Chapter 19
IN THIS CHAPTER
Building a strong profile on the web
Mingling in the community
Encouraging word-of-mouth advertising
Taking a long-term perspective
I used to hate seeing the words “marketing,” “networking,” and “sales,” used in the context of attracting and acquiring clients, because they all imply self-promotion, a term that carries the connotation of being pushy, arrogant, and insincere, as in the phrase “shameless self-promotion.” To me, these words convey a sense that a person is only in pursuit of the all-mighty dollar and is void of any underlying passion for their profession.
However, I’ve since discovered that all professionals, especially those who are self-employed, must promote themselves at times, especially when they’re just getting started. As long as you’re passionate about what you do and are deeply and personally connected to your profession and devoted to your clients, there is no shame in self-promotion. You just need to figure out how to self-promote sincerely and without being pushy. Even better, you may discover ways to promote yourself that give prospective clients a small taste of the unique brand of value you offer.
In this chapter, I introduce you to the mechanics of self-promotion, so you know how to network and how to market yourself online and in the real world. Along the way, I provide suggestions on how to credibly elevate your marketplace visibility while sowing the seeds for future business opportunities in ways that align with your core values.
When people are in the market for a financial advisor, they rarely reach for the phonebook. Instead, they fire up their web browser, go to their favorite search engine, and search for “financial advisor” or “wealth manager” followed by the city and state in which they live. Then, they skim through the search results for a promising candidate. You want to be on that list, preferably on the first page of the search results, and you want your listing to be positive. To get there, you need to establish a strong positive online presence. In this section, I explain the basics of marketing yourself online.
Having an online presence begins with a website. Your website serves as your hub or home base. Everything else you do to market yourself online will point back to your website, so that search engines can begin to recognize that your website is your official online location. When people search for you by name followed by something like “financial advisor” or “wealth manager,” the link to your site will appear near the top of the search results.
Whether you work for a firm, own your own firm, or operate as an independent contractor, you (or your firm) should have your own website and unique domain name. For example, I’m a partner at Aligne Wealth, and our website’s domain name is www.alignewealth.com
. I also own the domain IvanIllan.com
, but if you try to go there, you’ll end up at www.alignewealth.com
because I set up a redirect from my domain to the firm’s domain. Even if you work for a firm, you should have a website that you own, so you have a place online where people can always find you. In addition, when you own the domain name, you can have a branded email address — for example, [email protected]
.
You may have options other than owning your own domain name and hosting your own website. For example, if you belong to any professional organizations, such as the organization that holds your FINRA securities licenses, you can probably create your own member page through the organization’s website. If you work for a firm, the firm is likely to provide you with your own page or an option for creating one, so customers can read your bio and perhaps check out a photograph of you. However, I still encourage you (if your firm permits it) to have your own branded website that’s yours to keep regardless of where your career leads you.
At the very least, your website should contain the following:
If you’re experienced and have a team, you can populate your website with additional content, including articles and videos on a wide variety of financial topics, answers to frequently asked questions, and perhaps even financial calculators. Valuable content is likely to boost your site’s search engine ranking, draw more visitors, and reinforce your credibility.
Many independent financial advisors enable their clients to log in for additional features, such as accessing account balances and exchanging documents. However, managing client logins and providing the requisite security comes at a premium price.
Direct your clients to your website as part of your onboarding routine (see Chapter 13 regarding the Four As of client due diligence). In your first meeting, you may even want to walk clients through the site, showing them where they can find resources, market data, and calculators.
Most websites these days run on a content management system (CMS), such as WordPress, that enables you to add a blog to your website (or host a blog without a website). A blog typically involves the creator posting regular articles on topics relevant to the topic and allowing visitors to comment on those posts. If you’re an independent contractor — a Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) or independent broker/dealer affiliate — you should be blogging in your areas of expertise, because search engines love websites that provide fresh, relevant content. In addition, blogging enables you to benefit from content you don’t have to spend the time and effort creating — user-generated content. As people comment on your blog post, they create more of that fresh content that search engines love.
When composing blog posts, follow these recommendations:
LinkedIn is a great place to network with professionals and build your street cred by posting and commenting in relevant discussion forums. It’s also a great place to ruin your reputation by engaging in shameless self-promotion or posting about topics you know little or nothing about.
