He has 109,000 followers on Twitter (TWTR) where he identifies himself as "chairman of the Twitter Federal Reserve" among other titles. But all kidding aside, Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, is very serious about Twitter and says financial advisors should be, too.
"Social media is now at the center of building a [financial advisor] practice," says Brown, who's also creator of The Reformed Broker blog.
Since 2010 Twitter has gone from a "what is Twitter?" application used primarily by reporters and day traders to a "totally accepted and expected" outlet for financial advisors, says Brown.
"Over the next 5 to 10 years your clients will look to see if you're on Twitter," says Brown. "If you're not, start to have some presence…. Twitter is a marketing tool," but its use in the financial advisory community is in the early stages and has been limited, says Brown.
Two Twitter-compatible live-streaming video applications — Periscope, which Twitter recently bought, and Meerkat — will boost the platform's reach even further, according to Brown, who spoke at the recent ETF.Com Global Macro conference in New York. These apps could be "game changing by the end of the year," he said.
'You can do your own talk show or live Q&A" on these apps, which has "stratospheric implications," says Brown, who's one of several regulars on CNBC's "Halftime Show." Advisors can also make videos to show on YouTube, which coupled with a search-engine optimized keyword in the title "can be devastatingly effective," says Brown. "If you make a two- to three-minute polished video and don't stutter or look like an ax murderer you will probably get a lead from that."
