A Proust Questionnaire with Eric Clarke

October 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment

As the first in what will be an ongoing series, the President of Orion Advisor Services, LLC plays like it’s 1885, in the classically insightful and personal interview.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
1 mile to go on a long run.

Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Anything about Washington, love to read about him.

Which living person do you most admire?
My father.

What is your favorite journey?
No doubt…hiking Mt. Whitney.  Read more of this post

Filed under Interview, Opinion, Proust Questionnaire, Social Media

Orion Blog Video Series

August 9, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Orion Advisor Services, LLC (Orion) recently rolled out a new website and requested we create a video each month to accompany a newsletter article on their blog. The video would need to be informative without giving away the whole article and of course, an element of humor needed to be involved. July’s featured article highlighted future reporting enhancements at Orion.

Most technology companies are extremely cautious with the amount of information they share about upcoming innovations for fear of the competition catching wind too early. This hesitancy of information is completely understandable… and laughable if it turns to paranoia. So we thought, who better to poke fun at the line between caution and paranoia than Nathan Thurm, the shady and defensive lawyer played by Martin Short and best known from a 1984 60 Minutes sketch on Saturday Night Live.

Since hiring Mr. Short was likely out of our budget, we chose to recruit from within. Joe Leyboldt, Director of Technology Support at Orion, played the defensive roll perfectly in this interrogative interview on Orion’s future reporting enhancements.

Filed under Marketing, Social Media, Video Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

LinkedIn Primer

February 3, 2012 by Leave a Comment

LinkedIn is a networking site where professionals make “connections” and corporations and organizations establish company profiles. It is also a powerful tool that supports business growth via referrals. For the financial professional, when you connect with your clients you then have access to their connections as well as the groups they belong to and organizations they follow.

Today, when seeing or corresponding with clients, most advisors simply ask, “Is there anyone you know that would benefit from my services?” This is often unsuccessful because it is vague and hollow in its intent to be specific to your target market. Instead, take time to review your clients’ LinkedIn information – their jobs, education and any groups in which they belong as well as their connections. Then, you can be more specific when you ask for a referral. “I noticed you are a member of [group] and are connected to Mary Smith on LinkedIn. I was looking at Mary’s occupation and profile; she is in the target market served by our firm. Could you introduce me to Mary?”  Read more of this post

Filed under Social Media Tagged with , , ,

Why All the Buzz About Social Media?

January 31, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Information is exchanged via an ever-evolving, rapidly expanding network. Not only is the amount of information increasing, the sources of that information and the avenues for accessing it are also increasing. Google is the largest search engine in the pack, and its dominance in the marketplace is changing how we speak about information – you don’t just look someone up, you “google” them. When even the vernacular has changed, the ways we reach out to clients and potential clients needs to change, too.

Social media is on fire when it comes to client acquisition. Advisory firms using social media are growing faster than their counterparts not using social media – three times faster in terms of annual revenue, AUM, and client base, according to Alte Group Advisor Survey Q4 2009. These advisors still need to deliver on their value proposition, pursue efficient operations, and fulfill client expectations; the difference is they are getting more exposure by being in the social media mainstream.  Read more of this post

Filed under Social Media Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,