Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Marketing Consistency Wins Every Time


Happy June! We are halfway through the year. At the beginning of the year, did you write your Business Plan? If you're like most people you diligently created your plan for the year. But what did you do after that? Great planning only works if you are consistent in the way you carry out your plan.  Great planning means you decided your target market, your marketing tactics, and you wrote out a marketing calendar with dates and actions.

What holds us back from doing what we need to do?

Many times it is lack of consistency.  We'll try something once. When it doesn’t produce results immediately we don't do it again. As long as you have a solid plan, you should see results six to twelve months later.  It's tough to get started and keep it up. It's almost like your exercise routine at the beginning of the year.  You decided to join your local gym. You went three times a week at first. Then you made up excuses about why it would be OK to skip one day due to work deadlines. Pretty soon it was OK to skip the entire week. Then you may have said "That's it. I'm done" and you stopped going entirely.

How can we stay on track?

Just like the gym example, staying consistent with your marketing requires real commitment.  Picture yourself when you've lost the weight and you've toned up. How will you look in that new shirt and pants? How will this change your view of life? How will you feel?  Will increased energy help you get through the day more easily? Will lowered blood pressure and cholesterol contribute to a better quality of life?

Picture your business when you have attracted the clients you desire.

More revenue means less stress and more time off.  More Ideal Clients means getting rid of clients who make too many demands on your time, clients who complain, or clients who are mean spirited. More revenue means the resources to increase productivity with new technology or additional office assistance. More revenue means traveling to luxurious vacation locations with your family and friends and the ability to dine at fine restaurants, enjoy spa amenities, and do it all without struggling!  

Marketing consistency wins every time. Create a marketing calendar (or purchase my Business Plan program which includes a color coded calendar) and detail your actions on a monthly basis. Then commit to action. Create a monthly appointment on your calendar to do the actions needed to get where you want to go.

If you would like to discuss how business coaching could benefit you, please complete the Complimentary Consultation Form on my website.

Suzanne Muusers

Thursday, June 16, 2011

3 Advisor Websites That Work

Planning a client attraction website is no small matter. Effort and expertise goes into the process not to mention a significant time investment. Unfortunately too many advisors stick to the same old website templates that all look the same and provide absolutely no enticing visuals, no search engine optimization, and too much ongoing financial investment. This post is about websites that work and what makes them work.

Beautiful images with appropriate marketing messages make this site a visual pleasure. Each image is linked to a site specific website page that further expands on the topic. The website area "above the fold," the most important visual aspect of the site, is used appropriately for the main menu, and social media such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. There's a sign up box for the newsletter on the home page along with links to many useful resources.


Again, this site features wonderful images depicting target clients doing what they do when their retirement is secure. The area "above the fold" is well utilized with social media buttons and images. The left area contains VISUAL boxes featuring distinct target markets such as consumers, financial advisors, and the gay and lesbian community.  Each of these boxes links to a page with information specifically for the target market. There is a visual link coaxing visitors to download the free report (which is excellent by the way – 6 Facts and Must Knows Before You Buy Long Term Care Insurance - you should take a look – the report highlights key facts in yellow). Last but not least, there's a visual box encouraging sign up for the monthly newsletter.

This site is a visual smorgasbord of the BENEFITS of hiring a financial advisor. Pass your pointer over the words below the images on the site and a new image appears with key words featuring benefits of financial advice. The "What's News" box features links to recent blog posts of interest to the target market.  The "About Us" page features a wealth of information about the firm's process, fees, principals, and even features a section about qualities of the ideal client.  There's a box lower left that shows the firm's portfolio benchmarks – a great differentiator!


Take away:
If you don't have some or all of these features on your website it may be time for an update or a completely new site. Put some thought into your target client, what the benefits are of working with your firm, and the visual brand you would like to portray. Find a design and development firm who can take charge of this project, preferably one that charges via the project, not via an ongoing fee.

Update:
My recommendation for website developers: Art Guy Creative
The Art Guy knows SEO and branding. 
Review his great Website Development Checklist

Suzanne Muusers
Prosperous Advisor™ Coaching Program