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Twitter: For the People You Want to Know
I remember the first days of Twitter. In fact, I recall speaking about Twitter at an ASPPA 401(k) Summit in 2006. People laughed and said there was no way any sensible person would ever tweet. As of...
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Financial Service Groups Oppose State Laws Protecting Workers’ Social Media...
Laws enacted by states to ensure workers’ privacy on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are under attack by regulators and the financial services industry. The laws, already enacted by five...
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Creating an Issue-driven Prospecting Campaign
Fulfilling a promise to expand on my previous article, “Plan Sponsor Prospecting; Context, Perception and Strategy,” as a brief recap there are four key considerations when developing an in-house...
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Social Media: Hope or Hype?
At a recent ICI meeting, representatives from three larger broker dealers questioned whether social media helps financial advisors grow and run their business — or whether there’s more hype there than...
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Sponsors Connecting to Providers via Web, Social Media
Boston-based Cogent Research has released some interesting data about the use of social media by plan sponsors. The information comes from the firm’s 4th annual Retirement Planscape® study. Cogent...
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What’s Fair Game on Twitter and Social Media?
“Circumvent,” “inaccurate,” “oversimplified,” “mislead” and “hypothetical” — these are just some of the words that Putnam Investments recommends advisors avoid using on Twitter. Putman suggests that...
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COI: the Best Source of Referrals
While many advisors focus on client referrals for new accounts, research shows that attorneys, CPAs and other centers of influence (COI) may be more productive sources. According to a study by CEG...
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Listen First, Then Broadcast
Over past few months, I’ve been hit with identity fraud issues through my bank account. Several weeks ago, I headed to the bank branch where my account was originally established. Within 24 hours, they...
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Time for a Website Check-up
When was the last time you lifted the hood on your website? As recently as just a few years ago, advisors were able to get by with a minimalist website with a logo, a bio, a photo and perhaps a map to...
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Why 408(b)(2) is Still Providing Great Prospecting Leverage
While attending a small private industry event a couple of months back, I sat in on a presentation by industry veteran Don Trone. The topic of his presentation centered on retirement advisor leadership...
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FINRA is Watching
FINRA has announced that they will be conducting spot checks of their firms’ social media policies and usage over the period of February 4-May 4, including: • How firms are using each social media...
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How Are Advisors Driving Growth?
While social media is all the buzz in financial services markets, making many advisors feel left out if they don’t have a strategy, investing in social media yields the lowest returns for gaining new...
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The Quick Start Guide to SEO
Have you given your website a checkup lately? Once your website is up and running, the work isn’t finished. You must add, subtract and modify; this digital age doesn’t support a “set it and forget it”...
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Firms Give Up the Fight Over Blocking Social Media
Investment advisory firms are giving up in the battle to keep social media out of their shops. Instead, they’re loosening bans and allowing more use of social media while putting appropriate policies...
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How to Leverage the Press for Free Marketing
Getting quoted in the press can be a powerful marketing tool, especially press that prospects read. Even better, it’s free marketing. While the hard part is forming relationships with the right...
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Advisor Review Sites Not Viable
Responding to an inquiry from a reader, Michael Kitces details the reasons why there will never be websites that review advisors like there are for restaurants. Advisors are always looking for...
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Warm Up Your Cold Calls
Ryan Schutty, a regional marketing director with the Principal Financial Group, wrote an interesting blog post last week on how cold calling doesn’t have to be so cold. He notes that when it comes to...
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Be Smart With Centers of Influence
Centers of influence like CPAs, bankers, attorneys or even other advisors that don’t service DC plans can be the greatest source of leads for a plan advisor. But creating a network of COIs is hard and...
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The Evolution of Retirement Plan ‘Salesmanship’
Compared with the maturity of most American industries, the defined contribution industry has just passed through adolescence. Over the last decade we’ve witnessed significant milestones that have...
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Brokerages’ Social Media Approach is Evolving
Following in the footsteps of their RIA brethren, broker dealers and wire houses are accelerating their use of social media. More importantly, they’re beginning to integrate new media into their...
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