I was interviewed for the October 2014 edition of the Journal of Financial Planning magazine in their "10 Questions With Noteworthy People" section on the topic of how financial advisors can "Build Digital Influence and Succeed in a Wired World". I share my thought and insights on how to re-think your client acquisition and retention strategy, creating a digital and social media marketing strategy, blogging and driving traffic to your website, LinkedIn, and digital marketing mistakes to avoid.

1. 10 QUESTIONS With Noteworthy People
14 Journal of Financial Planning | October 2014 FPAJournal.org
Questions10
D
uring her 15-year career as a
financial adviser, Stephanie
Sammons always had a
penchant for marketing and business
development. And as a recording artist
(she’s a singer/songwriter who report-
edly plays a mean acoustic guitar),
she has a proficiency in software and
technology. So you can imagine her
enthusiasm some years ago as the
planning profession began to really
embrace social media.
Not only did she embrace the digital
revolution, she wanted to get out
ahead of the curve. So much so, that
she left her wealth management and
corporate leadership career in 2009 to
launch Wired Advisor, a coaching and
training business that teaches profes-
sionals how to build digital influence
for business success.
The Journal recently spoke to Sam-
mons about the mistakes financial
advisers make when blogging or
interacting on LinkedIn, and how to
build that digital influence without it
being daunting or discouraging.
1.To run a successful financial advisory
practice in a wired world, do advisers need
to re-think client acquisition and client
retention?
Advisers have a lot of challenges today.
It’s a mature industry. There is margin
compression, increased transparency,
wealth transition due to an aging
population, competition—new and tra-
ditional—and even industry credibility
and regulatory hurdles. All that in the
midst of a digital revolution. The indus-
try is being significantly disrupted, but
there still is, and always will be, a need
for financial advisers. It’s a relationship-
driven business. Money is too personal
and too emotional. I believe that people
will always need that help, guidance,
and support from advisers to make good
financial decisions.
The financial advisers who are going
to do well in a wired world will evolve
their business models to better scale
their communications, marketing/busi-
ness development, and client service.
You can accomplish this through having
WHO: Stephanie Sammons, CFP®
WHAT: Founder/CEO of Wired Advisor
and expert on helping financial profes-
sionals build personal digital influ-
ence to attract, grow, and retain client
relationships in a wired world
WHAT’S ON HER MIND: “Like any business, if
you’re not consistently growing, you’re
dying.”
PODCAST: Listen to our podcast
with Stephanie Sammons at
www.FPAJournal.org.
Stephanie Sammons on Building
Digital Influence and Succeeding
in a Wired World
by Carly Schulaka

2. 10 QUESTIONS
October 2014 | Journal of Financial Planning 15FPAJournal.org
an actual digital strategy and leveraging
technology, tools, and systems. Advisers
also need to humanize their digital
presence in order to build influence
with prospects and clients. When you
humanize your brand online, you can
scale that personal connection and
build trust.
The advisers who become more effi-
cient—by being smarter and faster—and
become more visible as human beings
with a compelling message are the ones
who will really thrive in the digital age.
Even advisers who choose to stay
small, which is perfectly acceptable,
will have to be wired and embrace
digital, because that’s how you meet the
expectations and experiences of your
prospects and clients today. The way we
build and manage client relationships
has changed forever.
2.If there had to be one key to building
your digital influence, what would it be?
Personal influence is the uncanny
ability to attract, lead, and inspire
your ideal clients to take action. Web-
sites and corporate logos don’t build
relationships, people do. Influence
has been democratized. We all have
access to it if we choose to leverage it.
Influence is also the new market-
ing. When you build digital influence,
your business will grow. It’s the one
key factor.
For advisers to truly leverage the
power of digital influence, they have
to create a digital presence that
fosters relationships. They need to get
personally involved and engaged in
their digital strategy, content develop-
ment, and social media participation.
Being human, personable, and
accessible online is really the only
differentiator. It’s the only way for a
prospective client to get to know you
and trust you without meeting you
first. And believe me, consumers do
all the research now online before
you ever meet them in person. They
are 60 percent of the way through the
decision-making process before they
ever meet you.
