The Decision

From time to time, we have advisors reach out who are leaving the company they’re currently with and going independent. This decision to go independent is a big deal, and it requires very intentional communication, branding, and marketing strategies to ensure clients receive the change as positive.

Typically, when we ask them how long they’ve been considering going independent, their response is a couple of years, at least. They know this is a season that’s going to be complicated for their business—it’s stressful, time-sensitive, and it’s a risk for several reasons, not the least of which is that clients aren’t guaranteed to come with you. So it’s not a decision anyone makes lightly.

Regardless of the risks, though, some advisors find that going independent becomes a risk worth taking. And if you’re in that boat, we have some tips to make the process as smooth and positive as possible for you and your clients.

#1: Prepare Your Brand

Some people have existing brands when they transition, and the move is an opportune time to refresh their branded collateral to ensure it’s polished and in line with their brand identity. Others are coming from a strict situation where they’ve had to co-brand or never been allowed to create their own DBA. For these advisors and teams, going independent means building a brand from the ground up for the first time.

Determine What You Need & When

When it comes to branded collateral, everyone needs different things, so when we work with breakaway advisors, we have a meeting to assess where they are now and help them figure out what they need. We tend to approach branding in phases, and Phase 1 includes the items that must be completed and in place before the transition is official. Those items include:

• Name
• Logo
• Website (and domain)
• Website content
• Announcement letter or video

If you use a pitch deck frequently, we also recommend creating or updating this item so it’s ready to go before you announce the transition. Having these pieces in place will ensure your brand looks polished and that you’re ready to share your story effectively throughout the transition.

Why Breakaway Branding is Unique

While we always want to do quick and efficient work for our clients, transition projects usually include hard deadlines and a specific “launch date” we’re working toward.

So, our approach is to outline everything that needs to happen before the launch date and work together to establish an appropriate timeline of deadlines that everyone adheres to. These deadlines are usually pretty strict because there’s generally not any wiggle room for the transition date.

#2: Create a communication plan

Strategic communication is key for any major business transition. You want your clients to know that the move is positive and avoid creating worry or uncertainty, so planning ahead for how you tell people is essential.

How To Announce Your Business Transition

Some of our clients create an announcement video, some share the news via a letter or branded email, and some do both. Whichever you opt for, you also need to plan to call your top clients and let all your other clients know they’re free to call you, email you, or stop by if they have questions, concerns, etc. Once all your clients have been informed, you should also share the news on your social media platforms. Be sure to clear your schedule for a week or two post-transition to focus on communicating with your clients and putting everyone’s minds at ease.

Minimize Worry & Confusion

When announcing your move, the important thing is to avoid the temptation to overexplain the reasons you’re leaving your current company. When people see a long video or letter, they’re a lot less likely to watch or read it, and they’re a lot more likely to worry, panic, speculate, and reach out to you and ask, “What is this about?”—which is exactly what you’re trying to avoid.

The best thing to do is keep it short and simple, then direct clients to another source for more information, like a Q&A page on your website, and invite them to contact you directly if they have additional questions. It’s also good to create some agreed-upon language for the rest of your team, so everyone is communicating the same message.  

A few more points for your announcement verbiage, be it a letter or video script:

• Make the point that the transition is so you can best serve your clients
• Highlight all the things that will not change (excellent service, your team, etc.)
• Provide quick and simple next steps (“Watch our Q&A video,” “Be on the lookout for XYZ email,” etc.)

Double-Up Your Announcements

If you are also rebranding or creating a new brand, this is the perfect time to tell clients. In the same message you announce that you’re going independent, you can add, “We’ve also rebranded our practice… Check out our new website… etc.” which makes both announcements seem like not such a huge deal (in a good way).  

#3: Reinforce Normalcy

Finally, once you’ve made your big announcement and spent a few weeks answering questions, talking to clients, and transitioning accounts, send some kind of communication to show clients that everything is “business as usual.” That might be your regular monthly newsletter or something as simple as an email from you saying, “I saw this article and thought it would be great to share with our clients—hope you enjoy!” This kind of communication reinforces the idea that the confusing period of change is over, and everything is back to normal.

#4: Don’t Go It Alone

Whatever the reason for a move, transitioning one’s practice can be incredibly stressful, especially with a tight timeline, and you’re going to need a team of professionals on your side. When we work with breakaway advisors (and all our clients, for that matter), our goal is to take as much as possible off their plate and minimize stress any way we can.

If you see a transition in your business’s future, we’re happy to walk you through the process and help you prepare your practice for a new season of excellence.

Having worked with many of the nation’s top advisors over the years, one thing we’ve learned is that when a prospect visits a financial advisor’s website, the page they spend the most time on is the Team page.

 

Why?

 

Because as we’ve said before, advising is a personal business. Even when an advisor is part of a DBA, people are referred to him or her by name. So when prospective clients visit your website, they’re there to vet you. They might check out some things about the company as well, but they are always going to do their due diligence and vet the individual advisor. They want to be sure you have the ability to help them with whatever they need.

 

When it comes to vetting, every prospect cares about different things. For some, education and designations are really important; others don’t care at all. It’s the same with awards. Some prospects want to know more about your personal life; others don’t. That’s why a comprehensive bio is crucial for advisors. You want to be sure to include everything someone may want to know about you. And because of that, this is the one place in your website content where the “less is more” rule does not apply. (If you’re worried about it being too long, don’t worry—we have a solution for that.)

