Social media can seem overwhelming because of all of the platforms, networks, tools, and rules, but it really doesn’t have to be. Remember that social media simply takes the timeless concept of “networking” to a new dimension; a virtual dimension. Over time as you become more comfortable with this new form of networking, you will gain understanding and confidence for how to make it work for you.

Online social networking is networking amplified and accelerated. With the growth and transparency of social networks, it’s easier to find who you want to connect with and have real conversations with real people. If you put effort into this and get it right, the size and quality of your network can increase dramatically, providing you with a multitude of both online and offline business growth opportunities.

Social media makes your network more scalable    -Gary Vaynerchuk

The key with social media participation is to be visible and valuable within and beyond your trusted network of connections and followers. Ideally you want that trusted network to consist of clients, potential clients, community connections, professional alliances and people who are advocates for you or your business. You can also connect with industry peers, influencers, companies, brands, journalists and media.

Before you spend too much time on building your network, you need to decide how you are going to position yourself. What’s your angle? Why are you different? Who do you help? What’s your “social pitch” as opposed to your “elevator pitch”? Building your digital identity around answering these important questions will  help you create a powerful and unique digital brand.

It is critical to come up with that branded theme and/or concept that can make you stand out above your competitors. Or, you can simply brand “your name” and your personality. No one can be exactly who you are, right?

By successfully participating in social networks a few minutes a day, you can stay top of mind with your trusted network, position yourself as a thought leader, meet new people (and get to know people better), promote and connect others, and gather intelligence. These online interactions can accelerate relationship development which can and will lead to new business. That business may not come in the form of a new client every time, but if you’re focused on building influence as a thought leader, your business will grow as your network grows!

Every new connection in social media is an opportunity to grow your business

If you’re just getting started with participating in social media, here are simple 3 rules to follow:

1)Listen and Gather Intelligence

If you are uncertain where to begin with social media, the best thing to do is login to each network (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook) and start listening and observing. If you already have some connections and followers, visit their profiles and see what kinds of status updates they are sharing with their networks.

If you don’t have many connections, start working on finding your “offline” network, online. Each network provides tools for accomplishing this where you can send invites out to your email connections.

What you will find in your observations is that the people who are doing social networking right are sharing interesting and relevant links to content with their connections.

There is plenty of spam and self-promotion out there, which is a good example of what not to do. Look for those individuals who are providing real value with what they share on a consistent basis. Follow and connect with new and interesting people. For example, you can conduct advanced searches on Twitter and LinkedIn to discover appropriate people to connect with.

2)Be Consistently Visible and Valuable

You are what you share.

If you show up frequently and you share good stuff, you will build a following. This is a grass roots effort. You’re not going to build a 5,000 person following on Twitter overnight. Superstar online influencers have worked for years to build their networks. The good news is that you don’t need a big following as much as you need a relevant and quality trusted network of followers.

One of the biggest opportunities with social media is the ability to stay top of mind with your network. However, anyone can delete you from their social stream with the click of a button, so it is imperative to be valuable. If you share interesting, quality content with your network, they will view you as a valuable resource.

The work part of this is discovering great content to share. You will have to spend time finding that great content, but that means your followers won’t. They can simply tune into you to get the information they need.

Ultimately you want to get your trusted network of followers off of the world wide web and following YOU! You want to be the “go to resource” for them.

To establish yourself as THE trusted authority in your target markets, you must also be producing and sharing your own thought leadership content (blogging).

Producing your own unique content and sharing it with your trusted network is a proven technique for growing your online visibility and for developing a qualified network of followers. If you’re good at this, your followers and subscribers will be anxiously awaiting every post that you publish in order to learn more from you, and many of them will become loyal advocates or clients.

If you’re consistently visible and valuable, you will expand your reach beyond what you ever imagined possible. This takes time and effort, and it is best for you to be the one engaging in the activity rather than someone else who might miss opportunities or misrepresent you!

3)Apply “Smart Marketing” to Social

Most people are not smart about marketing, whether they are producing the marketing or consuming the marketing. Smart marketers have a significant competitive advantage in leveraging social media.

