Would you stamp your name on the open book That Time unfolds for you; Would you leave a record that men will praise, "Then to yourself be true." "Let each day find some duty done" In your own life's chosen line; Leave not to others to sow and reap A harvest that should be thine. Not a "fig" would I give for the man who says In some future time, "I'll do it ;" You'll ever afterward rue it; We must dig and delve, and gather them in And the greatest foe you ever will find If you wait for "chance" to bring you You'll get no luck whatever. "Luck" comes to energy, brains and grit, And the hardest kind of working, Persistent effort will bring success; The contrary comes with "shirking." Be a leader among your fellows, "boys." "The field is the world," 'twill yield a crop A. A. Treadwell. 1902 THE EQUITABLE'S LEADERSHIP. It is generally a well-known fact that the Equitable has led in instituting nearly all the really valuable reforms in life assurance. It is not so generally known that the Society has led in many other ways also. The Coast Review in a recent issue said: Henry Baldwin Hyde may be said to have been the father of skyscrapers, although he never built one. He was, however, the projector of the Equitable Building, which was for many years the highest office structure in New York. To facilitate the renting of the upper stories of this high building Mr. Hyde conceived the idea of utilizing the elevator. Up to that time passenger elevators had only been used in hotels and in A. T. Stewart's department store, and there was not a single passenger elevator in the any office building in world. Moreover, the first arc and the first incandescent electric lights, run for commercial and not for experimental purposes, were run in the Equitable Building in the middle "seventies." During the extending of the Equitable Home Office Abram Hewitt, the then mayor of New York, said: Builders seem to be perfectly lawless in their use of the streets. They do not restrict themselves to the permits which have been granted, and there seems to be no adequate inspection on the part of the police. One notable exception, however, has been shown by the manner in which the Equitable Building has been reconstructed and extended without interfering to any appreciable extent with the use of the streets. It seems to me that we owe a debt of gratitude to the officers of that company. LIFE INSURANCE SOLICITING AS A BUSINESS. (Published by courtesy of Success.) The following article appeared in the April number of Success, and was based on an interview with President James W. Alexander: not The time is past for regarding life insurance soliciting as a temporary occupation. None but men who are sure that the field offers them a complete career, and adequate reward for their output of energy and talent through the whole course of their working years, can succeed nowadays in business. The success of most of these is very pronounced. The work possesses the particularity of giving unusually meager returns to those who are adapted to it, and unusually great returns to men who have the courage, perseverance, tact, hopefulness, up-todate methods, and ability requisite to build up a life insurance clientelage. There are a considerable number of men in this country who earn, as life insurance agents, more money every year than is paid to the President of the United States. The income of a few is nearly double the President's salary. Almost without exception, these men began with no capital but brains and energy. Of course, they have exceptional qualities, or, rather, an exceptional combination of everyday qualities, the chief of which are energy, will power and common sense. Hardly any of them can be said to have unusually brilliant minds, and very few of them are college graduates. But they know the world and know men. They have confidence in themselves, and strength of will. Will power is probably the most necessary attribute in soliciting life insurance. Men are like turtles in one respect: when asked to spend money for which they see no immediate or personal return, they instinctively withdraw within themselves and present nothing but a hard shell to the designing enemy. It is the business of the life insurance agent to lodge his darts of reason and common sense beneath this shell, to get behind the protective crust in a man's mind, to overcome his hesitation and his tendency to say, with the cheerful Spaniard, "To-morrow, or the day after." IN THIS PROFESSION, THERE IS PLENTY OF ROOM AT THE BOTTOM. An agent must be able, to some extent, to direct and mold the mind of the "prospect" who has not been educated up to the insurance idea. To accomplish this, it is obvious that he must inspire confidence and possess a personality of sufficient force to give his words weight. The men who have won the remarkable successes in the insurance field go beyond this. They are always enthusiastic and optimistic; and, as surely as a burning flame will light a match, they communicate their enthusiasm to others. These men cannot be easily analyzed or explained. They were apparently born for the business. The I believe that any man of average ability, industry and strength of character can attain, in the insurance business, an entirely satisfactory position in life. calling is one, above all others, that has the latchstring out for young men who are beginning life without special advantages. who are entering the battle, not in automobiles or carriages, or in pushcarts, with relatives or friends behind, but afoot. As I have indicated, they need not have money. nor a higher education. They need not sit in offices, waiting for business, while expenses are running on. They need not drift. There is plenty for them to do. The older professions are undoubtedly overcrowded. We are overburdened with lawyers, doctors and clergymen. There are not enough fees to go around, and an undue proportion suffer the pangs of failure. In the other professions it is said that there is plenty of room at the top. In life insurance, there is plenty of room at the bottom; that is, for young fellows just beginning. To one man who is insured for his life, there are many who might be. Even in New York City, where there are more agents in proportion to the population than anywhere else in this country, not one-tenth of the field is covered. It is a field that keeps constantly renewing itself. Young men who are taking upon themselves the responsibilities of married life need life insurance, and can be convinced of the fact. Men who are already insured almost always take out larger policies as their incomes grow. Thus an agent obtains a clientelage which is a continuing source of income to him. This matter of an income that possesses stability is, of course, very important from the standpoint of an agent. No man feels that he is making a proper provision for his family, or is satisfied with his occupation, if it is a kind that ceases to yield a return immediately upon his temporary suspension of work from illness or any other cause. OH! VERY WELL. A correspondent from Virginia propounds the following: If two diametrical circles with octagonal peripheries should collide with a centrifugal idiosyncracy, what effect would the catastrophe exert upon a crystallized codfish, suspended by his caudal appendage from the homogeneous rafters of the Empyrean? [If you should propound this alleged conundrum for our cogitation in the privacy of our domicile we should ejaculate: "Elevate your golgotha to the apex of your pericranium and permit us to submit to your ocular demonstration the scientific piece of mechanism which forms the egress portion of this apartment."-ED.] GOOD ADVERTISING. We are glad to notice that the ranks of the Society's general agents who advertise, and advertise well, are being rapidly added to. Of course the "old reliable" advertisers, Woods, Chapin, Bowes, Samuel, Neely, Foreman, Hazelton, Donovan & Dunn, Hoyt, Helms, Hill and others stick at it because they know by long experience that it pays. And the new ones will find out, too, that it pays, and join the above list of honor. In this connection don't forget that a cut of any advertisement or picture published in the Record or News will be sent free to any representative of the Society for advertising purposes. And don't forget that the editor is ready at any time to answer questions regarding advertising matters. Among recent publications we note that: Joseph Bowes, of Baltimore, has got out one of the handsomest pamphlets we have seen for some time. Its title is "A Record to Be Proud Of." It contains a good etching of Mr. Bowes, and the subject-matter of the book is worthy of the handsome setting given to it. The Baltimore Underwriter says of this book: "This record of the agency shows what Mr. Bowes has done. His success has been phenomenal because he has put extraordinary energy and intelligence into his work. Frank W. Danner has also issued an unique and attractive book, entitled "Prominent Patrons of the Equitable Life in Richmond and North Carolina." It has a handsome stiff board cover in blue and white, and contains information that would be attractive to any "prospect" residing in the above territory. Frank P. Chapin has issued an ingenious little age card, by means of which a man can show his age by merely ticking off certain figures. F. P. reports splendid results from it. |