Every Journey Has a Beginning -
When people know me today as an insurance advisor, author, educator, and content creator, they usually see the present. But behind this identity, there is a long journey of learning, experimenting, failing, starting again, and continuously improving.
My journey started long before I entered the insurance profession. Computers, mobile phones, websites, blogging, YouTube, and online business were already becoming important parts of my life and slowly shaped the way I think and work.
I never had a fixed plan from the beginning that I would become an insurance advisor, write books, create courses, build an app, or work in digital education. Most of these things developed gradually through experience.
Looking back today, I can connect many small events from my early life that eventually brought me to where I am now.
How I Discovered the Internet
Around 2008, I came across information about the internet and websites through a book. At that time, I did not know much about websites, but the idea immediately created curiosity in my mind.
I remember cutting out the page from that book because I wanted to keep the information with me. I thought that someday I would learn more about websites and understand how they actually worked.
I kept that small piece of paper for several years. Unfortunately, I lost it later, but the curiosity created by those few lines stayed with me for a very long time.
At that time, I could not imagine that this small discovery would eventually become such an important part of my professional journey.
My First Experience With the Internet
During those early years, mobile phones were also becoming more common. My family discussed buying a mobile phone, and eventually my father bought an LG keypad phone with a BSNL SIM card.
I was naturally curious about whether the phone could be used for internet browsing. I tried to understand it, but the internet experience was very limited compared with what we have today.
Still, that experience was exciting for me because I was slowly discovering a completely new world through a small mobile phone.
I did not have expensive devices, fast internet, or technical knowledge, but I had curiosity. That curiosity became one of the strongest reasons I continued learning about technology.
My School Years and Growing Interest
In 2011, I passed Class 10. Around this period, my interest in computers, mobile phones, and the internet was becoming stronger.
I wanted to understand how websites were created, how people used computers for work, and how information could be shared through the internet.
I did not have anyone sitting beside me and teaching me everything step-by-step. Most of my learning happened through whatever books, mobile phones, computer courses, and information I could access.
That habit of learning things on my own later became very useful in my insurance career and also in my work as a content creator.
Buying My First Internet Phone
In 2012, I broke my small piggy bank savings and purchased a second-hand Chinese mobile phone for around ₹900.
For many people, a second-hand phone worth ₹900 might not seem important, but for me it opened another door to the internet.
The phone had limited features and limited internet access, but I used whatever was available. I was interested in exploring websites, searching for information, and understanding what people were doing online.
Around the same time, I also joined a computer course because I wanted to develop practical computer skills rather than only using a mobile phone.
Learning Computers
During my computer course, I started learning different practical skills that later became useful in my small business.
I learned Microsoft Word, Photoshop, PageMaker, photo printing, photocopying, lamination, marriage card printing, and other basic computer-related work.
At that stage, I was not thinking about building a personal brand or becoming an educator. I simply wanted to learn useful skills that could help me earn and become more independent.
Those skills gave me confidence with computers and helped me understand that technology could be used not only for entertainment but also for practical work and income.
My First Website
In 2013, I was using a Nokia C1 mobile phone with an Aircel connection. My interest in creating a website had already grown, so I started searching for ways to build one.
I discovered Wapka, a free platform where users could create basic websites without having advanced technical knowledge.
Using my mobile phone, I created my first simple website. It was nothing like the professional websites I work with today, but it was an important beginning.
At that time, I did not know about WordPress, Blogger, SEO, professional hosting, domain management, or blogging as a business. I was simply experimenting and trying to understand how websites worked.
Discovering Blogging
In 2014, I got a smartphone and discovered Blogger.com. This was another important turning point in my online journey.
I created my first blog directly from my mobile phone. My English and writing skills were not strong at that time, and I often struggled to express my thoughts properly.
But I continued writing because I understood that improvement would only come through practice. I slowly learned how blogs worked and how people could publish their thoughts and information online.
This was the beginning of my serious interest in blogging and content creation.
The Dream of Buying a Computer
After spending time learning through mobile phones, I wanted to buy my own computer. I believed that having a computer would give me more opportunities to learn and work.
At that time, a computer setup would cost around ₹35,000. My father had around ₹15,000 available, so arranging the remaining amount was difficult for our family.
My mother suggested taking a loan for the remaining amount. That decision made it possible for me to purchase the computer, but it also meant taking responsibility for monthly EMI payments.