If you’re smart about how you market, people won’t know you’re marketing.

Think about that statement. The principles of smart marketing are things like promoting others, connecting others, empowering others, and sharing the work of others. Also, giving a genuine compliment or asking for advice are considered smart marketing techniques. In order for smart marketing to work for you, you must be genuine and authentic in applying these principles.

Ultimately if you focus at least some of your social media participation on giving, you will build influence within your trusted network and beyond. People will be compelled to visit your blog or website to learn more about you and sign-up for your updates and offers. They will also visit your social media profiles and be magnetically drawn into your social circles.

You never know where someone might land when they research you online. This is why it’s extremely important to have a professional blog that showcases your thought leadership and facilitates relationship development in addition to creating complete, optimized, professional, and consistent social media profiles!

If you haven’t begun to build out your social media portfolio, I would recommend that you do so as soon as possible. The way that digital equity works is that it grows in value over time. The longer you wait to start claiming and building our your space, the more difficult and potentially expensive it will be to catch up!

Outside of compliance parameters, what’s stopping you from integrating social media into your business?

Search engine optimization is a very broad concept in and of itself, and it’s one that creates a lot of confusion.

I’m going to give you 4 tips that work for optimizing your online presence. These are general tips, but they will provide you with a framework for how to start thinking about your current digital portfolio, and which activities might be more important to focus on going forward.

Four Tips for Optimizing Your Online Presence

#1)Optimize locally for your website, blog, and social media profiles

Most financial advisors and firms are focused on developing client relationships where they live and work. Of course there are always exceptions to this. However, a best practice is to make sure all of your digital assets are optimized for where you do your work so that you have a better opportunity to be found in that geographical location. Remember, Google places a big emphasis on showing “local” search results.

To optimize your website and/or blog for local search, be sure to include your location in the title tag, meta description, and keywords for your sites. If possible, include your local business address on every page of your blog and your website. Also, embed a Google map on your sites.

For your social media profiles, make sure to include your location in your titles and bios.

#2)Optimize your blog content with keyword phrases for what you want to be known as the expert in

Fresh, relevant, high quality content is essential to getting found by your target markets. A professional blog is by far the most effective way to publish content frequently that can be found and shared by the people in your target markets. When you create content for your blog, do your keyword research to determine what phrases those people are actually searching for on search engines. What language are they using?

If you don’t know where to start with this, begin with thinking about the questions that your clients ask most frequently, and turn those into blog posts.

Given that no two people get the same search results anymore (results are based on location, search history, and social connections), it’s less important to try to dominate a handful of keywords. Rather, focus on ranking for many keywords that you’d like to be found for, and that people in your target markets might search for. If you can achieve a good standing with 100 different keyword phrases related to your business and get 5 visits per keyword phrase to your blog each month, that’s 500 visits total. It all adds up.

Decide what you want to become the known expert for and do your keyword research. A free tool to start with is the Google Adwords Tool. There are many other keyword research tools out there as well.

Above all, high quality content is the best search engine optimization technique. Even Google’s own Matt Cutts says great content trumps SEO. Make sure you’re not spitting out canned content. Consumers and Google will know the difference!

#3)Build Quality Inbound Links Into Your Blog

Quality inbound links into your blog still matter, and obtaining these links requires some work. In many cases though, if you’re consistently producing great content for your target markets, you’re going to attract high quality links from other blogs and websites.

Be careful of spammy link building tactics and advice. Google is looking closely at “over optimization” in this area and will apply penalties to sites who don’t acquire links authentically.

The quality of inbound links that your site has is also extremely important. For example, getting a link back to your blog from an academic institution or an established online media publication can be very valuable in pushing up your site’s value!

Also think about finding local opportunities to develop inbound links for your blog such as guest blogging opportunities with other local bloggers, local charities or charitable events you participate in, and local organizations that you belong to.

#4)Be Everywhere in Social Media

I see a lot of recommendations from marketing people in the financial advisory industry instructing you to only focus on one social network. You can certainly prioritize your participation in the various social networks, but I’m a big believer in being everywhere, and developing a comprehensive presence. You have no way of knowing what networks that are here today that might be gone tomorrow (remember My Space?).

