Money
Marketing overwhelm? Here’s how I stripped mine back to basics
I have recently been spending a lot of time thinking about my business and what’s next for us.
We’ve had a really good few years, from a growth perspective. We’ve integrated one acquisition and we’re looking at one or two others. We are in an objectively good shape.
However, as the firm grows and more advisers join the team, we need to find a way to continue to build and for the business to be able to sustain itself.
When we set up, it was mainly my own connections and relationships that generated new clients. But that’s probably not enough now. The old adage of, ‘What got us here won’t get us there,’ feels apt.
We must do what fits for us. And why shouldn’t it be something we enjoy doing?
And so to marketing.
It feels as if there are a million and one resources, from a financial services marketing perspective.
From podcasts by industry experts, marketing specialists, SEO companies and consultants galore, to other advisers promoting what they do on LinkedIn and/or X (formerly Twitter), it’s a minefield when determining who to follow and which options are best.
I have thought a lot about which approaches to explore and from whom to take inspiration. So many good people are providing really excellent, free content.
However, I chose to come away from all of that ‘stuff’. I went back to basics. I started thinking about my business, my life, what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it.
We decided to go to our best introducers and best clients and ask them what they, their peers, their colleagues and their friends might be interested in
Why? Well, while no doubt good, all the information out there is pretty generic. There can be basic guides for what can work or what has worked for other people, sure. However, these aren’t specific to me, to my business and to what I want to do with my time.
Actual people
So, I went back to thinking about what had brought people to my company and what had made them stay. Also, what I enjoyed in terms of marketing and what I didn’t.
As business owners, we get to choose these things. I don’t want to be ruled by the business — I want to rule it. This led me to AP — actual people.
Forget AI; AP is where it’s at. I like people. I like speaking with them, learning their stories, hearing what challenges they have and thinking through the options to overcome them.
What is working already? What feels comfortable to you? What can you do often and sustainably
I realised, if we’re a business that people join and stay with because of the human connection, why don’t we do things that encourage more human connections?
We decided to go to our best introducers and best clients and ask them what they, their peers, their colleagues and their friends might be interested in.
These people are already advocates of ours. They get it, they get us.
I understand why writing social-media posts or creating a podcast (I had one of those) and other digital content is useful for marketing. However, those things aren’t what define us.
I don’t like the peer pressure about what you need to do, marketing-wise. We must do what fits for us. Yes, we’d like it to work but why shouldn’t it be something we enjoy doing? Something authentic and sustainable.
We will monitor the results — who came in as clients and what work came from it. That’s the analytics we can review.
Gauging feedback
Our marketing to-do list was relatively long to start with but we decided to refine it to three or four projects initially and gauge feedback from there.
None of these are revolutionary, either. Sorry if you thought I was going to give you the key to loads of new business.
We’re starting with a wine-tasting evening local to a number of our clients with a local wine-production company we know.
We’re doing an evening at a high-end watch retailer with a number of sports and entrepreneur clients with a big interest in watches.
I started thinking about my business, my life, what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it
We have seminars arranged, reviewing pensions and inheritance tax planning.
And we’re planning an event with our charity partner, Spread a Smile, to show our clients what we do as a business for them.
We will ask introducers to bring potential clients and we will ask clients to bring like-minded individuals.
I will update on how this has gone over the next year or so, but the main point of this column was to remind other business owners and advisers to think through what their marketing looks like.
What is working already? What feels comfortable to you? What can you do often and sustainably, and enjoy rather than endure? Good luck.
Sam Sloma is managing director of Engage Financial Services
This article featured in the October 2024 edition of Money Marketing.
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Money
Empiric Student Property raises £56m via share placing
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Money
How famous silhouette on your 50p coin could make it worth 9000 TIMES more – check your change now
A FAMOUS silhouette on your 50p coin could make it worth more than 9000 times its face value.
The pieces were minted in 2019 to commemorate character Sherlock Holmes and his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
The Queen Elizabeth II 50p: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle marked 160 years since the birth of the renowned author.
The prolific writer is best known for the popular detective stories featuring the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.
Stephen Raw’s coin design features a silhouette of Sherlock Holmes smoking a pipe, surrounded by a few of Doyle’s most-famous story titles.
The head side features the fifth portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, designed by Royal Mint engraver Jody Clark.
One of the pieces was recently listed on eBay for £4,500, more than 9000 times the coin’s face value.
The listing read: “Crafted to perfection with a fineness of 0.999, this coin is a must-have for any British decimal coinage enthusiast.
