James Dooley:
If I have a financial advisory business and I want a consistent flow of inquiries to grow revenue and potentially sell the business in a few years, what would you advise? How would I get a steady influx of inquiries?

Kasra Dash:
If you're looking to grow as a financial adviser, the first step is understanding what type of financial advice you specialise in. Finance is broad. It could be debt, pensions, mortgages or wealth management. Even within debt advice you have corporate debt and personal debt. Corporate debt includes CVLs, CVAs, liquidation and administration. Personal debt includes insolvency, IVAs, debt management plans, bankruptcy and trust deeds. Advisers must understand which areas make the most profit and which services convert best. Once they know that they can decide if PPC is worth attempting because they understand the keywords. PPC has issues with click fraud which is why you are not the biggest fan of it. SEO lets you target broad financial advice terms then push power into areas that convert better.

James Dooley:
If someone does go down the PPC route they need a genuine expert. They cannot generate leads, take the calls and watch the ad account at the same time. There is not enough time in the day. I still think PPC is risky in finance because competitors often click your ads and inflate the costs. You need a strong negative keyword list or an in house specialist. PPC only makes sense if someone wants leads immediately. SEO is more of a long term investment of six to twelve months but it builds an asset. Some niches like wealth management in New York might take two years. You are building a website that generates its own inquiries. You should never rely on only one channel. Once the SEO is set up the next step is lead generation.

Kasra Dash:
SEO is not only rankings. It is branding and reputation management. Reviews, testimonials and case studies matter. Videos and images from clients should be shared everywhere. Once branding is strong the adviser can start buying leads. FatRank.com runs a no win no fee lead generation service. They check testimonials, case studies and branding before they let someone in because if the adviser cannot convert leads FatRank does not get paid. Other companies like Bark might sell financial leads but they often sell the same lead to multiple firms. Track the return on investment with any lead source. If someone wants to avoid risk FatRank is safer because it guarantees ROI. But advisers should not rely on only one lead generator.

James Dooley:
Social media matters. Both organic and paid. Organic content works well for finance because you can produce videos explaining protection planning, pension planning, mortgage advice or retirement advice. Those videos on YouTube, Facebook or Twitter help build trust. On the paid side Facebook retargeting is essential. Most website visitors never convert on their first visit. When they open Facebook again they should see a retargeting advert. Cold ads can also work if you select the right demographic such as people aged sixty plus for retirement planning.

Kasra Dash:
Traditional marketing also exists. Equity release firms run a lot of TV ads and must be getting some return from it. Radio and billboards also exist. Finance is a huge industry so traditional marketing can work if budgets are high. If it was my business and even if I had fifty advisers I would start with SEO, branding, lead generation and social media. PPC would be my last option. Traditional marketing would be even lower on the list. That is not to say they do not work. I just think other channels give better ROI.

James Dooley:
Networking is huge in finance. Accountants are one of the biggest referral sources for business loans or corporate debt. When someone needs a bridging loan or a liquidation an accountant usually knows first. They often pass work to insolvency practitioners. Networking with accountants is essential. It is the same for financial planners. When an accountant helps a client sell a business for several million the next step is financial planning to protect the money. Financial advisers who build relationships with accountants get a steady stream of clients.

Kasra Dash:
That is the key. Networking, SEO, social media and lead generation. Advisers should choose one niche, specialise deeply and position themselves as experts. Once they know their niche they can get the right leads, get the right SEO pages built and become omnipresent online.

James Dooley:
If you have a financial advisory business and want consistent leads check out the link below or visit FatRank.com.