If you bank everything on one or two social networks, that’s a bit like investing all of your assets in one asset class. Diversify your social media presence, and allocate your time accordingly. There are great tools to help manage your social media activities such as Hootsuite and Buffer.

Building a presence on multiple networks not only helps you own search results for your name and your firm, but it prevents others from grabbing those digital assets that are yours if you claim them first.

Equally as important is the fact that Google is using social signals to deliver more personalized search results based on who you are connected to. For the most part these signals are gathered from Google+ and the +1 button (which you need to have on your blog). As Google places more emphasis on your social graph, they are keeping keyword information private for those who are logged into Google. This makes it more difficult to determine how people are finding you online, and underscores the importance of activating your social presence on Google and other networks.

Being active on multiple social networks gives you the best opportunity for success with the least amount of risk. Sound familiar? It’s a bit like the practice of modern portfolio theory. Asset allocate and diversify your digital presence.

All social media roads should lead back to your blog as it serves as the central hub of your digital marketing strategy.

There are additional ways to optimize your online presence, but these 4 tips should help you start thinking about where to begin!  What do you think? Are you implementing best practices for optimizing your online presence?

New tools can certainly help you to become more efficient and effective with your social media activites, but that’s not the whole story.

Although today’s social tools are much more complex and advanced than say a telephone, or even email, the technology can be learned.

Most people can learn how Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn work, for example. This is a level playing field. There is no competitive advantage in knowing how to dial a number on a keypad, click a button to send an email, or click a Facebook “Like” button.

Creating compelling content and finding a context for your thought leadership message (i.e. knowing what to say, how to say it, when to say it, who to say it to) is where the competitive advantage lies in the age of social media.

The real challenge with social media is positioning yourself and your business to:

To accomplish these things, you need to be motivated, confident, creative, and committed to putting yourself out there in a way you may never have done before. You also need to think critically about what makes you different and why someone might choose to “follow” and trust you as their leader.

Go beyond the basics of learning the tools and start thinking about how to leverage them to expand your online influence for offline business success.

What do you think? Feel free to share your feedback in the comments.

I think this is only going to continue to grow over time. Creating unique thought leadership content and distributing that content widely through social networks is a recipe for growing online influence!

Source: American Century Investments

Read the full survey results HERE.

Follow some great financial advisor bloggers who make up this 17% on Twitter:  Wired Advisors

 

Blogging builds business. Blogs attract significantly more web traffic than static websites. Blogs cultivate relationships rather than showcase products and services. Blogs can start movements and inspire people (see the Roth IRA Movement started by CFP Jeff Rose). Blogs attract and engage clients and prospects.

Financial advisors who are blogging are winning in the digital age, yet less than 10% of them are self-publishing their insights, expertise, and thought leadership today.

Why should you consider blogging as a business strategy? How do you build a successful blog? What elements are important to consider when creating and launching a blog?

If you want your blog to truly set you apart and help you grow your business, there are some core elements to consider when developing this digital asset.

7 Core Elements of a Powerful Financial Blog

1)Design and Layout

The Importance of Good Design

I am AMAZED at how many poorly designed financial websites (and blogs) are out there. Bad design KILLS trust dead. There is abundance of poorly designed digital assets in the financial advisory industry, yet our services require a very high level of trust. What’s wrong with this picture?

Perhaps financial advisors, asset managers, and industry professionals don’t yet grasp the importance of building a professional and credible online reputation.

As consumers, we love pretty things. Think about the design of Apple products and how it appeals you personally. We are much more attracted to and willing to trust well-designed products and websites.

Great design is affordable, attainable, and invaluable. Don’t skimp on this. Looking professional and polished online is critical to having credibility and cultivating trust with clients, prospects, and business alliances.

If you’re not creating a trustworthy first impression with your online assets, you will never build trust in the digital age.

