Ok, let’s talk about improving your business.  And I don’t care where you are in the spectrum of AUM or years in the career….we all can use a little car wax to help make us shine.   

Here’s the thing…

Being a Financial Advisor, when done correctly, can be one of the greatest professions in the world.  You are able to help people make smart decisions with their money, and in doing so, you help people improve their lives.  That is powerful stuff. If you do this often enough, you too also become rewarded …both financially and emotionally.

It’s a great gig.  

Now we all know that the primary ingredient to a successful advisory practice is a boatload of happy clients who keep bringing you money and all their friends.   Am I right? Without that you got nothing.   

But how do you arrive at that?  For some advisors, this seems to come naturally.  For others, it can mean years of frustration and it often leads to looking for the magic bullet…a “push button” solution”.   

…but magic bullets don’t exist.   And we all know that. It’s just human nature that we often look for them.  

So, instead of chasing the next shiny object…here is the basis I want to establish for our discussions…and the good news is that you can begin to take action immediately on what I am about to suggest.   

…and it’s what every successful advisor has in common with Google…

Authority. 

Learn to think like Google

 You see, in Google terminology (Googlespeak?), the word “authority” implies that you are both trusted and seen as an expert.  In fact, authority is so important, it’s is a key determinant in page rank for a website. The more authoritative and trusted your site, the better you will rank.

Now think about this.  Isn’t this exactly how we want our clients to think of us too?  Do we not want to be perceived as “more trusted” and “more authoritative” than the advisor down the street?  Sure, we all do. 

What’s interesting is that what determines authority on the web can just as easily be applied to any advisory practice….in fact, you should be doing this stuff both in your office and on the web. 

Now there are a lot of factors that go into determining an authority ranking, and quite frankly, no one other than Google knows exactly what the formula is any more that we know the Colonel’s secret ingredients.  

But it is of a common belief that factors that may make one web page rank better than another, do include factors such as traffic, links, and quality of content.   

And interesting enough, traffic and links are directly related to the quality of content.   I will come back to this.  

Let’s first look at an example.

Our prospect sits down at their computer with the hope of finding a solution to a challenge they are facing…in internet marketing terms it’s often referred to as the “big-ass problem” or BAP.  

Now if our prospect is pretty typical, they will click the first few links presented about 53% of the time and the second link presented about 15% of the time.  The third-ranked page gets only 9% of the traffic. My guess here is that the bigger the BAP, the more likely our prospect will drill down. Links appearing on the second page rarely get a chance.   

Now, what is it that makes us like some websites better than others that may be selling the exact same services?  

There are several factors…let’s look at a few.   

The first is appearance….does the site look like what they expected?  Do they immediately feel like they have found the “promised land”? I will talk about this more in a separate email, but people often do buy with emotions and justify later…so there is something to be said about having the right appearance.

Next, and this is really important, does the content on the site match closely to the BAP they are trying to solve.  If it’s not made immediately apparent, they will exit post-haste.

Ditto links.  The more relevant and the more quality the content found, the more likely that an article or a website will be shared.

Now I am sure you can see where I am going with this.  The same characteristics that determine one website more of an authority over another, are also at work within your practice.  In fact, because of the ubiquitous nature of the web and the fact that most prospects will check you out on the web before you even meet…not only does your online and local presence blur together…they BOTH must lead your prospect or client to believe you are an AUTHORITY.  

So, back to where we were with seeking “magic bullets”.  Understand that most such interests are directed to tactics because most people think tactically.  

You need to think strategically.

What does that mean?  

Strategically means mapping out a longer-term, cohesive plan that is designed to leave no doubt in the minds of your clients and prospects that you are an authority and that you should be trusted.  

My goal with these posts is to help you discover the right track.

In my next post, I will share some of the common things almost every does that drives your client and prospects crazy.  

And you will be empowered to do things differently.

You will avoid common mistakes.

And you will be clear on how to build the thriving practice that you have always imagined.