As you begin expanding your client list, the most difficult challenge you’ll face is to find prospects in your community. While the age of digital marketing makes it easier than ever to find prospects in your target market, geography is still an essential factor. After all, most clients won’t fly across the country to meet with their financial advisor! To help you find prospects near you, I’ve compiled a list of strategies that have a more localized impact, allowing you to find your ideal clients in your ideal place.
Strategy 1: Join Online Communities
Once you have your ideal client in mind, you should have a rough idea of where they “hang out” online. The younger generations prefer more anonymous sites like Reddit, Quora, and Twitter, while almost everyone has a Facebook and LinkedIn Account. Regardless of what social media site your ideal client prefers, they likely subscribe to community groups to keep up with local events and news. Joining these groups gives you the opportunity to share personal experiences and build a rapport with people in your city.
Strategy 2: Always Use Your Local Hashtags
If you’re already creating digital content, this is a simple way to ensure it’s seen by a local audience. Keep in mind that you may want to use several hashtags to cover all the surrounding neighborhoods and key landmarks. For example, a Bay Area post might include the following: #SanFrancisco #BayAreaLiving #SanJose #LaurelHeights #GoldenGatePark #USF #GoGiants
Strategy 3: Sponsor Community Events
Donating to local events allows you to support important causes for a bit of recognition. Most small theatres and sports teams welcome sponsorship in exchange for mentioning your business in brochures or social media posts. Is your niece performing in a local production of Cinderella? Ask if you can contribute and send over a small advertisement for publication in the playbook. Is your son a shortstop? Ask the Little League field if you can pay to hang an advertisement in the outfield. These little acts of goodwill make it clear that you’re giving to the community—and the community is more likely to give back.
Strategy 4: Get Super Specific with Online Ads
If you’re using online advertising, geographic specificity is going to make or break your budget. In addition to listing out your ideal client’s age range, job title, and essential keywords, ensure that you’re only showing advertisements to people within driving distance of your office. Social media sites even allow you to pick the exact zip codes you want to display to, so you’re not wasting your ad budget on people 200 miles away.
The internet has made it incredibly easy to market your business, but don’t waste your time and energy reaching out to everyone. These tips will help you focus your efforts on the prospects most likely to pop in for a consultation: your neighbors!
Analytic Tips for Email Marketing Success
For Financial Advisors, one of the greatest challenges is taking the leap from cold, hard numbers to the more creative realm of marketing. However, there are still plenty of numbers that you can use to inform your marketing efforts and ensure you are on the right track!
1/ How many email lists should I have?
There is no magic number for this one, but there are certain guidelines that you should follow to make the most out of your email marketing. You absolutely want to have a separate email list for current clients and prospects, but that’s the bare minimum you should be doing. A truly successful email marketing campaign depends on segmenting your clients so you can give them the right information. A 30 year old is not ready to read about the ideal method for rolling over their pre-tax retirement funds to a Roth account, and a retiree doesn’t need rto be reminded about the effects of early saving on compound interest.
The easiest way to determine how many email lists to create is to think about your target markets and the content most relevant to them. If you only work with one type of client, you may be able to get away with a single prospect list. But if your services are more varied, segment your clients out into specific lists based on the content they need to see.
2/ How long should my emails be?
Regardless of your target market, your prospects are busy people leading hectic lives! The key to catch their attention is to keep your email short. We recommend keeping your emails less than 100 words long in order to ensure they read the whole thing. If you need to include more information than that, pull in bullet points or a numbered list to keep things easy for the reader.
3/ How many emails should I send per month?
Again, this can vary depending on how much new content you’re creating, but a good number to aim for is 2 per month for each email list. Keep in mind that you can reuse content between lists, as long as it is relevant to the recipient! Don’t forget to send more personalized emails like holiday greetings and check-ins as well, as these remind your prospects that you are a valuable partner who cares about their success. By consistently sending your prospects relevant content, you will keep yourself top-of-mind until they’re ready to take the next step and enlist your services.
4/ How many contacts should be opening my email?
For email marketers, 20% is a magic number. Using an email marketing service, you can see how many of your contacts are actually opening each email, and 20% should be your constant goal. However, there is always a bit of guesswork that goes into hitting that ideal open rate. You can send emails at different days and times to see if there’s a perfect time to send out your next campaign. If your open rate is falling a bit low, try to play around with subject lines as well. Some clients prefer more playful messaging, while some will want to get right to the point.
While it can be a challenge to figure out the right email marketing strategy, these tips should give you a solid idea of the numbers you should be aiming for. If you want a more personalized evaluation, reach out to me!
