A Port In Your Clients' Storms

Smart advisory pros understand that the real power for ANY small business resides in The List.
I’m sure you understand the fact that when people find you, online or otherwise, they’re not (usually) in a “buy now” mode. You’re not Amazon or Best Buy; your visitors aren’t coming to your site to “purchase”.
So, you must give your website visitors a compelling reason to hand over their valuable information — and one which speaks to what they REALLY want. This is called your “Lead Magnet”.
You can have droves of visitors and traffic to your office or site, and even a great follow-up system in place … but without the right strategy to start the relationship you’ve got nothing. Because marketing is, at its core, about building a relationship.
Let me illustrate this from my own history …
Before my tax marketing days, I used to work with high school kids as a staff member with Young Life (a non-profit mentorship/ministry organization working with public school kids). Yes, in my mind, I had a “solution” to those famously angst-ridden problems rampant in a high school. But I certainly didn’t bring a bullhorn and start yelling my solution at them.
My credo was “Earn the right to be heard.” Because high school kids (and your prospects) don’t give a dang about how great your “solution” is for their problems … until you demonstrate that you care about them in a way they respect. So, I coached football and lacrosse, I went to community events, I played backyard football with ’em. In fact, many of those kids never once heard me bring my “solution” to our conversation. Either the timing wasn’t right, or the relationship wasn’t there yet. They just knew me as
“coach”, or the guy that would actually listen when others wouldn’t.
I built a relationship. (And it wasn’t some cynical ploy–many of these guys, now older, are still some of my dearest friends) THEN, when the relationship was solid, we could talk about “real” things.
And marketing for your firm is most effective when you follow a similar model.
So, you first must have some compelling reason for your prospects to start that relationship. Otherwise, you’re just another barker at the convention shouting out your wares.
So, What Do Your Prospects WANT?
Simple. They want no-nonsense, real-world guidance through the chaos of their lives. You’ve already got a tremendous advantage, as a financial professional, to garner respect with your authority. So create something which will make them see YOU as their “port in the storm” — and one who will actually listen to them.
Give that to your first-time site visitors, your prospects and your clients … and the keys to their kingdom are yours.