The Importance of Clean Design

Don’t clutter up your blog with lots of moving pieces and parts. Your visitors will get lost and they won’t know what to do and where to click. Also keep in mind that the majority of people who visit your blog will not scroll down, so it’s important to keep your primary messsages and/or calls to action “above the fold”.

With a blog, your content should be the primary focus of your site. Don’t let your message get lost and overshadowed by shiny objects that don’t accomplish your goals.

Your blog site layout should be clean, simple, and uncluttered. Because it’s easy to add lots of bells and whistles, it is tempting to junk up your site, but do your best to avoid this.

I am also not an advocate of placing ads on your blog (if you’re allowed to have them). They can potentially diminish your credibility and they rarely deliver enough revenue to get excited about.

A well-designed and laid out blog builds trust and credibility with your clients and targeted markets.

2)Blog Theme, Title, and URL

One of the most important secrets to building a successful blog is brand positioning with the blog theme, title, and url. Get creative help with this in order to brainstorm about your business, your clients, your passions, and your life experiences that make you who you are today. You will need to come up with a compelling theme in order to highlight your strengths and differentiate yourself from all the other financial advisors out there!

The way you structure your blog and the url that you use are also important decisions. For example, some financial advisors choose to build their blogs on a unique custom url that is separate from their existing website. With this strategy you can create a strong keyword rich theme to help attract your specific target markets. Or, in some cases, it might make more sense to set-up your blog as a “sub-domain” of your main website, if you already have a strong brand.

Remember, blogs are designed to build relationships. This means that your blog should reveal your human side…your personality, your voice, your passion for what you believe in. These are the things that will attract people to you and enable you to cultivate and nurture relationships.

Everyone of our financial bloggers has a unique theme that sets them apart. This isn’t by coincidence. There is a tremendous amount of listening, creating, and strategic thinking that goes into creating a unique and powerful “blogging brand”.

Whether you have some idea about how you would portray yourself or your firm through your blog theme, title, and url it’s a process that should not be taken lightly. Once your “blog brand” is launched, it’s publicly indexed and discoverable by search engines! It’s permanent!

3)Quality Content

The content that you publish on your blog is the primary determinant of who you will attract to your site. High quality and targeted content will attract high quality visitors who are interested in learning more.

The content you publish to a blog can be in the form of text-based articles, videos, images, embedded presentations or pdf’s, and even podcast audio files. There is a learning curve for each of these formats, but they are not difficult. Primarily creating great content requires time, discipline, and commitment.

Compliance rules require that “unique” blog content be pre-approved prior to publishing in many cases. Establishing a systematic process for submitting and getting approval for your content with your compliance department is the answer to this, and many financial advisors are following this kind of process.

Pre-approved content that is “canned” may be an easier solution than producing your own ideas, but it’s not nearly as effective. Consumers are smart. They can easily identify canned messages from financial advisors and firms. If you’re going to develop a blog with the idea of posting canned financial content, save yourself the time and money and don’t do it.

Ghost-written content, on the other hand, can be an acceptable solution when produced by a qualified writing partner. Many talented singers can’t write songs. Being a songwriter myself, I can respect the relationship between singer and songwriter. I can write songs but I’m not a great singer!  There are great singers who can’t write songs!  The key here is to make sure your content partner helps you develop a content plan that reflects the essence of who you are, what differentiates you as a professional, and the key issues that concern your clients and target markets.

The very best solution is to create your own unique content in the formats that best suit your personality. If the content strategy isn’t driven by the primary thought leader of the firm, it simply will not be as effective. Once you begin to realize that your content publishing efforts are having a direct impact on your bottom line, you will make the time to invest in the process.

4)Consistent Publishing

Blogging is something you really have to believe in and know that it’s right for you or your firm. Without passion and enthusiasm to drive the process, your efforts to grow your influence will fail and your blog will become a ghost town, just like a static website. Not only do you need to be excited about it and understand the value of blogging, but you need to be ready to make the commitment to the process.

Business results from blogging require that you post to your blog consistently. It really doesn’t matter if it’s once a month or once a week, but it must be consistent.

