Any financial advisor’s day includes business development; more business implies a higher bottom line.
More accounts to get, more referrals to ask for, and more new clients to prospect are always on the horizon. When it comes to business growth, the world is your oyster, but only if the payoff is worth the effort.
Asking for referrals from current clients and digging deeper into your existing book of business to find new assets at other institutions that you can transfer in are two of the simplest ways to get new business.
What happens, however, when that isn’t enough? If you’re looking to expand your marketing efforts, it’s time to think outside the box and look into non-traditional business growth methods.
This includes using the power of the World Wide Web, showing your clients you care, and learning from your colleagues.
Here are five new ways to market yourself and your business.
1. Host a Client Event
Instead of asking your existing clients for referrals and having to follow up with them, why not let the referrals come directly to you?
Hosting a client event is a great way to show appreciation for your existing clients, build a relationship by letting them get to know you on a personal level, and meet new potential clients at the same time.
Ask your clients to bring a guest, and every plus one could be a new account opening. It’s much easier to follow up with potential clients who you’ve already met in person rather than just being a voice-over-the-phone when you cold call from a referral.
2. Start a Blog
Starting a blog and maintaining it on a regular basis (at least once a month) is an excellent way to demonstrate your knowledge, offer useful information, and get found in search engines like Yahoo, Google, and Bing.
Using keywords to publish blog entries on themes that clients are looking for helps you be found when they type those words into the search bar. A blog is similar to a book in that it is a concrete product that offers you credibility when people search for your name on Google.
3. Sign Up for Social Media
When you ask for referrals and make cold calls, you’re only reaching one client at a time. On social media networks, such as LinkedIn, you’re reaching all of your connections at the same time—with one single action. It’s a much more efficient way to share information and communicate with clients.
As an added bonus, social media networks actually suggest new connections for you based on common interests such as location, current and past employers, skills, and other connections you may have in common. The phone book can’t do that.
4. Join Small Business Think Tanks
If you have the opportunity to join a mastermind group, you should take it. They’re the practice management equivalent of a typical book club, and they’re frequently found online.
A group of experts with the same interest (for example, financial advisers in the investment industry) gets together to share best practices, develop new ideas, discuss their businesses, and explore ways to collaborate.
It’s a great chance to meet new people, mentor newcomers, and learn new techniques for improving your day-to-day operations.
Why not form your own mastermind group if you can’t locate one? Expand your digital marketing approach and start brainstorming with other financial advisers on LinkedIn.
Set a time each week to meet and pick a topic to share ideas. The benefit of these groups being online is that you can connect with professionals in a variety of locations outside of your local area.
5. Attend Local Networking Events
Attending local networking events is one of the easiest ways to meet other professionals in your region if you want to expand your spheres of influence.
Check with your local small business owners organization and chamber of commerce to see if they host frequent networking events for their members.
If you want to network online, you can use LinkedIn to identify local online groups and organizations by searching for your city’s name.
Your name and title appear in front of all members every time you ask a question, answer a question, or post something in such groups. It’s a low-cost, quick way to meet new people, market yourself (and your abilities), and expand your professional network.
The Bottom Line
Advisors looking to increase their marketing efforts online and/or in-person should consider implementing some or all of these strategies to help grow their practice.