How to boost your brand with community service

How many people in your community know who you are and what you do? If they hear the name of your business, what is the brand they associate with it? Is your brand any different than any other financial advisor in town? Do you have a unique message and marketing initiative that helps you stand out from the crowded field of financial advisory firms?

We live in a time of incredible opportunity. As more and more aging boomers are looking to retire, someone with a unique and compelling brand in their community will be poised to grow his or her business dramatically.

One way to get the word out in your hometown is through community involvement. I believe you must first start with what you’re passionate about. If you are both sincere and strategic and you implement community relations properly, it will help all of your other marketing efforts become much more effective.

As an example, one thing I am passionate about is children, specifically kids that don’t have the same advantages in life that many of us grew up with. Over the past couple of years we have approached our clients and, in tandem with our annual “Holly Day” event, we have supported some local charities that help benefit kids in less fortunate circumstances.

First, we supported a drive to help our local Ronald McDonald House. Together with our clients we donated thousands of dollars of food and other resources for families going through very difficult medical issues with their children.

Second, this past Christmas we had a drive to support Mission of Hope, a local ministry that supports children living in abject poverty in rural Appalachia. Again, with the help of our clients we donated thousands of dollars’ worth of items for these kids.