Advisor View: I Believe in Social Media!

This week’s thought leader Thursday commentary comes from Kim Gaxiola,CFP®, AAMS, Financial Advisor, speaker, educator, and founder of TechGirl Financial.  As a big fan of women in technology, Kim’s mission is to provide Silicon Valley with financial education that makes professionals and employees more comfortable making important financial decisions.  She has over 10 years of experience as a financial advisor, 15 years in the financial services industry, and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

If my husband Victor told me 2 years ago that I was going to have my own blog, and actually enjoy writing articles, posting them on social media, and seeing the response I was going to generate from it, I would have said NO WAY.  I have enough to do just managing my practice.   Why do I need to write articles, and then tweet, like them, or pass on LinkedIn?  I could just pass around others good content.

It pains me to say it, but he was right!  As you can see from this article itself, I am not known for my writing.  When I started my new website www.techgirlfinancial.com and included a blog component, I slowly started to include my own material, along with the marketing material I purchased or found  on the web.  After writing a couple articles and shamelessly promoting them on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, I have grown to like this aspect of my business.   I have found that is very fun to write and get noticed as an authority when it comes to things having to do with personal financial planning and other matters.   It is amazing to see how I can reach out to people near and far simply by telling a story and then sharing it using social media.

My website is my unique place to bring content and ideas on topics having to do with financial planning or my niche market, women in technology.  My profiles on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook are my amplifiers.  It is my voice and my interests that are being shared across the country to my unique audience of women that I like to work with.   This is the new medium that delivers the right content to the right audience, and they are looking for your message.   If you are not out there telling it to them, they are finding it from someone else.  Who do you want them to see, you or someone else?

It is so fascinating to see the “likes” or the activity and “comments” generated from the different posts and material I provide.  We don’t always know what resonates with our clients and prospects.  The geeky financial articles on the markets are fascinating to me, but they aren’t always what resonate with my clients.  Using social media helps me identify those aspects that are more important or interesting to clients and prospects as well.  That allows me to send a message and identify with them on a more personal note.

In addition to telling, it’s extremely fun to sit back and listen.  Our business is all about helping families reach their goals.  This is the core of what individuals are sharing with their friends on Facebook.  You will have a much quicker ability to react to life changes when you see them posting on Facebook, then if you were to wait around for them to call you.   That’s IF they call you.  As I listen and see photos of my clients as they report about the birth of a baby or grandchild, a new job, a wedding, etc…it is with great pleasure that I can witness these happy events with them, and make sure that the proper planning steps are being done at those key life events.  There is much to worry or stress about in our business.  But this is not it.  This is a place where our relationships with our clients can become so much deeper.  If you’re not taking advantage of that, you may be missing out.   More important, someone else may be listening and connecting on a more personal note than you.

Kim Gaxiola may be reached at (800) 584.3652 or kim@gaxiolafinancialgroup.com or www.techgirlfinancial.com.

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