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How to Convey Your Brand’s Integrity

Today’s consumers are highly motivated to find companies that align with their personal values and ethics, creating a wonderful opportunity for businesses to attract like-minded clients. However, it’s essential to remain humble and sincere while showcasing your brand’s integrity. Here are some strategies to conveying your brand’s integrity without bragging or seeming too preachy.

Crafting a Sincere Brand

When prospects are deliberating whether to use your service, they’ll usually scour your website to craft a first impression. Communicating a clear and concise brand that includes your target market and your area of specialization is an important first step in the articulation of your brand.  From there, you will want to include your brand message to give prospects a clear sense not only of who you are, who you serve and also what you are committed to for them overall.  To make these future clients get a clear sense of your values, it is essential to express why you are focused on this group, why you are an excellent fit to serve this clientele and how your background, education and experience sets you up to be a natural fit for this focus. This complete message sets you apart from the competition and helps your clients to determine whether you’re the best fit for their ongoing needs. You want to stand out from the crowd and setting the groundwork to support clients at specific life stages will support your brand messaging. This is a great time to incorporate your “why” and explain what motivates you to work hard for your clients every day. How did you first get into your field? What most excites you about your work? What are your plans for the future? Answer these questions in a compelling narrative to create an immediate connection with your prospects.

Show, Don’t Tell

The easiest way to convey your brand’s integrity is to ensure it seeps into every interaction you have with the public. If you’re constantly highlighting your excellent customer service, ensure that prospects aren’t spending a lot of time on hold when they dial in. Remind your team to maintain a friendly and welcoming tone throughout their interactions with the public, even if it’s just someone who only stopped in for directions. You may even want to enlist the help of friends and family to pose as new clients and report their first impressions when interacting with anyone in your office. Conducting these quality checks will help you catch any potential issues early and ensure you’re putting your best foot forward!

Highlight Your Volunteer Work

One of the best ways to grow your presence in the community is to volunteer for causes you support. Having a company presence at major charity events that are in alignment with your brand allows you to network while giving back to the community.  To create the greatest impact for your marketing, choose an organization that speaks to your values and your clients’ priorities, allowing you to integrate your knowledge and passion to create a better world. For example, I am at the Financial Planning Association Day On The Hill event in Washington DC, which allows me to meet likeminded people while supporting legislation that will improve the lives of families across the United States. To maximize your influence, you should post pictures of these events on your website and social media pages. Becoming a donor for charity events that you are aligned with is another way to put your marketing budget to good use, as you will often get a company logo in the event fliers and social media posts.

Be Consistent

As consumers go out of their way to support ethical companies, they will also do preliminary research to ensure their brand statement isn’t just lip service. I recently stumbled across a company that touted their commitment to diversity throughout the site but had a C-Suite team comprised completely of white males. Take the time to think through your company’s day to day conduct and ensure you’re committed to those core values.

As consumers become more socially-conscious, it’s more important than ever to highlight your brand’s integrity. Taking the time to craft a brand statement, portray a friendly demeanor at all times, and highlight your commitment to the community will help you attract like-minded prospects.

Essential Strategies for Succession Planning: Navigating the Transition

As the moment you’ve been planning for approaches, it’s natural to feel anxiety and trepidation, but having a comprehensive plan in place will keep you organized and motivated throughout the business transition. Here are some of the steps you should take during the transition to keep your company on track!

Check in With Your Attorney

While you should talk to your attorney throughout the process, this is where their expertise is vital to ensure a smooth handoff. Have them draft a contract that outlines your responsibilities throughout the transition, and when tasks should be passed off to the new owners.

Meet with New Employees to Communicate Your Brand

To ensure that everyone is onboarded efficiently and will maintain the standards of your brand, schedule a meeting or two to educate your team about the branding and company values. Setting these expectations early will emphasize the tone of the company and prevent any future inconsistencies, so don’t skip out on this vital step!