For me, buying that computer was not simply purchasing a machine. It was an investment in learning and building something of my own.
Starting My Small Computer Shop
Since I had already completed around two years of computer-related learning, I decided to use those skills practically.
I started a small computer-related shop where I could provide services such as photo printing, photocopying, lamination, marriage card printing, and other computer-based work.
The shop helped me earn, but it also gave me something equally valuable: time and access to a computer.
Whenever I had free time at the shop, I continued learning about blogging, websites, online platforms, and different possibilities available through the internet.
Learning Blogging While Running the Shop
While managing my small shop, I continued working on blogs and learning about online content.
I started understanding how articles, websites, search engines, visitors, and online advertising worked. Slowly, I became interested in Google AdSense and other ways bloggers could generate income.
After some time, I started earning some money through Google AdSense. The amount was not huge, but it was personally important because I was earning from something I had learned myself.
That small earning gave me confidence and encouraged me to take blogging and online work more seriously.
Discovering WordPress
As I learned more about blogging, I discovered WordPress. Compared with the simple platforms I had previously used, WordPress looked much more powerful and flexible.
I purchased domain and hosting services and started experimenting with WordPress websites.
I wanted to understand everything practically, so I did not just read about WordPress. I installed it, changed themes, tested plugins, created websites, made mistakes, removed things, and started again.
This hands-on experimentation taught me technical lessons that I still use today while managing websites and digital projects.
The WordPress Migration Mistake
At one stage, I decided to migrate one of my Blogger websites to WordPress.
I thought moving to WordPress would make the website better, but I did not fully understand the technical consequences of changing URLs and website structures.
After the migration, I started facing 404 errors and other problems. Google traffic dropped, Search Console showed errors, and my earnings also decreased.
It was frustrating because I had already invested a lot of time in building the website, and suddenly the traffic and income I had worked for started falling.
Trying to Understand the Problem
Instead of completely giving up, I started searching for solutions.
I checked Google Search Console, searched online forums and articles, watched tutorials, and tried different technical fixes.
I also contacted some experienced bloggers because I wanted someone with practical experience to explain exactly what had gone wrong.
I did not receive the kind of detailed help I was hoping for, but the experience taught me an important lesson about websites, SEO, migration, and the importance of understanding technical changes before making them.
Learning Through Failure
That WordPress experience was one of many failures and experiments during my online journey.
I learned that sometimes you can work hard and still make the wrong decision because you do not have enough knowledge or experience.
But failure does not always mean that the effort was wasted. Sometimes the knowledge gained from a failed project becomes useful in another project several years later.
This mindset helped me continue experimenting instead of being afraid of making mistakes.
My Years of Online Experiments
Over the years, I experimented with many different online projects and business ideas.
By around 2023, I had installed WordPress roughly 40–45 times and worked with around 20–22 different domains.
I experimented with blogging, e-commerce, dropshipping, affiliate marketing, online stores, news websites, digital products, domain names, hosting, and several other online ideas.
Some projects worked for a while, some failed quickly, and some were simply experiments that helped me understand what I wanted to do.
The Lesson From So Many Projects
One of the biggest lessons I learned from these experiments was that having many ideas is not enough.
If you continuously move from one project to another, your attention becomes divided. You may start many things, but it becomes difficult to give enough time and consistency to one important project.
I still enjoy learning and experimenting, but today I understand the importance of choosing a direction, staying consistent, and improving that direction over time.
This lesson has become especially important in my work today because I am building multiple things around one central identity: Suraj Barai.
My First Connection With LIC
My connection with LIC started before I actually became an LIC advisor.
Around 2011, I had already considered joining LIC, but at that time I did not have enough knowledge about the profession, the products, or how the agency system worked.
I also had an early experience with another insurance-related organisation where I could not successfully sell policies.
That experience helped me understand that entering insurance is one thing, but actually learning how to communicate with customers, understand products, and build trust is a completely different journey.
Joining LIC in 2016
In 2016, my uncle asked me whether I wanted to become an LIC agent. I said yes without fully knowing how much the profession would change my life.
The next day, I went to the LIC office with my uncle. He knew the Development Officer there and introduced me.
The Development Officer, L. Rajprabin Singh, guided me about the process, training, and examination requirements.
I completed the required training, passed the IRDAI examination, and in July 2016, I received my appointment and agency code.
That was the beginning of my professional insurance journey.
