The Social Media Handbook for Financial Advisors: How to Use LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to Build and Grow Your Business

287 Pages·2012·4.42 MB·English

by  Matthew Halloran

THE SOCIAL MEDIA
HANDBOOK FOR
FINANCIAL
ADVISORS
Since1996,BloombergPresshaspublishedbooksforfinancialprofessionals
oninvesting, economics,andpolicyaffectinginvestors.Titlesarewrittenby
leading practitioners and authorities, and have been translated into more
than 20 languages.
TheBloombergFinancialSeriesprovidesbothcorereferenceknowledge
andactionableinformationforfinancialprofessionals.Thebooksarewritten
by experts familiar with the work flows, challenges, and demands of
investmentprofessionalswhotradethemarkets,managemoney,andanalyze
investmentsintheircapacityofgrowingandprotectingwealth,hedgingrisk,
and generating revenue.
For a list of available titles, please visit our web site at www.wiley.com/
go/bloombergpress.
THE SOCIAL MEDIA
HANDBOOK FOR
FINANCIAL
ADVISORS
How to Use LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter
to Build and Grow Your Business
Matthew Halloran
and
Crystal Thies
Copyrightª2012byMattHalloranandCrystalThies.Allrightsreserved.
PublishedbyJohnWiley&Sons,Inc.,Hoboken,NewJersey.
PublishedsimultaneouslyinCanada.
Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmittedinanyformor
byanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,scanning,orotherwise,exceptasper-
mittedunderSection107or108ofthe1976UnitedStatesCopyrightAct,withouteitherthe
priorwrittenpermissionofthePublisher,orauthorizationthroughpaymentoftheappropriate
per-copyfeetotheCopyrightClearanceCenter,Inc.,222RosewoodDrive,Danvers,MA01923,
[phone],fax[phone],orontheWebatwww.copyright.com.Requeststothe
PublisherforpermissionshouldbeaddressedtothePermissionsDepartment,JohnWiley&Sons,Inc.,
111RiverStreet,Hoboken,NJ07030,[phone],fax[phone],oronlineat
http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
LimitofLiability/DisclaimerofWarranty:Whilethepublisherandauthorhaveusedtheirbesteffortsin
preparingthisbook,theymakenorepresentationsorwarrantieswithrespecttotheaccuracyorcom-
pletenessofthecontentsofthisbookandspecificallydisclaimanyimpliedwarrantiesofmerchantability
orfitnessforaparticularpurpose.Nowarrantymaybecreatedorextendedbysalesrepresentativesor
writtensalesmaterials.Theadviceandstrategiescontainedhereinmaynotbesuitableforyoursituation.
Youshouldconsultwithaprofessionalwhereappropriate.Neitherthepublishernorauthorshallbeliable
foranylossofprofitoranyothercommercialdamages,includingbutnotlimitedtospecial,incidental,
consequential,orotherdamages.
Forgeneralinformationonourotherproductsandservicesorfortechnicalsupport,pleasecontactour
CustomerCareDepartmentwithintheUnitedStatesat(800)762-2974,outsidetheUnitedStatesat
[phone]orfax(317)572-4002.
Wileyalsopublishesitsbooksinavarietyofelectronicformats.Somecontentthatappearsinprint
maynotbeavailableinelectronicbooks.FormoreinformationaboutWileyproducts,visitourwebsiteat
www.wiley.com.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData:
Halloran,Matthew.
Thesocialmediahandbookforfinancialadvisors:howtouseLinkedIn,Facebook,andTwitterto
buildandgrowyourbusiness/MatthewHalloranandCrystalThies.
p.cm.—(Bloombergfinancialseries)
Includesindex.
ISBN978-1-118-20801-4(cloth);ISBN978-1-118-22864-7(ebk);
ISBN978-1-118-24086-1(ebk);ISBN978-1-118-26582-6(ebk)
1. Financialplanners—Internetmarketing. 2. Investmentadvisors—Internetmarketing.
3. Financialservicesindustry—Internetmarketing. 4. Socialmedia. 5. Internetmarketing.
I. Thies,Crystal. II. Title.
HG179.5.H352012
332.606808—dc23
2012010362
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
I dedicate this book to my wife, Angela, for her support and patience;
to my boys, Derek and Wesley; and to Dr. Victor Harms for teaching
me that anything is possible if you work hard and set realistic goals.
Matt
Iwanttodedicatethisbooktomyfiance´,RichSeil,andmyparents,Arnie
and Donna Thies. Without their love and support over these past three
years, Inever would have had the courage, strength, and ability to launch
myself into this unknown world of social media to create a business and
