing to find a bounty hunter
• Person searches if bail agents need help with skip tracing
• Property detail reports - agents can call and request property reports to establish equities
• National support of the independent retail bond industry through legislative involvement and membership in state and national associations

In addition to the services and resources that Bankers provides to agents, Basta pointed to the company’s easily accessible leadership as a hallmark of the company. According to Basta, even high-level people at Bankers such as herself, President Brian Kesneck and Vice President Michael Whalen give their cell phone numbers to agents and are readily available.

Basta emphasized that Kesneck has been president of Bankers Surety Services for 20 years, Whalen has been with the company for 15 years, and she has been there for nine years. According to her, this longevity throughout the company speaks volumes about the experience of the team that supports every Bankers bail agent.

“We’re not one of those companies where you’ll have to speak to someone new every few years. It speaks to the organization when you have leaders who have been part of the organization for such a long time,” she said.

In the end, Basta said, Bankers Surety Services is a company that measures its overall success by the success of its agents.

“We look at it as a partnership between us and the agents. We work as hard as we can with our agents to make sure they’re successful,” she said.

To learn more about Bankers Surety Services, visit www.bankersbail.com. If you are interested in advertising your surety business to thousands of bail agents across the country on BailInsurance.com, contact us online or call (800) 454-0028.

Marketing Your Bail Business to College Students

Every fall, a new batch of wide-eyed college freshmen enters dormitories or fraternity or sorority houses. Gone are the days when their parents are down the hall to monitor their activities. For some students, those days have been replaced by alcohol-fueled parties, rowdy collegiate sporting events, everything-goes spring break vacations and (when they’re 21 or if they get a fake ID) an assortment of bars with ultra-cheap drink specials. It’s a college student’s delight and a parent’s worst nightmare.

Unfortunately, this new-found freedom sometimes leads college kids to make questionable decisions that land them in jail and in need of a bail-out. If you operate a bail agency near a college town or spring break destination, you can be the business these kids rely on when they’re in a pinch. The trick, as we’ll explain, is marketing your business to college students and their parents so that you are the first bail agent they call.
If you’re looking for some tried-and-true methods of marketing to college students, plus some creative new ideas, AboutBail.com has you covered.

1. Give away free stuff
College students, much like the rest of the world, love free stuff. If you provide them with something they’ll use and keep around, there’s a good chance they’ll remember your business. These giveaways should have key information such as your business name and/or logo, business phone number and website address. Ideas for branded marketing collateral that you can give to students include:

• Shirts
• Reusable plastic or metal water bottles
• Pens
• Frisbees
• Key chains
• Koozies (foam beer holders)
• Prophylactics
• A cold bottle of water (especially effective in hot spring break destinations or warm-weather campuses

2. Advertise in campus media
Advertising in college media outlets is reasonably inexpensive. College radio stations usually feature youth-oriented music and content that attracts college-age listeners, and even people in town who aren’t in college. Placing an occasional advertisement on the radio station is a great way to let students know about your business. University television stations, newspapers and magazines are also good places to advertise.

Keep in mind that college students will probably more easily remember a funny or clever ad, so be sure to spend time thinking about how you want to grab their attention.

3. Sponsor events
Show a college student a good time and they might just remember your company’s name. In this case, since you’re marketing to college students, you can sponsor events such as collegiate athletic events, parties at bars and events at fraternity houses. Costs to sponsor events vary, but it’s an effective way to have your company logo displayed to your target market. Benefits of sponsorship can include:

• Your logo displayed prominently throughout the event
• Your company name announced by the event MC if there is one
• Your presence at the event, which is your chance to talk to college kids and hand out promotional items
• Your company name in the event’s printed collateral if applicable

4. Refocus your website
Your website, in addition to being one of your most valuable marketing tools, is a great way to attract college students and their parents. By employing search engine optimization (SEO) tactics, you can optimize your website so that people quickly find your website when searching for bail agents. For example, you can optimize your website for keyword phrases such as “University of Florida Bail Bonds” or “UCLA Bail Bonds.” Click here for more advice on building a better bail website.

If you have a blog section or place where you feature bail information, you can offer parents information and advice about bail. You can tell them how bail works and what steps they should take to bail out their child. Providing this critical information to parents could be the gesture that encourages them to hire you to write their bail bonds.

5. Make friends using social media
Even if you’re not a big user of social media such as Facebook or Twitter, your typical college student is. Marketing on Facebook is not only effective, it’s free. You can even probably find a local college student to start a Facebook account for you and mold your profile into something that would interest other college students.

The trick to successful social media marketing is consistently updating the posts and information on your profile, keeping it fresh with intriguing content so students have a reason to keep visiting. And if they become “friends” or “fans” of your company, it’s likely that they’ll call or tell their parents to call you if a tough situation arises.

Click here for more information about social media marketing.

6. Advertise at bars
Considering that college bars are where many nights in jail have their roots, it makes sense for you to do some creative marketing there. It’s not a sneaky tactic and it doesn’t condone bad decisions by college students, it’s just common sense. There are plenty of possibilities for how you can market your bail agency at bars, but here are a few that we came up with:

• Sponsor an event at a bar. Try to arrange it so that when students enter the bar, they get a stamp on their hand that says something like “Get Out of Jail With Bob’s Bail Bonds. Call 555-1234.” You can also have bar entrants be outfitted with removable plastic or paper bracelets with your company’s name and contact information.
• If possible, park a vehicle sporting your company’s logo and contact information near the town’s bar district. A flashy paint job will draw people’s eyes to the vehicle as they pass, or while they’re waiting in line to enter the bar.
• Have someone circulating around the bar and taking group photos. When the person takes a photo, your employee can hand out numbered cards and tell people to contact you so you can e-mail them the photo. You can even digitally include your company logo in the corner of the photo.

7. Contact the legal services office on campus
Many college campuses have student legal services offices, where college students go to get legal advice. If you can establish a relationship with these offices, they may recommend your bail agency or at least let you leave some promotional materials in the office.

With some creativity and your target audience firmly in mind, you can increase the amount of business at your bail agency while providing a valuable service for college students and their families.

To learn more about becoming a member of AboutBail.com’s trusted network of local bail professionals, contact us online or call (866) 411-2245.

If you would like to redistribute this article or any other content for your website, newsletter or other publication, e-mail sdavis@aboutbail.com to find out how.

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