Five ways that big, savvy RIAs are winning clients online

“Slick” Willie Sutton was a notorious bank robber in the 1920’s who spent most of his adult life in and out of prison. It was estimated that he absconded with over $2 million of other people’s money. He was so good at what he did that famous Mafiosos held him in high esteem.

It wasn’t robbing over 100 banks during a crime-filled life that helped Sutton to eternal infamy. Instead, it was his response to a reporter when asked why he robbed banks. “Because that’s where the money is,” he replied, a phrase that’s taught to medical students today. Sutton’s Law tells us during any diagnosis to first check the obvious.

Left unsaid

Sutton later disclaimed his famous statement. “The irony of using a bank robber’s maxim as an instrument for teaching medicine is compounded, I will now confess, by the fact that I never said it. The credit belongs to some enterprising reporter who apparently felt a need to fill out his copy …” he wrote in his autobiography, Where the Money Was: A Bank Robber’s Memoir. “Why did I rob banks? Because I enjoyed it. I loved it. I was more alive when I was inside a bank, robbing it, than at any other time in my life. I enjoyed everything about it so much that one or two weeks later I’d be out looking for the next job. But to me the money was the chips, that’s all.”

Whoever said it, Sutton’s Law can certainly be applied to advisor marketing. Before spending time, money and resources on costly prospecting activities, advisors should determine where their prospects are, where they’re consuming information, and how they share it. According to a recent Dow Jones survey, What Motivates Affluent Investors, those answers are easy.

For most advisors, their prospects are online.

That’s where the money is and where advisors should focus their activities. Many advisors get bogged down worrying about compliance. But that’s a mistake — none of what the largest RIAs are doing online should provide a compliance hurdle. So, just ape them.

1) Run webinars

The financial seminar has always been a tried and true way to reach prospects and the online version is no different. Many firms are successfully using webinars to build their audiences and easily capture email addresses — the first step in the learn-try-buy cycle. Morningstar is a marketing machine and uses monthly seminars to build an online community of nearly 10,000 people interested in the firm’s content. Use a service like GotoWebinar.com to recruit prospects and host the event. Not only are webinars great at attracting the right type of client, according to this study, they are really beneficial for those attending, as well. Ric Edelman is a powerhouse for live events and uses them to bring in new prospects and stay in front of existing clients. See: What Ric Edelman is like live on stage.

2) Record a podcast

The radio industry may be in shambles but audio is still such an effective way to build a rapport with prospects. Streettalk Advisors has almost $1 billion in AUM using a strategy of rolling out local shows and introducing prospects to local advisory firms. Podcasts are merely recorded audio in a portable format that listeners can load up into their iPods, iPhones and iPads to listen when it’s convenient for them. All you need is a good mic and free software like Audacity, and you can produce your show for the world to hear. See: Streettalk Advisors aims to hit $1 Billion in AUM as it develops 50 more markets.

3) Write an ebook

The world’s largest bookstore, Amazon announced earlier this year that digital books sales have overtaken paperback sales for the first time. Investors are turning to the Internet more and more for learning purposes. Publish an ebook on your own site and require an email from users to download it. People are willing to enter into an online relationship by giving up their identity if you provide value in return. Write on a subject you’re familiar with or that would interest your ideal prospect. Use a mail service like MailChimp (what I use) for this process and schedule automated email follow-ups to approach with a phone call or meeting.

4) Become a go-to source

I had to write an article for a client recently on an arcane subject. Instead of spending hours researching it, I went to HARO (Help a Reporter Out). Here, journalists of all sorts (including the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times) post articles they are working on in search of subject matter experts. Monitor the requests (it’s a free email, 3 times per day) and raise your hand to be included in the next major article to be written on investing. It’s hard to beat free. Oh, my article? I got over 50 responses from RIAs working hard to get the word out about their services.

5) Use LinkedIn, strategically

Everyone’s trying to get beyond compliance issues to use LinkedIn. Yeah, you can’t have client approbations. But that’s misguided — don’t expect LinkedIn to bring you clients directly. The real power of LinkedIn is in its B2B community. Use LinkedIn to create an automated referral network of likeminded service providers working together to build their own practices. LinkedIn is great in helping connect with peers looking to do business. Find lawyers, accountants and other business leaders in LinkedIn Groups. AdvisorMax and RIA Marketplace are two great places to meet people. See: Advisor Tested: How LinkedIn can truly build your business and not just feed your ego.

Many of your prospective customers are spending significant time online. That’s where the money is. Many of the advisors I speak with give up on marketing online because they feel like the compliance burden is too large. But it doesn’t have to be — marketing in the age of social media is all about entering into an ongoing conversation with them, providing them multiple ways to consume your content. Once you’re able to do that, the sales are the easy part.

Zack Miller’s newsletter, the AdvisorInsider, provides tips, tools and technologies top advisors are using to build their practices. Sign up at New Rules of Investing, his site.