John Joe McGinley makes the business case for blogging to clients.
Our profession is about service, it's what we provide and it's what we charge for.
The challenge for many advisory firms is twofold. How do I sell and promote my experience and expertise and then how do I make this real for existing and prospective clients?
Many firms are using social media to do this. A growing number of advisory businesses are also using blogs to communicate to clients as part of their service proposition.
A blog is a web page that is usually a short impactful regular view from an individual or a company. Blogs have boomed in the last 13 years as the number of weblogs has grown dramatically from a few thousand to over 100 million.
There are two main types of blogs:
Personal blogs - this is usually a personal diary, opinion posts or views on a hobby.
Business blogs - these are a communication tactic for small, medium and large corporations to communicate with clients then share expertise and information.
More and more businesses are starting to use blogs as an impactful communications tool. They're an excellent way for any business to showcase its expertise, drive additional traffic to their existing website or the site of strategic alliances.
However, the most important benefit of a business weblog is that it allows you to connect directly with your clients.
Blogging is easy - simply write your thoughts, link to your web page, and publish to your blog, all at the push of a few buttons. Blog software companies such as wordpress or blogspot offer easy blogging tools to get started.
Blogging saves money - for small business owners without the time to learn web html or the money to hire a designer/developer, blogging offers an inexpensive method to get communicating with your clients
Blogging is quick - most businesses don't update their website frequently. A blog allows you to provide up-to-date information to your customers quickly and easily. It's much easier to update a blog than your website, and it requires no special technical skills.
Blogging shows you're for real - they provide you with a chance to share your expertise and knowledge with a larger audience.
Blogging increases your visibility in search engine results - as you blog about topics, you increase your business visibility in search engine results for those topics. A business blog with posts written around your most desired search results raises your visibility, making it easier for potential customers to find you.
Blogging can position you as the expert - your blog gives you the platform to demonstrate the financial expertise and service you can offer your existing clients and promote you to potential prospects.
Blogging can make you money - a blog can be an integral part of your on-going service proposition and can be included in any or all of the propositions you offer clients.
For an example of a business blog why don't you check out mine. It might give you the inspiration to start your own.
John Joe McGinley is head of business brain, Aegon