The tendency in the industry is to
hide behind the brand and create a
very corporate feel that’s not designed
to develop relationships. Instead,
create a personal media company
where you and your team are the faces
of your brand. This is a great start
toward building digital influence.
3. How can advisers develop a digital
strategy in a way that doesn’t seem daunt-
ing or unachievable?
There is definitely a lot to learn; it can
be overwhelming at first. I compare
it to learning how to play golf in that
there are the tools to learn, just like
you learn which golf club to hit and
what that club is going to do for you.
You also have some etiquette to learn
with digital and social, and you need
to practice to improve.
Digital is a process. You have to
give yourself time to learn it and to
understand it. I think it’s very wise
to invest in education, training, and
maybe some coaching. It would cost
a lot less in the long run to get the
help you need upfront. A successful
digital strategy is a function of really
understanding who you are, why you
do what you do, who you help, and
how you help. When you are confident
with these answers, your digital
strategy becomes much more clear.
Once you know who you’re trying to
attract and build relationships with,
it’s much easier to develop the right
content and be visible and valuable in
the right places online.
The biggest challenge isn’t the digi-
tal and social media learning curve,
it’s time management. Once you do
learn the game and see how powerful
it can be, you’re going to want to play
it all the time.
4.What do you say to advisers who feel
they just don’t have the time or the energy
to focus on going digital?
The digital revolution is here. Whether
or not you’re feeling the impact yet
doesn’t change that. Eight-track tapes
aren’t coming back as much as we loved
them. Digital is here and it’s disrupting
every industry in its path, especially
mature ones like ours. Your business is
already being affected—you just may
not be feeling the pain yet, and you
may be hoping to escape without any
cuts or bruises. Be careful though—
your clients are already exposed to all
kinds of opportunities and alternatives
through the content coming at them
every day. They are being influenced by
media that is created by your competi-
tors, their friends, and even strangers.
If you’re not out there leading them
and helping them stay the course,
someone else will be.
I’ll also say that it’s critical to appro-
priately value digital and social media.
If you say you don’t have the time or
energy, you are not valuing this for what
it is—a massive opportunity and a major
threat to your business, combined. Why
not leverage the opportunity versus
succumbing to the threat?
5.What are some lesser-known content
formats or channels financial advisers
should be aware of?
I think it’s important to choose the
content format where you are strong
and most comfortable.
You can write, create videos, do
audio podcasts, or even a combination
of these things. Just be careful about
creating content that’s not going to
flatter you. If you’re a good writer,
create written content. If you’re
comfortable in front of a camera,
create videos. If neither of these work
for you, launch an audio podcast and
have it transcribed.

3. 10 QUESTIONS
October 2014 | Journal of Financial Planning 17FPAJournal.org
Once you have an actual content
strategy in place, you can then decide
which channels are best for sharing that
content. The platforms that matter most
are the ones where your existing and
ideal clients are spending time. These
are channels like LinkedIn, Facebook,
Twitter, YouTube, and even iTunes.
Eventually, I think we will see
smaller, more niche social networks, or
even networks within networks. Sallie
Krawcheck recently purchased a global
women’s digital network and renamed
it Ellevate Network. There are 30,000
women in that network, and my guess
is that it’s pretty active. This is a great
example of what I think we’ll see more
of this in the future.
Additional opportunities that advisers
might consider are networks like Pinter-
est, Google+, and SlideShare, which
is owned by LinkedIn, and Instagram,
owned by Facebook. Again, it depends
on who you are focused on and where
they spend time online.
Ultimately you want all roads to lead
back to your website or blog, the central
hub that you own and control.
6.What is the biggest mistake you
see advisers making when it comes to
LinkedIn?
I see a lack of understanding of the fact
that your professional online presence is
being defined by LinkedIn. For example,
your LinkedIn profile is typically one of
the top entries in a Google search for
your name. Chances are someone looks
at your LinkedIn profile before they find
your website. A compelling profile can
also help you get found within LinkedIn
search. In 2012 there were 6 billion
people searches within LinkedIn. Still,
many advisers neglect their LinkedIn
profiles, and I think that’s because they
don’t understand the power of it. Linked-
In is such a rich network. Your profile is
this dynamic asset that can constantly
be improved, and it’s a gateway to your
business. There are various ways to
enhance your LinkedIn profile that can
build your influence, create meaningful
dialogue with prospects, and even help
you attract website visitors.