 

The bottom line is, you need to make a great impression with your bio. To do that, you need to answer two key questions, and you need to avoid several common mistakes.

 

2 Key Questions to Address With Your bio

When prospects click on your bio, they are wanting to know the answer to two key questions:

 

• Does this person have the knowledge and experience I need in a financial advisor?
• Will I like them and enjoy working with them?

 

The first question is the most straightforward. Prospective clients need to know if you work with people like them, and they want confidence that you’re great at what you do. To that end, you want to include information about what areas of planning you specialize in, how long you’ve been in the industry, and what designations, licenses, degrees, and even awards you have.

 

That said, many advisors fear that detailing their knowledge and accolades will make them sound salesy or braggy. But reading your bio is part of the client’s vetting process, and they’re looking for reasons to say yes or no to working with you—so if you have something impressive to share, share it. After all, you don’t worry about sounding braggy on a resume, because it’s the appropriate place to share all the high points about you; the same is true of your bio.

 

Plus, website bios are traditionally written in the voice of the company (e.g., “Mark has been serving clients for more than 30 years”), which allows you to share all the reasons a client would want to work with you without sounding self-important.

 

The second question, “Will I like the person and enjoy working with them?” is a little less straightforward to answer, but it’s also crucial to a compelling bio. Your bio should have some personality; it should give prospects an idea of the type of person you are. Much of this can be accomplished by sharing information about your personal life, like your hobbies and family, but there are ways to lift the veil even if you want to keep things a little more private (more on that below).

 

The key is to reveal some things about yourself that go beyond your expertise as an advisor. Something that will give the reader an idea of the kind of person you are, like whether you’re comfortable cracking a few jokes in a meeting or you keep things straightforward and professional.

 

Segmenting Your Bio

Sound like a lot of information to fit into one bio? It is. But that doesn’t mean it’s overkill; different people care about different things, so the best practice is to leave nothing out. To ensure it’s not overwhelming for the reader, we recommend segmenting it into several sections so they can skim and quickly find what they’re interested in. Here are some section examples:

 

• Areas of Expertise
• Clients Served
• Education & Designations
• Awards & Accolades
• Community Involvement
• Personal Interests
• Photo Gallery

 

You can use different sections based on what kind of story you want to tell and the kind of information you share, but these are some of the common categories. Here is an example of a team that has segmented their bios.

 

4 Mistakes to Avoid When Creating Your Bio

Now that you know the elements of a great bio, here are a few things to avoid:

 

1. Outdated Information

Review your bio at least once a year and update information as necessary (new designations or awards, a new baby in the family, etc.). It’s also a good idea to include all numerical information in an evergreen style. So instead of saying you’ve been in business for 31 years (which will be 32 next year), say “more than 30 years.” Instead of listing your kids’ ages, say they are “young,” “in grade school,” “adult children,” or don’t specify at all.

 

2. Grammatical Errors

If you’re writing your own bio, always have one or two people proofread it. Even if you have someone else write it, it’s a good idea to have a second and third set of eyes check for misspelled words, missing punctuation, and other errors. Small mistakes like this can give the impression that you’re sloppy or don’t pay attention to details.

 

3. Sparse Content

To reiterate, most prospects want to know as much as they can about you, so if you have a lot to say, say it! If you’ve been in business for more than 30 years and you’re the principal, a few sentences won’t cut it. Even if you’re not someone who focuses on getting lots of designations or awards, you can share about your approach to the business and what your experience has taught you. If you work with lots of business owners or retirees, say a little about why you’re a great fit for that type of client.

 

4. Lack of Personality

In our professional opinion, the more you share about yourself as a person, the better. It helps people get to know you and connect with you, which helps them trust you. Talk about your family and what you love to do together; include pictures of your dog or your favorite vacation moments; mention a charity you’re passionate about. In short, if it’s lighthearted (i.e., not politics) and important to you, share it.

 

Of course, everyone has their own privacy threshold, and that’s fine, so do what’s comfortable for you. If you want to keep things a little more surface-level (but still personal), you can include a section of “Fun Facts” with details like your favorite restaurant or sports team, an impactful book you’ve read recently, or a movie you could watch over and over again. Here’s an example of a team that has implemented this concept really well.

 

Upgrade Your Bio

Want help crafting a thorough, compelling bio? We’d love to help! Just give us a shout by clicking the Consultation button below.

One common thread among the advisors we work with is that they’re passionate about serving the communities in which they live and do business. Their desire to help others extends beyond the work they do with clients and into other areas of their life.

 

Our agency is the same way—we love the opportunity to serve, and it’s important to us to make a positive impact on others. And while we’d volunteer our time for this reason alone, this focus on giving back as a company is also good for business.

 

Here are some ways serving others as a team can enhance your business:

 

Serving Together Develops Your Team

At LMG, we care very much about our employees as whole people, and this perspective has helped us cultivate a team of genuine, loyal, and passionate team members. Our company is like a family to us, and that’s largely because we’ve very intentionally poured into our culture.

