Bruce Johnston

At Advisolocity we have had the privilege of designing and re-purposing our fair share of advisor websites.  One thing we have never understood is why advisors view their website as a “set it and forget it” proposition.  I’m sorry but a lighthouse, a sailboat and an older couple walking hand-in-hand on the beach does not a website make.

We encourage advisors to view their website as what might possibly be the hardest working piece of equipment in their office.  Think about the impact your website has on your business: it’s the only employee you have that works 24-7 telling all those who visit about you, your firm and your differentiating proposition.  Your website never asks for a day-off, never calls in sick, and doesn’t require benefits.  Yet, you don’t treat it as the integral part of the team that it is.

It is your firm’s face to the world.  In a nanosecond, which is faster then a Malcolm Gladwell Blink, visitors to your site are making stay, go, ask for...

Today, with more and more firms evaluating and entering into social media, it stands to reason that FINRA & SEC rules governing social media and archiving solutions will play a bigger role in the professional lives of Financial Advisors and Advisors. In fact, you may be feeling enormous pressure right now to begin leveraging social media in your practice. That’s because an increasing number of clients are demanding that their financial advisors communicate with them through some form of social media—and it is, after all, a client’s prerogative as to how they’d like to receive their communications.

That said, when you’re enlisting the services of a social media archiving provider, there are five essential questions you must ask. These questions will let you know whether the provider offers all the “must haves” that are necessary to do the job right.

1. Can the provider archive, supervise and make communications discoverable?...

Just as the Internet and e-mail have become ubiquitous over the past 15 years, social media will be the same, only faster. It will weave its way into the fabric of the asset and wealth management business and influence heavily how firms communicate with advisors and end-investors alike. Why? These investors will demand it.

At this point though, formal social media strategies are few and far between in the industry. If you are one of a handful of firms that has headcount and a budget for social media, you are considered a pioneer.  You’ve followed a path similar to the one outlined by Singapore based PR firm GetIt Comms in the attached graphic.

For managers seeking to make small but steady inroads...

That is the title of financial services research firm Corporate Insights update to their 2008 study on the topic of social media in financial services.

The attached video interviews Alan Maginn, Senior Analyst, Consulting Services and asks him to answer these four questions:

• How are financial services firms using social media?

• How are financial services firms handling customer service in regards to social media?

• How are financial services firms using Twitter?

• How are financial services firms using Facebook to interact with clients and prospects?