This one is the most obvious of all. If you don’t have a website, you are wasting possibly the biggest opportunity available to bring in new clients as well as engaging your existing clients.

Websites can also save time.  Instead of clients calling you every time they need a fax number or some other mundane piece of information, they can simply visit your website for all the info they need.

Some advisers say they would prefer to let their client call them, as there may be opportunities for further business that can come from a phone call. That may be true, but a well designed website will engage your clients in a ways that we simply cannot do over the phone.

Top Tip: Get yourself online right now, even if it’s a basic one page website to start with.

2. Go Paperless

I have visited dozens of financial planning firms over the years that have serious office space devoted to files. This is just money down the drain, big time! Think about what you could do with that space. Put on another adviser, sub-lease the space to an accountant or other professional etc.

There are other benefits as well. Every time one of your clients calls, do you have to run to the filing room to find their file? With a good paperless system all of your clients’ documents are just a few mouse clicks away. And with the right security in place your client’s information will be as safe as ever.

What would happen to your precious paper files in the event of fire or flood? They’d be gone! A properly backed-up paperless system will be secure no matter what happens.

There are also huge savings on paper, ink and toner cartridges, not to mention reduced servicing bills on your printing equipment.

Getting a paperless office in place is easier than you may think, and the sooner you start the better.

Top Tip: Plan out your paperless system before you start, otherwise you could end up with a mess.
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3. Send a regular email newsletter

How often do you contact all of your clients? Once a year? For many clients they’d be lucky to get that!
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An email newsletter is an extremely cost effective way of keeping in contact with your clients (and prospective clients) and staying top of mind whenever they think about financial matters. You may not have time to write and distribute such a newsletter, but there are professionals out there who can provide this service for a reasonable fee.  And in my experience, the return on investment is almost second to none in terms of marketing.
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Top Tip: Start collecting client email addresses from today and build your database.
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4. Build a Brand

Branding is a complex subject and I won’t go into too much detail now, but building a brand is something you should be doing from day one in any business.
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Don’t be just another professional services provider like every other financial adviser, accountant and lawyer out there. Set yourself apart with appropriate branding that reflects what you and your business are all about.
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Do you have a logo or corporate colours? Do they represent you well? Do they look professional? Are you using them consistently across all contact points you have with your clients? If not, start today.
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Top Tip: Get your logo right and start using it everywhere.
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5. Track Everything

If the only way you measure your business is by the amount of money you have, then you’re not doing enough. All good businesses should be tracking everything from where their leads come from to how much their average client is worth.
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By tracking everything in this manner you will quickly be able to identify the strengths and weaknesses in your business, and redistribute your efforts to ensure your business is running as well as possible.
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Tracking also make goal setting far easier, and we all know that goal setting is vital for any successful business.
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Top Tip: Even with basic Excel skills you should be able to build yourself a handy tracking spreadsheet.
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6. Create Content

Content is King! At least that’s what they say in the world of internet marketing. As advisers, we all have a huge amount of knowledge and experience, but for most of us it is all in our head. Google can’t search our heads (yet!) so they don’t know how knowledgeable or experienced we are.
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Turning your knowledge and experience into content, then storing and distributing it online can have massive benefits for your business.
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Today, if someone has a question about insurance or finance, they are less likely to search the Yellow Pages for an adviser, and much more likely to type their question straight into Google.If they find their way to your website via Google, and your website answers their question, then they will already see you as an authority on the subject.
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Once they are ready to take the next step, you are likely to be the first person they contact.The more relevant content you have, the more Google will like you, and the more people it will direct to your site. The more people who are directed to your site, the more leads you will have, and ultimately the more clients you will have.
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Top Tip: Set aside an hour each week to write an article.
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If writing isn’t your strong point engage the services of a ghost writer.
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7. Determine Your Ideal Client

Identifying your ideal client should really be the first thing any new or existing business does. Your ideal client should determine the type of marketing you do, your branding and the way you interact and communicate with your clients.
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Top Tip: Sit down and determine your ideal client tonight.
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8. Review Your Marketing Strategy