“Featuring a very rare design, this coin is a true gem that you won’t want to miss.”
Others have also been listed on the marketplace, including multiple for £1,000.
While more than eight million of the coins were minted, some are rarer than others.
Certain variations are incredibly sought after by collectors, including ones with errors or special designs.
The Sherlock Holmes 50p coin was also released in different versions including Brilliant Uncirculated Packs, Silver proof versions, silver proof piedfort versions and also gold proof versions.
This, however, is not the only rare coin out there that you could find lying around in your change.
A rare 20p piece recently sold for £75 on eBay.
It was one of a number of coins struck with the wrong dye, meaning that no date is featured on the change.
It is thought around 250,000 coins have the error.
Similarly, a design flaw on a £2 led it to be sold for more than 40 times its value on eBay.
The coin was originally available to buy around five years ago to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Jersey Zoo, but now punters can only get it second-hand.
It is a commemorative coin meaning it is limited edition and would not usually be given as change if you bought something in a shop.
What are the most rare and valuable coins?
The rare Jersey Zoo coin sold for £85 in August.
What makes a coin rare?
Rare coins have been known to sell for thousands of pounds in the past with collectors keen to snap them up.
A coin is considered rare usually if it falls into one of two categories – having a low mintage or being an “error” coin.
The mintage of a coin relates to how many of it were struck and put into general circulation.
The lower amount of a coin that was created and is available to the public, the rarer and, potentially, more valuable it is.
A coin may also be classed as rare if there was a mistake made during the manufacturing process which means very few are out there – an error coin.
In some cases, there are just a handful of each error coin for the public to get their hands on making them incredibly rare and valuable.
You can check a coin’s rarity on sites such as Change Checker which show how many were minted and if they are in demand from coin collectors.
Money
M Core reveals robust annual perfomance
Since January, M Core has acquired 19 assets across the UK, totalling £144m and its managed portfolio now includes 539 properties and 7,740 units, with a total value of £2.6bn.
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Money
How product providers should offer advice
Reading about M&G’s troubles, I can’t help putting them down to the obsession with running an expensive fund platform. But what do I know?
What I do know about is 21st century advice – something I believe is built on the shoulders of giants, such as the Man from the Pru.
These advisers door-knocked, cold called and worked evenings to get families started on a lifetime of saving and self-preservation.
So, why is offering advice so hard these days?
It’s a real shame such a historical institution as M&G cannot remain committed to solving the challenges of advice regulation while making a profit.
It’s a real shame such a historical institution as M&G cannot remain committed to solving the challenges of advice regulation while making a profit
There remains a huge advice gap opportunity for any company who can de-mystify the world of investment and help the man in the street access the wonder of compound interest, just like they used to.
Providing advice seems to terrify those around the board table. Is it impatience from shareholders, short termism on the part of directors or just fear of liability? Probably all three.
I have previously voiced support for a simplified advice regime which could be a gateway to the markets for low value investors taking advice.
To those providers pondering on leaving or entering the advice market, here are my suggestions for making it work:
- Reduce the hurdle of cash savings: Three months spending in cash can take five to seven years for people to save and it is not mandatory as emergency provision. This restriction serves the anxiety of compliance staff more than it serves the interest of investors, and it can be done better.
- Know the outcomes of what you are offering: Charges need to be competitive, and easily justified. Funds need to be liquid, transparent and dependable in their expected returns. Projections need to be realistic and not woefully cautious.
- Think about the liabilities: How will they arise? How is the compensation calculated? Which investors complain? What triggers the complaint? By looking at this in full detail, you can inform the quality of your messaging and have more investors with confidence.
- Get the box tickers out from their desks: Give them sales training, teach them to advise, make them talk to clients.
- Focus on service: Of £198,798 complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service in 2023/24, £1,459 (0.7%) of them were against advisers. Why fixate so much on the nuances of suitability? With a simple and reliable product proposition, 90% of advice can be algorithmic – making it both efficient and profitable.
- Know your target market and sell to them: Financial services have been a huge contributor to prosperity in the UK. We should believe in the benefit of what we do.
The regulation of financial services in the UK has been a been a huge success in improving the rights and security of consumers. But it is nothing to fear. Our faith in delivering advice to all must endure alongside the products and the markets that will deliver for investors.
Greg Neall is chartered financial planner at Wake Up Your Wealth
Money
State pension warning as hundreds of thousands ‘edge closer’ to having money knocked off payments
HUNDREDS of thousands of retirees are set to pay tax on their state pension for the first time next year.
