Canadian Update News

July 2004

COMPULIFE® Software Inc.

We plan to post the August 2004 Internet monthly update to our six monthly update web sites on July 29th.

The August 2004 disk update will be processed Wednesday, July 28th and Thursday, July 29th and the disks will be shipped on the 29th.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Subscribers who are still receiving disks can save up to $100 per year by switching to updates by Internet. Please read the last section of this bulletin for complete details. Don't wait for your next invoice to make the change. Compulife will bonus your subscription renewal deadline for switching from disks to internet.

IMPORTANT CHANGE FOR YOUR TERM4SALE LISTING!!!

Agents listed at www.term4sale.com will need to pay attention to this important new option that we are adding to listings of agents at the term4sale web site.

Starting August 1st, your listing at www.term4sale.com can be linked to a web page at your web site.

IMPORTANT: There are some conditions to this link so make sure you read this entire section and understand those conditions.

The first condition is that the web page we are linking to must also have (in the fine print if you want) a link to www.term4sale.com. The second condition is that the web page must be visible to internet search engines.

When we first announced this option in our June midmonth update we had a few subscribers call immediately. They were excited about the new option and had already gone ahead and added links to term4sale.com. After further investigation on our part, we discovered that the subscribers had web pages that were not .html pages on the web, but were pages generated from internet programs and databases. In other words, as far as the search engines are concerned, the pages do not really exist. Having run into this with a couple of subscribers, and having discovered that those subscribers had little if any control over the web pages on their site, we have come up with a remedy for the problem; please keep reading.

With respect to the www.term4sale.com on your web page, the link does not have to be prominent. We don't care if the consumer or any consumer uses it. The reason that we want the link is in order to drive up the number of web pages that point to term4sale.com, which will strengthen and improve Term4Sale's search position on popular internet search engines such as Google. That could mean more traffic for term4sale, which could easily lead to more business for you.

That's why it is vital that your web page, which we link your listing at term4sale to, be visible to the internet.

If it turns out your web site has been developed using a database system, which makes the content of your pages invisible to search engines, you do not qualify to have your web page included in your listing at term4sale.com. To address this, we will require that you create and place a visible web page on your site in order to be able to get your link from term4sale. Actually, we think it is smart to have a special page for this term4sale link anyway; please keep reading.

Why You Want The Link

We have often been told by agents that they would like to see more information about themselves available in the agent listings at our site. The most common request is for the addition of an e-mail address but some want more information about their experience, etc. With this new option you will be the author of the web page which the user will go to when they click on the "more info" button next to your name. Compulife will only object to the content of your page if you say something negative or inaccurate about about term4sale. You may not refer to other agents in your listing.

In addition to the reasons mentioned above, it would be a very good idea to give serious consideration to a "unique" web page for this link. Rather than simply going to your web site's home page, a separate page that anticipates the arrival of the consumer from the term4sale site, would improve your chances that the consumer will contact you. After all, a consumer looking for an agent having visited term4sale is looking for term insurance, not all the other things that your web site may talk about. This does not mean that your special web page cannot talk about your web site. In fact we strongly recommend that your special web page also have a link to your main web page.

There is another reason for this special web page. Frequently we ask subscribers who are listed at www.term4sale.com if they are getting calls as a result of their listing. Many say they don't know. What that means is that they don't have any way to tell where the contact is coming from. If you design your page properly, you should be able to devise ways to determine that the contact has come from a term4sale visitor. (such as adding a page counter)

If You Can't Create A Special Web Page

If you are one of those folks who has a web site which has pages invisible to the internet, due to the fact they are generated from a database, and if your web provider does not permit you to place .html pages on your server/site, then you have a problem because you can't meet the requirement for the term4sale.com link.

If that is your situation, and we suspect a number will be in that situation, then we have come up with a deal that we think will solve the problem. One of Compulife's web providers (and we suspect others may offer this same deal), is happy to host a new domain name and a single html web page for $99 per year. Here's how it can work.

Let's say your current domain name is 800term.com. Incidentally, as of June 19th, that domain name was available. Assuming you already have your domain name 800term.com hooked up to your web site, and your internet provider does not allow a separate .html page to be placed on your site, then you will approach our web provider. The first step is that you register a new domain name, such as 800term.us. At 800term.us you place a single web page (the home page for this new domain name), which has specific information for the person arriving at the page from term4sale. Things you should think about including are:

But I Don't Have a Website

Nothing stops you from doing exactly what we have just recommended. For $99 per year you can have a web page that will tell people about you. Of course for another $200 per year, you can have a more sophisticated web site which includes, among other things, your own on- line term comparisons for the companies you represent. To see what we are talking about, go to: www.compulife.com/website.htm.