Starting My Insurance Career
After joining LIC, I realised that knowing about insurance products was only one part of becoming a successful advisor.
I needed to understand people, their financial situations, their concerns, their questions, and the reasons behind their decisions.
I started learning about prospecting, approaching customers, need analysis, financial planning, presentations, objection handling, closing, follow-up, and customer service.
The more customers I met, the more I understood that insurance selling was not simply about explaining a policy.
Learning Through Real Customers
Real customer meetings became my biggest classroom.
Some customers asked questions that I had never expected. Some immediately rejected my proposal. Some said they would think about it. Others required multiple meetings before they were comfortable making a decision.
Every conversation gave me something to learn.
Sometimes I understood that my explanation was not clear enough. Sometimes I realised that I was talking too much and listening too little.
Slowly, I began improving my approach based on what I experienced in actual fieldwork.
Understanding the Importance of Trust
One of the strongest lessons I learned from customers was the importance of trust.
Insurance is a long-term financial commitment, so customers need confidence not only in the product but also in the person guiding them.
I learned that an advisor should not focus only on completing a sale. The relationship continues after the proposal is submitted and the policy is issued.
Renewals, service, communication, claims support, policy-related assistance, and regular follow-up are all part of the responsibility.
Why I Call My Methods Field-Tested
Over time, I started developing my own practical approach to insurance selling.
I tried different methods, observed customer reactions, learned from rejection, improved my conversations, changed my presentation style, and tested different ways of following up.
That is why I describe many of the methods I teach as field-tested insurance selling methods.
I personally tried these approaches in practical insurance work, learned what happened, improved them, and then converted those experiences into books, courses, videos, and educational content.
I do not believe that one method will work exactly the same way for every advisor or every customer.
Instead, I believe practical methods give advisors a starting point that they can understand, test, and adapt according to their own situation.
From Field Experience to Education
As my experience increased, I started sharing what I was learning with other insurance advisors and people interested in insurance sales.
I noticed that many beginners were looking for simple answers to practical questions.
They wanted to know how to find prospects, how to approach customers, what to say during meetings, how to handle objections, how to follow up, and how to build long-term relationships.
I started converting my own experiences into simple explanations so that other advisors could learn from situations I had already faced.
Writing My First Insurance Books
This eventually led me towards writing insurance selling books.
I created Insurance Selling Handbook, a practical guide covering prospecting, approaching customers, need analysis, presentations, objections, follow-up, closing, and other real-world selling situations.
I also wrote How I Sold 50 Policies, where I shared lessons from my practical experience of selling 50 policies in one financial year.
Another book, 7 Steps of Insurance Selling, explains insurance selling as a simple step-by-step process from prospecting to follow-up.
My purpose behind these books is not to present complicated theory. I want to share practical ideas that insurance advisors can understand and use in their own fieldwork.
Creating My Insurance Sales Course
Books were not the only way I wanted to teach.
I also created the Complete Insurance Sales Course in Hindi on Udemy so that learners could understand insurance selling through another format.
The course allows me to explain concepts in a more structured way and cover practical selling situations step-by-step.
Whether through a book, course, video, or article, my basic approach remains the same: take practical learning from the field and make it easier for others to understand.
My YouTube Journey
My YouTube journey actually started before my insurance career.
Initially, I created videos related to Photoshop, photo editing, computers, and other technology topics.
Around 2015, I uploaded more than 100 videos, but the channel did not grow as I had expected.
The video quality, voice, camera, presentation, and content style were all part of my learning process. At that time, I did not understand YouTube as deeply as I do today.
Still, those early videos taught me something important: creating content is a skill that improves through continuous practice.
Changing My YouTube Direction
Later, I decided to remove many of my old Photoshop videos and change the direction of my content.
As my insurance career developed, I began creating more content around insurance, finance, personal finance, and insurance selling.
Gradually, YouTube became an important platform for sharing my knowledge and connecting with insurance advisors and learners.
Today, my YouTube work is closely connected with my books, courses, articles, and other educational projects.
Building My Digital Identity
My interest in the internet that started many years ago eventually became a major part of my professional identity.
Today, I work across YouTube, blogging, websites, books, courses, digital products, and insurance education.
Instead of treating these as completely separate activities, I see them as different parts of one ecosystem built around my professional experience and the knowledge I have collected over the years.