Also, advisers aren’t active enough
on LinkedIn in a way that brings value.
There was a recent study that said if you
post an update to your LinkedIn profile
at least 20 times per month, you can
achieve 60 percent greater visibility.
However, what you share needs to be
interesting and valuable.
It’s the activity on LinkedIn that can
lead to good things for your business.
Activities should include proactively
growing your network with the right
people, making introductions and refer-
rals, participating in discussions, sharing
compelling content, engaging with
your network, promoting your connec-
tions, sending personalized messages,
and the list goes on. You’ve got almost
unlimited opportunities on LinkedIn to
build influence with anyone you want,
if you’re committed to building your
presence there.
7.What are some common mistakes you
see advisers making on their blogs?
I’ll group these into three mistakes
that I see most frequently. No. 1 is
the overuse of canned, industrialized
financial content. I think it’s a huge
disservice to consumers and we’ve been
spoiled by it in this industry for years.
There are no compliance hassles and all
kinds of packaged products exist where
the canned content can be inserted
into your website, your blog posts, and
your email newsletters. Maybe that
was enough back when this was the
only option, but it’s not enough now
to simply churn out generic content.
No one cares. Because of blogging, you
have a powerful printing press at your
fingertips where you actually can create
something meaningful and differentiate
yourself. Why wouldn’t you do that?
No. 2 ties into No. 1—there’s no
personalization. A blog is designed to be
a relationship development tool where
you can communicate your insights and
your perspective to help your existing
and ideal clients solve their problems.
This is how you build influence, and it’s
how you build that scalable human con-
nection. You want your ideal client to
consume your content and say, “That’s
exactly what I feel right now, and that’s
exactly what I’ve been worried about.
She gets me!”
I’ve had advisers who haven’t had
success with blogging say to me,
“Well, my content is educational, I’m
educating about IRAs.” But it’s missing
that personal element, that personal
perspective. I can find information
about IRAs anywhere. If I come to your
blog and can’t learn anything about who
you are as a person and really see that
you understand my situation, why am I
going to trust you with my financial life?
Content today has to be more than just
educational. It has to make an emotional
connection.
And No. 3 is just a lack of consis-
tency—not sticking with it or giving up
too soon. That’s really a biggie. It takes
time and energy to blog, but that work
gets easier over time, and the rewards
can be tremendous. It’s not an overnight
win, it’s a brick-by-brick process for
building digital leverage and equity in
your business.
8.Once an adviser is blogging, what are
some tips for increasing traffic?
First, what matters is not the absolute
traffic numbers, it’s the quality and the
growth of your traffic over time. Sharing
your content thoughtfully and strategi-
cally in the right places—social profiles
and email inboxes, for example—is
critical. You can also share that same
content on social networks a few times.
Chances are, many people won’t see it if
you share it just once.

4. 10 QUESTIONS With Noteworthy People
18 Journal of Financial Planning | October 2014 FPAJournal.org
Another idea is repurposing your
existing content where it can be found
on other sites. Create an e-book and
publish that on Amazon, create a
podcast for iTunes, create a video or
slide presentation. That way, you’re not
reinventing the wheel, and your content
can be found by more people.
Partner marketing is also a great strat-
egy for growing traffic. This is where
you might interview an expert in your
community and publish it on your blog.
When you showcase that expert, they’re
going to share the content with their
network. Or, flip that around and go get
interviewed by someone influential in
your market.
Getting featured or quoted by the
media can be accomplished simply by
serving as a resource to journalists and
editors, and that builds credibility. Con-
tributing your content to other websites
and blogs through guest posting can
help as well.
It was once fairly easy to have your
content seen in social networks, but
amplifying your content through strategic
social media ads can potentially acceler-
ate the process today. It’s become more
difficult to build your network organically,
so you may have to pay to play.
With all of these ideas, your blogging
frequency and consistency do matter.