Communicate Clearly with Existing Clients

While you may have already discussed the transition with your existing clients, reach out to them again to confirm that the transition is underway and outline the timeline. Give them plenty of time to discuss potential changes and express any concerns they may have. I recommend that you send official notifications via snail mail and email.  You may want to also schedule a conference call with your top clients to give personalized attention, introduce them to the new team to further support a successful transition.

Establish a Consulting Timeline

If you plan on staying on to assist after the transition, work with the new owners to outline your responsibilities and time commitment. Having these parameters in place will help you manage expectations while still guiding your team towards success. In your agreement, outline the number of hours you’d prefer to work each week, the days you will typically be available for consultation, and whether you want a trusted team member to monitor your emails to bring urgent items to everyone’s attention. Reviewing your personal preferences ensures everyone is on the same page moving forward!

As you complete the succession planning transition for your company, it is essential to outline your next steps and set expectations for the future. Creating this roadmap and including the new owners in on your game plan ensures a smooth transition for all parties involved, including your valued clients!

Essential Strategies for Succession Planning: Training Your Team for Success

In order to provide your team with the skills they need to steer your company through a transition, you should begin training them as soon as possible. The need for everyone to be on the same page means that you should take your training slowly and ramp up responsibilities over time, keeping in mind the delicate and nuanced situations that your employees may someday face. Here are 4 training strategies that you can use to guide your team towards a successful transition!

Maintain a Focus on Your Core Values

It’s easy to lose sight of the big picture throughout the minutia of a business transition but driving home the focus on your core values will help your team remember what matters most. Ultimately, despite the changes in your management structure, your company’s goal should remain the same throughout the process. Remembering your core values, your brand promise and revisiting them at team meetings will help you remain client-centric, and therefore avoid the churn of clients that can sometimes occur during business handoffs. Keep your team conscientious of their brand and ensure that they communicate it effectively during both face-to-face and digital communication with your clients.

Slowly Ramp Up Responsibilities

If you have an employee or two in mind for future leadership roles, this is the perfect time to slowly delegate essential tasks. Communicate that you are there to support them and keep an eye on the overall project, but allow your employees the chance to complete these tasks on their own. This will help build both their skillset and your confidence in their abilities to guide the company through the transition.

Don’t Skimp Out on Meetings

One of the most frustrating challenges of a business transition is the lack of communication. Most employees hate being left in the dark, and the lack of news can spark harmful rumors. Include key employees in your business development meetings and hold company-wide updates to curb the spread of misinformation. Creating a united and involved workspace can help reduce employee turnover during potentially stressful periods of time, so don’t try to create sweeping changes in the background without consulting with your team. This is an essential time to keep an open-door policy and be transparent about upcoming changes, so give your team the time and space to address their concerns and ask for clarification.

Clearly Expound Upon New Roles

Another avenue of keeping employee satisfaction high during a business transition is to properly outline their opportunities for growth and development in their new roles. By giving them opportunities to add leadership development and new skillsets to their resumes, you can help build their investment in the new company. Of course, it also doesn’t hurt to provide additional incentives like company events and bonuses to keep your team happy and productive!

Giving your team essential benefits and support will guide your company through the transition and keep your existing clients happy! If you need help designing a personalized succession plan, reach out to me to schedule a consultation. I can evaluate the current branding of your company and the planned changes to help craft a new marketing plan for the transition!

Essential Strategies for Succession Planning: So What About Branding?

As you continue your succession planning, one inevitable question will arise: What about my branding? Should the new company keep our existing logo,
tagline, and colors, or is it time for a fresh start? What is the best way to conduct these changes? There are no universal answers to these questions, but the nature of your business and your preexisting strategy can help inform your decision and help your company move forward throughout the acquisition process.

How Effective Is Your Existing Brand?

This is an excellent place to start your exploration, and you need to be completely honest and objective as you look at your company’s success. Take a look at the current business landscape and evaluate whether your branding sets you apart from the competition. Are you developing brand recognition and building a following in your community? Is your name unique enough that people will pick it out from the crowd? How does your logo, tagline, and company colors compare to others in the industry? If your existing brand is truly an asset to your team, it may be best to keep it throughout the transition. If you find ways to improve, you can seamlessly update your brand throughout the succession planning process.

