The Guide to Financial Public Relations

How to Stand Out in the Midst of Competitive Clutter

Larry Chambers

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780910944120
• eBook ISBN: 9781000077612
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

Giving readers easy-to-follow steps for showcasing their talents, The Guide to Financial Public Relations: How to Stand Out in the Midst of Competitive Clutter focuses on writing and getting published in the target market's trade magazines, newspapers, and journals. The author features effective writing and presentation tips with how-to-write methods for non-writers. The techniques are designed to help readers stand out above the crowd. The book outlines successful marketing plans and prospecting strategies showing readers how to build image and credibility, shorten the sales process, and create an endless stream of pre-endorsed sales prospects.

Part I
Building Your Publicity Program

In this section, you’ll learn:

• How to build your publicity program around your expertise;

• How to position yourself as a media source;

• The best ways to create a compelling message;

• How to communicate that message;

• How to become a problem solver for your clients;

• How to build a top-of-mind awareness system;

• How to create an endless stream of pre-qualified prospects;

• How to reinforce your relationships with existing clients; and

• How to build your image and credibility.

Publicity Building Blocks

Chapter 1

The Media Opportunity

In this chapter, you will learn:

• How the media works

• Why the media absolutely needs your expertise

• What is credibility marketing and why it works

• Why you don’t have a program

You already know this, but being an investor today is much more difficult than it was just 10 years ago. In today’s financial marketplace, size plus complexities equals confusion. The Dow Jones industrial average has doubled in the past two and a half years, and 10,000 on the Dow seems less a fantasy every day. Money keeps flooding into the market; the New York Stock Exchange’s daily trading volume is four times what it was in 1990. There are infinitely more choices and investments to sort through. Today, there are more mutual fund choices than stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange; over 1,500 of them were created since 1995.

Technology has given ordinary people complex tools, without good advice on how to use them. Never have so many Americans experienced such control over their financial futures, yet felt such a need for help. Often the most conservative advice nestles right up against market predictions and stock touting, without investors having any way to evaluate their choices. Most people become investors without the wisdom of experience, but having to apply lessons learned from mistakes made along the way is a hard and discouraging road.

Now, more than ever, you have an opportunity to share your knowledge with prospects and clients through the media. The media are desperate for your help. Don’t believe me? Let me quote what Modern Maturity’s senior articles editor John Wood said in Writer’s Digest (July 1998): “I’m desperate for writers who can handle financial topics for the lay person,” he said. “We need financial advice for columns and features that aren’t so technical as to be obscure.” Modern Maturity happens to have the largest magazine circulation in the country, with over 30 million readers. Do I have your attention yet?

The print media desperately need your stories and articles to fill space. Editors don’t get pages of market analysis every day as a lot of us do from our firms or compliance departments. If you have something to say, hungry readers are ready to consume your knowledge and know-how. The most desirable article in magazines today is the “how-to.” Advice and service are the battle cries not just of the ‘90s but into the next century. Armed with knowledge of how the media work, you’ll be powerful in getting your message out.

Another advantage of this approach is that you will not be seen as a salesperson. Although it’s common knowledge that anyone who actively pursues customers is regarded as an intrusive salesperson, financial professionals continue to make initial contact either by phone or direct mail, when most people definitely prefer to get a referral from someone they trust at the time they need that service.

Credibility marketing can definitely help you rise above the competitive clutter. Every time your name is by-lined on an article, or you’re mentioned in a magazine, it increases exponentially the number of times your name will come to mind when people think investment advisor. Prospects and clients will view you differently. You’re the expert.

Colleges and universities actually apply a ranking system according to how many times each faculty member is published. You, too, can set yourself apart from competitors by writing and being profiled in magazine articles. The coverage gives you a higher profile. You feel better and more confident about yourself, and then it becomes easier to find other ways to make yourself even more visible.

This process should become an integral part of your marketing efforts. Instead of—or along with—business cards, send out a “calling card of success” piece, such as an article with your viewpoints that appeared in a prominent national trade magazine. Article reprints can be sent out to prospective clients or used in a presentation, giving you credibility that most advisors only dream about.

Though scores of financial experts crowd every aspect of the market today, most don’t promote themselves. The same goes for accountants, lawyers, and others in service professions. Marketing experts consider that type of non-action to be career suicide.