 

Our work is the common thread that brings us together, but we care about more than the bottom line, and it shows. We invest in activities like fitness challenges and company retreats (aka “family reunions”), and these initiatives all help us grow closer as a team. It’s the same with serving in the community—when we attend events like the United Way Day of Caring, it builds camaraderie and continues to make the statement to our team that we are invested in them as people—and their community. We know the value in serving others, and we want to help cultivate that experience for them.

 

What if my team members aren’t local:

Only about 75% of our team is local, and the same can be said for many of our clients, so you may not have the opportunity to bring your whole team together and volunteer somewhere—but don’t let that stop you from participating in charitable efforts with your team members who are local. There are also creative ways to get your remote team involved, like participating in a virtual 5k to raise money for a charity.

 

Prioritizing Serving the Community Positions Your Company as a Desirable Workplace

Generation Z is permeating the workforce, and these individuals have made it clear that they care about the impact their job has on the world at large. They want to make a difference, both in their profession and in their life in general—and they want to know that their employer is similarly committed to making a positive change.

 

Devoting time to serving in your community or fundraising for a charity is another way to create a fulfilling work environment. Today’s workforce is motivated less by the “what” and more by the “why” and “how”—why they do what they do, why their job matters, and how they can make a difference through their jobs. So giving your employees opportunities to serve or benefit a cause they’re passionate about can be a great way to help recruit (and retain) driven young people for your company.

 

It’s Good to Do Good.

The first two reasons are for the good of your people and your business—it feels good to give back and know you’re making a difference, and it benefits your company to spend time together cultivating a close-knit, motivated, and fulfilled team. But for our agency, the most important element is that serving others is part of who we are. We’ve been given unique talents and resources, and we want to use them to help the community in which we live.

 

Our agency often does pro bono work for churches and local nonprofits, whether that’s building websites, consulting, designing different pieces, or helping promote an event. Our CEO and co-owner Kelly has served on the local school board and is the former President of the Lawton Public School Foundation board. She has participated on the local United Way board for about four years and is now the Vice President.

 

And we don’t do any of this to acquire new clients—most of our clients are in other states, and they’re not impacted by our local efforts to give back. We serve those around us because we believe it’s important to recognize and address the needs in our community. As many of our clients also say, “We are blessed to be a blessing.”

Over the course of their careers, many advisors find themselves going through a branding or rebranding process more than once. Sometimes it’s because they’re taking on a partner and launching a new name; they might be breaking away from a broker-dealer and going independent; and other times it’s because they’re in the final 10-15 years before retirement and they want to create an identity that’s more attractive to a wider market.

 

Whatever the reason for a rebrand, naming your financial practice is a big decision.

 

The moniker you choose will be used in just about all your company’s collateral (on your business cards, your website, social media profiles, email signature, etc.), and it’s how clients will come to recognize your brand for years to come. You’ll use it when you introduce yourself, and your clients will say it to their friends and family every time they refer you to someone.

 

So naturally, you want it to be good great.

 

Yet it is this very desire for greatness that sometimes sends advisors down a frustrating path.

 

Why Some Advisors Get Frustrated When Trying to Choose a Name for Their Practice

Let’s pivot for a moment and talk about your brand story.

 

Your brand story is incredibly important. It tells people why you do what you do, how you’re different, how you can help them, and why they should trust you. It’s one of the foundational elements of your brand, and it’s the emotive powerhouse that inspires people to reach out to you once they’ve been referred to you. Your story (all of which should be told on your website) should bleed into the content on your social media, in your pitch deck, and even in your spoken language.

 

But (contrary to popular belief) it does not have to influence your company name.

 

Your name is only a few words, so it’s not the right place to tell your brand story. Your name can have meaning; it can tie into your story—but try not to make that a prerequisite before you explore all your options. 

 

A lot of times, advisors and teams get bogged down with the idea that their name needs to tell part of their story. They want it to reflect the difference they make in people’s lives or the special way they approach the planning process.

 

And while a meaningful name is cool, it’s not necessary. In fact, sometimes looking for a meaningful name that’s also available from a trademark, competitor, and domain standpoint just makes it a lot more challenging to find one.

 

So consider all your options before you get caught in a (very well-intentioned yet potentially frustrating) rabbit hole in your search for a name. Maybe your name doesn’t have to have a super-inspired backstory or clever explanation. Maybe it’s just something you love that people will remember and repeat for generations.    

 

There are lots of different name types, and no one is better than the other. Here are some examples to get your wheels turning:  

 

Types of Business Names

Name-Names

Example: Smith & Jones Financial Group

 

Classic and simple. The preferred style of attorneys, CPAs, and many financial professionals. A Name-Name could come from your last name, middle name, maiden name, initials—anything that involves your name.

 

While at first highly personal, these name types can also evolve into some of the most well-known and iconic brands. Think Ford, Chanel, Johnson & Johnson, Harley-Davidson, Hermès—they were just names. Now they are symbols.

 

Location Names

Example: Main Street Financial Group

 

Another classically simple approach is to name your business for its location (or even a location that’s just meaningful to you). That could be a street name, city, beachfront, anything. We have several clients who have taken this approach, and it works well. Oh, and there’s our agency—Lawton Marketing Group (known as LMG to our entire team and many of our clients).

 

Some well-known examples include: Kentucky Fried Chicken, American Airlines, Abbey Road Studios, Adobe (named after Adobe Creek in Los Altos, California).

