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7 Social Media Tips for Neophyte Advisors<br><br>

Only 16% of financial advisors are using social media to market their business. The two biggest reasons most haven’t started: compliance concerns and general uncertainty about how it all works.


Here are seven easy ways to increase your personal comfort with social media before you take the plunge and start using it for your business.


Source: Matthew Halloran MS, Certified Coach, is the co-author of the upcoming Bloomberg book, The Social Media Handbook for Financial Advisors, and is a sought after coach/consultant for Financial Advisors .
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1. Set Up a Personal Twitter Account<br><br>

Twitter is the easiest of the social media platforms to set up. It should take you 10 minutes at the most. Just setting the account up with help you feel more comfortable with your interaction with social media.
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2. Follow People in the Industry You Read on a Regular Basis<br><br>

You read the Journal of Financial Planning regularly, right? Well, follow them on Twitter. Think about what else you read, then, type their name into the search bar at the top of the page and follow them. Twitter recommends you follow 10 people to start.
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3. Keep an Eye on Your News Feeds<br><br>

Look at your “news feed” which is what the posts that show up on your page is called. Only do this a few times a day. You will start to get comfortable with how information is displayed and how easy it is, at a glance to see what is going on in the world of financial planning and finance.
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4. Set Up a Personal Facebook Page<br><br>

Yes, you need to enter into the world of Facebook. Just because you have strong feelings about the stock does not mean you do not need to get comfortable with this form of communication. This can take 30 minutes.


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5. Find Old Friends, Colleagues and Connections<br><br>

Find your old school buddies, family members and long lost college friends. Facebook will use the information you submit to help you find these people. You will be surprised who is already there waiting for you to connect with them. See what they are up to. They want to find you if they are on Facebook. Even if you did not have a great time in college and high school, this is a great time to show all those people how well you are doing now.
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6. Share, Share, Share<br><br>

Only share what you want to share, but I recommend you learn how to upload pictures of your family. No, Big Brother is not watching, or, well, if he is, he’s already watching so give him something you want him to look at.


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7. Pay Attention to What People Are Posting and Why They’re Posting It<br><br>

See what others post, what time and what type of content they’re sharing. You will learn a lot from what your friends and family post. Start making a list of what you like to see and what you do not. Are you going to repost links? Are you going to post social commentary? Are you going to post what you are doing with your family? Are you going to post about that great restaurant you ate at last night?


This will be a good learning opportunity for you before you take the leap into using these social media tools as a business building tool.


Also see:

10 Online Tools Advisors Can’t Live Without

7 Facebook Basics for Financial Advisors

9 Steps to Grow Your AUM With LinkedIn

10 Critical Social Media Tips for Advisors

10 Steps to Twitter Success for Financial Advisors
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