Meet with An Expert

Given how essential branding is to your overall success, this is the perfect time to bring in experts on branding and design. Getting sound advice can prevent major stumbling blocks and ensure that you’re putting the best foot forward with your overhauled look, so connect with industry leaders now and set yourself up to win.

Need a Fresh Start?

A business transition is the perfect time to reframe yourselves in the business landscape, so embrace the refresh if it’s time to move forward. Sit down with your team, including any new partners or investors, and determine what aspects of your branding need a makeover. The key things to discuss in your meeting are your target market, your area of expertise, how to communicate your brand and how you want your brand to be perceived. By taking a bird’s eye view of your branding, you can craft a new look that establishes trust and authority.

The Sooner, The Better

If you decide to update your look, start immediately. Your first step should be to email your current clients and inform them of the coming changes to your name and look. Be sure to drive home your commitment to their needs.  Ask your ideal clients for their honest opinion about your new brand. Get input to ensure you’re putting the best foot forward across the board. After sending the initial email, you can slowly start making changes to your website, but be sure to include language such as “formerly known as” to smooth the transition. You may also want to place your new logo side-by-side with the old one for a month or two, in case older users are confused when navigating to your site.

Your brand is invaluable to the success of your business, and it should be an essential part of your succession planning. Take the time to meet with your team and decide whether it’s time for a refresh, integrating this change throughout your transition. As always, if you have questions about your branded system, please reach out to me!

Essential Strategies for Succession Planning: Initial Questions and Preparations

According to a recent survey by FMG Suite, a startling 73% of advisors do not have a written succession plan, but 60% of those same advisors are planning to
retire within five years. While building a comprehensive plan can be a time-consuming process, it ensures that your life’s work will continue after you’ve ridden off into the sunset to enjoy the next phase of your life. In order to provide your team with the best chance of success, you should start considering your succession plan as soon as possible and make adjustments along the way to support the sustainability of your firm.

When Should you Start Considering Your Succession Planning?

Ideally, you should begin evaluating possible transitions as soon as your business is viable. Once you feel that you have mastered the tools of the trade and feel confident in your advisory skillset, it is time to consider possible next steps for business development. This can include onboarding a team to expand your reach, or simply acquiring a book of business to expand your current client list and AUM.  Regardless of which path you take, you should start considering your options, grooming a second in command, and deliberating possible next steps for your firm.

Under What Conditions Would a Transition Take Place?

Having a firm plan of the conditions you’d need to transition will help you immediately consider or reject any incoming terms, as well as providing a logical framework for an otherwise sentimental decision. Write down the answers to these questions and use it as a personal reference as you start considering your options:

  1. In an ideal world, how long would you like to keep working at your firm?
  2. If something minor goes wrong with your health or personal life, how might it shorten this timeframe?
  3. If something major goes wrong with your health or personal life, how might it shorten this timeframe?
  4. Who would handle your current accounts if you had to take short-term leave?
  5. Who would handle your current accounts if you had to take long-term or permanent leave?
  6. What is the minimum amount you would be willing to sell your stake in the firm for?
  7. What would you ideally like to sell your stake in the firm for?
  8. Are there any personal or financial roadblocks preventing you from retiring or selling your business?

Once you have written out the answers to these questions, you’ll have a better understanding of your position that will help you make the right decisions with your upcoming strategies.

Is Your Team Ready to Make Changes?

As you begin your succession planning strategy, it’s essential to take an honest look at your team. Consider their personalities and capabilities both as a close colleague, and from a client perspective. Is your team capable of running your firm with minimal input from you? Is there a natural leader who would be able to take the helm if you decide to leave? How would the other team members react to having this person manage the business? If you see a natural choice for a successor, it might be right timing for a conversation with them to determine if they are interested in being a part of your succession plan.  If you are aligned that the fit is a good one, you can also start allocating more responsibilities and grooming them for the promotion. If there isn’t an obvious choice, it may be time to bring in a fresh perspective with new hire(s.)