Are You Doing the Right Marketing for Your Personality Type?
Rather than starting with what type of marketing suits them and their personality best, people often start with the marketing they think they “should” be doing. Maybe someone hears that networking groups are helpful, but is a serious introvert, and struggles to show their best side at events full of new people. Or a person who isn’t confident with social media and technology is constantly questioning everything they post. The good news is that marketing isn’t one-size-fits-all. In fact, you can (and should!) use your personality to help guide your marketing efforts.
When you focus on the type of marketing that suits your personality, you can show up confidently in conversations and represent your business in an authentic way. Plus, if you can focus on channels and strategies that you enjoy (or at least don’t mind), you’ll actually put the appropriate amount of energy into it for it to be fruitful and deliver results.
Think about your marketing channels for a moment. Is there anything that you avoid or makes you uncomfortable? On the other hand, is there anything you enjoy and feel you’re good at?
Does the idea of walking into a group of new people and introducing yourself and sharing about your business make you feel excited and energized? If so, networking is probably a marketing channel you want to use to your benefit.
On the other hand, if you’re not comfortable in that situation, you have two options. One option is that you could put the work into getting comfortable and learning to be more effective in those settings. Alternatively, you could focus on different channels, such as digital marketing, or effectively asking for introductions and referrals from ideal clients, professional referral sources, and your center of influence to support new prospects coming in the door.
Another great channel for people who are more introverted is writing: digital marketing channels like blogging or columns in a newsletter can be a wonderful way to showcase your expertise without having to show up in large social settings. For example, I have a client who writes a column in a CPA’s email newsletter once a month. It illustrates that the CPA is endorsing them and helps the advisor stay top of mind with a group of potential clients, while delivering value to the reader.
Michael Kitces is a great example of using the channels he’s comfortable with. I see his work and name everywhere and was surprised to learn he’s actually an introvert! He frequently does speaking engagements, but also focuses on blogging as another major marketing channel.
Don’t let someone else’s playbook dictate your marketing strategy. Determine and focus on the types of marketing channels that suit your personality, and your marketing plan is more likely to be effective and get you the results you want!
If you need help deciphering what type of marketing is a good fit for you, or would like to sharpen your skills in a certain area, I would love to speak with you! Reach out to me today: susan@susandanzig.com
How to Close Out the Final Quarter Strong
As we begin to head toward fall and the final quarter of the year, it’s a great time to take stock of where you are in relation to your goals. Are you happy with your results? If not, what can you do now to finish the year on stronger footing?
If you’re thinking it’s “too late” in the year to take action for significant results — it isn’t! For example, do you have a professional referral source you’re already working with who has clients who would benefit from a workshop you could deliver to them? This would be a wonderful way to amplify your results before the end of the year because these potential clients might be willing to engage in your services sooner because they have an existing relationship with your professional referral source. Ideally, this workshop also wouldn’t take as much effort to fill the seats than doing one entirely on your own.
A professional referral source who has many past clients (like an estate planning attorney or a CPA) can be great because you can get in front of them and deliver a seminar in your area of expertise. Could it be time to review their financial plan, set up a retirement plan, or investment plan?
First, think about the results you want and are intending to produce by year end.What is your desired outcome? Next, think about how you will produce the results you desire. If you want to attract new ideal clients, how will that happen? If you want to build on your professional referral source relationships, what is the best plan to do that? Once you know the outcome you’d like to target, you can work backwards to put together your plan to re-engage and finish the year strong.
In the past, if I found myself in this situation, I would start by re-engaging with colleagues, a coach, or someone who might have wisdom and an outside perspective to help me move forward. From there, we would discuss what was going on for me and my plan of attack, review it in a few weeks, and finetune as needed. This would help me get re-engaged in my plan of action.
It’s also crucial to set up structure to help you get back into the zone and to support effective action being taken. Carve out time for planning, to do research, and to talk with people who will be able to share perspective and wisdom, and of course — make time to implement! For most people, if you don’t get the steps of your desired action plan on the calendar, it simply won’t happen.
Here are 3 ways to get back into action
Carve out time on your calendar to think about the results you want, and what you’re willing to do to get there.
Think about friends, colleagues, associates who are inspired in their business development process. If anyone in particular comes to mind, what are they doing to stay focused and on track to reach their goals? Bottom line: what are they doing to grow their business? Is there anything you could learn from or borrow from their success?