Please do not ignore this new option. If a list of 3 agents come up, and one or two have the "more info" buttons, and you don't, we believe that this will be a disadvantage for you. If you don't have a web site, maybe it's time that you did. With the $99 option, you can't afford to not have a domain name and web page.

Please feel free to contact Bob Barney at 800-798-3488 if you have any questions.

Universal Life - Term to 100 Minimum Premium

Compulife will be moving forward with a new category which we will be adding to the Windows version of Compulife. The new category will be called:

"U/L T100 - minimum premium"

Once again, this category will be added to the Windows version of Compulife. In other words, it will not be available in the DOS version.

The purpose of this comparison is to give you a way to compare the underlying T100 costs for those U/L policies which offer T100 as a mortality option. Because some U/L policies can require the payment of a "minimum premium" which is greater than the T100 cost itself, the comparison will be based upon the minimum premium.

This comparison will not examine cash values or accumulations and we have no interest in going down that road. The complexity of calculating U/L values makes the job of exactly matching life company U/L values almost impossible. Further, we cannot control what interest or investment return values that could be assumed, and so we intend to stick to the minimum and guaranteed costs as the basis of comparison for this new category.

Can you Help?

Compulife has sent e-mails to a number of life companies telling them about this new U/L T100 - minimum premium category. To date we have only had two responses. Therefore, if you have a particular U/L T100 product that you like to sell, and want to make sure it is in our new category, please contact us. If we have not received the information from the company, we may need to enlist your assistance to get that done.

Joint Life Comparisons - Windows ONLY in August

As we have previously warned, the DOS version of Compulife will no longer do joint life quotes starting with the August monthly update. We are preparing to make changes to our joint life comparisons to expand the software's capability and we do not wish to make the necessary changes needed to the DOS software to include the improvements there.

While we appreciate we have a small but significant number of subscribers who use and like our DOS program, the fact is that prospective new subscribers have NO INTEREST IN DOS SOFTWARE at all. In fact, just the mere mention of DOS software causes prospective buyers to think that we are selling software programmed during the dark ages. Putting money into changes to DOS software, when our Windows software is now far superior in capability, makes little sense.

However, as long as the DOS software does not require significant change to keep up with the improvements that we are making to our database and structure, we will continue to support DOS software.

Having said that, rest assured that we are approaching the day when DOS software will no longer be provided. Given that, there are two things you need to do.

1. Learn to use the Windows software. If you are not using it, it is on your computer and you should make a second icon so that you can run either DOS or Windows. Call if you need help making that icon.

2. If there is something the DOS software does, that you think the Windows software can't do, PLEASE CALL US. It may be that you simply don't know how to do it in Windows. Alternatively, if there is a change we can make to Windows, to accommodate your particular use, we are happy to consider it.

Improvements and Changes to Our Internet Downloads

Improvements and Changes to Our Internet Downloads

We have made changes and improvements to the automatic Internet updating system in Compulife. The new system can now automatically download updates for as many as 12 servers although the actual number of servers that we currently use is 6.

Compulife does not rely on our own Internet servers to provide updates. Our strategy is relatively simple. We rent space from a number of different Internet Service Providers around the continent. Each month we place our monthly updates and midmonth updates on those different servers, in those different locations, and your current edition of Compulife on your computer downloads the updates from those sites. If one of those sites should fail, there are other servers, maintained by different providers, that your Compulife program can go to.

One of the changes in the new Windows program is that when getting an update the system will advise which server number the update is coming from. This will be helpful information to give to Compulife if your are having problems with any particular server.

While using so many different ISPs may seem risky from a security point of view (our update pages are not password protected) Compulife relies on our own proprietary compression and decompression software to guard our files. Our decompression software will not process an update file that was not built with our compression software. If no one but Compulife has our compression software, there is no way to monkey with our updates files. If the update has been changed or monkeyed with, our decompression software won't like it and will report an error.

Another feature has been added to our updating system and this leads me to offer a word of caution for those who have been using Compulife outside our license stipulations. The Compulife program now reports monthly update downloads to our newly developed website database which monitors updates. Please note that the database does not record your name but it does record your serial number. (each person has a unique serial number which is a function of your name)

In the future, each time that you download a monthly update, the system will record that you downloaded that update along with information about when and where that update was downloaded from. If you are downloading an unusual number of monthly updates during a month, and if we see a pattern of downloads which causes concern, you can expect a phone call.

Therefore, please make sure that you are licensed for the computer that you are running Compulife on. For those who have an agency or "Standard License", you are specifically limited to placing Compulife on no more than 5 computers in the same location. If we determine that you are routinely downloading and placing Compulife on more than 5 computers, you can expect that phone call.

