New Marketing Ideas for 2011

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the U.S! Did you eat too much like I did? I am now back to my workout routine and working off the turkey and the homemade pecan pie and pumpkin pie.  Every year when my husband offers to make pies I usually say, please DON’T because I know where the leftovers will go. You guessed it, right on my hips.

Today is the last day of November. Are you finished with your year-end planning? What new strategies and tactics have you selected to grow your business in 2011? My clients are busy finalizing their Marketing Plans for the coming year. Many are planning Client Appreciation Events. After all, showing your existing clients that you care about them will give you far more brownie points and referrals than spending many thousands of dollars marketing to strangers using seminars and workshops. If you've never hosted an appreciation event, take a look at this list of ideas. 

Another tactic my clients are using is creating a Client Service Matrix that delineates the services their clients will receive at each segmentation level. For example, all "A+" clients will have a private birthday lunch with the advisor, a holiday gift basket, and an invitation to the company's annual dinner at an upscale restaurant.   Having this matrix helps the advisory firm plan and implement their marketing so that a good combination of activities are directed at the firm's existing clients.

Lastly, my clients are setting themselves up for success by focusing on the right activities necessary to grow and get out of the old comfort zone. One way to do this is by purchasing my new 90 Days to New Clients Program.

So how are you planning to grow your business and yourself in 2011?

Suzanne Muusers

Business Coach for Financial Advisors

How to Grow as a Person - There Are Only 3 Ways to Grow YOU

Want to grow your business? You have to grow YOURSELF first. People come to me for help in growing their business. When I ask how they grow personally and professionally and what they read specifically, some say "I'm not a reader." I've never understood how anyone can say that. Readers are leaders –the knowledge readers gain shows in their depth of personality, their knowledge base, and their skills. Making a commitment to be a better person in the coming year depends on what you are willing to do to grow as a person.

In the new year, how are you going to grow YOU?  

There are only three ways that you can grow yourself. Here they are:

Grow by what you read

Want a short cut to learn a subject matter someone has spent many years of their life learning? Buy their book. I read a great statistic a few years ago: if you want to be a subject matter expert all you have to do is read five books on a specific subject and you will be among the top 25% of experts on that subject matter, in the world.  So find books that excite you and commit to reading them. You'll grow as a result.

Grow by the seminars and conferences you attend

Way back in a former life when I was an upscale retail maven, I travelled frequently on buying trips and attended many seminars and conferences. I would return with my head full of great marketing ideas, organization techniques, and growth strategies and I would wonder why my store managers were not as pumped up as I was. Then I realized that if I wanted my enthusiasm to spread, I had to invite my key management team. I may have been learning, but my managers were not and they were the ones to implement what I had learned. What conferences and seminars can you sign up for that will improve YOU as a person?

Grow by the people you hang around with

My husband formed a successful business in 2003 with a business partner who was less ethical, financially stable, and skilled than he. Of course he didn't know it at the time. This person was always broke, lived in a rental home, had a wife who refused to work, and was consistently using the company bank account as his personal piggy bank.  Unfortunately our relationship with this person cost us a lot of money but we learned a big lesson. If you hang around with broke people the consequences of their bad habits will automatically rub off on you.  Take a good look at who you are partnering or hanging around with. Do their ethics match yours? Does their income come close to yours? If not, look for new friends.

Yes, you can grow. There are three ways to grow YOU. What's your plan?

Suzanne Muusers

Business Coach for Financial Advisors

Why Are Core Values Important?

Business growth, hiring the right people, and attracting your Ideal Clients –that's what establishing your Core Values can do for your business.  Entrepreneurs that fail to identify their Core Values are missing a great opportunity to grow both personally and professionally.  By identifying your Core Values you could completely change your business and where you are going in the future.

Ponder these questions:

*What does your company really stand for?

*What values are important to you?

*What do your clients receive from your company that is of great value?

At some point, you'll need to hire additional staff if you want to grow your business and have a life at the same time. When writing your employment ad, how will you position your company so that you attract talented, ambitious people? You can start with telling them what your company stands for and what you believe in.

When meeting with prospects, you'll want to educate them on your guiding principles and what makes you different. Communicating your Core Values helps you to attract the kind of clients that you are best at serving.  

Sample Core Values:

Responsibility – Transparency - Full Disclosure – We are paid to manage clients' accounts and there is full disclosure as to how we are paid.

Ethics – Honesty – Integrity – We do what's right for the client.

Holistic Approach - We look at our clients' entire financial situation, not just their investments.

Security – Protection – Safety - We help to limit risk for our clients.

Teamwork – Everyone in our office works together as a team to help our clients accomplish their goals.

What do you do with your core Values once you've created them? Write Your Mission Statement Based on Your Values.

At some point in time solopreneurs and small business owners alike seek to grow their business, get new clients, and hire new employees. Core Values can help you accomplish these goals.

Suzanne Muusers

Business Coach for Financial Advisors

Write Your 2011 Business Plan

Get a jump on your 2011 business planning because the year-end is coming up pretty quickly. I'll admit, I used to write my Business Plan on New Year's Day until I had an epiphany: get a head start and do your plan before the end of the year! How did this benefit me? Well, it took away any indecision I had about where I was going.  It helped me block time on my calendar to strategize about what was working and what needed to change.  I was also able to analyze the numbers and set new realistic goals that could carry me on a wave of growth.