 

Made-Up Names

Example: Veridian Wealth Advisors

 

Some of the most iconic brands have names that mean nothing at all. Rolex, Kodak, Spotify, Oreo, Hulu, Zara—these aren’t even real words. Starbucks, Firestone, Goodyear—they might be comprised of real words, but do they make you think of coffee or tires? (Well, they do now.)

 

Meaningful Names

Example: Marathon Wealth (because wealth management is a marathon, not a sprint)

 

Of course, Name-Names and Location Names can be meaningful, but for our purposes, “Meaningful Names” are those derived solely for their meaning. These names relate to the company’s mission, approach, vision, clients served, or something else relevant to the brand story.

 

Meaningful names have several variations:

• Straightforward (e.g., Dove, a word that evokes purity and peace)
• Translated (e.g., Volkswagen, which is German for “people’s car”)
• Combined (e.g., Netflix = internet + flicks/flix)

 

There are lots of ways to play with meaningful name ideas by combining translated words, using well-known names from history or mythology, including numbers, shortening a real word—there are endless possibilities.

 

Some other well-known examples include:

• Sephora (which, according to Sephora’s X account, is a translated and combined word that comes from the Greek sophus, meaning beauty, and Zipphora, Moses’s wife who was known for her beauty)
• Nike (the Greek goddess of victory)
• Groupon (group + coupon)
• Caterpillar/CAT (named for the way the machines move)
• Cisco (short for San Francisco, where the company was founded)
• Airbnb (a nod to when the company’s founders rented out air mattresses as part of their makeshift bed and breakfast)
• Lego (from the Danish phrase, leg godt, meaning “play well”)

 

Something to note about these very well-known and meaningful names is that most people don’t know what they mean offhand. Some (like Netflix and Airbnb) are relatively self-explanatory, but many of them are memorable simply because the company itself is popular.  

 

Which brings us to a very important point: You bring meaning to your business’s name, not the other way around.

 

Much of the power of a name is simply in its familiarity. So while it’s fun if your company’s name alludes to some special meaning, it’s not essential. Beyond being available from a trademark and domain standpoint and being unique enough that you’re not likely to be confused with a competitor, the most important factors are that your name is:

 

• Easy to say
• Easy to spell
• Sounds good

 

It’s that simple.

 

Need Help Finding a Name?

The concept for developing a name may be simple, but the complete process is not. Once you find some ideas you love, there’s still a lot of vetting to be done. If you want help with your DBA naming process, let us know by clicking the button below. We can help you from brainstorming all the way to finding a good domain, or we can help you vet some name ideas you already have in mind.

“You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.”

 

It’s true, and perhaps twice as important for financial advisors than the average business. A client’s initial impression of you and your firm is incredibly important for two reasons:

 

First impressions set the stage for how we view a person (or business) for the rest of the relationship.

If your new neighbor says something to you that rubs you the wrong way, you’re likely to be wary of them for quite a while. If you order a shirt from a company and they send you the wrong one and refuse to correct the issue, the likelihood you’ll do business with them again is slim. Because from that point on, confirmation bias kicks in, and you’ll notice everything that confirms your already negative opinion—and ignore most evidence to the contrary.

 

But the opposite is also true. When someone listens intently to you or pays you a genuine compliment, you think of them as a kind person. If a business goes out of their way to make your life easier and deliver amazing service, you remember that experience—and rave about it—years later.

 

As an advisor, a client’s first impression of you is a culmination of things—the first time they contact you, the first time they see your office, do a Zoom call with you, receive paperwork from your practice—all these things create their first impression of your business. If you appear polished, attentive, and on top of your game, that’s how the client will view you from that moment on. But if your communication is sporadic or working with you is a bit of a hassle—you’re missing a wealth of opportunity.

 

The first 6 months of the client relationship is your best opportunity to get referrals.

The first several months you work with someone are incredibly impactful to that person. You’re showing them opportunities available to them, finding solutions to their chronic financial problems, giving them clarity about their nagging questions, and getting their life organized. You are actively changing the way they think about their money and their future, and that’s a big deal.

 

When something great happens to you, don’t you want to tell people about it?

 

And the more polished, impressive, and helpful you are, the more likely clients are to tell others about their amazing experience working with you.

 

That’s why the first six months are a critical time to knock your clients’ socks off. If you want a powerhouse branding tool to get you started, a Welcome Packet is a great place to start.

 

What is a Welcome Packet for a Financial Practice?

When someone onboards into your firm, there are lots of documents to keep track of, emails to send, even new names to learn. A welcome packet brings all that information together into one polished, branded document. It’s a booklet that officially welcomes someone to your client family and includes all the relevant information they need to know, such as…

 

• Account login details & instructions
• A team directory
• A list of documents they need to send you
• What they should expect throughout the planning process
• Who your firm is and what you value (this being a reminder, not new information)
• Etc.

 

A welcome packet like this serves several purposes—all of which increase your referability.

 

1)   Make a Great Impression

As we said, the first six months of the client relationship are critical to making a great impression. The more impressive you are in this season, the more likely clients are to refer you to others. A welcome packet can reinforce your brand messaging, reminding clients why they chose to work with you and how you’re different from other advisors. When you give them a well-designed, branded booklet that has everything they need, it shows them you’re on top of things, and you’re going to make their life easier. It shows them you know what you’re doing, and they’re in great hands.

