Ellis Communications, Inc.

Financial Advisors Who Look for Marketing Opportunities and Take the Time to Act On Them Will Find Success

One of the secrets to successful marketing is always keeping an eye open for opportunities.

“That might mean a new service or new ways of using old ideas,” says Martin R. Baird, president of Annapolis, Md.-based Advisor Marketing and author of The 7 Deadly Sins of Advisor Marketing.  “It also means looking for the marketing opportunities that are all around you and then using them when you find them.”

Baird offers the following tips on keeping an open mind to new possibilities in marketing and then making them a reality.

Tip No. 1.  Marketing ideas are just about everywhere.  “You need to be the financial advisor looking for them,” Baird says.  “You should invest a little time each day to thinking about marketing and the opportunities you have right in front of you.”

Tip No. 2.  Act on new marketing ideas.  “Some advisors stumble upon a marketing idea that they think is a good one but they don’t take the next step,” Baird notes.  “I know people who have much better marketing ideas than I do, but they don’t take action.”

Tip No. 3.  Write it down.  “You need to begin with an idea,” Baird says.  “Action starts when the idea is committed to paper.  This is a great way to show you’re making progress.  Maybe you can start by writing down, ‘In the next five days, I will find a fun mailer to send to our top 25 clients six times per year.’  Once it’s on paper, it comes to life.”

Tip No. 4.  Make your first project a winner.  “If you are successful on your first effort, you are more likely to try the second one,” Baird says.  “Perhaps your first action is as simple as sending a postcard to five clients this week.”

Tip No. 5.  Reward yourself.  “Too often, we’re punished for not completing a project,” Baird notes.  “Then we don’t get a reward for doing it.  Your reward could be as simple as a half day of hooky.  It could be a little ice cream at lunch.  Rewarding your progress keeps you moving.”

Tip No. 6.  Don’t try to do too much.  “One mistake advisors make is developing a big marketing plan that they can never keep up with,” Baird explains.  “It’s better to complete a couple of marketing efforts each day than to try to do them all and end up doing nothing.”

Advisor Marketing provides a variety of services to financial advisors to help them improve their marketing methods and increase revenues, including seminars and conference speaking engagements on such topics as referrals, marketing, client communication and transitioning to fee.  The company also provides a service that tests multiple variables of a marketing campaign simultaneously so advisors will quickly know which elements of a marketing effort offer the best opportunity for success before they launch the campaign.

The company’s Web site, www.advisormarketing.com,  is the premiere Internet-based source for marketing advice, information and tools for self-driven, success-oriented financial advisors who are demanding information that helps them market their practice, meet the needs of their clients and increase sales. 

Advisor Marketing may be reached at 480-991-6420.