Completing your Business Plan now can also help you relax during the holiday season, a typically frenetic time of year with much to do and think about.  For me, I like to take two weeks off right at the end of the year and I don't want to think about business.  Imagine the sense of calm you'll have by being ahead of the curve if you write your Business Plan now…

So where should you be focusing when writing your Business Plan? Here are a few important questions:

*What should you stop doing? Have you measured your marketing this year? What's not working for you? I'll bet cold calling isn't doing so well. I'll bet your seminar marketing strategies should be updated so you stand out from the crowd doing the standard dine and dash drive bys.

*What should you continue doing? Get out your Marketing Return on Investment spreadsheet and gauge where you should continue efforts. Obviously networking with the right bunch always works and asking for referrals if done correctly can be very effective, IF you ask. Make your list of what you need to continue doing.

*What should you start doing? If you have failed to hold Client Appreciation Events in the past year, then you're missing out on a wonderful opportunity to network with your best clients and get to know them better.   

One last important point today: Take a look at your Vision – is it still serving you or have you outgrown it? If so, it's time to update what you really want out of your life five to ten years from now. And believe me; five years can go by in a jiffy!

Of course you know that I'm the Queen of Business Plans. I produced a business planning system years ago when one of my clients became so bogged down in the details that he refused to complete his plan. So I took the key components of a simple business plan and created the Two Page Mini Business Plan. Take a look and see if this system is right for you. I have included four sample financial advisor business plans based on different business models. You're sure to find one that fits you that will help you write  your own custom plan.

Here's to your business success!

Suzanne Muusers

Motivational Coach for Financial Advisors

Get Out of Fear and Into Action

I've been having conversations with clients and prospects about fear lately. Have you allowed fear and doubt to creep in and stop you from doing the brave and scary things you need to do? Fear is debilitating condition that can dominate our lives and prevent us from finding the financial success we are seeking. 

Fear works against us by allowing doubt to creep in, then difficulty to make a decision causes us to put off taking action.  If you find yourself thinking any of the following, you may be allowing fear to stop you:

* Do I have the knowledge to help my clients?

* Can I make it in this business?

* I'm too busy to follow up with this lead now

* If I follow up I may have to perform and then I could fail

* They never called me back so why should I call them again?

* I can't afford to hire an assistant

How to overcome fear and break out of self destruct:

* Face your fears – List your fears on a piece of paper. Are they real? Carefully examine why you have this fear. Is the fear founded on the old you before you made a vow to change your life and make more money? Is the fear based on an old "truth" that is no longer true. If you made a good living when you had a "job" and now you are a business owner or independent contractor you have a fear that you can't make it then make a vow to eliminate the fear. Most fears exist because we don't know what will happen. It's the uncertainty that creates fear.

*Action cures anxiety – Get busy and start doing the scary things and you will cure the anxiety. If you have a fear of public speaking, join Toastmasters. If you have a fear of change, make some changes!

*Reprogram your thoughts daily – Create a visual image of what you want to accomplish and focus on it daily. For example, I have an illustration of 16 chairs on a standard size piece of paper. I have listed the names of my existing clients on some of the chairs. This illustrates the empty chairs I would like to fill. I see this daily and it propels me to fill these chairs and moves me to success.

*Write affirmations and put them in your top desk drawer or on your desk wall. Tell your subconscious mind what you want and reinforce it daily.

*Take control of your thoughts. Every time you find a negative thought coming into your mind, banish it with a strong counter statement such as "I AM SUCCESSFUL" or "I WILL GET 10 NEW CLIENTS."

Look fear in the face and take control; you can do it!

Suzanne Muusers

Coach for Independent Financial Advisors

Advisor Goals for Growth

We are quickly coming up on the last quarter of the year. This is a time for reflection - on the past year -and planning for the New Year.  Have you had a good year? Did you achieve your goals? Are you happy with your practice growth? I'm celebrating the publication of my second article in Practice Management Solutions!  Here it is: "Set Motivational Goals for Practice Growth." I encourage you to print out the article and use it to plan next year's growth. There's a handy side bar at the bottom of the article which gives you some examples for achieving three sample goals.

If your efforts to plan success this year were on the weak side, take time to plan out next year. By engaging in efforts to think about growth now, you'll be ahead of the curve. Before you know it the holidays will be here and you'll put planning on the back burner. Get it done now and get it out of the way.

Here are some questions to get the creative juices flowing:

* What would your practice look like if you reinvented yourself for 2011?

* What will your brand require to set your practice apart?

* How can you position your brand so that it's not like every advisor out there?

Here's a great book to help plan your reinvention: Blue Ocean Strategy – How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant. Order it from Amazon.  

For next year, think about vision, motivation, goals, and success and what that looks like to you. We've been through a horrendous two years. It's time to get moving and reach for that which has been out of reach during the Great Recession.  The way to do that is to take full control of your life now.  

Suzanne Muusers

Motivational Coach for Financial Advisors