For many advisers their marketing is a mixture of various components which have been added over the years. But how do you know if your marketing is working?  How do you know which marketing money is being spent well and which is being wasted?
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Now is the right time to document all of your marketing activities and take a good look at what is and isn’t working. Don’t keep paying for the same listing year after year just because “you’ve always done it”.
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The internet has changed marketing enormously over the last decade. If you’re still relying on the Yellow Pages, it’s time to catch up…
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Top Tip: Don’t be afraid to change your marketing to suit the changing world.
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9. Review Your Office Procedures

It doesn’t matter if you’re a sole trader working from home or a large firm with 100 staff, there are always things that you could be doing better. Many processes and procedures within our businesses have evolved over time, and often there will have been changed brought about by staff movements or regulatory changes.
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The problem with this is that we can end up with convoluted processes which may be costing us more time and money than they should.
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You should step back and take a look at what processes are taking the most time and effort. Are there things that we should be doing more, less, or differently? Don’t have that old attitude of “but this is what we’ve always done”.
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Top Tip: Sometimes a fresh pair of eyes can be better at identifying issues and areas for improvement, so don’t be afraid to involve someone from outside of your business.
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10. Document Your Office Procedures

Getting your processes and procedures down on paper can be a time consuming process, but it may be one of the best investments you’ll ever make. If someone had to step in and take over the running of your business tomorrow, how easily could you explain all of your processes to them? What if you were stuck in a hospital bed and couldn’t explain a thing?
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Without properly documented processes your business could quickly spiral out of control, leaving you with a huge mess if and when you were able to return.
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Other benefits to having documented processes include easier staff training and better regulatory compliance. And when it comes time to sell your business or bring on an investor, having documented processes will make your business much more attractive.
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Top Tip: If you don’t have time to write them yourself, engage the services of a professional.Get started today!
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These tips have been proven useful by real advice businesses just like yours. Many of them you should be able to implement on your own, but if you need a hand I can help you regardless of how small or large your business is.
For more information visit ShaneMoore.com.au

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The post Who do you trust with your money? Money matters top of mind for Australians this week appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Charities helping disadvantaged young Australians are invited to apply for grants of up to $10,000 from Future2, the foundation of the Australian financial planning profession.  Applications for the new round of Make the Difference! Grants, now in their fifth year, must be submitted by 2 August.

Future2 Chair Steve Helmich called on financial planners and advisers to support applications from local charitable organisations working with young people trapped in difficult financial and social circumstances.  “Your support can make the difference, resulting in a grant that gives hope for a better future to disadvantaged young Australians”, he said.

To date, 15 charities around Australia have benefitted from Future2 grants totaling over $150,000, bringing life-enhancing changes to the lives of young people.

Future2 Make the Difference! Grants focus on the under 25s who may be financially disadvantaged, homeless, juvenile justice offenders, drug or alcohol dependent, disabled or Indigenous.  Grants are awarded to projects and programs in the areas such as financial literacy, skills training, work experience, community service or mentoring.

“The grants seek to give money where it will have greatest impact.  We like to give grants to small community based charities whose work is likely to be saved, enabled or transformed by our grants”, Mr Helmich said.
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“Trustees will also hope to see active involvement by financial planning professionals in the work of the charity”, he added.
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The Make the Difference! Grant program is designed to encourage the involvement of financial planners in community projects, as well as to provide critical support to disadvantaged young Australians.   Financial planning professionals who are members of either the Financial Planning Association or the Association of Financial Advisers may support grant applications from charities in their local areas.
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Initial applications, supported by a financial planner, must be received by close of business on 2 August.  Future2 will invite the strongest applicants to submit a full proposal.  The trustees’ final decision will be announced on 17 November 2011.
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click to read grant guidelines
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Future2 is the foundation of the Australian financial planning profession.  It exists to support the financially under-privileged and to enable the profession and associated stakeholders to give back to the community from which they draw their livelihoods.
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Future2 grants 2007 – 2010