now a book out of a few ideas, realizations, and predictions of how the
marketing world was not only going to change, but how the entire par-
adigm was going to shift. It allowed me to finally capitalize on natural
andinnateskills,abilities,andpassionsthatweren’trecognizeduntillong
after my formal education.
Crystal
Contents
Foreword xiii
A Perspective on Social Media xvii
Introduction xxiii
PART I: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA
CHAPTER 1
Compliance 3
CrystalThies
Compliance and FINRA Licensed Advisors 4
Compliance and SEC Licensed Advisors 6
What Should I Do if I’m Not Allowed to
Use Social Media? 8
How Does This Work? 9
Final Thoughts 11
CHAPTER 2
Creating Rapport Online 13
MattHalloranandCrystalThies
The Three Cs 13
Final Thoughts 23
CHAPTER 3
Lessons Learned from Social Media 25
MattHalloranandCrystalThies
Lesson #1: People Can Only See Words 26
Lesson #2: Social Media is More About Listening 27
Lesson #3: To Be Successful, You Must Be A Social Media Giver 28
vii
viii Contents
Lesson #4: Keep Sales Messaging to a Minimum 29
Final Thoughts 30
CHAPTER 4
Give Something for Nothing 31
MattHalloran
Internet Resources 31
Final Thoughts 35
CHAPTER 5
The Disciplined Approach 37
MatthewHalloranandCrystalThies
Streamlining Use of Social Media 37
Managing Time 39
Social Media Dashboards 43
Final Thoughts 46
PART II: TWITTER
CHAPTER 6
Why Twitter? 49
MatthewHalloran
Texting and Tweeting 50
Setting Up Your Account 51
Final Thoughts 63
CHAPTER 7
Marketing on Twitter 65
MatthewHalloran
Regulations and Restrictions 65
Twellow 66
Two Recommended Tools 70
Unfollowing and Blocking 75
Tweet Scheduler and TweetDeck 77
Self-Marketing Tweets 78
Final Thoughts 79
Contents ix
CHAPTER 8
Getting Leads from Twitter 81
MatthewHalloran
Twitter: A Driving Force 81
Final Thoughts 86
CHAPTER 9
Public Relations on Twitter 87
MatthewHalloran
Tweet Grader 88
Muck Rack 88
Making News through Twitter 89
Final Thoughts 90
PART III: FACEBOOK
CHAPTER 10
Why Facebook? 93
MatthewHalloran
Statistics 93
Building Your Page 95
Working with Your Home Page 101
How Control Settings Help Your Marketing Plan 104
The Power of Advertisements! 107
The Facebook Fan Page 108
The Company Page 111
Timeline 116
Final Thoughts 118
CHAPTER 11
How to Advertise on Facebook 119
MatthewHalloran
Facebook Insights 119
Advertising on Facebook 120
Final Thoughts 132
x Contents
CHAPTER 12
Facebook Applications and Tools 133
MatthewHalloran
Advanced Facebook Applications 133
Video Apps 135
Creating Events 139
More Facebook Apps 143
Final Thoughts 144
CHAPTER 13
Public Relations on Facebook 145
MatthewHalloran
Making Use of the Groups Platform 145
Be Proactive 148
Final Thoughts 150
PART IV: LINKEDIN
CHAPTER 14
Why LinkedIn? 153
CrystalThies
You Can Control Referrals 153
LinkedIn Members Are More Affluent 154
Financial Advisors Are Having Success With LinkedIn 156
Final Thoughts 157
CHAPTER 15
Setting Up Your LinkedIn Account 159
CrystalThies
Joining LinkedIn 159
Final Thoughts 164
CHAPTER 16
Building an Effective LinkedIn Profile 167
CrystalThies
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) 169
Experience 172
Education 176
Adding Certifications, Designations, and Licenses 178
Contents xi
Name 180
Industry and Location 184
Headline 186
Photo 187
Websites 190
Twitter 192
Summary 193
Recommendations 196
Additional Information 200
Personal Information 200
Skills & Expertise 201
Special Sections 203
Applications 209
Final Thoughts 216
CHAPTER 17
Building Your LinkedIn Network to Create
a Self-Referral Machine 219
CrystalThies
Networking Philosophy 219
Who Should Be in Your Network? 220
Adding Connections 220
Sending Individual Invitations to Connect 225
Final Thoughts 227
CHAPTER 18
Finding Prospects Using LinkedIn: Creating
Your Self-Referral Machine 229
CrystalThies
The LinkedIn Advanced Search: Free versus Premium 229
Developing Good Searches 231
Finding 401(k) Rollover Opportunities 232
Small Business Owner Search 235
Connecting with the Prospects 239
Final Thoughts 240
CHAPTER 19
Using LinkedIn Groups for Visibility
and Prospecting 241
CrystalThies
The Opportunity in LinkedIn Groups 241