 

2)   Create Order & Simplicity

If you opt for the traditional onboarding method—sending several emails and forms over the course of who-knows-how-long—the chances of your team or the client forgetting something, losing something, or missing something are much higher. Beyond that, it’s just messy. No one needs more complexity in their lives, especially not busy, successful people. Putting everything in a welcome packet ensures you and the client have all the relevant information you need in one place.

 

3)   Become a great Gifter

If you want to take things to the next level, you can also use your welcome packet to build deeper relationships with clients. In addition to the necessary paperwork, include a “Favorite Things” checklist. This is a questionnaire where you ask clients about their favorite hobbies, places to visit, food and drink, etc. Later, you can use that information to send them thoughtful gifts or treat them to their favorite snacks when they come to your office.

 

If you want to go a step further, you can also send a welcome gift to new clients. Make it something high quality and name-brand (e.g., a Stanley cup), and include your logo. Pack it in a branded box along with your welcome packet, and you have a rave-worthy welcome kit.

 

Upgrade Your Onboarding Experience

Need help designing your welcome packet? Wondering if your onboarding process needs an overhaul? We’d love to help! We’ve worked with countless advisors to fine-tune their client experience and create impressive, branded materials for their practice. Just send us a message and let us know what you’re looking for!

Spending time with your clients outside the business—is it excessive? Or fun? Insincere?

Most importantly… Is it worth it?

Some advisors consider their clients good friends and love the chance to socialize with them; others like to draw a clear line between professional and personal relationships. But here’s the thing—your business is inherently personal, and the more that clients see you as a close friend or trusted confidant, the more likely they are to refer you to others. So even if you’re in the second camp, there’s a clear benefit to cultivating deeper relationships with clients, and spending quality time with them is a very effective way to do that.

Plus, socializing outside the business isn’t just about impressing top clients and prospects in the hopes of more business from those people. It’s about providing above-and-beyond service, creating memorable experiences, and cultivating deeper, more meaningful relationships—all of which help inspire referrals from different kinds of clients.

Here are three types of client events and how they can generate growth for your practice:

Intimate Client Events

Hosting events with 20 or fewer people (no more than 10 couples) is a great way to strengthen relationships with your top clients. Keeping it small gives you the chance to have real conversations, deepen connections, and enjoy quality time with great people—all of which build trust and make them view you more like a friend—which of course, increases your chance for referrals.

Beyond that, these events give you the chance to show your clients how much you appreciate them by treating them to an amazing experience. You can do something casual (but still exciting) like renting box seats at a sporting event or something more elegant like dinner at a nice restaurant (preferably in a private room or rented space). There are lots of ways to get creative with smaller events—you can book group cooking classes, wine tastings, a golf scramble—the opportunities are extensive.

Whatever you decide to do, be strategic about who you invite to what events. Small events should be reserved for A clients only, and of course, you want to know that someone enjoys golf before you invite them to play 18 holes. And if several of your clients are already friends—or you think they should be—invite them to the same event.

Educational Events

Hosting seminars or other educational events serves several purposes: For starters, you are positioning yourself as an expert and a thought leader, which builds credibility and trust. Beyond that, hosting these kinds of events adds value for current clients, and they’re a strategic way for you to “ask for an introduction” without asking for an introduction. When you invite clients to your event, open the invite to their friends as well. Encourage them to bring someone who would benefit from learning about the topic at hand.

For this strategy to work, the event needs to be worthwhile. Pick a topic that is timely and interesting, and address common concerns and questions. Host it somewhere nice, like a country club, serve hors d’oeuvres (or a meal) and drinks, and leave plenty of time for mingling. (We recommend keeping your speaking portion to 30 minutes or less).

You can also target your next generation of clients with this strategy. Choose a topic that speaks to young professionals and new families, and present it as an opportunity for your current clients’ kids or grandkids. It shows you care about their entire family, and it opens the door to potential future clients. If you have new advisors on your team who are looking to build their books of business, they can host the event, which is a great way for them to meet new prospects.

Family-Friendly Festivities

We recommend that most events be reserved for your top clients (or a segment you’re specifically targeting, like the younger generation), but this is an exception. This is the kind of thing you would only do once a year, and you would invite all your clients and their families. (Or at least A-level and B-level clients, depending on how big your book is and how big you want the event to be. Either way—make it family-friendly.)

You can do a summertime social at a park with food trucks and live music (or games like cornhole and giant Jenga), you can host a Christmas festival and invite Santa for photo ops, or you could even rent out a children’s museum for an evening. It all depends on your budget and the opportunities available where you live.

There are very few events people can bring their kids to these days (especially when socializing with their advisor), and hosting something like this sets you apart from the crowd. It shows you value what your clients value, and it gives you a chance to do something really special for all your clients. Doing so can prompt lower-level clients to engage with you on a deeper level, and it creates an experience people can’t help but rave about.

What type of client event is best for your practice?

The answer to that question depends on a lot of things—your goals, budget, target markets. And of course, this is not an extensive list of all the ways you can spend time with clients. It’s a snapshot of ideas that hopefully encourage you to branch out this year and be intentional about how you grow your practice. And if you don’t have a plan for how you’re going to grow, you need one—and we’re here to help.

