As a financial advisor, you are busy. That may sound like the understatement of the century. Your entire career focus is providing value to your clients, and assisting them with growing and managing their wealth can easily fill up your schedule. And you like financial planning. Chances are, you are an absolute rock star advisor. That’s awesome! You’ve clearly picked the right career, and frankly, the world needs more amazing fee only financial planners. However, part of being a fee only financial advisor is marketing your value to prospective clients. Marketing can be frustrating for advisors. After all, it’s not exactly the job you signed up for. One way to easily start a marketing strategy that’s focused on converting clients and staying true to your advisor roots is to start a blog.
Why Blog as a Financial Advisor?
Financial advisors are actually a group who stands to reap the most benefits from regular blogging. The kinds of potential clients you’re dying to work with are looking for you, but studies have shown that consumers will read several blog posts on a business’s website before reaching out to schedule a consultation. Content marketing has been rising in popularity in recent years, and businesses who are willing to show the value that they can provide clients before the first consultation are more likely to sign prospects.
Prospective and current clients are looking to connect with you outside their personal financial planning. They want to hear your thoughts and ideas. They want to understand some financial basics and see if your approach matches up with their values before they commit to working with you. And, if we’re being completely honest, don’t you want those things, too? Every financial advisor wants to work with clients who thrive under your specific brand of guidance. Having clients who you really get and mesh with is incredibly rewarding. Using your financial planning blog to show prospective clients who you are, and to remind current clients of why they love working with you, is a fantastic way to lay a strong foundation for a wonderful, long-term planning relationship.
Is it Just Free Advice?
Short answer: no. I don’t believe in giving free advice. It’s true that most people look to financial planning blogs for guidance and information. But here’s the thing – no financial situation is the same. So, no matter how much information and valuable guidance you publish, you aren’t going to answer all of your reader’s questions. And that’s absolutely the point!
Think of your blog as a tool. It’s introducing you to loads of people – and you only have to do enough legwork to write and publish the post. You want your blog to hook clients by providing them with valuable information, and, most importantly, showcasing your know-how. This does not mean that you have to tell your clients what to do in your blog posts. In fact, I don’t recommend it.
Just because you know how their personal financial situation should be handled doesn’t mean you have to give that information out before they even set up a phone call with you. After all, you have to keep paying your bills! Keep your posts general, and base them either in opinion (ex: Why Millennials Should Plan for Retirement Now) or keep them completely informational (ex: The Differences between a Roth IRA and a Traditional IRA). This way you’re still providing value to your readers without truly giving away the goods.
What Should You Blog About?
A financial advisor can truly blog about anything under the sun. That being said, I recommend trying a few different tactics to stay organized. First, play to your strengths. Use your blog content to focus on the areas of planning you have expertise in. Clients who want that level of specialization will be looking at your blog content to evaluate whether or not you’re a good fit for their planning needs, so show them that you are!
Second, focus on the areas of planning that you love. Maybe mitigating the impact of taxes is really your jam, or you feel very strongly about helping retirees with estate planning. That’s awesome! Use your blog posts to let people know what you’re passionate about so that they know what to expect when working with you. Showing readers what you love is the best way to start building that trusting connection early on.
Finally, think about your clients. What concerns have you heard voiced lately? Where in their planning do you see them frequently stumbling? I guarantee that if your clients are having these issues, there are many others out there having the same problems, and they need your help. Maybe setting up and sticking to a savings plan is difficult, so put together a list of your top five tips. Maybe you see clients get spooked about changing their investment strategy and a blog post focusing on how to confidently maintain flexibility in your investing is a must for financial success. Your clients, and people like them, are your intended audience. So, speak to them where they are right now by addressing what they’re going through.
Have Questions?
I’m always here to help. If you have any questions about blogging, or know you want to get started but need help getting the ball rolling, reach out to me! I’d love to hear from you.