Succession planning is an essential part of growing your business, and it’s important to ask these questions as early as possible. Once you have evaluated your position from both a logical and emotional standpoint, you will know how to prepare for your next steps

How to Attract Millennial Clients

As Millennials begin to establish careers and take over the consumer market, businesses have been struggling to adapt to their preferences and needs. Words like
“lazy,” “entitled,” and “sensitive” dominate the headlines and create a bias against this generation that can dissuade businesses from focusing on the next generation of clients. However, as Baby Boomers begin to retire and make up less of the consumer market, businesses need to adapt and redesign their marketing strategy. Here are some tips to help make Millennials feel supported and included in your business plan.

Be Direct

Perhaps more than any previous generation, Millennials want to get straight to the point. When designing your website and marketing materials, use direct language about what your company offers and the values you embody. Headlines and bullet points are particularly effective for this demographic, especially when citing hard numbers and statistics. While marketing to previous generations relied mostly on emotional appeals, Millennials are more likely to immediately search for the facts about what you deliver, so be sure you’re being direct and straightforward with your marketing message.

Monitor Third Party Reviews

Constant access to the internet allows the younger generations to be more thorough in their research, whether they’re buying a single product or signing up for a service. Ensure your company stands out by monitoring third party reviews and opinions about your business and addressing any complaints that arise immediately. Asking loyal clients to leave reviews on Google Places for Business, Yelp, or the BBB can help kickstart your online reputation and appeal to those who do their research!

Get Involved in Your Community

If you’ve been watching marketing trends over the past year, you’ve likely seen a trend of “woke” marketing designed to appeal to Millennials. Corporations now take political stances to drum up an audience and create buzz surrounding the causes they support. While your business might not want to take this to the extreme, you can still mention charities you support and what values matter most to you in the about page on your website. Posting photos from charity events and fundraisers that you attend is another way to emphasize the good you’re doing in the world, which is essential to catching the eye of Millennial activists.

Try Organic Marketing Channels

The biggest difference between Millennials and the previous generations are how they respond to marketing in general. Growing up in an environment inundated with ads has made them more critical—and even cynical—about the blatant consumerism that surrounds them. That’s why companies targeting Millennials have turned towards more organic means, using word of mouth and influencers to expose people to their brand. Though you may not have the funds to pay $250,000 for an Instagram post by Kylie Jenner, you can still integrate this strategy into your marketing. Encourage your current clients to spread the word by sharing your posts or talking about your brand on social media, and perhaps enter them into a raffle for their influence. An positive review from a passionate client is worth its weight in gold when working with a media-savvy audience like Millennials.

While some businesses still resist marketing to Millennials, it’s essential to integrate them into your marketing as demographics shift. They are poised to dominate the consumer market in the next few years and learning how to appeal to their open and direct approach to life will help your brand succeed in the changing market.

Transitioning a Business from a Partnership Break-up

While splitting up from a business partner can be one of the most stressful transitions in running a company, there are ways to gracefully pivot in order to minimize chaos and nurture your existing clients. This roadmap can help you plan out your exit strategy to keep things running smoothly in the event of a partnership break-up.

Split Up the Assets

Much like any breakup, you should begin the process of determining which business partner gets to keep each asset. While this obviously includes physical objects like building space and office furniture, you should take time to divide up intellectual property as well. Don’t forget to allocate things like the company slogan, website, and mission statement when redistributing your company assets.

Consider Custody of the Clients

While most businesses split clients by their monetary value in this process, it’s essential to evaluate their emotional connection as well. Keeping involved clients with their primary point of contact will minimize stress for everyone, and you should be careful not to forget their emotional needs as well. When splitting custody of the client base, balance the emotional rapport you’ve built with each client along with their financial contributions to the company.

Remain in Constant Contact

Since divvying up a partnership is extremely time consuming, it is essential to be mindful of your existing clients throughout the process. One simple way to ensure you’re in constant contact with your clients is to schedule out dedicated time each morning and afternoon to answer any emails and phone calls that came through. Supporting your existing clients will minimize churn and reduce your stress in the long run, so it’s worth your attention even in the midst of larger issues.

Take Time to Realign

Any major business transition is an ideal time for rebranding, and this is no exception. Take a step back from the hustle and bustle and evaluate your primary expertise and your ideal client. Has this changed since you founded your original business? Should you begin to take things in a new direction? While this evaluation may not require you to drop everything and march in a new direction, it will help you guide your marketing plan and acquire the right type of clients moving forward.

Brand Your Business

If you’ve decided to realign your business objectives, this is the perfect time to create a branded system that clarifies your ideal client and what services you deliver. Take the time to create a new slogan, tag line , and marketing plan that will attract your ideal client and help you reach your new goals!

While a business break-up is a stressful turn of events, it gives you the perfect opportunity to reframe your expertise and craft a new marketing plan. These steps will help ensure a seamless transition for your employees, existing clients, as well as helping you craft a new and improved branded system.

How to Maximize the Success of Your LinkedIn Content

Once you have your LinkedIn Business Profile up and running, you have the ability to connect with thousands of professionals within your target market. However, to catch their attention, you’ll need to create compelling and timely content and share it with the world. Here are some tips to make the most of your LinkedIn presence!

Use Hashtags

Like Twitter or Instagram, LinkedIn uses hashtags to deliver content to the right people. Users can opt to follow tags that speak to their passions, and it’s an easy way to speak to your ideal client. Consider what professional or personal hashtags would be relevant to your target market and include them at the end of your description to maximize the reach of each post. As always, location-based hashtags are a must, as it will draw in prospects who can schedule an appointment with you in person.

Encourage Sharing

If you follow a number of people from a single company on LinkedIn, you may notice that numerous employees will share the same company content. This allows each person’s connections to view the post in their own feed, trying to expand the audience of the post as much as possible. When you post something on your LinkedIn Business Page, encourage all your employees to share it on their personal pages as well.

Repost Evergreen Content

Like most social media sites, LinkedIn prefers to show its users newer posts and content. As a result, you should repost your best content repeatedly to get the best results. If you have seasonal content (like tax season or holiday-based articles) be sure to post these again every year to maximize their utility. After all, you spent a lot of time creating each piece, so you want to make the most of it!

Share Articles That Speak to Your Target Market

In addition to your own content, you should consistently share news articles and personal interest stories that would speak to your target market. This allows you to keep your page active even when you’re not creating new content yourself. Adding a personal story or weighing in on the content can provide particular emphasis on why the article caught your attention, and it’s a great way to add a human element to your business.

Include Images

Take a moment to scroll through your personal LinkedIn feed, and you may notice that you’re more likely to stop and look at an article when an image is attached. Humans are largely visual creatures, so including a compelling photo can be the difference between being liked or being ignored.

As you start marketing on LinkedIn, these tips can help you maximize the influence of your page. Overall, posting consistent and quality content will start boosting the number of your followers and expand the reach of your business.

How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Business Page

While LinkedIn is often overlooked when it comes to social media, it is an essential part of business development. For both Business to Business and Business to Consumer marketing, LinkedIn gives incredible flexibility to help target your ideal client and increase brand awareness. As you get started, these tips will help you completely optimize your LinkedIn Business page and hit the ground running.

  1. Create Your Company Page and Add Your Contact Info

If you don’t already have a company page, navigate to the LinkedIn Homepage and then click the “Work” icon at the top right of the navigation bar. This will pull up a full list of options for you to select from. Click the “Create a Company Page” at the very bottom to get started. Select the category that fits your company best, then add relevant information like your company name, website URL, industry, logo, and contact information.

  1. Choose a Relevant Banner Image

The banner image is the first thing that someone sees when they navigate to your company profile, but many businesses neglect to take advantage of this prime real estate. I recommend uploading an eye-catching image relevant to your industry to start, but eventually, you should upgrade this to something more meaningful. Many companies hire a graphic designer to either create an image with their tagline, primary services, or relevant awards they have won. To stand out from the crowd, I encourage you to create a custom banner image when time and resources allow.