• QLD SearchLight’s Brisbane community project at Southside Education, to build the financial and life skills of girls who are alienated from their families and mainstream education (2007)
• VIC Access Mildura’s new retail training facility to expand the employment opportunities of disabled and under privileged youth in Sunraysia (2007)
• SA  Anglicare’s Nile United Youth Group project for young Sudanese refugees at the Magdalene Centre in Adelaide, to assist their integration into Australian life through life skills and financial education (two grants: 2007 and 2008)
• VIC Whitelion’s mentoring program for young offenders and those at risk of custody; Whitelion also provides employment and outreach opportunities in Victoria and other states (2008)
• VIC Loddon Murray Community Leadership Program, encouraging youth leadership development in north central Victoria rural communities (2008)
• QLD Youth Information and Referral Service’s Young Driver Program Helps  socially excluded young people in Mackay gain their drivers licences and a better chance of work (2008)
• NSW Youth off the Streets Scholarship program in Mascot to assist 14 to 21 year olds to reach their full potential, achieve vocational goals and realise their capabilities (2009)
• NSW Police & Community Youth Clubs Music program in Orange giving young people their first hands-on experience of playing a musical instrument (2009)
• SA Time for Kids’ Financial Wizards Project in Adelaide, to help young parents (16-25 years) of children in respite care and family support, to set up household budgets and develop financial goals (2009)
• NSW Australian Children’s Music Foundation Youth at Risk program – helping to make music a permanent feature of every Juvenile Detention Centre in Australia (2010)
• NSW Family Resource & Network Support Inc – financial literacy program for young people with physical and intellectual disabilities, aimed at helping them develop essential money skills  (2010)
• ACT Galilee’s Young Women’s Graft Group in Pearce   A grant to enable the set up of the group and purchase of essential supplies, to facilitate hands-on training in small business management for young mothers who are the victims of homelessness, domestic violence and drug / alcohol dependencies  (2010)
• VIC Mission Australia’s Charcoal Lane, a social enterprise restaurant providing training and work experience to Aboriginal and disadvantaged young people (2010)
• QLD Friedrich Ataxia Research Association A grant to purchase a wheelchairs for sisters, aged 18 and 20 years, who are suffering from Friedrich Ataxia, a rare degenerative and life-shortening condition, made jointly with the AFA Foundation (2010)

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The post FPA calls on Minister Shorten to recognise financial planning profession under law appeared first on AdviserVoice.

FPA members have made an historic vote to usher in a new era of professionalism,overwhelmingly endorsing plans to adopt true professional status.
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“This is an important day for the FPA and for the financial planning profession. Today our members have voted for transformational change to create a peak financial planning representative body with the highest professional standards,” FPA Chairman Matthew Rowe said.
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Today’s Extraordinary General Meeting held in Melbourne, delivered over 94 per cent of votes in favour of a new three-year strategic plan that aims to elevate financial planning as a universally respected profession. To be passed, the proposition required 75 per cent of voting members to vote ‘yes’. The resounding yes vote hands the FPA a mandate to aggressively pursue its vision of a truly professional association for members and in the interest of all Australians who entrust their financial future to a CFP qualified member of the FPA.

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“This is the long-awaited beginning for our members to rebuild trust in their community that professional financial planners take utmost responsibility for delivering on a core promise of professional and ethical behaviour,” said Mr Rowe.

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“This requires all FPA members to not only act in the public interest, but be seen to do so. It also means we as a professional body will set upward education requirements, endorse higher standards and adhere to a strict code of professional practice.

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“The FPA will also remove the principal membership category with only individual planning professionals having the right to vote going forward with 87 per cent of principal members voting in favour of the proposed changes.

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“The Board and executive has received great support from both principals and members during an extensive consultation process, and evidence of this is seen in the overwhelming support achieved for the vote,” Mr Rowe said. 

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The new FPA will be supported with a $15 million brand and advertising campaign over five years to position FPA members as trusted professionals. The changes will be introduced from 1 July, for the 2011-2012 membership year with the national consumer advertising campaign to start in second half of 2011.

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“We’re excited about the opportunity to promote both the benefits of financial planning to the wider community and the advantages of seeking an FPA member when seeking advice,” FPA CEO Mark Rantall said.

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“Financial planners face a fluid regulatory environment and increasing attention from both government and consumers.

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This new strategic direction will provide financial planners a consistent voice and build the reputation of the profession as a whole,” Mr Rantall said.

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