Creating a website as your home base

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:

• About page(s) that introduce you and anyone else on your team (along with photos, bios, certifications, and so on), state your mission, and present your financial management philosophy or process.
• Page(s) about the services you provide, such as health insurance, life insurance, wealth management, risk management, tax planning, and so on.
• Basic information, such as your firm’s address, phone number, and hours of operation.
• Testimonials from your delighted clients. Remember to check with your compliance officer about the firm’s rules regarding accepting testimonials. Typically if you’re an Investment Adviser Representative (IAR) registered through the SEC, you can’t share testimonials.
• Contact form that visitors can fill out to get in touch with you (a contact form keeps your email address hidden, so spammers have a hard time getting it).

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.

To get some ideas for your website, search online for “financial advisor” or “wealth management” followed by your city and state and check out some of the more popular financial advisor websites in your area. If want a high-class website and don’t have the time, talent, or desire to build one, google “financial advisor websites” and check out some of the sponsored listings. Numerous web design companies cater to financial advisors, providing a platform to easily build and maintain a professional-looking, secure, and compliant website that has all the features a financial advisor needs to be competitive.

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.

Hosting your own blog

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.

If you’re working for a firm, you’ll probably be discouraged or flat-out prohibited from publishing any job-related content due to the firm’s concerns over compliance. Read and follow your firm’s online policies and check with your firm’s legal department if you’re uncertain about any of the firm’s online policies.

When composing blog posts, follow these recommendations:

• Write original posts in your area(s) of expertise.
• Keep it short and sweet (KISS), no more than 750 words per post.
• Don’t bore your audience. Use clever, catchy titles and write posts that would be fun to read on the large video billboards in Times Square.
• Encourage interaction. Write posts that are likely to generate lively discussion, ask questions, take a poll. Respond when someone posts a comment or question.
• Break it up with headings and lists. (Avoid long paragraphs.)
• Have someone with a good editorial eye review and edit your writing before posting anything.

Becoming active on LinkedIn

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:

• Don’t use LinkedIn or any social media platform as an obvious sales platform. For example, don’t post something like “Please contact me to learn more about our services” or “Here’s an article that speaks to the importance of this product that we sell and get big commissions to sell you.” Okay, so maybe you wouldn’t use those exact words exactly, but if you’re trying to sell on LinkedIn, most sophisticated users will interpret your soft sales pitch that way.

• 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.

• Do include your website address in your profile. Having your profile link to your website is a great way to boost your website’s search engine ranking and enable people on LinkedIn to find your official website.
• Don’t connect with people you haven’t met in-person or have a legitimate desire to network with in an exchange of intellectual or professional value.
• Do post personal experiences, pictures, and other memorabilia that capture or showcase your spirit or personality. You may get some haters, but that’s fine. See the nearby sidebar for an example.

• 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.

• Do share articles (compliance-approved ones, of course) that you find interesting and always include your accompanying comments. Reach out to your connections directly through the messenger, and share links to things that you either think they’d find interesting or that you can illicit their thoughts and opinions. Join and participate in relevant discussion groups.

The main purpose of social media is to connect with people and enrich one another’s lives. It’s about community and service, not self-service. Somehow, this core purpose got completely lost, as the barrage of salespeople flooded into the community hawking their wares. If you really want to get noticed, be personal and authentic, and be specific in your connections.

Creating a Facebook page for your practice

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:

• Create a Facebook page for your financial advisor business, so you can post content to your professional page instead of your personal account.
• Link your Facebook page to your website or blog by editing your page’s business profile.
• Whenever you post new content to your blog, share a link to it on your Facebook page. Don’t merely repost the content to your Facebook page; you want to create links back to your website to boost its search engine ranking.
• Whenever you post unique content to your Facebook page, make sure it’s valuable and engaging content. Look to enrich the lives of Facebook members with your knowledge and insight. The content you post and the links you share are all subtle reminders to your Facebook friends that you’re a financial advisor without your engaging in any heavy-handed sales.

Consistency is key. Use similar language whenever you post content to your website, blog, and LinkedIn and Facebook accounts. When you’re building an online presence, you’re actually building a brand — You, Inc. — so all of your online properties should have a similar look and feel.