Run your plan by someone else, like a mentor or trusted colleague. If you don’t have someone like that in your circle and could benefit from working with someone who knows how to support you in moving from planning and strategizing to action, reach out to me (susan@susandanzig.com) and we can put together a plan for you!
When it Can Actually Help Your Business to Say “No”
Do you find yourself agreeing to business-related requests for the wrong reasons, and regretting it later? It’s a common reaction, and happens for many reasons, like not wanting to potentially lose a business opportunity (despite it not being a good fit for your business model), or disappointing the person making the request.
Many financial services professionals responsible for contributing to or responsible for their bottom line can feel pressure to accept most (if not all) of the potential business that comes their way. One important skill to learn is when and how to say no to things that aren’t priorities, in order to protect your time and energy for what is truly important and necessary.
For example, have you ever been asked to speak to a group who wasn’t your target market, but you’ve gone ahead with it because you figured any exposure was positive for your business? This is a great example of a good time to politely decline the invitation and seek speaking opportunities in front of your target audience.
Another example of a good time to say no to an opportunity or request that comes your way is always agreeing to meet with prospects at any time of the day or night.If they become a client, you having previously agreed to meet at any time they desired could set up a precedent for your working relationship that is difficult to alter later.
It is also important to not confuse donating your time with actual marketing.I’ve had many conversations with people who figure that donating their time to an event or cause is equivalent to marketing, as they’re getting in front of new people and making connections, however this is not often the case. In order for donating your time to be a good marketing opportunity, it needs to offer you a way to interact with or get in front of your ideal clients – such as fellow board members for the particular charity you’re working with, or fellow attendees at events supporting your favorite cause. Donating your time is a wonderful thing to do – just be clear about your intentions for how you are spending your time.
A final area you may want to consider saying no to protect your boundaries and time is with a prospect trying to get you to jump through hoops, and asking you to provide a service outside your business model. While in certain cases this may make sense, it typically takes an advisor far off course from their established (more efficient) business model.
Bottom line: it will help your business in the long run if you can say no to requests that will take you off course and detract from your efforts to work with ideal clients. That time will be better spent supporting your momentum in focused ways. If you’re unsure about saying yes or no to a certain situation, a question you can ask yourself is: what’s the likelihood that this activity will pay off and create the results you’re looking for?
Whether you’re a business owner or financial advisor feeling under pressure to keep your motivation and work output high, it’s normal for enthusiasm to falter on occasion. Keeping motivation running high long term can be a challenge, and this is something I love to work on with my clients. Here are the top reasons I see motivation impacted, and how you can get your head back in the game.
Issue #1:
Long hours with little or no time off is common amongst RIA owners and other financial services professionals. When you feel responsible for your own bottom line, it can be hard to get to a point when it feels comfortable to take a break without worrying that you’re hurting your business. Once your business is running well, however, it’s important to cultivate a healthy balance that allows you to take care of yourself in addition to taking care of your business and your clients.
If you’re not at a place yet to take a vacation, there are small but impactful ways you can build restorative breaks into your work routine. A simple place to start is lunch breaks – do you regularly take them? (And do you take lunch breaks away from your desk?) Other areas that also often get neglected are exercise, healthy diet, and time with friends and family. If you’re finding that long hours are negatively impacting your life outside of work, it is likely time to start delegating some of your lower level tasks so that you can cultivate a work/life balance that is comfortable and will support you in doing your best work.
Issue #2:
Another issue that can stall motivation is lacking a long term plan, which can make some advisors feel like they’re working and working, without seeing progress or understanding how what they’re doing fits into their long term vision.
If you’re feeling like you are lacking that sense of what your efforts are doing for your long term plan, take time to think about your “Big Why” – why you are in this business and why it’s important to you. Another helpful technique is having a sense of smaller stepping stones along the way toward your larger goals, and staying on top of tracking your progress along the way. Another great way to help sustain your motivation long term is having someone help you implement your grand plans. If you’re playing a big game and feel you would benefit from someone helping you implement your vision, I invite you to consider my array of coaching programs. I would love to help you carry out your vision!
Issue #3:
An unappealing or uncomfortable office environment can also negatively impact overall enthusiasm and motivation for work. Does your space inspire you to do your best work or when you’re at the work, are you more inspired to leave? To improve your work environment, I’d invite you to think about what’s missing. Do you need to paint it a color that feels good to you, hang up some appealing art on the walls, invest in a standing desk, or find some better lighting? If you’re feeling uninspired looking around your office but aren’t sure where to start, ask yourself what you could do for yourself that would make your office a place you’d want to go? What makes you feel productive and energized?
