Are You Blogging Yet?

 

There is a variety of benefits to blogging, which are outlined below.

 

Blogging for Current Clients
A blog allows your clients to follow the latest happenings of you and your firm, as well as to keep current on the latest investment and retirement plan trends. Clients can follow your blog in their RSS feeds and be updated automatically as they review the latest postings from other blogs that they follow. If you can’t think of blog topics, consider your current clients as your target audience. Are most of your clients interested in the latest compliance issues or in increasing participation rates? Are they large or small plans? Sending out surveys is a great way to discover what is interesting to your clients. Blog posts can open up conversation between you and your clients and allow you to offer additional services to them.
 
Blogging for Prospective Clients
Your prospects may not be following your blog, but if you have their email addresses, you should be sending them your e-newsletter. Your newsletter should contain a snippet of your blog post, which will link to your blog for the full article. In this way, viewers can see the entire article and other useful information available on your website. If you’re using an e-newsletter platform, such as Constant Contact, you can see you is interested in your blog and who signs up for the blog.
 
Although you should focus your blog on issues that pertain to current clients, by having a target market in mind when writing posts, you will be able to attract similar (or new demographics of) clients. E-newsletters containing posts should be a part of your drip marketing campaign since they will keep your name in front of your prospective clients. This creates top of mind awareness, and when they need a retirement plan advisor, they will be more likely to call on you.
 
Blogging for Unknowns
Although your blog is geared towards clients and prospects, it may attract people that you don’t even know. Search engines, such as Google, increasingly rely upon blogs to provide information. If your blog contains relevant information regarding fee disclosures, your post may show up in the results of people searching for more information on the topic. If those people are plan sponsors looking for a new retirement plan advisor, they might contact you for more information, a meeting, etc. If you optimize your blog for search engines, your post could show up in the top results of Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. When managed correctly, having a blog also pushes your website up in search result rankings. If people are searching for a financial advisor in your area, this could give you a huge advantage over your competition.
 
Popular blog platforms include Blog.com; Blogger, owned by Google; SquareSpace.com; WordPress.com; Weebly.com; TypePad Micro; Live Journal; Jux and Posterous Spaces. Most of these platforms are free.  
 
Having a blog not only helps you to retain current clients, it also aids you in marketing to prospects and unknowns. Blogs can drive visitors to your website and have a number of advantages. Posting regularly will increase your chances of gaining more visitors and, potentially, more clients. If you don’t have a blog yet, you should consider starting one. 

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A Strategically Focused CE Curriculum

With classes approved for over a decade by the CFP Board, IWI, and NASBA, Advisors4Advisors CE classes are an optimal knowledge stream for CFP®, CIMA®, CPA, CPA/PFS®, CFA®, and other practitioners. It's not a grab bag of speakers willing to sponsor CE content. Nor is it a one-man CE course. It's a group of subject matter experts with amazing communication skills and a history of thought leadership that, together, give advisors a well-rounded knowledge system for running a professional practice ethically and intelligently.

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A4A CE classes for financial professionals began in October 2008, the week Lehman Bros. collapsed. Initially billed as “The Financial Crisis Webinar Series,” A4A connects advisors with authoritative sources on investing, tax, and financial planning, chosen by A4A Editor Andrew Gluck, a veteran financial reporter. A4A members get a stream of CE classes for an advisor who: 

  • holds a CFP®, CIMA®, CPA, CPA/PFS, CFA or other designation requiring CE annually 
  • values monthly CE classes by Fritz Meyer, Craig Israelsen, Bob Keebler, Frank Murtha, or Andrew Gluck
  • diversifies a core of client portfolios in low-expense funds
  • invests based on MPT and economic fundamentals
  • advises on tax and financial planning as well as investing
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  • wants the Certified Financial Counselor™ designation 
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  • wants 24/7 access to CE on-demand
  • insists on objective evidenced-based tax and investment planning analysis
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I’ve subscribed to A4A since its inception, and always find it intellectually stimulating and on point. It’s one of the few CE solutions out there that doesn’t waste my time by pushing product or talking down to me.

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Pete Deacon, CPA, CFP®
A4A has had a profound effect on my business. Since 2009, I’ve relied on the consistent messaging and updates to run my business successfully. Being able to present the information from Bob, Fritz, and Craig's ongoing CE webinars has been a significant benefit.

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Fredric Mayerson, MBA, PhD, CFP®
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