Claiming your business in online directories

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:

• BrightScope at www.brightscope.com
• FINRA’s BrokerCheck at brokercheck.finra.org
• Yelp at www.yelp.com

By claiming your business profile in online directories, you have more control over what people see when they access your profile. Your directory listing may also provide an option to link it to your website or blog, which raises your profile when people search for financial advisors in your area.

Making the most of your certifications

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.

Don’t overdo it with certifications and credentials. Newer, obscure certifications may hurt you more than help. At a networking event, I’ve heard many an advisor look at the business card of another advisor and ask something like, “What are all these certification acronyms? It’s just an alphabet soup!” I recommend sticking to the core certifications that I present in Chapter 6.

Discovering what you’re passionate about

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:

• Initially, engage in small talk. You need to break the ice for people to feel comfortable discussing anything beyond sports, weather, news, and entertainment.
• Ask personal (but not too personal) questions. People generally don’t care about what you have to say unless they feel that you care about them. Take a genuine interest in others. When people open up to you, they often share their challenges, and if you can help them overcome a challenge, you will earn their trust for life.
• Be clear and confident when talking about what you do and when explaining any financial concepts, just as you do with clients. If someone’s looking for a financial advisor, she’ll be impressed by the fact that you can talk candidly about finances in a way she understands.
• Create a judgment-free, sales-free zone. You want people to come to you with their problems and questions. Any judgment or sales talk is likely to drive them away. People will come to you when they need your advice; don’t push it.

You’re most genuine and attractive when you’re enjoying yourself. Get involved in something you enjoy and you’re passionate about. Otherwise, your involvement becomes drudgery, and that shows through, regardless of how hard you try to hide it.

Getting involved in a charitable cause

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.

You may not find the right fit with the first organization or even the first cause you adopt. Don’t let that initial disappointment discourage you. You may need to bounce around to find out what really makes you tick and find the right cause and organization to spark your passion.

Serving on boards

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.

Again, don’t get your hopes up that board membership will draw a large stream of clients willing to sign up for your services. It simply warms them up, so when the opportunity arises for you to talk about what you do, you’re talking with someone who’s more receptive to what you offer. If you do call someone to follow up after an encounter, be simple and direct. For example, you may say something like, “I enjoyed meeting you, and I’m glad we share this common interest. I’d like an opportunity to introduce myself to you professionally.” Then schedule an office visit.

Developing cross-industry professional alliances

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.

Marketing to fellow financial advisors

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.

Don’t approach financial advisors to sell your exclusive technique. Simply tell your success stories and let them come to you for coaching. Too often, advisors who have a certain program or system that they use to sell a specific product type or even a specific manufacturer’s product approach me. Though I don’t believe this is at all a bad thing, it’s just not something that I personally feel is the right approach to putting your best foot forward in the profession. Your skill or technique shouldn’t be restricted or trademarked. Instead, it should be treated as an open architecture that people are free to modify to improve it or to make it more suitable to their clientele.

Leveraging home office leadership personnel

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.

Describe your skill set in plain English, providing a description of the following:

• The technique/methodology involved in promoting the type of product/service that’s your area of expertise
• The typical customer/client target profile
• The way your technique/methodology is the best economic interests of all parties

Encouraging and rewarding client referrals

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.

If you’re committed to growth, you need to increase capacity by adding personnel and implementing the latest technologies to improve productivity. Then, you need to let your clients and prospective clients know that you have the capacity for referrals and that no client is too small. The most effective way to demonstrate your capacity to serve clients is to spend time with your most valuable clients and others who are most likely to send referrals your way. Being systematic in your portfolio reviews (I recommend quarterly frequency) provides the most fertile ground for referrals. Prioritizing your time with existing clients is the best method for generating referrals.

Don’t explicitly reward clients for referrals. Most insurance and securities sales regulations strictly prohibit (or specifically guide) monetary rewards for referrals. Be very careful if you’re considering any monetary rewards. What may seem to be a grey area to you may be black and white to supervisors or compliance officers. Always consult your company’s supervisory or compliance officer or department before rewarding clients for referrals.

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.