If you want to make sure your motivation remains strong and steady to support long term success, I would love to speak with you. Reach out to me today: susan@susandanzig.com
Are you on target for your 2018 goals?
At the beginning of the year, it’s easy to feel energized and full of optimism about our strategic plans. We feel like we can accomplish everything we want, reach our potential, and succeed beyond our wildest dreams. As the months begin to go by, motivation can wane. Day to day demands eat up our time, and our strategic plan gets less and less of our attention. Now that we’re more than halfway through 2018, it’s time to ask yourself – are you on track to meet goals and intentions you initially set for the year?
If you’ve either forgotten you even set yearly targets in January, or simply aren’t as close as you’d like to be, this is a great time to check in with yourself. Here are a few questions to uncover what might be holding you back, and what you can do about it.
Have you been intentionally avoiding a certain task or project? That could be an indicator that you have resistance to whatever it is.Ask yourself, what’s going on there?
Rather than whistling and looking the other way, try instead to look head on at what you’ve been avoiding. If it’s your marketing plan that’s fallen by the wayside, are you afraid of putting yourself out there and failing? Examining limiting beliefs can be hugely valuable in getting unblocked and getting back on course.
If instead you’ve been avoiding asking for referrals or introductions, let me tell you – it’s a common place to feel blocked. Mindset again can come into play here, as it can feel uncomfortable or even vulnerable to have that conversation. Getting comfortable with a “script” of sorts that you feel authentic delivering will make the process easier. (Try practicing on a friend, colleague, or even Fido!)
Have you been unable to put your strategic plan into action? This could be an indicator you need more support in a certain area. Ask yourself, what do I need in order to take action?
Rather than giving up on your plans entirely, try instead to take an honest look at areas you could use additional skills or support. Is it time to sharpen your skills in certain areas (such as sales conversations), or enlist outside guidance to help you implement your overall strategic plan?
Engaging with an expert business coach like me can be helpful in numerous ways. I can support you in putting your grand plans into action, provide accountability, and help you build your skills in areas you’d like to improve.
Do you feel overwhelmed and like you simply don’t have time to put your strategic plan into action? Ask yourself, is it time to delegate some of my lower level tasks?
Optimal delegating can be a game changer. Could it be time to pass off some of your lower level tasks to a team member or consultant so that your time is freed up to focus on higher level work? Feeling like you don’t have enough time to implement your strategic plan could be a sign that your bandwidth is being encroached upon by things that could be delegated. Read about how to delegate effectively here.
If you’re not ready to delegate, you can try to look at your strategic plan and ask yourself, what’s one step I could take that could make an impact?It’s likely not necessary to implement your entire strategic plan to see results, and being highly strategic about whatever small action youdo have the bandwidth for could make a real impact, provided you make the right move.
Does your strategic plan no longer resonate with you? Ask yourself, could it be time to re-calibrate my plans around what’s exciting and appealing at this stage?
It’s entirely possible that the strategic plan you made at the end of last year or earlier this year no longer resonates with you. Are you struggling to take action because your goals no longer excite you? If so, it’s time to take some time and re-calibrate around what would make you excited to take action.
If you’re not feeling excited about your goals and strategic plans, it’s likely you’re not entirely engaged in your work. This means you’re not pushing as hard, or possibly letting the quality of your work lag a bit. Maybe you’re not following up on leads as quickly as you need to, showing up to networking events you RSVP’d to, or reaching out to connect with new potential professional referral sources. If so, the question to ask yourself is, what action step would make you feel re-energized?Do you need a short vacation to recharge your batteries? Or maybe a motivating meeting with a coach like me to get you back into the zone?
If you’d like help revisiting and refreshing your strategic plan and want to make sure you make the most of this year, I would love to speak with you. Email me today: susan@susandanzig.com
How Tightly Do You Hold the Reins?
The idea of having “everything under control” is appealing, but when someone is thought of as “controlling,” it can have a negative connotation. Control is a funny thing — the right amount keeps things on track and helps us succeed (and it’s worth noting that it’s very common for successful people to be at least somewhat controlling), but holding the reins too tightly can hold the growth your business back.
Are you holding the reins too tightly? I invite you to ask yourself the following questions:
Are you handling items that you know could be delegated to someone else?
Have you ever held off on training a team member on tasks because you believe you can do them more quickly and effectively?
Are you unwilling to make changes that would allow lower level tasks to be completed without your involvement?
Are you working long hours attempting to catch up on those lower level tasks you don’t truly need to be doing?