Ask us about creating a strategic marketing and branding plan for your practice.

Your headshot—in most cases, it’s the first image of your face that prospects will see. That in and of itself makes it a pretty big deal.

And yet, plenty of advisors put off updating their headshot because it’s a hassle, they don’t realize they need to, or they just don’t like having their picture taken.

But having a great headshot for your website and social media profiles is incredibly important.

Here are 3 reasons you should prioritize having a current, professional headshot:

1. It’s a Reflection of Your Brand

Just like having a modern, easy-to-use website helps create a great impression, having a professional, current headshot shows that you care about the details and you’re in touch with the times. When a prospect comes to your site, they’re there to vet you, and you need to make a good impression on every level. When you have a great headshot, it says you’re polished, on top of your game, and you don’t let things fall by the wayside.

2. It’s More Flattering

If you have an outdated headshot that looks like it belongs in a church directory from the 90s… Well, that’s not a good look for anybody. A current photo (with your current hairstyle and clothing choices) is always going to be more flattering than a photo that was taken 15 years ago. Don’t fall into the trap of hanging onto an old headshot because you were thinner, had more hair, fewer wrinkles, whatever. You’re in a business where honesty is paramount, and presenting one image of yourself online and a different one in person does not send the right message. A real, current photo that exudes confidence and professionalism—that is always the more flattering option.

3. It Creates Cohesivity

Nothing mars a good Team page on a website like mismatched photos. You and your team’s headshots should be taken in the same style with similar backgrounds. That can be difficult to maintain if you’re adding new team members frequently, but there are a couple ways to make it work. If your whole team needs new headshots, start with a group photo session. From there, you can hire the same photographer to take photos in the same location when you add a team member. You can also edit the background of a new team member’s headshot, but getting an acceptable result can be tricky if the lighting isn’t the same or you don’t know someone with really great Photoshop skills.

If you have team members in different locations and it might be several months before you can all get together for a photoshoot, you can change your headshots to black and white (just as a quick fix), which makes everything look more cohesive. You can also have the people at one location get their headshots done with just a plain white or black background, and then show those photos to the photographer who is going to shoot the rest of your team’s photos. A good photographer should be able to replicate the look with a simple background (being mindful not just of the background, but the subject’s distance from the camera, pose, etc.). Either way, everyone on your team should have current, professional, coordinating (as much as possible) headshots.

The Makings of a Great Headshot 

So, what exactly constitutes a great headshot? Even if you’re using a fairly recent professional photo^[1] (which should guarantee the basics like good lighting and an attractive background) it may not be the best representation of you or your brand. Here are some additional things to consider:

Clothing Choice

Lots of our clients ask for recommendations about what they should wear in their headshots. Simple clothes (i.e., solid colors, minimal textures, etc.) typically work best and are less likely to clash with the background or even your hair. For ladies, be mindful of how much skin you show. A sleeveless blouse—though it might be totally acceptable and “on brand” for your practice—might be too much for a headshot. 

One major trend we’ve seen lately is for men to wear a jacket with no tie instead of a jacket and tie. It’s a big shift from the old industry norm, and we attribute the change to the “Zoomolution” that happened during covid. People became a lot more casual in their virtual meetings, and advisors were no exception. They got a little more relaxed and real with their clients, and the look stuck. And this look—jacket, no tie—works nicely. It’s professional enough without coming across as stuffy, so it’s what we recommend for most of our clients. 

Level of Formality

Photos of your team should reflect the personality of your firm. If you’re a lighthearted team that likes to bring an element of fun to the planning process, you can portray that in your headshots while still maintaining a level of professionalism. A great photographer can help you with this, but it might mean doing a variety of casual poses for the team (rather than having everyone do the standard seated-on-a-stool-with-a-straight-back look), taking the photos outside, or even including a more casual personal photo in your bio in addition to a traditional headshot.

Your “Look”

If you’ve recently lost a lot of weight, cut off all your hair, or otherwise significantly changed your appearance, you might consider a new headshot. While it’s not bad to look a little different in person than you do in your photo, you want it to be an accurate representation of who you are now.

Awkwardness

This is something a good photographer should be able to identify and avoid, but it’s not a guarantee. We’ve seen plenty of headshots on websites where someone is making an expression that looks almost angry (or worse, creepy), sitting/standing in an unflattering position, or wearing a blue suit when the rest of their team is in black (maybe everyone was told to wear blue or black, but now only that person looks out of place). Ask a few people for their opinion on your headshot. The key is finding someone who will give you an honest answer, whether that’s your spouse, kid, or colleague. 

If you want our professional opinion on your headshot, team photos, or brand in general, schedule a consultation with us! (We promise we won’t use the word “creepy.”)

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^[1] We have lots of people ask about using cellphone cameras for headshots (they’re so good nowadays, right?), and while phone cameras can work for DIY videos, they don’t deliver the right quality for a headshot. The primary reason is the lighting—lighting is key, even more than equipment. The lighting in every team member’s photo needs to be intentional and consistent, and you can’t do that without professional lighting.

Financial advising is and always will be a highly personal business, and because of that, the best marketing strategies are ones that make your clients feel like they know you, you know them, and you care about them as a person—and one great way to foster that feeling is by giving them gifts.

