Rocket Talk - How to Work With a Copywriter

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Developing a strong working relationship with a copywriter can provide a transformative shift to the efficacy of your marketing strategy. When you have access to personalized, high-quality content on an as-needed basis you can begin to provide your clients and prospects with an incredible value-add. You can also transform your website into a perfect encapsulation of your brand. Join Kirk Faulkner and Raudel Sanchez as they talk about the different ways you can develop a great relationship with a copywriter.

SSL Encryption: FMG Suite’s Commitment to Data Security

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Maintaining a beautiful, functional website involves staying on top of security trends. One of the best ways to do this is by implementing Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protection. 

You may have noticed that some URLs start with “http://” and others start with ‘https://.” That extra “s” means the site into which you’re entering sensitive information—like credit card numbers or signing up for a newsletter—is encrypted using SSL. 

What Is Secure Socket Layer Encryption?

SSL encryption causes your browser and the web server to establish a secure connection through an “SSL Handshake.” This happens automatically and isn’t something you would notice. But behind the scenes, there’s quite a bit going on. 

When you visit a site with SSL, the host server sends a copy of its SSL Certificate to your browser. If the certificate is verified as secure, an encrypted connection is established. This level of security makes it impossible for a third party to intercept information. 

A More Secure Web

In addition to protecting sensitive data, SSL also impacts Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Google has stated that if all other factors are equal, a site with “https://” can break a tie in search engine results.

With the release of Chrome version 68 in July, web pages without SSL will be marked as “not secure,” as seen here:

Chrome 69, planned for September, takes this further by treating sites with SSL as the default, meaning the “secure” tag that appears in your “https://” line will disappear.

Finally, in October, Chrome 70 will trigger a red “Not secure” label when entering text on sites without a Certificate of Authority (CA).

Many experts believe users presented with this warning will be less likely to interact with these sites or trust their content.

Our Solution

We are working on a large-scale solution to bring SSL to every customer with the click of a button. We are excited to report that it will be available by the end of September. 

We understand that online security is an urgent matter. For our subscribers who want SSL for their site right away, we offer an immediate solution. However, this requires coordination with our service team, a manual implementation of SSL protocols, and a one-time service fee of $35. If you need SSL today, give them a call at (858) 251-2420.

At FMG Suite, we remain committed to maintaining the confidentiality, integrity, and security of our business partners, investment professionals, and their clients. As always, please feel free to call (858) 251-2420 with any questions or concerns. 

4 Ways to Capture Events For Your Marketing Effort

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Conducting events in your community is an excellent way to support your current clients and reach out to a new group of prospects. Whether you are hosting seminars, conferences, parties, or lectures on timely financial issues, you can show off your personality and establish yourself as a thought leader.

But hosting events also gives you an additional opportunity to boost your social presence and cultivate engagement through email marketing and blog posts. Here are some essential steps to ensure you are maximizing the ROI on your event planning:

1. Create a new event using ALP’s Event Builder

The more information you can include, the better, but be sure to have the date, time (be sure to select the right time zone), location, and a contact who can handle any questions about the event. For maximum impact, let people know what they should expect to learn from the event and encourage them to invite their friends and family. The RSVP feature makes it easy to estimate a head count and ensure that you have enough snacks and drinks to cover all of your attendees! 

2. Get the word out early on social media 

 In the lead-up to your event, it will be essential to post multiple times on all social media channels. Posting on your Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter may be a given, but don’t ignore smaller channels like community pages and specialized groups. Craft a short sentence that describes the event, when it takes place, and what the public can expect to gain from attending.

3. Find someone to team up with

To really drive community involvement, consider a dual partnership with another local business to double your marketing efforts. You can reach out to the community to line up potential collaborators, guest speakers, or even just a popular lunch place to supply catering. Don’t forget to mention these partnerships in all of your marketing efforts!

4. Create a targeted email campaign

Reaching out to both existing clients and promising prospects is another excellent way to drive up attendance, and directing them to your website’s event page drives up your SEO. Be sure to send a series of emails as you countdown to your event. We suggest sending the first three months prior, then re-sending at 1 month, 1 week, and the day before to keep your event top-of-mind.

If you’re taking the time and effort to put together a company event, why not reap the benefits of your marketing strategy? Crafting an event on your website to drive traffic, sharing your event across all social platforms and through a dedicated email campaign, and drumming up community involvement all ensure that your event gets the attention it deserves! 

These Four Website Tweaks Will Change The Way Visitors See Your Site

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We don’t have to tell you the importance of having a website in today’s marketing age. But, simply having a website isn’t the final step. Your website must be engaging, user-friendly, and lead-generating. Let’s look at four simple tweaks you can implement today to take your website from flat to fantastic.

Making it Responsive

Mobile traffic continues to surge in popularity and if your website isn’t mobile-responsive, you are likely losing many visitors and potential clients. There are few things worse in the marketing space than a website that doesn’t display correctly on a variety of devices, including desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.

All Advisor Launchpad websites are built with mobile in mind. Our Concierge and Exclusive themes look beautiful on all different screen sizes and translate well on Apple’s iOS, Androids, and other operating systems.

Make it Stylish

This one comes down to personal preference, but there are common design trends that must be considered when building your site. Your website designer will understand terms like “white space,” “user experience,” “typography,” and more, but all you need to know is that design matters!

Check out this article we wrote about some do’s and don’ts of website design for financial advisors for a few more guidelines.

Make it Easy to Navigate

Piggybacking on design, the navigation of your website is one of the most important things to consider when thinking about usability. A simple navigation is a successful navigation because you want your website viewers to be able to get the information they need quickly and easily without getting lost in your site.

Our Advisor Launchpad sites have parent navigation (the navigation items on the top) and child navigation (the items that fall below). Some websites may have grandchildren navigation items that go one step further, but this can get a little convoluted if not used correctly.

Make it Legible

There are many rules to follow when writing and designing your website content. Writing for the web is a lot different than writing other long-form pieces such as newspaper articles or books. Attention spans are shorter, the content goes into less depth, and website visitors don’t read every single word.

So what does that mean for your website? When creating your copy, make your paragraphs short and focused, only use one of two different fonts, and create division in your content with headers, sub headers, and bullet points. These tweaks will make your website much more legible and increase conversions and leads.

Is your website up to today’s design standards? Meet with a marketing expert today to find out!

Five Things to Do Before Launching Your Website [Whitepaper]

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Whether you are tuning up an existing website or starting for the first time from scratch, the pros at Advisor Launchpad want to make it as easy as possible for you. In our newest whitepaper, Five Things to Do Before Launching Your Website, we cover everything you need to do before launch, including choosing and purchasing your domain and finding a good logo designer, as well as learning about website add-ons, website content, and branding.

Domains

Domains are where your website lives. They are the words after the www, and depending on how high demand is for your domain, the cost will vary. When building your website, you will need to provide your Concierge or Exclusive website specialist your domain credentials.

Logos

A professionally-designed logo is key to kick starting your brand. Whether you design your logo yourself or hire a professional, you have to have a good logo before you launch or even start to build your site.

Website Add-Ons

Website add-ons are what take your website from ordinary to extraordinary. They can come from third parties like Riskalyze, your website provider like our “Sign Up for Our Newsletter” widget, or you can code them in yourself. They serve as a great lead-generation opportunity.

Content

Content is likely the most important part of your website because it is the information that clients and prospects will learn about your firm.

Branding

Establishing your brand is a cumulation of all of the above. Our comprehensive guide will help you launch your brand so you can put forth a website you are proud of.

Download the whitepaper here.