When we think about financial advisors, this “controlling” attribute can manifest in swiftly taking action that make sense to enhance their game and take care of their clients. These advisors deliver. There’s peace of mind — everything’s good, there’s a feeling of confidence and security: “Everything is my way, and it’s working.”
However, the reality is that there’s only so much time in the day. Micromanaging all of the details related to running your business ultimately creates a ceiling for the growth of your business. No matter how great we think we are at multitasking, or how little sleep we get per night, there is a limit to how much we can do. Failing to delegate effectively inhibits your ability to be the rainmaker, resulting in less time to attract and bring on new clients and take care of your existing clients.
Once you’re ready to take steps toward delegating, here are a few important points to consider:
Delegate as much as your team can handle.
Communicate with your team and have a solid understanding of their bandwidth and if/when they can they take on more. Oftentimes the lead advisor isn’t aware of the status of their team’s bandwidth, and that they actually have more or less capacity than they imagine.
Set up a team accountability structure so you have a system for tracking completed tasks.
Depending on your needs, this might be a spreadsheet or a project management tool tracking to whom you delegated the task and when it should be completed, enabling you to quickly see the status of the work.
Commit to additional training if needed in order to support team members effectively taking tasks or projects off your plate, and your comfort level that the work will happen as you would like.
If they need additional courses or training to work at a higher level, you may want to consider making an investment in their education, thus supporting your ultimate game in expanding your business.
When you’re ready to grow your business and would like support to ensure your success through the process, I invite you to reach out to me: susan@susandanzig.com
Is Your Drive for Business Growth Hurting Your Personal Life?
Many top producers put their own needs last. Are you one of them?
That laser focus that allows you to deliver and grow your business can obviously make a difference for those crucial periods when your attention is needed in order to accomplish certain goals or milestones — but too much focus on business outside of business hours resulting in too little attention on one’s personal life can eventually be damaging.
I have a client who is a top producer with an extremely successful practice, and one of the people who saw an almost obsessive focus on his work go to far. Though he was extremely successful in business, he saw an immediate need for healthier balance between his personal and professional lives. In fact, he was concerned that if he didn’t make changes, there would be serious repercussions on his marriage. He was consistently missing dinner with his wife and not taking care of himself physically. While his obsessive drive was generating high revenue, it was damaging his relationship, personal life, and health.
One of the first things he acknowledged when we began our work together was that he often scheduled client meetings from 7am to 10pm, as well as on weekends. This was a clear opportunity to put boundaries in place around his schedule to support the improved work/life balance he sought. He also shared that he consistently skipped meals during his work day when things were busy (which was the majority of the time), no longer made time for exercise, and had gained weight as a result.
Since that time, he has been honoring his boundaries and self care practices. He is now much more aware about what it takes to nurture himself in his business and personal life to get his needs met.
I am happy to share that through our work together, he has been focusing on the care and feeding of his body through nutrition and exercise, as well as the care and nurturing of his partner through more dedicated quality time together. For example, he has begun implementing more regular physical activity inside and outside of work – and even building activity into his day, like having walking meetings with his assistant. He no longer skips meals during his workday, and instead he brings healthy meals to work (which his assistant helps him remember to eat!).
Another success to date is that he has been using boundaries between his professional and personal lives to take time out to have fun. This time is spent nurturing both himself and his spouse, and also helps rejuvenate his inspiration for work. He is now making it home earlier on a more regular basis to share dinner with his wife, as well as creating the time and space to take vacations together! (As you can imagine, his wife is very happy about these new developments!)
Would you like to achieve better balance between your professional and personal lives but aren’t sure how to start? I can help. Reach out to me today: susan@susandanzig.com
Are Your Results Behind Where You Want Them to Be?
Think for a moment: when is the last time you looked for a weakness within your work or business structure and actively took steps to improve and strengthen it?
For many, focusing on areas perceived to be areas of weakness can be uncomfortable, but ignoring them can hold you back. If you’re not seeing the results you’d like to, I invite you to consider brushing up in some main areas: time management, effectively delegating, and communicating your value.
To help you start the process, I’ve put together a “round up” of my top pointers for optimizing your efforts in theses areas, which will ultimately improve your results.
Improving weak areas takes dedicated time and consistent effort, but the results will be worth it! If you feel you would benefit from additional support or coaching in these areas, I would love to speak with you. Email me today: susan@susandanzig.com
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easier than ever to find prospects in your target market, geography is still an essential factor. After all, most clients won’t fly across the country to meet with their financial advisor! To help you find prospects near you, I’ve compiled a list of strategies that have a more localized impact, allowing you to find your ideal clients in your ideal place.