Ultimately, you want to market your
content more strategically to get it in
front of your ideal clients. When you
do this, you will increase the quality of
traffic to your site.
9. What are a few things advisers should
be doing on social networks, and a few
things they should not be doing?
The do’s on social networking are:
build personal influence, be human,
help and support others, share valu-
able and relevant messages with your
network, share your own content as
well as high-quality content from other
sources, promote and engage with your
connections, network with influencers
across industries and organizations. Be
active. Be consistent. Be accessible. Be
compliant.
The don’t of social networking is:
don’t sit at the water cooler. It’s so
easy to get sucked in. It’s tempting to
get into these networks and engage in
debates or conversations with peers and
friends that will not grow your business.
I’m guilty of it myself. When it comes
to social networking, I like to use an
acronym—EWIFD—engage with intent
focus and discipline.
BHI Jefferson National Jou

5. 10 QUESTIONS
October 2014 | Journal of Financial Planning 19FPAJournal.org
More don’ts include: please don’t
sell or pitch your services in social
networks. Don’t go for the kill. So many
financial advisers try to market so close
to the sale and they completely ruin the
opportunity to nurture a relationship.
They’ve jumped in before building
any rapport and say, “Here’s what I
can do for you.” This is a long game,
but an important one for building a
robust network of relationships that
can convert into prospects, clients, and
business advocates over time.
There is also a great debate about
outsourcing your social media
activities. Tools and apps can help you
automate content sharing, but when it
comes to the actual networking piece,
opportunities are lost when someone
else is driving for you. Figure out what
you can automate with social media
and just carve out 15 minutes a day to
do the networking yourself.
10. Name three people all financial
advisers should be following on Twitter.
Michael Kitces (@MichaelKitces). The
guy is just a machine when it comes
to producing informative content for
financial advisers. When you follow
Michael, you’re going to stay up with
everything going on in the industry.
Another recommendation is Cathy
Curtis (@CathyCurtis). What I know
about being an adviser myself for 15
years and then coaching advisers is
they listen most to their own peer
group. They like to see other advisers
who are doing something well and
learn from them. Cathy Curtis is one
of the best success stories I can think
of as an adviser who created a niche
focus and built significant influence
through blogging and social media.
She’s focused on women; it’s the core
of her strategy and it drives everything
she does.
The third is not actually one person,
but a very well-respected and credible
resource, Social Media Examiner
(@smexaminer). Their instructional
blog posts cover all things social media,
designed to help marketers big and
small. They also do some educational
virtual summits throughout the year
and an annual physical conference. It’s
a lot to stay on top of, but it’s my go-to
resource for what’s happening with
social media.
Carly Schulaka is editor of the Journal. Contact her at
CSchulaka@OneFPA.org.
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Looking for an innovative alternative
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and disappearing safety nets, helping clients save for retire-
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advisors. Now the good news: JeffNat’s latest White Paper
offers fresh insights into generating reliable retirement income.
See exactly how low-cost, tax-deferred compounding can
grow wealth versus how the drag of compounding fees
can reduce wealth. You’ll also discover how a Next Gen VA –
such as JeffNat’s Monument Advisor – could potentially
increase returns by an average of 100 bps or more.1
FOR FINANCIAL PROFESSIONAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR PUBLIC USE.JNL201408-A118
1
Jefferson National’s Monument Advisor has a $20 monthly flat-insurance fee. Additional low-cost fund platform fees ranging from .10%-.35% will be assessed for investors
wishing to purchase shares of low-cost funds. See the prospectus for details. 2
Withdrawals made prior to age 59 1/2 may incur a 10% IRS tax penalty. Variable annuities
are long-term investments to help you meet retirement and other long-range goals. Withdrawals of tax-deferred accumulations are subject to ordinary income tax. Before
investing,considerthefunds’investmentoptions,risks,chargesandexpenses. Toobtainaprospectuswhichcontainsthisandotherinformation,pleasecall866-667-0564orvisit
www.jeffnat.com. Please read the prospectus carefully. Monument Advisor is issued by Jefferson National Life Insurance Company (Dallas, TX) and distributed by Jefferson
National Securities Corporation, FINRA member. Policy series JNL-2300-1, JNL-2300-2, JNL-2300-3.