To leverage the power of LinkedIn without tarnishing your reputation, follow these do’s and don’ts:
Do engage in intelligent discussions over relevant topics you’re genuinely curious about or have something of value to add. Posting a congratulations or “Great post!” comment is okay, but something more thoughtful and personal will resonate more with the community.
When posting anything online, be sure it complies with any relevant regulations. This means avoid posting items that are beyond the selection list of your firm’s approved posting system (for example, Hearsay Social). If it’s outside the bounds set by your broker/dealer’s system, then avoid anything that contains a product-specific endorsement or product education.
Don’t self-promote on LinkedIn or any social media site. Doing so is offensive and counterproductive. Instead of attracting business, it drives business away because the perpetrator gets labeled as that guy or that gal in a community of professionals. Having consulted with many financial advisors and their firms over the years, I’ve taken note mostly of what not to do when networking online. The one that takes the cake is when people ask you to introduce them to your connections, so they can start selling through your network. The depravity of such a technique makes my blood boil and skin crawl, but it’s best to be polite, so if you choose to reply to a request for your network contacts, a simple, “Uh, no” should do the trick.
Facebook is a great place to gain exposure and visibility into the marketplace while driving Facebook traffic to your website. However, Facebook is primarily a social venue, so conduct business on Facebook accordingly:
Take advantage of any online business directories, especially those that cater to financial advisors. Many professional organizations provide members with a page they can customize to add themselves to the directory, and you can usually link to your website from your page. Here are a few places to go to get started:
www.brightscope.com
brokercheck.finra.org
www.yelp.com
During your professional development, you pursue education and expertise, which bestows upon you certifications and credentials. These professional certifications are your calling card and a great way to market your skills and techniques. Use them on your website, blog, social media properties, and business listings to establish your credibility as a financial advisor.
Many professionals become so obsessed with online marketing that they overlook the wonderful real-world opportunities and challenges that surround them. The truth is that you’re probably going to attract and acquire far more clients by pressing the flesh than by blogging or by posting to your Facebook page. When people get to know you personally, they’re much more likely to trust you with their money.
In this section, I encourage you to step away from your desk, put down your smartphone, and get connected in the real world, and I provide the guidance you need to do just that.
One of the best and most personally rewarding ways to meet new clients is through shared interests. The more authentic and genuine you are about the activity, the better the results you’ll have. Don’t overthink this. If you love playing soccer, then find ways to serve and/or participate in your community by spending (or giving) your time to the sport.
To find social activities that you’re passionate about, take inventory of things you love to do. Don’t think about the average net worth of people that you’d meet in the activity. If you do, you’re already spoiling the recipe. This has to be rooted in authenticity — meaning, your genuine interest in the activity.
After you find a community that interests you, here are a few suggestions for getting involved and talking about your work:
A genuine interest in a social issue is a surefire way to showcase your values in a more professional and practical setting. To find a charitable cause that stokes your passions, ask yourself what issues impacted you most in your youth — an event or issue that made a big impression on you or your family. These deeply rooted causes are great to pursue when you’re an adult. The deeper the interest, the more passionate and effective you’re likely to be.
As a financial advisor, you’re a perfect candidate to serve as treasurer for any charitable organization. In fact, you’re probably qualified for any of the leadership roles — president, vice president, or secretary. Taking on a leadership role in an organization raises your profile and gives you greater opportunities to showcase your abilities and develop new skills.
Nonprofits are always in need of professionals to serve on their boards, especially legal, accounting, and financial professionals. The organization can benefit from your advice without having to pay you. In exchange, the board provides you with the means to network with like-minded professionals.
One of the most effective ways to network is by reaching out to other professionals in related fields for collaboration and learning opportunities. As more and more business owners and professionals are discovering, the best approach to being successful in business is to focus on your core competencies and team up with others when they’re better suited for meeting a client’s specific needs.
Many of your clients are likely to have legal needs that are outside your wheelhouse, so be sure you have several attorneys you can call on for help and to send business their way. Referrals may not be a great money-making opportunity for you, but they generate good karma and may result in some return favors.