By contrast, if you are an individual agent, you are permitted to place Compulife on any computer that you "personally" use or which your staff uses to benefit you. Quotes produced by that software (and the software itself) are NOT to be given to other insurance agents. While you could theoretically place the software on more than 5 computers with a personal use license, you can expect a phone call if that number seems high.

DOS Software - Will Be Updated by Internet Only

As part of our ongoing efforts to move customers from our DOS software to our Windows software, we will be removing DOS software from our DISK UPDATES updates effective December 1, 2004.

Currently our disk updates contain BOTH Windows and DOS software which means that the disk updates contain more files than we would need to ship if we were only providing Windows software. Further, because the majority of our customers now update by Internet, and because disk capacity is not an issue for monthly updates by internet, and because we prefer you to get updates by Internet, we will be removing the DOS program from our disk updates effective December 1, 2004.

What does that mean and what do you need to do if you are getting disk updates? You have two options:

First, switch to getting updates by Internet. Monthly updates by internet will continue to receive the DOS and Windows program until the 3rd quarter of 2005.

Second, learn to use the Windows software.

Actually, we recommend both because as we noted, we will not be supporting DOS software after the 3rd quarter of 2005. By that point all Compulife subscribers will need to be using the Windows program.

Warning: The December 1, 2004 monthly disk update will have a GO.EXE file that will not run the DOS software, it will simply start the Windows software. What this means is that the DOS software will be removed from your computer by the December 1, 2004 monthly update. Once again, this only applies to those who get monthly updates by disk.

Special Referred Leads Offer

How would you like to add some free months to your Compulife subscription when you renew?

Compulife now offers an opportunity for subscribers to add free months at the point that they are paying their next subscription renewal. With this new referred lead program you can double your subscription from one to TWO years while paying just the one year price.

How To Add Free Months To Your Subscription

As you know Compulife offers a 30 day free trial to any agent who has not used our software before. We have found it the most effective way to introduce our software to potential new customers. In fact it has proved so effective that we now make a "Get 5 Bucks" offer to any agent who can demonstrate to us that they have tried our software. That's 5 dollars whether they buy the software or not!

Our constant challenge is how to locate new prospects for that trial offer. We have now developed a program where you can help.

If you refer two agents to take the 30 day free trial (who can then go for the $5 challenge), we will reward you with an additional free month of subscription time. Now that's "referrals" for a 30 day trial, there is no requirement that they purchase. When Compulife receives your two referrals we will issue you a certificate that can be used when you are paying your next subscription renewal.

For example, let's assume you have sent in 12 requests for trials, and you have received 6 certificates for 6 free months. When you pay your next one year subscription you simply send Compulife a copy of your certificate(s) and when we send you the next Internet Master Disk it will have your subscription period stretched from 12 to 18 months.

Trial requests must be e-mailed to barneyrl@compulife.com and include:

Subject: Compulife Referral Offer
The names of agents (you are referring)
Each agent's address, phone number and e-mail address
Your Name

NOTES:

Dueling Web Sites

For those who update by Internet, Compulife has gone to great lengths to provide you with redundancy in our web sites. Our main web site is:

www.compulife.com

However, we keep two completely separate websites, on two completely different servers, at:

www.compulife.us     or     www.compulife.cc

Whatever we update to compulife.com, we are also updating to compulife.us and to compulife.cc. If one web site goes down, for whatever reason, either of the other two are ready to serve you. That includes both monthly and mid-month updates.

For those doing monthly updates by Internet, we rely on three other web site to supply monthly updates. These are automatically checked and used by our automatic Internet update software.

Returning Monthly Disk Updates

For those receiving updates by disks, you are responsible to return those disks each month. Not returning disks can lead to the termination of your update service. For those not wanting to return disks there are two ways to eliminate the problem.

1. Switch to obtaining monthly updates by Internet.

Not only will you eliminate the expense and hassle of returning disks, you will save $100 per year in subscription fees.

To switch to Internet monthly updates, go to our web page www.compulife.com and select the last menu choice "Forms, applications, instruction tutorials, etc." Under the section "License Agreements" you will need to select and complete a new License Agreement for the type of license you have. After you have printed the new agreement, please read it, especially the part where you agree that you have successfully downloaded and processed our "mid-month updates". If you haven't done that before, call us and we'll be happy to step you through the procedure. It's easy.

2. Disk Purchase Program

The other way to avoid returning the disks and the disk box each month is to pre-purchase them for $21 per year ($1.75 per month). Once you do that you can keep them for future reference, throw them away or return them for a credit (once each year) when you are invoiced for the following year. $21 costs you less than mailing back disks each month.