Be First or Be Different. Don't Be Invisible

In their classic marketing book, The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, Al Reis and Jack Trout said, “Be first. If you can’t be first, create a new category in which you can be first.”

Like most marketing experts, the authors point out that you need a target market--a niche or ideal client--that sees you as the one advisor to call when they need the help you offer. And that market needs to be able to find you.?

But too many advisors are the best kept secret in their community, and the one thing you don’t want to be is invisible.

It no longer surprises me when I look up an advisor’s name on the internet and can’t find him or her anywhere online.? No web site, no distinguishable presence on Facebook or LinkedIn.? They’re invisible.

Or, if I do find them on LinkedIn, their profile banner is blank, and if there is a photo of them (sometimes there isn’t even that), it’s something they just threw on.

They list themselves as a financial advisor, financial planner, wealth manager, or life insurance agent who serves anybody in need of any financial or insurance service, with no effort to differentiate themselves from any other financial or insurance professional.

Their contact information doesn’t include a way to reach them outside of LinkedIn. If they’re on Facebook, they don’t even mention the work they do in their personal profile.

They’re connected on social media to a whopping 43 people.

And they’re wondering why they don’t have more business.

Don’t get me wrong. You can be successful without an online presence, but it isn’t easy.? And it's also true that financial and insurance professionals are rarely contacted by prospects who happened to be searching for an advisor. But in today’s world when someone hears about you or meets you, they go online to find out if you’re someone they’d want to consider working with. This is as true for Boomers as it is for Gen Z.

If they don’t find you anywhere, or your presence is generic or just isn’t professional, the likelihood they’ll make—or keep—an appointment with you is greatly reduced.

So, if you’re not finding enough people to sit down with, put improving your online presence on your list of things to do:

1. Make your presence powerful with a great banner that tells your target market about you.
2. Put in a professional-looking head shot.
3. Choose an ideal client for your marketing. Then, get rid of the "financial advisor", "wealth manager", and other generic taglines and create one that identifies them and tells them what you do for them in a way that distinguishes you from other advisors. Which of these do you think works better: "Wealth Manager" or "Helping women who are their family's financial decision-makers"?
4. Make sure your contact information is complete and correct and that you’re easy to reach.?
5. Use the "About" section to talk about them and what they want or need that you can provide before you talk about you and how you can help them get it.

Don’t try to figure out how to find more clients until you're clear on who your target is, what they want or need, and why you're the only one they should be talking to about it.

In my 90-DAY MARKETING TUNE-UP program, we work to find the best answer to these questions.? Then, we work on the best ways to market to them.

I currently have two slots open in this one-on-one program.? If you’d like to be considered for one of them, message me and we’ll set up a time to talk.

In the meantime, keep REACHING...