I have dozens of attorneys in my professional network, and they’re all sources of limited referrals. When clients or prospects have a legal question I’m not qualified to answer, I send them to the person who’s most qualified in my network, and if I’m not sure, I simply ping my network to find out who’s the best fit and the most interested in helping out. Pinging my legal network with an opportunity is a great way to subtly remind my network who I am and what I do.
You should have at least one certified public accountant (CPA) to call on to deal with situations that are outside your area of financial expertise. Start with your own CPA, and if you don’t have one, get one. You should have a CPA to manage your finances, so you have an objective third-party looking over everything and providing additional insights. Simply extend this existing relationship to your clients. The supplemental information and education your CPA provides will enrich your interactions with clients.
Marketing and networking require a great deal of time and effort, but as you establish your brand, you eventually put yourself in a position to build your own sales force and outsource a great deal of your marketing and networking. In this section, I present some practical techniques for building your own sales force.
After you’ve been in the business for a couple of years and have proven that you have some staying power in the industry, you’re ready to consider another opportunity to grow your practice. Most financial advisors lean toward a generalist practice. However, by developing a unique skill that other financial advisors can leverage, you may never have to prospect for clients again, because financial advisors become your clients, eager to tap into (and pay for) the expertise you have to offer.
The key to this strategy is to develop a skill or innovate a technique that fellow financial advisors want to use — for example, a unique method of introducing disability income insurance to a certain customer profile. You can then offer your services as a coach to train your fellow financial advisors in this new technique. To market the service, simply share your success stories. When other financial advisors become aware of your success, they contact you to request coaching, at which point, you can discuss the arrangement. (Insurance, unlike securities, is much easier and more broadly developed, because you’re not restricted by FINRA and broker/dealer rules on joint-work.)
The most common arrangement is a joint-work agreement (see Chapter 20), where you split the compensation earned from using the solution(s) you developed 50/50. I started expanding my business using this method. Typically, a 50/50 agreement is fine at first, but you may need to revise it later, especially if the client is paying only annual fees as with an assets under management (AUM) account, because the introducing advisor’s role becomes less and less active.
Your best unique skill or technique will come from a demonstrated and repeatable success to generate revenue in a particular financial planning business line. You may take years to develop it, if you ever do, but as soon as you discover it, you can start marketing it to your fellow financial advisors. This approach is one of the most effective ways to build a business. It’s called building distribution — a technique that big product manufacturers use to distribute their value proposition to others who can leverage it to their advantage. Think of it as franchising.
I’ve used this technique by marketing my portfolio management solutions to my broker/dealer, and it’s been the most rewarding aspect of being in this business. Becoming an advisor to other advisors is the most significant acknowledgement and indication of your success.
If you work for a broker/dealer, reach out for help in promoting your unique value proposition. Your broker/dealer is likely to have personnel devoted to growing the company’s revenues, and your broker/dealer will be delighted to have a financial advisor who understands the value of marketing and the important contribution she makes to the company’s success. These people are potentially key allies in your efforts to market your unique skill set to clients and to other members of the broker/dealer advisor network. It’s a win-win-win scenario.
When approaching key personnel, first identify someone who has the role and responsibilities relevant to your desired outcome. After finding the right person, present your value proposition as it relates to that person, the company, prospective clients, and advisors within the company.
It’s an embarrassing admission, but I’ve had many clients over the years tell me they didn’t refer a friend or family member to me because they assumed that their friend or family member wasn’t high profile enough to be of interest to my firm. The other embarrassing admission is that these clients were probably right. As an individual advisor, I quickly found myself rising in client net worth, where revenues are indeed higher, and the work required to deliver exceptional outcomes remains constant.
Now, after having invested in building a team to serve clients, I’m hearing this feedback less often. At my firm, we’ve expanded our capacity to serve clients so that no client is too small.
I prefer to acknowledge quality referrals by providing premium treatment. I treat clients who provide valuable referrals like royalty with fancy lunches and dinners and occasional outings to a mutual enjoyable activity like golf or travel to let these clients know how much I value their business and ongoing relationships.
The best financial advisors don’t have to engage in self-promotion. They deliver their clients so much value that word-of-mouth advertising generates more business than they can handle. So the key to promoting yourself over the long haul is to make yourself indispensable to your client. As you’re working on that, keep the following points in mind: