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Publicity and Marketing Magic For Financial Planners
By: Ned Steele, Sun Mar 19th, 2006
Publicity will take your financial planning practice, your
business, and your life to the next level. It’s going to bring
you:
--more recognition --more credibility --more value to the
marketplace --more business
It’s obvious that getting more publicity – exposure in the media
– will yield you more marketplace recognition. But how do the
other three “mores” work?
By magic mostly, I have concluded. You see, there’s something
powerful, magical, and perhaps even a little irrational about
this – but I have found it consistently to be true:
Something special happens when you are featured or quoted in the
media. Not only do more people get to see more about you, but
they somehow think more of you.
The response is almost universal--and it's a marketing dream. It
goes something like this: “Oh, Jennifer must be good at what she
does. I see her quoted all the time.”
Or – raise your hand if the description fits – you’ll tear an
article from the paper because it talks about exactly the
problem or need you’re facing right now.
Maybe it’s a health concern. Or a personal finance question. Or
maybe it’s just some useful information on what type of cell phone to buy.
The article quotes someone. An expert. Someone who seems to
really know the topic. “He must be good, he’s in the paper.” And
you call them. Or, at a minimum, you make a mental note of the
expert’s name and you save the clipping for the day you’re ready
to act. Ideal marketing.
That’s what we mean by more credibility. And when you think
about it, it’s not really so irrational.
Getting quoted in the media – which is way different than
touting your own self in an ad – means that professional
journalists have evaluated you, held you up to the light, and
judged you worthy of being interviewed and quoted.
To use big words, it’s called third-party validation. Instead of
you saying you are worthy, they are saying it for you. Powerful
stuff, no?
And when you achieve that higher level of credibility, your
value in the marketplace automatically goes up. You’re that
expert who was on the TV news last week.
I know of one practitioner who was flabbergasted to experience
this effect after he was quoted in his hometown newspaper.
“I was riding to work on the train the morning I was in the
paper,” he recalls, “and I couldn’t believe what happened. One
of my neighbors saw the story – someone who knew me – and he
asked me to autograph it.”
His value went up. And, before long, so did his business. The
fourth “more.”
About the author:
Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want
to build their practice and accelerate their growth. The
president of Ned Steele's MediaImpact, he is the author of 102
Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice. To learn more
visit http://www.MediaImpact.biz or call 212-243-8383.