The reason I commit my personal time to this blog on a consistent basis is simple; it yields business results. Wired Advisor was built from grassroots blogging. We didn’t run expensive ads. We didn’t purchase expensive booths at trade shows or buy lists of financial advisors. We leverage blogging and social media to grow our business. You can do the exact same thing with your business.

Think beyond new clients when you think about results from blogging. New clients will come from consistent blogging efforts, but along the way you will also create many opportunities for personal and professional growth. You will meet great people who can become advocates for your business. You will get speaking opportunities and potential media exposure. You will make it easy for your clients to refer new clients to you (the days of asking for referrals are gone, you need to attract referrals in the digital age).

Through consistent blogging, you will become visible, valuable, and influential in search engines and social media channels. Building online influence, by default, breeds business success in a wired world.

5)Search Engine Optimization

3 or 4 years ago I would not have believed you if you would have told me that qualified clients could come from Google searches, but I’ve been proven wrong. This is actually happening. Building a powerful blog will help you develop a solid online reputation with positive digital gateways to your brand.

There are even some well-designed blogs that I’ve come across that are actually missing some of the critical SEO elements on their site. Titles, meta descriptions, and url structure are all basic SEO principles that can have a positive impact on your site. Attracting inbound links to your blog from high quality blogs and websites also continues to play an important role, in addition to using keyword phrases in your content that resonate with your target audience. Local search optimization is becoming increasingly important as well.

Having a solid SEO foundation can provide some incremental return, but ultimately it’s your content, your visibility, and your reputation that will drive the right kind of traffic to your blog. Having all of the SEO boxes checked certainly doesn’t hurt. Also making sure that your content is formatted so that it’s easy to consume and including images with your posts can make a huge difference in attracting visitors!

6)Social Media Integration

Many of the financial advisors who are implementing successful social media strategies have something in common. Their strategies are driven by blogging, and their blog serves as the central hub of an integrated digital marketing system. A combination of CONTENT(blogging) and COMMUNITY (social media) is what leads to attracting new clients, building influence, and increasing loyalty in a wired world. It’s difficult to do one without the other and be successful.

Blogging technology integrates seamlessly with social media channels. Your blog will provide you with a tangible way to measure your social media success through referral traffic, clicks, and subscribers!

Your blog should showcase the following social media features:

Social connection tools (follow buttons, icons, and/or boxes) – These features make it simple for visitors to your blog to connect with you in social networks, follow your company, or join your community in some cases without ever leaving your site!

Social sharing tools – Social sharing buttons are usually found at the top, bottom, or on the side of blog posts. These buttons make it easy for blog visitors to share your content with their social network connections.

7)Lead Capture and Nurturing System

If you don’t have a strategy for inviting people into your inner circle, or your trusted network, you have no way of really knowing “who” is interested in what you have to say and what you’re sharing on your blog. By providing something of value to those interested individuals in exchange for their contact information, you have the opportunity to connect with them further and cultivate that relationship over time.

There are a number of “hooks” that you can use on your blog to pull someone in who might be interested in learning more, or even interested in working with you and your firm. An email newsletter is the most common and simple lead capture tool for a blog, but you can also offer a valuable ebook, webinar, consultation, or free review.

At Wired Advisor we’ve tested all of these methods and continue to research and test multiple lead capture strategies. It’s an ongoing process, and it’s okay to try new things here to determine what works best for you. Ultimately having 1 prominent “call to action” that tells the visitor exactly what to do is the most effective for lead capture. Too many calls to action in one place can lead to NO action.

The second piece of this is having a lead nurturing system in order to stay top of mind. Delivering an email newsletter that includes a digest of your most recent blog posts is a simple and effective lead nurturing strategy.

These strategies just scratch the surface on lead capture and nurturing, but hopefully you understand that this is what will move prospects to become clients, and inspire clients to make introductions and referrals. If you’re missing this kind of program on your blog, you’re missing out on opportunities to grow your influence.

I am a big believer that outdated and poorly designed financial advisor websites will ultimately be replaced with platforms driven by blogging technology. Blogs are the evolution of financial advisor websites.  What’s stopping you from building your own blog?