Becoming a thought leader is increasingly necessary for building a significant wealth management practice. Aside from creating or curating high-quality thought leadership content, you must effectively deliver it to wealthy clients, prospects and centers of influence.
Becoming the expert the wealthy want is predicated on communicating your concern for the wealthy and sometimes centers of influence and back-lighting your expertise for the audiences you are focused on. It is therefore a big mistake not to commit significant resources to delivery.
Directly sharing thought leadership content: Far and away, for wealth managers, the most powerful and promising way to communicate thought leadership content is by directly sharing it. Here, you are sharing your thought-leadership content with the wealthy, centers of influence and others with whom you have a direct relationship. If your thought leadership content strikes a chord or, over time, convinces these people you are a leading authority, then you will get new business.
Directly sharing your thought leadership content is usually the fastest way to find new wealthy clients and raise your assets under management. The relative ease of this approach and the often-sensational short-term and long-term results only require that you consistently share your high-value thought leadership content and you follow up. If you share and neglect to follow up, you are diminishing your professional brand.
Presenting thought leadership content at events: This is a way to highlight your expertise in group settings. Being identified as the expert and standing up in front of an audience full of potential wealthy clients and referral sources will usually result in new wealth management business.
Using the multiplier effect: To maximize the power of your thought leadership content, the multiple effect is a long-term way strategy for capitalizing on becoming a thought leader.
Simply put, the multiplier effect is where you have clients and centers of influence hand out your thought leadership content. Providing your thought leadership content to your clients can meaningfully increase the number of referrals they provide to you. Handouts make it much easier for them to introduce you than by striking up a conversation with a potential client.
Indirectly sharing thought leadership content: Here you are just putting your thought leadership content “out there.” Examples of this include public relations releases or writing your thought-leadership content up in a blog or article or on your own website.
This communication approach is generally geared to building your professional brand. It is generally a concerted effort at strategic stumbling.
Just as important as having high-value thought leadership content is being able to deliver it to your intended audiences. Each of these four delivery approaches has its advantages and drawbacks, with differences in ease of implementation and short-term and long-term benefits. So, which one should you use? The answer is simple. To the greatest degree possible, you should use all four approaches.
Russ Alan Prince, president of R.A. Prince & Associates, is a consultant to family offices, the ultra-wealthy and select professionals.
