To Blog or Not to Blog ... That is the Question

Last week, I was pleased to receive a phone call from journalist Helen Kearney.

Helen writes the Wealth Manager content for Thomson Reuters, the big news wire syndication service. She was hoping to speak with someone for a story she was writing on blogs - were they a useful marketing tool for advisors?

I was happy to share my opinions with Helen. And, yes, I did tell her that I thought blogs were a useful marketing communications tool for advisors.

I was happy to tell her about the first-ever Web 2.0 and Social Media Boot Camp powered by FPA and Impact Communications (held 2/28/10 in Dallas in conjunction with FPA's annual Business Solutions Conference) and how Andy Millard (that's Andy in the photo on the left, about to go into his video interview session), one of the 22 participants in that beta boot camp had really embraced blogging since he set up his professionally branded blog and Twitter accounts as a part of the boot camp experience.

Below is Helen's article. There's lots of good advice in it - including insights from boot camp participant Andy Millard.

I also have great news:

FPA and Impact Communications will be offering another Web 2.0 and Social Media Boot Camp on October 9, 2010 in conjunction with FPA's annual national conference (it's being held in Denver this fall). You can learn more at www.fpanet.org.

Pricing, location and other details are yet to be determined but we are thinking there will be one webinar to set the stage before the live boot camp, then a 3/4 day at the live boot camp in Denver where everyone will set up their own blog and Twitter accounts, film their first interview, record their first podcast, enter their first blog comments, and then share their results with the class while there in Denver. We'll still offer some sort of support after the boot camp - either a live webinar 30 days later or use FPA's online discussion board system.

I'll also be travelling quite a bit the next 3-6 months, talking about how to use social media to build your business while being compliant and still finding time to embrace your traditional marketing and PR activities (oh, and take care of your clients, your staff, your business, your life ...).

I'll be at IAA's Annual Conference in Chicago on April 28, FPA's Dallas Symposium on May 7 and FPA's Chicago Symposium on May 24 talking about the aforementioned topic (as well as many other conferences where I'll be talking about Marketing and PR, articulating your value as an advisor today, and much more. You can see all my speaking events at www.impactcommunications.org.

And so, without further ado, here is Helen Kearney's article:

To Blog or Not to Blog

By Helen Kearney

NEW YORK, April 6 (Reuters) - If you think blogging is something better left to your teenage daughter, think again. Financial advisers who have jumped into the world of social media say it's a big hit with their older clients -- and a great way to attract new ones.

"My retired clients spend a lot of time online. Their kids have set them up on email and they have more time to look around," said Andy Millard, a Tryon, North Carolina-based independent financial adviser who recently started a weekly blog.

Blogs can be a useful marketing tool for advisers.

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To Blog or Not to Blog