Some advisors worry that sending gifts will come across as cheesy or that they simply won’t be able to keep up with it. But with the right strategy in place, gifting can be a powerful way to set yourself apart and make your clients feel loved, which builds connections and inspires more referrals. The key to gifting effectively is to identify who you want to send gifts to, when you plan to send gifts, and what you’re going to send.

Who to Give Gifts To

For most firms, we recommend sending gifts only to your top clients (having a fully segmented client database makes that process much simpler). But if you have a smaller practice or you’re looking for ways to connect with B-level clients, you might consider sending gifts to A and B clients or doing tiered gifts on some occasions. For example, every year at Christmas, you might send a live wreath and a bag of gourmet coffee to A clients and only the coffee to your B clients.

When To Send Client Gifts

The holidays are a great time for giving, but you don’t have to wait until December to show clients some extra love. In fact, sending a gift when it’s unexpected can be even more impactful than sending gifts during the typical gift-giving season.

When you boil it down, there are two kinds of client gifts: planned gifts (ones you send for recurring occasions like holidays or birthdays) and opportunity gifts. Opportunity gifts are ones you send for different occasions as they occur—like when a client has a baby, purchases a vacation home, loses a loved one, etc. These kinds of gifts are super impactful because they show that you’re paying attention to what’s going on in your clients’ lives.

Here are some different occasions when you might send a gift:

• New home purchase
• Child going to college
• Wedding
• New baby or grandbaby
• “Get well soon” (Coming down with the flu might not be an “occasion,” but imagine how your client will feel when you send them a care package while they’re home sick.)
• Death of a loved one
• New job or major promotion
• When a client sends you a referral

Many of these events will be discussed in your planning meetings, but some of them (like being sick or sometimes losing a loved one) are the kind of thing you’ll only learn in day-to-day conversations—which is why it’s important to build genuine connections and keep your ears open for these opportunities.

Planned gifts can also be very special and impactful, and they’re something your clients can look forward to receiving every year. When it comes to the holidays, we like the idea of sending something around Thanksgiving (gourmet pies, anyone?) rather than Christmas for two reasons: 1) You get ahead of the Christmas chaos so your gift is less likely to get lost in the shuffle and 2) You avoid sending a Christmas gift to someone who might not celebrate the holiday. That’s not to say you shouldn’t send Christmas gifts, but if you do, send them early.

You could also send birthday gifts to your top clients (this strategy does require a lot more planning because you can’t send them all at the same time, but it’s doable), a summer book (we recommend something inspirational or life-improving that will resonate with most people), or even a nice floral wreath to celebrate the arrival of spring (this is especially fun if you have clients who live in really cold climates).

What to Send

Different occasions merit different gifts, but the two most important elements are that your gift is thoughtful and of high quality. If you’re purchasing something that comes in a name-brand (say, engraved tumblers for the parents of a new college student), purchase a name-brand option, like a Yeti.

Goldbelly.com is a great place to find food gifts from some of the top eateries around the country, and many of them ship nationwide. You can send pies at Thanksgiving, cakes for birthdays, and gourmet chocolates to thank someone who sent you a referral.

For weddings, housewarming, new babies, and condolences, send something more personal, like a photo album for new grandparents with the baby’s name on it or an engraved charcuterie board for newlyweds. Personalized memorial ornaments or wind chimes are thoughtful gifts for someone who has lost a loved one.

Gifting the Right Way

Sending gifts to clients is a powerful way to show them you care, and it doesn’t have to be an overwhelming process for you. Start by determining which clients you’ll send gifts to, and then identify the kinds of occasions you want to send gifts for, whether those are planned gifts, opportunity gifts, or both. Then spend some time researching and decide what you’ll send for each occasion (for opportunity gifts, we recommend changing the gift list every year or so to avoid sending the same thing to too many people, or to the same person multiple times). Once you have a schedule and a list of gifts, it becomes fairly simple to pull the trigger when it’s time to send something.

If you want help with a specific strategy for your practice, we’d love to help you develop a gifting plan that suits your goals. You can click the button below to schedule a consultation.

At LMG, our team is constantly looking for ways to up our game, wow our clients, and provide next-level creativity that elicits stunning brands and marketing tools for our clients. We strive for excellence in everything we do, and we are proud to announce that this year, our agency was honored with four esteemed industry awards for our website design and content development.

Here’s a look at each of those awards:

MUSE Creative Awards

The MUSE Creative Awards recognizes creative and design professionals from around the world for their work in areas such as advertising, branded content, social media marketing, video, and more. Awards are presented to companies and individuals whose works exemplify excellence and that push their respective industries forward. This year, more than 10,000 entries were submitted, and our agency received a Silver award for Strata Capital’s website design. Judging was completed by a jury panel of highly regarded industry professionals, and each entry was evaluated by multiple judges without being compared to other submissions. To learn more about our winning entry and the MUSE Awards, visit the Muse Awards website.

dotCOMM Awards

The dotCOMM Awards is an international competition that honors excellence in web creativity and digital communication. Administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP), the dotCOMM Awards recognizes companies and individuals whose talent exceeds a high standard of excellence and whose work serves as a benchmark for the industry. This year, there were more than 2,500 entries, and LMG received two awards for content development. Our strategic messaging (i.e., the branded content on a website) for Civic Financial received a Gold award, and our strategic messaging for Hemlock Creek Wealth Management received an Honorable Mention. To learn more about the dotCOMM Awards, visit their website.

