Written By: Rachael DeLeon
Trying to grow your financial counseling or coaching private practice, but feeling overwhelmed by the social media landscape?
We asked six AFC® professionals, all coming off of a week at FinCon19: Where Money and Media Meet – an annual gathering of digital content creators, influencers, and brands in personal finance and investing – to share what social media tips and tricks have worked best for them.
- Go where your audience is located. My audience isn’t on Twitter, so I don’t spend time on there. I discovered my audience was on Instagram. Suddenly I have had to learn a new social media platform. I’ve taken classes, reached out to others that have been having success, and I’m creating a plan.
- Tell your story authentically.
I kept hearing at FinCon to tell your story authentically. I’ve been thinking about how I can improve with telling my story authentically. How vulnerable do I want to get and what story do people need to hear to help them on their journey. - A few more social media hacks that have helped me.
- Video reaches people, so I’ve used Loom to make personal videos to send to clients.
- I’ve used Headliner to create video from my podcast audio and add a picture and words.
- Landing pages created from Mailchimp have helped me create an email list of people interested in my services.
~ Laura Coleman, AFC®, Family Money Coaching
- Have a strategy. Do not wing social media or you’ll be wasting time and money. Know what your goals are, (i.e. to get more clients, more page views, make more money), then create a strategy to match your goals with the social content you produce and promote. I would also ensure the content is congruent with the platform. For example, you don’t want to put only audio content on YouTube or only text on Instagram.
- Start on one platform, and grow from there. For someone new to social media, I would recommend starting on one platform at a time so you don’t get overwhelmed. The one you start on should go back to your strategy. Then add new social platforms as you get comfortable and proficient in the first one and so on.I learned my tip[s] the hard way over time. I did a lot of research to understand the various platforms. It works now because I know what I’m doing and see the results in analytics. But I’m still learning and improving on all the platforms.
~ Lacey Langford, AFC®, The Military Money Expert
- Know your audience and know the platform your audience uses. Know their problem areas and be a voice for solutions. Speak their language [and do so consistently].
~ Weslia Echols, AFC®, Trinity Financial Coaching
- Be out there. Brand yourself as credible and reliable in the work that you are currently doing and be visible and valuable to others.
~ Dr. Barbara O’Neill, AFC®, CFP®, Money Talk - Be specific. Be specific on who you want to work with, learn their money habits and financial needs.
- Be true to you and your passion. Use several media outlets as tools to communicate with your chosen demographic, [but] be true to your passion and delivery system. Don’t try to do what everyone else is doing. It might not work for you or your clientele.
- Collaborate. There is enough work out there for all private practitioners so collaborate to help your clients and fellow financial educators.
~ Willa Williams, AFC®, Trinity Financial Coaching - My top tip actually happens IRL (In Real Life). Volunteer for an organization that you are passionate about. Not one that will look good on your resume or LinkedIn profile, but one that really energizes you. That way, you will go out into the world ready and eager to share that organization’s message. Your genuine enthusiasm will shine through, making you memorable. In my 12 years as the principal for a consulting firm, the vast majority of my work comes from word-of-mouth referrals from people who know me and my dedication to the field of financial education and coaching.
~ Kimberly Zimmerman Rand, AFC®, FFC®, Dragonfly Financial Solutions
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