Building Mitra — My Insurance Agent CRM App
While working in the insurance field, I noticed that an advisor's responsibility does not end after selling a policy.
There are many regular tasks involved in managing customers and policies, including remembering premium dates, renewal reminders, follow-ups, policy information, and other servicing requirements.
These practical experiences gave me the idea of creating Mitra, an insurance agent CRM app designed specifically around the everyday needs of insurance advisors.
Mitra is not something I wanted to build simply because apps are popular. The idea came from problems and requirements I have personally seen while working in the insurance field.
My intention is to make Mitra a practical digital tool that can help insurance advisors organise their policy-related work and manage their customer relationships more systematically.
From Insurance Experience to Technology
Building Mitra also brought my earlier technology journey and my insurance career together.
The person who once experimented with simple websites from a mobile phone was now using technology to solve practical problems from his own insurance profession.
This is one of the most interesting parts of my journey for me personally.
My early interest in computers and websites eventually became useful in my insurance career, while my insurance experience gave me ideas for creating practical digital tools.
What My Journey Has Taught Me
My journey has taught me that learning does not happen only through formal education or successful experiences.
A failed website can teach you something. A rejected insurance proposal can teach you something. A difficult customer conversation can teach you something.
Even a project that does not earn money can sometimes give you knowledge that becomes valuable later.
The important thing is to observe, learn, improve, and continue moving forward.
Why Practical Experience Matters to Me
I have always learned best by doing things myself.
Whether it was creating websites, learning WordPress, running a computer shop, blogging, making YouTube videos, selling insurance, writing books, or building Mitra, practical experience has been an important part of my learning.
That is also why I prefer sharing real situations and practical lessons rather than only discussing theory.
My aim is to explain what I have learned in a simple way so that readers, viewers, and insurance advisors can understand the idea and decide how it may fit their own situation.
Where I Am Today
Today, I work as a Professional Life Insurance Consultant with LIC of India. I am also associated with Niva Bupa Health Insurance as a Pinnacle Advisor and with SBI General Insurance as an agent.
Alongside my insurance work, I am an author, educator, YouTube creator, blogger, and digital product creator.
I continue to create books, courses, videos, articles, and digital tools based on my experience and the subjects I have learned through practical work.
Building the Suraj Barai Ecosystem
My current goal is to bring all these experiences together into one meaningful ecosystem.
Insurance is at the centre of my professional experience, while content, education, books, courses, websites, and technology are the different ways through which I share and apply that experience.
I want SurajBarai.com and my other digital platforms to become useful places where people can learn about insurance selling, financial awareness, personal finance, and practical professional development.
The Journey Is Still Continuing
I do not consider my journey complete. I am still learning about insurance, technology, digital business, content creation, customer needs, and new ways of sharing knowledge.
There will be new books, new courses, new videos, new experiments, and improvements to the products and tools I create.
Some ideas will work, some may fail, and some may completely change direction. But I have learned to accept that continuous learning is part of building anything meaningful.
Looking Back
When I look back at the journey from that small piece of paper about the internet to building websites, running a computer shop, experimenting with blogging, joining LIC, meeting customers, writing books, creating courses, making videos, and building Mitra, the connection becomes clear.
Each stage taught me something different.
The early years taught me curiosity. Blogging taught me consistency. Failures taught me patience. Insurance taught me communication and responsibility. Content creation taught me the importance of sharing knowledge.
Technology taught me to keep experimenting, while my insurance experience taught me to focus on solving real problems.
The Principle I Follow
If I had to describe my journey in four simple words, I would say:
Learn. Test. Improve. Share.
First, learn something. Then test it in the real world. Observe what happens, improve your approach, and finally share what you have learned with others.
This simple process has influenced the way I work in insurance, content creation, education, books, and technology.
And the Journey Continues
Today, I am still the same person who became curious after reading a few lines about the internet many years ago.
The difference is that the curiosity has grown into experience, and that experience has become a career, educational content, books, courses, and digital products.
My journey from internet exploration to insurance, and from insurance to education and technology, is still continuing.
There is still a lot to learn, many more things to build, and many more experiences to share.
This is my story so far — and the journey continues.
Insurance Selling Handbook (eBook)
Insurance Selling Handbook is a practical eBook based on real, field-tested experience in life insurance selling, covering prospecting, customer approach, objections, rejection, follow-up, and closing sales — with practical ideas for everyday insurance work.
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