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The 52: Add Audio Versions to Your Blog Posts
Mix your medias to get more interaction.
Add Audio Versions to Your Blog Posts
Not everyone has the attention span to read blogs. And some people prefer to listen to content rather than read it. To accommodate these people, add audio versions to your blog posts.
You can either record these using your voice or use a text-to-speech service. Here is an example using our marketing tip from last week featuring an AI voice-generated clip.
The 52: Get Names into Your Marketing Database
A prospect can take years before acting, so start the clock now.
Get Names into Your Marketing Database
Lately, I’ve been interviewing financial advisors for my upcoming book about niche marketing. Here is one of the tips shared with me:
“When you first start a niche, get as many names and contact information as possible into your database. Once you build your database, it gets easier from there because you can design campaigns around nurturing those relationships.”
It can take years of seeing your name before a prospect schedules an appointment. When you get those prospects into your database, you start the clock. So as you start your niche, meet as many people as possible (online and offline), get them into your marketing database, and implement nurturing campaigns.
The 52: Turn Down Business That Doesn’t Fit Your Niche
Streamline your marketing and operations.
Turn Down Business That Doesn’t Fit Your Niche
Recently, I interviewed several financial advisors for a book I’m writing about niche marketing. Here is one of the tips shared with me:
Turn down business that doesn’t fit your niche as soon as you can. Working with only niche clients makes everything easier. Not only does your marketing become easier, but you can also streamline your business operations.
The 52: Use Google Search to Brainstorm Blog Topics
Let Google do the work for you.
Use Google Search to Brainstorm Blog Topics
When brainstorming topics for your blog, jump over to Google to find common topics people are searching for. Start by typing in a general term (e.g., tax planning) and hit Enter. Scroll to the bottom of the page and you will see searches related to your initial term (e.g., tax planning methods, types of tax planning, tax planning strategies, objectives of tax planning, tax planning 2022, importance of tax planning). Use these topics for future blogs, and incorporate the same terms into the title and content of your blog to help improve your search rankings.
The 52: An Advisor Directory Focused on Niches
Finally, an alternative to zip code searches.
An Advisor Directory Focused on Niches
Advisor directories like NAPFA’s Find an Advisor, FeeOnlyNetwork, and FPA’s PlannerSearch can be a cheap, passive way to get unsolicited leads. The problem is these listings are generally zip code based, so they aren't great for people focused on a niche they serve nationally. For advisors who fall into this group, there is an advisor directory site for you: Wealthtender.com! Now prospects can choose an advisor who specializes in working with clients just like them rather than just picking a generalist close to their home.
P.S. We don’t have any financial incentive to promote Wealthtender, but they did give us a discount code to share with you. Use the code KALEIDO for 50% off your first two months of any subscription plan.
The 52: Recycle Your Content
Bring old content back to life.
Recycle Your Content
It’s difficult to create original content—blogs, videos, email newsletters, etc.—week after week. To save time, repurpose popular content you’ve already created. Review your marketing analytics and see which content has the most traffic, clicks, or views, and reuse or re-create that same content. One easy way is to reverse the tone—turn positive into negative. For example, take a “Top 10 Retirement Planning Tips for Business Owners” blog and turn it into “Top 10 Retirement Planning Mistakes Business Owners Make” by adapting the same content as a negative.
The 52: Use the Book-Writing Process as Marketing
Get in front of dozens of prospects before you write a word.
Use the Book-Writing Process as Marketing
I picked up this week’s marketing tip from Dr. Travis Parry, author of Achieving Balance.
Writing your own book can be an incredibly powerful marketing tool once published. But there is marketing value even before you even write your first word.
Use the book-writing process to interview people in your niche. Asking people to be interviewed for a book is an easy ask when “cold calling.” Once you interview someone in your niche, you can ask for introductions to other people you should be interviewing. You can continue to stay in touch by having them review what you wrote for accuracy. And you can send them a book when it is published.
This interview method will get you in front of dozens of potential clients long before your book becomes its own marketing tool.
The 52: Are You a Cover Band or an Artist?
There is great value in owning a niche.
Are You a Cover Band or an Artist?
In their book Become Known for a Niche You Own, the Category Pirates use a great metaphor to describe the value of those who niche:
“There are a total of zero cover bands in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Anyone who has made it into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame became known for a niche they owned. Notice how differently the world values musicians who write their own music versus musicians who play covers.”[1]
I bring this quote to your attention because I find a lot of financial advisors fear focusing on a niche because they are afraid it will lessen the value of their business. In reality, by niching, you’ll be seen as more special and as a result more valuable to your audience.
1. Category Pirates, Become Known for a Niche You Own: Why Legendary Writers Use Languaging to Design New & Different Categories, 2021, Kindle Edition.
The 52: Being Better Isn’t Better. Being Different Is Better
Why there's no winning the race to be the best.
Being Better Isn’t Better. Being Different Is Better
When I ask firms, “How are you different?” I get similar answers:
We have better customer service.
We offer better financial planning.
We have a better investment strategy.
But there is a problem with differentiating yourself as being “better”: It is easy for someone else to swoop in and be better than you.
This approach means a constant race to be the best. When you differentiate on being better, another firm can easily dethrone you by offering slightly better customer service or adding one more financial planning discipline.
When competing for clients, being better isn’t a sustainable strategy. Instead, be different in some defendable way (e.g., have a niche specialization) because it is hard for the competition to also be different in that same way.
The 52: Don’t Obsess About Vanity Metrics
Focus on the metrics that matter.
Don’t Obsess About Vanity Metrics
I often see advisors obsess over marketing metrics such as website visitors and social media followers—or what we call “vanity metrics.” These numbers make you feel good, but they aren’t leading indicators of your business’s future success. Nor do they provide information to inform your strategy.
Here are examples of vanity metrics:
Website visitors
Social media followers
Number of attendees at your client event
Instead, you want to focus your analysis on metrics that truly help inform your strategy:
Number of people who scheduled appointments
Number of new people added to your marketing database
Lead source (e.g., website, referral) of new prospects
Conversion rate