w3 Awards

The w3 Awards honors creative excellence on the web and recognizes the people behind award-winning Websites, Online Marketing, Web Video, Mobile Sites and Apps, Social, Podcasts, and Emerging Tech. The w3 Awards is sanctioned by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts, an invitation-only body of top-tier professionals from acclaimed media, interactive, advertising, and marketing organizations like Walt Disney Studios, Meta, Netflix, IBM, NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory, LG, and many others. The w3 Awards is accessible to the biggest agencies, the smallest firms, and everyone in between, and small firms are as likely to win as Fortune 500 companies and international agencies. This year, LMG won a Silver award in Best Visual Appeal – Experience for our design and development of the MOKAN Wealth Management website. Visit the w3 Awards website to learn more.

 

Thank you!

Our team works incredibly hard to produce top-notch work for our clients, and we are so grateful for the effort they put in every single day. We’d also like to extend a heartfelt thank-you to the advisors who trust us with their brands. We’re honored to work with high caliber professionals who love what they do, and we truly enjoy bringing your brands to life! To the folks at Strata, Civic, Hemlock Creek, and MOKAN—thank you for allowing us to help tell your story!

 

The Zoom-olution

At the beginning of the covid shutdown, virtual meetings were a new experience for almost everyone. Zoom was a relatively unknown platform that lots of people didn’t understand how to use, and those who were used to meeting with clients in a formal office setting suddenly had to decide what the appropriate attire was for talking to someone on their laptop from their dining room table.

It was awkward, but it was necessary.

Eventually, though, people got used to it and became savvy to the rules we now consider virtual-meeting common sense:

• Dress up from the waist up
• Know where the mute button is and when to use it
• Illuminate your on-screen appearance by facing a window or other light
• Don’t take your device into the bathroom during a group meeting while your camera is turned on (yes, this happened to someone)

Slowly but surely, people became more comfortable with Zoom, and with that comfort, more casual and authentic. There was an unspoken agreement that it really didn’t make sense to wear a tie when you didn’t plan on leaving your house that day, and the occasional dog barking or child squealing was acceptable and—in the strictest of lockdowns—expected.

And while it might not have seemed this way at the time, that peek into people’s real, everyday lives was a blessing, particularly for financial advisors and others in highly personal service industries. It lifted the veil and created authentic, unassuming connections. 

And then Zoom released its virtual backgrounds. 

I’m On a Beach With No Arms

When the virtual backgrounds were released, they were presented as an innovative way to take your Zoom presence up a notch. Instead of your boring, old home office, you could be on a beach, in Rome, in a modern high-rise office! Many people abandoned their real, everyday backgrounds for images of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Northern Lights, and even outer space.

Today, Zoom’s virtual backgrounds have become popular in even the most formal business meetings.

Cool, right?

In our candid professional opinion… not so much. 

Because even when you choose the more realistic modern office setting, it only takes about three seconds to realize that you are not, in fact, sitting in a big empty conference room full of pristine white chairs. That’s just the way the human eye works—we can tell when something is “off.”

And it’s distracting.

Even people who aren’t in our industry and hyper-focused on visual details like shadow congruence can see that something is out of place. The borders are undefined, the lighting typically doesn’t match what’s in your actual room, and it gives the impression that you’re on a green screen (which, essentially, you are).

Add to that the fact that these fake backgrounds often remove limbs (and sometimes entire people) from the frame, and you’ve got a pretty distracting setting for your business meeting. 

So while the idea is cool in theory, and we don’t want to step on the toes of those who are genuinely trying to create a better atmosphere for client meetings—our advice is that anyone using Zoom in a professional capacity should resist the temptation to start their next meeting from “Tahiti.”

The Real Problem with Zoom Backgrounds

Here’s the thing—Zoom’s virtual backgrounds aren’t real.

(Duh; you knew that already.)

But missing limbs and blurred borders aside, these virtual backgrounds eliminate the casual authenticity that Zoom meetings brought to the professional world in the first place.

Financial services is a very personal industry, and as an advisor, you have a lot of incentive to lift the veil and let people see the real you. On websites, you can share pictures, videos, personal details in your bio; on social media, you can share what’s going on in your office—birthdays, anniversaries, someone running a marathon. On Zoom, your opportunity to build trust and connections lies in your willingness to let people literally get a peek into your world. Let them see your kids’ doodles tacked to the refrigerator; show them the family photo on your desk or the book you’re reading that’s on the shelf behind you.

The more you can connect with people in a genuine way, the better off your business will be.

We’ve said it before—people hire people, and savvy marketers know that it’s important to allow prospects and clients to get to know you as a whole person—not a floating head sitting at the Colosseum.

The more people see the authentic, real you, the more connected they feel to you, the more they trust you, and the more likely they are to consider you a friend.

And while satisfied clients will refer you, satisfied clients who are also friends will refer you at a much, much greater level.

The Caveat

So, Zoom backgrounds are out, real life is in. But that doesn’t mean you should be lazy or inattentive to where you host your virtual meeting. Put some thought into what someone will see when they join your Zoom call (avoid clutter and anything that moves), but don’t be afraid to be real.