Marketing and Business Growth Experts All Financial Advisors Should Follow
When it comes to advice, you can never have too much of a good thing, right?
Wrong.
These days, it’s so easy for everyone to become an expert that it can be difficult to hone in on the business and marketing advice that makes sense for you. People who generally have your best interests at heart, like your friends, family and professional contacts, tend to wholeheartedly insist that you absolutely MUST be on a specific social media platform, or that you MUST purchase a billboard next to the local thoroughfare – things that may just not make sense for you as an advisor.
For example, we have a client who is a financial advisor marketing to the affluent. During one of our regular marketing consultative meetings, he mentioned that someone told him he “has to have a Pinterest account for his business” in order to be successful. But if you really stop and think about that concept – what kind of things would a financial advisor share on Pinterest, and not only that, but would his ideal client ever see it?
I know, that example is a little on the extreme side. But the point is, there is a lot of bad advice swirling around from people that think they are helping you. And likewise from people who have decided they’re an expert, without any real training or experience. These folks may be causing you to waste your time, money and energy on marketing efforts that are of no use to you, or that could even hurt your business. At LMG, we have decades of experience in the industry, and below are just a few folks we believe you should listen to whether you’re a financial advisor just starting out, or you’ve been in the business for the better part of your life.
Gary Vaynerchuk
Author Gary Vaynerchuk is a four-time New York Times bestselling author and entrepreneurial giant that took his family’s local liquor store from a “brick and mortar” business that was profiting $3 million a year to an online e-commerce giant that was profiting $60 million a year, in just 5 short years.
Vaynerchuck can sometimes have a “colorful” way of explaining concepts, but his advice is sound and time-tested. In his current bestseller, Crushing It!: How Great Entrepreneurs Build Their Business and Influence – And How You Can, Too, he explains how being his vibrant, personable self was absolutely fundamental to his entrepreneurial self. Vaynerchuck takes an unconventional approach to building success and encourages his readers to go one step further to build the life they want, not just the business they want.
If you want to follow Vaynerchuck, oftentimes referred to as GaryVee, he has a podcast available on 12 different platforms, a blog that he publishes to at least a couple times a week, various live events throughout the world, and he is active on four different social media platforms. He also has five different books, available at most major booksellers.
Cam Marston
One of the newest authors that I’ve discovered through my regular professional development reading is Cam Marston. He’s an author, columnist, blogger, lecturer and business owner, and so far, all of his books have been incredibly insightful reads. Marston specializes in how the different generations and their tendencies can affect the market, and how the business owner should conduct themselves accordingly.
Marston’s latest book, which I finished just recently, is called The Gen-Savvy Financial Advisor, and it’s become a new favorite. It’s designed to prepare you to sustain a healthy business, as you strive to connect with the different generations, including Baby Boomers, Gen-X, and Millennials. In previous blog posts, I interpreted and summarized what I learned and how you might apply it in your business, so be sure to check those out.
If you’d like to learn more about Cam Marston and follow his work, he’s the CEO of Generational Insights, where he publishes weekly blogs and has a podcast. He’s also active on Twitter and lectures live around the world.
Scott and Alison Stratten
The last folks that I wanted to mention, even though they may not be everyone’s cup of tea, are Scott and Alison Stratten. They’ve published several books together, but my favorite is Un-Marketing. Like Vaynerchuck, they oftentimes use colorful language to get their points across, and if you’re a fan of audiobooks, it’s a riot to listen to. Another of my favorites is QR Codes Kill Kittens: How to Alienate Customers, Dishearten Employees, and Drive Your Business into the Ground. They use this obtuse title to grab your attention and instead of overwhelming you with things you “should” be doing, they instead give you a list of things you absolutely should not be doing. It’s a refreshing take on professional development.
The Strattens are co-owners of what has become a global brand, Un-Marketing Inc., co-authors of 5 best-selling books, and active on Twitter. They’re also live keynote speakers worldwide and have an active podcast.
Here at LMG, I’m a big believer that professional development is important, and that we shouldn’t always be trying to reinvent the wheel. I encourage my staff to read books I find inspiring and want to apply to our business, and our new hires have multiple titles that are required reading. I’ve found over the years that it’s just as important to work ON your business, as well as IN your business, if you want to continue to grow and thrive. I hope that you take the time to search out and learn from the folks above, and that these successful entrepreneurs inspire greatness in your business.