This is due to a combination of hefty state pension rises and frozen tax thresholds.
It is expected that more than 300,000 pensioners will be told that they need to pay tax when the state pension rises by £473 in 2025.
The figures released this week have confirmed that the state pension is now expected to rise from £11,502.40 to £11,975 per year under the triple lock.
With tax thresholds frozen until 2028, this increase will drag even more pensioners into paying tax for the first time, it has been warned.
This is because the total annual amount of income they receive will be more than their personal allowance.
The allowance is the amount of money you can earn before you have to pay tax on your income.
Under the current rules, this is up to £12,570 each tax year.
It was previously expected that around 140,000 pensioners would receive a letter for the first time this year.
But because of the proposed increase in the state pension, more than 300,0000 people are now likely to get one.
Alice Haine of Bestinvest said: “Add in frozen tax thresholds, with the full new state pension gaining ground on the standard personal allowance of £12,570 and pensioners are edging closer to the point at which their state pension income becomes liable for tax.
“Retirees already receiving a higher state pension may already be paying tax on the benefit, while those receiving a private pension income will see more of that swallowed up by tax.”
Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis, Hargreaves Lansdown also pointed out that while rising state pensions are good news, the tax threat is “a hidden sting in the tail”.
She said: “While the full new state pension is currently set at £11,502 and is set to get close to £12,000 from next April it’s conceivable that in the next two years we could see it breach the £12,570 threshold and see pensioners landed with a tax bill.
“It’s also worth saying that many pensioners on the basic state pension system receive more than this as they get a top-up to their income in the form of the state second pension so receive a tax bill even if they have no other income.”
Many pensioners have other pensions – personal or workplace – and HMRC will usually take the income tax due through these pensions, Helen pointed out.
She said: “Those pensioners wholly reliant on the state pension who face paying tax will receive a simple assessment letter from HMRC telling them how much they owe.
“There have been concerns about pensioners being chased for small amounts of tax though HMRC has said they would not look to chase tax amounts that would cost more to collect than is actually owed.”
Why is this happening and is there anything I can do to avoid it?
High inflation rates mean more people in work are getting pay rises to try and keep pace with rising prices.
However, with income tax bands frozen, it means many are being pushed into the next tax bracket.
Laura Suter, director of personal finance at AJ Bell, previously told The Sun: “Pensioners looking to reduce their tax bill need to think about how they can maximise their tax-free income.
“For example, any withdrawals made from their ISAs will be free of any tax. so they can use that pot of money to boost their income without impacting their tax bill.”
An ISA is a type of savings account in which you can save up to £20,00 a year tax-free.
Laura also suggested that couples can organise their finances so they ensure they are each making use of their tax-free allowances, which might involve moving money or assets between themselves.
Helen also added that pensioners might want to use some of their pension to top up their income.
She said: “Most people can access 25% of their pension as a tax-free lump sum so they may decide to use this to top up their income without pushing up their tax bill.”
However, she also warned that pensioners below the personal allowance are going to find it increasingly difficult to avoid paying income tax in the coming years.
The finance expert added: “A full new state pension hits just over £11,500 per year and even relatively modest 3.5% annual increases would see people pushed over the threshold by the time the threshold freeze ends.”
How does the state pension work?
AT the moment the current state pension is paid to both men and women from age 66 – but it’s due to rise to 67 by 2028 and 68 by 2046.
The state pension is a recurring payment from the government most Brits start getting when they reach State Pension age.
But not everyone gets the same amount, and you are awarded depending on your National Insurance record.
For most pensioners, it forms only part of their retirement income, as they could have other pots from a workplace pension, earning and savings.
The new state pension is based on people’s National Insurance records.
Workers must have 35 qualifying years of National Insurance to get the maximum amount of the new state pension.
You earn National Insurance qualifying years through work, or by getting credits, for instance when you are looking after children and claiming child benefit.
If you have gaps, you can top up your record by paying in voluntary National Insurance contributions.
To get the old, full basic state pension, you will need 30 years of contributions or credits.
You will need at least 10 years on your NI record to get any state pension.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.
Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories
Money
Kennedy Wilson appoints Harris to oversee industrial and logistics investment
He joins from Paloma Capital, where he deployed capital from value-added funds and its UK industrial joint venture.
The post Kennedy Wilson appoints Harris to oversee industrial and logistics investment appeared first on Property Week.
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