  1. Encourage Your Employees to Link to Your Page

What sets LinkedIn apart from other social channels is the completely work-centric nature of your marketing. Encourage your employees to tag your company as their employer in their work experience section and share the new content that you post. In addition to keeping your employees engaged, it helps to increase the brand recognition of your company and bring new viewers to your page. People who are connected to your employees can engage with the posts they share, and then their networks can see this engagement as well. This creates larger audiences than most social media sites, which focus primarily on direct contacts.

  1. Join Relevant Groups

Another unique aspect of LinkedIn are the professional networking groups that flourish there. These groups allow you to accurately target your ideal audience and share content that is relevant to them. Are you looking to work with Physicians over the age of 40 to help plan their retirement? Write a relevant article and share it in all the “Young Doctors” groups that you can find. Even outside of professions, you can find a plethora of groups for locations, interests, and developing skillsets. To learn the ropes of networking groups, add your University Information and join all the alumni groups that you can find to see what content is trending in each one. Additionally, sports fan pages and community groups are great for finding new contacts in your area!

As you expand your social media influence, LinkedIn should be an essential part of your marketing plan. Being able to target consumers by their job titles, interests, and locations makes it easy to deliver relevant content to your ideal clients. By optimizing your LinkedIn Business Page, you’re taking the first step towards a free marketing channel that can deliver excellent results using the content you’ve already planned out.

How to Create Noteworthy Facebook Content Right from The Start

Now that our last blog post has helped you create your business Facebook page, you now ready to face the challenge of posting relevant content throughout the year. For many financial advisors, this can be a daunting task, these tips will help you maximize your social media marketing while minimizing your effort.

Schedule It Out

Like most financial services professionals, you likely center your life around the appointments in your calendar. To make social media marketing a priority, go through and schedule a few ten-minute appointments throughout your week to post new content, reply to comments, and see what strategies are working best for your page. This will help keep you accountable even as your schedule starts to fill up!

Share Your Own Content

One of the challenges that new social media marketers face is knowing what to post. Your priority should always be to advertise your own content. If you create a new page or add relevant information to your site, share it on Facebook with a short message (ideally under 150 characters). You should also be sharing all of your blog posts across social media sites, and it’s not a bad idea to reshare essential content a few months down the line to be sure everyone sees it.

Broaden Your Horizon

But what should you post when your company has no new content? This is one of the most challenging aspects of social media, and it requires taking time to think about your area of specialization and all that you deliver for your ideal client. Ideally you have created a branded system that includes sharing all that you bring to the table and address for your ideal clients.  From there, focus on those topic areas and take into account what your ideal prospects would want to see on their Facebook feed. Keep in mind that, while I recommend focusing on the areas that are your strong suits, you can also post other articles of interest that don’t have to be related to your field at all. Many companies will share local events or news that affects their target market to create a blend of their own content and other relevant articles. By widening the scope of your posts, you can find relevant and timely content to share every week.

Post That Holiday Cheer

An easy way to come up with content is to schedule it around the holidays in your calendar. Sending out season’s greetings to your clients and fans is an excellent way to broker goodwill and boost your number of posts every month. Don’t forget about the minor holidays as well! Valentine’s Day, Easter, Veteran’s Day, and even cultural events like the Super Bowl are worth posting about.

Images Are Essential

When people are scrolling through their feed, they are more likely to notice posts with a compelling image. Including a relevant stock photo or icon along with your posts will likely increase the attention it gets, so don’t forget to attach a pretty picture!

Be Patient

When working with social media, it takes time to organically grow your followers. By posting relevant and shareable content, you will slowly start to see new users liking your page. Overall, remember that this is a free avenue to share the values of your company, so it’s worth investing the time and effort to nurture this slow but steady growth.

As you begin your adventure into social media, these tips will help you maximize your impact and attract new fans to your page. Being consistent and dedicated in your posting is a critical step in creating a viable social media presence for your business!