In today’s expensive, cluttered, media-filled world, shooting for free coverage makes especially good sense. Writing and placing an article or writing a book about your particular specialty allows you to target that small percentage of consumers who need your services. Once they read it, they will seek you out.

Many investment advisors spend their time picking stocks, researching investments, and waiting for the phone to ring with a new client on the other end. It rarely does. Marketing is necessary, and it’s up to you. But if you think there are no alternatives to old-fashioned cold calling and direct marketing, you’re wrong. The public relations process can turn cold calls into warm calls, even motivating pre-qualified prospects to contact you to sign up.

Writing has other benefits, too. It forces you to think logically and lay your thoughts out in a manner that the audience can follow. This book will enable you to compose your own marketing message in a way that will get through to your target audience and expand your opportunities for repeated media exposure. That message can be built into a powerful presentation, whether you use it one-on-one or with groups.

Throughout the book, you’ll encounter examples of real investment advisors who have effectively used the methods I’ll describe. These low cost, high impact strategies are powerful, and you can use them immediately. This book is designed to become an integral part of both your marketing plan and the public relations arm of your business. Keep it on your shelf and refer to it often. You’ll find helpful, down-to-earth advice on each aspect of the process.

What keeps most financial advisors from initiating their own public relations programs? Russ Alan Prince asked a number of them.

The most common reason was that it was too difficult.¹ That was the overwhelming response of 81 percent of those queried. My mission over the next few hundred pages is to kill that reason.

Lack of time was the second excuse. But the program I describe is something that you can do in-house, in just a few hours each month. Besides, since the different techniques I show you can be integrated for use in all aspects of your marketing, including speaking and giving presentations, they will actually save you time.

Figure 1-1 Common Reasons for Not Having a Public Relations Program

Source: Russ Alan Prince, Cultivating the Affluent and Building Your Business

It’s also interesting to note that those queried believed that their material didn’t lend itself to a public relations effort. I think they simply misuse it. This book will help you arrange your material in a compelling vision of success that you’ll be glad to share with your clients.

It seems to me that most advisors have their priorities out of order. Get clear about your public relations goals. Decide what you want most: A campaign to enhance your career? to build an image with your clients? to attract new clients? to convert existing clients? Articulate your priorities in order.

Then: What target market are you hoping to reach? Where do you want to be recognized? Nationally, regionally, or locally? There’s no sense in being in a national marketplace if your target market is local. One client of mine become nationally known in less than three years; think what you could do if your goals are only local. And finally, what medium will work best? Whatever medium you choose—radio, TV, newspapers, or magazines—this program will help you.

Figure 1-2 Advisors Increasingly See Value In Public Relations Program

Source: Prince & Associates, 1997 Independent RIA Survey

¹ Russ Alan Prince, Karen Maru File, Cultivating the Affluent and Building Your Business, HNW Press, Fairfield, Ct 1997.

Chapter 2

How to Position Yourself in the Right Marketplace

Be Different

In this chapter, you will learn:

• How to differentiate yourself from the crowd

• Why you should write for a trade magazine

• How to write a simple position statement about your business

• Six key elements of positioning

• How to find out what your clients expect from you

I love to visit my favorite bookstore for ideas. On recent visits I’ve noticed that magazines about money dominated the entire top three shelves. Who would have thought twenty years ago that there would be magazines about mutual funds? Money Magazine is filled with fund ads promoting their high Momingstar ratings. I remember when Momingstar was just a star. Anyway, I was thumbing through one issue, trying to find the cover story that had caught my interest, but it was so buried in no-load mutual fund advertisements I couldn’t find it. I put the magazine down and laughed.

Advertisers have the same problems you do—getting the attention of prospects. They have three seconds to grab attention before the reader turns the page. Three seconds. That’s a lot of pressure. At least it takes ten seconds for a prospect to hang up on your cold call.

There’s a better way to compete, a much more subtle one. One where track record or current performance is never mentioned, fees are not an issue, and credibility is instant. It’s also a lot better than tossing money down the advertising drain. It’s called th...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Advance Praise
• Preface
• About the Author
• Acknowledgments
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Part I—Building Your Publicity Program
• Part II—Writing a Publishable Article
• Part III—Writing an Investment Book
• Part IV—The Circle of Publicity Activities
• Conclusion
• Appendix I—Marketing Studies
• Appendix II—Media Comparison: Pros & Cons
• Appendix III—Sample Client Letters
• Glossary
• Suggested Resources
• Index