Visit jeffnat.com/nextgen. Or call 1-877-4UNLOCK
With today’s ongoing volatility, low interest rates, rising taxes
and disappearing safety nets, helping clients save for retire-
ment is more daunting than ever for RIAs and fee-based
advisors. Now the good news: JeffNat’s latest White Paper
offers fresh insights into generating reliable retirement income.
See exactly
grow wealt
can reduce
such as Jef
increase retu
FOR FINJNL201408-A118
1
Jefferson National’s Monument Advisor has a $20 monthly flat-insurance fee. Additional low-cost fund platfo
wishing to purchase shares of low-cost funds. See the prospectus for details. 2
Withdrawals made prior to a
are long-term investments to help you meet retirement and other long-range goals. Withdrawals of tax-defe
investing,considerthefunds’investmentoptions,risks,chargesandexpenses. Toobtainaprospectuswhichcon
www.jeffnat.com. Please read the prospectus carefully. Monument Advisor is issued by Jefferson National L
National Securities Corporation, FINRA member. Policy series JNL-2300-1, JNL-2300-2, JNL-2300-3.
urnal of Financial Planning Trim Size: 15.5 x 5.375 in
Visit jeffnat.com/nextgen. Or call 1-877-4UNLOCK
Looking for an innovative alternative
to Unlock Retirement IncomeSM
?
Download our latest White Paper.
With today’s ongoing volatility, low interest rates, rising taxes
and disappearing safety nets, helping clients save for retire-
ment is more daunting than ever for RIAs and fee-based
advisors. Now the good news: JeffNat’s latest White Paper
offers fresh insights into generating reliable retirement income.
See exactly how low-cost, tax-deferred compounding can
grow wealth versus how the drag of compounding fees
can reduce wealth. You’ll also discover how a Next Gen VA –
such as JeffNat’s Monument Advisor – could potentially
increase returns by an average of 100 bps or more.1
FOR FINANCIAL PROFESSIONAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR PUBLIC USE.JNL201408-A118
1
Jefferson National’s Monument Advisor has a $20 monthly flat-insurance fee. Additional low-cost fund platform fees ranging from .10%-.35% will be assessed for investors
wishing to purchase shares of low-cost funds. See the prospectus for details. 2
Withdrawals made prior to age 59 1/2 may incur a 10% IRS tax penalty. Variable annuities
are long-term investments to help you meet retirement and other long-range goals. Withdrawals of tax-deferred accumulations are subject to ordinary income tax. Before
investing,considerthefunds’investmentoptions,risks,chargesandexpenses. Toobtainaprospectuswhichcontainsthisandotherinformation,pleasecall866-667-0564orvisit
www.jeffnat.com. Please read the prospectus carefully. Monument Advisor is issued by Jefferson National Life Insurance Company (Dallas, TX) and distributed by Jefferson
National Securities Corporation, FINRA member. Policy series JNL-2300-1, JNL-2300-2, JNL-2300-3.
Visit jeffnat.com/nextgen. Or call 1-877-4UNLOCK
With today’s ongoing volatility, low interest rates, rising taxes
and disappearing safety nets, helping clients save for retire-
ment is more daunting than ever for RIAs and fee-based
advisors. Now the good news: JeffNat’s latest White Paper
offers fresh insights into generating reliable retirement income.
See exactly
grow wealt
can reduce
such as Jef
increase retu
FOR FINJNL201408-A118
1
Jefferson National’s Monument Advisor has a $20 monthly flat-insurance fee. Additional low-cost fund platfo
wishing to purchase shares of low-cost funds. See the prospectus for details. 2
Withdrawals made prior to a
are long-term investments to help you meet retirement and other long-range goals. Withdrawals of tax-defe
investing,considerthefunds’investmentoptions,risks,chargesandexpenses. Toobtainaprospectuswhichcon
www.jeffnat.com. Please read the prospectus carefully. Monument Advisor is issued by Jefferson National L
National Securities Corporation, FINRA member. Policy series JNL-2300-1, JNL-2300-2, JNL-2300-3.